Why Nicholas Thompson Made a Custom GPT to Run Faster

To most of the world, Nicholas Thompson is known as an editor, an AI enthusiast, or something of a LinkedIn influencer. But the former WIRED editor in chief, who is now CEO of The Atlantic, is often better known to colleagues as the guy who runs to the office.

On Tuesday, Thompson is releasing The Running Ground: A Father, a Son, and the Simplest of Sports. As the title suggests, it’s a book about his commitment to running—Thompson runs a ridiculously fast marathon and holds the American 50K record for the 45-49 age group. Ultimately, though, the book examines the complicated relationship between the sport, Thompson, and his father, who first took him on a run when he was just 5 years old. Tech obsessives, of course, will also get their fix: The Running Ground includes plenty of science-backed training guidance and documents Thompson’s experience training with elite Nike coaches.

On this week’s episode of The Big Interview, I talked to Thompson (who was also my first boss; he hired me as an intern at WIRED in 2008) about his book, the interplay between running and addiction, and what he thinks AI can do for runners and for writers.