Fast Women: Alicia Monson’s impressive return
Katie Schide wins the Hardrock 100, and Amanda Vestri earns her first national title.
Issue 359, sponsored by Omius
A big step forward for Alicia Monson
When Alicia Monson injured herself in March 2024, she knew it would be a long road back. An MRI revealed a medial meniscus complete root tear, which required surgery, followed by an arduous recovery. After making the Olympic team in the 10,000m in 2021, she wasn’t able to race for a spot on the team in 2024.
A few days after her surgery, in April 2024, Monson, 27, wrote in an Instagram post, “Taking the time to heal properly will benefit the rest of my career (and life). I’m leaning on my patience, skills, and people helping me to make sure I do it right.”
Saturday night, at the Sunset Tour meet in Los Angeles, Monson’s patience paid off. Her result—sixth place in the 5,000m, in 15:01.63—was nothing flashy, but it was encouraging. And it was a reminder of the kind of talent she possesses.
“The goals for this race [were] to start, to finish, and to come away with positive momentum,” Monson told reporters after the race. Monson has come a long way in a short time. She said that On Athletics Club coach Kelsey Quinn had a video of Monson trying out some 800s at 6:00 pace on April 24. Ten days before her race, she ran her first sub-5:00 mile, and on Saturday night, she strung three of them together.
Monson holds the American records in the 5,000m (14:19.45) and 10,000m (30:03.82). She’s unlikely to approach that kind of form this season, but she’s back in the arena and improving by the day. Her race on Saturday qualified her to race the 5,000m at the USATF Outdoor Championships. For more on her story, this is a nice post-race piece from Scott Reid.
At the front of the race, a pair of first-year pros, Bailey Hertenstein of the Union Athletics Club and Taylor Roe of Puma Elite, got into a good battle and on the final lap, Herteinstein kicked to a win, 14:48.91 to 14:49.91. Both ran under the world championships standard of 14:50.00 and PRed. Hertenstein took 7.42 seconds off of the personal best she ran indoors, and Roe ran 25.10 seconds faster than her time from college. Roe has made a huge leap this year, and she ran 14:57 on the roads in April, so her performance was impressive but not as surprising as a PR that large would suggest.
Not long after 3K, the lead pack began slipping off the pace lights, which were set for 14:50. But shortly after 4K, Roe moved to the front and began pushing the pace. Karissa Schweizer and Hertenstein went with her, but Schweizer fell off over the last 500m or so and finished third in 14:54.94. She already has the world standard from August, but after running 14:56 in Rome last month, I imagine she was looking for a little more of a jump.
Australia’s Lauren Ryan finished fourth in a PR of 14:55.88, and Allie Buchalski finished fifth in 15:00.79. Lucy Jenks (eighth, 15:05.29), Katie Camarena (ninth, 15:05.44), Amaris Tyynismaa (10th, 15:06.69), and Japan’s Kana Mizumoto (11th, 15:06.98) also ran PRs.
This race was a solid step forward for a number of people, but this close to USAs, I expected to see a slightly bigger lead pack. It will be really interesting to see how much progress everyone can make in the next 17 days.
I thought the Ed Murphey Classic might have the best 800m of the weekend, but it turned out that LA was the place to be. Meghan Hunter and Maggi Congdon, who were making their pro debuts, went 1–2, in 1:58.21 and 1:58.55, respectively. Hunter took 0.74 seconds off of the PR she ran during the NCAA season, and Congdon had a huge race, lowering her PR by 1.72 seconds and breaking 2:00 for the first time.
Emily Mackay (third, 1:58.72) and Sage Hurta-Klecker (fourth, 1:58.89) ran season’s bests. MaLeigha Menegatti won section two of the 800m in a PR of 2:01.16 and Allie Wilson took second in 2:02.20. After she ran 2:08.09 in her season opener last month, this was a nice step forward for Wilson.
Josette Andrews, who will go into USAs as one of the favorites in the 5,000m, looked great in running 4:00.10 to win the 1500m. She was working on her closing speed for USAs and said she was hoping for more, but it was her fastest time in four years. I was confused by the fact that commentators said that the green pace lights were set to 4:00. Andrews clearly beat them to the line, and she somehow did not break 4:00.
Behind her, Riley Chamberlain (second, 4:02.03) and Canada’s Simone Plourde (third, 4:02.91) PRed. Katelyn Tuohy dropped down and ran her first 1500m since college, taking sixth in 4:08.35. She said afterward that she was hoping for more. (Her PR, from her senior year of college, is 4:06.49.) She’ll race the 5,000m at USAs.
