{"id":45,"date":"2025-10-08T22:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T22:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marathonfail.com\/?p=45"},"modified":"2025-11-11T22:12:40","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T22:12:40","slug":"45","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marathonfail.com\/?p=45","title":{"rendered":"For Immediate Release: Bungled Races Births  Marathon Book for the Rest of Us:"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>For review copies, uncensored interviews, or unsolicited running advice, please contact:<br>marathon.fail@gmail.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>50 Ways to Fuck Up a Marathon!&nbsp; An amateur\u2019s guide to #marathonfails<\/strong><em><br><\/em><em>Fortified with 30+ Grim and Tragic Tales, <\/em>50 Ways to Fuck Up<em> Delivers Humorous But Life-Changing&nbsp; Advice for Training and Racing<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Boston, MA \u2013 <\/strong>Somewhere between how-to manuals for total idiots and dense tomes on running economy for elites, squats <em>50 Ways to Fuck Up a Marathon! An amateur\u2019s guide to #marathonfails<\/em>, the newly-published, hard-nosed, tough-love guide for distance running newbies, heartbroken veterans, and motivated runners of all levels who want to suck less at 26.2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Marathons typically suck because of both the running <em>and<\/em> the epic tragedies that result from small, dumb mistakes in race selection, training, fueling, and clothing\u2014mistakes no one bothers to mention. Experienced marathoners know dozens of tips for averting catastrophe, but most books focus on training plans and run mechanics. The practical lore that veterans rely on to survive a three-to-six hour ordeal has never been collected, vetted, and organized in one place\u2026until now. Yen has produced a catalogue of failure, sifted from thousands of miles of bungled racing, wrapped in a love letter for terrified newbies, heartbroken veterans, and anyone in the middle desperately wanting to improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Inside are 50+ straightforward lessons all marathoners learn the hard way, bolstered with lurid tales of disaster and inspiring moments of intestinal fortitude. With help from Ashley Diehl, Todd Callaghan, and 40 other marathoners, Yen has curated these fails into a must-read guide for anyone considering a marathon.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re not putting out the dumpster fire, though,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re just tamping it down. If we can avoid a shit-stained leg or mangled toenail, mission accomplished. Boston Qualifying times are a bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><em>50 Ways to Fuck Up a Marathon!<\/em> is now available at Amazon in print and ebook formats at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/50-Ways-Fuck-Up-Marathon\/dp\/B0FTT8G8GJ\">https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/50-Ways-Fuck-Up-Marathon\/dp\/B0FTT8G8GJ<\/a> and will soon be distributed via IngramSpark to bookstores everywhere.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About the Author<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Alen Yen is a thoroughly mid runner who\u2019s fucked up over twenty marathons. He has extensive firsthand experience with glycogen depletion, cracked toenails, and bloody thighs. A six-time loser at qualifying for Boston (twice within 60 seconds!), he\u2019s particularly known for stellar track sessions that didn\u2019t translate into effective distance racing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A certified run coach, three-time Boston Qualifier, Wicked Running Club Ambassador and Former President, shoe tester for PUMA, and (hopefully by now) Abbott Six Star medalist, he enjoys dwelling on the past, overanalyzing, and furiously jotting it all down. He\u2019s been featured in the Boston Globe, providing advice on how runners should address extreme conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When not limping through finish lines, Yen is President and Creative Director at iFactory and Senior Vice President at RDW Group, one of New England\u2019s largest independent advertising and interactive agencies. His background is in industrial design and education, and his passion is information design and dissemination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For review copies, uncensored interviews, or unsolicited running advice, please contact:marathon.fail@gmail.com 50 Ways to Fuck Up a Marathon!&nbsp; An amateur\u2019s guide to #marathonfailsFortified with 30+ Grim and Tragic Tales, 50 Ways to Fuck Up Delivers Humorous But Life-Changing&nbsp; Advice for Training and Racing Boston, MA \u2013 Somewhere between how-to manuals for total idiots and dense&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/marathonfail.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/boom-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/marathonfail.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/boom-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"fwtfu","author_link":"https:\/\/marathonfail.com\/?author=1"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marathonfail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marathonfail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marathonfail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marathonfail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marathonfail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marathonfail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marathonfail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/46"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marathonfail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marathonfail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marathonfail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}