Gary Martin Podcast: The Track Geek Tearing Up the High School Mile Record Books is Just Getting Started

By LetsRun.com
May 23, 2022

On May 14, Gary Martin did something no runner had ever done in America: run a sub-3:58 in the mile in a high school-only race. Martin, a Archbishop Wood High School senior, did it without a rabbit, going solo at the Philadelphia Catholic League Outdoor Championships. The great Jim Ryun in 1965 was the only other runner to previously go sub-4 in a high school race without a rabbit.

Martin's run captivated running fans throughout the nation.

We had to learn more about Martin, how this run came about, and what prompted him to go for glory all by himself.

He joined us for a fascinating 40-minute talk that is available in podcast form below or in your Supporters Club podcast feed.

Turns out, Gary Martin is one of us -- a running nerd. But a really fast running nerd.

When asked his trademark glasses he said, "I've been called stuff like 'the nerd,' 'the nerd runner...which I think is funny. It's hard to get to me. So anytime I either, I get made fun of -- there's obviously nice comments too -- but even like the stuff that it's people joking about it. I think it's funny and I'll take whatever attention I can get for it."

Martin has only been running for four years, but he's a true student and fan of the sport (unprompted. he admitted to having been on the letsrun.com forums which is the #1 judge of a true fan in our book ;)).

"I digest as much track as possible. I'm definitely a big-time fan now, especially distance running and I follow it pretty heavily," he said, noting he probably could cite the PRs of a few University of Virginia distance runners where he will be a freshman on Vin Lananna's team in the fall.

Gary wasn't on the podcast for being a student of the sport, though; he was on for being really fast, and he still has some big goals this year.

"If the opportunity comes up, I'd love to either race Colin [Sahlman] or go after that mile [Alan Webb's 3:53.43 high school record]. But at the same time, I feel like I've learned the past month, especially the past two months or so, not to get caught up on one specific large goal and really go forward with training, let the training run its course and then let the performances speak for themselves. So I think that's kind of what I'm going to keep doing. I have a lot of confidence in myself right now. I think I can throw down a lot faster of a mile than I've already run, but I'm not going to stress too much about going about any one specific goal or record."

Full Gary Martin podcast below. available to Supporters Club members. (Not a member? Join today and get all the LetsRun.com content, a summer training plan, and huge savings on running shoes. The subscription pays for itself;))

We will have highlights for regular LetsRun.com visitors later in the week and on our regular LetsRun.com Track Talk Podcast.