Val Constien won an earlier heat of the 1500m in a 2.19-second PR of 4:07.78 and Puma Elite’s Jess McGorty won section three in 4:08.53, finally breaking her six-year-old personal best.
Ethiopia’s Senayet Getachew won the 10,000m in a PR of 30:36.67, and Canada’s Grace Fetherstonhaugh won the steeplechase in a PR of 9:28.42. (Results | 800m replay | 1500m replay | steeplechase replay | 5,000m replay | 10,000m replay)
Thanks to Omius for supporting Fast Women this month
You may have noticed a growing number of professional runners wearing Omius cooling headgear while racing, but it’s not just for the pros. Massachusetts’ summer weather has provided many opportunities for me to test out my Omius headband recently.
When I first saw Sifan Hassan wearing one while winning the Olympic marathon, I assumed there was ice or some electronic component, but I was wrong. Each headband, hat, or visor comes with 20 cooling pieces that help draw heat away from your skin. The cooling effect of the headwear is driven by the evaporation of water, so as long as the cooling pieces are wet, exposed to airflow, and in contact with your skin, they will work indefinitely.
I first tried the Omius headband on one of the more unpleasant days we’ve had this summer, with high humidity and the temperatures climbing into the 90s. Putting the headband on didn’t make the weather any more pleasant, but it did make exercising in the tough conditions more bearable. I’ve consistently found that on hot days, using it helps me stay outside exercising longer than I otherwise would. It works well for walking, but I felt it even more while doing some running with it, perhaps because of the increased airflow.
I’ll share more details about how it works next week, but in the meantime, you can get additional information on Omius’ website. Use the code FastWomen20 to get 20 percent off your order.
Katie Schide breaks a Courtney Dauwalter record, and tragedy strikes the Hardrock 100
Katie Schide led throughout and won the Hardrock 100 in a course record of 25:50:23. She took nearly 24 minutes off Courtney Dauwalter’s counterclockwise course record from 2023 and more than 21 minutes off Dauwalter’s overall course record from last year. The course is one big loop that starts and finishes in Silverton, Colorado, and the event alternates directions each year. (Results | More details from iRunFar)
Tragically, Elaine Stypula, 60, an experienced ultrarunner from Farmington Hills, Michigan, experienced a medical event roughly six miles into the event and attempts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful. Stypula operated a family law practice and in addition to her ultra accomplishments, she completed multiple Ironman triathlons. Her cause of death has not yet been announced. The Silverton Medical Rescue team’s Facebook post has the most detail about the rescue efforts that I’ve seen.
Amanda Vestri wins her first national title
ZAP Endurance’s Amanda Vestri broke away from the lead pack just after the mile mark and earned her first national title, winning the USATF 6K Championships in 18:29. Racing in hot, humid conditions, she finished seven seconds ahead of runner-up Annie Frisbie of Minnesota Distance Elite and earned $6,000 for the win.
Puma Elite teammates Fiona O’Keeffe (18:38) and Molly Born (18:41) finished third and fourth, respectively. For the fifth year in a row, the event was hosted by the Women’s 6K Festival in Canton, Ohio.
Last year, Vestri finished second to Annie Rodenfels at this event, coming off a disappointing-for-her performance at the Olympic Trials. This year, she took a page out of Rodenfels’ book. "She is a pretty fearless competitor," Vestri told The Repository. "I just wanted to emulate that a little bit this time around. I wanted to have the confidence to win like she did last year."
Next up, Vestri plans to race the 10,000m and 5,000m at the USATF Outdoor Championships. (Results)
Other News
Faith Kipyegon made headlines (again) last week after she made a public statement to the Kenyan government about the lack of suitable tracks to train on in the country. She also expressed her interest in running both the 1500m and the 5,000m at the world championships.
Great Britain’s Lizzie Bird announced her retirement from the steeplechase, saying her focus has shifted to her legal career. She wrote that she’s not completely done with running, though, and we might see her on the roads and/or trails. Bird, 30, set the British steeplechase record of 9:04.35 in finishing seventh at the Olympic Games last August.
Last week, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the Swiss Federal Supreme Court violated Caster Semenya’s right to a fair hearing in 2020, when she appealed against a ruling that has prevented her from competing since 2019. If you want to know more about what the ruling means, Rose Eveleth sent out a helpful post about that.
