Fast Women: Carrie Ellwood wins her first national title
PUMA launches an exciting marathon initiative.
Issue 332, sponsored by PUMA
I saw this quote for the first time last week and now I’m seeing it everywhere: “Climate change will manifest as a series of disasters viewed through phones, with footage that gets closer and closer to where you live, until you’re the one filming it.” (From Twitter user @PerthshireMags) Unfortunately many Los Angeles residents got an up-close view of the consequences of climate change when wildfires ripped through their city last week.
It’s been horrifying to see so many people lose their homes, including running writer and Fast Women reader Jinghuan Liu Tervalon (story, GoFundMe). So many others have been displaced, like Suite Run podcast hosts Natalie and Jerold Mitchell (news clip, GoFundMe). And I’m sure we’ll hear about many more ways in which members of the running community have been affected in the coming weeks.
Some of the world’s best track & field athletes are based in the Los Angeles area, and of course LA is scheduled to host the 2028 Olympic Games. Last week Karim Zidan questioned whether the city should still do so, pointing out the Games will be in the middle of LA’s traditional fire season. And Inside the Games looked at which Olympic venues were most threatened.
It’s been a brutal week and I am thinking of everyone affected by the fires. If you’re looking for ways to help financially, this is a helpful list. And if you’re more local, Mutual Aid LA is putting out a lot of good information on Instagram.

Continuing to show up pays off for Carrie Ellwood
Carrie (Verdon) Ellwood broke away from the field early at Saturday’s USATF Cross Country Championships in Lubbock, Texas, and earned her first national title, running 34:21.59 for 10K in windy conditions. Cailie Logue of Minnesota Distance Elite finished second in 34:44.70, and Katie Camarena took third in 35:12.85.
In a phone call with Fast Women, Ellwood, 30, said that her original plan was to stay with the lead group through the first half of the race, but around 1.5 to two miles in, she found herself up front. She was having trouble drafting off her competitors because the wind kept changing directions and the pack was so small.
“I figured I should send it,” she said with a laugh. “I decided to keep the pressure on and see what I could do, because I was already [in the lead].”
Though the women’s open field featured some solid competition up front, the race was abnormally small, with only 12 finishers, compared to the typical 40 to 50. “It kind of made me sad, to be perfectly honest,” Ellwood said. “I love going to national championships and competing against the nation’s best women. There were still a handful of really great women there, but having a field that small is always kind of a shock.”
With no World Cross Country Championships in 2025, the race didn’t serve as the selection event for any international teams. Ellwood said she thinks a lot of athletes have their eyes on the World Road Running Championships and the World Athletics Championships teams this year, and running a cross country race in January didn’t fit into their plans. Nevertheless, she was pleased to earn her first national title, which came with a $2,500 payday.
The toughest part of Ellwood’s race might have been getting there. She considered flying but ultimately opted to drive the 575 miles to Lubbock from her home in Boulder, Colorado. Driving made it easier for her husband, Grant Ellwood, to come along, but they hit a blizzard in New Mexico. “The conditions were the worst we’ve ever been in,” she said. “It was like negative 20 degrees outside and we could not see a foot in front of our car.”
The pair sat in their car on the side of the road for several hours, waiting for the storm to pass, but it wasn’t showing signs of letting up, so they backtracked 20 miles and got a hotel for the night. “I definitely should have flown,” Ellwood said. They arrived in Lubbock on Friday, a day later than they planned, but Ellwood still had time to preview the course.
Ellwood raced in a Mammoth Track Club top. She’s not an official member of the team, but she’s been doing higher altitude training stints with the group, which is based in Mammoth Lakes, California. The team’s coach, Andrew Kastor, has been coaching her since August.
Ellwood’s summer was full of change. In July, she married her longtime partner at his family’s cabin near Rocky Mountain National Park. They started planning the wedding only about a month out, and it was a low-key affair, with about 25 guests. “It was super fun and exactly what we wanted,” she said.
