Emma Kertesz after finishing 10th American at the 2021 New York City Marathon
Emma Kertesz during the inaugural Boulder Ekiden in September. | Photo by Nicole Bush Media.
During Emma Kertesz’s junior year of high school she realized she probably wasn’t going to get a scholarship to a DI university to play soccer. So at the suggestion of her track coach, who was also the cross country coach, she ran cross her senior year instead of playing soccer.
She ran to all-American status over 10,000-meters, in 2012, while competing for the University of Toledo. Then chose to forego her last year of eligibility, like a badass, to *go pro* and join the Hansons-Brooks Original Distance Project.
Since then, she’s run at two Olympic Marathon Trials—2016 and 2020—and has a marathon PR of 2:40:56.
Most recently Emma was the 10th American in the *elite field* (Shalane Flanagan, who started in a different wave, technically knocked Emma to 11th) at the 2021 TCS New York City Marathon. We’re so excited about it and have so many questions. These are those questions.
In an Instagram post after NYC, on November 8, you said, “12 months ago I had pretty much stopped running at any kind of competitive level because I was tired and burnt out. I had long been running and competing because I “should” and not because I was enjoying it.” What did running and competing because you “should” look and feel like for you?
I felt like I had to continue to progress at all costs - specifically at the cost of my enjoyment of the sport, and my mental health. I really approached training as a mechanism to run fast and run PBs, instead of actually enjoying what I was doing. Of course there were times that I enjoyed running and the camaraderie, but generally I was training for the purpose of running a PB, not for self-satisfaction. So when the PBs didn’t come, well, there wasn’t really anything there for me. I knew I needed to reevaluate what I was doing and shaping my life around.
Was there one moment, or run, when you realized you were burnt out, or did it happen slowly?
A nice slow burn. I don’t think I enjoyed one single workout during the 2020 Olympic Trials build up, and I should have been more prepared for a less than ideal race outcome because of that. But I do remember very specifically running at CIM in 2018 to get my OTQ, and I had about 2 miles left. I remember thinking to myself, “JFC please don’t let me slow down because I really don’t want to do this again.” A lightbulb maybe should have gone off then, but I continued to train because then I did hit the OTQ standard. It just wasn’t fun anymore.
What did your time away from the sport like? Did it feel good, bad, a mix?
It felt great. I truly thought, “this is retirement, baby!” I walked my dogs every day, I rode my bike when I wanted to, and actually wrote the bulk of my book during my time off. I had space and room for creativity that I hadn’t had in a long time. It was very much needed.
Emma Kertesz eating a gel during a long run on some dirt road by the Rez. | Photo by Nicole Bush Media.
In the same Instagram post mentioned above, you said called Boulder Underground coach, Matt Hensley, after watching some special things happen at the Marathon Project race that took place on December 20, 2020. You said, “Running had *sparked joy* again.” What were those feels like? What was going through your mind and heart during that *sparking*?
Around the time of the Marathon Project I had been doing some jogging because the weather had been nice and it sounded good. At that time I was really only exercising if it was going to feel good for my body to move in that way, and if I was going to enjoy myself. Anyway, watching my husband Noah’s build up was really exciting, and I was so happy to be a part of his team during that build up. But watching the Marathon Project live… It was really life-giving. Watching women and men alike push themselves and then charge home to the finish line (PB or not) and they had left it all out there flipped a switch in me. I remembered what it felt like to exhaust yourself for the pure spirit of doing your best, PB be damned, and compete against other people doing the same.
After talking to Matt, you joined Boulder Underground in January of this year. What were the next eleven months like? What were some of the highs, lows and challenges?
The biggest challenge was remembering that I took a lot of time off of running! I felt like a newbie again where we had to start with the basics of starting workouts at paces in years previous I would have scoffed at. But it's important to remind yourself you’re only as fast as you currently are, and that’s where I was. So I tried to lean into that to remind myself, “wherever you go, there you are” for slow paces and fast paces.
The high points were probably being on a very fun exponentially rising fitness curve I hadn’t been on in many years, ha! It’s fun to see progress like that when you’ve been used to such tiny incremental fitness gains, but when you’re working with a wide margin of fitness loss you can go from say, 6:30 mile repeats to 6:00 mile repeats in a matter of a month or two. Then it tapers off, but it was fun while it lasted.
What was your proudest moment of the training block?
Consistency. I didn’t have any “hit ‘em out of the park” workouts, but had a solid amount of B+ workouts which is typically what I’m after in marathon training. If I can be 80-90% fit and 100% healthy on the start line, I think I’m setting myself up for a good day.
What did you really have to focus on and be intentional about during the training block?
Recovery and the mental side of running. I’m “older” now so I focused a lot on pre activation drills and getting into PT regularly. I also do a decent amount of guided meditations, especially since I was trying to reframe and focus on why I was running and not be so goal oriented. So I spent some time in the “mind gym” if you will and really contemplated why I enjoyed doing this, and all the wonderful things running has brought me.
When and how did you decide you wanted to run NYC?
I wish it wasn’t so predictable but Noah was doing it and so I thought it’d be fun for us to be at the same marathon in the pro field! We’ve done races at the same time but not a marathon. I also wanted to do a race where times didn’t necessarily matter, and the emphasis was more on mastery of the course and leaning into the toughness of it.
In the weeks leading up to the race, what was your mindset?
