It's week 19 of 2024 and a new week of snarking on our "favorite" healthy living and running influencers. What's in store for this week? Let's discuss!
Healthy Living and Running Influencers, May 06 - 12
Fitness & Wellness InfluencersI was absolutely disgusted when I saw that. I guess I need to get my children’s teachers Mother’s Day gifts since they are “bringing up my child with love and care” which is comparable to my role as their mother apparently. What an absolute dick.
Wait I’m so out of the loop on this. Can someone give me a spark notes version of this affair story 😂
TL;DR: Brogan cheated on Goldie for a long time (I want to say 8 months?) including while she was pregnant with their youngest. They separated/divorced in May 2022. Brogan stayed with his affair partner. Goldie is re-coupled again. Both Brogan and Goldie hard launched their partners on IG practically the same week.
Can’t wait to see how she counter posts on Fathers Day. 😂
He acts like he was the wronged party just trying to move on with his life not the guy who actively cheated on his pregnant wife then blew up his family. Like why the animosity toward Goldie, it wasn’t her fault or decision?
I loathe that guy.
Came here as soon as I saw that. The IG post seems unnecessary. It's a little sad that she's ok with blasting it all over the internet as well. Now I feel like we'll see a similar post with Ryan and the kids from Goldie on Father's Day.
Their very pointed passive aggressive instagram activity makes it obvious they’re still obsessed with one another.
I like Parker Valby and I like citius mag, but citius mags obsession with Parker valby kind of gives me weird vibes
Weird for sure.
I can't figure out whether she is just messing with the media or if she really is quirky and a little ... dim? Abba sounds Spanish? Spanish is like Swedish?
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She’s an incredibly talented athlete who continues to smash every record in the books and is likely making the 10k team for the Olympics so I feel like the obsession is valid. That said she’s also a conventionally attractive white woman so there’s also that
letsrun is also obsessed. the one thing they actually agree on?
Emily Abbate somehow managed to make her Mother’s Day wishes for her friends with children about her. The talent is remarkable.
It's crazy! And the zoom out from the Nike box she clearly brought her friend's kid in the video. Like, LOOK AT ME I AM SUCH A GOOD FRIEND I BRING GIFTS!!! Ugh she irks me so hard.
I really didn’t understand her post saying that she’s lucky to go through this new chapter together with her friend who has a baby. I’m married but don’t have babies yet and would never say that about my friends who are having kids now. I’m not going through that new chapter yet and Emily definitely isn’t either.
She def has a complex about the “timeline” of adulthood. I hear ya re those ppl who genuinely want kids & partner. But if it’s just abt the timeline…let it go! Modern America esp NYC is v diverse & it’s ok to be a single childless woman , literally feminists of yesterday fought v hard for that to be ok…i wish she were more self accepting
quite a few of the big names who needed to chase 5k/10k standards were either DNSes (Keira, Elise) or DNFs (Emily Infeld, Elly Henes) at the Track Meet last night...wonder what happened? especially with the 10K...right now the only one eligible to get in the 10K via rankings is Fiona O'Keeffe, and we know she already has her Paris ticket punched and she probably wouldn't double. (though she is on the start list for the Night of the 10K PBs next weekend... 🤔 maybe thinking ahead to next year and possibly nabbing a Worlds standard?) I...hope these ladies aren't just throwing caution to the wind at the Trials, it could be a freak hot day like it was in 2021...you'd think what's currently going on with the men's marathon would be a scare tactic of sorts.
OTOH-great race for Jess McClain (she's still a minute off the OS, but stranger things have happened at the Trials) and the steeple trials are gonna be interesting, Val Constien is definitely back and everybody needs to fear Krissy Gear's kick
just saw on keira’s strava comments that she’s running night of PBs in london instead!
oh interesting! this must have been super last minute...she definitely wasn't on the start lists yesterday!
I’m invested in the steeple trials…would love to see Allie O in the mix!
SAME!!!!! Love her.
my heart wants her to make it. my head says she might just fall short. but again, anything can happen in the trials! especially in the steeple...those pesky barriers and water jumps have gotten the best of the best sometimes!
I wonder if the weather wasn’t ideal and they didn’t want to waste a hard attempt there? Emily was a DNS according to the results (not DNF) and Keira and Elise weren’t listed under DNS so I guess they at least canceled earlier? Team boss had announced Emily running as early as that morning…
Emily was a DNF-i watched the race and her bib had fallen off early so i guess her splits weren't getting captured?
