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The Ultimate USA XC Preview by Jonathan Gault
The most exciting USA XC champs in a generation are in Portland on Saturday and Jonathan Gault tells you who will make the top 6 and represent Team USA at Worlds in Tallahassee. There are lots of big names to choose from including Nico Young, Graham Blanks, Cooper Teare, Rocky Hansen, Paker Wolfe, Shelby Houlihan, Weini Kelati, Katelyn Tuohy, Parker Valby, Paul Chelimo, and many others .
*MB: USATF Cross Country Champs..Who makes the world team?
Previous: LRC USA XC entries: Which American pros have the lamest excuses for skipping out on one of the greatest races in the US in 30+ years? We've compiled a list of all of the top Americans who could conceivably race at USA XC this weekend and their explanations for why they are/aren't trying out for the first World XC on US soil since 1992.
Big Administrative News
Rich Perelman has the details. It appears USATF is going scorched earth on anyone who wants to testify in the Jim Estes lawsuit as it previously had sued Board chair Mike Conley and now has suspended Kristie Killough-Ali, a Chicago attorney, was elected as an Independent Director to the USATF Board in 2018. Killough-Ali is standing her ground and vowing to testify truthfully.|
*MB: USATF Suspends Two Board Members Days Before Annual Meeting - trying to silence people from talking in Jim Estes lawsuit?
- Enhanced Games to Go Public in $1.2 Billion US SPAC Merger This is wild. The entity, which appeared to be in big trouble just weeks ago as its founder stepped down, will soon be listed on the NASDAQ. How in the hell do we short it at $1.2 billion valuation? *Discuss
*Nov. 23: Enhanced Games in trouble? Founder Aron D’Souza steps away from "the company's day-to-day operations" A judge recently tossed The Enhanced Games' $800 million lawsuit out of court, they are having trouble signing athletes and now the co-founder has stepped away.
On The Boards
On The Boards
High School News - NXN Is Saturday
- MileSplit NXN Preview Niwot, CO and Jackson Spencer are the favorites on the boys side while the women's race, which includes 2023 winner Addison Ritzenhein, is wide open. *Entries
- DyeStat: At NXN, the best fifth scorer Is generally a good sign, but it doesn't always guarantee cahampionship 16 out of 19 years at NXN, either the boys or girls team with the fifth best scorer ended up winning. Only once has the fastest 5th runner not been on a team that was 1st or 2nd in the team results.
- Q&A with NXN contender Yohanes Van Meerten who has only seriously been running for less than 2 years but ran 14:28 as a sophomore He was adopted by Americans at the age of 1 after being born in Ethiopia.
- Q*A with former NXN champ Addy Ritzenhein who is now a senior and headed to NAU next year
- A chat with 3-time NXN champ Alexa Efraimson who is now a dietician
- No, please no: Under Armour sponsoring another high school "national championship" in Florida in 2026 We absolutely do not need another high school track "national championship" meet.
- Japanese high schooler Bilith Boi runs 13:27.52 to win Nittai University Time Trials 5000m
Valencia Marathon Preview
- Valencia Marathon is Sunday and it's got a lot of big names and a decent number of Americans Course record holder Sisay Lemma (2:01:48) leads the men's field but John Korir (2:02:44 pb) is surprisngly a late add after running a foolish race in Chicago. In the women's race, course record holder Amane Beriso (2:14:58) will clash with reigning world champ Peres Chepchirchir. Americans Keira D'Amato, Emma Bates, Lindsay Flanagan and Clayton Young are all racing.
- John Korir hunts redemption (and a smart race) in Sunday's Valencia race after running foolishly in Chicago "I will run a tactical race; I will not go out hard in Valencia,” he said "My target in Chicago was to run under 2:01. But in Valencia, I am going for the win,” he added.
More Upcoming Action
- 2025 women's Wanamaker mile on Feb 1 will be loaded - Jess Hull, Nikki Hiltz, Dorcus Ewoi, Sinclaire Johnson, and mom x 2 Elle St. Pierre will all be there Get your tix now.
*Hull Q&A We wish the American stars were like Hull. She's doing World xc and then a full track season. - Two-time Olympic 5000m medalist Paul Chelimo leads men's field for the Marathon Project on December 21 He faces 2:09:46 man Brian Shrader and 2023 Canadian National champ Thomas Broatch (2:10:35).
- Marathon Project women's entries The list includes 2:24:29 woman Kellyn Taylor and 2022 US marathon champ Paige Wood.
- 17 more sub-28 10ks at Nittai University Time Trials Kenyan Amos Bett had the fastest time with 27:44.02 while 9 Japanese men went sub-28.
