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Me: World record, 72 hot dogs in 10 minutes Joey Chestnut.
5YO: Why?
Wise beyond his years.
Jeff Purdom retweeted
Takeaway from the NYC Marathon?
Care deeply, but don't let it steal your joy
We are at our best, when we are doing what we love, together, with others by our side, and it being an expression of ourselves. Not a verdict on who we are.
A deeper dive:
substack.com/home/post/p-223…
Jess McClain just got 2nd at the NYC Marathon. In 2020, she walked away from professional running when it became "all about making the podiums and teams at all costs."
Now, she becomes the first American to make the podium since 2018.
Sometimes you have to let go to get the most out of yourself.
McClain was a phenom, high school star, multiple time all-american in college, signed a pro contract. But it just wasn't working. "There was a point earlier in my career where it was all about making the podiums and teams at all costs. But I realized that was not the best approach...It's a fun-sucker when it's all about pace and you're focusing on splits every 200 meters."
Jess found her way back to it doing it her own way working a full time job and staying busy.
"I've lived the life of having running be my full-time job day in and day out. And personally, I just can't operate in the sport in a healthy way with that approach. I just need something else to focus on." The job gave her a safety net: "I knew at the end of the day I could blow up, but I would still have my job."
She came back on her own terms and paved her own way to participating in the sport she loved and wrote her own definition of success. One with more perspective than we're sold online: "I realized, 'Ok, on this giant planet, running is a very, very small part of it...My friends and family love me because I'm Jess. And not because I'm an elite runner.' As silly as it sounds, my personal mission with running is just to keep it fun—to control what I can control and enjoy getting to the starting line. And I'm having a total blast."
Now, she went toe to toe with the best marathoners on the planet, battled all the way to the finish. Too often, we paint the picture that there's only one way to the top. You've got to be obsessed, all-in, serious, no fun...
That's not true. Yes, McClain works incredibly hard. But she's found a way to hold on to the love of the sport, to keep the fun that fuels her pursuit.
There's a paradox when it comes to performance. You have to care deeply, but that care can become the thing that gets in the way. It starts to suffocate you, to take away the joy that made you fall in love with the pursuit in the first place. The best performers learn how to care deeply, but to hold it loose enough to keep the joy. To make it where it doesn't feel like do or die, but instead that they are free to explore their pursuit.
T.S. Eliot once said, "teach us to care and to not care."
He might as well have been talking about racing.
Jess McClain just showed us that super power.
Care deeply, but don't let it steal your joy. We are at our best, when we are doing what we love, together, with others by our side, and it being an expression of ourselves. Not a verdict on who we are.
Jeff Purdom retweeted
Pete Crow-Armstrong of the @Cubs is one of three players in MLB history to have a month with:
.375+ batting average
.775+ slugging pct
80+ total bases
15+ walks
10+ home runs
5+ stolen bases
The others are Babe Ruth (June 1920, July 1920, May 1930) and Lou Gehrig (June 1930).
Jeff Purdom retweeted
It's the Jim Ryun beating Snell moment.
Cooper defeats the Olympic and World Champion.
The best 800m runner on the planet right now is a high school kid. Simply phenomenal.
Jeff Purdom retweeted
Ladies and gentlemen.
Introducing Vincent Mauri. He just ran 2:05:54 at the Toledo Marathon.
SOLO.
Jeff Purdom retweeted
Reminder that Sabastian Sawe's sponsor adidas spent $50,000 for him to be drug-tested out of competition as much as possible in 2025 and are doing the same thing in 2026.
Today in London, he became the first man to break 2:00 in an official marathon.
letsrun.com/news/2026/04/how…
Jeff Purdom retweeted
Norway consistently wins the most medals at the Winter Olympic Games, with a population of just 5.6 million people.
A big part of their success is how they treat youth sports—and it’s the opposite of what we do in the US. Here’s what we can learn from Norway:
1. Scorekeeping:
In the US: Youth sports tend to be hyper competitive even at early ages. Leagues almost always keep score.
In Norway: Scorekeeping isn’t even allowed until age 13.
Removing winners and losers keeps the focus on the process not outcomes. It keeps kids engaged longer because it minimizes pressure (and tears) and maximizes fun, learning, and growth. The goal isn’t to win a third grade championship. It’s to love sport and keep playing.
2. Trophies:
In the US: If you give everyone a trophy, you’re creating snowflakes who will never gain a competitive edge.
In Norway: Whenever trophies are awarded, they are handed out to everyone.
If getting a trophy makes young kids feel good, we should give them trophies. Maybe they’ll come back and play again next year!!
As for the creation of snowflakes with no competitive edge—Norway’s athletes are tough as nails and all they do is win.
3. Prioritizing Fun:
In the US: Far too often, the goal is to win.
In Norway: The national philosophy is “joy of sport.”
Youth sports in the US are driven by adults, ego, and money. Youth sports in Norway are driven by fun.
Only half of kids in the US participate in sports. The number one reason they drop out: because they aren’t having fun anymore. In Norway, 93% of kids participate in youth sports. Fun is the foremost goal.
4. Playing Multiple Sports:
In the US: There’s pressure to specialize early and play your best sport year round.
In Norway: Try as many sports as you can before specializing as late as college.
Norway encourages kids to try all types of sport. This reduces injury and burnout and increases all-around athleticism. It also helps promotes match quality, or finding the sport you are best suited for as your body develops, which is impossible if you commit to a single sport too early.
5. Affordability
In the US: There is increasingly a pay-to-play model with high fees for leagues, equipment, and travel. This excludes many kids from playing.
In Norway: It’s a national priority to keep youth sports affordable and therefore accessible for all.
Kids aren’t priced out, which creates opportunities for everyone to participate (and develop into athletes), regardless of their parents’ income level.
We could learn a lot from Norway:
In the US, 70% of kids drop out of youth sports by age 13. This not only diminishes an elite-athlete pipeline, but it also destroys an opportunity for healthy habits and all the character lessons kids can learn from sport.
In Norway, lifelong participation in sport is the norm. The goal isn’t to have the best 9U team. It’s to develop the best athletes. Those are two very different things. And Norway has the gold medals to prove it.
Someone has played the original Techmo Bowl. #ExtremeDropBack