Keira was just odd since she was promoting it on her IG...and then yesterday she was still in VA and didn't say why she wasn't racing? (not that she owes anyone an explanation but if she wants to make the 10k team it may be a dangerous game to expect to hit the standard at trials?)
ETA-reports were that the weather was fine so otherwise...I got nothing! maybe Fast Women will find out some tea for tomorrow's newsletter?
Anyone listened to Ali on the Run latest podcast w Anne Keane, who has stage 4 breast cancer ? I bawled my eyes out the whole time , bc they both just seem like such cool ppl going thru something so shitty! Not snark comment just inspired and grateful to Ali idk how she managed I’d have been sobbing! Literally cried more at this podcast than all the times my own parent got a cancer diagnosis. I hope they both keep running & thriving.
I got so choked up listening to this. Both Anne and Ali handled this conversation with the grace and gravity it deserved. I learned a lot about the power of language, too. What a powerful episode.
Admittedly I often skip over episodes with athletes I haven’t already heard of and am SO glad I listened to this one. It helped me further understand why “battle/warrior” language doesn’t resonate with many people. It also reminded me that yes, there are people with stage four cancer who are working in society, raising their children, following passions, and even running marathons all the while knowing they have stage four cancer, not necessarily “looking” like they may be ill, and one would have no idea.
Yes! That part was so helpful & Anne was very educational. Right? I bet many ppl would have no idea she was so sick
It was one of the most impactful episodes she’s ever put out.
Will definitely listen this week ... thanks for the recommendation.
Right?? She did it so well. Obvi it’s extremely personal topic to her , but I found the interview so professionally done.
Has anyone else finished Emily halnon’s book "to the gorge”? Overall I enjoyed it and it was a quick read but also have a lot of lingering questions.
I started it today and am almost finished! What are your questions? I’m so curious!
I really liked it but I felt like the pandemic was basically completely ignored even though she ran it in August of 2020 and her relationship with her dad was really confusing? Her parents were married when her mom died and she was basically like “yeah we’re not close with my dad” and only mentioned him a few times in not the best light. I also would have loved more about training/planning but just because it’s such a huge undertaking and I’m nosey.
Edited to add: I lost a parent I had a less magical relationship with this year so I may be a bit hypercritical.
to be fair, if you run trails outdoors in the middle of nowhere, the pandemic probably didn't affect that.
Understandable but she had a huge support team (including people from out of town) and it was a big part of everyone’s life while she was training/grieving so for it to not be mentioned at all was weird to me. In August 2020 where I lived people were still masking on trails and hanging out at a distance outside but maybe different in Oregon.
I really thought I missed something about her parents getting divorced because her dad was in the book so little. She doesn’t really talk about him as part of her mom’s support system either.
Ironically what I wanted more from this running memoir was… more running/ training talk. How do you even train for a FKT attempt longer than any ultra you’ve ever done? What was it like going from training for road races in DC to trail runs in OR? I found it odd that she wrote about a bunch of those in her old blog but didn’t incorporate any of that here. It was a very short read, and I was engrossed, but it also felt incomplete.
Ali on the run interviewed Emily just after her FKT in August of 2020 and she delves into the details of her run in a fair amount of detail from what I recall. I’m bummed to hear she didn’t include much of that in her book.
I was thinking of ordering the book, so thank you for this. I thought it would talk more about the prep and trail experience, etc, like Anish’s book. That has a lot of personal stories too but felt overall it spoke more about the trail.
Have you read Thru Hiking Will Break Your Heart?
No, but it sounds awesome.
Agreed, I think there was really only one mention of a training run. I really liked her blog and the running parts read like a really long race recap but I wanted more about the training/planning.
I just finished it and had the same thoughts! It seems like there was more to the story she needed to leave out about her dad. But the lack of discussion re: pandemic was really odd!!!
Yeah I feel like maybe she just wanted to keep the peace with her dad (understandable!) but also like was your mom dying and in an unhappy marriage? Or is your dad just more of a stoic person which doesn’t seem like something you couldn’t write in a memoir about your family? But the major pandemic and having a ton of people in close contact (even with mostly outdoor contact) with just one sentence about how that made it challenging to adopt a puppy was wild. It felt really repetitive which I think was somewhat intentional since obviously 470 miles is mostly a grind but I wanted more.
