Some stars believe in an off-season others do not
Grand Slam Flop?
Post-NCAA XC

International athletes running well in the NCAA is nothing new. It’s been happening for over 50 years, but the question many have is, "Why are there so many more all of a sudden?" Plus, how would a US all-star team fare against Oklahoma State, the top 20 broken down by age, who has the best range, is the Doris Lemngole on her way to GOAT status, and which teams bombed and which teams overachieved?


If you enjoyed that article, you'll love this one from TFN: Recommended Read A foreign wave rises high in the NCAA At the NCAA cross country Regionals in 205, 30% of the men’s top 10 finishers were internationals, and 21.1% of the women were. In the qualifying races this year, the numbers jumped to 60% for men and 62.2% for women. ([At NCAAs] in ’15, 30% of [the All-Americans] men were foreign, and 32.5% of the women. This fall, those numbers exploded to 72.5% for men (29 of the 40) and 62.5% for women (25)."

MB Arkansas hires alum Cale Wallace, 31, as distance coach to replace Chris Bucknam

Wallace is an Arkansas alum and well versed on what it takes to be successful in the SEC/NCAA in 2025, recruiting overseas and hitting the portal, as he's been the assistant at Iowa State the last few years. He's a former 8:41 steepler who was the SEC runnerup in 2016. He's from TX and was 27th at NXN in HS with a career best of NCAA xc finish of 112th.

ESPN: Did the NCAA infraction system unfairly screw over Sean Brosnan at UCLA? All the Brosnan haters on the mb need to read this one. UCLA was charged with two recruiting violations via Brosnan and were strongly incentivized to admit guilt and take the small slap on the wrist from the NCAA even if Brosnan was innocent. This has caused Brosnan to be passed over for other recruiting jobs even though he claims (and the parents of both recruits testify) he did nothing wrong.

*Moh Ahmed to make surprise return to Canadian XC nationals after 13 years on Saturday
*Canada's top NCAA XC performer is trying out for World XC this week Penn State's Florence Caron was 14th. Canada only had one other female AA - North Dakota's Jadyn Keeler was 26th.
*California HS state xc championship preview

News of Note
More News Of Note
Embed from Getty Images
Assorted Distance News
Euro XC - Some Countries' Track Stars Actually Run XC
More Weekend Distance Results
Lots of breaking news to talk about on the messageboard
NCAA XC Champs
NCAA XC Champs
NCAA Men

Habtom Samuel surged late to win the 2025 NCAA Cross Country Championships, while Oklahoma State (57) dominated to earn its second team title in three years. New Mexico (82) had its best men's finish ever in 2nd.

Lemngole and Jane Hedengren ran together for 5.5k but Lemngole buried her in the final 500m to win by 13 seconds. NC State took down BYU 114-130 to cement its status as a dynasty.

LRC Video
NCAA Talk
Non-DI XC Action
International XC Action
Weekend Road Results
Pre-NCAA XC Coverage
Sprint Stuff
More International News
Enhanced Games Updates
Mid-D News
USATF Financial Update
Embed from Getty Images

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
More XC News
Embed from Getty Images
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

We should have had this up on Veterans Day
Another inspirational video
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
    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.

    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?
    Embed from Getty Images

    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."

    Embed from Getty Images

    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
    2025 Worlds
    2025 Worlds

    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.

    • 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
    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

    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."

    Best of the LetsRun.com Track Talk Podcast
    Best of the LetsRun.com Track Talk Podcast

    Your latest American stars share their insights.

    Three legends of the sport.

    One of the greatest US runners ever.

    We chatted with Frank on the 50th anniversary of his Olympic Marathon gold

    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.

    LetsRun.com Pro Coaches Tour
    LetsRun.com Pro Coaches Tour

    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
    Embed from Getty Images
    Take Your Love of LetsRun to the Next Level
    Take Your Love of LetsRun to the Next Level
    LetsRun Classics
    LetsRun Classics
    Message Board