I loved your discussion following the McKirdy Micro regarding the implications for the future of qualifying for the Trials. What do you think of USATF offering to guarantee qualifying spots to the top few at mid-tier races? This could help with development and make some of these races more fun to watch.

First off, I just want to thank you for understanding that my piece a couple of weeks ago was not a complaint, but a recognition of potential implications if this trend subsists. Many countries select their Olympic teams based mostly on personal bests and therefore it is in the interest of athletes to find the fastest course possible. We have seen this indoors with certain tracks and the impact it has had on the descending order list – the same thing will happen to the Olympic standard in the marathon.

The Japanese system is very similar to your suggestion. That third Olympic spot is up for grabs after their Trials, however, the needed time cannot be run just anywhere. There is a small list of eligible races where it must be done. I have endorsed this idea for all track meets and think it should extend to road races so that World Athletics greatly reduces the number of possible races where qualifying standards and ranking points can be earned. My reason is not so much about fairness as it is about increasing head-to-head competition. If there were only 25 races each year that would officially count, then we’d see more overlap among top athletes.

In terms of entertainment, a short course loop has infinitely more potential to be fun to watch and elite-focused for viewers than a non-major being broadcast on a local TV news channel sharing human interest pieces, interrupted by commercials for regional furniture store chains.

Faith Kipyegon and Sifan Hassan forsake all other events in Paris and compete only in the 800. It’s the only event in track and field with Sydney, Femke, Athing, Mary, and Keely all in it, as well. Everyone is healthy, conditions are perfect, and it's an honest race. Who's winning and what's the winning time?

The downside of having so many events in track and field is that every event is inevitably a bit more watered down than it would be if there were fewer. At a post-race event this past year, there was a spirited debate among some of my friends about how if needed we would narrow the entire sport down to just a few events.

My strategy was to discover who is the best at running fastest short, medium, and long, jumping high, jumping far, and throwing far. Sorry Mondo, but I feel good about his athletic potential elsewhere. If there was only the 100, 800, 5000, high jump, long jump, and shot put, then every talent would likely be able to find their niche.

All that is to say, I believe Athing Mu is legitimately the most talented 800m runner in the world. At her best, you could line everyone up in 2024 and if she is firing on all cylinders then no one is beating her when she runs 1:53 high.

I think Femke would be a long-term better 800m runner than Sydney, and that’s based mostly on 200m/400m times. Sydney ran 22.39 in 2018 and hasn’t competed in one since, whereas Femke runs it regularly and has a best of 22.87.

Why does Athing Mu run on the outside of lane 1? Why would anyone do that from a strategic perspective? Why why why??

She does not know either. Bobby wants her to!

With all the angst about the track Trials in Eugene, could championship track races be held in football stadiums with temporary tracks moved in?

As a rule, I am against temporary tracks as they feel slower and always look like they’re falling apart. And while many football stadiums do have permanent tracks around them, they’re often more narrow because of the shape of the field. There are of course some exceptions, however, many stadiums have an issue with the positioning of field event runways and rings that disqualify them from eligibility. There is currently no US football stadium on WA’s list.

Who is the most underrated North American male marathoner right now, and why is it Cam Levins?

I mean, he’s the North American record holder, fourth at Worlds last year, and fifth in Tokyo this year. Who would anyone even argue is better right now?

How do you hold down a full-time job and this job with all the travel and oh yea, wife and kid?

My wife is extremely supportive of me staying involved in running and is willing to sacrifice a lot of her own time to make it possible. This (whatever “this” is) would be considered my biggest hobby and although writing The Lap Count every week brings some stress, it is sustainable and overall brings me deep happiness. CITIUS could be my only thing if I wanted it to be, but I also like my “real” job. All that said, I’m sure it’s occasionally obvious in certain newsletters when life is extra busy.

I'm a road race fan trying to get into XC and T&F. What are the top three things I should know to start this new obsession??

Welcome! You are likely not going to figure it all out in one season, but this newsletter and CITIUS’s social media will help. For the most part, I would suggest finding the athletes you enjoy cheering for and following them.

1. Do not try to follow cross country closely. The NCAA meet is November 18th in Charlottesville and World Cross Country is March 30th in Serbia. Besides that, it’s probably not worth the effort.

2. Here is the Diamond League schedule. This would in theory be the 15 best regular season meets of the year and you can watch them on Peacock. Aside from that, I’d focus on the Millrose Games (2/11) and World Indoors (3/1 - 3/3).

3. In track, everyone is basically just trying to qualify for the Olympics. These are the standards and this is how you’ll figure out who has it. Each country has its own selection process (the US Trials are 6/21 - 6/30).

What are the places to train in the USA?

People are going to say Flagstaff and Park City because they’re the best spots at altitude. For sea-level goers like myself, the dream is to winter in Tallahassee, Florida, for the endless pine forests and dirt roads that surround it, and summer in Bar Harbor, Maine, near Acadia National Park’s miles of pristine and rolling carriage paths.

