by Larry Eder
I was watching the Tokyo WC Marathon in the media room, as the battle between Julia Patternain and Susanna Sullivan developed, as the two athletes ran two of the smartest races in Tokyo. Julia finished in the bronze medal position, Susanna finished in 4th in the marathon!
The humidity and heat in Tokyo was oppressive and the marathon was held on a day that made it incredibly painful to move in the humidity.
Julia Paternain and her coach had prepared well, and ran way above her what her personal best had suggested.
Julia Paternain had competed for the UK as a junior. She liked races that were longer. She then ran at the University of Arkansas and was coached by Chris Johnson. Julia dealt with many injuries during her time in college. But Julia figured out tha the longer she went, the better she did!
Julia’s coach, Jack Polerecky built Julia’s training around her strengths and prepared her for the heat and humidty of Tokyo. Jack had brought Julia Paternain into the McKirdy Training Group. Julia Paternain trains in Flagstaff, Arizona.
In her first marathon Julia ran 2:27:09, a new Uruguayan national record in her first marathon! Polerecky built Julia’s Tokyo preparation to manage the heat and humidty of Tokyo. Julia did sauna sessions (3-4 times a week), focused Saturday runs of 20 plus miles, ending with hills, to simulate the Tokyo marathon course, and the plans to start very conservatively. Julia started around 30th, to 16th at halfway, and then, moved into medal contention.
Julia’s parents are Uruguayan, while Julia was raised in the UK, then, moved to the US. She speaks Spanish with her parents, and has Uruguayan citizenship! Julia’s bronze medal was the first medal in WC by Uruguay!
Our interview is part of that story. You can read more in this fine article at OUTSIDE Run.
Stuart Weir wrote a great story about Julia Paternain, on RunBlogRun. Read it here.
When we spoke to Julia Paternain, she was recovering from Tokyo and looking at plans for 2026. We thank Julia Paternain for her time and Saucony for setting up the interview! And yes, Saucony extended their contract with Julia Paternain!
Find all of our Socialing The Distance interview series here: https://bit.ly/34czL0e
Find all of our Athletics Chat episodes here: https://bit.ly/2GkVoDD
Find all of our Conversations with Larry here: https://bit.ly/30io2vY
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