Non Distance News
The idea was to reduce the number of foul jumps so the event was less boring for spectators. World Athletics CEO Jon Ridgeon said the change tested well with fans, but they were scrapping it because "ultimately you do not want to go to war with your most important group of people." Olympic LJ champ Miltiadis Tentoglou called the proposal "dog shit" and Carl Lewis called it an "April Fool’s joke."
- Mondo Duplantis returning to the London Stadium for the first time since 2018 He was announced for the London DL on July 18.
- World heptathlon champ Anna Hall gets engaged to NFL player Darius Slayton The Giants wide receiver proposed to her on the track where they first met.
*MB: ANNA HALL ENGAGED - A look back at the year in Athletics for South Africa Among the highlights was Prudence Sekgodiso "becoming the first South African woman to win a medal at the World Indoor Championships, claiming gold in the 800m with a national record."
Sprint Stuff
- Noah Lyles outsprints three robots in YouTuber Mr. Beast's humanity vs AI robots challenge The challenge had some of the world's best athletes up against some of the world's best robots and Lyles won the final point for the humans.
*Full Video *Mr. Beast vs Lyles bonus clip - Gabby Thomas starting training back up after months out with Achilles injury
- China’s Asian 60m and 100m record-holder Su Bingtian announces retirement Bingtian has a 9.83 100m PB and competed at six world championships and three Olympic Games.
XC Results From Europe
- Burundi’s Rodrigue Kwizera and Ethiopia’s Yenenesh Shimket win World XC Tour race in Alcobendas Shimket beat Italy’s world and Olympic 10,000m silver medalist Nadia Battocletti by 11 seconds.
- World steeple finalist Ruben Querinjean gets upset win over world 5000m silver medalist Isaac Kimeli at Belgian XC Champs Lisa Rooms won the women's race over European 10,000m Cup winner Jana Van Lent.
- Elena Burkard gets double win at German XC Champs She won the long course race on day two after winning the middle distance race on day one. In the men's race, Markus Görger won his third straight title. *Day 1 recap
- Sweden’s Sarah Lahti wins gets her 4th successive Warandecross XC victory in Tilburg, Netherlands Nik Lemmink won the men's race.
- Slovenia’s recent half-marathon NR setter Klara Lukan gets 4th win at the Carsolina XC race in Italy Giovanni Gatto won the men's race.
- Jáchym Kovář and Tereza Hrochová each win their fifth Czech XC titles
News From The UK
- World Athletics CEO John Ridgeon called out The Guardian's Sean Ingle to his face over his recent column Ridgeon was annoyed and told Ingle he thought his column was "very unfair," but they ended up having a positive discussion about the state and future of the sport.
*Ingle's column from September: "Athletics can’t keep kidding itself – it needs a five-pronged plan to save track and field" - BBC article on 63-year-old who ran the world's deepest marathon Rory Coleman and 54 others ran a marathon 1,118 meters below sea level in a zinc mine in Sweden. Coleman has ran over 1000 marathons including the Sahara Desert marathon 18 times.
- British Olympic medalists Steve Cram and Steve Smith are trying to get more young athletes to stay involved in the sport They are leading a group of athletes and coaches (including 2008 Olympic 400m champ Christine Ohuruogu) to brainstorm ways to fight the dwindling numbers of young people doing track and field.
Athletes Of The Year
They each went undefeated for the second year in a row in their main event(s). Other award winners were Emmanuel Wanyonyi for men's track athlete of the year and HJer Nicola Olyslagers for women's field athlete. Out of stadium (ie road) athletes were Sabastian Sawe and race walker Maria Perez. Kenya's world bronze medal steepler Edmund Serem won the men's rising star award.
- Mondo Duplantis takes dig at Grand Slam Track in award acceptance speech He got laughter from the audience when he said, "There was another tour that tried to exclude field events. That didn’t didn’t go so well, did it? I am very proud to represent field eventers."
- World Athlete of the Year Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone – in her words Here what Sydney had to say about winning the AOY (which she didn't deserve) and her 2025 season.
- World Athlete of the Year Mondo Duplantis – in his words
- Belgian steepler Tim Van de Velde wins World Athletics Fair Play Award for breaking rules In the steeple heats, Van de Velde turned back to help Colombia’s injured Carlos San Martin across the line. World Athletics writes, "Van de Velde decided to turn back to help San Martin to cross the finish line – fully aware that it might lead to his disqualification." Neither athlete was DQ'd despite San Martin receiving assistance.
