Fast Women: Karissa Schweizer, miler
Rebecca Cheptegei's tragic murder brings more attention to gender-based violence in Kenya.
Karissa Schweizer pulls off the upset on Fifth Avenue
After she finished fourth in the Zurich Diamond League 5,000m on Thursday night, a reporter asked Karissa Schweizer if she would be running any more races this season. “I’ll have to talk to my coach,” she said. “Possibly Fifth Ave., but I’m not sure.”
Well, she must have made a quick decision after that, because not only did Schweizer run the Fifth Avenue Mile three days after running 14:47.50 in Zurich, she won the race in record time, matching Laura Muir’s 4:14.8 from 2022.
Schweizer’s best events have historically been between 3,000m and 10,000m, but on Sunday, she ran away from some excellent mile/1500m specialists.
On a short episode of the Set the Pace podcast after the race, Schweizer told Carrie Tollefson that she’s just starting to build some momentum after “a bit of a hiccup” in the spring. Schweizer shared after the Olympic Trials that she suffered a femoral stress reaction in April, which prevented her from doing much running leading up to the Trials. But now, as some of her competitors are running on fumes, Schweizer is coming on strong.
“Being a 5K/10K runner, I was so nervous for the start. I was like, ‘Oh, just get out fast, go with them, and don’t panic if it feels too fast,’” she told Tollefson. As expected, the race went out quickly, but after 400m, the pace slowed, and Schweizer took that opportunity to keep pushing, hoping to make it more of a strength race. And it worked.
While Schweizer thought she had a shot at the win, she told Tollefson that the event record was never on her mind. Sunday’s race was Schweizer’s first New York Road Runners race, and she said she hopes to be back for more in the future.
Though the race was close most of the way, Schweizer’s strong kick earned her a 2.5-second win. Dorcas Ewoi, of Puma Elite and Kenya, continued her fantastic breakthrough season, running 4:17.3 to take second. And Kenyan Olympian Susan Ejore, of Mission Run Dark Sky Distance, who has also had a fantastic year, finished third in 4:18.3. Ejore earned the $1,000 bonus for leading at halfway.
The athlete whose performance surprised me the most was Gracie Morris, who finished her collegiate career running for TCU in the spring. Morris has run 4:08.94 for 1500m and 2:01.38 for 800m. On Sunday, she ran 4:20.4 and finished fifth, ahead of a handful of sub-4:00 1500m runners. In her first race back after surgery, Emma Coburn finished 19th in 4:38. (Race results | Race video)
Rebecca Cheptegei’s tragic murder brings more attention to Kenya’s femicide epidemic
Four days after her ex-boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, allegedly doused her in gasoline and set her on fire, Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei, 33, died of multiple organ failure on Thursday at a hospital in Eldoret, Kenya.
According to police Marangach, who is Kenyan, attacked Cheptegei on September 1, when she returned home from church with her two daughters, ages 9 and 11. She suffered burns over roughly 80 percent of her body. The police said that Cheptegei and Marangach were fighting over the land where her house was located, in Kinyoro, Kenya, and that as soon as Marangach recovers from his own injuries, they plan to charge him with murder.
Joseph Cheptegei, Rebecca’s father, told reporters that Marangach had been tormenting her for months, and Joseph had previously reported his concerns to the police.
Cheptegei was born and raised in Uganda, but her home was in Kenya, not far from the Ugandan border, which allowed her to be near Kenya’s training hubs.
Three weeks before the attack, Cheptegei finished 44th in the Olympic marathon. She had been representing Uganda at international competitions since she was a teenager. She won the up and downhill race at the 2022 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships and had a marathon personal best of 2:22:47. She finished 14th in the marathon at last year’s World Championships in Budapest.
Cheptegei is at least the fourth female track & field athlete to be murdered by a partner or ex-partner in Kenya over the last three years. In October 2021, both Agnes Tirop and Edith Muthoni were murdered. And six months later, Kenyan-born Bahraini athlete Damaris Muthee Mutua was murdered in Iten, and her Ethiopian boyfriend was the lead suspect.
