- MB: Official 2025 NCAA Cross Country live discussion thread (+live reaction show at 1 pm ET) New Mexico's Habtom Samuel gets the individual win 5 seconds ahead of Rocky Hansen while Doris Lemngole repeats as NCAA champ outdueling Jane Hedengren by 13 seconds. The OSU men and NC State women took the team titles.
- MB: WTF THIS IS NOT OK - ONLY 5 AMERICANS IN NCAA TOP 30
- MB: Let's analyze Jane Hedengren's race
- MB: Men running outside of course. DQs coming?
- MB: What was Oregon thinking??
- MB: Colin Sahlman - Really impressive 16th place.
NCAA XC Champs Are Saturday
NCAA XC Champs Are Saturday
NCAA MB Talk
Pre-NCAA XC Champs Coverage
Pre-NCAA XC Champs Coverage
NCAA MB Talk
- MB: Official 2025 NCAA Cross Country live discussion thread (+live reaction show at 1 pm ET) The video on the left was our NCAA XC preview show. If the race hasn’t started, you can still enter our free prediction contest here.
- MB: Jane Hedengren VS Doris Lemingole: don't be shocked at the outcome❗
- MB: Dave Smith gets defensive when questioned about building teams with finished products instead of developing talent
- MB: ED EYESTONE THROWS SERIOUS SHADE AT SUDBURY, GAUSON, AND SMITH FOR INTERNATIONAL RECRUITING
- MB: Ed Eyestone started the war, Dave just finished it.
- MB: walked Gans Creek between 4:30 and 5:10PM
- MB: A way to reduce the number of international athletes
- MB: Cheapest way to (legally) watch NCAA Nationals?
BYU coach Diljeet Taylor says that after running 4:23 and 14:57 on the track last spring, Hedengren has reached an even higher level this fall. She also reveals Hedengren won't be trying out for the USA's World XC team in December.
Jonathan Gault has talked to three of the most kick-ass female coaches in the land - Diljeet Taylor, Shalane Flanagan and Laurie Henes. Learn what they think of this year's team battle.
Samuel has finished 2nd twice in a row while Musau won the NCAA indoor & outdoor 5k titles in 2025. The 20-year-old Hansen is the US's best hope to extend their win streak to 6 in a row as he has impressed with big wins at Panorama Farms & ACCs.
OK State is #1 after a magnificent performance at Big 12s. Can the Cowboys win a second title in three years? Or can Iowa State, which has dealt with multiple suspensions and an arrest in 2025, win its first title in 31 years? Does #3 New Mexico have a prayer? Plus we'll tell you why no one else does.
Non-LRC NCAA XC Coverage
- Recommended Read Q&A with Chris Bucknam on succeeding the GOAT, changes in the NCAA with NIL & a whole lot more A very good read on the past and future of NCAA track and field. Bucknam knows more than most as he’s coached as both non Power-4 and Power-4. He did a fine job of succeeding the legendary John McDonnell. “Ironically, maybe the truest indication of Buck’s success has been earning a USTFCCCA award named for his predecessor. The John McDonnell Award, which celebrates excellence across the board — cross-country, indoor and outdoor track — has been claimed by Bucknam and Arkansas the past 2 years and 4 of the past 9.“
- Foreign distance runners dominated the U.S. collegiate scene in the 1970s and ’80s, but their dominance seemed to wane — until it began to surge again a few years ago. According to a BYU coach, the reason is simple
- Local Mo. newspaper: Diljeet Taylor doesn’t back down from Hedengren hype: “I talk about her being, instead of a ‘generational talent,’ a ‘Jane-erational talent,’ and that’s true. She’s proving that week in, week out.”
- TFN - Over 40% of the top 15 finishers at NCAA XC conference were foreigners this year “Foreign recruiting numbers are up — in the distance ranks, for sure… 89 of 225 top-15 male placers were foreigners, 39.6%. The women’s figure: 91 of 225, 40.4%.” And of those, roughly 40% of them were Kenyan.
- MB: NCAA (DI, DII, DIII) LACCTiC Simulations 2025
- Last year’s D3 champ reflects on career: “ know that I won six national titles, but I could have won more. I should have won more.”