International Distance Results
- Former WR holder Brigid Kosgei wins Shanghai Marathon in 2:16.36 (link updated) She set a Chinese soil record to beat out Irine Cheptai (2:18:51) while Milkesa Mengesha won a close men's race in 2:06:25 ahead of Dawit Wolde (2:06:27) and Deresa Geleta (2:06:36).|
*MB: Bridgid Kosgei wins Shanghai Marathon in 2:16.36 - Moh Ahmed, Ceili McCabe win Canadian XC titles Ahmed was running at the Canadian XC Champs for the first time in 13 years and won by 16 seconds.
- 19-year-old miler Cam Myers wins Australian World XC Trials Myers beat out Seth O’Donnell by 1 second with Morgan McDonald another three seconds back. Leanne Pompeani won the women's race. Despite the win, Myers says he wants to run the 4x2k mixed relay at World XC, not the 10k.
*MB: Where would Cam Myers have finished at NCAA XC?
Jager Q&A for Supporters Club Members
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.
- World Athletics' article on Evan Jager's retirement A good rundown of the highlights of his long career.
High School XC
- Brooks (Formerly Foot Locker) XC Regional Round-Up: Massachusetts Meet of Champions winner Abigail Hennessey continues undefeated season with NE win The top 10 individuals from the three regionals (Northeast, Midwest and South) qualified for nationals on December 13 in San Diego.
*MB: What is up with these random winners at Brooks Regional Championships?
- California XC State Championships Recap: Summer Wilson breaks all-time Woodward Park record; Jesuit boys, Buchanan girls come out on top in merged results Wilson ran 16:20 to win the Division 2 race by 16.6 seconds and break Sadie Engelhardt's 16:25 course record.
- NXN at-large qualifiers announced
*MB: No Clear Favorite for NXN Girls Title?
*MB: NXN 2025 at-large bids predictions
Distance News
- GB's Olympic triathlon champ Alex Yee says his COROS watch predicts he can run a 2:05:46 marathon Yee is running the Valencia Marathon next month after running 2:11:08 in London earlier this year.
- Four-time champion Yasemin Can named in Turkey's team for Euro XC Champs on December 14
- Former world record-holder Brigid Kosgei and Olympic 4th placer Birhanu Legese lead fields for Sunday's Shanghai Marathon 2:14:04 woman Kosgei faces 2017 World XC champ Irine Cheptai (2:17:51) while 2:02:48 man Legese is up against four other sub-2:04 men including Deresa Geleta (2:02:38) plus CR holder Philimon Kiptoo Kipchumba (2:05:35).
End Of Year Awards
- Somehow the photo of Geordie Beamish getting his face stepped on at Worlds didn't win World Athletics Photo of the Year Vegard Grott won the award for his photo titled "Shadows" from this year's Dream Mile in Oslo.
*MB: WA Photo of the Year Finalists Announced - includes Beamish getting stepped on - China wins World Athletics Member Federation Award for 2025
- Irish multi-event coach Michael O’Connor wins World Athletics 2025 Coaching Achievement Award He coached his daughter, Kate O'Connor, to world heptathlon silver in Tokyo this year and pentathlon silver at World Indoors.
- Kenyan coach Ruth Jepchumba Bundotich wins World Athletics Woman of the Year Award for "contributions to the growth of women's athletics in Kenya" Will there be a man of the year?
Olympic / Hosting News
- Amdavad, India named host city for the 2030 Commonwealth Games It will be the second time India has hosted the CWG (they hosted in 2010 in New Delhi).
- Poland working towards bidding for the 2040 Olympics
- China to host the 2027 World University Games
- IOC considering letting Russia compete under its own flag at upcoming Winter Olympics if peace agreement with Ukraine is reached
Some stars believe in an off-season others do not
Manchester is a USA Thanksgiving tradition. *Results
*MB: THE Turkey Trot: 89th Manchester Road Race Discussion - 12,000+ runners, 4.737 miles
- MB: Josh Hoey is going for 600m WR next week at BU, then he'll run a road race the week after in Hawaii Hoey apparently doesn't think he needs a base phase at all or a break.
*LRC Column: Josh Hoey discarding Justin Rinaldi has to be one of the dumbest coaching decisions in sports history - Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has been enjoying a proper off-season: "I’ve been eating a little too much, but you have to rest, you know?”
Grand Slam Flop?
- The Times: Athletes could have to pay back some of the money received if Grand Slam Track files for bankruptcy within 90 days of paying them
- Discussion: 1) The Athletic: GST asks vendors to accept 50% or bankruptcy looms
2) GST Athletes could have to pay back some of the money they already have received - The Times: Grand Slam Track facing collapse as 50% settlement rejected
*MB: World Athletics refuses 50% offer from Grand Slam Track demands FULL BALANCE DUE for licensing WA
- After NYC win, Benson Kipruto has won 4 of 7 Abbott Marathon Majors and says he wants to win all 7
- Italy’s Nadia Battocletti and Burundi’s Rodrigue Kwizera will run WA XC Tour meet in Alcobendas on Sunday
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.
