Kyle Merber Exit Interview and The Importance of Sharing the Athlete Story

“In 1996, Derrick Adkins came back to his elementary school on Long Island and showed everyone the gold medal he had won. I was in the crowd. I got to see it. I got to talk to him and touch the medal. I was immediately enthralled by the sport that I went home and talked to my mom about signing up for track. That left a really lasting impression on me because I know that he may not have wanted to go back to his elementary school a month after winning the Atlanta Olympics but he did it out of an obligation to his community. Whenever I’ve been invited to speak at camps or schools or any event, I always try to think of the fact that there’s a little kid there who may be sent on a different path just because he had the opportunity to hear my story.”

My guest for today’s show is Kyle Merber and this is his exit interview. He spent the past seven years running for the New Jersey-New York Track Club and just a few weeks ago took to Instagram to announce that he's not done running but done getting paid for it. He finishes his professional career with personal bests of 1:47.23 for 800 meters, 3:34.54 for 1,500 meters and 3:52.22 for the mile. I wrote in my newsletter: He made an impact on the current generation of American distance running by bringing humor, transparency and personality to the track and social media. He’s arguably one of the funniest professionals to follow but also posted with honesty when things weren’t going so great in his attempted comebacks from a series of injuries. You’ll get that from this conversation we recorded this week as we go through his career but also his vision for change and fixes within the sport.

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