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The course wins again ⛰ ⚠️

Forget everything you think you know about making running popular because apparently people care a lot about this race and I can’t think of a less fan-friendly event. Days like these make it harder to laugh at soccer for having games end in 0-0 ties. I don’t personally get it as I have never officially done a marathon, but my preference would be to do—or spectate—one that doesn’t end with a plural ‘s'.

Emily Sisson is still good at running 💁🏼‍♀️

At the US 15k Champs, Emily ran with intent from the first step to dominate the battle of the sexes, earning the win and 48 minutes and 9 seconds of uninterrupted camera time for her efforts. There was a 6 minute equalizer for a $5000 bonus, and it was borderline disrespectful to suggest Emily would need so much time to beat the boys. For the uninitiated, if you like these handicapped-style races then may I direct your attention to Australia, because they’re obsessed with them.

Why must this be said?

Shout out to the six men who beat Frank at the Gate River Run. In the 2020 edition of this race, this guy beat him, but as they’re known to do…cheaters gonna cheat! Despite a previous doping ban the guy who had crossed the finish line first was [shockingly] caught cheating [again], which elevated Frank to victor and American hero.

Speaking of people who beat Frank…🏆

How goofy/cool is this sport that this sort of thing gets shared after a race? Clayton Young, the 2019 NCAA 10k Champ, was in the middle of a tough season, having run 8:24 for 3k and 14:15 for 5k in February. Objectively…NOT GREAT races for a professional stud. But that’s why you should never judge a distance runner by a performance in the middle of endless 100 mile weeks!

Speaking of a Clayton you may be sleeping on

Am I taking crazy pills or did the whole world forget who got the Olympic bronze in 2016? He is still only 26 and ran 1:43 in 2019 (the last real track season). Proving that perspective is everything…this Clayton’s 14:15 5k is way more impressive!

Team YouTube Generation

‘Why does every runner feels like they need a YouTube channel these days!’

— Bitter old runners who are upset they didn’t think of it first

First off, because they’re fun. Videos like these give Allie O fans a behind the scenes look at her life in Alaska. It may be 10 minutes of non-running footage, but it’s creating connections. Plus all those views make her more valuable to Brooks while potentially providing financial independence later.

Is there a better interview in T&F?

Find someone who looks at you the way LetsRun looks at Paul Chelimo. Your man went 13:09 for 5k, which is obviously much better than 99.9% of people reading this newsletter (although there are a couple subscribers with faster PRs), but his interview was the best entertainment of the night. He suggested that he may take out the Olympic Trials in 52 seconds!

Hop, Step, Jump and Mic Drop 🎤 🎶

Will Claye has 3 Olympic medals and a song with 9 million streams on Spotify. (For those keeping score at home thats 9,000,003: Will to 0: Kyle.) Also, the existence of this article reiterates that if T&F wants coverage from major news outlets for something other than ‘bad stuff,’ then we must rely on the personalities of the stars.

Not so fast Top Shots! 🏀

A new sport has entered the NFT game. My favorite runner growing up, Anthony Famiglietti, is selling this digital parody piece for the bargain price of 589 Ethereum, which in the fungible world of currency is worth a bit over $1 million. I know that seems like a lot, but think of all the money you’ll save by not having to buy a frame.

The Great Paywall Debate

There is an endless debate between track fans and those working in track media about the current business model of streaming meets via paid subscriptions. I’ve been brainstorming an appropriate hashtag (and political party names) to help those trying to follow this conversation. One day I’ll write a long form article on the topic (spoiler: both can exist), but for now we can all agree that having races both super early and super late makes it difficult for fans who enjoy sleeping.

Tragedy in Boulder

There was another senseless mass shooting on Monday, this time in Boulder, where 10 people were killed. It was a scary moment for Maggie Montoya who works in that store as a pharmacy technician, but thankfully she was able to find safety. With the frequency of these horrible events, sometimes instead of outraged or depressed you just feel numb. But the fact that a member of our community was so closely impacted is a wakeup call and reminder that if we don’t address this issue, on a long enough timeline we’ll all wind up knowing someone with a similar story.