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.
*MB: Cross Country - The Video Game - Turns 5 - You Can Now Race XC Cross Country Racing at Illinios' Famed Detweiller Park
Archived Homepage For October 02, 2025
Archived Homepage For October 02, 2025
Best Track & Field Podcast
What a year of track and field. Cole Hocker got 5,000m gold, Cooper Lutkenhaus ran 1:42, Athing Mu was not Athing Mu, Donavan Brazier is back, Josh Hoey was the US leader at 800 & 1,500 and a lot more. 5 American distance runners won Diamond Leagues (and none of them medaled at Worlds). We break it all down.
- 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.
Mid-D News
- Lilian Odira and her coach do 20-minute Kenyan TV appearance to explain how they got to the top To everyone who assumed she had to be doping, please realize two pregnancies and Covid-19 will delay your development. Her coach Jacinta Muraguri said this about her coming back from maternity leave. "But in all this, that weight is - it's a bit good having it because the process of cutting the fat in the body. It makes the athlete very strong because we had a lot of mileage, a lot of long runs."
- Odira was thankful Mary Moraa gave her some advice before Worlds final "She was my roommate, and she advised that we don’t go back to the room with regrets ... it was nice.”
- The 2nd Athlos meet is next week in NYC and Faith Kipyegon will be there As will Keely Hodgkinson. And LOTS of seats are still available. Support the event by getting your tix here. Ciara will be perform.
- NCAA 5k runner-up Vera Sjöberg talks about running the 1,500 at Worlds and deciding to do her grad year at UNC
On The Boards
On The Boards
Doping News
- WADA bans carbon monoxide inhalation Yes, professional cyclists, including a two-time Tour de France winner, have admitted to inhaling the thing that you have a detector in your house to make sure it doesn't kill you. Apparently inhaling it can artificially increase red blood cell and hemoglobin levels, similar to EPO.
- 2:05 Kenyan marathoner banned for 5 years paid just $38 for EPO and CERA to dope Cornelius Kibet Kiplagat explains how he heard about the drugs and the process he used to obtain them and then inject himself.
- MB: Indian teen sentenced to four years in Kenyan prison for importing PEDs ADAK CEO says, "the ruling sends a clear message.
XC / Road News
- NY Times: Tracksmith got some free advertising from pop star Harry Styles running the Berlin Marathon in their shorts Styles got a lot of attention for running a sub-3 hour marathon in Berlin and Tracksmith founder Matt Taylor says sales of the the shorts he wore (the Van Cortlandts which sell for $75) have increased by about 50%.
- Preview: Arkansas men and women the favorites at their home Chile Pepper XC Festival this weekend The Arkansas men are ranked #19 nationally and the women #22.
- BYU's Creed Thompson signs NIL deal with Brooks The 2024 NCAA XC 12th placer is making his marathon debut at Chicago this month.
- MB: Awet Nftalem Kibrab 28:07 over Narve Gilje Nordas (29:45) in Norway 10k
- Italy's double world medalist Nadia Battocletti racing Corsa dei Castelli 10K on October 19
- DyeStat Preview: Star-studded high school fields set to compete at Great American XC Festival Friday and Saturday
Distance News
- Laura Muir's former coach Andrew Young banned for three years for "serious misconduct" Muir stopped working with her long-time coach in 2023. A UK Athletics disciplinary panel found that Young "ignored medical advice" and "used manipulative and coercive behavior towards those he coached." An example was forcing an athlete to race against the recommendations of a physiotherapist and abandoning an athlete on the side of the road after a disagreement.
*MB: Andy Young (ex coach of Laura Muir) guilty of 'serious misconduct'
- Former Guyana 800m Olympian Ian Roberts arrested by ICE over illegal status and weapons charges Roberts competed at the 2000 Olympics, has a 1:46.85 PR and has been working as a school superintendent in Iowa. He has a weapons charge dating back to 2020 and DHS said was "in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash and a fixed blade hunting knife" at the time of his arrest (it's against US federal law for non-citizens without legal status to own a firearm).
- RIP: 2000 Boston Marathon champ and Kenyan politician Elijah Kiptarbei Lagat passes away at age 59 Lagat started his elite running career unusually late (27 years old) as he initially started running just to lose weight.
- MB: Sean Mcgorty leaves Bowerman Track Club
- Japan Weekend Track Roundup
NCAA XC Rankings
- TFN's NCAA Cross Country Preview - Men’s Top 10 Teams Their podium is #1 Iowa State, #2 Oklahoma State, #3 New Mexico, #4 BYU.
TFN's NCAA Cross Country Preview - Women’s Top 10 Teams Their podium is #1 Oregon, #2 BYU, #3 NC State, #4 Stanford. - T&F News NCAA XC Preview - Men's Top 10 Individuals Brian Musau (OSU), Habtom Samuel (New Mexico) and Denis Kipngetich (OSU) are their top 3. Gary Martin (Virginia) is the first American at #8.
