Notes from a Hired Pen: How did this get made? Slate

Readers!

Time to talk about pitching again! Or at least share one.

The Story
“Climate Change is Coming for the Marathon,” Slate, September 23, 2025

The Back Story
This is one of those stories I always wanted to write when I wrote the New York Times running newsletter, but never got to it. By the time someone died in the 2022 Brooklyn Half, I had been done writing it for more than a year. When someone died in this year’s race, I thought I really needed to get going with this.

I’ve written for this editor a few times before (and pitched her first because I like working with her!), so I wasn’t as formal as I would be when approaching an editor cold. I also didn’t need to show her clips. She knows!

Also, the formatting of the pitch was being squirrely as I worked on this — sorry about that.

The Pitch

Hey [EDITOR]. [Personal conversation you don’t need to know]

Second, of course I have an idea for a September story: that world marathoning is not ready for climate change.

I would break this into two parts: presenting the problem, and then potential solutions.

The problem. You know this and I know this, but it’s getting hotter. Not only is it making training for races more difficult, but it’s becoming an issue for the races themselves too, at both the professional and amateur levels.

A 2022 study in Nature predicted a 22% decline in cities that could host an Olympic marathon, but even those cities that “should” be safe aren’t. The women’s marathon in the 2024 Paris Olympics hit close to 90 degrees. And that study is not accounting for sports governing bodies that pick host cities based on politics instead of safety. The 2019 World Athletics marathon was held in Doha, Qatar. The start time was moved to 11:59 p.m. to try to beat the heat, but it didn’t work. It was still close to 90 degrees at the start, and 28 of 68 competitors didn’t finish.

And those are the pros! What about regular runners like most of the people who compete in these races? The 2022 (November) New York City Marathon was 71 degrees at the start. Two people have died in the (May) Brooklyn Half Marathon, one in 2022 and one this year.

Solutions. I’ve said this before, but races need to be more flexible with their deferral and refund policies, and be more willing to cancel events. I knew a few people who ran that very hot New York City Marathon despite the weather, because they paid so much for it and/or worked so hard (with 9+1) that they didn’t want to chuck $315 out the window.

Races have a flag system, which are supposed to indicate risk (green means safe, red means trouble), but that seems more like a way to shove responsibility onto runners, when organizations should be more willing to cancel. Some have, which is a change, but not enough (could you imagine NYC being cancelled for a hot day? I can’t).

The 2023 Twin Cities Marathon, always held at the end of September or early October, was cancelled in 2023 due to extreme heat, which was unusual for that part of the country that time of year — or at least it was. It’s not anymore.

I would peg this to the fall marathon season, which starts (give or take) October 5 with that Twin Cities Marathon. They email me all the time, so I don’t think it would be difficult to get them to talk about the logistics of that (when did they decide, what costs did they eat, what did insurance cover, that kind of thing).

Let me know what you think! I’m also living in Italy for two months this year (August and September) in case you are looking for anything from there haha.

The Timeline
Initial pitch: June 23, 2025

Assigned: July 2, 2024

Submitted: August 14, 2025

Publication Date: September 23, 2025

Paid: Soon (my invoice has been approved for payment, and they’ve always paid promptly after publication, so I’m not worried about that).

As a freelancer, I don’t know what kind of traffic the story is getting, but it’s making its way through the running influencer spaces, based on what I’m seeing on my personal Instagram. That’s still happening as of the last time I checked, so this story (unfortunately for the world) has legs.

Recent Bylines

“Tackling familiar cyber threats with smarter tools,” Independent Banker

“What does ‘job hugging’ mean for the workplace?” HR Dive

“Rare needs representation too,” CHEST Advocates

What I’m Reading

Rumoured by Kelly Mancaruso and Kristina Mancaruso. When international superstar Harlow Hayes is arrested for the death of her ex-boyfriend, tabloid journalist Naomi Barnes is sent to cover the case. But this gets way more twisted and darker than Barnes could have imagined. I had some quibbles with it (too much flowery language to describe stuff that doesn’t matter, and the fake newspaper stories are not in AP style which yes is going to annoy me!), but it’s an attention grabber and something to escape into if you need a break from [waves hands].

What I’m Watching

Death in Apartment 603: What Happened to Ellen Greenberg? I remembered this one: a Philadelphia school teacher dies from 20 stab wounds, and the medical examiner ruled it a suicide. Huh? Her family has been fighting — and is still fighting — that decision. It’s a truly awful story.
Superman. I watched it again now that it’s on streaming, and yes it’s a very good movie. And talk about hitting the casting jackpot (which yes is funny since both David Cornswet, who plays superman, and Nicholas Hoult, who is Lex Luthor, were both up for the title role).

Nail Polish of the Week

Rebel with a Clause by OPI. For the Phillies being in the playoffs, of course.

Until next time,

Jen A. Miller (she/her)

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