892. Emma Coburn & Parker Valby, Training Partners
6/25/20261 hr 11 min
"We're basically the same person, just 12 years apart."
Emma Coburn and Parker Valby are professional runners, Olympians, New Balance athletes — and now, they're training partners. In this conversation, Emma and Parker talk about how they became friends, and how Parker ended up being coached by Emma's husband (and coach) Joe Bosshard in Boulder, CO. (Joe makes another brief appearance in this episode!) Parker talks about her 14:39 5000m personal best at the USATF Distance Classic this summer, and Emma reflects on this season's return to racing after injury.
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IN THIS EPISODE:
- What's making Emma and Parker happy today (4:00)
- Where in the world is Parker Valby? (6:00)
- Why Parker has always looked up to Emma, and all about their first memories of meeting each other (6:50)
- How Parker and Emma became friends and training partners (13:40)
- Parker reflects on the first year of her professional career, dealing with injury, coaching changes, and multiple moves (23:50)
- What Parker was looking for in a coach, and why Joe Bosshard was a fit (30:15)
- How Parker and Emma both worked their ways back from their respective injuries (33:35)
- Parker and Emma reflect on their returns to racing (41:00)
- What's next on the racing calendar for Parker and Emma (52:55)
- How Emma and Parker are most alike, and how they're different (55:30)
- On the pressure of being Emma Coburn (1:01:00)
- What does it mean to be The Next Emma Coburn? (1:05:45)
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsAli Feller· Host0:00
[upbeat music] Welcome to the Alle on the Run show. I'm your host, Alle Feller, and this is where I talk with people who are doing exciting things on the run and beyond. From professional athletes and celebrity runners to the everyday amateur and back-of-the-pack runner, we are here to celebrate the people who make up the running community. Whether you're running towards something big or away from something that's been holding you back, I am here to hold your hand and help you pick up the pace. I am super excited to share today's conversation with professional runners Emma Coburn and Parker Valby. They are both New Balance athletes. They are both, let's be honest, stunning, gorgeous, fast, blonde women. And at some point over the past year, these two became not just friends, but training partners as well. So I had questions, and today they are giving answers. We talk about how this friendship came to be and about what their relationship is like. We talk about what's new with Parker, like how she ended up in Colorado full time being coached by Emma's husband, Joe Bossard, who makes a brief and unexpected appearance in this episode. And we talk about her recent return to racing after injury, and that fresh personal best, running 14:39 in the 5,000 meters at the USATF Distance Classic. And we talk about Emma's return to racing this year too, which has had a big up and a bit of a down, but Emma is healthy, she's fit, she's excited, she's invigorated, and both she and Parker have exciting summer racing