Emma Coburn wrote in an Instagram post that she will miss USAs this year. “My hamstring took a few steps backwards a couple weeks ago and I wasn’t able to get the prep [I] needed to be able to race a steeplechase,” she wrote. The qualifying window opened last September and Coburn lacks a qualifying mark.
First-year pro Maia Ramsden, of New Zealand and the On Athletics Club, shared that she just had Haglund’s surgery. “I’m choosing to think of it as my sign to pause and reset for the year(s) ahead,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
Jordan (Hasay) Hogan announced the birth of her child, Micah Leighton Hogan, who arrived a month early. She wrote that her water broke while she was running on July 4, and he was born the following day.
The Morning Call wrote about four-time Olympian Joetta Clark Diggs’ return to competition, 25 years after her retirement from the sport.
The Arizona Republic published a nice piece on Jess McClain.
Tracksmith recently announced the launch of Stamata, a women’s marathon team led by Stephanie Bruce that will support athletes as they go after the 2028 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying standard. The team is named after Stamata Revithi, who is believed to be the first woman to complete a marathon. The team will gather for training camps and target races, and you can read about other perks here. All team members will race in Tracksmith’s new carbon-plated shoe, the Eliot Racer, and according to the brand, the team will “be at the forefront of development, testing updates, and racing in prototypes while we fine tune our focus on footwear technology.” They are looking for women who have run under 2:42 in the marathon or 1:17 in the half marathon, or those who can make a convincing argument that they’re capable of getting there. If you’re interested, you can apply here.
Savannah Roark, a cross country All-American for Syracuse, has signed with the Asics Mammoth Track Club.
High school cross country runner Chloe Childress was among the people who died in the devastating floods in Central Texas on July 4. She was working as a counselor at Camp Mystic, had recently graduated from high school, and she was planning to attend the University of Texas.
Katelynn Dollar’s family shared the tragic news last week that she died by suicide. "Work hard at everything you do and love it with your entire heart, that is exactly what Katelynn did," the post reads, in part. Dollar, 18, was a Georgia state champion and a Gatorade Player of the Year in cross country. She spent her first year of college at Florida State and was planning to transfer to Samford University this fall. You can read more about her in her obituary.
Additional Results
Kenya’s Nelly Chepchirchir won the 1,000m at the Monaco Diamond League meet, running 2:29.77. Addy Wiley (second, 2:30.71), Australia’s Jessica Hull (third, 2:30.96), and Uganda’s Halimah Nakaayi (sixth, 2:31.67) all set national records at the infrequently run distance. Wiley improved her own record, from last year, by 0.78 seconds. And Sinclaire Johnson, who finished fourth in 2:31.30, also ran under the previous record. (Results | Replay)
Lithuania’s Gabija Galvydyte, of Swoosh TC, had a breakthrough performance at Ireland’s Morton Games, lowering her 1500m best by 4.34 seconds, to 4:00.71. She was challenged by Canada’s Gabriela DeBues-Stafford, who finished second in 4:01.19. Both were thrilled to run under the world championships standard of 4:01.50. Diane Van Es of the Netherlands, who doesn’t run the 1500m often, ran a massive personal best of 4:02.97. The top American in the race was Eleanor Fulton, who took fifth in a season’s best of 4:04.81. In an NCAA rematch, Italy’s Laura Pellicoro narrowly edged out Victoria Bossong to win the 800m. Both were timed in 2:01.33. (Results)
Shafiqua Maloney of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines won the 800m at the Ed Murphey Classic in 1:58.13. Ajee’ Wilson ran her second-straight sub-2:00 800m, finishing second in 1:59.53. And Athing Mu-Nikolayev took a step in the right direction, finishing sixth in 2:00.42, three seconds faster than she ran at the Prefontaine Classic a week earlier. Reigning U.S. champion Nia Akins was eighth in 2:00.76, and in her pro debut, Michaela Rose ran 2:00.94 for ninth. Laurie Barton and Gracie Morris had a good battle in the 1500m, with Barton winning, 4:03.46 to 4:04.05. Both have made big jumps this season, and both PRed again here. (Results | 800m replay)
Great Britain’s Megan Keith won the 3,000m at Ireland’s Cork City Sports meet, in a PR of 8:38.37. Eleanor Fulton finished second 8:42.30, which was also a PR. (Results)
Canada’s Jazz Shukla won the 800m at the Edmonton Athletics Invitational in 2:00.44 and Sky Webb (2:00.73) and Honour Finley (2:00.89) took second and third. (Results)
Emily Richards won the 800m at Belgium’s Moore-Guldensporenmetting, running 2:01.33. (Results)
Kenyans Veronica Loleo (49:37) and Grace Loibach Nawowuna (49:40) went 1–2 at the Boilermaker 15K. (Results)
At the Tracksmith Twilight London 5000, Clare Elms lowered her British 60–64 age-group record to 18:11.08. (And I love that she appears to have some sort of brand deal with Flycarb.)
