The franchise tag⏱

Lap 109: Sponsored by Brooks Running

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That’s a US 10 Mile record, right? 🌸

The Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile race was this weekend, which reminds me that I probably should start taking my allergy medication before it’s too late. This year the race served as the USATF 10 Mile Championship, which is actually a big deal compared to some of the other USATF Championships of extremely similar distances… because of the implication!

Before diving into that, we need to first acknowledge the actual race winners for actually winning the race. (Holding a USATF championship within a prestigious, international road race is a bit like if there was a third team in the Super Bowl who scored the most points, but they’re actually in the XFL so they don’t count.)

On the men’s side, Tsegay Kidanu of Ethiopia followed up his victory at the Atlanta Half Marathon five weeks ago with another solid outing, thanks to a strong last 400 that saw him constantly checking over his shoulder to make sure victory was his. Reader, it was, in 46:08. In the women’s race, Uganda’s Sarah Chelangat ran 52:04 to win by 33 seconds. Since this was her first time ever racing in the United States, now she’s undefeated on US soil. At only 21 years old, she’s already raced in 23 countries all over the world – running is pretty cool like that if you’re really good at it.

Okay, back to the implications for the assembled American elites! There was a fat check worth $50,000 on the line to anyone that could dip below the American Record. On the women’s side, that time of 51:23, set by Keira D’Amato in 2020, was very safe. Untouched record aside, it was nice to see Sara Hall bounce back from injury ahead of the Boston Marathon to win in 52:37. But for the men, the record felt more vulnerable coming in… if only we could discern what the actual record to break was.

The fastest any American fella has ever run is 45:45, which Galen Rupp split during a makeshift half marathon time trial in October 2020. You remember how weird Covid racing was, right? Well, whether due to some clerical error or a lack of paperwork, Rupp’s mark never got ratified and therefore never happened. I’ve criticized asterisks for pending records before – it feels like it takes the wind out of the celebratory sails of whoever breaks the non-asterisked ones. But between this example and Ryan Crouser losing his World Record (not an April Fools, sadly!) in the shot put, then maybe I am willing to concede there’s some merit to the practice.

Okay, whatever. It’s not Rupp’s record. So then surely it was Hillary Bor’s? He ran 46:06 at last year’s 10-mile championships in Minnesota, after all. Well think again, Kyle! That course was too downhill to be eligible. 

And so the time of 46:13 – set by Greg Meyers way back in 1983 – was technically the mark to beat. Fortunately, Hillary got it, erasing an asterisk of his own and earning a $50k check,  by running 46:11 on a windy day at the office.

But it doesn’t stop there! In addition to the $9,000 he got for finishing second overall, he also overtook Leonard Korir in the USATF Road Circuit standings, which could net out an additional $20,000 IF he holds onto that position… Surely there is a nice bonus in his contract for a US title and American Record.

It turns out there is money in running! You just have to be good at it.

Parting ways with a coach 🤝

News broke last week that during a training camp in South Africa, the dynamic Scottish duo of Laura Muir and Jemma Reekie parted ways from their long-time coach Andy Young. Muir, the Olympic silver medalist at 1500m, had worked with him since 2011, and Reekie, who holds personal bests of 1:56.90 for 800m and 4:17.88 in the mile, was under Young’s tutelage for eight years. The pair is a large part of why a country of only 5.4 million people has consistently found itself at the forefront of middle-distance running.

According to The Times, the catalyst was sparked by a disagreement over the use of a rental car to visit a local coffee shop. This is reported as not being the only incident and instead the final chapter in a longer book of grievances. Since neither athlete has made any public statement besides confirmation of the split via UKA, I am not going to attempt to make any assumptions about what happened. 

But instead, this got me thinking about the way athletes and coaches operate together and ultimately sever ties. Granted, this is coming from a guy who may technically still be dating his middle school girlfriend – we came to an unspoken agreement to just stop holding each other’s hands, rather than discussing our irreconcilable differences. Most of us don’t date our coaches – emphasis on most –  but, the coach-athlete dynamic requires management like any other relationship would.

The nature of the relationship evolves from the beginning of a career when everything is new and some additional handholding is needed. It’s not that a great youth coach can’t also be an excellent professional coach, it’s just that requirements are different. Yet one thing remains consistent: the coach and athlete need to trust one another and be on the same page.

