Ye olde marathon ⏱

Lap 59: Sponsored by Brooks Running

Whether you’re running a lap around the block or conquering 26.2 miles, Brooks is with you every step of the way. Sending a big run happy congratulations to everyone who conquered the streets of Boston!

Another DMR World Record

It’s rare to have an indoor track meet during the middle of April, but hey, if you built it, make them come. 

Plus, this off-season indoor spectacular proved an auspicious start to marathon weekend, courtesy of a world record attempt headlining the inaugural professional race at Boston’s newest indoor facility, aptly called The TRACK at New Balance. As the graphic above and your Instagram feed probably told you — they did it! The previous record of 10:39.91 was bested by six seconds thanks to the work of Heather MacLean (3:14.9), Kendall Ellis (52.0), Roisin Willis (2:03.3), and Elle Purrier-St.Pierre (4:23.5).

If it seems like this record just got broken, well that’s because it was. Earlier this season — during the more conventional indoor season — the Union Athletic Club also raced the clock at the Lilac Grand Prix to help christen a different track on the opposite side of the country. I think the obvious initial reaction of most fans would be dismay at the fact that we didn’t get to see an actual race between the two squads. For what it’s worth coach Pete Julian issued open invites out to any team in the country to come race in Spokane, but ultimately got no takers. That’s too bad.

In terms of the actual race at the TRACK, the performances were exactly what they needed to be. MacLean and Purrier-St. Pierre got the job done and Roisin Willis exhibited incredible poise in soloing her 2:03 split. Although not officially part of Team New Balance, Willis was invited to participate after winning the NB-sponsored national meet one month ago. She confirmed that her plans of going to Stanford have not changed, but you may remember that in 2017, a prep standout named Sydney McLaughlin was also tapped to participate in a DMR world record, and look what uniform she eventually ended up wearing.

And speaking of McLaughlin, on Thursday, she made the decision not to run due to some tightness in her leg and suddenly there was a 400m long hole in the team. Sitting at home in California, Kendall Ellis received a call from her agent and rather than going to Mt. Sac as intended, instead hopped on a red-eye and arrived Friday morning. If anyone’s the hero of this performance, it’s gotta be Ellis!

The purpose of this weekend’s event was a bit different than promoting the sanctity of good ol’ fashioned competition. New Balance spent millions of dollars to build a venue and this was the hook to convince a few thousand fans to come be a part of the ribbon cutting ceremony. Having attended the event myself on Friday night, it was certainly a brand moment. But more than that, it felt like I was watching track and field presented in the way that I’d always dreamed it would be.

First off, there was no cover to enter. Then once inside fans were treated to free concessions, which included beer. Yes, there was alcohol at a track meet and it was $15 cheaper to drink there than at Yankee Stadium. Somehow I finagled my way into an all-access pass and wound up in the box suites that featured more goodies and a great view of the races. (Now as I am typing out this glowing review of my evening, the reason for my stellar treatment is starting to become more clear…)

The music was bumping, the crowd was lively and the objective on the oval was clear. The pacing lights were set at the pace to beat (changing speeds for the different legs) and the splits on the scoreboard were shown in comparison to the goal time. If I had a friend who had never been to a track meet before, this would have been the perfect one to start with. It was easily digestible.

Looking to the future, we probably should taper our expectations, as this was all a special occasion. This was only made possible because compared to most races where the product is the competition, this meet was an activation to sell shoes. Don’t expect beers on the house and catered meals at the next all-comers meet anytime soon, but it was a nice moment of living in my fantasy world

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B.A.A. Mile and 5K

They say racing a 5k is a gateway drug to getting a 26.2 bumper sticker. 

With the streets already shutting down for the big dance, it makes sense for additional races to ride on the coattails of the oldest marathon in the world. And with all eyes and attention centered around Boston, it’s a great opportunity for non-thon athletes to capitalize and take home a nice payday in front of some passionate fans.

The day before the men lined up for a 5k dash from the Boston Common, Canada’s Charles Philbert-Thiboutot confidently told me that we’d do an interview after he won the race. While I admired his bravado, the field was stacked with the likes of Ed Cheserek, Geordie Beamish, Zouhair Talbi, and plenty of others I figured might give Chuck P-T a good challenge. Well, he proved himself correct, winning the race in a Canadian record of 13:35. He is already set to run the 1500m at Worlds, and in a conversation afterwards we discussed David Ribich’s assessment of how with the rise of the honest race, being good at the 5000m is the new being good at the 800m for metric milers.