Maybe the parent /sibling/other family (if so) /are still alive and she didn’t have total freedom to share? I read another memoir & the author is v respectful like “ya our rel isn’t good it impacted me xyz beyond that i can’t say bc it’s not my story” …now I’m curious to read this!!
The other parent is still alive and she included him in the acknowledgments. She basically said that she and her brother always went to their mom for support and didn’t have that kind of relationship with their dad and then only mentioned him like two other times. It just really felt like some part of the story was missing but I think she probably didn’t want to stir anything up.
I totally get why writers make that choice but it really bugs me! It leaves readers in the dark…i wish such writers would either have the hard convos w family & include even an abridged version, or wait till they’re dead to write their books. Better for the story!
:( I’m so sorry for your loss!!
Thank you!
I haven't but I'd like to read it!
Can i be honest, the writing on the BITR website is poor at best,
How can they just have been on a trip to Germany with Adidas and make this mistake. Its not uncommon for their proofing to be sloppy. Ive read reviews where they contradict themselves in the same article. Companies need to tighten the screws i think.
Truth be told, we still like versions 8 and 9 a bit more. But the Takumi Sen 10 is so good, that even if we think it took a step back, it’s still one of the best (maybe the best?) tempo shoe that money can buy. The Lightstrike Pro midsole is bouncy with good ground feel, the EnergyRods 2.0 give a bit of snap back, and the Goodyear rubber outsole digs into the pavement, spinning through that quick turnover you want at faster paces. It looks and feels like a dart, which is exactly what we want in a tempo shoe.
I don't understand. Which part is a mistake?
Goodyear, Adidas use continental rubber.
i see no contradictions in that quoted paragraph
Same I was wondering if I missed something 😂
And there are a fair amount of typos in the preamble OP added.
Im not whoring myself out to every brand on earth though am i.
Not whoring yourself out to Big Punctuation, either!
U must be fun at parties. or are you trying to work out why you have not been to 1 in a while
I think it is hilarious to talk shit about someone else’s writing while fully committing to not proofreading your own. Truly, a delight. Go on with your bad self, girl! Love the bit you’re doing, haha.
Wellness by Kelley charging a whopping 3,500 dollars for her to give you bloodwork orders and a PDF of your results…how is she even qualified to consult on this? She’s not in the medical field and has no medical background!
Thats scammy AF and I’d rope this in with life coaches out there that charge something crazy like $100k for a three day weekend retreat in butt f**k desert of where ever.
Love that you have to click through a few times to get the pricing. I don’t care about my wellness THAT much lol.
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HOW??????!
My jaw literally dropped when I clicked to see her price!
I’m confused how she’s even able to do this, like legally???
fully didn't believe you but oh my god????
That sounds like a crime.
Does anyone know where I can find the ncaa individual rankings in each event right now?
Tffrs
Thank you for saving me from having to ask l*tsrun
Emily abbates endless Birkenstock stories 🤮 she really is the main character in every single moment of her entire life.
I have friends that were on that run. They posted on their stories to thank Emily but she didn’t repost them. Very interesting. I think Emily reposts certain people that she thinks will get her ahead .
Omg i hate when influencers do that
What did they say about it? Good? Bad? Is she as terrible in person?
I’m so tempted to text my friend and ask but I haven’t yet lol
I was kind of surprised /dismayed to see her there but then it makes sense because she’s also pretty visible in the NYC running community but not with the crowd Emily is with. So it was a weird clash of both worlds. Idk
And then the other girl i know is more like an acquaintance. I kinda cringed to see her post Emily.
She’s a social climber 100%
Oh 300%! Her fawning all over becs gentry acting like they’re long lost buds was a prime example of that. I highly doubt she cares about the little, real people.
Good for her for her partnerships, but why is every thing she does for her job The Biggest Life Changing Moment Ever? Can't a work project just be a work project?
Right? And also prepare yourself to never see her in another pair of Birkenstocks again, ever. I’m kinda sad since I normally love the brand but find this ad campaign to be a total misstep.. Ah, well.
Exactly. Every work thing she posts is sooo inspirational and moving and earth shattering. It gets gross.
Sometimes the Abbate stuff gets so BEC that Abbate comments become BEC for me 😂
Like her or not, she is the face of this campaign so it is a literal main character moment lol
She will schill pretty much anything they put in front of her. Nike, Puma, Birks, she has zero brand loyalty.
