Ben Gibbard: 'My Goal Was to Beat Flea' in the L.A. Marathon

Ben Gibbard speaks as Flea leaves him in the dust.

Jason Kempin/Getty Images; Noel Vasquez/Getty Images

In the new issue of Runner's World, Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard talks about taking up jogging to "shed some unhealthy habits," plus how he'd hoped to beat the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea in the L.A. Marathon.  

Overcoming his skepticism about jogging, Gibbard says he built up gradually from short runs and became hooked when he first experienced a "runner's high." "It was that euphoric point everyone talks about," he says. "And like so many drugs, your next high is never as high as your first time, so you're left chasing that initial high."

Comparing running to songwriting – "when you have those uninspired moments, you have to power through them" – Gibbard admits that he wanted to beat Flea when both musicians ran the L.A. Marathon. "He got me by about four minutes... I don't think we should underestimate what good shape Flea is in." 

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Song Stories

“All Along the Watchtower”

The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 1968

Jimi Hendrix got hold of Bob Dylan's early John Wesley Harding tapes and in late 1967 recorded a version of "All Along the Watchtower" with the Experience in London. Dissatisfied with that first development, Hendrix brought those tapes with him to New York in early 1968 when he began work on Electric Ladyland. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer at the time, told Rolling Stone that Hendrix "was still looked upon by his basically white audience as the mammoth black guitar hero. There was a constant fight within him to expand himself." Hendrix's successful take on Dylan's work has long been recognized by the songwriter. "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way," Dylan wrote in the liner notes to his Biograph box set. "Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."

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