At the start of the 2021 Boston Marathon, American CJ Albertson jumped out to the lead, taking the early downhills quickly and separating from the rest of the men’s elite pack. Albertson covered the first half in 64:08, opening up a 2:13 gap on the field.
The 2021 Boston Marathon was Albertson’s first World Marathon Major. He holds a marathon PR of 2:11:18, which he ran last December at the Marathon Project Cutoff Time for 2025 Boston Marathon Is 6:51 second at Grandma’s Marathon in 2:14:29.
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While that lead in Boston wouldn’t last—Albertson slowed around the 20-mile mark as the pack picked up the pace, and they caught him before the 21st mile—the Brooks-sponsored runner hung tough to the end. He finished 10th, and second American (behind Colin Bennie), in 2:11:44.
“For the first 20 miles, I thought it was a training run. I was by myself and got some people to cheer for me. The most fun race I’ve ever ran” Albertson said. “Definitely didn’t expect that to happen. It was fun, I was in the lead and when the guys came, I was like ‘all right now it’s time to race’. Thankfully at that point there were only five miles left in the race, so I just gave it everything I had.”
On November 8, 2020, Albertson ran 125 laps around a track in 2:42:30 to:
He held the 50K world record, set on an outdoor track
Health & Injuries Shoes & Gear. He maintained a rhythm of about 78-second laps—a 5:14 per mile pace—to beat the previous record by more than a minute. That record has since been lowered by 23 seconds.
He holds the indoor marathon world record
Albertson ran a 2:17:59 indoor marathon in April 2019 at the Indoor Marathon World Record Challenge, setting a world record on the 200-meter track at The Armory in New York City. To top it off, he took home a $7,000 prize.
He has a Peloton treadmill, and he challenged himself to finish in the top spot in as many classes as possible
The Psychology Behind Runners Obsession With BQs Peloton membership when he got his treadmill. In the February, he logged 340.59 miles on his Tread, and he earned 57 first-place rankings on the leaderboard.
in Chandler, Arizona. On June 19, Albertson finished.
He’s a teacher and the track and cross-country coach at Clovis Community College in Fresno, California
In 2018, his first year coaching, he led the men’s and women’s teams to the state championships. In 2019, the women’s team finished third at the Northern Regional Championships.
His wife, Chelsey, is pregnant
Because she’s due in just a few weeks, she did not travel with him to Boston.
It’s his birthday! 🥳
And, like so many of us, he forgot to cancel his free membership trial at the end of the month.
“My wife loves birthdays, but she’s back at home because we’re having a baby in three weeks” Albertson told WBZ TV in Boston. “She loves birthdays, so she was excited that this was my present.”