- Good Read: DyeStat looks back at the 50th anniversary of Craig Virgin's 1975 NCAA XC Championships win over Nick Rose Virgin won in an epic duel with Rose over a field that included multiple NCAA champions, a future two-time World XC champions and LRC moderator George Malley. Rose and Virgin would go on to have many more epic battles as professionals, including the 1980 World XC Championships where Virgin won again with Rose 4 seconds back in third.
- A Chat with Sean Fries: NXR Heartland champ And NXN title threat He's also a Stanford commit.
Three-Time Georgia State cham Averi Lowen reflects on her running journey, solo training & big goals Her favorite workout? 8x4 minute repeats at five-flat pace.
Sprint Stuff
- Jamaican writer from The Gleaner criticizes women's LA Olympic 100m schedule with all three rounds on day 1 They cite injury concerns and possibly poorer performances in the final.
- Sha’Carri tells Venus & Serena: “I’ve gotten to the point where if you don’t have haters, something’s missing.” I’ve gotten to the point where if you don’t have haters, something’s missing."
- Seb Coe says that women sprinters and their coaches were "overwhelmingly supportive" of women's 100m schedule for LA 2028 Talking about the marathons, Coe said he would like to see them finish in the Olympic stadium, but it's still an ongoing discussion.
- 16-year-old Chen Yujie becomes youngest women to ever win the Chinese National Games 100m with 11.10 Li Zeyang won the men's 100m in 10.11.
On The Boards
On The Boards
More International News
- Chinese shot put legend Gong Lijiao retires The 36-year-old won 13 global medals during her career including an Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021 and world gold at London 2017 and Doha 2019.
- Nominees announced for World Athletics 2025 Member Federations Award The US made the six country shortlist for topping the medal table at Worlds.
- South African government approves bid for the 2036 or 2040 Olympic Games This would be the first Olympics in Africa.
- Former British Olympic coach Jose Vicente Leiva-Modahl denies child sex offences The 65-year-old plead not guilty to the 19 charges "related to a single female" from 2012 to 2024. Strangely, the first available date for a trial isn't until September 2028.
Enhanced Games Updates
- Judge tosses The Enhanced Games' $800 million lawsuit against WADA, World Aquatics and USA Swimming out of court The Enhanced Games accused the three sports governing bodies of conspiring to "kill off its only potential competitor" because swimming said it would ban any athlete who competed at The Enhanced Games.
- Podcast interview with Fred Kerley, talks about the Enhanced Games Kerley said he decided to do it because it gave him "longevity" and money - "once I get done with regular sport I got money coming in no matter what."
- InsideTheGames article on the legacy of Victor Conte, the architect of the BALCO scandal who recently died at age-75 Conte was infamous for the doping scandal that includes track athletes Marion Jones, Dwain Chambers and Regina Jacobs and other sports stars like Barry Bonds, but Conte also gave lots of info to anti-doping officials which he claimed greatly improved their testing programs.
- Russia has been experiencing an increasing trend of whereabouts violations They had 47 in October and have had a total of 286 infractions so far this year.
Mid-D News
- Finalists announced for World Athletics 2025 Fair Play Award The finalists include Josh Kerr for fighting through injury to finish the 1500m final at Worlds in 4:11 (last place by 34 seconds).
- Keely Hodgkinson reveals the encouraging message Mo Farah sent her after she finished third at Worlds Farah's message said, "I know you wanted to win the gold because that's who you are but to come away with what you did is an absolutely incredible achievement in my opinion."
- Switzerland's 1:55.91 woman Audrey Werro thinks Femke Bol can be competitive in the 800m "from day one."
USATF Financial Update
The Olympic Trials helped bring in record revenue for USATF, but it still ran a deficit for the year and is reliant on Nike for the bulk of its sponsorship revenue (nearly 90%).
Road Action
- Super deep Japanese half-marathon sees almost 50 runners under 63 minutes and over 100 under 64 Rui Aoki won the Ageo City Half in a course record 60:45 while Kenshin Noda ran a Japan U20 national record of 61:29 for 6th. Over 200 runners broke 66 minutes.
