The USA track and field championships start Thursday and our prediction contest makes them even more interesting. Free to play. Compete against your friends in a group. Spread the word.
Archived Homepage For July 30, 2025
Archived Homepage For July 30, 2025
The Latest LetsRun Feature By Jonathan Gault
Three years ago, USATF published a document on its website titled "Journey to Gold: Strategic Roadmap to 2028." The idea: capitalize on a six-year window bookended by two rare opportunities -- a home World Championships in 2022 and a home Olympics in 2028 -- to grow the sport domestically. The aim, spelled out in a purple box on page 1, was to make track & field the country's fifth-most followed sport by LA28. As part of this initiative, USATF launched a series of professional meets known as the "Journey to Gold Tour." Three nationally-televised meets stood at the heart of those efforts. Last year, the USATF Bermuda, NYC, and LA Grand Prix meets were all shown nationally on NBC. In 2025, none of those meets were even held. What happened to them? And what should USATF's role be in promoting/staging professional track meets?
2025 Toyota USATF Nats Start Thursday
2025 Toyota USATF Nats Start Thursday
It's been 89 years since the US had the same top three in consecutive USA men's 1500 finals. Could Cole Hocker, Yared Nuguse, and Hobbs Kessler change that in 2025? Or will recent college grads Ethan Strand and Nathan Green run their way onto the team? Already this year, Hocker has run personal bests in the 800 (1:45.13), mile (3:47.43), 3,000 (7:23.14), and 5,000 (12:57.82). He ran faster and finished higher at Pre this year compared to last year. Last year, Hocker made a big jump in fitness between Prefontaine and the Olympics. If Hocker can make that same jump in 2025, he is going to be a beast come Tokyo.
Just three years ago, the US SUCKED at the men's 800. But this year, five Americans have broken 1:44 and 14 have broken 1:45, both all-time records. Oh, and there's a 16-year-old named Cooper Lutkenhaus who has run 1:45.45, taking a full second off a 29-year-old US high school record. We break it down for you.
Wejo, Rojo and Jon give you their top 3 predictions.
On The Boards
On The Boards
Who wins the US men's 800m title?
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Assuming Hoppel and Hoey make the US 800m team, which of these guys is also most likely to make the US 800m team and take the 3rd spot?
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Who wins the 2025 USA men's 1500m title?
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Assuming Nuguse and Hocker make the US men's 1500 team, who takes the third spot?
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Mountain Running News
- Italy's Davide Magnini And Kenya's Valentine Jepkoech Rutto Win Giir di Mont 32K Mountain Race In Italy Kenya's Richard Omaya Atuya and GB's Scout Adkin won the uphill race.
- Japan's Yuri Yoshizumi Wins 7th-Straight Fuji Mountain Race; Ruy Ueda Wins Men's Race
Weekend European Results
- European Weekend Round-Up: Germany's Lea Meyer Runs 2000m Steeplechase World Lead At ISTAF Berlin (5:57.76)
- Olympic Pole Vault Bronze Medalist Emmanouil Karalis Wins Balkan Championships With 5.92m He also took two close attempts at 6.11m (would put him #4 on the all-time list). Turkey's Dilek Kocak completed the 800m/1500m double and Euro silver medalist Angelina Topić won the HJ with 1.93m
- Ondrej Kopecky (Decathlon) And Adrianna Sulek-Schubert (Heptathlon) Win Czapiewski Memorial Multi-Event Meet In Poland
- Sweden’s Ayla Hallberg Hossain Leaps 6.57m To Win Nordic U20 LJ (#1 On Europe U20 List This Year)
Galen Rupp Races For The First Time In A Year And A Half
- Latvia’s Arturs Medveds Wins Wharf To Wharf 6 Miler In 27:03; Galen Rupp Returns To Racing With 5th Place Finish (27:59) This was Rupp's first race since the Marathon Trials in February 2024. Ethiopia’s Atsede Tesema won the women's race in 31:01.
*MB: Galen Rupp is BACK baby - 5th at Wharf to Wharf
Sha'Carri At USAs?
