Fast Women: Ednah Kurgat wins her first U.S. title
Fast Women: Ednah Kurgat wins her first U.S. title
Irene Riggs, April Lund also earn wins at the USATF Cross Country Championships.
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A thank you and an appeal
Fast Women hit its four-year anniversary earlier this month. By all measures, 2022 was a banner year for the newsletter and the community that surrounds it. But there’s one area in which I’m falling short: Fast Women is still not making enough money for it to remain a sustainable venture in the long term.
I have resisted setting up a subscription model, because I want this content to be available to everyone. But in order to continue to do that, simply put, I need more support. So I’m writing with my annual appeal to please consider a donation to Fast Women.
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Ednah Kurgat wins her first U.S. title
Weini Kelati was considered the favorite heading into Saturday’s USATF Cross Country Championships, but it was another University of New Mexico alumna with Virginia ties who took home the title. Late in the seventh kilometer, Ednah Kurgat opened up a lead going up a hill, and she kept her foot on the gas, quickly gapping the field. Kurgat extended her lead to 17 seconds by the finish, winning the 10K race in 32:07.
Kurgat, 31, who is part of the U.S. Army’s World Class Athlete Program, is originally from Kenya, but she began her collegiate career at Liberty University, about two hours west of Richmond, where the race took place. After transferring to the University of New Mexico, Kurgat won the 2017 NCAA cross country title. (The runners she beat in that race are a current who’s who of U.S. distance running.) By joining the Army after graduation, Kurgat got a fast track to citizenship, and now she’ll have her first opportunity to represent the U.S. at the World Cross Country Championships, which take place on February 18 in Australia.
Kurgat has had a solid pro career thus far, running personal bests of 15:16.14 (5,000m) and 31:21.65 (10,000m), but this was her biggest performance yet.
The top six qualified for the world championships team, and behind Kurgat, Makena Morley had a strong race, breaking away from the chase pack to take second in 32:24. Emily Durgin (third, 32:27), Emily Lipari (fourth, 32:32), Weini Kelati (fifth, 32:39), and Katie Izzo (sixth, 32:40) rounded out the finishers. Should any of them decline their spots, the next finishers will have a chance to run.
Half of the team is made up of members of the Golden Coast Track Club, coached by Terrence Mahon, but they didn’t train together leading up to this race, because Durgin is based in Flagstaff, Lipari is based in Hawaii, and Izzo trained in San Diego.
Heading into the race, Kelati’s coach, Stephen Haas, told LetsRun, “We’ve had little aches and pains in the last couple days I think mainly based on doing too many runs on the treadmill and too many runs on slippery surfaces. I’m not worried about it, but we need to be really careful with the amount of snow we have right now. But the fitness is very good.” But after the race, Kelati made her situation sound more serious, telling Citius Mag, “On Tuesday, I couldn’t walk. I did not run this week at all.” The problem was in her left foot, and she talked about it a little more here.
Kelati seemed to think that with treatment, she will feel better. “Trust me, you’re not going to see the same race that I ran today. I’m ready for it,” she said. Kelati, who attended high school in Virginia, said it was special to have a chance to race there again. (All results)
Irene Riggs adds a U20 title to her NXN win
Shortly before the 4K mark of Saturday’s USATF Cross Country Championships, West Virginia high school senior Irene Riggs put in a big move and opened up a lead over the pack of five other girls she had been running with. She held her lead to the finish of the 6K race, winning in 19:45, three seconds ahead of runner-up Ellie Shea.
Though the race was open to runners born in 2004 or later, which generally includes most college freshmen, high school girls swept the top five spots. Zariel Macchia took third (20:05), Abbey Nechanicky was fourth (20:07), and her future University of Colorado teammate, Karrie Baloga, finished fifth with an identical time. The lone collegian to qualify to represent the U.S. at the world meet was UNC’s Eva Klingbeil, who finished sixth (20:11).