The job of a coach doesn’t necessarily end at writing workouts – a great coach can educate, inspire, and guide those who have entrusted them with their careers. That said – and maybe this is a hot take – the value of training partners greatly outweighs the benefit of good coaching. Athletes have infinite access to information and training plans, but bodies that can take a rep to block the wind are a finite resource.

An athlete should draw confidence and stability from a coach. And like your first months at a new job, it should be motivating to run “for them” and to show up every day as the best version of yourself. I sometimes miss the fear that I felt during my freshman year of college of getting dropped in workouts or racing poorly, which drove me to prove to my coaches that I was worth their investment and belief.

If a coach is no longer providing the fire or the support, or earning an athlete’s respect or trust, then it’s often best to move on. Athletes like to credit coaches for their own success – how many interviews have you listened to where an athlete uses “we” or “us” pronouns? And while it is a team effort, ultimately success isn’t generally about doing threshold 1k’s vs. tempo runs. It comes from belief, fostered in an environment where one can flourish.

And if any coach emails me to argue otherwise, then they’re only proving my point…

The Return of the King 🇿🇦

Children in South Africa who are turning six years old next month are what are known as “van Niekerk babies.” Their parents were so moved by watching Wayde’s 43.03 WR from lane eight at the Rio Olympics, that their joy manifested in the conception of new life. Wayde was just 23 years old at the time and there was no reason to doubt that the next Olympics would go equally as well, but that’s not always how track and field works.

The next year was good. Van Niekerk ran under 44 seconds on a few occasions and followed it up with another gold medal, this time from the London World Championships. But in that off-season, he tore his ACL while participating in a charity rugby match, immediately validating every high school and college coach’s plea for their athletes to quit trying to sneak into pickup basketball games.

Needless to say, it has been an at-times uphill battle since. With no race results to his name the following two years and only a couple of subpar ones in 2020, it wasn’t until 2021 that the fastest 400m runner of all time was back under 45 seconds. Even with countless hours of work put in and genetics touched by Midas himself, with his body operating at less than 100% he failed to return to the Olympic final. Last year, things improved. Wayde became consistent again and ultimately finished fifth at the World Championships.

And at the South African Championships, hope has finally been restored. Over three rounds, van Niekerk went 45.99, 44.95, then 44.17 – his fastest time in six years. Even more encouraging, it being barely April, this was his season opener. Suffice to say heads have turned with this result.

With the defending champion Michael Norman declaring his intent to run the 100m, the podium feels it might have an opening. Just don’t forget about the Olympic champion Steven Gardiner, who looks to be in great form this year already after missing the championship season due to injury. Gardiner has not lost a 400m race since losing to van Niekerk at the 2017 World Champs, and it may just be time for that rematch!

Texas vs. Florida Relays 🐂🐊

If there is one thing I love, it’s when major track meets compete for the attention of athletes and fans – my favorite example being Penn vs. Drake. Well, the Texas Relays vs. Florida Relays weekend also serves to keep us on our toes (who’s racing where?!) and slightly let down (why can’t the best people all be at one meet, ever?!). But despite all that, both events always do put on a hell of a show.

Last year, I gave a brief history of the Texas Relays, which started in 1925. Fourteen years later, just as Europe was really starting to heat up, coach Percy Beard of the University of Florida decided to create his own relay meet rather than have his whole team ride their horses up to Philadelphia (that’s how people traveled then, right?).

Twelve years before Bill Bowerman was using a waffle iron to make a shoe, ol’ Percy, who had a background in civil engineering, created the world’s first-ever all-weather running track that debuted at the 1959 event. In fairness, the only weather that it was ever needed for was unbearably humid and chaffe-inducingly hot.

Let’s look at the major highlights to see who wins the hypothetical dual meet match-up. (I always hate just listing off the results in this newsletter because that’s not really the purpose of this whole thing. But here we are…)

Texas Relays:

• Kentucky’s Masai Russell set a new NCAA 100mH record of 12.36.

• The Texas women broke three NCAA records: 4x100 (42.00), 4x200 (1:28.05), and SMR (3:36.10) – as someone who has benefited greatly in life from a record-breaking performance in a rarely-contested relay event, this hits close to home.

• Angelo State’s Oussama El Bouchayby ran the second fastest 800m in DII history to surprise Bryce Hoppel winning in 1:45.31 – move over Los Lonely Boys, there’s a new star in San Angelo, Texas!

• Gabby Thomas doubled up victories in the 100m (11.09) and 200m (22.46).