I felt great. I have been really enjoying my time with BU, and had a great marathon segment that I truly thought no matter what happened on race day it was going to be a win. I hadn’t lined up for a race and actually looked forward to racing in a long time. I had a good feeling though, so I was excited to see what I could do on such a tough course.
From the left, Tansey Lystad, Emma Kertesz and Brian Schmidt on dirt roads by the Boulder Reservoir. | Photo by Nicole Bush Media.
When you got to NYC, how did you keep calm and not lose your shit?
Honestly I look forward to finding the lunch spot. That will keep you occupied basically for as long as you want it to. I also bring a really good book with me that I’m into, and it also helps with Noah there. I take a lot of naps, watch some ASMR videos, and oddly enough we watched a lot of college football (we normally never do).
Please tell the fans more about your fueling and nutrition choices for during the race.
Oh man I do think I have this dialed in. So in the elite/pro fields you get to put out your own fuel bottles every 5k. You turn them in the night before, and then at the technical meeting they give you your assigned position on the table, and your bottles will be there at the same spot every time. So for example I was at the second table 4th position.
Anyway, I used Skratch strawberry lemonade every other 5k up until 30k. Then I alternate every other 5k until 30k with water and a chai latte flavored GU. After 30k I put flat coke in my bottles. Tried and true I’ll never stop doing that at the end of a marathon. A little sweetness, caffeine, simple carbs and sugar.
What was the hour leading up to the race start like?
I sat with Steph Bruce and Kellyn Taylor and we basically were just shooting the shit. We talked about their kids a lot, and what we were going to do after the race. It was really low key. I ate half a clif bar and drank some Gatorade, and I think I ran 1 10:00 mile as a warm up.
What were you thinking and how were you feeling on the start line?
I was ready. I had spoken to Matt the night before and he told me to throw splits out the window, so I was prepared to just go out and compete and really enjoy myself and my ability to be there that day.
How did the race break down for you? What was hard, what was good and what was funny?
I ran the first mile with two of my girlfriends - Krista DuChene and Leigh Ann Sharek. We ended up breaking apart after the 1 mile mark, and I was basically completely alone until the finish. At about the 5 mile mark I decided I would actually heed Matt’s advice and not look at my splits. I didn’t look at my watch once from mile 5 on. I obviously had a good idea of where I was as I saw the 10k, 15k, 20k, etc. markings, but I really just ran by feel since I was alone. The funniest thing was probably around mile 9 my friend Nick Roche was spectating, and it was almost like in a conversational voice he was like, “hey! Go Emma!” and it made me laugh out loud only because there’s so many people around and it’s like how could I even hear that. Then I saw my parents, who made fathead signs of me, Noah, and Marquis so that was a real treat to see when I ran by them. Lastly, the bridges and tunnels are no joke. They were incredibly hard and actually very lonely. That was probably my weakest point.
Emma Kertesz handing off to Chrissy Bendzinski during the 2021 Boulder Ekiden. | Photo by Nicole Bush Media.
What doubts crept in and how did you handle them?
The only real doubt I had was at about mile 21 I was convinced I had a rock in my shoe and actually stopped and looked in my shoe to see. I had been thinking about that for the last 4 miles, and knew that mentally I was better off just checking (it ended up being a marathon delusion mirage rock) to see if there was one instead of using mental energy thinking about it for the next 5 miles. That actually probably cost me about 10 seconds in the race! But I was really relieved when I checked. That is actually probably one of the dumbest thoughts I’ve ever had in a marathon.
How did you feel at the finish?
I couldn’t quite walk correctly, and at the finish line people were ushering me along and I was like, “I am literally walking as fast as I possibly can sir.” I also was very worried about Noah because I did not see him pass me (at a certain point the pro men pass the pro women because of the staggered start) so I was pretty sure he dropped (out). I saw Carrie Cox who had my bag, and I just sat in a chair in the elite tent and Carrie helped put clothes on me. I felt happy about the fact I had put a solid one on board. I saw my finishing time but it was kind of moot to me. I was just happy that I had raced and only one woman passed me the entire race, and felt like I truly enjoyed the experience. I really was like, “alright cool.”
Please narrate the moment when Matt told you your finishing place.
I saw Matt had texted me a few times, so as I was sitting there in my “alright cool” moment, I called him. He answered, “OHMYGODYOUWERE10THAMERICAN” and I was like, “uh wut” and he continued on saying, “I told you if you ran competitively you’d place well!” I truly had no idea. I was pretty pumped already that I felt I had completed a personal victory, so it was a real cherry on top when Matt told me.
What did you reflect on after the race?
How much I enjoyed the segment and how much running NYC reminded me that I truly do love the marathon distance.
What are you most proud of?
I knew with a small professional field there was a chance I’d run alone, I just didn’t think it’d happen after mile 1. I’m really proud of myself for leaning into it instead of panicking. Despite how cheesy this is, I watched an ESPN 30 for 30 on Eddie Aikau about a month ago. He said that when he was surfing in turbulent waters, he didn’t fight it, he just became one with the water. So I figured instead of fighting the task ahead of me (running 25.2 miles alone) I’d lean into it and soak up as much of it as I possibly could.
Is there anything else you’d like to add, Madam President?
Everyone should watch that 30 for 30 on Eddie Aikau. I’m kidding. Sort of. Just that I’m feeling like I’m in a really great spot and truly enjoying the sport again in a way I haven’t in many years. BU has helped a lot with that, and it’s a really great feeling to be amongst such a wonderful group of people striving for their goals.