After working as a first-grade teacher for years, Ellwood also decided to take a break from the profession. “I told myself I’d give myself a year of going all in on running and see where that goes,” she said. She still works as a coach for RunDoyen, but going from being constantly busy to having free time has been a bigger adjustment than she expected.
“I’m the type of person who loves to fill my day, so that was a really hard shift,” she said. “But it’s also been awesome in other areas, like my recovery has been better and my workouts have been better.”
Ellwood will now turn her focus to the USATF Half Marathon Championships on March 2 in Atlanta. The race serves as the selection event for the World Athletics Road Running Championships. She plans to do more road racing after that, and hopefully a fall marathon. Ellwood has a marathon personal best of 2:31:51, but she has struggled with mid-race fueling and she knows she can go faster once she sorts that out.
Many aspects of professional running are not glamorous. Ellwood spoke to Fast Women as she rode through New Mexico, on her way home from her race. There was another storm coming, so they were planning to make another hotel stop on the way home. Ellwood had a six-month contract as part of Oiselle’s Underbird initiative leading up to last year’s Olympic Marathon Trials, but she has otherwise been unsponsored.
“Being sponsored has always been a dream of mine,” she said. “But at the same time, I just love running, and I love competing. I don’t necessarily need a sponsor, and I’m not going to give up running because I’m not sponsored. But it would be very nice if I could have that kind of support.”
An exciting announcement from this week’s sponsor, PUMA
PUMA has launched a first-of-its-kind global running program called “Project3” that will give participants of the 2025 Boston and London Marathons the opportunity to experience life as a professional athlete, trial new race day products, and bank huge performance-based cash prizes.
Project3 will allow 100 runners participating in each race the opportunity to prepare for race day in the same way PUMA’s elite athletes do, with exclusive access to the brand’s most innovative running products that will revolutionize the race day experience.
Project3 participants will receive unprecedented access to PUMA Elite running team coaches, elite athletes, and PUMA innovation experts who will provide guidance on various aspects of training to ensure they arrive at race day ready to break records. PUMA will also offer all Project3 participants the chance to walk away with an incredible cash prize of $3,000 if they break their existing marathon PB by three minutes or more.
PUMA will also award $3,000 to the fastest Project3 male and female finishers of each race, as well as the male and female runners who break their marathon PB by the biggest margin out of all Project3 runners. Should one individual secure all three prizes, they could potentially be awarded a substantial payout of $9,000.
To top it off, PUMA will also award these six individuals with an all-expenses-paid trip to a PUMA-sponsored race in 2025, and kit them out for one year with PUMA Running product valued at up to $5,000.
Applicants must be entered in the 2025 Boston or London Marathon and have a marathon personal best of 3:10 or faster. To apply, visit www.puma-project3.com. Applications will close at 3:00 p.m. CET on January 27, 2025.
Other News and Links
Last week, Dani Jones announced that she has left Team Boss and joined the Very Nice Track Club, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She is now coached by Sierra Willis and Ron Warhurst, and she continues to be sponsored by New Balance. Jones opened her indoor season with a 4:28.05 mile win at the low-key Wolverine Invitational at the University of Michigan. She also paced some of the 3,000m and split a 54 in the 4x400m relay.
After trying non-surgical options for more than a year, Aliphine Tuliamuk underwent hamstring surgery on Christmas Eve at The Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado. She said it’s going to be a long recovery but said the surgery was successful and called it “a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Pete Julian said in an Instagram post that he is no longer exclusively a Nike coach. He plans to continue to coach pro runners and use the Union Athletics Club name, but the new team will be based in Boulder, Colorado. No word yet on who he will coach, but Bailey Hertenstein, who is sponsored by Nike, reposted Julian’s post to an Instagram story and wrote, “Excited for what’s to come!”