As the defending world 100m champion, she has a bye to Worlds and is not required to compete at USAs, but she is entered in both the 100m and 200m.
Impressive Sprint Result
He broke the previous U18 mark by .06. and put himself tied for #5 on the Japanese all-time list.
US Miler News
- MB: NCAA 1500m Record Holder Liam Murphy Signs With Nike, Joins Swoosh Track Club In Flagstaff Murphy will be coached by Mike Smith and train alongside Ethan Strand and Parker Wolfe.
- Initial Fields Announced For The Sir Walter Miler On August 8 The men's field includes NCAA 1500m record holder Liam Murphy, former NCAA champ Mario Garcia Romo and Sam Prakel and the women are lead by Katelyn Tuohy, Krissy Gear, recent high school grad Sadie Engelhardt and Colleen Quigley.
- MB: 3:54 Miler Rheinhardt Harrison Transfers From Oregon To NAU
More Weekend Results
- Greece’s Olympic LJ Champ Miltiadis Tentoglou (8.07m) And Serbia’s World TJ Champ Ivana Španović (14.12m) Win Gold At The Balkan Championships
- British Mountain Runner Scout Adkin Wins Giir di Mont Uphill Race In Italy Kenya's Richard Omaya Atuya won the men's race.
- Japan Takes 4 Out Of 6 Half-Marathon Medals At World University Games Japan's Shinsaku Kudo won the men's race in 62:29 while the women's race was won by China's Xiuzhen Ma (1:12:48), but Japan won silver and bronze.
European News
- NY Times: "Meet Innes FitzGerald, The 'Greta Thunberg Of Sport' Who Is Determined To Make A Difference" British distance runner FitzGerald famously turned down a spot Junior World XC Champs in Australia three years ago because she of environmental concerns with taking long plane flights. But she has since had to compromise on her stance to travel by plane to many track meets and says she feels "immense guilt when on the plane."
- BBC: Innes Fitzgerald Hoping To Make GB's World Champs Team After Big Breakthrough In The London DL 5000m She broke the European under-20 record with 14:39 which also put her #5 on the UK all-time list.
- Kate O’Connor Breaks Irish Heptathlon Record (6487 Points) To Win World University Games Gold *Results
- Olympic Champ Miltiadis Tentoglou Vs European Indoor Champ Bozhidar Sarâboyukov At The Balkan Athletics Championships This Weekend World champ Ivana Španović is in the women's LJ and Euro silver medalist Angelina Topić in the HJ.
Preview: Czapiewski Memorial Multi Event Meet Is Saturday/Sunday
Weekend Listen
Deena Kastor, the Olympic bronze medallist in the marathon, shares stories of the coach who shaped her as a runner and human being.
- LRC Friday 15 Weekend Podcast: USAs Next Week, Grand Slam Track Needs Cash, Kenyan Trials & Byes The LetsRun crew breaks down the latest running news. Only available to Supporters Club members.
USAs Start Thursday
A surgery for an undisclosed ailment is keeping Michael Norman out of the World Championships. Sha'Carri Richardon's plans for the USAs are still TBD as she has the bye in the 100 for Worlds.
- Discussion: Michael Norman not racing USAs after undergoing surgery
- 7 Out Of 8 Defending World Champions And 9 Of 11 Olympic Champions Will Be At USAs In addition to Olympic champ Norman, World and Olympic shot put champ Ryan Crouser will also miss due to injury.
Grand Slam Track Financial Update
Grand Slam Track founder Michael Johnson told Dennis Young of Front Office Sports that the loss of the investor caused "major, major cash flow issue" for the startup track league. *FOS Sports article
Links That A Human Found Interesting
- Sinclaire Johnson loves training and living in Portland and being coached by her fiance Craig Nowak, The article which was written before Pre has some good quotes. “I have complete individualization. At this point in my career, that’s where I’m at and what I’m wanting.... We’ve created real roots here. It’s where we feel at home.”
- Katie Ledecky, Summer McIntosh and a race for the ages at World Swimming Championships "Ledecky wants to become the first swimmer to win a seventh world title in one event. Summer McIntosh wants to become the second swimmer — after Michael Phelps — to win five individual gold medals at a single worlds. Only one of those feats can happen at this meet in Singapore."