CNN reports that nearly three years later, Tirop’s husband, Ibrahim Rotich, is free on bail and his case is ongoing. And Mutua’s boyfriend and alleged murderer, Eskinder Hailemaryam Folie, fled the country after the attack and has been a fugitive ever since. I’m not sure about the status of Muthoni’s alleged murderer, Kennedy Nyamu.
Femicide Count Kenya reports that on average, a woman or girl is killed every other day in Kenya, often by a husband, boyfriend, father, or other family member. Data from Kenya’s Bureau of National Statistics confirms that gender-based violence is a major problem in the country.
Athletes are often targeted for their relative wealth. In a Bloomberg documentary released last year, Colm O’Connell, a legendary Irish coach based in Kenya, said, “There are men, if I could use the phrase ‘lurking around,’ and they’re prepared to cash in on somebody else’s efforts and energies. They’re opportunists. They see this as a way of enhancing themselves, as a way of getting on in life themselves. As you become a successful person, you’re an easy target.”
Following Tirop’s murder in 2021, professional runners Joan Chelimo and Viola Cheptoo were among those who came together to create Tirop’s Angels, an organization that aims to help prevent violence against women and girls in Kenya. And on Saturday, they visited Cheptegei’s family to bring them food and show their support. (Side note: I’m not sure how many athletes were wearing these kits this season, but I appreciated seeing Adidas athletes Emmanuel Wanyonyi and Marco Arop wearing uniforms with the Tirop’s Angels logo.)
I don’t know if it will make a difference in Kenya, but I am pleased to see a lot of outrage and attention for Cheptegei’s story online. As a world champion and world record holder, Tirop was a more high-profile athlete, and it was frustrating that her story did not get more attention. But this week, I’ve been seeing headlines about Cheptegei everywhere, and I’ve been heartened to see non-running friends sharing her story as well.
On Friday, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo announced that the city would honor Cheptegei by naming a sports venue after her. And I appreciated that double Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet dedicated her Zurich Diamond League 5,000m race to Cheptegei. Neither of those things will bring her back or even necessarily change anything about the culture in Kenya, but it can’t hurt to know the world is watching.
Cheptegei’s funeral will take place on Saturday, in Uganda.
For further reading: This is a very good New Yorker article about Tirop and Mutua, from April 2023, and this Elle article from July is very well done.
After a big change, Keira D’Amato wins another USATF 20K title
Keira D’Amato made her winning move on a downhill just after mile 10 and gradually pulled away to win last Monday’s USATF 20K Championships, hosted by the New Haven Road Race, in 1:06:25 (5:20/mile). Jess McClain finished second in 1:06:50, and Savannah Berry took third in 1:07:03.
This was D’Amato’s first race since she moved to Park City, Utah, to train at altitude and be coached by Ed Eyestone. “It’s really, really encouraging to come out and have a really strong showing today after the changes I’ve made,” she told USATF TV afterward.
In 2022, D’Amato set an event record in New Haven, running 1:04:29. This time, she took a more conservative approach early on. Her main focus at the moment is getting ready to run the Chicago Marathon on October 13, and this race provided a good test, six weeks out. Eight days after Chicago, she’ll celebrate her 40th birthday.
“There were a lot of ‘old’ jokes at the tech meeting (and) on the starting line,” D’Amato told the Hartford Courant. “They were saying I was one of the oldest runners here. That was on my shoulder (during the race) like, ‘I’ll show them; I’m doing it for the older runners.’”
McClain stayed within striking distance of D’Amato for about 11 miles of the 12.43-mile course. McClain is preparing to run the New York City Marathon on November 3, and she also used her trip east to check out the last half of NYC’s marathon course.