The highlight of the men’s race, however, came from eighth place finisher, Aaron Templeton. He was the first athlete to head back to the elite athlete tent and in the process passed swarms of the mass participants who were patiently waiting for their wave to start. From their vantage point it was impossible to see the finish and as Aaron walked by with a medal in his hand, the crowd burst into celebration and he graciously accepted all of the applause — to the 8th place finisher goes the spoils!

On the women’s side, there was a more clear favorite in the field, Senbere Teferi. The Ethiopian star — who holds the women’s-only 5k world record of 14:29 — ultimately won the race by 15 seconds in 14:49 over Weini Kelati. Teferi has run two marathons in her career (Tokyo and Dubai), but having just recently won the NYC Half and then making the trip to Boston, this might be some foreshadowing of where she goes next. I have no clue if she was in the lead car on Monday, as is commonly the case for athletes being courted to line up on Patriots’ Day, but all I have ever heard about that experience is that it’s generally pretty cold and it tests the upper limits of your bladder.

Later that same afternoon, the mile is run as a three lap race around a city block that finishes at the world famous line across Boylston Street. The B.A.A.’s own Annie Rodenfels kept it in the family to win in 4:35. With yet another professional victory to her name, the fact that she’s a multiple time NCAA DIII champion gets slotted even further down her resume. I’m sure fans of DIII running will always loudly claim her as one of their own, but to those lined up beside her on a starting line, the prevailing thought is probably more along the lines of “well crap, another runner I could lose to.”

In the men’s division, the most attractive athlete in the field, Johnny Gregorek, stormed to victory after playing it coy in last place for the first 95% of the race. Over a post-race adult beverage at a loud local watering hole, my best friend confirmed that I sometimes can give good advice. I have been suggesting for the better part of the year that the best way to start a season off is with some early season wins to build some momentum. Just because you can get into the best possible race to launch your spring campaign doesn’t always mean it’s the best option, especially if you’re not yet ready for the 1:52 first half. But hopefully by the time Johnny lines up in his next 3:33 race, his head is so inflated because of days like this that they’ll have to give him two lanes on the starting line to fit his ego.

California Invitationals ⛰

It wasn’t all just road running and indoor track this week, which makes sense, because it’s outdoor season! And on the outdoor oval, things are starting to heat up, thanks in part domestically to the long list of impressive results coming out of Mt. Sac and the Brian Clay invitationals. From the east coast, these feel like the same meet so let’s break it down and just lump these two together as if they were one:

• Alabama’s Eliud Kipsang broke Yared Nuguse’s NCAA collegiate record, winning the 1500m in 3:33.74. Kipsang kicked down OTC’s William Paulson of Canada who ran 3:33.97. After making the pass, Kipsang made the rarely seen move of stopping his watch at the line.

• Washington’s Brian Fay of Ireland had a crazy last few hundred meters to roll up on Michigan State’s Morgan Beadlescomb to run 13:16.52 for 5000m.

• In her first race since her 30:14, Elise Cranny won the 1500m in 4:08.07.

• Karissa Schweizer ran 15:02 to take the 5000m in her first race since the Olympics.

• Elaine Thompson-Herah ran a wind-legal 10.89 for the world lead in the semi-finals before choosing not to run the final. Twanisha Terry took that victory in 10.77 (+3.3).

• Fred Kerely won the 200m in 19.80 (+1.6) over Michael Norman who went 19.83. Who needs a primary event when you can do it all?

• Raevyn Rogers won the 800m in 1:58.77. Last year she opened up in 2:03 before running 1:56 to win the bronze medal.

• Evan Jager ran 8:34.89 to finish second in the steeplechase — his first time racing the event in four years. Not a super impressive time by any means, but it means he is healthy! Reminder: Evan ran 13:13 for 5000m two months ago.

