Fast Women: Interpreting early-season results
Beatrice Chebet runs the fastest 3,000m in 31 years.
Issue 352, sponsored by Bombas
Linden Hall, Elise Thorner, and Heather MacLean lead a parade of PRs at California’s Track Fest
Heather MacLean impressed in the 5,000—yes, you read that correctly. Athing Mu-Nikolayev raced against pros for the first time in 10 months, and Valery Tobias picked up where she left off during the indoor season, running a PR in the 800m. None of them won their events, but those are probably the first things I would tell a friend about Saturday night’s Track Fest at Occidental College, if we were catching up on a run this morning.
The track season is gradually ramping up, but because the World Athletics Championships don’t start until September 13, the entire calendar is shifted. So athletes are showing up to meets with varying levels of fitness. The good news for those who are struggling a bit now is that they have time to turn things around.
There were no struggles for Australia’s Linden Hall. She took nearly 15 seconds off the PR that she ran indoors, winning the 5,000m in 14:43.61. She and Great Britain’s Melissa Courtney-Bryant both dipped under the world championships standard of 14:50.00, with Courtney-Bryant taking second in a five-second PR of 14:48.20.
Great Britain’s Hannah Nuttall took third in the 5,000m in a two-second PR of 14:50.42, agonizingly close to the world standard. Germany’s Lea Meyer ran 14:58.85, her first time under 15:00, and Amanda Vestri rounded out the top five, running 15:01.22, a 12-second PR.
Hall’s time moved her to second on the Australian all-time list, behind only Rose Davies’ 14:40.83 from last month. Hall told Sound Running afterward that she’d like to run the 1500m at Worlds, but she’s keeping her options open. “The 1500 and 800 are just getting crazy in Australia, so I really just want a backup event,” she said.
I wouldn’t have expected to see MacLean in a 5,000m this season, because she’s not even the kind of 800m/1500m runner who dabbles in the 3,000m. But she explained before the race that when she was dealing with injury struggles in 2023 and the beginning of 2024, she promised herself she’d run a 5,000m to show her appreciation for the sport. And she held her own, finishing sixth in a strong field in 15:08.72. Now she, too, has a backup event, if she needs one.
Katie Camarena, who was seventh, also PRed, running 15:10.00. Section two was exciting as well. Running for the Enclave, Lucy Jenks opened up a seven-second lead in the last 2K, but Amaris Tyynismaa of Dark Sky Distance closed the gap on the last lap. The competition woke Jenks up a bit, she found another gear, and she held Tyynismaa off, 15:14.86 to 15:15.31. Both PRed, with Tyynismaa taking 15 seconds off her previous best.
Great Britain’s Elise Thorner, who finished her NCAA eligibility at the University of Florida last spring, won the steeplechase in a 10+ second personal best of 9:17.57 and just dipped under the world championships standard of 9:18.00.
To review, hitting the standard doesn’t guarantee that one makes the World team. It just makes athletes automatically eligible to be selected for their country’s team. Some countries don’t hold trials races or have three qualifiers per event, so for certain athletes, hitting the standard can mean automatic selection.
Dark Sky Distance’s Angelina Ellis, who lowered her steeple PR by 19 seconds last year, is already back to PRing. She finished second in 9:22.03, three seconds faster than her previous best. And I’ve been really impressed by Notre Dame’s Sophie Novak, who took third in 9:23.04. She’s redshirting the outdoor season, and she has already improved her steeple time by 17 seconds this season.
Making her first steeple appearance of the season, Krissy Gear took fourth in 9:24.36. To put that in perspective, when she won this event at the USATF Outdoor Championships in 2023, her season opener that year was a 9:23. Last year she opened with a 9:24. So she’s right on schedule. She has more range than most runners, so it will be interesting to see which events she chooses for the remainder of the season.
Gracie Hyde (9:26.24), Janette Schraft (9:30.38), Emma Gee (9:40.56, which was a 15-second improvement), and Rachel Anderson (9:41.63) were also among those who ran steeple PRs.
