Photo by @swagmirr
At 37 years old, Jeremy Guidoni stepped on a starting line for the first time.
The Corsica native says sports aren’t as much of a focus in European schools compared to the U.S., and so they weren’t really part of his life growing up. But like many others he took up running during the pandemic, and having lived in New York for nearly a decade at that point decided to do 9+1 to get into the New York City Marathon.
And immediately, Jeremy fell in love with racing.
“The excitement on race day was just something that I’d never really experienced,” he says. “And I’ve not stopped since then.”
Jeremy quickly turned his focus toward earning a Boston qualifier, which he did in just his second marathon. However it was finding a sense of community—as well as faster runners to chase—as part of Central Park Track Club and 212 Athletic that he says truly transformed his running journey.
First a 2:46 in the heat in Boston, then 2:39 that fall in Berlin followed by a 2:34 and 2:31 in Chicago and London, respectively. And Jeremy still believes there’s more left in the tank, as he aims for sub-2:30 and his sixth star in Tokyo next spring.
We spoke with Jeremy to discuss the main factors of his marathon progression, balancing shorter races within his training blocks, taking inspiration from his teammates and more.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
To start off, can you give an intro of where you’re from, what brought you to New York City and your origins of how you got into running?
Sure. I’d love to preface this by saying that my running journey is pretty typical of at least people in New York, but maybe people around the world…. I grew up in Europe. My mom is American, but I was born and raised in Europe, where sports is really not as important in school as it is here. All throughout my childhood and then high school, I think we had an hour of sport per week in school, and it was something stupid like ping pong, and we’d usually tried to find a way not to go. So it was not really ever an important part of my life. I was athletic as a kid, but never really pursued anything in that field.
Then I had a pretty unathletic journey through college. It’s weird, because the place where I grew up—Corsica, an island off the coast of Italy—has now become a trail running mecca kind of, where everyone is into running or trail running. But back when I was living there, it was absolutely not the case. People were more interested in binge drinking. I smoked too much, I drank too much, I partied too much, and staying healthy was really not top of mind for me at all. When I was 27, I decided to move out of Corsica just for a few months and see what the rest of the world was like. So I decided to come to New York for what I thought was just a few months, but I’ve now been here for 15 years.
My running journey didn’t start right away at all. It started, like many people, during COVID. In March 2020, I had the luxury to be able to escape from New York and came to New Hampshire for what I thought would be maybe a couple weeks, I didn’t really know. I ended up spending five or six months here. And it’s beautiful, but there isn’t much to do. So I ordered a pair of sneakers online and started running a couple miles here and there, and then I started doing it every day. And a couple miles turned into eight, nine, 10, and I think at the time my longest run went up to 16 miles, and I completely blew up. I knew nothing. I didn’t know what shoes to wear. I didn’t know anything about nutrition. I didn’t know anything about anything. But it did spark something in me, and I decided that when the world would reopen, I would try to find a way to get into the New York Marathon. And as most New Yorkers, I signed up for the 9+1 program.
My first race was a really easy one. It was the Fifth Avenue Mile, which is just one all-out mile, so it doesn’t really take much training. You don’t need to spend weeks and weeks of training to do that one. And I don’t know—the excitement on race day was just something that I’d never really experienced, and I’ve not stopped since then. I love racing. I don’t think I was a very competitive person growing up, but I’ve become it now with my racing. I love the excitement building up to race day. I love everything about it, really.
“The excitement on race day was just something that I’d never really experienced”
When I came back to New York, I was still running alone. I was still doing my own thing, not really knowing what I was doing right or wrong. And after a couple years I decided to join a running group, so I joined Central Park [Track Club], and that opened up a whole new side of things too. At my first few races, I would see all these people that would cheer each other, that knew each other. It was just something that I wasn’t a part of, and it did get a little bit lonely sometimes when I saw people celebrating together. So that part of the experience I was missing out on, and joining Central Park opened that whole thing.
Your progression has been pretty rapid, especially getting into running later than most people. When you first started, did you have initial goals, or any thoughts on what your ceiling could be?
No, I didn’t really have any goals, just because I didn’t know anything about running at all, so I didn’t know what a good pace was—I mean, there’s no such thing as a good pace. Also, not running when I was growing up, I didn’t really know what I could do. And even today, I kind of regret not knowing what maybe I could have done if I had run an all-out mile when I was 20 or 22.
But I love the fact that I’m in my 40s and I’m still improving. It’s now been over five years since I started running, and year after year I’m still getting faster. I don’t know if I attribute it to the fact that I didn’t beat up my legs growing up, or just that I haven’t yet reached my ceiling, but I am having fun with that.
I guess the first goal I ever had was maybe a little bit too cocky, but when I was training for my first marathon, which was New York 2022, I had heard about the Boston qualifying times. And I was like, ‘Oh yeah, maybe I can do that on my first try.’ And it did not pan out at all. But it eventually worked out, it took a couple tries.
I know that [getting faster] is not going to last forever, and I hope that even when I do start slowing down, I’ll still have some goals. Sometimes I feel like a kid, because I missed out on competing as a child. I get all excited about getting a medal—which is stupid, I’m in my 40s, I should not care about medals. But maybe that’s because I missed out on that part growing up.
