Two-time Olympic champion Ashton Eaton embraces distance running

It’s been seven years since two-time Olympic and world decathlon champion Ashton Eaton called it a career, but he has not hung up the running shoes quite yet. The 35-year-old ran in the Portland Half-Marathon over the weekend and tweeted about how taken aback he was by the toughness of distance running.

Eaton finished the half marathon in just under an hour and 50 minutes for 530th place overall. Eaton took to social media post-race to share how his body was feeling. “I think I ran 1:49. During the run, I felt fine, but now I feel like I can’t move at all. Insanely painful.”

During Eaton’s professional career, despite being the only decathlete to break the 9,000-point mark twice, he was never particularly dominant at distance events. His weakest event of the 10 was known to be the final one—the men’s 1,500m—an event where he only had a personal best of 4:14.48.

Eaton wasn’t only surprised by how painful half-marathons are; he also posted that he was astonished by the variety of running styles. “Runners are basically like fingerprints,” wrote Eaton. “I’ve always admired the mental toughness of distance running, and now even more so. It was a very cool experience.”

It’s clear that Eaton is now embracing life as a distance runner in his retirement. Last week, Eaton was named an event ambassador at India’s Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon, scheduled for Oct. 15.

Eaton and his wife, Canada’s Brianne Theisen-Eaton, retired from the sport at the prime of their respective careers in 2017. Eaton was coming off defending his Olympic gold medal at the Rio Olympics. While Theisen-Eaton won bronze in the heptathlon at the same Olympics. The multi-events power couple now live and reside in Oregon with their three-year-old boy.

posted Tuesday October 3rd
by Marley Dickinson