Since 1988, Wings of America has been sending a team of Native runners to compete in the U20 race, and while USATF rules apparently prevented them from scoring as a team, they had a strong presence on the course on Saturday. The day before the race, the team visited the Pamunkey Indian Reservation, and on their Instagram account, they wrote, “Tomorrow, our all-star team of Native harriers from across North America will lace up their spikes knowing the name and some of the history of the original stewards of the land they race on. It will set them apart from most (if not all) of their competitors and create a fire inside them that transcends the rules of PRs and FKTs.”
April Lund, who has a dramatic story, wins Masters title
Apri Lund, 40, dominated the masters race at the USATF Cross Country Championships, pulling away from her competition less than two minutes into the race and extending her lead throughout. Lund finished the 6K course in 22:03, winning by 39 seconds.
Afterward, she did an emotional interview and said that eight years ago, she was an alcoholic, and she weighed 100 pounds more than she does now. “I was either going to die, or I had to make a change,” she said. This 2019 piece from Runner’s World tells more of her story.
For the first time ever, masters athletes will have the opportunity to race at the World Cross Country Championships, alongside the pros and U20 athletes. And while the selection process didn’t work the same way, the race winners will be reimbursed up to $1,500 for their travel expenses, if they choose to make the trip to Australia.
All of the age groups raced together, but the runner-up, Brennan Liming, won the 45–49 age group (22:42) and Fiona Bayly, who was third overall (23:10), won the 55–59 age group. Assuming I am scanning the results correctly, the other age-group winners were Samantha Forde (50–54, 24:49), Doreen McCoubrie (60–64, 25:31), Nora Cary (65–69, 26:22), Kathryn Martin (70–74, 27:15), Andrea McCarter (75–79, 48:26), and Joyce Hodges-Hite (85–89, 59:27).It was also fun to see Lynne Young, mother of stars Nico, Leo, and Lex, finish 33rd in the masters race. Leo, a high school senior, won the U20 boys race.
Thanks to the Flagpole Hill Fund for supporting Fast Women this month!
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Des Linden and Kara Goucher are a gift to running podcasting
As far as I can tell, it all began with a tweet from Des Linden back in April. And there were signs it was coming, but last week, Linden and Kara Goucher finally launched their podcast, and it’s fantastic. There are countless running podcasts where you can listen to two or more men shoot the breeze about all sorts of topics. But listening to two really well informed women do so is a rare treat.
Their podcast is called Nobody Asked Us, with Des & Kara and the first three episodes are available in the podcast player of your choosing. If you’ve followed them both for years, some of their stories will be familiar, but I thought the fun was in the details. Here are some things that I flagged in the first three episodes:
As a fellow Lynn Jennings fan, I couldn’t help but laugh while listening to Goucher tell the story of her high school coach writing a fake letter to her high school team that was supposedly from Jennings.
I loved hearing them both talk about believing deep down that they would go to the Olympics someday, long before most others would have believed it was possible.
Linden talked about being the gopher in the elite suite at the Chicago Marathon when she was new to post-collegiate running, doing things like filling the candy bowls and fetching water for agents. “It was actually my introduction to a lot of people in the industry, they just didn’t know it,” she said.
Goucher said she appreciated how encouraging Linden was when she passed Goucher in the 2011 Boston Marathon. “I’ve had people pass me and they elbow me on an open road,” she said.
Linden and Goucher talking about potentially doing commentary together on a broadcast down the road. “When you’re not running the Olympic Trials anymore, we could be the dream team to call the Olympic Trials marathon,” Goucher said.
The initial plan is for the duo to put an episode out every other Tuesday, so the next episode is scheduled for January 31.
Other News and Links
Molly Seidel announced on the Ali on the Run Show that her next marathon will be the Nagoya Women’s Marathon on March 12. You can listen to the full episode to hear her explain her reasoning (good competition, less pomp and circumstance than some of the World Marathon Majors) and her thinking going in. The entire episode is worth a listen.
There have been many articles about Rosalie Fish’s running and activism over the past several years, but this one is particularly good.
Going forward, the field at USC’s Katherine B. Loker Track Stadium will be known as Allyson Felix Field. Felix attended USC but didn’t run track there because she was already a professional athlete. The field was formerly named after former USC track & field coach Dean Cromwell, who was criticized for his racism and antisemitism.
