Discover more from Fast Women
Issue 270, sponsored by the Racin’ Grayson Training Log + Planner
Behind the scenes of the Fast Women newsletter
I’m going to do something different this week and provide an update on the state of the Fast Women newsletter. If you miss the straight focus on running news, I’ll be back to that next week.
I had planned to do this in a couple weeks, but due to a last-minute change, I’m doing it early. I had an athlete feature planned for this week—I had a long conversation with the subject and wrote the whole piece. I was feeling on top of things, and then on Saturday night, the subject contacted me to say she had decided she didn’t want the attention. (A couple of athletes have declined interviews before, but they’ve always done so up front.)
Because I start each week not really knowing what might happen in the running world, I’m used to last-minute changes. But this was a bigger one than usual, during a quieter week of running news. I decided not to scramble for a last-minute replacement, because I didn’t want to rush the job.
The beginning of January will mark five years of Fast Women. It simultaneously feels like forever and no time at all. I started this newsletter at the beginning of 2019 because I wanted to make it easier for busy people to follow women’s competitive distance running, and I wanted to make sure that certain news and accomplishments got the attention they deserved.
The first Fast Women newsletter went out to 213 people on January 7, 2019. (High five if you’re one of them and you’re still here.) I spread the word on social media, but I had never done anything to build a social media following, so word didn’t spread very far.
Things grew pretty quickly from there. I built more of a following on Twitter, especially, by posting running news and live-Tweeting big events. By the start of 2020, there were about 3,700 newsletter subscribers.
At that time, Fast Women’s audience and social media following was growing rapidly. It was an exciting time in the sport, until everything came to a halt in March of 2020 because of the pandemic. It was really tough writing about running in a year without much racing, and the growth of the newsletter, and the open rate, suffered quite a bit that year. But still, by the start of 2021, Fast Women had about 5,400 subscribers. By 2022, there were just over 6,000, and at the start of 2023, the number had been hovering around 7,000 for a while.
Sponsor support funds about half of this newsletter, and reader support makes up the other half. At the start of 2023, things were not looking good for Fast Women. Our most reliable sponsor to that point withdrew their support without communicating as much, and I waited way too long to hear back from them. (I still haven’t.) That put me very far behind in lining up sponsors for the year, but some companies came through in a big way and things turned out okay in the end. (Thanks to New Balance, Puma, Oiselle, Oofos, the Flagpole Hill Fund, Bakline, Seed Retreat, and the POC Trail Running and Adventure Retreat with Alison Désir for their support this year. If you’re with a company that’s interested in sponsoring in 2024, let me know.)
But because of the scare, I scrambled to cut costs and figure out how to make Fast Women more sustainable. I started the process of assembling an advisory board. I moved to Substack, because it is free and Mailchimp was increasing its rates again. I looked into selling merchandise. I never seriously considered a subscription model, though, because I want this content to continue to be accessible to everyone.
Until this year, I had never done much to try to promote this newsletter. I wanted people to be here because they wanted to be here, and I appreciated having a quality mailing list rather than a large one. Five years in, the average open rate of the newsletter still hovers north of 75 percent, which I’m told is quite good.
But in the process of talking to various readers who volunteered to help me out at the start of the year, it became clear that doing more promotion could help make the newsletter more sustainable, because more subscribers generally means more revenue. (In case you can’t tell, producing this newsletter is my favorite part of the job. The promotion and sponsorship piece is more of a challenge for me.)
I started doing a better job of reminding people on Twitter and Instagram, and now Threads, that Fast Women is a newsletter, not just a social media account. The move to Substack also helped, because Substack is more aggressive about prompting people to subscribe. The newsletter had a pretty big jump in subscribers this year as a result, from about 7,000 to almost 9,300. And I owe a big thanks to Emily Oster, because a recommendation from her ParentData newsletter has generated 400 new subscriptions. (Oster was on the Ali on the Run Show this week, talking about her marathon debut at CIM.)
Because most big running news happens on weekends, sending a Monday newsletter makes sense. And when I started, Mario Fraioli had one of the only other regular running newsletters of this nature. He sends his on Tuesdays and I didn’t want to intrude on that. So Monday it was. But that has meant working all weekend most weekends for the past five years, which has been challenging. And I am incredibly thankful to my editor, Sarah Lorge Butler, who was the person who encouraged me to start this newsletter. For five years, she, too, has worked almost every Sunday for not enough pay, editing Fast Women when it’s ready, sometimes hours later than when I say it’s going to be.
It has also meant working through personal emergencies. I had some big plans at the start of the year, which I hoped would be guided by the advisory board, but my life changed dramatically mid-year, and I’ve been in survival/maintenance mode ever since, rather than focusing on growth. The goal has mostly been for you to not notice this, though. The biggest change is that I’m putting less time into looking for news on social media and working on Fast Women’s social media presence, but the demise of Twitter has made that easier. (I’ve been moving away from posting there, but most of the running world is still congregated there. I’ve been posting more on Threads, but it’s harder to get the word out there, with 5K followers, compared to 36.8K on Twitter.)