I know, although that Nike retreat looked pretty dope lol
RIGHTTYYT??? literally NEVER seen her wearing Birkenstocks before. Meanwhile I’ve literally worn holes in mine…where’s my $$? lol
Hahahaa I know!!! Come on!! 🤣
I've shouted her out here before but I love Chelsea Callahan, she's by far my favorite "running influencer." Watching her latest YT video on training for the half and I find it so refreshing to see her running gear not be emblazoned with Lululemon/Tracksmith/Bandit. Even her lint-covered running hat was super relatable.
Here to tell ya all raceacrossthestates is aiming (pun intended) for 100,000 steps this weekend. Whattttttttt?
She’s also just shooting herself in the foot training-wise with that much activity…like what does she hope to accomplish?
I don’t even think I got 100,000 steps the weekend I ran a marathon.
I remember checking the night after mine and it was about 55,000.
Same, and then I didn’t go above 1000 steps a day for 2 weeks.
RATS gets nuttier and nuttier with each passing week. What a whacko.
The question is why though? Just to do it?
Unhinged
Oh wow, that’s 50 miles in two days. Unless she’s counting Friday as the weekend…. Then it’s 50 miles in 3 days which is much more doable.
I guess if she wants to run two marathons, then there ya go, lol
It could be less than 50. I just did a 110 mile 8 day hike in England and on my two back to back long days did 90,000 steps. It was a 17 miler and an 18 miler. This was walking and I’m not sure how that translates to including run mileage. Because like a normal person I don’t pay much attention to my step count at home. Regardless this only seems useful for people training for ultras. Not road marathons.
Yeah, walking steps usually play out to be less because your tracker is based on your walking pattern, so it tends to track walking steps much better than running steps. I’ve noticed I can walk my dog two miles and get like 5000-6000 steps but if I run 2 miles, it’s only like 4000 steps. We shall see how many steps Amy gets
Walking steps are shorter than running steps. You get more steps per said distance, hence why walking a mile will be more steps than running it. One step is one step regardless of stride length.
Mr Choi at it again with the tomfoolery. Recently posted a reel with a "sub-5 mile". But if you look at Strava you'll his elapsed time is 6min and the "watch" used for the activity is a Garmin. All his other runs that same day are with a COROS, and his other wrist is wearing an an Apple Watch...
Why do people love him so much? He gives off the absolute douchiest vibes.
I think a lot of people who just scroll by don’t really care?
I guess because he is fast and that is seen as aspirational? Idk. But I agree he gives off douchey vibes
He's really not that fast though, he's what, a 3 hour marathoner?
That's fast.
It's not slow but it's not elite or sub elite or sub sub elite. It's barely a BQ for him.
I do remember when he was a guide, someone commenting that if he ran his own race, he could probably qualify for the Olympics. And I remember laughing and thinking that a 3 hour marathoner is NOT EVEN CLOSE to an Olympic qualifier. So I get what you are saying. But as far as normal folks, 3 hours is a pretty good time.
It's not even close to the women's OTQ time and he has to do a downhill marathon to qualify.
I guess I am comparing it to the general running population. Sub 3 is still fast - even though it's nowhere near a top tier time.
That’s fast to me 😂
Is it just me or is his running form super inefficient?
Only bringing this up because I feel like many running influencers promoted Inside Tracker for a while. They lowered their price from $699 to $489 for the first test and subscription, and then $340 for additional tests. This still seems incredibly expensive to me and idk why so many people are saying the new prices are better.
Has anyone taken this test (who was not promoting it), followed the recommendations , and felt like it was worth it?
Athlete blood test is a much less expensive option and gives you better info IMO.
You also now have to pay to upload your own results and use their dashboard
That is CRAZY! Who is using this service?
probably no one which is why prices keep dropping lmao
Definitely not - I got suckered in with a promotion and was so underwhelmed at the “recommendations.” It was all basic stuff you could have googled yourself (eat more fiber! Get more sleep!)
