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Fast Women: Val Constien leads thrilling Trials steeplechase
Courtney Wayment and Marisa Howard become Olympians.
Issue 300, sponsored by Brooks
During the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials, I’m sending out newsletters more frequently, so I can cover all the action in a timely manner. Fast Women will return to its regular once-a-week schedule on Monday.
Val Constien sets a Trials record, while the first nine finishers run personal bests
When just about every athlete in a race thinks they have a legitimate shot at making an Olympic team, magical things can happen. And there was definitely magic in the air on Thursday night during the Olympic Trials at Hayward Field, where the steeplechase finalists rewrote the U.S. all-time list, claiming five of the top 10 spots, and nine of the top 18.
Race winner Val Constien ran an incredible 11-second personal best, set an Olympic Trials record of 9:03.22, and moved to third all-time in the U.S. After finishing fourth at the 2021 Trials Courtney Wayment took second this time out, running a three-second personal best of 9:06.50 (No. 4 U.S. all-time). And Marisa Howard had the race of her life, PRing by 15 seconds and finishing third in 9:07.14 (No. 5 U.S. all-time).
Annie Rodenfels can take some of the credit for the race going quickly. She shot out to an early lead, going through 1K in a blistering 3:00.53. Olivia Markezich and Wayment, who were leading the chase pack, didn’t go with her—Wayment later said that having international experience, she knew going out at that pace wasn’t going to be what worked best for her.
But Rodenfels, who isn’t confident going over the barriers in a pack, felt more comfortable being up front and she didn’t didn’t want to get in anyone’s way. “I’m not trying to ruin other people’s races,” she said afterward. I wasn’t surprised to see her up front, because she often leads her steeple races, but I was surprised to see her go through 1K not that far off of American record pace.
As Rodenfels stutter stepped her way up to the barriers, which included a little side step move at times, many people, including the NBC commentators, expressed their surprise at her unusual technique. NBC even did a little slow-motion replay mid-race. But anyone who was surprised just hasn’t seen or noticed her steepling before (she did the same thing in the prelims).
The barriers are a known challenge for her. On this episode of D3 Glory Days (7:30 mark) back in May, she talked about hiring a sports psychologist specifically to help her with the steeplechase, especially because her last coach was really negative about her prospects in the event, which made her really anxious and made her barriers worse. She knows and she’s working on it. And though the pack reeled her in around 1800m into the 3,000m race, Rodenfels hung on admirably and finished eighth in 9:22.66, a 2.82-second PR.
Wayment led the charge late in the race, until Howard surged into the lead with just over one lap remaining. Markezich, Constien, and Wayment followed close behind, with a small gap back to Gabbi Jennings. There were four or five runners fighting for three spots, and any time a steeplechase comes down to a sprint, you know there might be drama, because sprinting and jumping at the same time is just tough.
Constien made her move with 350m to go, and it was quickly apparent she would win the race, as long as she stayed on her feet. (She ran an impressive 65-second final lap.) Over the last water barrier, Markezich led Howard and Wayment, but an awkward water jump dropped Markezich to the back of the three-woman pack. I still thought she was going to claw her way back, because she’s known for her strong kick, but a couple steps after clearing the last barrier Markezich staggered and fell on her stomach. Wayment passed Howard coming off the final barrier, and they went 2–3 behind Constien.
Jennings moved into fourth (9:12.08, No. 7 U.S. all-time), Kaylee Mitchell took fifth (9:14.05, No. 10 U.S. all-time), and Markezich got up and crossed the line in sixth (9:14.87 (No. 11 U.S. all-time).
I wasn’t surprised this race was a quick one; people always step up in Trials years, especially when things are more wide open than usual, but 9:03.22—wow. Especially when you take into account the year Constien has had. A week after signing her first pro deal, she tore her ACL when she landed a water jump awkwardly during her Diamond League debut in Doha. On May 23, 2023, she underwent bilateral ACL reconstruction. She wasn’t able to run until September, and she didn’t start workouts until December. (If you’re interested in more detail, she chronicled her recovery on her YouTube channel.)
After the race, Constien said she was very patient with her recovery. “I didn’t think I was going to be here, to be perfectly honest. I was like, ‘Well, it’s a bummer I’m going to miss 2024, but at least I’ll be healthy for 2025,’” she said. “So I think taking that pressure off and just really focusing on trying to be healthy and doing everything right was how I got to this point. I wasn’t rushing to get back into it, I was giving myself time, and it all just came together really well.”
