Fast Women: Tsegay, Mu end the season with a bang
Fast Women: Tsegay, Mu end the season with a bang
Betsy Saina tops a strong field at the Sydney Marathon.
Issue 257, sponsored by New Balance
Gudaf Tsegay runs a 5,000m world record
Though she won the 10,000m at the world championships, Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay wasn’t happy with her performance in the 5,000m, where she faded to 13th. And that helped fuel her to a 5,000m world record of 14:00.21 at the Diamond League final on Sunday in Eugene, Oregon.
Tsegay said she was dealing with a minor leg injury at worlds, but she bounced back in a big way, taking five seconds off the world record Faith Kipyegon set earlier this season and coming so close to being the first woman to dip under 14:00. Helped by pacers early on, and pace lights later, Tsegay ran an even race, with kilometer splits of 2:48.8, 2:47.7, 2:49.0, 2:50.4, and 2:43.31.
Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet hung with Tsegay through 4,000m, but dropped off over the final kilometer. At the end, it was just Tsegay versus the pace lights (which didn’t stand a chance), urged on by the roar of the Hayward Field crowd. Chebet hung on well and took second in 14:05.92, the third-fastest time ever in this event, and also the third-fastest anyone has run this season. As incredible as Tsegay’s run was, I won’t be surprised if her record doesn’t last for long, given that there are multiple women running in a similar range right now.
Sinclaire Johnson and Elise Cranny served as rabbits in the race, and the two Americans who went all the way, Alicia Monson (14:45.98) and Weini Kelati (15:25.62) finished seventh and eighth, respectively.
Athing Mu ends on a high note
Surprise! Athing Mu’s season wasn’t over after all. After earning a bronze medal in the 800m at the world championships, Mu talked about her plans to go on vacation, but shortly after, she changed her mind (which most people didn’t know, until the Diamond League start lists came out on Tuesday). Mu told reporters after Sunday’s race that she and her team wanted to end the season on a more positive note. And she did.
At Worlds, Mu went out hard, hitting halfway in 56.01 seconds, and Kenya’s Mary Moraa and Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson ran her down at the end. Yesterday in Eugene, Mu seemed determined not to lead the race, and it paid off. She ran on Hodgkinson’s shoulder as they went through 400m in 57.2 seconds, and 600 in 1:26.4, and then in the final stretch, Mu edged away from Hodgkinson to win, 1:54.97 to 1:55.19. Both women set national records, as did Jamaica’s Natoya Goule, who finished third in 1:55.96. Mu ran an impressively even race, covering the second lap in 57.77 seconds.
Moraa, who had been so consistent all season, winning every 800m she raced, had an uncharacteristic off day and took fourth in 1:57.42.
The best part of Mu’s victory was seeing her joy afterward. She told reporters that she runs her best when she’s genuinely happy. “I just wasn’t genuinely happy or joyful at Worlds,” she said. But after some post-Worlds reflection and taking a step back, she’s feeling much better. Ending the season with a win certainly doesn’t hurt. And now she’s going on vacation.
Sage Hurta-Klecker, the other American in the race, ran her fastest time since July and finished eighth in 1:59.65.
Faith Kipyegon only really had someone to chase for about 450m of the 1500m, because pacer Laurie Barton gapped the field before exiting the race. (I imagine Barton was doing exactly what she was supposed to do.) And that makes Kipyegon’s 3:50.72, the fifth-fastest time ever run, and her third-fastest, all the more impressive. Kipyegon’s win capped off a track season that included three world records (1500m, mile, 5,000m) and two world titles (1500m, 5000m). And she’s not done yet. Kipyegon is planning to represent Kenya at the inaugural World Athletics Road Running Championships on October 1.