The Boston Marathon announced its pro fields last week, and it would almost be quicker to list who isn’t running. Hellen Obiri headlines the professional open women’s field, and if she can earn another win, she would be the first to three-peat in the division since Ethiopia’s Fatuma Roba did so from 1997–99. I love that as of now, there are 77 women in the pro field, and I wish more races would give elite and sub-elite runners a spot on the starting line, even if all they can offer to most of them is bottle support (and not hotel/travel/appearance fees). Keira D’Amato, one of the top U.S. runners in the field, told Runner’s World last week that she’s recovering from the stress reactions in her talus and calcaneus that caused her to drop out of the Chicago Marathon. “I’m building up conservatively to have a killer 2025,” she said. You can see the full fields here. In the wheelchair race, Great Britain’s Eden Rainbow-Cooper will be hoping for a repeat victory as well.
It’s starting to feel like everyone I talk to or hear from is planning to run the USATF Half Marathon Championships in March. I checked the USATF website last week and they link to a list of the entrants as of December 30. It’s not quite “everyone,” but it’s an impressive list that (so far) includes Weini Kelati, Jess McClain, Dakotah Popehn, Amanda Vestri, Jackie Gaughan, Sara Hall, Kellyn Taylor, Lauren Hagans, Steph Bruce, Annie Frisbie, Tristin Colley, Maggie Montoya, and Grayson Murphy, to name a handful.
Katie Camarena announced that she has left Tinman Elite.
On the Relay podcast, Laura Thweatt discussed the fact that she is no longer a Saucony athlete. She said she plans to continue running at a high level, and she’s also exploring various career options. She praised The Bell Lap, an organization that helps professional track & field athletes transition to other careers, for the help that they have provided her.
Aaliyah Miller, who announced in November that she had left Team Boss, has taken a job as an assistant coach at Baylor University.
Steph Bruce said that she will be coached by her husband, Ben Bruce, going forward.
Australia’s Genevieve Gregson is pregnant with her second child, who is due in July.
Ireland’s Ciara Mageean is engaged.
Additional Results
Kenya’s Hellen Lobun won a deep race at Sunday’s 10K Valencia Ibercaja in 29:31. Ethiopia’s Fotyen Tesfay led through halfway in 14:31, but the pace chilled a bit in the second half. Ethiopians swept the rest of the top five with Girmawit Gebrzihair second (29:35), Tesfay third (29:43), Asayech Ayichew fourth (29:44), and Fentaye Belayneh fifth (30:01). The race was very deep, with 21 women breaking 32:00 and 43 breaking 33:00. (Replay | Results)
The last several minutes of the Dubai Marathon provide a good illustration of how quickly things can go south in a marathon. Ethiopia’s Dera Dida appeared to be on her way to a win at the Dubai Marathon when stomach cramps derailed her race. About 200m from the finish, her training partner, Bedatu Hirpa, also of Ethiopia, caught and passed her. Hirpa won in 2:18:27, taking 2:42 off of her personal best, and Dida took second, in 2:18:32. They earned $80,000 and $40,000, respectively. In the accompanying 10K, Ethiopia’s Gemene Tunku edged out Chaltu Diriba, a U20 athlete also from Ethiopia, with both finishing in 31:03. Great Britain’s Eilish McColgan, who is returning from injury, finished third in 31:14. (Results)
With pacing help from Ellie Leather, Emma Coburn opened her season with a 4:33.29 mile at the University of Colorado’s Potts Invitational, around 5,260 feet above sea level. Her time was a facility record. In 2020, Coburn ran the fastest outdoor mile on Colorado soil, a 4:32.7, so nearly matching that indoors is impressive. Kaela Edwards dominated the 600m, running 1:24.96. (Results)
Providence College’s Kimberley May missed BU’s Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in December because she got sick after the NCAA Cross Country Championships. She opened her season on Sunday with a 4:28.33 mile win at the UMass Flagship Indoor Invitational, held at the Track at New Balance. For now, she leads the NCAA. (Results)
Nia Akins won the 800m at the Penn Select meet, hosted at the brand new Ott Center, running 2:03.16. Ajee’ Wilson finished second in 2:08.07. (Results)
Clemson’s Gladys Chepngetich won the 1,000m at the Clemson Invitational in 2:39.99. And Florida State’s Bieke Schipperen won the mile in 4:38.49. (Results)