Erin Finn, who was one of the best runners in the country when she was in high school and college and is now a medical student, has launched a website to spread awareness about RED-S and to help athletes pursue their goals in a healthy manner. It includes educational videos, a podcast that features athletes’ RED-S stories, and links to related resources.
This is a nice piece from Alabama’s Mercy Chelangat, who became an NCAA champion but had many doubts along the way.
Alexi Pappas had some interesting responses in this Q&A with Outside. “I really feel that we don’t just need people to run fast times anymore,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s so awesome that those people exist. But I think that my impact in the running world is much higher with what I am doing with my time right now.”
Steph Bruce didn’t have the day she wanted, finishing 13th at the USATF Cross Country Championships, but her husband, Ben, won the masters race and this is a cute video of her son Riley flying through the accompanying 400m fun run.
Jessa Hanson, who is part of the Verde Track Club, signed with Puma.
Breaking Three Hours, a documentary about nine African American women who have broken 3:00 in the marathon, is now available on Amazon Prime. To get a sense of what to expect, you can watch the trailer here. The nine women featured are Samia Akbar, Marilyn Bevans, Michele Bush-Cuke, Alisa Harvey, Sika Henry, Michele Tiff-Hill, Ingrid Walters, Shawanna White, and Ella Willis-Glaze.
In an Instagram post that has gotten a lot of attention, Fiona English, who is pregnant and due to give birth two days before this year’s Boston Marathon, highlighted some of the challenges of Boston’s no-deferral policy for pregnant and postpartum athletes.
Additional Results
Ruth Chepngetich won the 10K race at Kenya’s cross country championships and less than an hour later, she anchored her team to a win in the mixed relay.
Ethiopia’s Meseret Belete won Friday’s Doha Marathon in 2:20:46, finishing one second ahead of Bahrain’s Desi Jisa Mokonin. I had to look up the finish when I saw how close this one was. Mokonin opened up a lead late in the race, and it looked like she was headed for the win, but Belete fought her way back. (Results)
The indoor season is young, but records are already falling left and right. On Friday, Kentucky’s Masai Russell ran a collegiate record of 7.75 seconds in the 60m hurdles. And on Saturday, Texas’ Julien Alfred lowered her own collegiate 60m record to 7.02 seconds. And on Friday, Janeah Stewart tied Gwen Berry’s American record and world best in the weight throw with a mark of 25.60m (83 feet, 11.75 inches). The weight throw, an indoor event, is primarily contested in the U.S. and it’s like the hammer but heavier, so it won’t go as far, for safety reasons. Berry enthusiastically congratulated Stewart on Twitter.
The 600 yards isn’t run often these days, but on Friday, LSU’s Michaela Rose ran the second-fastest 600y time ever in the NCAA, with a 1:17.5, only 0.20 seconds off the collegiate record that Delisa Walton set in 1982. Rose is a 2:02.49 800m runner and will be one to watch this season.
Last year’s NCAA indoor 800m champion, Virginia Tech’s Lindsey Butler, missed the outdoor season due to injury, but it’s been great to see her back this season. (She ran cross country, too, but it’s not her favorite.) Over the weekend, she won the 1,000m at the Hokie Invitational in 2:42.32. Kentucky’s Jenna Schwinghamer also ran a quick 1,000m, with a 2:42.39 at the Vanderbilt Invitational.
Nikki Hiltz showed they’re ready to go this season by running a 4:32.23 mile and 2:07.28 800m at a meet hosted by NAU, nearly 7,000 feet above sea level. I don’t really trust the altitude conversion calculators, but their mile was fast, considering the setting. Hiltz’s training partner, Elly Henes, finished second in both the mile (4:39.72) and 800m (2:09.61). (Results)
The American Track League’s Hawkeye Pro Classic featured some good middle-distance races. Molly Sughroue made a move with one lap to go in the mile and looked like she was headed for a win, but Canada’s Regan Yee fought back, passing Sughroue in the final strides and winning, 4:30.46 to 4:30.89. Both athletes set outright PRs. In the 800m, Olivia Baker opened up a lead over Brenna Detra, but Detra closed well, and Baker just held her off, 2:02.50 to 2:02.64. Behind them, Bradley University’s Wilma Nielsen, who is from Sweden, ran 2:03.46, a strong early-season time in the NCAA. (Results)
Michigan’s 4x400m relay at the Simmons-Harvey Invitational only puts them 38th on the NCAA’s descending order list, but it was a memorable race after Sophie Isom took a hard fall on the first leg. You can watch the full replay, which is going viral, here. Michigan’s splits were Isom: 63.29, Savannah Sutherland: 51.46, Aurora Rynda: 54.62, and Ziyah Holman: 53.08.