Behind Kipyegon, eight more women broke 4:00. Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji finished second in a personal best of 3:53.93, which makes her the 10th-fastest woman of all time. And Scotland’s Laura Muir continued a strong streak of performances, finishing third in 3:55.16. Linden Hall, in fifth, set an Australian and Oceanian record of 3:56.92. The two Americans in the field, Cory McGee (4:01.28) and Sinclaire Johnson (4:03.21) finished 10th and 12th, respectively. (1500m replay)
In the steeplechase, world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech challenged world champion Winfred Mutile Yavi on the final water jump, but that really got Yavi going, and she dug deep to win in 8:50.66, the second-fastest time ever run. Only Kenya’s Chepkoech, who finished a close second in 8:51.67, has run faster. Yavi broke the Bahraini record, previously held by Ruth Chebet, who later served a four-year doping ban. Courtney Wayment, the lone American in the field, finished ninth in 9:20.69. (3,000m highlights)
Chase Ealey produced one of the big moments of the meet, winning the shot put with an American record of 20.76m (68 feet, 1.5 inches). You can read more about her performance here and watch her winning effort here.
All of the Nike athletes at the meet wore green and yellow—Oregon Duck colors. And while Nike certainly sponsors a lot of athletes, it highlighted how Nike-heavy some of the events at the meet were. I’m curious if the meet ended up that way partially because athletes from other brands had more freedom to end their seasons early, while some Nike athletes might have felt more pressure to show up for this one. It felt awfully lopsided considering it was the Diamond League final, not just the Prefontaine Classic.
The women’s steeplechase included only two non-Nike athletes, and even the person who runs NBC Olympics’ Twitter/X account couldn’t help but comment. And it might have hit peak silliness when Mu, Hodgkinson, and Moraa showed up for the 800m in the same uniform, more or less. I think it’s unfortunate in general that so many people in the sport wear the same uniforms. Uniforms help athletes be more recognizable from a distance, and they help us decide who to root for. Some of the races looked like a Team Nike intrasquad meet, rather than rivals from different countries going head to head.
While the American women produced some excellent performances on the track this year, other than Mu’s 800m, they didn’t have a particularly strong presence or showing in the Diamond League final. There are many good reasons for that, so that’s not a knock on anyone, but I think they want more from themselves, too. I hope they can collectively regroup and more of them will be able to run their best all the way through the season next year. (Results)
Thanks to New Balance for supporting Fast Women
I’ve been wearing New Balance shoes for a couple of years now, and I don’t know where I’d be without them. Over time, I’ve found that I need a wider shoe, and I appreciate that New Balance has many options for runners with a range of foot widths.
Whether running or just walking around, I spend most of my time in the Fresh Foam X 880v13. It’s a great shoe for easy- to moderate-pace miles. It’s neutral, very comfortable, and has a medium level of cushioning. (Before super shoes, I would have said it was highly cushioned.) The next time you’re looking for a new trainer, I highly recommend the 880s.
And when I’m looking for a training shoe with a lot more bounce, I’m a fan of the FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v2, a very fun carbon-plated trainer.
Betsy Saina wins the Sydney Marathon
In her second marathon since becoming a U.S. citizen and a mother, Betsy Saina outran a strong field to win Sunday’s Sydney Marathon in 2:26:47. She held off a late charge from Ethiopia’s Rahma Tusa to win by six seconds.
Despite having watched most of the race coverage, I can’t tell you much about how the race played out. As is often the case, the women’s race didn’t get a lot of air time. A good-sized pack went through halfway in 1:14:23. The pack stayed together through 30K (1:46:22), but just past the two-hour mark, we got a shot of Kenya’s Angela Tanui and Saina, who had broken away, and it looked like Tanui was starting to gap Saina slightly.
But the next time we saw the women’s race, more than 10 minutes later, Saina had opened up a lead, which she held to the finish. She had to pick up the pace in the final kilometer to hold off a fast-closing Tusa. Kenya’s Gladys Chesir took third (2:28:41), and Tanui finished fourth in 2:28:52.
Saina’s winning time was nothing eye-opening, but the conditions were warm. I don’t know what the official temperature was, but my phone said 75 degrees in the closing stages. The course is apparently hilly and includes a number of sharp turns. Saina ran five minutes faster in Tokyo in March, but she beat a strong field here. Tanui is a 2:17:57 marathoner, and 10th-place finisher Judith Jeptum Korir of Kenya has run 2:18:20 and was last year’s world championships silver medalist in this event. And there were several other sub-2:22 marathoners in the field. Saina negative split the race, running the second half about two minutes faster, in 1:12:24.