NAU’s Maggi Congdon won the 600m in a school record of 1:27.37 at the Friday Night Axe 'Em Open, held on her home track, at about 6,900 feet above sea level. Her teammate, Elise Stearns, won the mile in 4:51.14. (Results)
Michaela Meyer won the mile at the BYU Cougar Invitational, running 4:48.09 at about 4,600 feet above sea level, and she doubled back with a runner-up finish in the 600y. (Results)
In addition to Carrie Ellwood’s win in the women’s open division, New York high school senior Zariel Macchia won her third USATF U20 cross country title, running 21:46 for 6K. Renee Metivier, 43, won the masters 6K race in 22:24 and topped the age-graded rankings. She said in her Instagram stories that she had surgery four months ago and has only been back to running for eight weeks. Abby Dean, 53, and Jo Anne Rowland, 76, were second and third in the age-graded results. The oldest competitor in the race was Joyce Hodge-Hite, 87, who won the 80+ category and earned another national title. USATF talked to her about the race here. (All results)
Podcast Highlights
Heather MacLean was great on the On Her Mark podcast, from NBC Sports Boston.
On The Trail Network Podcast, Allie Ostrander discussed her switch to Oiselle. She said that after she parted ways with Brooks, her agent couldn’t get her a contract, so she stopped working with him. She acknowledged that in some ways, it’s tough to be one’s own agent, but she secured her NNormal and Oiselle contracts on her own. She said she uses an agent to get her social media deals, though. “You can kind of double dip,” she said. “You can be a (professional) runner and an influencer at the same time. There’s no law that says you have to be one.”
Nell Rojas had talked about her recent struggles with running before, but on the Ali on the Run Show, she said that she has recently been diagnosed with mold illness. I know from personal experience how awful it can be and how hard it can be to find medical professionals who can help. She also said that she has lost a lot of income due to her struggles and she’s no longer getting appearance fees. That probably has something to do with why she’s coaching about 50 athletes right now. Hopefully now that she knows what’s going on, things will only get better from here.
Colleen Quigley said on The Runna Podcast that when she was with the Bowerman Track Club, she made more sacrifices than she wanted to, because there was no flexibility as far as missing workouts. She has tried to find a better balance since leaving the team. Pro running seems to be trending ever so slightly in that direction, because if an athlete isn’t happy, it’s hard for the training they’re putting in to be sustainable.
On the Hurdle podcast, Elise Cranny talked about working with her coach, Jarred Cornfield, to find ways to define success outside of results on the track.
Georgia Bell didn’t really cover any new topics on LetsRun’s Track Talk podcast, but if you haven’t heard her tell her story before, it’s incredible. She comes on at the 1:40 mark (as in 100 minutes into the episode).
On I’ll Have Another, Kara Goucher, said that she and Des Linden are looking at putting on the 10,000m track race they have previously talked about at the beginning of May. They’ve seen that opportunities to run a fast 10,000m in the U.S. are dwindling and their goal is to do something about it.
Additional Episodes: Vanessa C. Peralta-Mitchell, founder of Game Changers, was on Women’s Running Stories | If you can’t get enough of the Great World Race coverage, Becs Gentry, Jenny Simpson, Chirine Njeim, and Hillary Kupish were on the Collective Wisdom podcast together
Upcoming
Sunday’s Houston Half Marathon (especially) and Marathon should be excellent. You can see the full fields here, the live results will be here, and there will be a livestream of the race on ABC13. Scroll down to the bottom of this page for all of the broadcast details. The half marathon starts at 7:45 a.m. ET and the marathon will go off 10 minutes later.
Thanks again to PUMA for supporting Fast Women this month, and if you’re a sub-3:10 marathoner who is running London or Boston this year, make sure to check out Project3.
Thank you, also, to all of the readers whose contributions also make this newsletter possible. And to those of you in the LA area, I’m thinking of you.
Alison