Category Archives: Running

Thursday

Women’s 3000 Steeple

My prediction:

1. Emma Coburn
2. Courtney Frerichs
3. Leah Falland
4. Mel Lawrence
5. Grayson Murphy

Results:

1. Emma Coburn (9:09.41)
2. Courtney Frerichs (9:11.79)
3. Val Constien (9:18.34)
4. Courtney Wayment (9:23.09)
5. Marisa Howard (9:24.74)

This race started at 11:47 p.m. on Thursday night, so I had to catch the recording the next morning. I was too anxious to wait until I could watch the race, so I checked the results in the morning and was relieved to see the usual top 2 made it. A quick perusal of Twitter told me this was a heart breaker for Leah Falland, so I knew I was in for some drama.

Honestly, if I hadn’t seen the results ahead of time, I would have been super nervous for the way Emma Coburn ran the race. Instead of going to the front, she hung out mid-pack for more than half the race! The commentators speculated she was practicing racing tactics since she so often leads US races, but I didn’t feel calm until I saw her jump to the front and eventually overtake Frerichs. Again, I had seen the results already!

Leah Falland was running a strong race and was sitting in third when she tripped and fell around 750 to go. It’s unclear to me if she tripped coming off that barrier or not, but she got back up and was back in contention pretty quickly.

A big piece of advice among commentators has been to not panic if you trip and try to immediately make up the ground you lost. But when you’re already in “the squeeze” of a race and heading into the kick, you don’t have time to just ease back into the pack; you have to go now.

And Leah did! She looked like she was going to be able to hold off the competition to make the team until the final water barrier where it looked like she just ran out of gas. Ultimately she was passed by 5-6 runners over the final 150, and it was Val Constien who nabbed the final spot to Tokyo. If you want to learn more about Val, check out this episode of the Citius Mag podcast.

Saturday

Women’s 10,000

My prediction:

1. Sara Hall
2. Elise Cranny
3. Emily Infeld
4. Karissa Schweizer
5. Emily Sisson

Results:

1. Emily Sisson (31:03.82)
2. Karissa Schweizer (31:16.52)
3. Alicia Monson (31:18.55)
4. Elise Cranny (31:35.22)
5. Rachel Schneider (31:42.92)

What was I thinking not picking Emily Sisson to make the team?

I also got so much wrong about how this race would play out. Even with moving the race to 10:00 a.m. Pacific, it was still 90 degrees and humid, so I assumed the race would be slow, but they went out at 5:07-10 pace. Then Sisson took the lead after 5 laps, never looked back, and ran a Trials record.

Sisson split 15:49/15:14 for the halves of the race and dropped down to 74s before further dropping down to 71-72 for the last 2k and a sub-70 last lap.

There were certainly women who tried to go with her! Karissa and Elise and Alicia were always in the pack, and Rachel Schneider, Sara Hall, and Emily Infeld held on for a long time as well. Elise even made a move to try to take the lead from Sisson late in the race but ultimately was unable to do so and dropped to 4th in the final laps.

Karissa had the fastest kick of the race to overtake Alicia Monson for 2nd place (so fast that they camera nearly missed her finish) to earn the coveted honor of making both the 5000 and 10,000 team. And Alicia Monson literally left it all on the track as she had to be hospitalized overnight after suffering heat exhaustion and hypothermia from the race.

Sunday

Women’s 400H

My prediction:

1. Sydney McLaughlin
2. Dalilah Muhammad
3. Shamier Little

Results:

1. Sydney McLaughlin (51.90 WORLD RECORD!!!)
2. Dalilah Muhammad (52.42)
3. Anna Cockrell (53.70)

What a race to start the night! After the races got postponed due to the extreme heat, I went to bed around 9:15 p.m. and set my alarm for 12:15 a.m. to get up to watch these races. It was 100% worth it.