Trials of Miles did a fan poll a couple of weeks ago. I’m not sure what the actual question was—who is going to win the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials? But somehow Saina, despite being a poll option, didn’t end up in the top 10. While no one is a shoo-in to win or make the team, all the poll did was make me think that American distance running fans, at least the ones who voted in that poll, aren’t very well informed about Saina. (I like to think that Fast Women readers would do better!)
Saina, 35, was an NCAA champion for Iowa State, and she initially went on to run internationally for Kenya. At the 2016 Olympic Games, she finished fifth in the 10,000m in 30:07.78. She became a U.S. citizen and was eligible to start representing the U.S. in June 2021, but she was pregnant at the time. Her son, Kalya, arrived in December 2021. (Earlier this week, she said on social media that leaving him behind for races is harder than the race itself.)
Since returning to racing, Saina finished fifth at the Tokyo Marathon in March, running a PR of 2:21:40. And in May, she held off Keira D’Amato to win the USATF 25K title. Assuming she’s healthy, Saina should absolutely be a factor at the U.S. Trials in February. And on Sunday, she showed that she knows how to run a smart marathon in warm conditions. For more on Saina’s story, she was on the C Tolle Run and Keeping Track podcasts earlier this year. (Race replay | Results)
Other News and Links
Former pro runner Daniel Winn’s new movie, Limits, is targeted toward a pretty specific audience, but it might be my new favorite running movie. It’s a mockumentary that follows somewhat fictional character “Dan Winn” as he pursues a professional running contract. It includes brief appearances from Sinclaire Johnson, Helen Schlachtenhaufen, Nikki Hiltz, and Eleanor Fulton. And I thought Fulton’s quote early in the film summed it up pretty well: “When I came out of college, I thought that pro running was going to be a little bit more glam than it ended up being. It was...not at all.” I was kind of hoping it would end with Winn signing a gear-only contract and being happy with it, though.
The mental health app that BYU coach Diljeet Taylor was involved with has officially launched. (Runner’s World) It’s called Status Strong, and it’s a place for people to do daily mental health check-ins. Taylor is using it with the teams she coaches, but it could also be used in other ways, like by parents who are concerned about their kids’ mental health.
She has yet to run her first college race, but Arkansas first year Shawnti Jackson announced last week that she has signed an NIL deal with Brooks. Among other accolades, Jackson holds the U.S. high school 100m record of 10.89 seconds. She’s the first collegiate athlete to sign a big NIL deal with Brooks.
I thought this was a nice pre-Sydney Marathon piece on Sinead Diver, who came back from injuries to finish eighth in 2:31:27 and win the Australian title. Diver said that she thinks her age, 46, is the least interesting part of her story. I still can’t help but think it’s interesting, but she wishes more people would focus on the fact that she carved her own path in the sport (which is also interesting).
The inaugural World Athletics Road Running Championships will take place October 1 in Riga, Latvia, and USATF announced the U.S. rosters last week. Addy Wiley and Helen Schlachtenhaufen will run the mile, Weini Kelati and Fiona O’Keeffe will race the 5K, and Sara Hall, Sarah (Pagano) Buchanan, Molly Grabill, and Amber Zimmerman will be the U.S. representatives in the half marathon. Other countries’ entrants are listed here, with final start lists still to come.
I was interested to see that Arkansas grad Lauren Gregory, who signed with Nike, will be training with Northwoods Athletics, Ben True’s New Hampshire/Vermont based group. Gregory is the first woman to join the team.
Syracuse graduate Amanda Vestri, who I expect will excel at the long distances, has signed with ZAP Endurance.
Scott Cacciola wrote a piece for The New York Times (gift link) about why some pro runners, including Heather MacLean, don’t use activity trackers or GPS watches. The whole article just makes me want to start a sentence with, “Back in my day…”
Professional wheelchair racer Jenna Fesemyer, who is sponsored by Oiselle, wrote about coming back after dealing with overtraining syndrome and relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S).
It’s sponsored content, but I appreciate that Under Armour used their money to share the story of Mission Run Baltimore Distance’s head women’s coach, Lara Rogers. (Outside)
Mary Albl wrote a nice profile of Michigan high school runner Jessica Jazwinski. If that last name sounds familiar to longtime fans, her mother, Katie (Clifford) Jazwinski, was a national class runner.