• Ole Miss’ McKenzie Long ran 10.80 (+3.5). Her personal best was 11.49 previously, though she did walk away with a wind-legal 11.00. I’m tempted to deduct points here – if you’re a sprint-focused meet, it’s a real bummer if half the times don’t count.

• Texas’ Leo Neugebauer crushed the decathlon with 8476 points, a MR.

• LSU’s Michaela Rose split a 1:58.40 on the 4x800 all by herself!

• The Georgia men ran 2:58.82 for a new 4x400 meet record with a sub-44 split (not official) by Matt Boling and an incredible pass-back from Will Sumner on the final straightaway. I’m sure this was electric to experience in-person.

• Texas Tech’s Terrence Jones ran a world leading 20.05 (+2.0).

• The men’s US all-star team ran 38.08 in the 4x100 and the women ran 41.75 — great signs for August!

• Val Allman opened up her season with a world leading 67.90 MR in the disc

Florida Relays:

• Erriyon Knighton won the 100m in 9.98 (+2.1).

• High school senior Issam Asinga ran 10.10 (+1.0).

• Anna Hall won the high jump (1.89m), 800m (2:03.23), and the 400mH (54.94).

• Rai Benjamin won the 400m in 44.94.

• Steven Gardiner won the 200m in 20.14.

Texas takes this one. But this weekend saw a lot of the stars open up their outdoor seasons hidden on a relay during a busy college meet. While both meets had their share of stellar performances, they amounted to a pre-season scrimmage for the likes of Noah Lyles, Christian Coleman, Aleia Hobbs, or Sha’Carri Richardson.

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Catching up with Marvin Bracy

It’s no debate that the 100m is the premier event in track and field. The limited number of lanes, the draw of big money, and the always bright lights are only making it even more crowded. One man who has thrived in this ultra-competitive environment is World Championship silver medalist and 9.85 guy Marvin Bracy.

Never one to shy away from an opportunity to race, this indoor season was a quiet one for him, and it wasn’t due to injury. In fact, he was at this year’s Millrose Games and we watched the Men’s 60m next to one another. Before the race he asked me for my pick to win and I joked, ‘my favorite guy isn’t in there!’

Fortunately, Bracy is finally back out there. In this interview, he details where he was, how things are going, and offers one of the most transparent behind-the-scenes looks into the business side of the sport you’ve likely ever seen from an athlete of his caliber. If you weren’t already a fan of Marvin, then you will be soon…

First off, how did the Texas Relays go? I mean, we saw the 4x100, but what I really want to know about is how is that 4x400? 

It was so electric, man. To go out with three other guys that I've never raced with before on a relay – with two days of practice – to go out there and run 38.0. We got the stick around. That shit was fun. I had a lot of fun and would do it again.

Is the idea more from an individual angle – it's a nice soft opener? – or is it more “I need to get some relay practice in for August?”

This time, it was a mix of both. It was definitely a soft opener just to get the body rolling, competing and coming out firing. It was definitely nice to get that going with those guys. But as far as the 4x400m goes, originally I was on a team with Vernon and the guys who won. The day before, they actually asked us to flip the teams. I didn't really know the guys that I was on the team with but it was all good. It was just practice to get something in.

Like, it's pretty rare for you to run a 400. Do you know what you split?

Wallace Spearmon came up to me after the race and told me it was 47.50.

Is that what you would expect?

I was hoping for something a little faster, but I got the baton in dead-last. We were like 30-40 meters back on the first leg so I really couldn't even go for it. It was so far I was just thinking, ‘Let me get this stick around and control it at tempo pace. I got 200 more to go?!” I gotta save some juice coming home’ because I’m not going to die in front of the Texas Relays crowd, you know? But when he told me my split, it made me feel good about myself, especially if I run it a couple more times. This was my first one since high school. 

I would have loved to have seen you on that first leg vs. Vernon Norwood. 

Yeah, It would’ve been nice to get the baton in the mix.

This was the first time you haven’t run indoors in like, forever. Is where you're at fitness-wise where you’d like to be at this point?

I am probably in the best shape I’ve been at this point ever in my career.

Really? What is happening in practice that tells you that?

We had a workout last Saturday and I ran a 110m and I ran under 10.80 with an actual timing system.

Under 10.80?!

It’s safe to say that I came through the 100 in a blazing time. I came through the 60m in a blazing time. So we know where we are  when we put it together in an open event. 