Constien made her return to the steeple at the Sound Running Track Fest on May 11, where she was thrilled to run 9:27.22 and qualify for the Olympic Trials. It wasn’t until the Prefontaine Classic two weeks later, where she ran 9:14.29, a PR, and was the top American, that she realized she wasn’t just going to participate in the Trials, she could contend for a spot on the team as well.
Constien still works full time for Stryd, and she said after the race that she considers running to be her side hustle, which takes some of the pressure off. She’ll need some time off for a trip to Paris this summer, where I’m excited to see how she fares against the rest of the world. (She is now the third-fastest runner in the world this year, so far.)
All three members of the 2021 U.S. Olympic steeplechase squad were coming back from injury this season, something that isn’t easy to do given how hard the steeple can be on one’s body. Emma Coburn broke her ankle in her return, and before she could race a steeple, Courtney Frerichs tore her ACL and meniscus practicing the water jump in training. Their experiences underline how remarkable Constien’s success is.
Wayment finished fourth at the Trials in 2021, and it’s always good to see someone go from just missing out to becoming an Olympian. Having run at the World Championships in 2022 and 2023, she’ll go into the Games with some solid experience, too. After the prelims, Wayment said that she has dealt with a lot of personal struggles over the past year, and I imagine that if we knew more, we’d be all the more impressed with what she accomplished on Thursday night. After the race, she shared a sweet anecdote about her coach, Diljeet Taylor.
There are a lot of great stories in this race, but to me, Howard’s is the best of them all. I was not surprised to see her up near the front of the pack. She always races aggressively and puts up a good fight. But I’ll admit that with a lap to go, I expected that she would get outkicked and finish fourth or fifth, because that’s how things have historically gone. Howard finished fifth at the U.S. championships in 2023, 2021, and 2019. And in 2017, she took sixth. She was the veteran in this field, so I wasn’t necessarily expecting a big breakthrough now.
Her personal best going into Thursday was 9:22.69, but her best time this season, before the prelims, was a 9:31.38 at the Payton Jordan Invitational, where she finished third behind Lexy Halladay-Lowry and Wayment. When asked how she made such a big jump this season, she said that over the last few weeks, she got off of social media, because she was “playing the comparison game,” and doing so helped her with the mental side of racing.
“I knew I had a big one in me,” she said. “It was just a matter of putting it together on the day, and I’m very thankful that it was the day to qualify for the Olympics.”
Howard, 31, gets some support from Tracksmith, but she has not had a major sponsor since 2017. She worked as a school nurse until 2020, and now she’s a stay-at-home mom to her 2-year-old son, Kai. Her husband is a teacher, and the trio gets by with just his salary. She runs for Idaho Afoot and has been coached by Pat McCurry, who recently took over as the head coach at Boise State, since 2016.
She occasionally trains with Great Britain’s Lizzie Bird, who is based in Boulder and is also coached by McCurry. When Howard was coming back after giving birth, Bird ran a 9:07.87 steeplechase, which gave Howard the confidence that she could do something like that, too. She thinks consistency has been the biggest factor in her improvement—she hasn’t had a major injury since 2018. But she also probably had a faster time in her all along, because she hasn’t had that many opportunities to run in high-level steeplechase races.
Prior to Thursday's race, Howard said she watched home birth videos to get her mind off of track. “Apparently it works,” she said.
Jennings, the fourth-place finisher, took 5.95 seconds off of her PR and Mitchell, in fifth, improved by 6.95 seconds. She has made nice progress since signing with the Bowerman Track Club in March, including lowering her steeple time by 15 seconds so far this year. This is a good post-race article about Mitchell, and it points out that she started her collegiate career in Division II, at Seattle Pacific, before transferring to Oregon State. At the 2021 Olympic Trials, she finished 32nd out of 32 finishers, running 10:26.69. What a difference three years can make.
My heart broke for Markezich when she hit the track, but this was her first pro race, and she’s going to have a very bright future in the sport. She was clearly devastated to miss out on the Olympic team, but she carried herself with such poise in her post-race interview. She said she had never fallen while steepling before, “so this is a tough meet to do it at for the first time,” she said. But she said her legs just gave out on her because she was attempting to do something she had never done before. Though she lost a lot of time in the fall, she still PRed by 2.49 seconds.