Dalilah Muhammad took the race out fast with Sydney just behind her, but they were even by the 8th hurdle, and Sydney turned on the jets down the home straight and over the last 2 hurdles to take the win and set a new world record. 51.90 is fast for a 400 without hurdles, and Sydney ran it with 10 hurdles along the way!

Unfortunately Shamier Little clipped the 8th hurdle and finished one spot out of the team. But Anna Cockrell’s post race interview was really touching, and I’m pumped for her.

Women’s 800

My prediction:

1. Athing Mu
2. Ajee Wilson
3. Kate Grace
4. Allie Wilson
5. Chanelle Price

Results:

1. Athing Mu (1:56.07)
2. Raevyn Rogers (1:57.66)
3. Ajee Wilson (1:58.39)
4. Michaela Meyer (1:58.55)
5. Chanelle Price (1:58.73)

Wowza the killer performances continued with the 800. Athing Mu showed a ton of composure after getting tripped up about 150 meters into the race, and she comfortably took the lead on the bell lap and continued to put more separation between herself and the pack until she just jetted away from everyone over the last 100 meters. I didn’t even know what was happening in the race for third because the chase pack couldn’t fit in the same frame as Mu.

The race for 2nd and 3rd was pretty much anybody’s with 200 to go. Kate Grace maneuvered into good position, and I was honestly really worried about Ajee Wilson until the split second before I saw her cross the line.

Raevyn Rogers ran out of her mind over the last 100 to solidify her spot on the team and will be returning to the Olympics again.

Men’s 1500

My prediction:

1. Matthew Centrowitz
2. Yared Nuguse
3. Craig Engels
4. Cole Hocker
5. Josh Thompson

Results:

1. Cole Hocker (3:35.28)
2. Matthew Centrowitz (3:35.34)
3. Yared Nuguse (3:36.19)
4. Craig Engels (3:36.69)
5. Henry Wynne (3:37.70)

DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE!

(not an original thought, stolen from multiple people on Twitter)

This race really lived up to the hype. It was such a typical championship 1500 with a fast start where they immediately slam on the brakes after about 100 meters and then run a sleepy pace for another 700 meters before the real race starts.

Centro took the lead at the bell lap, but the pack was still pretty crowded, and he didn’t have much separation. Even at 200 to go, it seemed like anybody’s race for the top 3 spots, and no one looked like they were running all out. Cole Hocker and Craig Engels were both boxed in, riding the rail, and Yared Nuguse had a perfect position on the outside.

Then with about 130 to go, a lane opened up between Hocker and Nuguse, and Hocker slipped through the space to the outside and started chasing down Centro, pulling even with him (this is where I am silent screaming at the TV because it is nearly 1 a.m. and everyone is asleep), and eventually getting a nose ahead for the win.

Yared Nuguse nabbed third place with a stellar kick of his own, and Craig Engels got another disappointing fourth place finish.

Even though Cole Hocker doesn’t have the Olympic Standard, running 3:35 again and winning this race pretty much guarantees that his World Ranking will be good enough to put him on the Olympic Team. He’ll find out for sure this week.

Saturday night finished with the Men’s 200 which I didn’t make any predictions for, but Noah Lyles won, and it was exciting! It was honestly the best 40 minutes of track ever.

Best Commercials

I’m obsessed with the Tracksmith commercials and highly recommend you watch them here and here. What I really love is the narration, which is below.

I saw trees bend in a howling wind, their branches screaming…and I thought, “That’s too painful.”

I heard rain in an angry rhythm on a rooftop…and I thought, “That can’t last.”

I saw my reflection in a river, flowing swiftly, quietly, without end…and I realized, “That’s what we do. That’s running.”

Closing Thoughts

I love the Olympics, but I think I love the Olympic Trials more. At the Olympics there are a maximum of 3 athletes that I tend to know a lot about and want to cheer for, but at the Trials? I had a hard time only picking 5 women who I wanted to make the 5000 or 10,000 team!

Track is the best. That is all.

