One amazing runner’s journey to clean eating (and to winning the London marathon in his age group at the age of 56)

My first couple of stories about Yuri Strofilov were a little rushed. As a passionate runner, I was very excited about getting to know Yuri and getting a glimpse into his lifestyle and philosophy. How could I not be excited?! The man ran a 2 hour 38 min marathon at the age of 56. He’s technically the world champion in his age group. I was over the moon when I broke the three-hour marathon barrier at the age of 41. Now I know how much I can improve over the years to come! I should note that Yuri ran his first marathon at the age of 50. Isn’t that fascinating?

One of the most stunning discoveries about Yuri’s approach was related to his eating habits. He eats once a day, in the evening. His diet is gluten-free, meat-free, carbs-free… He’s not beer-free! He drinks it every day after his training.

Again — my initial couple of notes about Yuri and his eating were a little rushed. I shared them on a Facebook group dedicated to marathon running. While some commentators applauded, a couple were skeptical; one called it a “fad diet”.

Yuri and I arranged a live conversation specifically on this topic. This story is a summary of our chat, with direct quotes and a few minor redactions.