Writing On Running

Worked with the team at Trailrunner Magazine to capture the meaning of Tommy Rivs running the NYC Marathon,

Leaving Home to Find It Again

Worked with friends at Tracksmith to capture the feeling of summer 2021 as marathoners prepared for a historic fall season of races,

A Marathon Season Deferred

A story about my two-year journey to attempt to qualify for the USA Olympic Trials Marathon - click here to read on Medium

This piece was honored with selection in The Year’s Best Sports Writing 2021. It was the only self-published piece included.

I had the pleasure to be interviewed by Mario Fraioli, a friend and host of The Morning Shakeout Podcast, you can find the episode here

I had the honor of being interviewed by Matt Chittim for his podcast following athletes up to the Trials in February.

The episode is available here

A piece trying to make sense of the mental struggle of workouts.

https://medium.com/@bromka/confine-your-runner-mind-59724cfe21c4

“I’ve considered dropping out of every one of the best workouts I’ve ever completed. With my body and mind overloaded it simply seemed like too much.

“There’s no way I can hit that split again for this next one. I must stop soon.” I decided. But then, in that moment of resignation, when I’d settled on a plan to quit, I already felt better. While still traveling at the same pace I was more at ease. With the plan to stop in place the effort felt less onerous since my mind was already relaxed. Which, irritatingly, meant I must go on.”

“If we do this will people accuse us of cheating?” Someone wondered aloud.

“No, not doing this is against everything TSP stands for. If we shy away from a faster way to Vegas we might as well shut this whole thing down “cause it’s become a glorified team relay,” was the emphatic reply.”

The full story of our adventure winning The Speed Project 5.0 is available here

I’d never understood the emotional journey of The BQ till the OTQ punched me in the gut.

After running 3:08 for my first marathon I was qualified for Patriot’s Day and didn’t look back. Sub-3 came next, and while I encouraged my friends to chase their qualifier, I had no real idea what it meant.

After all I thought, running is simply about aiming to better your best, right? Breaking 4 hours to some is similar to breaking 2:30 to others, a milestone of meaning that signifies commitment and progress. A process of picking the next threshold beyond your current best and dedicating to incremental improvement.

https://medium.com/@bromka/qualifier-queasiness-1406b2ebbe71

“Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

The poet Dylan Thomas wasn’t a runner, but he would have fit in with the sub-masters running crowd fighting the tide towards 40.

https://medium.com/@bromka/do-not-go-gentle-6e8a4ecb32ec

“Gabe would not die today. At least not if she had a say.

Having reviewed dire medical labs, her family had made the excruciating decision to move her to comfort care, dialing back her comprehensive medical treatment.

But Gabe, who framed her own perspective on life each day, especially in her final days, had other intentions.”

https://medium.com/@bromka/not-today-85fd705257b4

“Maybe I could do that…” You say to yourself as you sit, scrolling across another run by a friend or foe.

And maybe you could. But in this case you didn’t. Cause right now you’re in recline, possibly eating, reading or relaxing. As our running lives increasingly collide with our digital selves the physicality of the sport is consumed in a digital layer. While there will always be a new digital tool: a better method of measuring your oxygen, power or heart, it’s the softer stratum, the social influence, that impacts us most as Digital Runners.

https://medium.com/@bromka/the-digital-runner-853e9f0cbed7

A story about my run with the elites at the 2019 Boston Marathon can be found here:

https://tempojournal.com/article/belonging-a-boston-marathon-story/

Jason and I discuss the marathon at length. We we love it, how I approach it, and how I’ve managed to progress my personal best so much over the years https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-95-peter-bromka-on-the-fear-and-hope-of-the-marathon/id1170932252?i=1000437620306

We talk about training, wild goals, and getting comfortable being uncomfortable

Link here

Laying out my goals for the coming year in 2019…

https://medium.com/@bromka/what-about-the-kenyans-1c93b48ae3ed

The story of my run for an Olympic Trials Qualifier at the 2018 Cal International Marathon.

https://tempojournal.com/article/keep-on-dreamin/

An essay about marathoning, why we do it, and what to expect

The Marathon Doesn’t Owe You Anything

My story of running The Speed Project with team Tracksmith,

“When Everything Isn’t Enough”

https://journal.tracksmith.com/when-everything-isnt-enough

“Two relay teams collided, together forcing each other to explore a terrifying and painful space beyond the threshold of our perceived ability. 