Women’s 400H

1. Sydney McLaughlin
2. Dalilah Muhammad
3. Shamier Little

The US is so strong in all the hurdle events, and the 400H is no exception. Daliliah Muhammad is the world leader, but I’m pulling for McLaughlin to take the win tonight.

Women’s 800

1. Athing Mu
2. Ajee Wilson
3. Kate Grace
4. Allie Wilson
5. Chanelle Price

Besides Athing and Ajee, this team is really hard to pick! Athing has looked so calm in the rounds, and there’s no one who can match her kick with a sub-50 400 PR.

Ajee Wilson and Kate Grace are Olympic veterans and have looked good in the tactics of the rounds as well.

Allie Wilson (go, Atlanta Track Club!) and Chanelle Price have both been the ones to take out the race in the rounds, so it will be interesting to see what they do in the final.

Overall, this is a stacked event, and the US will send a strong team regardless of who makes it.

Men’s 1500

1. Matthew Centrowitz
2. Yared Nuguse
3. Craig Engels
4. Cole Hocker
5. Josh Thompson

I’m just not going to bet against the reigning Olympic gold medalist, ok? Plus Centro has been looking in complete control in the rounds, complete with a smile at Cole Hocker in the finish of the semis.

I’ve been a fan of Nuguse since he soloed the Olympic Standard during NCAA prelims, and I think he’s going to have a good showing today.

Craig Engels, the media darling, is due for redemption and his first Olympic berth. Plus, I’d just really rather the top 3 have the Olympic standard, so we don’t have to go to World Rankings to know who makes the team. It’s confusing and not casual fan friendly.

Looking forward to the final night of action!

Women’s 10,000

1. Sara Hall
2. Elise Cranny
3. Emily Infeld
4. Karissa Schweizer
5. Emily Sisson

Picking predictions for this race is on par with the difficulty of trying to pick the Marathon team back in February 2020 (where I got all 3 wrong) – probably because so many of the women who didn’t make the Marathon team are trying to make the team in the 10,000.

Look, I really want Sara Hall to make an Olympic team. She’s accomplished so much, especially later in her career, and I just think it’s her time to check this one off the list.

Then I have a trio of Bowerman Babes with some personal bias toward Emily Infeld since I like her so much (she’s also an Olympian, so it’s not like this is that biased).

And I round out my top 5 with Emily Sisson who a lot of people thought had a good chance of making the Marathon team.

It’s going to be hot and humid, so I don’t expect the race (at least not the first half) to be fast. It should be an exciting finish for sure!

Women’s 3000 Steeple

1. Emma Coburn
2. Courtney Frerichs
3. Leah Falland
4. Mel Lawrence
5. Grayson Murphy

When Colleen Quigley announced she wasn’t running the Olympic Trials, it became a guarantee that at we would see at least one new Olympian this year. Coburn, Frerichs, and Quigley have dominated the event for so long, that I wasn’t quite sure who to pick for the third team spot!

Ultimately I went with Leah Falland who looked extremely comfortable running away from the field to chase Coburn in the prelims. She also has the Olympic Standard and the 3rd fastest PR in the race.

I’m a big fan of Mel Lawrence who has been running well, and I’d love to see her make the team, too! She also has the Olympic Standard.

Grayson Murphy closed hard to get the Olympic Standard in the prelims, so she rounds out my top 5 picks.

Of course, anything can happen in the steeple! Here’s to hoping everyone stays on their feet.

Holy cow! What a night!

I tuned in around the 2nd lap of the 2nd heat of the men’s steeplechase and heard pretty quickly that Sean McGorty (a favorite from heat 1) didn’t get an automatic qualifier and would have to wait to see if he got one of the 4 time qualifiers. This was an unexpected shot of stress/adrenaline to my watching experience that got me even more amped up before the finals started! And McGorty got the final time qualifier to make the final, too.