At the Patagonia 5K in San Francisco, Jenny Hitchings lowered her own American 60–64 age-group record to 18:44. (Results)
Podcast Highlights
If you’re interested in the intersection between politics and running, I highly recommend the latest episode of the Mangonada podcast, from Carolina Rubio-MacWright and Vanessa Chavarriaga Posada. They discussed the ways in which climate change is affecting ultras, but lamented the fact that there’s not more discussion of that. (Just this past weekend, wildfires were raging not that far from the Hardrock 100 course.) They praised the fact that runners and others really showed up for public lands, when there was a chance they would be put up for sale. But the hosts, both of whom are immigrants, said it was difficult to see the same people say nothing about immigration and other important topics. I share their frustrations, so this podcast feels like such a breath of fresh air.
Tatyana McFadden’s mother, Deborah McFadden, was really good on NYRR’s Set the Pace podcast. Tatyana clearly would not have become the athlete she is today without such an incredible advocate on her side. On one hand, it’s inspiring that Deborah fought as hard as she did and helped change laws along the way. On the other, it’s sad that she had to. It’s Disability Pride Month and Deborah’s story shows how far we’ve come, but there’s still so much work to do.
Sofia Camacho, a 2:29 marathoner, was really good on the Ali on the Run Show. The episode covers some heavy topics, but I really appreciate how they’re using their platform to advocate on behalf of trans people, and working to make the running world more inclusive. It was also interesting to hear them say they only received their AuDHD diagnosis last year.
It was good to hear from Sinclaire Johnson on The Fueling Forward Podcast, and I was interested in what she had to say about disordered eating spreading in team environments.
Shot putter Chase (Ealey) Jackson was really good on the Podium Athletics podcast. She talked about the lack of respect the women’s shot put receives and how she deals with the body shaming she experiences, among other things.
On a well-timed episode of I’ll Have Another, Bailey Herteinstein discussed her transition to professional running. She discussed being a poor teammate her first year or two at Indiana University, which contributed to her decision to ultimately finish out her NCAA eligibility at the University of Colorado. It was interesting to hear that she wasn’t even aware that pro running was an option for her until after she finished out her NCAA eligibility and was on her way to the Olympic Trials.
I enjoyed hearing from Western States 100 champ Abby Hall, who ran collegiately for Wheaton (IL), on D3 Glory Days. She talked about the fact that lying on the infield at Western States with her leg in a brace two years ago, with her crutches at her side, was both difficult and motivating. And it was amusing to hear the hosts have to explain to Hall what TFRRS is. (Noah Droddy: “It’s like our bible.”) And Hall had to explain plenty of aspects of the trail world to the hosts as well.
Sweden’s Ida Nilsson was interesting on Women of Distance, after her fourth-place finish at Western States. She was quite hard on herself and said she was surprised to learn that at 44, she could still care so much about a race result.
Thanks to Kate Hutton for making me aware that the June 30 episode of the Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls podcast focuses on Faith Kipyegon. So if you’re looking for a child-friendly telling of her story, it’s available in both podcast form and on YouTube.
Additional Episodes: Anna Gibson on The Sub Hub Podcast | Sky Webb on Unexpected Curves | Ireland’s Sophie O’Sullivan on Citius Mag (the story of her lost NCAA trophy sadly did not come up) | Elise Cranny on The Runna Podcast | Jamaica’s Adelle Tracey on 5 Miles Easy | Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier Carly Gill Larios discussed her pregnancy and postpartum experience on the Lane 9 Podcast.
Thanks again to Omius for supporting Fast Women this month and I hope you all have the best week possible.
Alison
As always, incredibly thorough. Thanks for all you do.
Ok, I’m not a pro at pace lights but I am guessing that in the 1500m race you referred to the blue lights were set at 4 flat and the green lights
started the 4:01:50 world championship standard the commentator referenced.