Sage Hurta-Klecker won the 800m in a season’s best of 1:59.02. She’s a little farther into her season than some; Saturday’s 800m was her third of the season and her fifth race overall. Her consistency is impressive—she has run three 1:59s in a row, each one a little faster. And behind her, Tobias ran 1:59.49, 0.06 seconds faster than her indoor PR and her first outdoor sub-2:00. Considering that this was her first 800m of the season and only her second race, she appears poised to have another strong season after her breakthrough indoors. (Video of the finish here)
Because she suffered an injury during the fall, Allie Wilson hadn’t raced since last summer. She has also been training at altitude for the first time, so she said in advance of the race that she really didn’t know what to expect. She went through 400m in 60 seconds and finished the 800m in 2:08.09. I imagine she was hoping for something faster, but as long as she remains healthy, she’ll be a good candidate for most improved over the course of the season.
Oregon’s Klaudia Kazimierska had a breakthrough year last year. Representing Poland, she made the Olympic 1500m final and ran 3:59.95, but she missed the indoor season due to injury. She seems to be rounding back into form just in time to end the collegiate season on a high note. She pulled off an impressive win in the 1500m, opening a lead, letting it go, and then outkicking Emily Mackay for the win, 4:03.26 to 4:03.33. (Finish video)
Also of note: Gabbi Jennings, who is more of a steeple specialist, placed fourth in a PR of 4:04.43. Shelby Houlihan was fifth in 4:04.76 and hasn’t looked quite as sharp as she did indoors. She told LetsRun that she has been feeling tired this past month, and she had a hamstring issue last week.
Bailey Hertenstein won section two of the 1500m in 4:06.39, a big PR. California high school senior Sadie Engelhardt returned to the track after an injury and finished eighth in section two in 4:18.10. She was hoping for much more, but she told Youth Runner afterward that she was “bedridden for at least three days” in the week leading up to the meet.
Mu-Nikolayev was a fun late addition to section three of the 1500m. Sadie Sargent outkicked her to win the heat in 4:10.01, and Mu-Nikolayev took second in 4:10.70. I don’t have a lot of background on what she’s been through, but clearly she and coach Bobby Kersee have decided it’s in her best interest to gradually ease her way back into competition. So with each race, she has been increasing the degree of difficulty.
By July 5, she will be diving in head first. She was announced as an addition to the Prefontaine Classic 800m field last week. I appreciated her post-race interview with Sound Running. (Track Fest results | Replay of the evening’s earlier races)
Brighten your runs with Bombas (+ get a free pair of running socks)
When it comes to training motivation, the little things matter. That’s why I’m happy to share a gift from our sponsor Bombas: the first 200 subscribers to fill out this form will receive a free pair of running socks (limited to US only).
No matter how dedicated you are, lacing up your shoes on a warm sunny day just feels different than an overcast one. The bright colors and cheery neons Bombas has put together for their athletic half calf, lightweight ankle socks, and performance compression socks give me a little more energy on those gloomy days and makes my sunny runs even sunnier.
They’re available at Bombas.com, or you can pick some up at retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods and Scheels. As always, for every sock purchased, one is donated to someone facing homelessness (with over 150 million items donated and counting!).
While I have received products from Bombas, my opinions are solely my own. If you’re ready to run in something that feels good and does good, use code FASTWOMEN21 to get 21% off your first order at Bombas.com. Or, for returning customers like me, use FASTWOMEN15 for 15% off. One use per customer, offer expires 06/30/2025.
Beatrice Chebet runs the second-fastest 3,000m ever
I still remember where I was when I learned that a team of Chinese women had broken world records in the 1500m, 3,000m, and 10,000m at the 1993 Chinese National Games. Wang Junxia lowered the 10,000m record by 41 seconds. Three days later, her teammate, Qu Yunxia ran a 1500m world record of 3:50.46, and Wang finished second in 3:51.92. In the following day’s 3,000m heats, Wang broke the world record. And the day after that, she lowered the record she had just broken to 8:06.11. It has stood ever since.
There was talk of things like tonic from a caterpillar fungus and turtle blood contributing to their success, but I’d say most people who understood track suspected doping. The runners behind the records were coached by one man, Ma Junren, and they were referred to as Ma’s Army. In 1993 alone, members of the team broke 66 national and world records.
In 2016, a letter from 1995, supposedly signed by Wang and nine other members of Ma’s Army, surfaced, claiming they had been forced to take performance-enhancing drugs. I don’t know what came of that, but the records set by members of Ma’s Army remained. And until yesterday, the five fastest 3,000m times ever, indoors or out, came from three athletes who raced at the 1993 Chinese National Games. (Because they also set records in the prelims.)
Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet, 25, wasn’t quite able to take down Wang’s 3,000m world record at Sunday’s Rabat Diamond League meet, but she moved to second on the all-time list, running an African record of 8:11.56. Because no one could hang with her, the race was basically a rabbited time trial.
“I was not preparing a world record attempt,” Chebet said afterward. “I just came to run my personal best, and I succeeded. I just have to believe in myself and then maybe after some months or years, that world record will come.”
Maybe Nike needs a Breaking8 project for Chebet. She has been on a tear since winning the Olympic 5,000m/10,000m double, and as long as she remains healthy, I imagine she will continue to win just about everything in sight.
The 800m was a showdown between the past two World Indoor champions in that event. Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma edged out South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso, 1:57.42 to 1:57.52, but the biggest surprise of the race was probably Addy Wiley, who was hot on their heels, taking third in 1:57.55. Behind her, France’s Anaïs Bourgoin took fourth in a 0.66-second PR of 1:57.81.
Kenya’s Nelly Chepchirchir won the 1500m, which wasn’t a Diamond League event, in 3:58.04. And I was impressed by Kenya’s Dorcus Ewoi, who runs for Puma Elite; she was third in 3:59.25, a 3.65-second PR. (Results | Replay of the 3,000m)
Penelope Greene, Adams State women lead the way in DIII and DII
Leading up to the NCAA DIII Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Wilmington College’s Faith Duncan, Division III’s most dominant distance runner, announced that her season was over due to a navicular stress fracture. That left the door open for a new distance star to be crowned, and SUNY Geneseo’s Penelope Greene seized the moment.
She went out hard in the 10,000m and kept her foot on the gas. Only Lewis & Clark’s Riley Buese went with her, but by 6,000m, Greene was alone. She won in 33:46.70, and Buese took second in 34:20.14. Two days later, Greene used the same strategy to win the 5,000m in a PR of 16:01.55.
Calvin College’s Sophie Bull ran a 12-second PR of 10:11.73 to win the steeplechase. Vassar’s Haley Schoenegge repeated as 1500m champion, running 4:22.61. And I was impressed by Connecticut College’s Grace McDonough, who fell on the first lap but got up and finished third. In the 800m, Elizabethtown’s Kelty Oaster edged out Rochester’s Megan Bell, 2:05.09 to 2:05.11. And MIT won the team title to complete the cross country/indoor/outdoor triple crown. (NCAA DIII Results | Day one replay | Day two replay | Day three replay)
The NCAA DII Championships took place in Pueblo, Colorado, 4,700 feet above sea level, but that was no problem for the women of Adams State, who train at 7,500 feet in Alamosa, Colorado. They won the three longest distance events, with Brianna Robles taking the 10,000m (34:35.98), Ava O’Connor winning the steeplechase (10:11.14), and Tristian Spence winning the 5,000m (16:16.11). All three ran the 5,000m, with O’Connor taking second and Robles fourth.
West Texas A&M first year Abigail Abugire impressed in the 800m, winning in 2:02.93, a 0.80-second PR. Klaudia O’Malley won the 1500m in 4:29.11 and helped Grand Valley State win the team title by one point, 60–59. Adams State, who took second, scored all of their points in the distance events. (NCAA DII Results | Day one replay | Day two replay | Day three replay)
A race where no one wins
What happened in the men’s 10,000m at the NCAA DIII Outdoor Track & Field Championships could have happened in any number of races, and it has me thinking more about the sport’s rules. With less than 200m remaining in the race, Roger Williams University’s Nathan Tassey, who was leading, took a look back. In doing so, he stumbled slightly and accidentally took three steps inside the rail. You can watch a clip of what happened here.
Tassey won the race by more than five seconds, in 29:15.02. But his celebratory moment quickly took a turn as he was disqualified. North Central College’s Braden Nicholson, who ran 29:20.59, was declared the winner.
I can think of quite a few races where enforcing the rules has led to an unsatisfying outcome. At the 2017 World Championships, Colleen Quigley appeared to qualify for the steeplechase final, but then she was disqualified for stepping on the white line that separates lane one from the infield with one foot, on two separate occasions. In 2020, Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei was disqualified for stepping on the rail once during a one-hour track race. At the 2021 Olympic Games, Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba was disqualified for stepping off the track briefly at the start of her 5,000m heat.