- Kenya’s Victor Kipruto (41:42) and Ethiopia’s Asmarech Anley (47:05) win Zevenheuvelenloop 15k; Eilish McColgan sets British record in 4th place (47:12) McColgan's time was also #2 on the European all-time list.
- Kenyan John Aimun wins Urban Trail de Lille 10k in France (27:13) France’s Bastien Augusto finished 4th in 27:30 PB after starting the race as a pacemaker. France's Célia Tabet won the women's 5k in 15:08.
- European indoor 3000m bronze medalist Elzan Bibic breaks 17-year-old Serbian 10k record with 28:45 victory at the November Run 10k in North Macedonia
More XC News
- Recommended Read: Ian O’Riordan: "Did you hear the one about the cross-country races cancelled because of rain?" O’Riordan writes with disdain in the Irish Times about how Ireland is now cancelling xc races when it rains.
*MB: Say it ain't so: Are the Irish now soft? Even the Irish are now cancelling cross country races when it rains
- Kenya’s Mathew Kipsang and Ethiopia’s Likina Amebaw claim victories at Soria XC race in Spain Amebaw dominated the women’s race by 30 seconds, while world 5000m finalist Kipsang beat pre-race favorite Rodrigue Kwizera by 1 second.
- Natasza Dudek leads her team, Purple Track Club, to NXR Midwest victory #2 ranked Dudek ran a course record 16:18, 32 seconds faster than Jane Hedengren ran for this course in October 2024. #10 ranked Columbus Thorn won the boys team title.
- Stumptown boys, Mariners XC girls win Nike Cross Northwest team titles
- MB: 15-year-old course record goes down at AZ state meet Flagstaff junior Yohanes van Meerten ran 14:56 to break the 15:03 record from 2010.
- Markus Görger and Elena Burkhard get home victories at Sparkassen Cross Pforzheim World Athletics XC race in Germany
Weekend talk
We've got 10 highlights of our talk with Fiona O'Keeffe and a full podcast for your weekend listening
The Latest From LRC
There have been a lot of wild doping cases over the years but this one is especially interesting and potentially important: one of the top sprint coaches in the world secretly turned in one of his top athletes for doping. We beak it down for you.
Mark your calendars
We're stunned that the 2028 Olympic track schedule makes the 400/400h basically impossible for SML. Bobby Kersee is irate, but World Athletics has been willing to amend the schedule in the past for stars like Michael Johnson and Allyson Felix. Will they do it again? Plus what doubles are doable? Which are difficult? And are there morning finals? Are the repechage rounds back? *Full schedule
- MB: Bobby Kersee is irate about the 2028 Olympic track schedule. Will it/Should it be changed for SML?
- MB: 1500, 5000m, 10000m triple possible for the Men in LA 2028
- Bobby Kersee can't believe 400/400h double isn't an option
- Women's 100m final is focus of day 1 of Olympics
- All 3 rounds of women's 100m to take place on day to kickstart 1st Olympics with more women than men
We should have had this up on Veterans Day
- Melvin Pender had never run a race until he was in the military. He was sent back from the Vietnam War to try out for the Olympics and won 4 x 100 gold The 5-minute video above is narrated by Joe Buck.
Another inspirational video
- New Terry Fox documentary that will be released in 2026 is unveiled with live performance by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra Run Terry Run is built from 96 reels of previously unseen footage and lost audio recordings. Watching the new documentary was John Simpson, who made the original documentary on Fox in 1980 and turns 98 this week. Fox had terminal cancer and ran across Canada with one leg, starting with zero fanfare and ending as a national hero. “Terry Fox is the best Canadian ever,” said a former NHL star.
Message Board Q&A
Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson, runner, best-selling author, and host of “The Most Interesting Thing in A.I.", just ran over three hours in the marathon for the first time in 20 years. He joins LetsRun Friday to talk running, life, and his new book The Running Ground. If you'd like a book for free, just join our Supporters Club. Click for more info.
Marathon Analysis
Did you know everyone who has won a women's major since the start of 2022 has a pb under 2:18? Have we already found the heir to Eliud Kipchoge?