- Everything to know about the 2025 World Aquatics Championships which star Sunday in Singapore
- Commonwealth Games could face TV blackout for first time in 70 years with no BBC deal agreed
- 2023 Prague half champ Roncer Kipkorir Konga of Kenya (59:43 pb) popped for doping
- British masters Sprint champion illegally pocketed Covid bounceback loans to buy himself a £1.8m mansion Rick Beardsell, 46, a winner of seven gold medals for GB in World Masters Athletics Championships, was supposed to use Covid loans to prop up his sportswear firm. Instead, he used it to help finance the purchase of an impressive five-bedroom £1.8m mansion.
- Keely Hodgkinson's return from injury now set for August 20 @ Lausanne DL
- Rich Perleman: Did you know the IOC already pays some Olympians? Why not pay them all? "So why not expand an Olympic honoraria to a four-year grant of $10,000 per year as long as the athlete continues competing and follows the anti-doping and other eligibility rules? That would cost $548.52 million over four years, easily within the IOC’s financial capabilities."
- The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) fittest 10 US cities are... They have Washington DC at #1 and #2 as they are counting Arlington, VA as two separate cities.
News From Outside the USA
- Eilish McColgan calls on agents and coaches to be sanctioned when big stars like Ruth Chepngetich get popped "I think the agents and coaches need to be a little bit more responsible for that as well. I mean this isn't just Ruth doing this on her own. There's a deeper team involved here that are essentially….. I'm not going to say using an athlete but do you know what I mean? Whether there's coaches, doctors, agents, particularly, I think they need to be held responsible in some way."
*Eilish McColgan used to get slammed online for her body being skinny, now she has to read vile and racists posts about her engagement to a black man
*McColgan views herself as a marathoner but admits she may compete in the 10,000 at 2026 CGs in her native Scotland “But I think, for me, it's hard to turn down an opportunity to race in Glasgow, a home championship. How often do I get to do that? - Full Kenyan Worlds team named - Peres Jepchirchir thrilled to returning to Japan for 1st time since winning Olympic marathon gold in 2021 "I am happy with the confidence the Kenyan selectors have
- Faith Kipyegon watched the Kenyan Trials from the stands and then confirmed she'll double at Worlds She also said she thinks she can set a 4th WR in the 1500. " So, I'll keep pushing it--there's still room for improvement."
- After dominant steeple win, Faith Cherotich vows to make millions of Kenyans happy at Worlds When you run 8:48 at age 20, you have reason to be confident.
- Korean high jump star Woo Sang-Hyeok has gotten over MAJOR Olympic despair He was hoping to win Korea's 1st Olympic medal ever in track and field, but came up well short in 7th and his coach was honest, "It wasn’t your body that held you back in Paris. It was mental."
The Latest N. American Distance News
- Chris Lear and Sean Brosnan speak to fans about their new book as Diadora opens its 1st local pop-up store in Flagstaff 25 years ago, LRC popped up in Flag. Now Diadora is smartly following in the footsteps of the OG. Brosnan will soon be coming out with a new book about his Newbury Park days entitled "Beyond Fast" co-authored with Lear and former LA Times writer Andrew Greif.
- Marco Arop is running the 1500 at Canadian champs He's got a bye to Worlds in the 800 as the defending champ but will also maybe run that to help training partner Abdullahi Hassan get the WC standard.
- Donavan Brazier is THRILLED to be back but realizes he's got work to do: "I’m going to need to step up my game a little bit.” “If you’d have told me two months ago I’d be running this sort of time I’d have probably said ‘You’re lying!’ But to run this sort of time and still finish 6th, it just shows how good the 800 guys are. It’s a top-heavy event right now with a lot of good guys, and I’m going to need to step up my game a little bit.”
- Katelyn Tuohy and Mario Garcia Romo to headline 2025 Sir Walter Miler on August 8th The meet is World Athletics Continental Tour silver for the 1st time this year.