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The 126th Boston Marathon 🦄

From a fan’s perspective, Boston is not necessarily the most friendly course for in-person spectating. If you’re hoping to see anyone more than once, you basically need a local guide to navigate the T. Being a point-to-point race, you’re lucky if you’ll catch a view at an early mile marker and navigate toward downtown in time to beat the racers to the finish. However, if your idea of what makes a marathon good to watch is early day binge drinking, then it doesn’t get much better, and it feels like every resident of Greater Boston turns out to celebrate. 

Between the palpable local enthusiasm, the challenging course, and a lack of pacemakers, the race makes for some of the best action-packed television our sport has to offer. Traditionally the competition begins months in advance as Boston and London vie for the affection of the world’s best athletes, though due to pandemic-related moves, Beantown had a monopoly this spring and the fields reflected that. Another point for Boston in terms of the on-screen drama.

Arguing who the best marathoner in the world is at any given time can be a tough job for pundits. (I’d argue this is actually on par with racing the marathon, in terms of difficulty.) It becomes subjective when the characters in the conversation rarely race each other, though after this weekend things have become a bit clearer.

There are three women who should be in the conversation as to who the best marathoner in the world is right now (2021-2022):

• Peres Jepchirchir - Olympic Champion, NYC Champion, Boston Champion

• Joyciline Jepkosgei - London Champion, Boston Marathon (7th)

• Brigid Kosgei - Olympic Silver, London (4th), Tokyo Champion (2:16:02)

If we had a 24-hour block of programming to fill on ESPN, this is the type of debate we’d have Stephen A. Smith yelling about. The storyline coming in was that Boston was Jepkosgei’s chance to prove herself as being the cream of the crop. Following an Olympic snub from the Kenyan election committee, she ran brilliantly in London to beat the silver medalist, Brigid Kosgei, handily.

Well, Jepkosgei did everything she could to once again make her case until there was nothing left in the tank. Although she was in contention with the lead pack past the 35k mark, she ultimately fell apart and faded to seventh. That’s when it became a duel between Peres Jepchirchir and Ethiopia’s Ababel Yeshaneh. Don’t be fooled by the sportsman-like move of sharing cups, this was a battle. Ultimately Jepchirchir landed the last punch to win in 2:21:01.

Peres Jepchirchir has had a good eight months. But given that both she and Brigid Kosgei have elected to skip the World Championships, it is imperative that they race each other again soon. As both are just 28 years old, we need as many head-to-head matchups for data points. Ten years from now it may help us crown the greatest female marathoner of all-time!

On the American side, Nell Rojas was the top American for the second consecutive Boston Marathon finishing in 10th place in a personal best of 2:25:57. Before the race Rojas terminated her shoe contract with Adidas after only four months as she preferred to race in Nikes.

News of Rojas’s departure drew a mixed reaction from fans and fellow pros. Though technically “unsponsored,” Rojas made the decision to do what she believed was best for her performance — a sign of the times when it comes to the role shoe technology now plays. Like most things, there is a gray area here. It’s different if someone is actively choosing not to be sponsored, regardless of whether it's factually correct to note that they’re unsponsored. Making the choice to be without the backing of a shoe company is not consistent with the underdog motif that the badge is normally reserved for.

Unfortunately, former Bostonian and fan favorite Molly Seidel dropped out before 30k citing hip pain. With plans to compete in Eugene for the World Championships this summer, hobbling over eight miles just to say she finished wouldn’t have been the smartest long term decision if another medal is in the cards.

Boss-town Marathon 👔

If you ignore the second half of the race and only look at the halfway split, then the American men swept the podium. It was awfully nice of Kenya’s Evans Chebet to let everyone hang around long enough to believe in that possibility. The 2020 Valencia Marathon champion, who holds a personal best of 2:03:00, had no qualms in allowing over a dozen men to remain together with less than 8k to run. That’s when Chebet went X Games-mode.

Four miles in 17:56 later and it was over. There was no defense against such a violent infusion of pure speed for eventual runner-up Lawrence Cherono and the defending champion, Benson Kipruto. Other stars like Albert Korir and Geoffrey Kamworor, both former NYC champs, were too stunned to react.