Say it ain't so
The US's hopes of assembling a Dream Team to challenge for gold on home soil in Tallahassee will take a hit without the Olympic medalists Fisher and Hocker. Fisher's coach Mike Scannell did say there is a 20% chance Fisher runs the Trials race but even if he made the team he wouldn't run World xc. "I’ll give [the US trials] about a 20% chance," Scannell said. "But World Cross is just not on the radar right now at all."
O'Keeffe Had A Great NYC
O'Keeffe ran with the leaders through 19 miles and finished 4th in 2:22:49, the fastest time by an American woman in NYC by almost two minutes.
European Women's Distance News
- Good Read: Femke Bol interview opening up about her move to the 800m Bol explains that she wanted to try the 800m while she was young and still at her best (she is 25) and admits she's never run further than 600m all out.
- Keely Hodgkinson says she didn't think anxiety was real until she struggled with it herself the past few years "When I was younger, I never used to think anxiety was a thing. I was like, 'Anxiety, what's that?' I don't understand when people are saying they've got anxiety. And then I experienced it, and I was like, 'Oh, that's actually horrible.'"
- European Athletics looks back at the ten best races of Nadia Battocletti's career She has a lot of European golds to go along with her Olympic silver and world silver/bronze
Valby Comeback
After winning five NCAA titles and making the Olympic team in 2024, Valby had raced only once in the first 10 months of 2025 due to a foot injury. In her return to racing on Saturday, she opened up to LRC about her new coach and her hopes of running World XC in Florida in 2026.
Saturday Road Action
Rodenfels outkicked a strong women's field that included Weini Kelati (15:34), Elle St. Pierre (15:35), and Parker Valby (15:37), though US 5k/10k record holder Alicia Monson (16:22) struggled.
Josh Hoey parts ways with yet another coach
Somehow Justin Rinaldi transformed Josh Hoey, who couldn't break 1:47 for 6+ years, to a 1:42.01 world indoor champ and DL winner. How has he been rewarded? With a pink slip. Rojo thinks it's hard to think of a dumber decision than this but then again Jerry Jones once did fire Jimmy Johnson.
After disagreements on training philosophy, Justin Rinaldi will no longer be coaching Hoey despite engineering one of the greatest turnarounds in American middle distance running history, taking Hoey from 1:47 to 1:42 and World Indoor champion in two years. Plus get the inside scoop on a key workout Hoey overcooked before USAs.
- MB: Breaking: Josh Hoey has parted with Justin Rinaldi, the man who took him from 1:47 also-ran to 1:42 World Champ!!
- LRC How Josh Hoey Went from Also-Ran to World Indoor Champion, Part I: A Coaching Odyssey
- LRC How Josh Hoey Went from Also-Ran to World Indoor Champion, Part I: Going All-In With Justin Rinaldi & The Fast 8 Track Club
Great listen/read
Nick Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, joins the LetsRun.com Podcast to talk about his new book The Running Ground, how he ran 2:29 at 44, his late father, and why he still checks LetsRun every day.
Doping Bust?
In the latest update, Iowa State has confirmed that none of the suspended runners were in their top 7 but cited FERPA regulations and won't name the suspended runners. It appears that in a separate incident, their #3 runner was arrested last week for leaving the scene of a traffic accident.
LRC Q&A
The US achieved its most successful relay medal haul since the introduction of the mixed 4x400 with four golds and a silver at the 2025 Worlds. We asked Woodson about Team USA's performance in Tokyo. Plus we asked USATF about what really happened with Rai Benjamin, who said he went out on the town the night before the men's 4x400 final.
Paywall lifted
After five coaches, six states, and hundreds of hours of listening to the LetsRun.com Track Talk Podcast, steepler Dan Michalski will make his World Championship debut in Tokyo. He dedicated his runner-up finish at USAs to the grinders who keep going without a big shoe contract. "They know the grind, they know what it’s like to fight through injuries, what it’s like to feel like you have the talent to make a team and keep coming up short," Michalski says. "This is for them, in a sense."