So now, that allows us to focus on other stuff like doing the 4x400s and trying to force that curve for the 200m. People think I'm dying because I'm not fit to run the 200. That's not the problem. The problem is I have a hard time running on the curve. I’m fighting the curve so hard that I don't have anything left for the straight since I just beat my body up for 100 meters in a 200 meter race.

I’ve run 21 seconds in a 200 and 9.7 for the 100m – that don't add up. Clearly there’s an error in the race plan. It's not the distance. I can run a great 150m. It’s the top 50m on the curve where I'm having a problem trying to gauge myself. What tempo do I go at? How do I lean? It’s stuff like that. The last time I ran a 200m, up until last year, was 2014. I was 20 in 2014. I’m 29 now. It was eight years between races. I’m still trying to find that form and race plan. I will one day, but I don’t plan on doubling any time soon.

I was wondering if it was more of a strength thing. 

It’s more of a pride thing. I can't go out running 9.7 and trying to break an American record and have 20.55 as a PR for 200m from 2014. It’s a pride thing. Especially in America, you’re racing some dogs in that 200m. I want to be fit enough to run 19 seconds one day just to say I did it. That's why the jokes aren’t funny to me because I take care of business in my event.

You have to find one of those street races that are just 200 meters straight away. Those tracks are always so janky, though.

So indoors we didn't see you because you were in the middle of contract negotiations. But, you’re back out there in a Nike uniform. What happened? What was going on?

So my contract ended on December 31st. That’s pretty much standard. The way it works is that Nike could match any deals that I got. They structured it when everyone’s hot – like Fred (Kerley) and Marcell (Jacobs) and all of them. They each have a date where they have to have a match or they let you go.

And fortunately for me, Marcell’s date was before Fred’s and then Fred’s, and then me. So I got to sit back and watch everything unfold and see who goes where. 

Obviously, contracts aren’t public but to see who goes and where it was announced was great. I’m the World silver medalist. I’m a 9.8 athlete. And I'm sitting behind the Olympic champion  and then the World champion. So I'm third in the pecking order and we're all with the same company. We all ran ourselves into a hell of a lot of money.

To keep everybody, Nike was going to have to pay a pretty penny. We knew that wasn’t going to happen. I knew that wasn't going to happen. So we watched to see who goes where and what that freed up. When Marcell was gone, that freed up some money for Fred. And once Fred was gone, that freed up some money for me. By the time it got to me, it took like 10 days to do my deal.

At that point, they wouldn’t have to match anymore. 

They would not have to match anything because it makes no sense. Look at the landscape of the sport. Trayvon (Bromell) has a stranglehold on New Balance. They haven’t signed a top sprinter since he signed in like 2015? I don't know why. I understand they're more of a distance company. But if I'm being completely honest, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Y’all could make a lot of headway in the sport because athletes want to venture out. Not everybody wants to be with Nike or Adidas. I think that one day maybe they will broaden their horizons and sign other people. 

Noah (Lyles) is coming down to the 100m for Adidas. Erriyon (Knight) is probably gonna come down to 100m for Adidas. They have Akani Simbine with Adidas. Oblique Seville is with Adidas. Adidas has some pretty heavy guys on their roster getting paid.

Obviously, Fred ended up taking a deal with ASICS. So that would create less money for me with them.

And then Marcell goes over to Puma again – who again has a few guys on their roster. This is all before the Michael Norman news came out. When you look at the roster and how everything is playing out, it really doesn't make any sense logistically to go anywhere else because now all the money just got freed up at Nike. Now I know what to ask for. Now I’m worth more to you because I'm no longer third in the pecking order. Your two heavy hitters just left.

You're the franchise tag now. 

Exactly. Christian (Coleman) already got his money. Norman already has a deal locked up. So now, all that money that you were just about to give one of them, you’ve got to give to me. 

It sounds like in this one off-season, the numbers probably changed significantly. Obviously you can't tell me the numbers, but like, we're talking like 25-50% bigger than maybe they were a few years ago? 

Drastically. Yes. Hell yeah.

Then that changes the game forever now. Because now the kids who are coming out of college next year know. This is why no one ever wants contracts to be public. 

I pray to God that contracts become public.

Because everything would go up. 