Most of modern life is composed of safety and reason within bounds that’ve been certified, ensured, and guaranteed. Someone sets the speed limit, checks the ingredients and builds the bumpers to keep us secure. 

Teams battling for every inch over 30 hours is fully beyond the perimeter of safety. No one checked to see if this made any sense at all.

The outcome of Speed Project 4.0 was horrible and wonderful, entirely accidental and completely by design. A collection of strangers assembled from across the globe to destroy themselves together for little more than to see how they would break.

Sometimes the point isn’t to finish unscathed, it’s to sprint together into guaranteed destruction just to discover where you will fail.”

A quick story printed in Runner’s World Magazine July 2018

“You won’t believe what I saw” - 55 incredible, terrifying, hilarious things we’ve encountered on the run

An amazing day at the Eugene Half Marathon,

https://medium.com/@bromka/straight-flush-69b075dcb90

A declaration that my Bowerman Track Club teammates and I are will be pursuing the Olympic Trials Qualifier on December 2nd,

https://medium.com/@bromka/burn-the-boat-28374aa0327e

A piece for Runnersworld.com on how I approach running the Boston Marathon,

https://www.runnersworld.com/races-places/a19711892/tips-for-running-boston-marathon/

“It’s a culmination of years of your life into a moment that’s too hard and too long and too much to handle.

Done correctly, years of aspiration, determination, and effort converge into a instant that’s overwhelming and unforgettable.

As marathoners, these are the small handful of diamonds we forge through a lifetime of pressure. The lifestyle is the gift, these finish lines are the reward. This is why we do this. This is why we love this. This is who we are.”

On December 3rd 2017 our team from the Bowerman Track Club put together an amazing team performance at the Cal International Marathon, this is our story,

https://medium.com/@bromka/together-41f993465437

Why do we run like this?

Why do we train so hard for these times and accomplishments?

My thoughts,

“Why Faster?”

https://medium.com/@bromka/together-41f993465437

At the 2017 World Championships in London, one race was poised to contain all the necessary ingredients to deliver the human spectacle of racing,

The Women’s 1500 meters,

It did not disappoint.

https://medium.com/@bromka/the-perfect-race-586d7839a5a9

My 5 Ways to race a marathon without Bonking,

https://medium.com/@bromka/how-not-to-bonk-b0551a50f2db

The 2016 Boston Marathon will always feel like a dream; a surreal day in which I exceeded all expectations.
The 2017 Boston Marathon could never be that. It was a journey of stress, heat, doubt and mental demons.

But I did it again.

Here is my story of how I managed to "Prove It."

https://medium.com/@bromka/prove-it-9256eefbd16a

It just so happens that Post-Marathon Blues matches my initials, PMB.

Outside Magazine interviewed me on the topic,

“How to fight post-marathon blue”

https://www.outsideonline.com/2178091/how-fight-post-marathon-blues

Since the Boston Marathon a lot of people have asked how I train, what I’ve been doing, and how I’ve continued to improve as a Marathoner in my mid-30s with a 1-year old son at home.

https://medium.com/@bromka/how-i-run-a-k-a-dad-strength-aa4340b37ad5

The 2017 Boston Marathon was an incredible day. I dared to chase the dream of breaking 2:30 and achieved more than I ever imagined,

https://medium.com/@bromka/9-000-seconds-da6cdb8ad285

My father is a runner. And so am I.

This is our story,

“Raised a Runner”

https://medium.com/@bromka/raised-to-run-2581e07bd830

This was my first piece of writing about running.