22. Jess McClain

This episode is an interview with professional runner for Brooks and 2:22:43 marathoner, Jess McClain. Jess grew up in Arizona, where she was a 4x Footlocker qualifier and 14x state champion while in HS. She went on to run for Stanford and became a 7x All-American. Jess signed a professional contract with Brooks out of college and went to train with Brooks Beasts in Washington, but really struggled with the transition and to stay healthy. She ultimately ended up moving back home with her parents and stepping away from running professionally, and transitioned to working full time in marketing.

After deciding to train for a marathon for her 30th birthday, Jess ended up running an OTQ and placed 4th at the 2024 Olympic Trials in the marathon. She signed a new professional contract with Brooks, and since then has finished as the top American and 7th overall at the 2025 Boston Marathon and represented Team USA at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo where she placed 8th in the world in the marathon. Jess also works full time for the nonprofit LoveUp foundation, focusing on foster youth advocacy, and as the executive director and marketing consultant of her own LLC.

In this episode, we talk about:

• What is was like finding immediate success in high school and how she learned to navigate race day nerves
• Her transition to collegiate running and why it's important to give you and your body time to adjust to college without putting pressure on yourself to achieve big things right away
• How she struggled in her transition to professional running and why hitting the eject button was the best thing she did for herself and her running career
• The importance of advocating for yourself and surrounding yourself who have a good relationship with food, body image, health, and the sport in general
• What it was like to OTQ without expecting to, and how that experience inspired her to keep the joy in running
• What she has learned about fueling for the demands of marathon training, and how fueling
• The process of having her eggs frozen, and why she made that decision this year

You can follow along with Jess on Instagram @jesstonn.