I was particularly impressed by Berry, who is working her way up in the elite running world. After a 12th-place finish at the Olympic Marathon Trials, she held her own here. Annie Frisbie (fourth, 1:07:19), Emma Grace Hurley (fifth, 1:07:29), Lauren Hagans (sixth, 1:07:43), Makena Morley (seventh, 1:08:19), Carrie (Verdon) Ellwood (eighth, 1:08:36), Rachel Smith (ninth, 1:08:45), and Aubrey Frentheway (10th, 1:09:12) rounded out the top 10. (Results)
Twelve years after the fact, Shannon Rowbury learns that she might be an Olympic medalist
Shannon Rowbury was the sixth woman to cross the finish line in the 2012 Olympic 1500m, and last week, she received the news that more than 12 years later, pending appeals, she’s in line to become an Olympic bronze medalist. The Court of Arbitration for Sport announced that after retesting samples from Russia’s Tatyana Tomashova from 2012, she has been banned for 10 years and her results from June 21, 2012 to January 3, 2015, including the 2012 Olympic Games, have been disqualified.
In 2016, Runner’s World and The Independent questioned whether this race was the dirtiest in history. Here are the original results, with the since-disqualified athletes crossed out:
Asli Çakir Alptekin(Türkiye) 4:10.23 (result stripped in 2015)Gamze Bulut(Türkiye) 4:10.40 (stripped in 2017)Maryam Yusuf Jamal (Bahrain) 4:10.74
Tatyana Tomashova(Russia) 4:10.90 (stripped in 2024)Abeba Aregawi (Ethiopia) 4:11.03
Shannon Rowbury (USA) 4:11.26
Natallia Kareiva(Belarus) 4:11.58 (stripped in 2014)Lucia Klocová (Slovakia) 4:12.64
Ekaterina Kostetskaya(Russia) 4:12.90 (stripped in 2014)Lisa Dobriskey (Great Britain) 4:13.02
Laura Weightman (Great Britain) 4:15.60
Hellen Obiri (Kenya) 4:16.57
Morgan Uceny (USA) DNF
Aregawi, who later represented Sweden, tested positive for a banned substance in 2016, but her ban was lifted. At last month’s Olympic Games, she received her reallocated bronze medal, but now she’s in line to become the silver medalist.
Rowbury was on her way to the Galápagos Islands for a vacation when she received the news. She told Adam Kilgore, reporting for The Washington Post, that she began sobbing and shaking when she received the text from her agent.
“If my vacation is going to be interrupted, this is some of the best news I’ve had in many years,” Rowbury told Kilgore. “A lot of tears shed in the past leading up to it, but a lot of excitement. I thought justice would never get served. It feels like some good closure.”
The International Olympic Committee wrote in a statement to The Post that the reallocation of medals is not automatic. Should Rowbury receive the bronze medal, she will become the first American woman to earn an Olympic medal in the 1500m. Jenny Simpson won bronze at the 2016 Games.
Rowbury shared an emotional message with her supporters via Instagram on Wednesday. You can watch the 2012 Olympic 1500m final here. And cases like this one always make me wonder what the 2024 Olympic results will look like 12 years from now.
Catherine Debrunner leads the way with five Paralympic golds
Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner won her fifth gold medal of the Paralympic Games on Sunday, winning the T54 marathon in 1:41:50. (Fortunately the Paralympic marathoners didn’t compete on the same course as the Olympic marathoners did. I can’t imagine wheelchair racers staying safe on some of those hills.) Debrunner also won the T53 400m (51.60) and 800m (1:41.04) and the T54 1500m (3:13.10) and 5,000m (10:43.62). She also earned a silver medal in the T53 100m (15.77 seconds).
Defending T54 marathon champion Madison de Rozario of Australia earned silver in the marathon in 1:46:13 and revealed after the race that on the opening day of the Games, her father passed away. De Rozario was her country’s flag bearer during the opening ceremony, and she learned of her father’s passing later that day. She said she considered going home, but her family encouraged her not to. She also earned a bronze medal in the T54 5,000m.
