The WanamakHER ⏱

Lap 48: Sponsored by COROS

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Turning it On ☁️

You know the old proverb about how if you want to start an internationally competitive track club the best way to do that is to scoop up every available NCAA champion? Well On Running heeded that bit of ancient wisdom! This strategy first proved effective at last year’s Olympic Trials, and we saw it again in action this weekend at the Millrose Games. On may be the new kid on the block but it has quickly proven to be more than just a shiny new toy.

Through the first year of the On Athletic Club, the main criticism leveled against the group has been that its athletes would wear other company’s spikes. It was a bit like if Lewis Hamilton showed up at the Monaco Grand Prix driving an Aston Martin and then told us the reason he won is because at practice he drives a Mercedes. Fortunately our sport is relatively understanding that there is a technology race going on and there’s sort of an embargo on judgment.

Well hold your tongues no more track fans — On has spikes and they appear to work!

The first to debut the new kicks was Alicia Monson in the 3000m, and it was a battle with — who else? — her arch-frenemy, Weini Kelati. Spurred on by the engine of a 10000m runner behind her, with metronome-like precision, Monson set out with two opening kilometers of 2:51 before finding one more gear to break away and win in 8:31.62. This race was much different from her surprise victory in 2019, when while still at Wisconsin she ran 8:45.97.

Next up on the schedule was the men’s 3000m, and based on the metric of “what YouTube video I have rewatched the most over the last few days,” it has to be considered the race of the meet. After an apathetic opening 1600 of 4:09, the race started to get going with a few laps remaining as the prospect of a Cole Hocker kick spurred the field into collective action. With 150m to go and in control of the pole position, Cooper Teare drifted out ever so slightly to check his teammate, Hocker, leaving a hole just big enough for a hard-closing Geordie Beamish to squeeze by on the inside for the win in a Kiwi record time, 7:39.50.

Beamish was in 5th place at the bell and while it is notoriously difficult to get around that many guys sprinting on an indoor track, a 25.7 last lap makes magic happen. And even more amazing was his subsequent 39-second victory lap to give him an unofficial 8:18 2-mile on the day.

And the final big W of the day came from Ollie Hoare in the Wanamaker Mile. Granted he was not yet in the new spikes (most likely because he has very tiny feet), but he did warm-up in their trainers. The Australian ran with purpose from the gun latching onto the rabbit’s tail through the first 800m in 1:53.9. Things got exciting when the Olympic bronze medalist Josh Kerr took over the lead with 300m to go, but it wasn’t enough to exhaust Hoare’s last 100 — he responded and went on to win in 3:50.83.

The pair has a nice rivalry developing as they are now the two best milers training in the United States. American middle distance runners have a tendency to enjoy a more tactical affair, hell, I know I certainly did! But a little cultural diffusion should be good for everyone. Additionally, it’s #goodforthesport for some of the most transparent and entertaining off-track athletes to be going head-to-head. Hopefully fans develop rooting interests from listening to the On Athletic Club guys ramblings on The Coffee Club, or Josh Kerr’s banter on Sit & Kick or Cooper and Cole’s adventures with New Gen T&F.

Ultimately, do fans really care more about what brand someone is wearing than what silly jokes they make with their friends? Spike models are temporary, but podcasts? Well, for better or worse, podcasts are forever.

Do you have an interest in supporting elite athletes? Then you must subscribe to our Friday morning premium newsletter! This week we speak with 2x Olympian and American record holder in the hammer, Rudy Winkler, after his weight throw personal best and victory at Millrose. This initiative has now raised over $17,100 with all proceeds going towards the athletes whose stories we share.

Elle Purrier runs it back again

At this point it's a well-worn trope: small town kid shows up in the big city with nothing more than a bundle full of dreams, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to see their name in lights. (Okay, so maybe Elle Purrier St. Pierre’s dreams aren’t of Broadway stardom, and her suitcase is presumably very nice and full of top-of-the-line New Balance gear, but still.)

The last time we saw her in the Wanamaker Mile back in 2020, Purrier St. Pierre was breaking the tape and lowering the American Record to 4:16.85 in the process. At the time was an eight second personal best!

Coming into this year’s race, Purrier St. Pierre was as undisputed a favorite as favorites can be. Yet the crowd was perhaps even more excited about the possible X-factor, Athing Mu, who received one of the louder ovations you’ll ever hear at a track meet. Her ability to run 1:55 for 800m is one variable that you don’t necessarily want hanging around late, and was sure to impact how the race unfolded.