Everything will go up. The money would go up. The exposure would probably go up becauseit just makes it all a little bit more interesting. Think about it. I know nobody really wants everyone to know what they’re making. But think about the NFL – you see Jalen Ramsey or Tyreek Hill sign a four-year deal for $100 million. Now you're interested to see how they perform and the clauses and the bonuses. Also  their competitors can see what they’re fighting up against. 

Exactly – there's also a rivalry element to that. You’ll get pissed that someone else is getting paid more than you and you're beating them. 

You feel me! To get appearance fees in this sport, you need medals. They don’t care about times. I’m okay with our appearance fees being public. Imagine I’m going to the Rome Diamond League and I’m about to race Marcell and he just got paid $80K and I got $30K. I’m going to destroy this man. Y’all did what?! Okay. Cool. I got you. 

Imagine this, I’m seeing people’s times and I see Fred, who was in front of me just signed for $1.5 million with ASICS. Okay, I'm thinking – he’s got this medal. He ran that time. Okay, so he got $1.5M. If I got this medal and ran this time, then damn I should be worth somewhere between $900K and $1M. That’s how negotiating works.

They keep people in the dark. If only y'all knew how many people got robbed in this sport because everything is done behind closed doors. What Christian could’ve signed for coming out of college could be different than what Tray signed for. And they basically did the same thing. They both won a collegiate national championship and ran a fast time.

READ THE REST OF THIS INTERVIEW HERE

Rapid Fire Highlights 🔥

• Grayson Murphy outright won the Mill Town Half Marathon in 1:10:34 to qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials. Never one to shy away from any event, distance, surface, or challenge, it will be exciting to see her debut at the full distance.

• Akani Simbine ran 9.92 for 100m at the South African Championships for a new world lead. It’s also tied for the third fastest time ever in March. He now has three of the top four marks in that category, which means he can use the cool nickname “Mister March” I just made up if he wants.

• We all made some stupid decisions in college, but one Texas A&M cross country runner had the brilliant idea to “streak” onto the field during a baseball game. He wore compression shorts, a darth vader mask, and had painted “Trump 2024” onto his body, and held a sign that read, “Longhorns suck.” The University of Texas alumni association undoubtedly has their best people workshopping a new batch of Aggie jokes based on this new information.

• The highlight from the Stanford Invitational was undoubtedly Utah’s Emily Venter winning the 10,000m in 31:48 – the fastest NCAA time in the last decade. Charles Hicks (27:57) led seven men to 28:00 and faster.

• Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce opened her 2023 season at Parents’ Day at her son’s school where she dusted the competition in what ultimately doubled as Career Day.

• Unfortunately, New York City Marathon champion Sharon Lokedi has scratched from the Boston Marathon. The field will remain just as deep, however, as Hellen Obiri was announced as a late addition to the start list.

• The Carlsbad 5K was not half bad as Laura Galvan (15:05) and Edwin Kurgat (13:50) took the wins.

• Jess Hull was the star of the Australian Championships, winning the 5000m (15:04) and a thrilling 1500m (4:04), while Callum Davies (3:37.92) held off a strong charge from 16-year-old phenom Cameron Meyers.

• It was a huge night at Jamaican Champs as both of the U20 100M records fell. To stress what that means: Bouwahjgie Nkrumie’s 9.99 is faster than Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, or Asafa Powell ever ran as a teenager, and Alana Reid’s 10.92(!) is faster than teenage Elaine Thompson-Herah or Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.

• The Berlin Half Marathon saw wins from Kenya’s Sebastian Sawe (59:00) and Eilish McColgan (1:05:43), who set a British National Record in the process. Pretty incredible, considering a couple of weeks ago McColgan asked followers on Instagram for a good recommendation of where she should go for a tune-up! Paul Chelimo went out hard but suffered for the rest of his life home in 1:02:22. He’s probably not thrilled with that time, but now, a very dangerous man has qualified for the Olympic Trials…

• The Paris Marathon went to Ethiopia’s Abeje Gizealew Ayana (2:07:15) and Kenya’s Helah Kiprop (2:23:19). On the American front, Leonard Korir finished in 7th in 2:09:31 but he ran that the hard way – his first 15K was completed in 44:42 (2:05 pace). 

• Three time World Championship medalist in the long jump, Marquis Dendy has taken his talents to Puma where he will be donning a new bucket hat and face mask.

Thank you so much to Brooks Running for sponsoring this week’s newsletter! If you don’t have any friends who are willing to sit on the couch with you for two hours to watch CJ Albertson roll on the downhills of Boston, then let CITIUS be those friends for you.