- T&F News NCAA XC Preview - Women's Top 10 Individuals Pamela Kosgei (New Mexico), Doris Lemngole (Alabama) and Grace Hartman (NC State) are their top-3. Star recruit Jane Hedengren (BYU) is ranked #6.
- Iowa State stays on top in week 2 NCAA XC coaches' poll OSU, New Mexico and Virginia are ranked 2-4. *Regional Rankings
- BYU women still #1 in week 2 NCAA XC coaches' poll NC State moved to #2, Florida jumped up 9 spots to #3 and Oregon down to #4. *Regional Rankings
Sprint Stuff
- President of MVP track club says Clayton twins are ready to take over Jamaican sprint legacy "I think that they are both very well positioned to continue the legacy of sprinting for Jamaica,” said Bruce James, president of the MVP Track Club.
- Former UT sprinter Kevona Davis (10.95 pb) has returned to Jamaica to work with Glenn Mills And Mills is honest at what they are working on - getting her weight down.
*MB: One of the world's top coaches says what you can't say in America: "We are working on getting her weight down." - World 100m champ Oblique Seville will need a month to recover after undergoing toe procedure He had the nail removed from both his big toes because they were "getting to the ingrown stage."
- Noah Lyles asked to elaborate on the shoving altercation with Kenny Bednarek at USAs Lyles was asked about it on a recent podcast, but didn't want to share too many details saying, "I’m actually going to keep that personal…That’s just something that involves me and my woman, me and Junelle and right now, it’s just information that we don’t want to go too deep. A lot of the track world thinks they know, but it’s bigger and deeper than a simple explanation." *Full Video Interview
- MB Netflix DID NOT sign Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce to a $13.5 million deal for a documentary There is a story circulating on the internet that SAFP signed a big deal with Netflix, but the Jamaica Gleaner debunked it as fake.
More Weekend Distance Results
- Eilish McColgan wins Vitality London 10,000m for the third time in 30:35 She got a dominant win over Jessica Warner-Judd (31:14) while Zak Mahamed won the men's race (29:07).
- Kenya's William Nyarondia and Sweden's Carolina Johnson win TCS Lidingöloppet 30k XC race in Sweden
- MB: Molly Seidel second at Boulderthon Half Marathon (1:17:09)
World Mountain/Trail Running Champs
They each dominated the 50.9-mile race through the Pyrenees, Walmsley winning by more than 10 minutes and Schide by 25 minutes. The French men and Italian women both relegated the US to runner-up finishes in the team competition.
*French duo Benjamin Roubiol and Louison Coiffet cross the line together to "share" silver in Long Trail race
- Germany’s Nina Engelhard wins Classic race to get a double win at the World Mountain and Trail Running Champs Engelhard also won the Uphill race on Thursday. Kenya’s Philemon Kiriago won the men's Classic race.
- France's Frédéric Tranchand and Sweden's Tove Alexandersson win Short Trail titles Tranchand won the men's race by less than 3 minutes while Alexandersson dominated the women's by almost 34. The Spanish men and Swedish women took the team titles.
- Switzerland's Remi Bonnet and Germany's Nina Engelhard win Uphill race US's Anna Gibson finished third in the women's race and US's Christian Allen was 4th in the men's. Team wins The Kenyan men and Italian women took the team victories.
- MB: World Mountain/Trail Running Championships
- USATF: Team USA won 8 medals at the World Mountain and Trail Running Champs
Weekend XC Action
The #3 ranked OSU men won a close team battle with #2 ranked New Mexico (36 points to 41). while the #1 ranked BYU women put 7 in the top 15 to win with 34 points over #13 OSU (57 points) and #3 ranked New Mexico (65 points). OSU swept the individual wins thanks to Denis Kipngetich (23:33) and Isca Chelangat (19:59) got the individual wins. *Results
*MB: 2025 Gans Creek Classic and Cowboy Jamboree
Iowa State dominated the team competition with 47 points over Virginia (107 points) and Colorado (126 points) while the Florida won with 102 points over NAU (126) and Colorado (166). Washington State swept the team titles thanks to Solomon Kipchoge (22:24) and Rosemary Longisa (19:07). *Results
*MB: 2025 Gans Creek Classic and Cowboy Jamboree
- Addy Ritzenhein wins third consecutive individual title at Desert Twilight XC Her team, #3 ranked Niwot, won the team title. The Niwot boys also won the team race with Oliver Horton winning the individual.
- MB: Colorado and UCLA Cross Country had AMAZING races today
- MB: Swedens 17 yo Sebastian Lörstad runs 10K XC at 30.01 on a brutal course
- USTFCCCA weekend XC recap
UK News - Josh Kerr Update
- Josh Kerr reveals a pulled calf muscle is what caused him to finish a distant last in the World 1500m final He concedes that he "definitely did some more damage" by finishing with the grade two muscle tear rather than dropping out, but says he has no regrets.