Elle controlled it from the front with a swift opening half of 2:09. Hot on her heels was Mu (who dropped out at 1400m, reminding us that even when the world’s best doubles her racing distance, all bets are off) and an always fast-closing Josette Norris, which ensured the pace remained honest until the field was eventually ground down and only the defending champ remained.

We briefly chatted with the winner of the 2020 Olympic Trials 1500m and now 2x Wanamaker Champion, to hear a bit more about her win, as well as her plans for the rest of indoor:

I know we saw each other after Millrose on Saturday, but didn’t actually get to speak specifically about the race. How are you feeling about it? I hope happy!

I definitely wanted to go after a PR, but I didn’t put too much pressure on myself because it was my first race back since Tokyo. It was a rust buster — obviously I am in better shape than in previous years for a similar opener. But I wasn’t disappointed because if you only compare it to that race in 2020 then it’s putting the bar really high. I don’t want to say I wasn’t expecting a PR — I think I could have, but a win is a win. 

The tactics of having multiple people in a race who aren’t afraid to take the lead and push the pace always makes for a great sub-plot. Did you think you’d be the one at the front? And for those of us who were never comfortable pushing the pace, how are you so good at it?

I wouldn’t say I planned to lead, but sometimes I can’t resist. Koko was running more conservatively and beforehand I wasn’t sure how’d it go. I wanted to get into 3rd so I wouldn’t have to lead the whole thing, but once I took it over I was good with it.

My advice would be just to practice it — we trade off in practice and that helps. A lot of it just comes with confidence and it’s hard to say “just have more confidence!” because that’s not easy. But it’s believing in yourself and having the strength to do it. I ran 4:19 leading the whole thing, but when I ran 4:16 I was chasing. There’s always that feeling of “oh my gosh someone is coming up on me!” and that’s not always as fun as chasing people.

I heard a rumor about the workout you did in Phoenix before Millrose, which probably gave you plenty of confidence. How are my sources?

Ha, it’s true! We ran a 1k a week out and I was feeling pretty tired from that — it was sorta in the back of my head. We came through the 800 in 2:03 and then I closed to run 2:34. The time doesn’t surprise me because Mark has us do that sort of thing a lot right before we race. I also don’t really know what 1k times are worth so it doesn’t seem that crazy. For example, last year before the New Balance Grand Prix I did a 4:30 mile, some 400 repeats and then another 4:30 mile.

You have been dominant on the domestic scene as of late and I assume your goals are now beyond making teams and more about being a world beater. Do you have plans to do more international racing during the regular season? It seems like there might be some parallels there coming from college.

I’d like to go abroad more, but it’s been difficult. My first year when I went it was fun racing a bunch of people I never have before — I definitely want to do it more. Of course the US Champs is my main goal and I am going to prioritize that over everything else. I haven’t thought of that college comparison before, but it makes sense. It was always a big step up going to NCAAs where everyone was so good.

Do you have any expectations for your race this weekend in Staten Island? I know a lot of athletes struggle with getting back into the routine again after the Olympics — has that been the case for you?

I am coming down from Vermont to race the 3000m and hoping to get a PR! [Note: her current PR is 8:36.41!] After Tokyo it honestly was hard to get back in the swing of things. It just felt like a lot once I was back. I was tired and just wanted to be home and not talk to anyone for a little bit. Coming off of that high where it’s the most amazing meet I had ever been to… it was one extreme of happiness to then the post-Olympic blues. I got back into things in November, December, but it wasn’t until last month in Flag that things got dialed in and I felt ready to get after it again.

Cinque Mulini 🇮🇹

We as fans must protect legacy events! Brands aren’t going to save them! There are no marketing buzzwords that can encapsulate the history of some of the sport’s oldest, most unique events.

In cycling, the five “Monuments” and the Grand Tour are the most prestigious events an athlete can win. But imagine introducing a never before contested 260 kilometer Paris-Roubaix race onto an athlete’s calendar today! But it seems slightly less crazy to ride a $14,000 bike over muddy cobblestones when you read the who’s-who of previous winners — dating back to 1896! — that did it first.

The Cinque Mulini is the less appreciated cross country equivalent that more fans (especially Americans) need to learn about.

Some previous champions: Billy Mills, Frank Shorter, Grete Waitz, Lynn Jennings, Paul Tergat, Kenenisa Bekele, Faith Kipyegon, Selemon Barega, Letesenbet Gidey, Jacob Kiplimo

This past Sunday was the 90th running of the race, which is held in the small town of San Vittore Olona in Northern Italy. Its English translation of ‘the five mills’ reveals the unique feature of the foot race in that the course, well… runs through old mills. It started as a rebuttal to a rival village’s race around seven clock towers and the local community has been passionate about it ever since. Unfortunately, the race only loops through one mill, but it still features a whacky and windy course that more closely resembles a run through Olmec’s Temple than laps around soccer fields.