Kiplimo and defending champ John Korir hit full send on this one and went for it. They ran the fist 5k in 13:58 (1:57:52 pace). They hit halfway on world record pace (60:16) and the next few miles were even faster than that pace. By 30k (1:25:31 - 2:00:16 pace), Kiplimo was all alone. Still on WR pace at mile 22, he slowed a lot late however and had to settle for the #2 time in Chicago history. Tokyo 3rd placer Hawi Feysa of Ethiopia (2024 Frankfurt champ) had a big day as she lowered her pb from 2:17:00 to 2:14:56. It was a tough day for the American women. Natosha Rogers was 6th in 2:23:28. *Full race broadcast
IF you are going to play a video game, play this one
XC Racing 2 is now out and free to play on ios and android and in this version you get to race the famed Detweiller Park course in Illinois.
Random Links A Human Found Interesting
- Melissa Jefferson-Wooden goes on CNN after triple gold and says she's not satisified “There are so many things out there that I’ve accomplished this year. But there’s so many more things that I do want to accomplish.”
- Former Yale swimmer, who had her leg bitten off by a shark, is running NYC marathon She quickly joined the Paralympic ranks and won Paralympic silver.
- Former Queen's Park Rangers star Don Shanks, 73, will run the New York marathon on November 2 to raise money for Alzheimers
- NYC is experiencing a 2nd running boom & some are unhappy about it In 2019, it took an average of 121 days for an N.Y.R.R. race to sell out. This year, races have sold out in an average of four days.
- NYRR claims running boom $934 million for the local economy in the fiscal year through March That’s up 58% from the comparable period five years earlier and they say last year’s marathon alone generated $692 million.
Hocker is the second American distance man to win multiple global golds, the third to win a global 5,000 title, and just the fifth from any country to win global titles in the 1500 and 5,000 after Paavo Nurmi, Hicham El Guerrouj, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, and Bernard Lagat.
- Bring out the brooms: Kenya sweeps the women’s distances. Odira STUNS the world 1:54.62 as Keely gets the bronze
- COLE HOCKER 5000M CHAMPION Hocker has a SENSATIONAL last lap. He was way back and ran a 52 to win in 12:58.
- Was Cole Hocker’s 52.62 last lap tonight the fastest ever in a sub-13:00 5000?
- Rai Benjamin said he had a late night out before the 4x400: "I was pretty much done, you know, so I had a pretty late night if you can imagine."
- Grant Fisher is passed his prime
- Cole Hocker will win 2025 Tokyo 5000m
- Sage Hurta Klecker 1:55.89
Cole Hocker won 5000m gold in Tokyo ahead of Isaac Kimeli and Jimmy Gressier. Nico Young and Grant Fisher ended up 6th and 8th. Jakob Ingebrigtsen was 10th. The Kenyan women’s unreal meet continued and Cole Hocker was GOLDEN yet again. We broke it down for you live from right after it ended.
- AW: Lilian Odira's surge takes her to shock world 800m gold Odira came out of nowhere to give Kenya a sweep of the women's distance medals, passing favorite Keely Hodgkinson in the final meters to win in 1:54.62. Hodgkinson's teammate Georgia Hunter Bell also passed her to take silver in a photo finish, 1:54.90 to Hodgkinson's 1:54.91.
Final Day Non-Distance Medals
- AP relay recap: Sha'Carri Richardson, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Noah Lyles anchor wins on big closing day for Americans The US swept the men's and women's 4x100 relays, the women just holding off Jamaica by .04 and the US 4x400 women dominated with a 3:16.61 championship record to win by 2.64 seconds. But the US 4x400 men ended up with silver after an epic three-way finish with Botswana and South Africa where world 400m champ Collen Kebinatshipi passed Rai Benjamin at the line to get them the gold by .07.
- Leo Neugebauer makes late charge to win decathlon world title US's Kyle Garland lead most of the way, but Neugebauer threw a five meter javelin PB to take the lead and won with 8804 points. Garland ended up with bronze (8703 points).
- Australia's Nicola Olyslagers wins her first global outdoor title with 2.00m HJ victory She won on countback over Poland's Maria Zodzik with Ukraine's Olympic champ Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Serbia's Angelina Topic sharing the bronze at 1.97m.
- Sweden’s Daniel Stahl defends his title to become a three-time discus world champ He threw 70.47m to win handily over WR holder Mykolas Alekna (67.84m).