At the 2018 World Athletics Indoor Championships, there were 21 disqualifications due to lane violations, and partially in response to that, World Athletics relaxed its rules a bit as of November 2021. Among the changes, in distance races, athletes could now step on or over the line once, in instances where they weren’t pushed, without being disqualified. (When athletes are forced off the track by their competitors, the rules are more lenient.)
After Thursday’s controversial race, I spoke to a longtime track official, who offered some helpful context. According to the NCAA rulebook, in races not run in lanes, stepping on or over the curb “with two consecutive steps of either both feet or a single foot” is grounds for disqualification. It’s not written the same way as World Athletics’ rule, but it’s similar.
I don’t think anyone is disputing the fact that Tassey broke a rule, but sometimes enforcing the rules in track & field can feel really cruel. Do race officials sometimes let things slide? Yes. But that’s less likely to happen in a championship setting. I’ve seen many people attacking the officials in this situation, but I am sympathetic. They made a call that is unfortunate all around, but it is an accurate call.
NCAA and World Athletics rules are being rewritten all the time, and in an ideal world, I’d love to see the rules take into account whether the infraction affected the outcome of the race, or whether any advantage was gained. But introducing more subjectivity can create new problems. The official I spoke with pointed out that there’s been a move to better align the NCAA and World Athletics rulebooks, which led to a number of changes in the NCAA rules this year. So I can’t imagine the NCAA making significant lane violation changes unless World Athletics makes them first.
Aligning the various rulebooks makes sense. The top NCAA track and field athletes are among the best in the world. But if the NCAA follows a different set of rules—like allowing higher stack super shoes in distance races on the track until this academic year—their performances can’t necessarily be used as qualifying marks, and don’t count towards athletes’ world rankings. Similarly, when Grant Fisher shows up to a college meet and wants to run a world record, as he did during the indoor season, it can only count if that meet is following rules that align with World Athletics’.
To their credit, both Tasse and Nicholson have handled this unfortunate situation with a lot of grace. “Nathan Tasse is your actual champion,” Nicholson wrote on Strava. “He earned it. Nonetheless, super happy with this race and wouldn’t change a thing, other than the DQ.”
On his Strava, Tasse, who is a junior, wrote that he missed a portion of the season due to injury, and after being disappointed in his past nationals performances, he finally ran a race that made him proud. “My goal was just to be able to leave this race knowing I went for it, and that’s what I did,” he wrote. “I’ll see you next year. (It’s demon time, nobody is safe.)”
Hopefully both have long, successful running careers ahead and this is just the beginning.
Other News and Notes
Stanford’s Juliette Whittaker opened up about her battle with depression in an Instagram post last week, saying she’s taking a step back from school and running for now. I appreciate her sharing her experience because it helps end the stigma around talking about mental health struggles and makes people feel less alone. It’s also a sobering reminder that nothing is more important than taking care of one’s mental health. May is mental health awareness month, so if you’ve been putting off doing things that will help your mental health, please take this as your sign to take the next step. And if that step doesn’t work, please keep trying.
Kenya’s Sheila Chelangat has been provisionally suspended for testing positive for EPO. Most recently, she finished second at the Istanbul Half Marathon in 1:06:13. This article points out that Chelangat’s younger sister, Faith Chepkoech, was banned for three years last year, after admitting to using EPO.
Grand Slam Track confirmed (The Athletic) that Fred Kerley is suspended “pending the completion of legal proceedings” and will not compete in this weekend’s Philadelphia Slam. He was arrested for allegedly punching hurdler Alaysha Johnson at the meet hotel the day before the Miami Slam.
The full fields for Grand Slam Track’s Philly Slam are available here. The meet will air on Peacock and the CW. Saturday’s events will air 4:00–7:00 p.m. ET and Sunday’s events are 3:00–6:00 p.m.
Nadia Battocletti finished second in the 3,000m at the Rabat Diamond League meet in an Italian record of 8:26:27. I noticed in the meet’s flash quotes that she said she wore a black ribbon on her kit to raise awareness about breast cancer, because she lost a friend to it last week.
Kristie Schoffield has joined the Brooks Beasts. She was previously a New Balance athlete, and she was briefly part of New Balance Boston. “Getting dropped by a brand sucks, especially after a year I was really proud of,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “But I’m really glad it happened. I think you learn so much about yourself in difficult situations, and we all need a slice of humble pie every so often.”