Women’s 1500

My prediction:

1. Elle Purrier St. Pierre
2. Jenny Simpson
3. Nikki Hiltz
4. Cory McGee
5. Shannon Osika

Sub-4 to win and sub-4:03 to make the team.

Results:

1. Elle Purrier St. Pierre (3:58.03)
2. Cory McGee (4:00.67)
3. Heather MacLean (4:02.09)
4. Shannon Osika (4:02.18)
5. Helen Schlachtenhaufen (4:04.41)

What a race! The start was extremely aggressive, and Purrier St. Pierre even got knocked off the inside rail for a couple of steps before recovering. Then she took the lead and never looked back.

Cory McGee stayed near the front for the whole race, running off Purrier St. Pierre’s shoulder, and the biggest surprise of the night was Purrier St. Pierre’s training partner Heather MacLean (who had to protest to get into the final) winning the final spot on the team with a third place finish. Shannon Osika put in a valiant effort to catch MacLean but didn’t quite get there.

If you want to learn more about Elle Purrier St. Pierre, I recommend this article.

If you want to learn more about Heather MacLean, I recommend this podcast.

Men’s 800

My prediction:

1. Donovan Brazier
2. Clayton Murphy
3. Bryce Hoppel

Results:

1. Clayton Murphy (1:43.17)
2. Isaiah Jewett (1:43.85)
3. Bryce Hoppel (1:44.14)

I had to pick my jaw up off the floor after this final. Donovan Brazier got…last. No one was expecting that!

Isaiah Jewett took the race out hard and then instead of slowing down at the bell lap ran a 25-second 200 for the 400 to 600. Then Clayton Murphy closed HARD (without his arm sleeve!) to negative split the race and take the win. He was quite sassy to those who counted him out on Twitter afterwards as well.

I highly recommend watching the post-race interview clips from Isaiah Jewett here and here.

I feel bad for Donovan Brazier, but he’ll be back.

Women’s 5000

My predictions:

1. Karissa Schweizer
2. Josette Norris
3. Rachel Schneider
4. Allie Buchalski
5. Elise Cranny
6. Abbey Cooper

Not a fast race, and the pace starts picking up 4 laps out.

Results:

1. Elise Cranny (15:27.81)
2. Karissa Schweizer (15:28.11)
3. Rachel Schneider (15:29.56)
4. Abbey Cooper (15:31.05)
5. Allie Buchalski (15:47.52
6. Elly Henes (15:47.73)

This race was the closest to my expectations. They had a big group go through the first mile in about 5 minutes, and then the pace really slowed down. They got super bunched up during the second mile, running about 5:20 pace.

Then with 4 laps to go, Karissa dropped the pace from 79 to 71, and the pack started to string out a bit. The Bowerman teammates Karissa and Cranny traded laps as the pace dropped further, and Rachel Schneider had a bit of a gap on the rest of the chasers.

At the bell lap, Karissa took over again but was unable to hold off Cranny’s monster kick, and the teammates went 1-2, closing in 63-64.

Abbey Cooper who soloed a 15:07 to get the Olympic Standard in her prelim, will have to wait to see if any of the top three also make the 10,000 meter team to see if she’s going back to the Olympics or not.

Women’s 1500

1. Elle Purrier St. Pierre
2. Jenny Simpson
3. Nikki Hiltz
4. Cory McGee
5. Shannon Osika

I think Elle is the clear winner; Jenny has the experience and isn’t someone to bet against; and after that, this is very difficult.

Nikki Hiltz looked like they were practically jogging comfortably with the semi-final heat win, so I’m going with them for the final Olympic Team spot.

I don’t think the final will be a sit and kick situation, either. I predict sub-4 for the win and sub-4:03 to make the team.

Men’s 800

1. Donovan Brazier
2. Clayton Murphy
3. Bryce Hoppel

Is anyone not picking Brazier to win?

