#12 – Rory Linkletter: Scaling Up to the Olympics

My guest today is Rory Linkletter, a professional athlete who recently ran the Paris Olympic Marathon and the New York Marathon. Rory’s current personal best in the marathon is an impressive 2:08:01, which makes him the top Canadian marathon runner and the third-best Canadian performance ever. This episode, as you might guess, is different from the others. I wanted to talk to Rory because he inspired me greatly when I went to Paris to watch the race. Most importantly, I am convinced that there is much we can learn from professional athletes, especially marathon runners. In our conversation, we explore how Rory scaled his mental and physical abilities. I draw many parallels with the academic and policy worlds, delving into what we can learn from his process, the power laws he has identified, and his relationship with science. Scaling Theory is not turning into a running podcast, but, true to its mission, it remains focused on exploring the scaling laws behind everything—be it economic, technical, or biological systems. Rory opens new doors regarding this last subject. I hope you enjoy our discussion.