- 3-time UTMB champ Courtney Dauwalter is a yes for UTMB, no word yet if 2-time champ and course record holder Katie Schide will battle her
- Harvard's incoming freshman class unveiled They have girls at 4:39 and 4:46 coming in. For the boys, they have the FL champ, a 4:03 guy, a 4:05 guy and much more.
- Congress may pass SCORE act which will have huge NCAA implications Schools pulling in more than $50 millon a year in TV revenue will be forbidden from charging students fees to support athletics. Also, athletes wouldn't be classified as employees. They'd be guaranteed the right to transfer once (but after that it could be limited). It also interestingly would allow schools "to deny their student-athletes from signing NIL deals that conflict with university sponsors."
USA Champs Are Next Week & The Entries/Non Entries Are Interesting
Quincy Hall did not enter USAs by the entry deadline Tuesday at midnight.
- LRC Track Fans Rejoice: Athing Mu Makes Last-Minute Entry Into USATF 800m Perhaps LetsRun.com was the only place people were freaking out as the clock neared midnight on the East Coast and Athing Mu still had not entered USAs. Never fear, she entered with 2.5 hours to spare, slightly ahead of what she did last year for the Olympic Trials.
The 2024 Olympian posted on Instagram, "[I] did everything in my power to get back to race USAs but unfortunately my foot isn't 100% healed yet. Be back soon."
- MB: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Will Only Race The 400m At USAs It looks like SML will get out of her comfort zone and run only the 400 at Worlds. She still could run the 400H in Tokyo if she won the DL finale, but she doesn't have any DL points.
- MB: USATF Champs Day 1 and 2 Not on NBC
2025 Kenyan Trials
A wacky Kenyan Trials were held this morning in front of a sparse crowd, not a surprise since it was held on Tuesday morning with little advanced notice. Have you ever seen an elite women's 800 go out in 75? Well, that happened. In the race of the day, Reynold Cheruiyot nipped Timothy Cheruiyot at the line to win the 1500. Plus NCAA stars Brigid Kogsei and Brian Musau won't be going to Worlds but for different reasons. NCAA record holder Doris Lemngole even though she was tronced in the steeple.
Distance News
- US's 1972 Olympic 800m Champ Dave Wottle Tells The Story Of How West German Competitor Franz-Josef Kemper Saved His Race Right before the race while waiting in the tunnel to go to the track, and official told Wottle he would be DQ'd for having one too many spikes in each of his shoes. Wottle had no spike wrench to remove them and was panicking, but Kemper (who finished 4th) found one for Wottle, saving his race.
- Identical Triplets Run Japan Niigata Prefecture High School Championships 5000m Together They finished one after the other in the race, taking places 6th, 7th and 8th with the fastest at 14:49.70.
- 42-Year-Old Mom Goes Viral For Photo Of Her Breastfeeding While Eating Watermelon During An Ultra Marathon
LetsSprint.com
- Zharnel Hughes Doesn't Seem Concerned Over Delay In Grand Slam Track Prize Money Payments Hughes said, "In regards to the payment, it’s almost like a regular season where you run a couple of Diamond League races, you run other races, and you get paid in the latter part of the season. ...I’m just looking to see if you get paid by August, September, the time we usually get paid by." He also noted that he had been paid his appearance fee.
- Meeting Madrid Recap: WR Holder Wayde Van Niekerk Runs First 400m In Over A Year With 44.91 3rd Place Finish The race was won by Elián Larregina in 44.53 seconds. Olympic bronze medalist Djamel Sedjati won the 800m in 1:43.53; three-time Olympic medalist Natalia Bukowiecka took the women's 400m (50.07).
- World Athletics Looks Back At When Jamaica Swept The Women's 100m Medals At The 2022 World Championships Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won in 10.67 with Shericka Jackson (10.73) and Elaine Thompson-Herah (10.81) taking silver and bronze. The three also swept the medals at the Tokyo Olympics the year before, although in a different order.
Olympic News
- USOPC Bans Transgender Athletes From Women's Olympic Sports Previously they let individual sports federations make their own rules, but now have banned men from women's Olympic sports completely to comply with President Donald Trump's executive order.