Before the gun, much of the hype and attention for an American upset was on CJ Albertson. That’s partially our own doing, although he made a name for himself last year by trying to run away from the field for 20 miles. Throughout the race he made regular appearances at the front of the pack in an effort to keep it honest — something that he was arguably too successful at. Shortly after 21 miles, Albertson relinquished the lead before slowly disappearing from the picture and holding on to finish in 13th in a personal best of 2:10:23. This was admittedly disappointing for him. The question then becomes, does this result suddenly invalidate all of CJ’s “crazy” training and prove that a DIY crawlspace sweatbox in his bedroom doesn’t work?

Compare this to the top American of the day, Scott Fauble. Early on Fauble sensed the tempo was too quick for his liking and he settled into a chase pack. At the 13.1 split, he was in 22nd place in 64:26, but presumably felt good. He slowly ground his way through the field and picked up the pieces of those who dared to risk it all. Fauble ran perfectly even splits to find himself crossing in seventh and a new best of 2:08:52 — a much needed affirmation that he still “got it” and that his move to be coached by Joe Bosshard was a good one. Had the race been a couple hundred meters longer, Fauble would have likely been fifth.

Ask yourself dear reader, whose strategy resonates more with you?

CJ is constantly swinging for the fences. Running a 2:10 marathon shouldn’t necessarily count as a strikeout, but it’s not the home run he was looking for. When you accidentally do 15 miles at 4:50 pace the week before, people are going to judge you when it doesn’t work out. If Evans Chebet shared his workouts on Strava then it probably wouldn’t receive the same level of criticism. But if that’s who CJ is trying to beat, is he wrong? Well, he lost to the consistency of Fauble. And squeezed between the pair with no fanfare is Army’s Elkanah Kibet who quietly followed up his success in New York with a 9th place finish and 2:09:07 PB. 

You’ll learn a lot about yourself running a marathon, but depending on who you root for while watching one says a thing or two as well. Congrats to Scott, Elkanah and CJ on great runs, and for leading me to type the following phrase: Boston Marathon as Rorschach test.

Rapid Fire Highlights 🔥

• Wesley Kiptoo, the NCAA Champion with PBs of 13:14/27:37, has foregone the remainder of his collegiate eligibility and joined HOKA’s NAZ Elite.

• Florida ran the collegiate 4x400 record (2:58.53) at the Tom Jones Invitational. They finished second to an Adidas all-star team that ran 2:57.72 and had Grant Holloway on anchor with a sub-44 split.

• Texas Tech’s Moad Zahafi of Morocco ran the third fastest 800m in NCAA history at 1:43.69 in Florida.

• LSU’s Favour Ofili of Nigeria broke the collegiate 200m record and took the world lead with her 21.96. She is only 19 years old.

• Alan Webb, the American Record holder for 1 mile, lined up to run a 1500m in 4:13 eight years after his retirement.

• At the Seoul Marathon, the fourth fastest marathoner of all-time, Mosinet Geremew of Ethiopia, ran 2:04:43 for a six second victory over Herpasa Negasa. Notably in third was Brazil’s Daniel do Nascimento, whose 2:04:51 makes him the fastest man ever born outside of Africa. In the women’s race, Joan Chelimo Melly who is now representing Romania, won in a personal best of 2:18:04.

• Agent Christopher Mengel wrote an op-ed about the conflict of interest for seemingly everyone involved in track and field, but especially agents. He’s not wrong! The problem stems from there not being enough agents or money. Transparency with athletes from the beginning is key. Before entering into a contract with someone who will oversee your financial interests, you should be well aware of what other financial motives they are balancing. Here is a call for all agents to release their tax returns!

• The Oregon-based miler group is trying to break the WR in the 4xMile a week before the very much publicized attempt by the On Athletic Club trying to do the same thing a week later at the Penn Relays. #badforthesport

• Arkansas’s Ayden Owens of Puerto Rico set the NCAA (wind legal) Decathlon record of 8528 points. While not necessarily worth the most, his 1500m of 4:13 for his tenth event of the meet earned my respect!

• Ben True became the first American to win (28:15) the Crescent City Classic 10k held in New Orleans since 1984. Ethiopia’s Bruktayit Eshetu (31:33) followed up her win at the Cooper River Bridge Run with the win here, too.

Thank you to Brooks for sponsoring this week’s newsletter! The CITIUS MAG team had a great time in Boston hanging out at the Hyperion House all weekend. If you missed our alternative commentary race stream, you can watch it here.