If you have one, ask your PCP to order labs or use something like Marek Health where you can build your own lab panels for cheap and have them taken at LabCorp. (Its like $15 to get Vitamin D and ferritin done, for example)
I get all my labs done from my PCP, but I guess we’re frustrates me is that the normal levels are just the baseline for my sex and age, and don’t factor in training for endurance. So like, yes my Vitamin D and Ferritin levels are normal but are they “normal” for a runner? I don’t know what those levels are. :(
Go to a primary care doc and have them put an order in for a blood test at a nearby lab. If you’ve got good health insurance, they typically will cover a certain amount or all of it (call your insurance and find out before you get a surprise bill). When I had shit insurance I paid out of pocket myself which was like under $100 for the following - Ferritin, Iron, Hematocrit, Red Blood Cell Count (RBC), Hemoglobin, Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC) and Vitamin D. Those were typically the big ones that gave me some idea performance and nutrition wise of where I was. If your insurance covers it, have your PCP throw Thyroid (T3, Free T3, T4) and cortisol levels to see if anything is off especially if you’re tired, out of the blue weight gain etc etc.
Also for Ferritin you want 50 or above, ideally above if you’re at altitude then more like 70 and above for female endurance runners. Once again, it does depend on the person, I know some runners that feel way better closer to 90 and some feel fine just above 50.
lmao my serum iron is fine, but my latest ferritin was 11 🙃 started incorporating more iron rich foods and a supplement, and I’m going to be UNSTOPPABLE!
Above 30 ok, above 50 better, ideally as high as possible. I had the same problem, my ferritin has always been quite low for a runner. Just got infusions and will retest soon….
Definitely. I think it takes a bit more work to find that, but it’s out there.
If it helps I just checked my Inside Tracker dashboard and it says “optimized” is:
Vitamin D: 30-100 Ferritin: 60-232
Nice! I just don’t want to pay for inside tracker so I don’t know how else to get those levels.
Hire a sports dietitian to analyze your results. There are plenty of sports RDs out there besides the same speedy white ladies who always get brought up here.
You can get a CBC from your PCP for free and if you want additional markers like a full iron panel, Vitamin D, etc., just ask. And then make sure either you or someone who knows what they are looking for (for runners/endurance athletes) reads the results.
That’s what I always figured I’d do if I wanted more than the basic info. Finding a PCP more knowledgeable about runners and athletes is likely key though.
A good RD can be more helpful than a PCP!
Agree with this! My RD actually recommended my PCP and they communicate with each other, so my RD will ask her to test for specific things. It’s been extremely helpful!
Absolutely not, IMO. I have some pretty strong opinions on this that I'll spare you from, but the TL;DR of it is, if you're able to have health insurance, find a PCP you trust and discuss any concerns with them.
100% - Inside Tracker is nothing more than a money grab. Sell the test, sell the supplements, sell the test, repeat. There’s no end to the expensive testing even though 1) fluctuations are normal and 2) rapid genetic changes are unlikely/impossible anyway. There’s a reason that docs don’t do a lot of this testing!! Stay far away.
InsideTracker doesn't sell supplements. Also, not sure what you mean by "rapid genetic changes" lol
Agreed. I can see how certain tests would indicate an issue that is overlooked (ferritin for women for example) but a good PCP should be able to help with that. I know that's a luxury for some, but if you fall into that category, you're not affording IT either.
I want to hear them 👀
Same!
Haha okay!
I think these companies profit off of the idea that the average athlete should be continuously chasing this very narrow version of athletic success that may not be attainable. It feels like when we (for all my fellow millennial women) were younger and aspiring to look like the models on the cover of Seventeen Magazine without any idea how unrealistic that really was. And the truth was that we were always wonderful just as we were. But it didn't make companies money for us to believe that, so they sold us magic beauty products that somehow were going to transform us into supermodels. Now it's "if only I knew how to get my x levels slightly higher via this very expensive blood test, maybe I'll reach THIS standard!". Just another company profiting off of subtly telling people they aren't good enough, but with running shoes instead of eyeshadow. InsideTracker, FWIW, isn't great at flagging actual health issues either so it definitely isn't a substitute for a PCP visit (which they've tried to say before).
Anyway, I'll stop LOL. Just my two (five?!) cents!
So Caitlyn Miller posted her “Post Boston Marathon Training Schedule”… Running 6x a week, Lifting heavier 5x a week and cross training 1x a week. I’m sorry how many days are there in a week again??
I was a D1 athlete and our schedule was never like this. How in the world is she not injured?? And this is supposed to be her taking it easier after the marathon? The math isn’t mathing. She also seems under fed so no idea how she is keeping up with this sort of schedule. Doesn’t she have a “coach”? Who would be encouraging this kind is training in your “off season”??
Is this what her coach recommended? She’s obviously fit but this seems a touch aggressive for an off season.