*MB: U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee Quietly Updates Policy to Bar Males from Women's Competition - USOPC Pushing Lawmakers To Tweak Legislation To Require Colleges To Spend The Same Percentage On Olympic Sports In The Future As They Do Now The SCORE Act is a current bill in congress that would require schools to sponsor at least 16 teams, but USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland says, "The bill, as it’s written, would make it too easy for a school to starve 15 programs and invest in one."
- Doha, Qatar Bids For The 2036 Olympics Doha previously bid for the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, but did not reach the final phase. For their 2036 bid, they boasted that 95% of required venues are already operational.
More News From Kenya
- Former Two-Time World Marathon Champion Abel Kirui Finally Hangs 'Em Up At Age 42 Kirui won world marathon gold in 2009 and 2011, plus Olympic silver in 2012. His 2:05:04 PB is from 2009 (well before super shoes) and he last broke 2:10 in 2023 when he ran 2:08:36 for 8th place at the Fukuoka Marathon (He ran a 2:21 marathon this year and 2:14 in 2024).
- Athletics Kenya Offered Eliud Kipchoge A World Marathon Champs Spot An Athletics Kenya official said, "We asked Kipchoge if he would participate but he said he would prefer someone else to go this time round." Kipchoge is only the 11th fastest Kenyan marathoner this year with his 2:05:25 from London in April.
- Kenyan Nairobi Marathon Winner Ronald Kurgat Gets 6-Year Doping Ban He received a longer ban because he tested positive twice, the second positive test coming after he was notified of the first.
- MB: Athletics Illustrated's Christopher Kelsall Says Phanuel Koech's Performances "Don't Make Sense
RIP
- Bill Dellinger To Be Honored At July 30 At Hayward Field (The Day Before USA Start) RunnerSpace will have a free live broadcast of the event (10:30PM ET).
- Maeve Kyle, Ireland's First Female Track And Field Olympian, Dies At 96 She ran the 100m and 200m at the 1956 Melbourne Games and also competed at the Rome and Tokyo Olympics.
- Longtime University Of Cincinnati Head Coach Bill Schnier Passes Away At 80 Years Old Some of the top athletes Schnier coached include NBC Olympic track and field analyst Lewis Johnson, 2008 Olympic 4x400 gold medalist Mary Wineberg and 2008 Olympic 110H silver medalist David Payne.
Post-Euro U23 Champs Stuff
This Week's Main Podcast - The Ultimate Victory Lap For Rojo
Emmanuel Wanyonyi is the real deal, what about Phanuel Koech and Niels Laros after their impressive weekend's. What about Donavan Brazier's 1:43.08 in London and Rush Chepngetich getting popped for a masking agent.
Seb Coe Speaks About GST
- The Times: Seb Coe Worried About Grand Slam Track Unpaid Prize Money Situation Coe said, “It’s not good. There is no point in pretending this is a satisfactory situation. ... Conduct in our sport is important to us. And we are following this closely. I’ve had conversations with individual athletes, athlete representatives, even meeting directors on this.”
- Coe On GST: "For these things to work, they can’t be vanity projects. They have to be suffused in practicality and deliverability." WA CEO Jon Ridgeon talked about how they wanted GST to work and specifically "gave them really high world ranking points" to try and make the meets "attractive as possible" to athletes.
- MB: World Athletics concerned about GST
More Weekend Results
Other race winners included Ethiopia's Nigist Getachew in the 800m (1:57.01), Belgium's Isaac Kimeli in the 5000m (13:01.39) and World 800m champ Mary Moraa in the 400m (50.49).
*MB: Gjert does it again: Middling 28-year-old Jose Carlos Pinto (3:37-3:31.9 in 1 season) Pinto won the 1500m in a PB of 3:31.94 in Belgium.
- Hokuren Distance Challenge: Japan-Based Kenyans Highlight Japan collegiate record holder Richard Etir soloed a 27:37 in the 10,000m.
- Richard Omaya Atuya And Michael Selelo Saoli Lead Kenyan Dominance At Vauban Mountain And Trail Race In France Atuya took the uphill race and Saoli the classic race. For the women, French duo Christel Dewalle (uphill) and Nélie Clément (trail) were the winners.