*MB: How is Josh Kerr Doing
*MB: Is Kerr OK? That looked like a calf pull? - Joe Wigfield (3:59) and Holly Dixon (4:30) win Vitality Westminster Mile
- RIP: 1964 Scottish Olympic sprinter and politician Menzies ‘Ming’ Campbell passes at 84 Campbell tied the British 100m record at 10.2 in 1967 and when he was a student at Stanford, famously beat OJ Simpson before Simpson moved to the NFL
- Study finds that London has the world's "strongest marathon brand" It got a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 90.1 out of 100, ahead of NYC (89.7), Paris (88.4), Berlin (82.9) and Boston (80.9).
More Post-Tokyo Stuff
- World Athletics releases attendance stats from Tokyo Worlds - 619,288 cumulative attendance across the 9 days The final day in Tokyo set a championship record for attendance with 58,723.
- AP: Effects of failed Grand Slam Track league felt in different ways across world championships A lot of distance runners from GST went on to have terrible seasons, although it worked out fine for Cole Hocker and sprinters like Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
- Japan Running News analyzes Japan's performance at Worlds Brett Larner writes, "Although there was a lot of disappointment for the home crowd this time, the actual team results in Tokyo were almost equal to Budapest: two bronze medals and 11 top-8 placings." (Budapest had the same results except one bronze medal was gold.)
- A record number of countries won medals at Tokyo Worlds 53 different nations won at least one medal in Tokyo, breaking the previous record of 46 from 2007 Osaka and 2023 Budapest Worlds.
- The BBC looks at how steady medal counts remain from an Olympic to a Worlds year Some in the UK are freaking out because they only one five medals in Tokyo (with no gold) after winning ten medals at the Paris Games.
- The Guardian shares their top photos from Tokyo Worlds
Post-Worlds News
- Botswana declares public holiday for "historic" 4x400 victory The Botswana president announced Monday, September 29th, as a holiday to celebrate the achievement. Meanwhile, in the US, Rai Benjamin likely didn't even know the US was going to be in the final as he went out on the town the night before being walked down on the anchor.
*MB: 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." - Training partners Keely Hodgkinson and Georgia Hunter Bell discuss the surprise finishing order in the 800m at Worlds Hunter Bell said for a moment she thought she was going to win and she'd like to go win the 1500m if Faith Kipyegon "decides to move up [to 5000m]." Problem for her, Kipyegon already runs the 5000m and still dominates the 1500m.
- The Guardian: "USA dominate table again as GB suffer worst finish since 2003" The US won 26 medals, 16 of them gold. Well ahead of Kenya's 11 medals (7 gold) and Jamaica's 10 medals (1 gold).
- GB launch review after worst World Championships in 22 years Among the disappointments was that they won no relay medals after winning five at the Paris Games. It was the first time since the 2003 worlds that they didn't win a relay medal.
- BBC: "GB fail to win gold for first time in 20 years - where it went wrong" GB finished way back, 21st in the medal table
Recent Non-Worlds Results
- RRW: Anthony Rotich (28:27), Ednah Kurgat (32:11) Win Great Cow Harbor 10K For U.S. Army WCAP *Results
- MB: Galen Rupp- 62:42 Philly Half (3rd place) The race was won in 61:01. *Results
- Cal Baptist men and women sweep team titles at Roy Griak The #16 ranked Cal men won with 39 points over Wyoming and the women won with 25 over Minnesota. *Results
- North Central (Ill.) men and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women win DIII pre-nats *Results
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).
2025 Berlin
Sawe was on world record pace at halfway (60:16) and though he couldn't hold it, 2:02:16 was very impressive given the mid-70s temps in Berlin as he won by 4+ minutes and consider that Kenya's Rosemary Wanjiru won the women's race in 2:21:05, the slowest winning time in Berlin since 2013.
Tokyo 4x400 Runoff
Team USA has never failed to make the men's 4 x 400 final at Worlds and after a 12+ hour delay that streak continues. USA did it the hard way, but they dominated Kenya in the re-run this morning. We were there for it and asked Demarius Smith, who was in the middle of the delayed second exchange Friday night and had the slowest split today, if he was being personally coached by US relay coach Darryl Woodson. Smith: "There's no proof of that. That's first. Second of all, it doesn't matter...Keep doubting me. I'll be back." *Post-race interview with Team USA
RIP To A Coaching Legend
Daniels had a prolific career as an athlete, coach and exercise scientist. He won two Olympic medals in the modern pentathlon, did exercise testing for various groups including Nike's Athletics West elite team in Eugene and held numerous coaching positions which included advising on the training of Jim Ryun while working with the 1968 US Olympic team and winning seven DIII women's national XC titles while at Cortland. And of course, he indirectly contributed to the coaching of thousands of high school and college athletes through his training book, Daniels’ Running Formula.
The Ultimate LetsRun Story In Our 25 Year History & One Of Our Favorite Jonathan Gault Features - Read It Now
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."
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