*MB: ESPN writes article on Brosnan NCAA case - is the NCAA infaction system too speedy to be fair? - 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
- The Indian city of Amdavad selected to host centenary Commonwealth Games games in 2030 Ahmedabad has pledged to "lay the foundation" for the next 100 years of the Commonwealth Games after the Indian city was formally named as host of the 2030 Centenary Games on Wednesday. There will be 15-17 sports on the programme, more than what they have this year.
- Scientific study: Taking five 30-40 minutes hot baths per week may drop your 5000 time by 40 seconds
- Mo Farah opens up on his new life in Doha and his controversial decision to move there He says he “proud to be British … proud to have grown up in the UK and have the support I did from the whole nation” during his illustrious career. “That's what makes me happy because, again, if it wasn't for all these people supporting you throughout your career, perhaps it would have been different,” he adds.
- Chinese LJ world champ Wang Jianan CLEARED of all doping charges thanks to CCTV footage even though he tested positive He says he inhaled the banned substance while visiting a sick relative at the hospital and "AIU investigators conducted a “comprehensive review” of “documents and the CCTV video files” and they concluded that there “was nothing suspicious about them."
- Eliud Kipchoge to pick up some $$ for running a 10k in Bangkok this weekend
More News Of Note
- Nike sued by former Division 1 runner over foot injury The UC Berkeley says wearing the Alphafly 2 in a Turkey Trot caused her to fracture her sesamoid bone and left her with a permanent disability
- Enhanced Games in trouble? Founder Aron D’Souza steps away from "the company's day-to-day operations" A judge recently tossed The Enhanced Games' $800 million lawsuit out of court, they are having trouble signing athletes and now the co-founder has stepped away.
- USATF wins bronze for Best Organizing Body of the Year at Sports Business Awards
Assorted Distance News
- Elise Cranny talks about her move to the M11 Track Club (Keely Hodgkinson's group) in the UK She says she wanted to be part of a training group again and that she's hoping they can help her work on her speed as she plans to move her focus back to the 1500m for 2026. Cranny: I keep getting my doors blown off in the last 600 to 400 meters…[Top end speed] is my biggest area for growth."
- Georgia Hunter Bell talks about being friends/rivals with Keely Hodgkinson, her world silver, mileage and her former career in cyber security Hunter bell says she used to run 50-70 miles a week when she was in college and that got her injured. Now she only runs 35 miles/week with a lot of cycling.
- Gabriela DeBues-Stafford credits move to Mark Rowland's group in Edinburgh to her comeback 2025 season She went from having a season's best of 4:15 in 2024 to 3:59 in the 1500m final at Tokyo 2025.
- Runner's World: Video shows runners cutting the course in the men's race at NCAA XC Champs Includes time stamps from the broadcast and quotes from the commentators.
*MB: Men running outside of course. DQs coming? - 2013 world 5000m silver medalist Mercy Cherono says she is transitioning to the roads The 34-year-old hasn't made a Kenyan team since 2016 when she was 4th in the Olympic 5000m.
- Eliud Kipchoge running a half-marathon in Thailand this Sunday
Euro XC - Some Countries' Track Stars Actually Run XC
- Jakob Ingebrigtsen racing European XC Championships in Portugal on December 14 Ingebrigtsen will be going for his 4th senior title (he won in 2021, 2022 and 2024).
*MB: Jakob Ingebrigtsen running European XC championship 14. of December!
- World 1500m champ Isaac Nader running European XC for Portugal next month Nader is running on Portugal's mixed relay team.
*Portuguese XC Champs Recap: Nader anchors winning team in mixed relay
- France's world 10,000m champ Jimmy Gressier might run Euro XC Champs He'll make his decision based on how his race goes on December 7 in Switzerland.
- Konstanze Klosterhalfen headlines entries for this weekend's German XC Championship
- Megan Keith, Innes FitzGerald and Will Barnicoat headline GB squad for Euro XC Champs
- National champions Brian Fay and Fiona Everard lead Irish team for Euro XC
- European U20 medalist Kevin Kamenschak wins men's senior race at Austria XC Champs Defending champion Carina Reicht won the women's race.
- Preview: Czech Cross Country Championships are Saturday
More Weekend Distance Results
- Japanese 10,000m national record goes down at Hachioji Long Distance meet as Mebuki Suzuki runs 27:05.92 He finished 6th in the race won by Kenyan Samuel Kibathi (27:01.70). Between this and the MARCH Taikosen time trial meet, 53 men broke 28 minutes this weekend in Japan (30 of them were Japanese).