Sean Brosnan & Chris Lear & Andrew Greif's book is here
In Beyond Fast, Sean Brosnan, with Chris Lear and Andrew Greif, traces the unlikely rise of Newbury Park High School from an overlooked program to a distance-running powerhouse. Packed with behind-the-scenes stories, training insights, and cultural shifts, the book shows how Brosnan and his athletes rewrote the high school record books.
Sean Brosnan Podcast
From BMX to building the greatest HS team ever, Sean Brosnan tells us how he did it at Newbury Park, plus what really went on at UCLA, and what’s next. Don’t miss this one.
Data doesn't lie
We've run the numbers by comparing Lutkenhaus's run against every other age-16 world record, and the data is clear.
Who?
Jonah Koech wasn't even supposed to be in Sunday's 1500. As they approached the bell, he was in 13th out of 17. A lap later, he was the champion. He is just the third American man to win a Diamond League 1500/mile and the first runner sponsored by Under Armour to win a DL race. His 3:37.27 pre-race pb is also the slowest of any man to win a DL 1500/mile.
How Josh Hoey Rose To The Top Of The World
For five years, Hoey cylced through coach after coach but barely improved from his 1:47.67 high school 800m pb. Learn why he moved around so often -- and why he never gave up. Part I of JG's 7,000+ word feature.
*MB: Josh Hoey profile by JG
- Part II: SC How Josh Hoey Went from Also-Ran to World Indoor Champion, Part II: Going All-In With Justin Rinaldi & The Fast 8 Track Club Hoey's career had stagnated until connecting with Rinaldi in 2023. Within minutes of seeing him train in-person, Rinaldi knew he was special: "I said, if I can’t get this guy to run 1:44, there’s something wrong with me."
Stop Obsessing Over Your Diet
The US indoor 1500m/3000m champion overhauled his fueling in workouts before the 2024 season. Now he swears by his routine.
The Record Books Are Getting Rewritten In 2025
In the span of one week in February, runners broke five world indoor records and every American men's middle-distance record from 800m to 5000m. Jonathan Gault spoke to some of America's top athletes and coaches to find the reasons behind all of the fast times.
One More Look at a Legendary Race
From novice fans to running diehards, there was something for everyone (except perhaps Brits and Norwegians) to enjoy about one of the greatest middle distance races ever run.
Blanks = NCAA XC x 2
Just before Blanks chases a 5,000m pb and collegiate record in what is likely his final NCAA race at Boston University on Saturday, he told LetsRun about the key session of his 2024 XC season -- one he described as "probably the best workout I've had so far in my career."
Your latest American stars share their insights.
American Record Holders
American Record Holders
Keira D'Amato, the new American record holder in the marathon, was joined by Deena Kastor, who held the record for 15 years.
Sisson was the guest on the LetsRun.com Track Talk podcast after she became the first American to go sub 67 in the half marathon on a record-eligible course. Podcast highlights above. Full pod here.
Woody Kincaid joined us after he broke the American record indoors at 5000. He talks above why he left the Bowerman Track Club. Podcast highlights and link to full podcast here.
Coogan's New Balance Boston team had 3 Olympians in 2021 and 2022 could be the biggest year yet for the program with 2 new additions and the TRACK at New Balance coming on March 1st.
Danny Mackey has taken the Brooks Beasts from an unproven club to the Olympic podium in its first decade.
Dathan Ritzenhein is the first of the top pro coaches to sit down and talk about his club heading into the 2022 campaign.
Best of Jon Gault
Best of Jon Gault
Take Your Love of LetsRun to the Next Level
Take Your Love of LetsRun to the Next Level
LetsRun Classics
LetsRun Classics
‒Oklahoma State coach Dave Smith responding to a question from LetsrRun.com about what he thought about BYU coach Ed Eyestone’s comments of how some coaches “had decided to take a shortcut by taking foreign talent.”
*MB: ED EYESTONE THROWS SERIOUS SHADE AT SUDBURY, GAUSON, AND SMITH FOR INTERNATIONAL RECRUITING
*MB: Ed Eyestone started the war, Dave just finished it.
*MB: NCAA Cross Country is RUINED - Teams like Florida Women, OSU and New Mexico ruin NCAA Cross Country