Fast Women: An electric atmosphere in London
The USATF Outdoor Championships begin on Thursday.
Issue 412
Mile records, and steps forward for Keely Hodgkinson and Jessica Hull
The most hyped event of Saturday’s London Diamond League meet was understandably Josh Kerr’s world record attempt in the mile. He called his shot months in advance and delivered, running 3:42.66 and taking 0.47 seconds off of Hicham El Guerrouj’s mark that stood for 27 years. Because there is no global championship outdoors this year, this track season has fewer built-in super exciting, high-stakes moments. Kerr and his team did a good job of making their own.
The attempt naturally made me think of Faith Kipyegon’s Breaking4 attempt from last year, where the stated goal, a sub-4:00 mile, was impossible from the beginning, and she raced in a mostly empty stadium. The attempt got a lot of attention and inspired a lot of people, but it also drove home how helpful competition and fans can be in getting the best out of oneself.
Kerr had both. Yared Nuguse challenged him for about 1300m and Kerr had 60,000 fans in London Stadium willing him to the record. The crowd was incredible. Kerr deserves 99.9 percent of the credit for what he did out there, and I like to think that the crowd chipped in that final 0.01 percent.
The women’s record, 4:07.64, is only three years old, and it will be interesting to see if anyone can challenge it any time soon. When Kipyegon set it at the Monaco Diamond League meet in 2023, she shaved 4.69 seconds off of the previous mark, partially because it was a fantastic run and partially because the distance isn’t run that often.
Also in London
The men’s mile was the penultimate event of the London meet, with the women’s 800m closing out the program. When Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson broke the indoor 800m world record in February, taking a shot at the outdoor record in London seemed feasible. But the record, 1:53.28 from 1983, is one of the toughest in the books.
When Hodgkinson ran 1:54.33 in her outdoor 800m opener, a record chase still seemed possible, assuming Switzerland’s Audrey Werro—who ran 1:53.98 and beat Hodgkinson in June in Stockholm—didn’t get there first. But Hodgkinson’s season hasn’t gone to plan. On June 21, she withdrew from the 400m final at the UK Athletics Championships after feeling a twinge in her leg while warming up. And days before the Prefontaine Classic, Hodgkinson took a bad fall during a cooldown. She competed in Eugene with her knees taped, finishing second to Kenya’s Lilian Odira in 1:56.19. (Last week, Hodgkinson put out a YouTube video that chronicled the days leading up to the race.)
Neither Werro nor Odira raced in London, and Hodgkinson’s training partner, Georgia Hunter Bell, pulled out of the race due to lingering illness. But Hodgkinson still raced a strong field and earned her first win of the season, running 1:56.21. And I’ve been so impressed by Femke Broeders-Bol this season as she takes on a new event. She kept the race close and finished second in 1:56.46. Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma rounded out the top three, running 1:56.92.
Earlier in the meet, Australia’s Jessica Hull—who has also faced some bumps in the road this season—ran a smart race to win the 3,000m in 8:24.69. The race was exciting, with a handful of athletes still in contention with 200m to go, and Rose Davies made it an Australian 1-2, taking second in 8:25.38. (All results | 800m replay | men’s mile replay)
Emily Venters wins her second U.S. title
One week after winning her first U.S. title at the USATF 6K Championships, Emily Venters picked up another win at the USATF 8K Championships, hosted by the Crazy 8s 8K in Kingsport, Tennessee. In muggy conditions, Venters covered the course in 25:05, and Allie Ostrander took second in 25:42.
There was a significant gap back to the rest of the field. Maybe it was the smaller prize purse, or the proximity to both the 6K championships and the USATF Outdoor Championships, but the field lacked the depth we usually see in a championship race. The prize money went 10 deep, though, which created a nice opportunity for a new group of women. (Results)
The USATF Outdoor Championships head to New York City for the first time in 35 years
The USATF Outdoor and Para National Championships begin Thursday, and for the first time in seven years, the event will not be held in Eugene, Oregon. Instead, New York City’s Icahn Stadium, on Randall’s Island, will host. And if you’re in the vicinity, there are still plenty of tickets left.
Though there’s no global championship to qualify for this year, and some big names have opted to sit this one out, most events have still attracted high-quality fields, and there should be some excellent racing. Nikki Hiltz is entered in the 800m and the 1500m. If they end up doing both, that would mean racing once per day throughout the four-day meet (1500m prelims, 800m prelims, 1500m final, 800m final).
