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."
To say we're bummed about Fisher is an understatement.
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.
Hellen Obiri pulled away from Sharon Lokedi in the final mile to win the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon in 2:19:51, breaking Margaret Okayo’s 22-year-old course record. Fiona O’Keeffe impressed in her NY debut, while Olympic champion Sifan Hassan's presence impacted the race.
For the first time in 55 years, the New York City Marathon ended in a photo finish. Kenya’s Benson Kipruto edged Alexander Mutiso by just 0.16 seconds in 2:08:09, while American Joel Reichow was the top U.S. finisher in sixth place with a personal best of 2:09:56. *Video of men's finish
Eliud Kipchoge says it’s not retirement, it’s a transition. Two hours after finishing 17th at the 2025 New York City Marathon, the greatest marathoner of all time announced the “Eliud Kipchoge World Tour,” a plan to run seven marathons on seven continents while promoting the joy of running and his foundation’s mission.
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.
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.
The Nike Vaporfly 4, the lightest and most responsive version of Nike’s vaporfly line, is on sale for just $161.99 ($189.88 for women). Save $108 on this super shoe.
We have predictions for every single conference thanks to the new XCRI ranking system.
The fastest HS sprinter (9.89) in history's excuse grabbed our attention until another athlete from his school tested positive as well. CAS didn't find his excuse compelling and he got a full ban.
Alan Abrahamson has the details: "Insiders at World Athletics are believed to have stolen about $1.75 million over “a period of several years,” prompting the federation to pursue criminal cases while launching “a set of enhanced internal financial controls,” it said in a statement. The federation said it discovered the “systematic theft” earlier this year. The focus, the statement said, centers on two former employees and a contracted consultant. At issue: fake or doctored invoices."
Eliud Kipchoge (40) and Kenenisa Bekele (43) are the big names in NYC, but the most likely winners are defending champ Abdi Nageeye, 2024 London champ Alexander Mutiso, and Olympic bronze medalist Benson Kipruto. US debuts for Klecker, Bor, and Hicks. Full preview, picks, and how to watch
Hassan will try for her 4th major victory against the last three NYC champs: Sharon Lokedi, Hellen Obiri, and Sheila Chepkirui.
*Official 2025 NYC Marathon Pre-Race discussion - Who you got?
No American woman has stood on the podium in NYC since Shalane Flanagan in 2018. O'Keeffe and Sisson have had great builds - can the do it? Plus don't forget Molly Seidel, Susanna Sullivan Sara Vaugh, and debutante Amanda Vestri.
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.
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.
Runners will "race" over 5k at local gyms with Technogym treadmills. They will first qualify for a regional championship and then the world's top 10 males and females will race for the world title where there will be $100,000 in prize money and wild card spots for the World Road Running Championships.
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.
Ngetich gave Letesenbet Gidey’s 62:52 WR a scare by going out in 29:28, but came up a bit short. Sweden's Andreas Almgren broke the European record with 58:41, becoming the first European to break the 59 minute barrier.
Ebenyo ran 30:12 in a close race over Kevin Chesergon (30:12) and Denis Kemboi (30:13). This just two weeks after running 2:07:52 for 13th place in Chicago. Chebor ran 34:17 to win ahead of Brenda Jepchumba (34:20). World 1500m bronze medalist Reynold Cheruiyot and former world U20 1500m champ Purity Chepkirui won the men's and women's 2k races.
Molly Seidel is heading to the trails, Kenenisa Bekele is running the NYC Marathon, and Ruth Chepngetich’s phone messages add drama to her 3-year ban. Hear Rojo and Wejo break it down in this week’s LetsRun.com Supporters Club podcast.
Good news for U.S. distance fans: Nico Young is all in for USA Cross and could help form a dream team for Worlds with Grant Fisher and Conner Mantz.
The AIU officially announced that marathon world record holder Ruth Chepngetich has been banned for three years, one more year than what she was initially facing for testing positive for a diuretic. But it's also possible she gets banned for previous offenses that would invalidate the world record due to incriminating messages on her cell phone.
Reigning Olympic 5000 m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen has had his tonsils removed following years of throat pain and recurring infections. The Norwegian star told VG the tonsils were “chronically inflamed” and said he’s finally taking two weeks off training to recover after the operation.
Geoffrey Toroitich Kipchumba won it with a 2:03:30 CR as he blitzed a 14:17 5k from 35k to 40k. It's hard to believe that after two marathons the 5000 and 10,000 WR holder only had a pb of 2:05:59. The field included Gabriel Geay (2:03:00 pb) and defending champ Tsegaye Getachew (2:04:49 pb). Aynalem Desta won the women's race in 2:17:37 after a 69:11 first half.
Hedengren ran 18:42.3 to win Pre-Nats by 23 seconds and smash the course record at Gans Creek, which will host NCAAs on November 22. The BYU women (25 points) also dominated the team race while Grace Hartman and NC State (41 points) and Habtom Samuel and New Mexico (51 points) won the men's & women's races at Nuttycombe.
Will Jane Hedengren win NCAA XCs as a freshman?
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.
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."
After 23 years, Khalid Khannouchi's 2:05:38 American record is no more. Mantz continued an epic 2025 season by breaking the marathon AR to go with his half marathon AR from January.
Chicago MB Talk:
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
She raced them across the width of two soccer fields with a prize of $100,000 to anyone who could beat her. No one did, although one guy (a non-track runner) came close.
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.
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.
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.
Daniels had a prolific career as an athlete, coach and exercise scientist. He won two Olympic medals in the modern pentathlon, did exercise testing for various groups including Nike's Athletics West elite team in Eugene and held numerous coaching positions which included advising on the training of Jim Ryun while working with the 1968 US Olympic team and winning seven DIII women's national XC titles while at Cortland. And of course, he indirectly contributed to the coaching of thousands of high school and college athletes through his training book, Daniels’ Running Formula.
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."
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.
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.
We've run the numbers by comparing Lutkenhaus's run against every other age-16 world record, and the data is clear.
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.
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
The US indoor 1500m/3000m champion overhauled his fueling in workouts before the 2024 season. Now he swears by his routine.
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.
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.
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.
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.
‒Doug Case, who will be taking over as the head coach at Arkansas starting January 1, talking about his recruiting philosophy.
MB: Chris Bucknam retires at Arkansas, '25 xc season is his last. Doug Case to take over January 1.