If she’s going to move to Colorado and try to do all that training at ALTITUDE, then she better start fueling enough or she’s going to have stress fractures on the way. Seriously. It’s like a train wreck waiting to happen.
I have no idea how she hasn’t gotten injured yet.
If she doesn’t get injured, she’ll get in a hole and the only way to dig out of the burnout hole at altitude is true rest.
For real though
This is her off-season?!?!? At first read I assumed this was her training block and was thinking it was quite aggressive. But wtf it’s off season! I don’t understand how she’s not injured yet. She is under fed and overworked. Unclear how her body can possibly keep up.
And TCB saying how much she loves this - which TOTALLY contradicts her training plans/recommendations.
I don’t take much (if any) of what track club babe says at face value. Most of the compliments she gives are for the sake of her stupid engagement pod.
Yea, I agree. It's so phoney.
It’s all fake. She doesn’t mean those compliments. She’s doing it for the engagement pod
She also claimed she was going to work on short distances and is now talking about her next half and marathon. The plateau is calling…
She also responded to someone asking about rest days and she’s says she rests one day a week. Not sure if I believe that but even so, that means she’s doing two a days 6 days a week??
If she’s running 6 days a week and cross training one day there’s literally no way she’s taking a rest day unless she’s counting the cross training day as her rest day since it’s not running but like that isn’t really a rest day
OMG, Leslie Jones is gonna be joining the NBC team for the Olympics as a "chief super fan commentator"
i cannot wait to hear her commentary on the steeplechase (IYKYK-and sadly her fave "Emma Coboo" won't be in Paris)
Finally, the people are getting what they really want!
Omg this is going to be amazing lol
The citius throwback to 2021 sent me. This is good for the sport!!!!!!!
Ooooop
I get her point, but I don't think moving the time would have done much. These athletes had as many opportunities to get the standard as any other country, and they didn't get it. That forced the athletes to pray for a miracle at the Trials. People are so desperate to find someone or something to blame (the weather, the decision to host in Orlando, Taylor Swift's private jet use) when the sad reality is, men marathoning in the US has been chronically underperforming over the past couple years (before you all come for me: I'm speaking in relative terms to the best in the world. I know I couldn't hold a sub 5:00 pace for 200m, much less a marathon) and I don't think changing up the trials would have made much of a difference.
got to say I tend to agree. Maybe USTAF could have thrown in some cash incentives for us men to chase the standard somewhere that wasn’t New York or Chicago, but if im a U.S. marathoner and I think I have a shot at the top 3 in Orlando, then im going to take a swing at a Rotterdam, Prague, Valencia or Seville, which I think is what Rory Linklater did to make the Canadian selection (granted, he didn’t have a trials race to worry about). For better or worse the Olympics is the big thing. I’m just surprised we didn’t see more people swinging for the fences earlier. I think we all agree that this whole system of standard chasing, world rankings etc has been convoluted and deeply flawed. Not to mention that the Olympic marathon has only been won twice in a time faster than 2:08:10, so although the standard isn’t crazy fast, it is overkill for this race. But ultimately you have to play the hand you’ve been dealt. This was the system and even though there wasn’t a big window to get that standard, im still kind of surprised we didn’t see Panning, Kibet, Albertson or runners in that ‘good enough but not quite as good as the favourites’ category turning down the U.S. marathon circuit over the last couple of cycles and accepting that chasing a standard on a flat fast course in Europe was the best strategy this time around.
im still kind of surprised we didn’t see Panning, Kibet, Albertson or runners in that ‘good enough but not quite as good as the favourites’ category turning down the U.S. marathon circuit over the last couple of cycles and accepting that chasing a standard on a flat fast course in Europe was the best strategy this time around.
that was actually what Panning was trying to do when he opted to do Worlds last year-since it was a fast course and would have a stacked field for him to latch onto-but got screwed by a freak hot day and there just wasn't enough time to run another marathon that fall and still peak properly for Trials. so he at least knew what he needed to do and gave it a go! but yah...could CJ have run Valencia instead of CIM, for example? if he was running a December marathon anyway... (ETA-hmmm, CJ actually DNFed Valencia in 2022, and then just ran another marathon in Spain a week later. dang, it's a shame he didn't try and get revenge on the course in 2023!)