European U23 Champs
- European Under-23 Champs: Netherlands' Niels Laros Wins 5000m (13:44.74), 800m (1:44.36) Double Laros won the 5000m ahead of Ireland's Nick Griggs (13:45.80) and came in 0.61 ahead of Britain’s Justin Davies in the 800m. Switzerland's two-time European U20 champ Audrey Werro dominated the women's 800m in a championship record 1:57.42.
*MB: Niels Laros 1:44.19 Laros ran a PB in the Euro U23 heats finishing 3rd (Italy’s Francesco Pernici won the heat with a championship record 1:44.06). - Event-By-Event Recaps From European Athletics
- AW: British Athletes Win Four Golds At European U23 Champs
A Legend Is Lost
Vigil was the long-time coach at Adams State, winning 19 national titles, including the 1992 team which put up a perfect score 1-2-3-4-5 at D2 Nationals. He also coached Deena Kastor to her 2004 Olympic Marathon bronze, Meb Keflezighi, Pat Porter, Brenda Martinez and many more. In addition to a coach, he was a sports scientist (he had a Ph.D. in exercise physiology) and wrote the well known book, Road to the Top, which includes many insights into training and the science behind it.
Other News Of Note
- Transgender Runner Sues Princeton After Being Blocked From Women's Track Race Sadie Schreiner is suing Princeton for discrimination, but Princeton is following the NCAA and World Athletics rules against men competing against women, so we're not sure what the case is here.
- Athlos NYC Meet Will Have The Long Jump In Times Square Olympic champ Tara Davis-Woodhall will headline.
- Olympic LJ Silver Medalist Wayne Pinnock Talks About Switching Allegiance From Jamaica To Turkey He doesn't think that Jamaica does enough to support its athletes and felt he'd have regretted turning down the financial opportunity Turkey was offering, saying "I do love my country. But loyalty doesn't pay bills."
- Russia Sports Minister Is Talking About Bidding To Host The Summer And Olympic Games Well they're currently sanctioned by the IOC so that isn't happening anytime soon unless they end the war with Ukraine.
What a great meet in front of 60,000. Click on the youtube player for our reactions. Or better yet, get it as a podcast by joining our SC.
*WA Recap Julien Alfred was sensational in the 200 (21.71, -0.6) as was Mykolas Alekna in the discus (71.70 DL),
- MB: London DL Live Thread
- London 800 - What a race - Wanyonyi (1:42.00) comes back on Arop (1:42.22) - Hoppel (1:42.71) over Brazier (1:43.08)
- Koech Is the REAL DEAL. Koech (3:28.82) over Kerr (3:29.37) FTW in London!!!
- What was that? Gudaf Tsegay runs like an IDIOT. Goes out in 59.93, Runs 4:11.89 mile! American Sinclaire Johnson got an American record of 4:16.32 for 4th.
- Oblique Seville (9.86, -0.6) DESTROYS London 100m field with Noah Lyles (10.00) and Tebogo (10.12)
- Sinclaire Johnson gets American record in 4:16:32!
Stumptown Twilight
BYU's Riley Chamberlain won the women's race in 1:59.75. Thomas Ratcliffe took the men's 1500m in 3:33.28 ahead of Benjamin Allen (3:33.97) and Parker Wolfe (3:34.44). Anna Camp-Bennett won the women's 1,500 meters in 4:05.38 while recent high school grad Sadie Engelhardt ran a PB of 4:07.78 in 8th (#4 on the prep all-time list). Elise Cranny won the 5000m in 15:06 and Allie Ostrander took the steeplechase by 35 seconds in 9:35.
If it's too good to be true....
Suspicion of Chepngetich was sky high last October when she ran 2:09:56 in Chicago and now she's been popped.. But since Chepngetich tested positive for a masking agent, she could be competing again as soon as April 2027 even if her ban is upheld. Is that fair? Plus is the AIU nearing a breaking point with Federico Rosa and Kenya?
