Jess Warner-Judd. Part 2 Becoming a marathon runner
One time when I was talking to Jess Warner-Judd, I noticed that I had seen her run the 800, 1500, 3K, 5K, 10K. He answered: “When I was an 800m runner, I definitely didn’t think I would go on to 10K distances.” Then after a few half marathons, she ran a full marathon in New York this year.
He started with the 800, but felt it was “just too short for me. I get so nervous about it and it all comes down to positioning. And I realized that I didn’t get that raw speed. I think I’m fast, but I used to watch people like Kiley and I could never compete with him over 400. So I moved up to 1500 and loved it. And then I dabbled a little bit in the 5K. I think five was probably my least favorite. The10K was one I fell in love with. So I just stuck with it.” He treats his 8th a place in the 2023 World Championships 10K final as his best race. He has run several half marathons and has set his sights on a full marathon in 2025
2024 started well with a fast 10K on the road and a solid half marathon, both in Spain. Then he was eliminated in the 10K race at the European Championships in Rome. He was taken to the hospital, told he had a seizure, and eventually diagnosed with a form of epilepsy, and didn’t run for over six months. He told me that the Rome incident was “really terrible to hear how serious it was afterwards, because obviously I wasn’t very conscious. Getting back into running was really hard. And you kind of think, is it worth it? I love to run, but health comes first.” He explained how difficult it was. “You’re getting counseling and trying to deal with the trauma of what happened and just trying to get back on the track. That was the hardest. And I realized I can’t do it.”
He decided not to do a track season in 2025, but ran 2 low-level track and five road races, including three half marathons. Then he told his dad and coach that he was thinking about running a marathon in the fall, and his response was, “I think that’s a terrible idea.” They agreed to take it week by week and make a decision in October. “Maybe a month ago, I sat down with my dad and we watched all the workouts I did and I think he said, “I think you can do it.” Training was going well with 120-130 runs per week. His father wanted him to attempt 26 miles earlier in the day. So he did a 20 mile run preceded by a 3 mile run warm-up followed by a 3-mile warm-up. After doing that, they were sure his body was ready for the marathon.
As a track runner, Jess found the marathon training routine challenging. “I think it teaches you to be mentally strong because it’s week to week. You just have to keep putting in the miles and not really get the reward because you can’t just jump into the race. You can’t do it because it was hard to train because I was tired all the time. that everything will be okay in the end, it’s very different from a season where you train yourself.
In part three, Jess takes us on the day of the New York City Marathon