And fan favorite Allie Ostrander finished seventh in 9:21.82, taking 2.88 seconds off of her PR. She revealed after the race that two weeks ago, she tested positive for Covid and wasn’t sure she’d be able to race in Eugene. But she said it ended up not impacting her too much. She did a good post-race interview and said she’s not done trying to make Olympic teams. On Instagram, she called the race her best failure yet. I loved seeing how thrilled she was for Howard, a fellow Boise State alum, after the race. They two didn’t overlap on the team, but Howard was a volunteer assistant coach Ostrander’s first year there.
Last year’s U.S. champion, Krissy Gear, stepped off the track with three laps remaining. She said in an Instagram post that nothing happened that forced her to do so. “I just quit,” she wrote. “I’ll be shutting my year down to get (my) mind and body right.” I hope Gear can get all of the support she needs right now. She is such a great cheerleader for many of the other athletes in the sport, and I think back to last year when kids were asking her for her autograph after she won the U.S. title. She asked them to sign her leg in exchange, so they would know they were special, too. (Steeplechase highlights | Olympic Trials results)
Thanks to Brooks for sponsoring Fast Women this month
The in-person event is sold out, but no matter where you are, you can watch a live recording of Nobody Asked Us with Des and Kara on Saturday, via RunnerSpace. The event begins at 10:15 a.m. PT/1:15 p.m. ET.
If you’re in Eugene, don’t miss the opportunity to go for a run with a whole bunch of Brooks' best distance runners on Sunday morning. Attendees will have the opportunity to win a pair of Hyperion Max 2s. I’m testing them out and I love how well they fit my feet, as well as how responsive they are. Some super shoes I’ve worn make me feel a little unstable, and I appreciate that these do not. If you’re looking for a shoe that will help you run fast in training, I highly recommend checking them out.
Quick thoughts on the 1500m
It’s hard to watch anyone get eliminated in the rounds, but I was particularly sorry to see Sadie Engelhardt go. The 17-year-old, who just finished her junior year of high school, finished 38th in 4:19.66, well off of her best time. She said afterwards that it has been a long season (she has raced a lot, and it has been all over the country) and she was a bit intimidated by the competition. It was incredible she made it to the starting line at all; she qualified by running 4:08.86 and she’s now one of the fastest U.S. high schoolers ever. Her Trials experience will serve her well in the future.
Friday night’s 1500m semifinals were intense, with 10 athletes running 4:01–4:02. Sunday’s final is going to be incredible. I was most impressed by NAU’s Maggi Congdon, who lowered her PR by five seconds, from 4:07.81 to 4:02.79, and qualified for the final.
After a frustrating experience in the 800m, Sage Hurta-Klecker decided to run the 1500m as well. She made it to the semis, where she ran a 4:08.07 and did not advance.
Other News
This is a really interesting article from Sarah Lorge Butler about why Parker Valby is still racing in her University of Florida uniform. Lorge Butler reports that Valby’s NIL deal with Nike gives the company right of first refusal when it comes to signing her, and that these types of clauses are increasingly common. It makes me wonder if Valby is hoping to sign with a company that is not Nike, or if something else is holding things up. (Runner’s World)
Sports Illustrated reported earlier today that Athing Mu tore her hamstring in May. She had multiple PRP injections and used a mobility scooter or crutches to get around. Her coach and agent report that her workouts were all in the pool until June 16, and she didn’t start doing a limited amount of running until the week before the Trials. There’s a lot I could say about that article, I don’t agree with most of it, but I’m short on time. It includes some interesting details, though, and I hope she can get healthy soon.
I enjoyed this additional post-race recap from Kate Grace, who is proud of herself for learning to kick at the end of an 800m.
It was good to hear from Nia Akins on this Citius Mag podcast episode (which was also on YouTube). Allie Wilson and Juliette and Bella Whittaker were featured as well, but I haven’t had time to listen yet, because I am already spending practically every waking hour working right now.
This is a nice pre-Trials news segment on Marisa Howard.
I mentioned in the last issue of this newsletter that coaches Mark Wetmore and Heather Burroughs are out at the University of Colorado. After her win, Constien praised them. “I think it’s really a shame, because I think that they’re fantastic coaches,” she said. “I’m still coached by them and I wouldn’t be here without them. They’ve coached me for the past 10 years and I have nothing but wonderful things to say about them. They will continue to coach me throughout the rest of this year, but if Mark wants to retire, I completely understand.”
Thanks again to Brooks for making this Olympic Trials coverage possible. And to Gregorio Denny for the fantastic photos he’s taking for Fast Women in Eugene. I’m also grateful to those of you who help keep Fast Women going with your support on Venmo and Patreon.
Alison
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