This year’s 11.5km men’s race was won again by Ethiopia’s Nibret Melak, who proved running 12:54 for 5000m translates to bounding up a flight of stairs. In the women’s 5.6km event, it was the World Athletics U20 3000m champion, Teresiah Muthoni Gateri of Kenya, who took home the top spot.

This race belongs on ESPN: The Ocho and even more importantly — your radar!

Black History Month: Frank Hart

In honor of Black History Month, throughout February we want to shine a light on some of the less-heralded Black athletes who have helped shape the sport we love. We absolutely want to continue to celebrate the likes of Jesse Owens and Wilma Rudolph, but hopefully as fans, we can elevate more of these incredible athletes and history-makers into the lore of track & field.

If you’re one of those passionate track fans who believe gambling is the key to unlocking its popularity, history says you may be onto something — but you’re probably not considering the right event. At the turn of the 19th century, the sport of pedestrianism or competitive, long-distance walking had garnered enough interest to sell out stadiums and raise incredible sums of money for athletes and bettors alike. Ten thousand people gathered to witness a man named Robert Barclay Allardice walk one mile every hour for one thousand straight hours. (Granted, this was before the internet when sourcing entertainment was less competitive.)

These events eventually morphed into race-walking and an early precursor to what would eventually evolve into ultra-marathoning. There were two divisions: the strict “heel-to-toe” and the more liberal “go-as-you-please.” A common goal was to walk one hundred miles in 24 hours — an accomplishment known as completing a centurion. But the most popular race distance for spectators was the six day race. And during the 1870s, the star of that extremely long show was a Black immigrant from Haiti named Frank Hart.

Hart dominated an almost exclusively white sport and made incredible sums of money while doing so. He eventually surpassed his mentor, former world champion Daniel O’Leary, in recognition and fame, thanks to an 1879 race at Madison Square Garden. (Yes, there was a six-day-long event where the sole attraction was people walking around an indoor track that required the seating capacity of the world’s most famous arena.) During that race, Hart walked a record 565 miles in six days and took home the largest payday of his career: $21,567, or the modern day equivalent of over $600,000 for his feat.

Despite being subjected to racial slurs, having things thrown at him, and even surviving an alleged poisoning attempt, Hart persevered. While the pedestrianism craze eventually died down, at the tail end of the Reconstruction Era, Hart served as an inspiration for many young Black Americans, and a catalyst for reflections on racial prejudices for many white Americans. (A Brooklyn newspaper editor at the time remarked on Frank Hart’s barrier-breaking accomplishments, writing that “there’s nothing in black skin… that is incompatible with fortitude.”)

He may not have been the quickest Black athlete in track & field history, but Frank Hart should be remembered as the first to go the distance.

Rapid Fire Highlights 🔥

• What initially appeared to be a new shot put world record of 23.38m for Ryan Crouser proved to be an error. It wasn’t surprising considering it landed well behind the line marking WR territory, but unfortunately all of the throws from this weekend’s Millrose Games were invalidated due to an error with the laser measurement system. If technology like this can fail us, then it really makes you think twice about self-driving cars, or heaven forbid, shot put tossing robots.

• The New Balance Indoor Grand Prix is on Sunday and will be broadcast on NBC from 12-2pm ET. Locals can get tickets here, starting at $22, and Mayor Adams, in an apparent nod to the powerful track nerd voting bloc, has arranged free ferry service from Manhattan to Staten Island. (Fields)

• Florida

• Florida‘s Jasmine Moore set the new NCAA triple jump record this weekend at 14.55m.

• To follow up on last week, Nico Young backed up his altitude conversion and broke 4 minutes the “traditional way,” by actually breaking four. He ran 3:56.00 at UW, behind two fellow collegians. The race was won by OTC Elite’s Jake Heyward in 3:53.25. (Results)

• 3:59.73 is currently 41st on the NCAA D1 descending order list, plus another four from DII, DIII and NAIA.

• Brooke Feldmeier ran the world lead for 800m at the Razorback Invitational, 2:00.92.

• Jack Rayner (28:16) and Rose Davies (32:58) won Australian national titles at the Zatopek: 10 in hot conditions.

• Christian Coleman out-leaned Trayvon Bromell 6.49 to 6.50 in the 60m, but for the second time this season the Duck, Micah Williams ran 6.48.

• Mizuki Matsuda won the Osaka Women’s Marathon in 2:20:52 in a race that saw 10 Japanese women break 2:29.