Correction: Last week, I wrote that I learned from this LetsRun article that Jenny Simpson is no longer a volunteer assistant coach at the University of Colorado. Apparently I was not alone in interpreting that part of that article that way, but the author of the piece, Jonathan Gault, says that while she will no longer be racing alongside CU athletes anymore, she is still a volunteer assistant at the school.
Additional Podcasts
On the Citius Mag podcast, Molly Huddle said she felt better as the race went on at the Houston Half, where she ran 1:10:01. She is still deciding what her next marathon will be. She said she might wait until the summer or fall, which might mean racing a little closer to the Olympic Marathon Trials than she would like, but she wants to prioritize racing on a faster course. “I just feel like I don’t have a lot of marathons left per se, so I want this one to be an actual attempt to run fast,” she said.
Emily Sisson was on the LetsRun podcast; jump to the 1:18:00 mark to listen. She said she thinks it’s realistic to target running in the low 66-minute range in the half marathon (after running 1:06:52 in Houston), but her top goals right now are winning a World Marathon Major and/or earning a world championship or Olympic medal.
On The Queer Athlete Podcast, Nikki Hiltz discussed the conflict between wanting to affirm their gender identity while continuing to compete at the professional level in track & field. “I’m following one dream and journey now, and that’s to be an Olympian, break 4:00 in the 1500m, break 2:00 in the 800m,” they said. “And then [it’s] exciting, when that’s over, to start living as the person that I am.”
Gabi Rooker lowered her marathon PR by 20 minutes in her second marathon, and in her third, she took another five minutes off, running 2:29:44 at last month’s California International Marathon. Carrie Tollefson caught up with her on C Tolle Run to discuss that race and much more.
Sara Passani, who ran 2:34, a six-minute marathon PR, at CIM, was on D3 Glory Days. Her advice to younger runners? “You have a long time to be good at running, and if there’s a season in your life where you need to take a step back, that’s okay,” she said. “Because you can always come back to it in a more intense and more dedicated way.”
Allie Ostrander said on Running for Real that it hurts when brands tell her they’re scared to sponsor her because she had an eating disorder, because she has worked so hard to improve her relationship with food.
Villanova coach Gina Proccacio discussed her running and coaching careers on the 1-on-1 with Matt Leon podcast. Proccacio said that she unexpectedly lost her husband almost two years ago. “I had 25 years of women showing up in unbelievable ways, and that kind of made me realize I’m obviously at the right place,” she said.
More Episodes: Laura Thweatt on I’ll Have Another | Aaliyah Miller on The Running Effect | Sally Edwards on Starting Line 1928 | Leah Yingling on Women of Distance | Kate Sanborn on Lactic Acid
Upcoming
The Lilac Grand Prix will take place Friday night in Spokane, Washington. There will be a free broadcast of the event on Tracklandia’s website, as well as their YouTube channel. This indicates that the Dr. Sander Invitational, which features a strong women’s mile field, will be on Peacock and CNBC on Saturday. According to the meet schedule, the TV window is 12:00–2:00 p.m. ET. (Hopefully the details will become clearer later in the week. If it turns out there’s no TV broadcast, everything will be on USATF.tv.)
And entries aren’t in yet for Saturday’s Terrier Classic at Boston University, but they’ll be here later in the week, and the meet (and fast track) is going to attract some top competition. The meet will be streamed live on FloTrack, subscription required.
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Thanks, again, to the Flagpole Hill Fund for helping make this newsletter possible this month, and to everyone who supports Fast Women via Venmo or Patreon. I hope you all have a great week!
Alison