(TBH, the one who should be kicking himself is Mekonen, he came into Berlin with a 2:11 PR, went through the half on American record pace, and faded to a 2:10. I bet had he stuck with Fauble before he had to drop and just ran a bit smarter that day, he could have gotten it)
and actually now that I think about it, the women seem to have not as much of an issue traveling to get their qualifiers? Aliphine did Rotterdam in 2019 to get her 2020 qualifier, Sara Hall has done quite a few international marathons over the years, Kellyn Taylor has done Prague, Lindsay Flanagan has done Tokyo, Paris and Gold Coast...just to name a few! it really makes me wonder why the men are so intent on staying stateside🤔
but again, I think this is gonna be a massive wake-up call and I bet we see a bit more participation in those flat, fast foreign marathongs for the next quad. or...someone like McKirdy organizes something like the Micro Marathon Project! 🤣
I also wonder if this may hurt the US elite fields for Boston in 2027 (and maybe 2026? who knows when the window will open)-since if you need to chase a standard, why do it on a hilly course where it won't even count unless you finish top 5?
Absolutely. All this being said, I will be very bummed if Korir isn’t able to go to Paris. He’s a great athlete and I was so happy for him when he got top 3 at the trials.
It’s the toxic masculine sports attitude and the way men are raised in general. There’s less permission to not be okay / need help / etc. it’s sad
Why can’t people have different opinions? Why does everybody need to have the same opinion? That’s just not realistic. I don’t see the problem with keeping the schedule time?
The event workers and volunteers would have to change their schedule to accommodate the race. Running is a very low revenue sport compared to other sports. So the workers and volunteers won’t be thrilled to change for the same pay.
Plus you won’t always have ideal conditions. Japan changed the marathon course to be away from the main Olympics arena to accommodate the heat but it ended up no mattering since it was still hot as fuck. Eventually you’ll have to run in the heat anyways, so might as well condition yourself for that situation
Frankly … it’s one of the reasons I’m completely disconnected from the men’s side of the sport. I think one of the reasons women’s distance running has reached new highs lately is because the attitude towards competitors is so much more positive/uplifting. A rising tide lifts all boats! By comparison, men at their best seem really isolated. And at their worst, petty and rude. I guess sometimes that tactic leads to great performance (Josh Kerr and his endless yapping) but overall I don’t see it having a positive impact on the sport, and it’s having real consequences! Can’t speak for other countries, but distance running in the US on the men’s side is not all that impressive right now and I think attitude is playing a huge role in it
I kinda wish the Trials had played out differently with Zach getting the standard because he worked together with Conner and Clayton during the race and it could have sent a message to the rest of the men-hey this is what happens when you work as a team to get things done instead of "every man for himself." you get rewarded with an Olympic slot.
It will be interesting to see over this next quad if the US men will actually learn something from this because it's not going to get any easier to make teams. I don't think anything has been published anywhere, but I'm seeing that the Worlds standard next year will be 2:06:30-a time only 3 US men have run under, the last one being Rupp in 2018. And you gotta think that the LA standard will be even harder-I wouldn't even be surprised if it'd take an American record to do it.
Yeah, my heart was breaking when Panning started fading. Mantz and Young were gesturing at their watches and you knew they were clearly desperate for him to stay with them, stay on 2:08 pace and for them to all finish together. It’s a cruel sport at times.
and it's gotta be like a double whammy for Zach-had the Worlds marathon been a week later and not during the freak Budapest heat wave, I bet he would have done it. He ran a great race on the day for the conditions, but WA isn't gonna heat-adjust those times for Olympic qualification. I gotta think sometime he's gonna get some good karma for trying to make things happen...
it's funny that so many strong female 10k runners have become strong marathoners, but it doesn't seem to be translating for the men...I guess fewer are trying the event? (thinking of Grant, Klecker, Kinkaid). Dathan has said Klecker will be a great marathoner when he moves up...wonder when that will be (he has said the same about Alicia)
I do think that is part of it-for whatever reason, our top men are delaying moving up to the marathon and trying to maximize their time on the track.
i mean, look at who has the OS for 5K and 10K...with Alicia out it's currently pretty dire for the women in the 10K (though maybe that'll change Saturday), while with the men they got their 3 at least. and more men than women have the 5K standard (but we can at least field a full team on both sides. ETA-or maybe not with the women since Alicia is out and Josette Andrews has been very quiet lately. hopefully Elise gets the standard on Saturday?) so maybe it's just our women generally take to the marathon and the men prefer the track?
And the two men who made the Olympic marathon team are training partners who seem genuinely supportive of each other and other runners.
