Planet Fitness Treadmills Get Their Moment Ahead of Chicago Marathon

Vincent Mauri, a 25-year-old American marathoner, broke onto the scene this spring when he unexpectedly dropped the fourth-fastest time ever at a local race. His unorthodox training routine includes local Planet Fitness gyms

If you walk into one of the Planet Fitness gyms near Warren, Ohio, there’s a good chance that you’ll find 25-year-old Vincent Mauri pounding away on a treadmill at a smooth 5:00-5:30/mile pace.

He’s preparing for the Chicago Marathon this weekend, doing most of his training on treadmills at two Planet Fitness gyms in Northeast Ohio, where he’s from, he told LetsRun.com in a recent interview.

Recently, Mauri logged a total of 45 miles in one day — all on Planet Fitness treadmills — with 36 of them at an average pace of 4:56/mile. After that, 29.16 miles at 5:09/mile, and 30.42 miles in 2:32, or 5:01/mile pace.

Just six months ago, Mauri was relatively unknown in the running world. That was until this April, when he ran the fourth-best time ever by an American man in the marathon — 2:05:54, or 4:48/mile — at the Glass City Marathon in Toledo, Ohio. He secured his first sponsorship deal with major running brand Asics only a few weeks ago.

But now all eyes are on Mauri, not only because of his breakout performance this spring, but because of his unheard of training routine. This weekend, he’ll toe the line at the prestigious Chicago Marathon, a race known for its flat, fast course where Americans often go to break national records. Many wonder if it’ll be Mauri shattering the 2:04:43 American record set just last year by Nike-sponsored Conner Mantz.

When Mauri dropped one of the fastest marathons by an American ever, people were skeptical, wondering if there were performance-enhancing substances at play. Just a couple weeks ago, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) made a trip to Mauri’s Planet Fitness and tested him while he was working out. 

“I got there, they did the blood draw at the lobby table while I got on the treadmill for my warm-up — so people are walking into Planet Fitness and I’ve got a band around my arm with a needle in it,” he told Citius Mag in a recent interview. “Then I did the urine sample after my warm-up.”

Mauri’s training has baffled coaches, other professionals and followers of the sport, who are amazed by both the sheer volume (as he routinely averages 122 miles per week), as well as the mental fortitude — or insanity — of doing most of that work on Planet Fitness treadmills, alone, often before and after working at a local running store in Youngstown.

Mauri told LetsRun that he’s found numerous advantages to training on treadmills, where he doesn’t have to worry about weather conditions, as well as the convenience of bathroom breaks and having his gels and electrolytes handy.

But a bigger reason he opts for the treadmill, he shared, is to keep himself in check and make sure he doesn’t go too fast on his runs (even though he rarely goes above 6:00/mile pace, according to his Strava).

“I honestly just can’t control my effort outside enough,” Mauri told LetsRun. “…When I’m thinking about racing or visualizing race strategy, I just get really excited.”

He pointed to a “recovery run” he did outside a few weeks ago, intending to run 6:10/mile — he ended up averaging 5:25 pace, hitting sub-5:00 by the end.

While Planet Fitness’ treadmills have not gotten Mauri this far, they’re not without their limitations. The gym’s treadmills cut off automatically after an hour, forcing Mauri to stop and start his runs once or twice per session as he restarts the machine.

Anyone who has run on a treadmill knows how long it can make workouts feel, watching the miles slowly tick away on the screen ahead of you. That’s why Mauri covers the treadmill’s display screen, he said.

Spending as much time as he does at his local Planet Fitness locations, Mauri has gotten friendly with the staff, he noted, and the company even gave him a free one-year membership, a quarter-zip and a water bottle to use during his workouts. He said they’ve reached out for a potential partnership, but for now he’s focused on the race.

“I love their gyms,” he told Citius.

Mauri even ensures to rotate which treadmills he uses so he doesn’t cause permanent damage pounding away at the machine’s max speed — it doesn’t go faster than 4:50/mi, slower than his 4:48/mi average at his last marathon.

As for other Planet Fitness members, they seem blissfully unaware of what Mauri is doing, he said.

“Realistically, they don’t realize — or why would they care — what I’m doing,” Mauri pointed out. “There’s never been a time where anyone has gotten upset that I’m on the treadmill for that long, if that’s what you’re getting at…Everyone has their headphones in. I don’t think anyone’s really worrying about anyone else.”

He is now reportedly in talks with different treadmill brands to help secure one of his own for at-home training, according to his agent, Hawi Keflezighi.

Mauri admitted he’ll be going out with the other top Americans to go after that coveted national record in Chicago. On October 11, everyone watching will see if his jaw-dropping training pays off.