Episode 23: Don’t Call it a Comeback

Human Race

Elite runner Brandon Hudgins had the storybook ending to a remarkable comeback at the 2016 Olympic Track Trials. Over eight years, he fought three relapses of a rare form of the autoimmune disease vasculitis to qualify in the 1,500 meters.

When the disease strikes, it attacks the very organs needed to run fast—the blood vessels that transport oxygen to muscles. In a matter of weeks during a relapse, he can go from being able to run a mile in under four minutes, to barely being able to plod through one in 15. He’s suffered depression and anxiety because of his health, maxed out credit cards, and had to quit his job because he is too sick to work.

But in spite of these biological, mental, and financial obstacles, in front of his parents, friends, coach, and 20,000 spectators on a sopping, rainy Hayward field in Eugene, Oregon, he placed ninth in a semi-final heat—the highlight of his professional career.

This week, we explore what happened after that storybook comeback in 2016. Brandon wants to run faster, to chase his dream of being a top-level elite runner. But he has body that steals his talent just when things are going his way.

This episode of The Runner's World Show is brought to you by Brooks. Sign up for the Brooks Big Endorsement and become a sponsored athlete at www.BrooksAthlete.com/rw.

Additional Reading:

This Unsponsored Athlete has the Comeback Story of the Trials by Kit Fox

Vasculitis Foundation

Credits:

Host: Rachel Swaby

Producers: Kit Fox, Rachel Swaby

Feedback by: Christine Fennessy, Brian Dalek, Sylvia Ryerson

Theme Music: Danny Cocke

Human Race is a proud part of Panoply

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