That list of 84 athletes who signed the letter isn’t public is it? I know Jared Ward and Emma Grace Hurley were spearheading the efforts with Sara. Based on interviews with Connor Mantz pre trials I’d be fairly certain he also signed it, I remember him saying something along the lines of not wanting people watching him suffer more for entertainment value. Ironic that he ended up ‘winning’, whatever we think happened at the finish. Clayton Young, the other member of the Provo group with Mantz and Ward had been saying that he was a good heat runner and wasn’t concerned. Would be interesting to see that list.
sorry for the LR link-but you can see the letter in this article...
as far as I know, the list of who signed has never been made public. I would think Young would have signed if his bestie Mantz did. I'd think Fauble would have signed too based on comments he made in an interview he did before Berlin.
I’m OOTL but is she implying that Korir was one of the men who didn’t want to move the trials?
I don’t think so!! I think she’s implying that if more men in general wanted to move the trials (and USATF/LOC listened), maybe the U.S. could have unlocked a third spot by someone running under the standard.
FWIW-they did move the trials from noon to 10 and I got the feeling that was as good as they were gonna get...but are you saying that if more men had played up that point (that they didn't have 3 slots unlocked), they would have moved it earlier to like 8 am?
ETA-back in September there were 84 athletes who did sign a petition asking for the Trials to be moved to 6 AM, and the issue of the no men's slots unlocked were part of the argument. How many of those 84 signatures were men, I do not know. Only man at the point that I know was fighting for it was Jared Ward since he was working with Sara Hall to lead the charge. Looks like this was the letter Colleen was referring to though...
To be perfectly honest, my experience interacting with authorities shows that they 100% take men’s input more seriously. So if what Colleen is saying is true and it was predominantly a women’s effort to move the start time, with few men participating…then yes, I wholeheartedly believe higher demand from male athletes == an even easier start time.
yeah, from re-reading the LR article, it does seem like there were more women who signed. and the irony is they had less to worry about with all 3 slots unlocked (though a couple of them-e.g., Sara and Keira-were going into the Trials w/o the standard) I gotta think SOME men signed (e.g., Mantz, Young, Fauble) who were savvy enough to know what was going on, but guess they just didn't seem to get that critical mass they needed for TPTB to actually listen 🤷♀️
men 🤦♀️
(FWIW-Fauble did initially think the talk about the heat was dramatic, but he came to his senses pretty quickly. i don't know if he was included in the group Colleen was referring to...)
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11d
Eclor’s new Senita set comes to mind
Track nerds: is Cole Hocker a nice guy?
I've never gotten good vibes from him: unvaccinated at the Olympics and seems kinda douchey in general. But it seems like other athletes like and respect him. Am I wrong? Was thinking about this while reading The Lap Count and figured I'd pose it to fellow pro running snarkers.
Not a fan, he acts like b*tch when things don’t go his way. If you want a fanbase, gotta do the hard things including media interviews even when you’ve had a bad race. Plus, the whole “your move” to Centro was cocky and disrespectful when Centro has accomplished a lot in his prime including an Olympic gold medal.
Yeah, part of my general douchey vibes came from watching world indoor champs a couple months ago and how he seemed kinda sour grapes in his interview. Like, no athlete is happy about losing, but many are more gracious. Seems like it's A Thing.
I get L*tsRun message board bro vibes from him but was also wondering if that was just me
Apparently not!
the Brojos ride this guy's d*ck HARD so your vibes might not be too far off. i mean, they had a whole article defending him not getting vaccinated before the Olympics
ooof, not surprising…!!
honestly personally I wouldn’t put much stock into other athletes’ feelings on it because IMO I feel like the sport is honestly not super progressive. not outwardly conservative or anything but I think more pros and elites than people think skew right or are “apolitical.”
I think it is possible to be a nice person generally but have shitty politics. Which I think is the case here. I recall hearing that he was a Trumper. I’d be curious if he still is. He’s young and people evolve. Anyone who is still a Trumper at this point can get f***ed though.
he still follows Tr*mp on IG. do what you will with that info.
🙄. Well there’s the answer probably. As an Oregon fan I feel some allegiance. But now it looks like I can replace him and root for Centro anyways!
Brogan Graham made a Mother’s Day post for his affair partner/girlfriend… and not the actual MOTHER of his children! Does he seriously think he is successfully convincing anyone that he is just a “nice guy” “taking the high road”??! I’ll never understand how he still has so many followers. Lord…