- Eritrea's Saymon Amanuel and Ethiopia's Yenenesh Shimket win historic Cinque Mulini XC race in Italy Amanuel beat last year’s winner Matthew Kipruto by 32 seconds while Shimket defended her title by 35 seconds.
- NXR South: Carroll XC Club boys and Flower Mound girls win
- Edion women win first national title at Queens Ekiden
- Ethiopians Milkesa Fikadu and Tirhas Gebrehiwet win Allonnes XC race in France
Lots of breaking news to talk about on the messageboard
- MB: BREAKING: Sprinter Quincy Wilson announces that he's headed to....MARYLAND! The 44.10 performer pulled one from LeBron's playbook and announced his decision live on YouTube. He will stay close to home.
- MB: Breaking: Conner Mantz not running World XC - hurt People who follow Mantz's Strava first noticed he might be hurt a couple weeks ago.
- MB: EVAN JAGER RETIRES Jager retires at 36 years old after a career with five World Championships and two Olympic appearances where he won an Olympic silver and a world bronze.
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
- MB: Centro SHOTS FIRED at Dave Smith. "Is the afterparty in Stillwater or Iten?" 🤣
- 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: Fast American Girls- Why choose NC State over Ivy or Stanford?
- MB: How many foreigners on NC State team?
- MB: Men running outside of course. DQs coming?
- MB: What was Oregon thinking??
- MB: Colin Sahlman - Really impressive 16th place.
Non-DI XC Action
- Wingate men, Grand Valley State women win close battles for DII XC titles Wingate beat Adams State by 9 points and Grand Valley beat Colorado School of Mines by just 4 points. Individual wins went to Adams State runners Kidus Begashaw and Tristian Spence.
- UW-LA Crosse men, NYU women victorious at D3 Champs Individual wins went to Johns Hopkins' Emmanuel Leblond and Middlebury's Audrey Maclean.
- Shenendehowa squeaks past Bethlehem for NY Feds/NXR girls team title by just 1 point North Rockland won the boys team title (Katelyn Tuohy's brother Ryan was 2nd man on the team, finishing 8th overall).
- Brothers TC boys, Union Catholic XC Club girls dominate NXR Northeast
*MB: Something Pretty Amazing Happened Today at NXR Northeast Regionals Blair Bartlett ran 17:00.6 at Bowdoin Park, second on the all-time list for that course only behind Kately Tuohy's 16:45.2.
- Royal Pines Distance Project boys, Sparta girls win team titles at NXR Southeast
- REAL Training Colorado boys, Lone Peak girls punch tickets to NXN convincingly at NXR Southwest
International XC Action
- Kenya's Mathew Kipsang and Italy’s Nadia Battocletti win Atapuerca XC race in Spain Kipsang won in a sprint finish over Rodrigue Kwizera while Battocletti won handily over defending champ Sheila Jebet.
- Brian Fay and Fiona Everard come from behind to claim Irish XC titles Fay beat out Nick Griggs by 2 seconds while Everard won by 15 seconds.
- GB's Innes FitzGerald dominates British Euro XC Trials U20 race She won Euro U20 XC Champs in 2023 and 2024 so will be going for the three-peat this year.
- Polish XC Champs Recap: Marcin Biskup and Olimpia Breza win senior races Euro U23 steeple champion Maciej Megier dominated the U23 race.
- Mikkel Dahl-Jessen and Sofia Thøgersen win Danish XC Championships
Weekend Road Results
- Ethiopia's Gerba Dibaba (2:06:52) and Romania's Joan Chelimo Melly (2:22:57) win Incheon Marathon in South Korea
- Serbia's Elzan Bibic wins Belgrade Half Marathon in a national record 61:47
- Melikhaya Frans (2:13:57) and Anna Oeser (2:34:55) win Philadelphia Marathon
*MB: Philly Marathon Screws up AGAIN!
Pre-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.
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
- Suspended USATF board member Kristie Killough-Ali, a Chicago attorney who was elected as an Independent Director to the USATF Board in 2018, responding to the fact that USATF has suspended her apparently in an attempt to silence her from testifying truthfully in the Jim Estes' lawsuit. The lawsuit resulted from Chattanooga not getting the 2024 US Olympic Marathon Trials. Thankfully, Killough-Ali is standing her ground and vowing to testify truthfully.
MB: USATF Suspends Two Board Members Days Before Annual Meeting - trying to silence people from talking in Jim Estes lawsuit?