Anthony Ramos Says He Gets Emotional During Marathon Training, Recalls Crying Out to Late Dad: ‘I Need You’ (Exclusive)

Anthony Ramos is being challenged physically and emotionally while training for his first marathon. 

The actor, 33, spoke with PEOPLE about partnering with Brooks Running ahead of taking on his first-ever marathon, the New York City Marathon, this November. The New York City native opened up about how his rigorous training process has affected him emotionally and even brought on memories of his late father. 

“Those long runs are super mental,” he says. “It’s all in your head. I was just talking to somebody yesterday, I was like, ‘Yo, you got other things going on in your life. But when you run in, you gotta let that s— go.’ Because if you don’t, that s— gets in the way of you continuing. I don’t really understand why it is that way.”

Ramos finds that the longer he runs, the more he has to clear out “anything in the way of locking in and being focused on the route.” In addition to his meditative state during those runs, he also finds himself turning to positive thinking. However, he notes, sometimes his emotions find a way out. 

“My father passed away last year and on one of my runs I started crying,” the Marvel actor recalls. “I was calling out to my dad. It was random. I was on the run. I was super emotional. And I was like, ‘Yo, dad, I need you.’ It was crazy.”

When the emotions hit, “it helps me keep going,” he says. 

To support Ramos in his fitness endeavor, Brooks Running set him up with Olympian Des Linden as his running coach. They have also hooked him up with pairs of his favorite shoes, the Glycerin Max and Ghost Max 2, which he describes as “running on clouds.”

The Hamilton alum will be running the marathon with his former school counselor Jason Jacobs, who has been participating in marathons for about a decade. He says Jacobs had been asking him if they could run a marathon together for years, and Ramos finally said yes after watching him deal with a recent health struggle. 

“He had some things going on with his health and overcame them this year. He was in recovery for a little while… his body was super weak. And he trained back up and ran the marathon in Tokyo,” Ramos shares of Jacobs, calling him his inspiration. 

“This year, I just called my manager out of nowhere, and I was like, ‘I think I want to do the marathon. I don’t really know how to go about that. I don’t know how to get in or whatever, but if y’all can help me, I think I want to do it,’ ” the actor remembers. 

Ramos’ manager suggested he start with a half marathon, or even a 5K, but he had his eyes on something bigger. “I want to jump right in,” he says. “I ain’t trying to do half. I ain’t doing none of that s— except the real thing.”

The rest came together naturally. He and Jacobs, along with some friends and his gym trainer, banded together to run the marathon. And Brooks Running expressed interest in capturing his journey to the race, which sees participants running 26.2 miles across all five boroughs.

Over the years, Ramos has expanded his career from being a stage actor to starring in major movie and television projects. He made his Broadway debut in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton after having starred in a regional production of his 2008 musical In the Heights. The actor also had a role in the movie adaptation of the early aughts musical. He’s also been in the animated movie The Bad Guys, the 2024 blockbuster Twisters and more. 

Now, Ramos is set to make his Marvel debut in the upcoming Disney+ series Ironheart as supervillain The Hood, also known as Parker Robbins. 

When it comes to balancing his time on screen with his marathon training, he says, “I’m shooting a show right now. I’m in the middle of shooting a TV show. I got pressed for a Marvel show that starts in two weeks. It’s a blessing,” adding that he’s also been working on a musical. “I try to build my schedule around [training]. I get the fitness in.”

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The training, he says, actually enriches his other responsibilities. “This is helping you stay in shape, this is helping your mental, this is helping you stay locked in,” the actor explains. “I really do my best to schedule it in. I find my two days during the week”

Speaking on balancing his training with his other work, Ramos almost missed the Hamilton 10-year anniversary reunion at the 2025 Tony Awards on June 8 because of related obligations. 

“It was wild, man. I almost didn’t know if I could do it,” he says of his last-minute appearance. “My family just opened up a bar here in New York, so I had that. Then I was shooting a commercial for Brooks [Running] the next day. Those were both the days they were rehearsing. I was like, ‘I don’t have time now.’ I can’t rehearse. I don’t got time to be there.”

But Ramos made it happen. “Saturday morning I texted Lin [Manuel Miranda], and I was like, ‘Is it too late for y’all to have me?’ And he was like, ‘No, we’ll figure it out.’ ” From there, the actor came in early to rehearse his choreography and surprised fans at Broadway’s biggest night.

“Man, it was cool, seeing everybody,” the actor shares of the reunion. “It was definitely emotional. We went through a lot. It’s been 10 years. People change in 10 years. It’s just interesting. It was cool to see the versions of everybody 10 years later.”

While he had some nerves stepping back into the material he has worked with since 2014 when he starred in a workshop production, he found that everybody “snapped into it and we got it done.”

“It was a relief when we finished,” Ramos says. “Everybody was relieved. They were like, ‘All right. Thank God, we’re done!’ The audience went crazy.”

Now, Ramos has his sights set on future screen projects, as well as his next fitness challenge. “It could be dope,” he says with a grin. “We start off with the marathon, and then we just keep going. Like, there are the HYROX competitions, where you do these eight courses, like rolls and burpees, and all that. And then you run 5 miles.”

“I’m gonna do that s— next,” the actor says. “We’ll do the marathon first, and then we’ll f—— do HYROX.”