I want to try and get faster. I think that takes a lot of discipline, a lot more when you start getting a little older, just because things don’t come as easily. So I’m finding that I am a lot more disciplined in my training than I thought I could ever be. I’m a pretty lazy person in my everyday life, and I love procrastinating. But when it comes to my running, I try to take it seriously. And I think doing it with a group also helps you hold yourself accountable, because there are other people that count on you to train with.
Were there periods where you realized you could get much faster than those initial goals? And how do you think about your long-term goals and eventual ceiling now?
My current goal is to try to break 2:30 in a marathon, which I got pretty close to the last couple tries, and I’m hoping I have it in me at some point. So that’s my immediate goal. I don’t think I can go a lot past that, but it would be amazing if I could reach that. And it’s very dumb, because it’s just numbers and it doesn’t really mean anything. But you set these arbitrary goals I guess, so that’s one of them….
When I see my other teammates, who are a lot younger than me and who race maybe half as often as I do, I try to explain that I think I’m kind of running out of time if I want to [reach] those goals. So I can’t take six months off, because time is ticking, and if I want to reach those goals, I’ve got to get on it pretty quickly.
You’re someone who’s at almost every New York Road Runners race throughout the year. What motivates you to race so often, even while training for bigger marathons? And how do you balance racing so often within your training blocks?
First of all, I realize that I’ve been very lucky on the injury front. I’ve had some niggles and some aches and pains, but nothing that’s kept me off of running for any significant time. So I’ve been able to race that much, and I just really, really love race day. I love getting on that start line early in the morning. I love it when it’s hot, I love it when it’s cold. I just love that excitement.
I just take them as all-out workouts. And if you’re always race ready, I guess you never have to retrain…. My main focus is on marathons right now, even though it’s really not an enjoyable distance at all. Every time I finish a marathon, I really question why I do it, because it’s just so hard. And who knows? Maybe one day I’ll try an even harder distance.
What do you think are the main contributors to [your marathon progression so far]? And what would you tell others getting into running about how much more they could progress than they initially thought?
I guess the big breakthrough I had was—I love running alone, and I still do it a lot, just being with myself and my thoughts and doing my own thing. But I also love running with a group. When I moved to New York, it can be a very lonely place. And I think joining a running group not only changed my life, because I’ve met a lot of incredible people—a lot of extremely inspiring people, and just a sense of belonging in that community—but it’s also made me so much faster.
First off, there was a structure to the running. It’s not just you going out and running at whatever pace you decide to run on that particular day. But also, you’re running with a lot of people that are a lot faster than you, and you’re trying to keep up, and you’re just getting faster from being around these people.
“I attribute my progress almost entirely to the people I run with, and also just watching their progress”
And I encourage everyone—I’m a pretty shy person, so I remember the first day when I went to practice with Central Park, I was very nervous. It took me a couple practices to start speaking with people. But I’m so happy I took that step, because I attribute my progress almost entirely to the people I run with, and also just watching their progress. When you follow people on Strava and you see the incredible things they do, it really, really inspires you to try to push yourself.
Eventually the times level off and the goals have to change. Have you thought about which goals might come to the forefront then?
Yeah, I hope I can keep that race day excitement alive. And I think there are ways to do it. I see people that are a little bit older than me, that are still first of all doing absolutely incredible, but that have changed their focus. They’re not trying to be as fast as they were when they were 20, because that’s just not doable. But they chase other goals, and there are always goals to chase.
I just love seeing my teammates go for it. I get so inspired by other people and what they can do…. I have trouble projecting myself too far into the future. I go one marathon cycle at a time.
You’ve done five of the Six Star [marathons]. What have been your favorites, whether from a course perspective, spectator perspective, or the overall race experience?
I love them all. The only non-Major I’ve done was the Jersey City Marathon, which I absolutely loved as well. It was on a different scale, but it was just as fun. But the Majors—it’s just so many people, such big productions, it’s so much fun. It is getting a little too expensive to do them, and I am completely aware that it’s a luxury to be able to run these races.
If I had to say which one was my favorite, New York is just incredible. It’s home. The crowds are absolutely insane. Whenever I speak to a non-runner that lives in New York, I always tell them that they should do it at least once, just for the experience. Nobody’s doing it to win it, but the experience is something so incredible that I think every New Yorker should have that experience at least once. Boston is very special, just because of the journey to get there. [Those two] marathons, I would say, are the hardest I’ve done. So they’re my favorites, but also my least favorites. I hate them, and I also love them.
But I would say New York is definitely something special. The crowds are almost too much. There are parts of the course where it’s a little dizzying, the energy. It’s hard to stay focused and not get carried away.
Any topics I didn’t ask about that you’d like to touch on, or any closing thoughts?
I would just say, anyone who is on their running journey, and who maybe is plateauing and not getting where they want to be: join a running group. There are only benefits to it. The people you meet are incredible, the benefits you’ll get from running with other people. I’m just so grateful, first of all, that I found this, but also for all the people I’ve met and all the experiences I’ve had. It’s really, really changed my life.
Jeremy with his 212 Athletic teammates | Photo by @swagmirr
I think my running journey—it’s a very selfish one. I’m not sure how inspiring it is. But I’m doing it to see what I can do. I’m doing it to better myself. And I’ve had the chance to meet some incredible people along the way, and I hope it continues for a very long time.