There will be an opportunity for U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifiers to check out the race course in Orlando on December 3, the last day of the USATF annual meeting. Only qualifiers are invited, and they’ll get a police escort as they run the eight-mile loop.
After being called the Eastbay Cross Country Championships in 2021 and the Champs Sports Cross Country Championships 2022, the high school cross country national championship held in December in San Diego has thankfully returned to the name it had since 1993—the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships. HOKA will be the race’s presenting sponsor. And I was interested to see on the event’s website that after taking place at New York’s Van Cortlandt Park for many years, the Northeast regional will take place at a yet-to-be-disclosed location in the Greater Boston area.
Additional Results
Kenya’s Irine Cheptai won the Copenhagen Half Marathon in a quick 1:05:53. (Results)
Erika Kemp had a strong run at the Philadelphia Distance Run, winning the half marathon in 1:10:32. She finished 36 seconds ahead of runner-up Catherine Syokau of Kenya. Fiona O’Keeffe finished third (1:11:11, which has to be a lucky time, right?) and qualified for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. O’Keeffe ran an eye-opening 1:07:42 in her half marathon debut in 2022, but this was the first time she has surpassed the qualifying time (1:12:00) within the qualifying window. Fifth-place finisher Marybeth Chelanga ran 1:12:07, with a net time one second faster, and unfortunately missed qualifying for the Trials by six seconds. (Results)
Sophia Laukli, who won Sierre-Zinal last month, earned her second Golden Trail World Series race in a row, taking the Pikes Peak Ascent in 2:35:54. (Results)
It was great to see that Abbey Cooper, who is seven months postpartum, has returned to racing. She finished third at Appalachian State University’s Covered Bridge Open, running the 5K course in 16:59.9. Florida State’s Alyson Churchill won the race in 16:08.3. (Results)
Jennifer Pesce, 43, was the first woman across the line at the USATF Masters 12K Championships, hosted by New Jersey’s By Hook or By Crook 12K. She finished in 44:31, and Perry Shoemaker, winner of the 50–54 age group, took second overall only eight seconds back. Nora Cary, 68, topped the age-graded results, with a time of 52:33. (Results)
The World Masters Mountain Running Championships took place over the weekend, and you can check out the results here.
Podcast Highlights
It was fun to hear from both Courtney Wayment and Lindsay Flanagan on the Ali on the Run Show. Even if you listened to the two episodes I linked to last week with Flanagan, host Ali Feller with Flanagan is still entertaining.
Susannah Scaroni was great on Set the Pace, New York Road Runners’ new podcast. She told her story in greater depth than I’ve heard anywhere else, and I liked hearing the history of how the University of Illinois became the hub for U.S. wheelchair racing.
Tristin Van Ord recapped her fourth-place finish at the USATF 20K Championships on Women’s Running Stories, and I appreciated her openness about her struggles with OCD.
The latest episode of Nobody Asked Us was good, and I agreed with what hosts Des Linden and Kara Goucher had to say about traditional media versus new media and the importance of both.
Additional Episodes: Emily Durgin on C Tolle Run | Deena Kastor live at the 2022 Chicago Marathon, on I’ll Have Another | NCAA Indoor mile champion Olivia Howell on The Running Effect
Upcoming
The World Marathon Majors fall season kicks off on Sunday with the Berlin Marathon. The wheelchair race begins at 2:57 a.m. ET and the runners start at 3:15 a.m. The race’s list of international broadcasters doesn’t include the U.S., but it looks like it’ll be on FloTrack.
The field for Saturday’s USATF 10K Championships looks pretty small so far, but it includes Ednah Kurgat and Weini Kelati, and the race will be streamed live on USATF TV starting at 8:20 a.m. ET.
Thanks again to New Balance, as well as all of you who support this newsletter via Patreon and Venmo. I hope you have a good week!
Alison
My husband and I hated the Nike uniform they were all wearing. Honestly we felt like it kind of backfired because then we were just looking at and talking about all the athletes that didn’t have the Nike uniform on. 🤣