Making Distance Cool: with Dominique Scott-Efurd

This week’s guest is Dominique Scott-Efurd, a two-time Olympian who trains with the “Team Boss” group in Boulder, Colorado. Dom turned heads earlier this month with her 67:32 half marathon at Houston in only her second attempt at the distance, the #2 all-time mark by a South African.

We covered a lot of ground in this episode, and we hit on pretty much anything you’ve ever wanted to know about Dom’s history and relationship with running. We talked about her path to pro running, her racing plans for 2022, the differences between the Rio and Tokyo Olympics, her family history at the Comrades Marathon, her thoughts on the pressure of social media, and much, much more. Toward the end of the episode, you’ll also get a great explainer on the South African selection process for world championships and the story behind Dom getting left off the worlds team in 2017. We hope you enjoy this detailed conversation and exclusive look into Dom’s unique perspective on the sport.

On being a two-time Olympian:

“Going into Tokyo five years [after Rio], I felt like I knew the faces, I knew what I was doing […] I felt like I was here to compete this time, not just participate. But I skipped one very important part – some heat training. I posted on social media that I was the fittest I’d ever been and I still believe that, but I wasn’t able to show that in results on the track.”

On her spring racing plans:

“I’m going to run more on the roads. I already have my 10k qualifier for Eugene and I’m going to go home in April to run the [South African] championships and hopefully make the team there. But beyond that, I’m going to stick to the 10k on the track and run on the roads otherwise.”

On the need for more media support for athletes:

“I feel like there’s a lot of pressure on professional athletes to post on social media and not a lot of support. And I do try, but it’s honestly hard. It sucks to be in a workout and have to think about getting content from the workout so you can make a post. The athletes are really trying, but it’s tough to do on your own.”