Morocco’s Fatima Ezzahra El Idrissi, who won silver in the T13 (visual impairment) 1500m last week, came back to dominate the marathon, running a T12 world record of 2:48:36 and winning by 9:42.
Tatyana McFadden won silver in the T54 100m and bronze in the 4x100m universal relay, bringing her total number of Paralympic medals to 21, which means she has now won more Paralympic medals than any other U.S. track & field athlete. (The universal relay is really cool because it combines athletes from different classification categories. You can watch it here.)
Other medals from U.S. track athletes last week: Susannah Scaroni picked up two more medals, earning bronze in both the T54 1500m and marathon. Brittni Mason won silver in the T47 (below elbow or wrist amputation or impairment) 100m and 200m. Taylor Swanson won silver in the T37 (coordination impairment) 100m and joined McFadden in the 4x100m universal relay bronze. Jaleen Roberts earned bronze in the T37 100m, and Eva Houston won bronze in the T34 (coordination impairment) 800m. (All Paralympic T&F results)
Other News and Links
Athing Mu is engaged!
Gracie Hyde, who won five DII national titles while at Adams State this year, has signed with Puma.
NAU’s Maggi Congdon signed an NIL deal with Hoka.
This is a sweet story from Runner’s World’s Sarah Lorge Butler about Jackson Li, the 11-year-old fan who caught Dakotah Lindwurm’s attention with his enthusiastic cheering during the Olympic marathon. He managed to cross paths with all kinds of stars while he was in Paris.
This is a nice article about BYU men’s cross country coach Ed Eyestone, who is now coaching Keira D’Amato, Makena Morley, and Aubrey Frentheway.
I appreciate this brief Q&A with Chinese trail runner Miao Yao, after her OCC win, because so few U.S. outlets cover her much, because of the language barrier.
The Valencia Half Marathon announced last week that Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich, the 10K world record holder, will make her half marathon debut at the October 27 race. There are two American women in the elite field: Emily Durgin and Amanda Vestri, who will also be making her half marathon debut.
Additional Results
In rainy conditions at Sunday’s Great North Run, the 13.1-mile race came down to a sprint finish and Kenya’s Mary Ngugi-Cooper finished on top, running 1:07:40. The next four runners all finished within five seconds, with Ethiopia’s Senbere Teferi (1:07:41) and Megertu Alemu (1:07:42) second and third, Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui fourth (1:07:44), and Great Britain’s Eilish McColgan fifth (1:07:45). (Results)
It also rained on Thursday’s Diamond League meet in Zurich, where Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet made a 5,000m world record attempt. But running a record in tough conditions, when her pacer lasted for less than half of the race, would have been tough. She put forth a valiant effort and won in 14:09.52. In addition to Karissa Schweizer’s fourth-place finish mentioned above, Elise Cranny (14:54.33) and Whittni Morgan (14:54.89) took eighth and ninth in what was a tactical race for much of the field. Mary Moraa earned another 800m victory, running 1:57.08. Great Britain’s Georgia Bell took second (1:57.94), and Addy Wiley earned her highest Diamond League finish yet, taking third in 1:58.16. In her first race since the Olympic Games, Sha’Carri Richardson won the 100m in 10.84 seconds, and Olympic champion Julien Alfred, of Saint Lucia, finished second in 10.88. (Results)
At Sunday’s Continental Tour meet in Zagreb, Croatia, Kenya’s Nelly Chepchirchir won the 800m in a meet record of 1:57.00. Jamaica’s Natoya Goule-Toppin (1:57.43), Ethiopia’s Nigist Getachew (1:57.47), and Sage Hurta-Klecker (1:57.53) all broke 1:58. And Hurta-Klecker took 0.32 seconds off of her PR from 2022. Her On Athletics Club teammate Sintayehu Vissa of Italy won the 1500m in a meet record of 3:58.33. Great Britain’s Katie Snowden (3:59.39) and Australia’s Linden Hall (3:59.72) also broke 4:00. Helen Schlachtenhaufen (sixth in 4:04.79) was the top American, and Olivia Markezich, also of the OAC, finished eighth in a PR of 4:07.43. (Results)