The 10,000m was not a popular option this year. Allie Buchalski goes in with the fastest seed time, and whoever wins will be a first-time U.S. champion on the track. Sinclaire Johnson, Karissa Schweizer, Weini Kelati, Elise Cranny, and Alicia Monson are among those who have raced this season but won’t be racing USAs.
You can browse all of the entries here (use the filter at the top left), the full meet schedule is here, and this page is blank right now but the results will be available here soon. And here’s the TV schedule:
Thursday, July 23
12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET – Peacock, USATF.tv
4:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. ET – USATF.tv
Friday, July 24
12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET – Peacock, USATF.tv
4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET – USATF.tv
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. ET – Peacock, NBCSN
8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. ET – USATF.tv
Saturday, July 25
10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET – Peacock, USATF.tv
2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET – NBC, Peacock
Sunday, July 26
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET – USATF.tv
4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET – NBC, Peacock
Other News and Results
Sarah Lorge Butler wrote a good article for Runner’s World about how Simeon Birnbaum and Marco Langon signed with Diadora, despite coming from Nike schools. Diadora’s chief marketing officer told Lorge Butler that the brand is hoping to add women to its pro athlete roster as well.
NC State’s Angelina Napoleon said that she was battling Achilles tendinitis throughout her season, which limited how she could prepare for her races. She’s skipping the USATF Outdoor Championships and will focus on being ready for the NCAA cross country season.
Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi dominated the steeplechase at the KBC Night of Athletics in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, running 8:52.87. France’s Augustine Haquet won the 1500m in 4:03.56, and Rachel McArthur took second in a personal best of 4:03.90. (Results)
Australia’s Abbey Caldwell and Claudia Hollingsworth went 1-2 in the 1500m at Hungary’s Gyulai István Memorial, running 4:01.79 and 4:02.09. (Results)
Jamaica’s Kelly-Ann Beckford, who ran for the University of Houston, won the 800m at Switzerland’s Spitzen Leichtathletik Luzern, running 2:00.53. (Results)
Ethiopia’s Shito Gumi won the 5,000m at Belgium’s Meeting International d’Athlétisme de la Province de Liége, running 14:49.66. (Results)
Dakotah Popehn dropped way down in distance and won her wave at the Hopkins Raspberry Run road mile, running 4:48. In a different wave, Kaytlyn Larson had the fastest time of the day, running 4:44.
Podcast Highlights
I thoroughly enjoyed Molly Seidel recapping her experience at the Western States 100 on the Ali on the Run Show, and I appreciate that she can already see many of the silver linings in her experience, even though the day didn’t go to plan. It was interesting to hear her thoughts on what it’s like to be swarmed by photographers at aid stations (not a fan), and I loved hearing about her pacers who stepped in at the last minute.
I appreciated the opportunity to learn more about 2:28 marathoner and full-time nurse Madey Dickson on the Out and Back podcast.
Countless running events throughout North America have been canceled or postponed recently due to poor air quality. On The Trail Network Podcast, it was interesting hearing Hardrock 100 runner-up Careth Arnold talk about how the wildfire smoke affected her during and after the race. (And while it’s always disappointing when an event doesn’t happen, I was glad to see so many events make the right call this past weekend.)
Additional Episodes: Sinclaire Johnson and Weini Kelati on Pending Ratification | Lily Anderson on Road to the Trials (I appreciated her comments on the commercialization of running) | Retired pro runner Tera Moody on The Mother Runners Podcast | Riley Brady on l’ll Have Another | Dani Moreno on The Steep Stuff Podcast | Laura Thweatt on Hurdle | Moving Comfort founders Ellen Wessel and Elizabeth Goeke on Starting Line 1928
Things that made me smile
Keely Hodgkinson and Femke Broeders-Bol raced twice last week. You can see their other matchup here.
This five-minute video, which includes the most footage I’ve seen of Joan Benoit Samuelson’s 1984 Olympic marathon win, popped up in my Facebook memories last week. It has more than 180,000 views on YouTube, so perhaps you’ve seen it before, but it gets me every time.
Last week was a quieter one in the running world, but this week is going to be a big one. In the past, I’ve sent out multiple newsletters during championship meets, but this year, I’m going to do my best to condense everything into one issue.
I hope you all have the best week possible.
(And I am still unable to thank people via the Venmo app, but a huge thank you to those of you who have sent money to support Fast Women!)
Alison
The Western States camera situation at/going into/coming out of aid stations is out of control, to the point where I almost got into it with a photographer while trying to check in on my athlete. I hope they can literally or figuratively put some ropes around that.
Thanks for the round up of results - I’m working two jobs now and haven’t had time to keep up on all the racing that’s going on so I appreciate you even more (how is that possible?).