I ran out of time to make it the whole way through this video, but near the beginning, Australia’s Lauren Ryan discussed the fact that she’s moving to Flagstaff and switching coaches.
Annie Rodenfels announced that she’s now being coached by Juli Benson.
Canada’s Stephanie Case is having a bit of a viral moment after winning the Ultra-Trail Snowdonia 100K despite taking breaks to breastfeed along the way. The People article kind of made it sound like she started 30 minutes back and caught the leader, but she won based on her chip time. Sarah Wassner Flynn wrote a more detailed piece about her for Outside Run.
Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji, who won the World Indoor 60m title in March, announced last week that her season is over because she’s pregnant.
Former pro runner Leah Falland wrote about the postpartum complications and pain she has been dealing with for the past two years.
Additional Results
Her performance really flew under the radar this weekend, but Michigan high school senior Emmry Ross won the 800m at the Distance Night Under the Lights in a blazing 2:00.53. She’s now the fifth-fastest U.S. high school girl of all time. (Results)
Kenya’s Mercy Chelangat, who runs for NAZ Elite and was a NCAA champion for Alabama, won Sunday’s Ottawa International Marathon. In her debut at the distance, she ran 2:23:33 and won by more than four minutes. Ethiopia’s Meseret Gebre opened up a lead in the second half of the race, but Chelangat reeled her in shortly before 32K and pulled away to win. (Results | Replay | More details on Chelangat’s race)
Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen won Spain’s 10K en Ruta Villa de Laredo in a German record of 30:46. (Results | Replay)
Morgan Coulter, 28, PRed by 15 minutes, 43 seconds and won the Bayshore Marathon in 2:40:08. She told Fast Women that she was a sprinter in high school, didn’t run in college, and she became a distance runner only about four years ago. (Results)
Margaret Vido won the Vermont City Marathon in 2:41:13. (Results)
Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay (first, 3:58.14) and Birke Haylom (second, 3:59.19) broke away early in the 1500m at Croatia’s Boris Hanžeković Memorial. Dani Jones was the best of the rest as she finished third in 4:05.04. (Results)
Gabriela DeBues-Stafford’s comeback tour continues. In advance of the IFAM Outdoor meet in Brussels, Belgium, the Canadian Olympian wrote on Instagram that her goal was to break 4:10. She did so with plenty of room to spare, running an impressive 4:03.81. She shared more details in her post-race post. (Results)
Podcast Highlights
Last week’s Fast People podcast guest was Drew Hunter. I enjoyed hearing him discuss how much he thinks the top college kids are making via NIL deals. He went straight from high school to the pros, but he said these days, he would definitely sign an NIL deal instead and go to college. He discussed being coached by his mother, pro running and parenting, signing with Asics recently, his resurgence last year, and his stroller sponsorship. Side note: I include chapter markers with all Fast People podcast episodes, because I appreciate when other people do that. While I recommend listening to the full episode, they make it a lot easier to jump around if you’re only interested in certain topics.
If you’re tired of only hearing about runners who have smooth pregnancies, you might enjoy listening to professional trail runner Taylor Nowlin on The Trail Network Podcast. I have never heard a runner describe a more relatable pregnancy experience—bed rest, preeclampsia, a required c-section, and more—but that probably has something to do with the fact that we both had mono/di twins. (The babies share a placenta but they each have their own amniotic sac.) I am completely biased, but I really enjoyed this episode and appreciated her sharing her experience.
On For the Kudos (Spiked Up #51), co-host Sarah Billings recounted her runner-up performance in the 800m at the Shanghai Diamond League Meet. She ran 1:57.83 and narrowly missed the Australian record.
Allie Buchalski of the Brooks Beasts discussed her running roots and her season so far on I’ll Have Another. She shared that the day before she finished fifth at the USATF 5K Championships, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. I appreciated her discussing the fact that her Brooks contract includes a sports psych budget, and they encourage her to use it.
Additional Episodes: UVA’s Margot Appleton on The Running Effect | Ireland’s Síofra Cléirigh Büttner, formerly of New Balance Boston, on Unexpected Curves.
One of my favorite races to follow from afar, the Bolder Boulder 10K, is today. There will be a livestream on YouTube, and it looks like the pro start is at 1:15 p.m. ET.
Thanks again to Bombas for sponsoring Fast Women this month, and thanks to all of you who also help keep this newsletter going with your support via Venmo and Patreon.
I hope you all have a good week.
Alison