So far the arm sleeve trend has paid off, too, so I bumped Murphy from my original 3rd pick up to 2nd. #science

Women’s 5000

1. Karissa Schweizer
2. Josette Norris
3. Rachel Schneider
4. Allie Buchalski
5. Elise Cranny
6. Abbey Cooper

On paper, this is Karissa’s race to lose. There is no scenario where someone takes the race out fast, and she’s in unfamiliar territory with a PR that’s ~25 seconds faster than the next fastest person in the field.

That being said, I don’t think anyone is going to take the final out at a blistering pace. It’s supposed to be 90+ degrees, and 8 of the women in the field already have the Olympic standard. My prediction is that the leaders don’t start ratcheting down the pace until the final mile.

Josette Norris is a relatively new name to me, but anyone who has been paying attention over the last few months isn’t counting her out.

Then I think Rachel Schneider’s miler kick earns her the final spot on the team.

Like the 1500, this is also a tough call since there are way more than 3 people I’m rooting for. Can’t wait to watch!

Quick summary of the facts to start:

1. On December 15, 2020 Shelby had an out-of-competition drug test.
2. On January 14, 2021, she was notified that she tested positive for nandrolone and was provisionally suspended.
3. Shelby appealed the suspension, and the basis of her appeal was that she consumed a pork burrito from an authentic Mexican food truck, and the burrito could have contained pork offal which set off the test for nandrolone.
4. On June 11, 2021, she lost her appeal and is banned from competing for four years (starting January 14, 2021).  

My gut reaction to the news was shock and then outrage at the alleged injustice against Shelby. The quick summary above is very concise, and if you follow the full explanation from the Bowerman Track Club’s press conference, they present a compelling case for how a judgement call from the lab to mark the test as positive instead of an atypical finding was the first domino (see also this tweet flowchart from Steve Magness).

But as more details emerged, it’s been easier for me to see why she lost her appeal. Shelby didn’t even order a pork burrito from the food truck; she ordered carne asada (beef). So now we also have to believe that she got an incorrect order and that her burrito contained tainted meat? That story has a hard time against Occam’s razor which simply says she took nandrolone and got caught.

I still lean toward Shelby being an intentionally clean athlete. I’m kind of a chump in that way. I was one of the kids in high school saying people were just jealous of Lance Armstrong for being so good at cycling because “hE nEvEr TeStEd PoSiTiVe.”

But it’s just a little crazy to me that the best unintentional consumption case is a wrong order burrito!

My lack of understanding of how USADA and WADA rules on these cases are at play, but here some other scenarios to consider:

1. Contaminated supplements or medication. Does Shelby take any supplements or medication? Did she have these tested for nandrolone?
2. Chemical pregnancy. In the press conference, Shelby’s lawyer said they had her take a pregnancy test after they were notified of the positive nandrolone test, but since that was a full month after the test, if she had a chemical pregnancy, she could have already miscarried a month later (and likely never would have known she was pregnant). The flowchart from Steven Magness disproves this, since it shows the lab immediately tests the sample for pregnancy, but the press conference didn’t mention anything about the lab testing for pregnancy, so it was a question for me. This would be a very difficult defense to prove as well.
3. Tin foil hat conspiracy. This was a targeted attack on Shelby. The judgement call on positive vs. atypical was purposeful because of the name of the athlete. (Surely the tests are blind? The person in the lab isn’t picking up a sample cup of urine with the name SHELBY HOULIHAN on it, right?)

But I doubt they can waiver from the burrito story, so I suppose that will be the basis for the next appeal to the Swiss courts. How do you go about proving your innocence, though? Do you just keep buying and testing burritos to see if you can detect nandrolone?

Overall I hope Shelby is clean, and I hope she is able to prove it before the 2024 Paris Olympics, so she can go after her goal of winning a gold medal. If not, she’ll be 35 before the 2028 Olympics come around, and while you can run well in your mid-30s, it’s not ideal. Plus not racing for 4 years (and probably losing your sponsorship?) won’t help.