Earlier in the week, Chepchirchir also won the Palio Città della Quercia Rovereto 800m, running 1:57.74. And Hurta-Klecker took second in 1:58.33. Vissa won the 3,000m in 8:40.81. Americans Olivia Markezich (fourth, 8:42.95), Eleanor Fulton (sixth, 8:45.86), and Taylor Werner (seventh, 8:47.20) also had a solid showing. (Results)
Bahrain’s Nelly Jepkosgei won the 800m at Germany’s Volksbank Trier Flutlichtmeeting, running 1:57.69. Fulton took sixth in 2:01.42. (Results)
Great Britain’s Hannah Nuttall won the Copenhagen Athletics Games 5,000m in 15:07.23. Americans Elly Henes (second, 15:08.27), Allie Buchalski (fifth, 15:15.23), Sam Bush (seventh, 15:25.00, a PR), Katrina Coogan (eighth, 15:27.73), and Katie Wasserman (ninth, 15:28.69) were also in the field. Helen Schlachtenhaufen won the 800m in 2:00.26, McKenna Keegan was third (2:00.62), and Anna Camp Bennett was fourth (2:00.81). (Results)
Podcast Highlights
If you enjoy hearing from Olympians who have made dramatic improvements to get where they are today, this was a good week in podcasting. First, you can learn about Canada’s Briana Scott, who didn’t start racing on the track until the pandemic and just competed in the Paris Olympics on Women Run Canada.
The other two, Georgia Bell and Emily Mackay, have better-known stories. On Citius Mag, Bell talked about earning an Olympic bronze medal in the 1500m. And on I’ll Have Another, Mackay discussed running 3:55, making her first Olympic team, and her Olympic experience.
It’s also been a fantastic season for Juliette Whittaker, and it was fun to hear her discuss it on the Ali on the Run Show. It was particularly touching to hear about the sweet note Nia Akins left for Whittaker before she ran in the Olympic 800m final.
Katelyn Tuohy was on C Tolle Run, where she talked about the hamstring injury she was dealing with this year as a result of running through pain during last year’s cross country season. And it was interesting to hear her discuss the fact that she’s known well enough in and around her hometown in New York that it can sometimes be hard for her to go places without being recognized.
Parker Valby was on The Running Effect and I like how big she’s dreaming. Of her Olympic finish, she said: “I can’t really be that mad with it, but obviously I’m mad with it. Just to make it to the Olympics was a dream come true…The whole entire experience was just so awesome and to be there with my entire team was even cooler… I’m 11th in the world so it was a good experience and only up from here. Obviously I’ll be shooting for a medal in LA.” As far as the future, she said, “I have some things in the works so stay tuned for that.” But when asked where she was as far as signing a contract, she just said, “No comment.”
Dakotah Lindwurm told her story well on Women’s Running Stories. And on Nobody Asked Us with Des and Kara, Des Linden, who has joked about Lindwurm being her nemesis before, said that trying to beat Lindwurm with her age-graded performance at the New York City Marathon might help fire her up in training.
Katie Schide recapped her record-setting run at UTMB on The Freetrail Podcast. And I loved Dani Moreno’s analysis of OCC on The Sub Hub Podcast; she had a really interesting perspective having finished sixth in the race.
Additional Episodes: Mary Denholm on For the Long Run | Writer Erin Strout on Lactic Acid with Dom and Laura | NCAA DIII 5,000m champion Faith Duncan talked balancing collegiate running and triathlon on D3 Glory Days | Sara and Kiki Vaughn were on I’ll Have Another before Kiki headed off to college at NAU
This has been a long one, so I’ll just say thanks to everyone who helps keep Fast Women going with your support via Venmo and/or Patreon, and I hope you all have a great week.
Alison