If Overcast, my podcast player of choice, had a Spotify Wrapped equivalent, I’d probably be horrified by the number of hours I’ve spent listening to running podcasts over the past five years. I probably listen to anywhere from 10 to 25 of them per week, and only the ones with the most relevant content make it into the newsletter. I never mention or recommend an episode I haven’t already listened to. To save time, I always listen on 2x to 3x speed, depending on the audio quality. Getting through my podcast playlist can sometimes feel like a chore, but I am thankful to all of the running podcasters for the content they provide. As local journalism has gradually declined, podcasters have picked up a lot of the slack in the running space.
Despite all of the challenges of the last year, Fast Women is in a better place than ever heading into 2024. And with so many major championships, it’s going to be another big year in women’s running. Five years in, I am so thankful for all of Fast Women’s readers, who make this work worth doing. And I’m especially thankful to those of you who have supported Fast Women financially, which has allowed it to continue. (Any support you’re willing to provide via Venmo or Patreon is greatly appreciated.)
This week’s newsletter is brought to you by the Racin’ Grayson Training Log + Planner
Looking for a great gift for runners, designed by a pro runner? Look no further than the Racin' Grayson Training Log + Planner. The RG TL+P is your key to staying organized and inspired on your journey to conquer both athletic and non-athletic goals.
Navigate the next 13 months (December 2023-December 2024) with dedicated daily spaces for tracking both training and life events. Immerse yourself in weekly doses of motivation with inspirational quotes, and stay accountable with monthly and yearly habit trackers. Dive into the race day schedule and goal-setting worksheet, empowering you to plan and achieve your objectives effectively.
Prioritize your mental well-being with monthly mental health journal prompts. Additional features include trackers for birthdays, books to read, and more, creating a comprehensive tool for organizing every aspect of your life. Use the code FW10 for 10 percent off.
Jordan Hogan steps back from competitive running, but she’s not retiring
Jordan (Hasay) Hogan had an interesting conversation with Carrie Tollefson on the C Tolle Run podcast last week. I recommend listening to the episode to hear Hogan tell her story in her own words. She talked about struggling with running for the past several years. She said she hasn’t been dealing with an injury or fatigue, she just can’t hit the paces she used to, and she isn’t sure why.
At the beginning of 2023, Hogan took a chunk of time off, and then she decided to go all in on trying to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. She was hoping to run the half marathon time, because she didn’t want to run the Trials just for the sake of running them. And I assume that by that, she meant that if she couldn’t run a 1:12:00 half marathon—which is widely regarded to be tougher than the 2:37:00 marathon qualifying time—she wasn’t going to be as competitive as she hoped to be at the Trials.
She had glimpses of hope in her training, but by September, she knew she wasn’t where she needed to be, and she decided to shut down her training for several years. “I’m not going to retire, I’m still 32,” she said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I think that, for whatever reason, my body just maybe needs a reset…I just love running too much to continue the way that I was, because it was not fun to go out there and try to execute workouts and just have it not come together.”
Tollefson and Hogan did not discuss Hogan’s experience with her former coach, Alberto Salazar, who served a four-year suspension for anti-doping violations, and has also been banned for life by SafeSport.
Hogan, who has a marathon PR of 2:20:57 from 2017, said she is still running about an hour a day, and she enjoys running 8:00 pace. Her only running goal right now is to continue to run her age or faster for 200m every year. (She’s 32, so that means being able to run a 200m in 32 seconds or faster.)
Her professional running contract with Nike is over at the end of this year, but they’re still figuring out whether she’ll be able to do some ambassador work for the company. She appreciates that they were patient with her for a number of years, while she struggled to figure out what was going on with her running.
Hogan got married over the summer, and she said she hopes to have children in the coming years, which is another reason she has decided to back off training. Hogan has started a coaching business, and she plans to continue doing speaking engagements as well.
“I feel really at peace,” she said. “I feel like we tried everything, and there was nothing left to give.”
Other News and Links
Sarah Lorge Butler wrote a nice article about some of the athletes who narrowly missed out on qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. “There’s zero regrets in going all-in on something,” said Emilee Risteen. “There are so many gifts that are part of the journey that you would never experience otherwise. We focus all our attention on the end goal, when in reality, it sounds cheesy, but the process is the prize.”
This is a lengthy article about Doris Brown Heritage, 81, and it’s the first time I’ve seen public acknowledgment that the five-time World Cross Country champion is dealing with dementia. “Some things I can’t recall now, but unfortunately I remember that race very clearly,” she says of her 1968 Olympic experience. “I had the ability to win the gold medal, but I didn’t, and that was a really tough one to get over.”
I’ve shared podcasts before about track and trail standout Anna Gibson, and here’s a good article from Emily Halnon about Gibson, who is following her own path as she embarks on her professional running career (Trailrunner link).