- Toni Reavis column on Ruth C's bust: Why don't agents, shoe sponsors or marathon Title sponsors do anything about the doping scourge Reavis correctly points out that just banning the athletes isn't working. What is agents were required to put up a bond to vouch fo athletes being clean?
- MB: Breaking: Marathon world record Ruth Chepngetich has tested positive - Will Kenya's Parliament apologize to yours truly?|
- 2024: Amby Burfoot says it out loud - Chepngetich is doping
- 2024: Kenyan parliament is currently discussing my questions of Ruth Chepngetich & are demanding that I apologize Remember when 13 members of Parliament went on a 20+ tirade ripping LetsRun for asking Chepngetich what she would say to people who thought her performace was too good to be true.
Sydney's Elite Men's Field is Released
The men's field has 9 guys who have broken 2:05, including 2 of 9 fastest men in history in Eliud Kipchoge and Birhanu Legese. It also has 15 who have equalled or broken Sydney's 2:06:17 course record. 2025 Sydney will clearly be the greatest non-Olympic marathon ever run in Australia. But what if we told you the field only includes one man who has finished in the top 3 at a major in 2024 or 2025 and zero men ranked in our top 10 for 2024?
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Meet Phanuel Koech
Koech's coach Claudio Berardelli says his talent could be comparable to that of his two biggest stars, marathoner Sabastian Sawe and Olympic 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi. "I’m still trying to figure out exactly what happened and what is the potential of this boy," Berardelli said.
Our Latest Feature
Freeman found incredible success in an event that has often plagued American relay squads, but USATF chose not to renew her contract at the end of 2024. Why? Jonathan Gault investigates.
The 800 Gets LetsRun Love
The 800 Gets LetsRun Love
Kersee doesn't talk often to the media but he talked to our Jonathan Gault about his plans for Athing Mu. Kersee said he believes racing the 1500 will help make Mu a better 800 runner but said he also hopes she can run more 400s moving forward and that she can eventually break 49 seconds in that event.
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." (SC paywall lifted)
Portland Track Festival - Brazier's Back Baby!
Donavan Brazier is running in the 1:43s after only 2 races in his comeback. This one was a beautiful victory that reminded us of the Brazier of old. In other action, former high school phenoms Katelyn Tuohy and Drew Hunter got wins, as current high schoolers Owen Powell and Josiah Tostenson ran 3:36 (#2 and #3 on the HS all-time list). Justyn Knight and Luis Grijalva returned to action.
- MB: DONNY MF BRAZIER: In case you weren't convinced. He's officially, officially back. 1:43.81 negative split
- DyeStat Recap: "Donavan Brazier Makes Triumphant Return To Portland Track Festival With Fastest Time Since 2020"
- MB: Owen Powell and Josiah Testosterone 3:36
- MB: Katelyn Touhy 15:04
- Donavan Brazier Video Interview
- Portland Track Festival Day 1 Results UA Dark Sky's Isaac Updike (8:13) and Gracie Hyde (9:24) won the steeplechases. NAZ Elite's Abby Nichols (31:52) took the women's 10,000m.
GST LA Cancelled
After the most successful meet of the year in Philly, there will be no meet #4 in 2025 as it was abruptly cancelled 2 weeks before it was to take place. GST did not give a reason for the cancellation, but claimed there will be a meet in 2026 in LA.
World XC Will Be Here Before You Know It - Make Your Travel Plans Now
This is a good idea as you'll save money and have a built in crowd. Plus you'll expose the current edition of US HS talents to the pros. The event will be used to pick the team for the World XC champs to be held in Tallahassee in January 2026. For the U20 teams, the top four finishers at USAs will get a spot, with the final two spots reserved for the NXN and Foot Locker champions.
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."
Jonathan Gault pays tribute to two legends
Simpson and Centrowitz, who both 1st medalled in 2011 and retired in 2024, leave the sport as two of the faces on the Mt. Rushmore of American 1500m running after piling up a combined eight medals at global championships. And despite not ever finishing in the top 3 on the yearly 1500 list (Simpson's best was 4th, Centro's 9th), they will be remembered as two of the better milers of their generation.
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
