It's a great time to be a US distance fans as the US superstars are better than ever. Leading the charge is Cole Hocker, who was sensational in the men's mile, and Cooper Lutkenhaus in the 800 who moved to #6 in indoor world history. We share our 5 biggest takeaways.
And ESP did it just nine months after giving birth. Behind her, BYU's Riley Chamberlain (4:20.61), Oregon's Wilma Nielsen (4:21.04), and BYU's Jane Hedengren (4:22.22) ran the three fastest times in NCAA history.
He took .05 off the record Kerron Clement set back in 2005 (Michael Norman with 44.52 and Christoper Morales Williams with 44.49 had both ran faster, but their times weren't ratified as records.) In the 60m, Jordan Anthony (6.43) and Olympic 100m champ Julien Alfred (6.99) both won with world-leading times.
Langon (7:34.00) was fortunate not to be DQ'd after veering into lane 3 in a home straight duel with North Carolina's Colton Sands (7:34.05) as 19-year-old Tayvon Kitchen of BYU ran 7:36.23. *Full results
In 1965, a US teenager (Jim Ryun) stunned the Olympic 1500 champ from New Zealand (Peter Snell). Now 60.5 years later, the roles are reveresed. Can Ruthe take down Hocker? Plus Jane Hedengren (mile) and Doris Lemngole (5k) will chase NCAA records in Boston. Updated: Elle St. Pierre has been added to the women’s mile field and may be going for the American record.
Grand Slam Track’s bankruptcy plan proposes paying athletes about $6 million, or roughly 85% of the $7 million they are still owed while paying other creditors only 1.5%. If approved, this would open up the possibility for a season 2.
USAs will be at Icahn Stadium from July 23-26, the first time the meet has been held outside of Eugene since 2019. Meanwhile the USATF Grand Prix is relocating from New York to Texas A&M.
Bol blitzed the first 200 in 27ish before basically running 30s all the way home. Rojo had her in an unofficial 27.4, 57.4 (30.0), 1:28.3 (30.9), 30.7. Watch it above.
Kelati has left Under Armour's Dark Sky Distance team in Flagstaff which is coached by her agent Stephen Haas. Who coaches her moving forward is TBD but we do now she won't be joining Mike Smith's Nike group in Flagstaff.
Sean Dolan ran a sensational anchor leg of 1:45.79 all alone as the Atlanta Track Club team beat the old record by 1.01. He did it on the UPenn track where his father is the coach.
After a recent setback with his left Achilles which has been bothering him since last April, Ingebritsen went under the knife. Ingebrigtsen's surgery was on the sheath around his left Achilles tendon, not the tendon itself. He said the recovery time is "somewhat short," but his spokesperson Espen Skoland did not say when his next race would be.
This week’s Friday 15 dives into Jakob’s Achilles surgery, Cole Hocker’s status, Sam Ruthe’s plans and Femke Bol’s 800 debut. Listen with a Supporters Club membership.
This meet replaces the USATF NYC Grand Prix. It will be held at Texas A&M on June 6 and have more than $200,000 in prize money. After not having it in 2025, USATF is also bringing back the LA Grand Prix which will be at USC on June 13-14.
RW Spain has the story. One of the most impressive records will not go on the books. World Athletics determined Kiplimo was too close to the car with the clock on it.
Olympic 1500m champ Cole Hocker earned the biggest non-championship win of his career in a stacked 2-mile while teenage sensation Cam Myers showed while he might be a future Olympic champ in winning the men's Wanamaker mile. The women's Wanamaker mile was won for the 1st time by Nikki Hiltz. Collegiate records went to Colin Sahlman and Doris Lemngole while highschooler Cooper Lutkenhaus continued to roll in the men's 600 where he set an U20 world record.
Cole Hocker is ready for the Millrose 2-mile showdown, a fast mile in 2 weeks, and world indoors. Plus he responds to Jakob Ingebrigtsen's comments about Paris.
Video of Sha'Carri Richardson pleading not to be taken to jail for excessive speeding has been released.
After going 1-2 last year and winning in Berlin & Chicago last fall, Sawe & Kiplimo will renew their rivalry in London in April. Former half marathon WR holder Kejelcha (57:30 PR) will debut.
Ignoring Ruth Chepngetich, four of the five fastest women in history are running 2026 London: Tigst Assefa, Sifan Hassan, Joyciline Jepkosgei, & Peres Jepchirchir. Plus Hellen Obiri is making her London debut. The men's field comes out Thursday.
Fisher was the guest on the LetsRun.com Track Talk podcast.
From 600m to 5,000m, there have now been six world indoor records by four separate American men over the last 12 months. Jonathan Gault asks, "What explains it?"
