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First Marathon Story: Follow Your Curiosity: 30+ Marathons, Ultras, and Chasing Sub-3 w/ Casey Cline

Writer: Taylor Sayles
Taylor Sayles
Oct 12
2 min read
Pink graphic with CASEY CLINE over My First Marathon Podcast logo, showing a runner, microphone, and mountains.

Falling in Love with Running (Slowly)

Casey started running in middle school. She wanted to be faster than the boys. Casey went out for the track team in middle school, and then starting running the 100m and 400m in high school. She eventually built her way up to the 800m, then the 5K, and in her sophomore year of college she took a class called run conditioning. She had to run a 10K at the end of the class, and actually did pretty well. So when a friend signed up for a half marathon, Casey thought, why not? Before long, she was signed up for the Charleston Marathon.


Qualifying for Boston

Casey enjoyed doing things that were hard, doing things that people thought were crazy (before running was cool). She eventually learned about the Boston Marathon, and she knew that was her next goal. She wanted to qualify for this prestigious marathon.


It took her seven tries, but she eventually qualified for the race. She paid her dues, put the work in, and managed to cut an hour off her marathon time.


It's hard for everything to line up on one day for the perfect race day experience. The marathon owes you nothing, Casey likes to say. But there's always a way to find the finish line.


Pivoting to Ultras

Casey eventually pivoted to ultramarathons during COVID, when those were the only races happening. She felt like it was like playing Survivor with herself. Ultras taught her that the limiting beliefs we have are so self-imposed. When she passed mile 26, she thought she'd entered the "dark zone" — but she was able to keep going, and her perspective totally changed.


Lessons Learned

  • Focus on different seasons of running.

  • Running is a long game.

  • Be curious.


Want to hear Casey tell the story herself? Listen to the full episode now: Follow Your Curiosity: 30+ Marathons, Ultras, and Chasing Sub-3 w/ Casey Cline— available wherever you get your podcasts.


Listen to my most recent mini episode: Survival Guide To Running Your First Marathon



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Follow along with the show:

👣 Personal IG/TikTok: @tay.says / @taysays

🎙️ Podcast IG/TikTok: @myfirstmarathonpod

📺 YouTube: @MyFirstMarathonPodcast


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