This story was written in partnership with Wahoo

These days, efficiency is key for Jess McClain. Well before sunrise in Phoenix, Arizona—where morning temperatures already reach scorching levels—the elite marathoner sets out for her first steady run of the day.

With a Wahoo KICKR RUN treadmill in her garage, McClain doesn’t have to go far to log those early miles—and start her active work day well ahead of schedule. 

On top of being a professional runner for Brooks, McClain is the executive director of two nonprofit organizations—one focused on dog rescue and the other on foster youth. She also balances freelance marketing projects. Since returning to the sport in earnest, the world championship finalist has designed her life in a way that allows her to optimize both athletic and professional pursuits—now with a renewed perspective. 

“If I have a tough workout that doesn’t go great, I just move on and go to work,” McClain tells FloTrack. “I don’t have much time to feel sorry for myself or overthink things anymore. One bad workout is not going to derail your whole build.”

When McClain came back to elite running in 2024 after quitting the sport for several years, she didn’t set out to run at an elite level. She just missed the feeling of testing herself in races. “I think [quitting] gave me a lot of perspective I needed, mostly for my body to heal and find other things in life that make me feel fulfilled,” McClain says. 

In her comeback, McClain, 34, embraced a multifaceted approach. Instead of placing her whole focus on making podiums and global teams, as she did when she ran professionally for Brooks from 2015-2019, she returned as a working professional with ambitions beyond running. As a result, she’s achieved some of her best performances to date. 

In the 2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, McClain stunned the competition when she almost made the Olympic team—finishing fourth in a 2:25:46 personal best in Orlando, Florida. That same year, she finished just off the podium again in the 10,000 meters at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon. Last year, McClain placed eighth for Team USA in the marathon at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. 

In April, McClain broke through again at the Boston Marathon, where she finished fifth in 2:20:49—a new American women’s course record. On September 20, she placed seventh in the half marathon, notching a 1:06:53 personal best at the World Athletics Road Championships in Copenhagen. 

Along with a healthier perspective, McClain’s dialed-in training routine is a major contributor to her recent success. Her work schedule is a hybrid format between in-office and work from home, which allows her flexibility in planning workouts for 80-mile weeks with support from her coach, ultrarunner David Roche. 

Since receiving the KICKR RUN earlier this year, McClain has embraced the smart treadmill as an efficient training tool. “I was such an anti-treadmill person for so long, and honestly hadn’t found a treadmill I loved as much as the KICKR RUN,” McClain says. “It feels as close to running outside while also giving your legs the break that they need from pounding pavement.”

When she’s not meeting her training partners along the canals in Phoenix, she uses the KICKR RUN for steady miles to avoid the heat and get some extra sleep in the morning. The treadmill’s deck is balanced between cushion and energy return, similar to running on asphalt or packed dirt. The KICKR RUN also uses advanced position sensing, allowing users to run at any pace without needing to adjust the belt speed manually. 

McClain often uses the treadmill for double runs and post-run hill sprints and strides—adjusting the incline settings using the accessible control paddles to simulate the hills of the race she’s training for. Right now, the hill grades are calibrated for the notorious climbs along the New York City Marathon course. Using the Wahoo app, McClain uploaded a gpx file that allows her to simulate the exact course profile on the KICKR RUN. 

It’s been two years since McClain ran New York in what was her first World Marathon Major (she ran 2:27:19 for eighth place in 2024). She approached the race differently back then, feeling nervous amid the pressure of returning to the world stage, she says. Now with a wider range of pursuits and more experience competing at a higher level, McClain is embracing her place on the elite start line as a privilege—and major opportunity on Sunday. 

“We need an American on the podium, so if it’s not me, it’s going to be somebody else,” McClain says. “That’s my goal going in, just keeping that [finish] in sight and trying to dream bigger.”

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