St. Pierre won her first track race since the Paris Olympics by outkicking Linden Hall in the 3,000. Myers looked incredible in the men's 3,000. And Lyles got the pre-race attention but lost the 300 to Jereem Richards.
Hoey called his own shot before the race and then backed it up, breaking Wilson Kipketer's 1:42.67 that had stood since 1997. And he was paced by his brother Jaxson.
Kesler exploded past Grant Fisher in the final 125 and got the WR thanks to a 26.31 final 200 and 13.02 final 100.
Cooper Lutkenhaus started 2026 in fine form with a 1:45 win in New York. Meghan Hunter went sub 2 in the 800 (Ajee Wilson 2:00.92), Wilma Nielsen won the mile at Katelyn Tuohy faded. *Race video
Discuss: UPDATE: Cooper Lutkenhaus DESTROYS pro field. Opens in 1:45.23!!!
Cole Hocker opened his indoor season in stunning fashion at the Hokie Invitational, running 4:52.92 to break the American 2,000m record of Bernard Lagat, which Cooper Teare tied in 2nd place, as George Couttie smashed the collegiate record in 3rd. The Olympic champion now turns his attention to a loaded Millrose Games 2 mile featuring Grant Fisher, Josh Kerr, Jake Wightman, Parker Wolfe, and more.
He finished runner-up to Sam Tanner (3:53.36), breaking Cam Myers' previous record. *Race Video
In an exclusive with the NY Times, Fisher says he wants to run 13.1 to see if he might run 26.2 in LA.
Midway through 2024, Brazier had begun to accept he may never race again; in 2025, the former world champ returned faster than ever. Hear from Brazier and coach Mike Smith about how he pulled off one of the sport's greatest comebacks.
The 2026 Boston Marathon elite fields are out and we break it down for you. From a US perspective, the fields are sensational, but what top pros from Africa are entered? Benson Kipruto vs John Korir leads the way for the men. Does American Fiona O'Keeffe have a shot for the win? *Full fields
The 1980 and 1981 World XC champ gives a passionate defense of cross country. He also admits he is concerned about the state of World XC given the lack of support from several federations and the three-year gap until the next championships in 2029 but is hopeful it can be added to the Winter Olympics: "If they can have breakdancing in the Summer Olympics, then we can certainly have cross country in the Winter Olympics."
World XC in the USA was amazingly fun to attend. How do we transform World’s Greatest Footrace into a spectacle / event that tens of thousands want to attend? How can we make it our sport's version of the Kentucky Derby - or maybe the grass version of the London Marathon?
XC legends Kenenisa Bekele & Beatrice Chebet were in Tallahassee as was Cooper Lutkenhaus, who left with the LetsRun.com flag.
More World XC News
USATF confirmed that St. Louis (who hosted the women's Trials in 2004) and Phoenix (who have never hosted) are the only two bidders for the 2028 Trials.
Jacob Kiplimo put on a show and won his third title by 18 seconds as Ethiopia took the team title. The US led by Parker Wolfe (12th) was 4th.
A big thank you to the big crowd that turned out for the LetsRun party to celebrate the American running community at World XC.
The NCAA has done a lot of stupid things over the years but this has to to appear near the top of the list. They have stripped all remaining eligibility for NCAA D3 XC runner-up (and 2:12 marathoner) Mohammed Bati, who works a full-time job 5 days a week at an assisted living facility from 11 pm to 7 am while attending school and running track/XC. His sin? The local community came together and raised $6k for him.
Art and Linda Kranick built a dynasty at Saratoga Springs as they won 3 national titles and 28 NY state federation titles. Many runners RAVED about them. Many also HATED them. Banning them for life even though one of them is dead seems the definition of administrative over reach. SafeSpot has a policy not to ban dead people. Does USATF even know Art Kranick is dead?
After three years with Kersee that included an American record in 2023, a devastating injury in 2024, and a failure to make the US final in 2025, Mu-Nikolayev has left Kersee and moved from LA to Dallas.
The Kenyan 800m star has largely disappeared since winning Olympic and world titles in 2021 & 2022. And the physiotherapist who treated him twice a day, every day for 6 months leading up to the Olympics is worried for him. "We’ve been trying to help him, but he hasn’t been willing to receive the help."
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Evan Jager retired this week and then sat down with LetsRun.com for his most candid interview ever. He opened up about the Paris fall, the Olympic silver, the Fancy Bears leak, and the tension between Alberto and Jerry that shaped parts of his career.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
‒ Cole Hocker talking after running the 2nd fastest mile in indoor history (3:45.94) at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, NC.