This week, the popular ‘Sunday Plodcast’ show interviewed former Clonliffe Harrier and Irish international athlete Alistair Cragg, a European Indoor gold medallist, 3-time Olympian and currently head coach of North Carolina’s Puma Elite, to discuss his growing impact on distance running. Now based in North Carolina, Alistair and his wife and co-coach Amy Cragg are guiding top US and international athletes including Fiona O’Keeffe (US), Pat Tiernan (AUS), Patrick Dever, Rose Harvey, and Jack Rowe (GB), as they chase major championships over the marathon. The discussion ranges from his tutelage under the legendary Arkansas coach John McDonnell, his self-described “failure” as a pro-athlete, his unplanned, organic move into coaching and athlete representation, his strength and endurance focused approach, and his thoughts on the marathon standard today with records being broken on a regular basis.
The Sunday Plodcast is a UK-based weekly podcast dedicated to raising the profile of elite distance running, featuring interviews with current and former athletes and coaches in the sport. Indeed, they have previewed and covered UK distance athletes competing in the Morton Games over recent years.
You can watch the Alastair Cragg interview in Episode 220 at the Sunday Plodcast youtube channel at:
Or listen on Spotify, Apple or other podcast apps. You can also find and listen back to their interview with fellow Harrier and Olympian Cathal Doyle from last autumn, in Episode 186 in their catalogue.