Former Texas sprinter Julien Alfred won The Bowerman award. She won five NCAA titles and set five collegiate records this year.
Karrie Baloga announced that after one semester at the University of Colorado, she is transferring to NAU. Baloga was the third runner for CU at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in November, where the team finished an uncharacteristic 19th place. It’s another blow for an already-struggling team. Earlier this year, Runner’s World reported that an investigation of CU’s cross country and track & field programs found that the school’s body composition testing harmed a significant number of athletes. The full report from the investigation suggested that a number of current and former athletes had poor experiences within the program.
Wheelchair racing champion Susannah Scaroni did a Q&A with The Athletic. Scaroni said that when it comes to understanding the needs of people with disabilities, it it is her understanding that the French have a lot of work to do before they host next year’s Paralympics.
Need a last minute gift for a running friend? Deena Kastor is on Cameo, and she’ll record a personal message for you. I noticed this because she posted about it on Instagram. Her post made me curious about what other runners are on there. Just looking quickly, I also see Sara Hall, Emma Coburn, Emily Infeld, Kaela Edwards, and Dom Scott, among others.
Results Highlights
Ethiopia’s Sutume Asefa Kebede set a stand-alone world best of 1:18:47 at the Kolkata 25K in India. Faster splits have been recorded in longer races. Tigst Assefa averaged 5:01/mile during her marathon world record, and Kebede ran 5:04/mile. But the 25K (15.53 miles) isn’t a common race distance. Yalemzerf Yehualaw, also of Ethiopia, took second, 39 seconds back. (Results)
Less than six weeks after she finished fourth at the New York City Marathon, Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei, the former marathon world record holder, won the Abu Dhabi Marathon in 2:19:15. It looks like she earned $50,000 for the win and another $30,000 for breaking the course record.
Kenyans Gladys Chepkurui (1:09:46) and Sheila Chepkirui (1:10:03) went 1–2 at the Bangsaen21 Half Marathon, run in warm, humid conditions in Chonburi, Thailand. (Results)
Nell Rojas is back to racing after an injury. She won San Diego’s Holiday Half Marathon in 1:09:32. Allie Buchalski, who was making her half marathon debut, finished second in 1:10:23, and Molly Grabill took third in 1:11:34. (Results)
Vanessa Fraser won the Santa Run Silicon Valley 5K in 16:01. (Results)
Jess McClain won Phoenix’s Hot Chocolate 15K, and finished second overall, in 50:38. (Results)
Kenya’s Edinah Jebitok won Spain’s Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños, the latest stop on the World Athletics Cross Country Tour. Racing in cold conditions, she covered the 9.3K course in 33:11. Ethiopia’s Asayech Ayichew finished second in 33:53. And it was fun to see Katie Izzo take third in 34:08. Americans don’t run many international cross country races these days. (Results)
Scotland’s Laura Muir won the 3,000m at the Cardiff Met Christmas Classic, an indoor meet, in 8:34.39. (Results)
Perhaps my favorite result of the week: Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier Ann Marie Pierce, who can run a 2:36 marathon, ran a backwards mile in 7:24. It is apparently faster than the Guinness world record. It makes me curious what the best milers in the world could do.
Additional Podcasts
Brianna Boehmer recorded a good episode of Women’s Running Stories. She discussed getting back into competitive running after a hiatus, surprising herself, and the tough decision not to take one last stab at Trials qualifying by running the California International Marathon.
So far, there hasn’t been nearly as much coverage (per qualifier) of the Olympic Marathon Trials as there was leading up to the 2020 race, so I was happy to come across an episode of the Marathon Running Podcast, featuring qualifiers Sofie Schunk and Mary Denholm. It was particularly interesting hearing Schunk talk about marathon fueling with Type 1 diabetes.
Keep an eye on Notre Dame’s Olivia Markezich. She has mentioned in several recent interviews that she used to drop back in races and use her kick to finish well, but she has recently been working on staying near the front, and she seems to be getting better with every race. And she was on the Citius Mag podcast last week.
Another Olympic contender in the steeplechase, Courtney Wayment, was on the Lactic Acid podcast.
Thanks for reading, and remember to check out the the Racin' Grayson Training Log + Planner and use the code FW10 for 10 percent off. I hope you all have a great week!
Alison
Subscribe to Fast Women
The latest in women's competitive distance running.
I look always look forward to reading this Newsletter as soon as it appears in my Email Inbox. Always informative and a reliable burst of positivity for my continued running at age 72. Thx again. Keep it coming!
Hi 👋🏼 it’s me, a busy person who uses this newsletter to follow women’s competitive running. I first found my way to all the incredible memoir/manifesto books by women runners this year, and then I found you as I looked to deepen my involvement in the sport. If it weren’t for your work, I would still be out of touch. Thank you for all you do for this community and this sport. It wouldn’t be the same without you!