• What else can we say about Nick Willis that hasn’t already been said more eloquently? His 3:59 mile on Saturday solidified his 20 year sub-4 minute streak.

• After her 3000m racewalk victory at Millrose, Maria Michta-Coffey has now won 44 USATF national titles.

• It was great to see Alexa Efraimson go 4:29.78 to win the mile at Boston University. This was her first time under 4:30 since 2018 and although she turned pro in 2014 — she is just 24 years old.

• The Dr. Sander Invitational is set to take place at The Armory this weekend and will feature the Newbury Park boys, Juliette Whittaker and more. The race will be streamed live on RunnerSpace+.

• The Olympic 400m champ, Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas, set a new World Best (the unofficial WR) in the 300m of 31.56. When it comes to 300m to 400m races, he is on a 28-game winning streak.

• Shawnti Jackson placed third in the Millrose Games 60m (7.18) to break the national high school record. Her father is Bershawn “Batman” Jackson.

• Camel City Elite at the JDL Fast Track is on Saturday in Winston Salem, NC, and will feature Ajee Wilson, Clayton Murphy, Rachel Schneider, Charlie Grice and more. Watch the elites on RunnerSpace+ starting at 2pm.

• Details of the Alberto Salazar hearing per the New York Times were revealed and noted that “he had committed four violations, which included two instances of penetrating a runner with a finger while giving an athletic massage.”

• During the Sunday portion of the Terrier Invitational, Patrick Dever won the 3000m in 7:43.57 and Vincent Ciattei held off Casey Comber 3:54.31 to 3:54.66 for two fresh new PBs. Aidan Ryan of Williams College set the DIII National Record (3:56.88) in this race, but for reasons I don’t understand this got adjusted to 3:59.92 because small liberal arts colleges apparently don’t believe in banked tracks.

• Berihu Aregawi passed the rabbits twice in Karlsruhe, Germany, during the early stages of his 3000m world record attempt. Ultimately, he fell less than two seconds short, finishing in 7:26.20, but it’s clear that with some competition that he’s capable of doing it. For such an exciting race, it was super frustrating to watch — the feed kept cutting to the field events in the final couple minutes. I am pro-field event coverage, but not during the most decisive moments of a world record attempt. It’d be equally upsetting if we hadn’t gotten to see every second of Mondo Duplantis attempting to break his own world record. Either way, similarly, all three of his attempts at 6.19m fell short. (Meet coverage)

CITIUS MAG News

There’s some exciting news out of the CITIUS MAG camp today. We’re thrilled to officially add Jasmine Todd to our roster! Given the team’s background in distance running, the longer events have always received the bulk of attention. But something we like to preach is that before looking for new fans to start following track and field, we need to look within first. The more crossover interest we can generate between different events the better and Jasmine is bringing her expertise to help us on that mission.

Jasmine was a multiple time All-American while at Oregon and is still competing at the highest level of the sport in both the long jump (6.84m) and 100m (10.92). In addition to qualifying for two World Championship teams, Jasmine is a diehard track fan and student of the sport. She’s taught me things I never knew about the technical side of sprinting and what to look for when watching the world’s best athletes compete.

So to get things started, Jasmine’s biggest takeaway from Millrose was:

‘It is 100% Christian Coleman’s return. People probably don’t realize how hard it is to come back in the sprints. Imagine you’re a kid who hasn’t ridden a bike in a while. Maybe you used to know how to do some tricks, but the first day back you’re going to play it safe. The fact that he can come out and run 6.4 is insane and it’s only a matter of time until he’s back at 9.7 again.

You can’t just replicate it in practice because it is a different feel at a meet. It’s not like distance running where it’s mostly fitness, there’s an element of execution, reaction and technique that requires adrenaline to amplify the pressure because there’s no room for error.’

(Are you interested in getting more involved in covering the sport of T&F, but don’t have the same resume as Jasmine? Check out this year’s Magic Boost program— a summer-long experience for aspiring track & field storytellers representing all platforms of new media!)

What a crazy week of results this was! There are so many things that we didn’t get to touch on, but I’m confident you watched Millrose and enjoyed Brazier’s 400, Hoppel looking smooth, Ajee’s dominance, etc. - If you want more #content then make sure you’re following @thelapcount and @citiusmag on Twitter and Instagram. And at this point I trust you watched the post-game show, AFTER THE FINAL LAP.

Big thank you to COROS for sponsoring this week’s newsletter! I have been so happy with my PACE 2 and if you’re tired of always forgetting to charge your watch than check it out — the battery life is next level.