Why are NIL athletes not wearing their sponsor’s spikes in XC? Is it related to the team they are on?

Yup! You may be getting paid a few thousand dollars by some other brand to use your name, image, and likeness, but the University of Texas is in the middle of a 15-year deal with Nike that’s worth $250M and that’s always gonna win out. And since your university is paying your scholarship, you’re not going to be allowed to wear anything else while in that jersey. That also means that athletes can’t even vlog for their sponsor mid-conference meet trip, and good luck getting approval from the athletic department to film a workout video on campus!

Is cannabis still banned? Asking for a friend.

In competition, yes. Out of competition, have fun! As noted in this Molly Seidel piece, “People would be shocked to know how many pro runners smoke weed.”

What were the most notable performances during conference weekend? Do you have any early predictions for NCAAs now that you’ve seen mostly full squads?

I can’t believe the Harvard men lost to Princeton, again! That’s a 51-year drought and as the 6th-ranked team in the country, it seemed like this would be Crimson’s year. He did not have to beat any contenders to do it, but Graham Blanks made the individual win look so damn easy that I do think he’ll win in Charlottesville. The key will be the NAU guys keeping the gas down for him to take the sting out of Ky Robinson’s kick.

And while the Lumberjack men – of course – won the Big Sky meet with ease, my gut says they do not win their seventh title in eight years. Following the disappointment of losing last year on a tiebreaker, Oklahoma State loaded up with a couple of freshmen from Kenya and dominated the Big 12 meet with 25 points in a field that included then #3-ranked BYU, #6-ranked Texas, and #17-ranked Iowa State.

The two-time defending NCAA champion Wolfpack of NC State won the ACC meet 37 to 80 over Notre Dame who was ranked #8 in the country. The key to defending against the rapidly progressing Northern Arizona women, who went 1-7 in their conference meet, will be health. Twice a top ten finisher at NCAAs, Amaris Tyynismaa dropped out after 5K at ACCs, and multiple time All-American Samantha Bush was 11th after not finishing at Nuttycombe. It’s unbelievable how much will change in the next three weeks and we’ll soon look back and pretend we saw it all along.

What would you do if you saw a person wearing a Citius Mag t-shirt out on the street versus at a track meet?

My hope is that when someone is seen wearing Citius merchandise out in the wild, one of the other dozens of track fans would recognize it and be like, “That person also does not understand how the world ranking system works!”

What's your prediction on the future of Bowerman Track Club with the latest departures from the team?

The current crop of runners will bridge the gap until the current crop of Oregon athletes graduate and it will essentially become a feeder program. One of Jerry’s big things is that he’s always wished he was able to develop talent at a younger age rather than just inheriting them when they’re 23 years old. Expect him to also take on a local high school team soon!

What is your "dream trade" (an athlete from one group/coach moving to another) in professional running? [Mine is Moh Ahmed to Ritzenhein to train for the marathon.]

I would love to see an athlete traded to a team that doesn’t really line up with the way they do things. For example, what if Galen Rupp joined NAZ Elite? He’s operated in relative secrecy his whole career with no social media and only a handful of interviews outside of press conferences and mixed-zone appearances. Wouldn’t it be fun if he joined the most transparent team possible and had to start sharing all of his workouts?

Also, I think if Shamier Little ever moves up to 800 then she’d do well on the OAC and be a great recurring guest on the Coffee Club.

How does track attract more non-endemic sponsors to the sport like car companies or banks?

A bigger audience helps! There is obvious interest from shoe and sports apparel brands because it’s an effective way to talk directly to your target audience – they’re the ones buying the product. For really big sponsors with a more general marketing strategy, the few hundred thousand fans that tune in to watch a track meet are not worth the time or effort.

In a lot of the major sports sponsorships, there are additional affiliate benefits that are included in the package. It’s not just a logo on the field, but VIP tickets or box access where a Fortune 500 company can entertain their clients. That’s not really a sought-after commodity in track since stadiums are empty.

On a smaller scale, I think the CITIUS partnership with OLIPOP demonstrates potential value in track – brands can benefit from having deep engagement and trust in a niche where there is significant brand alignment. No one at OLIPOP thought, “how do we get in front of track fans?” But our audience’s demographics: younger, skewing college educated, health-conscious… now that’s more interesting!

I am in active conversation with a major non-running brand about coming on board in 2024. Our growing follower count isn’t really the main selling point, but our flexibility to be creative when integrating and creating content is. We’ll see if it works out! 

The ruthless Long Island shark in me wishes we had some financial data on all of you! (Maybe something to include at the end-of-year survey for newsletter readers? It’s a good stat that 67% of this newsletter’s readers are under 35.) Ultimately, brands are motivated by money, not altruism, and if you can point out that you’re delivering them an audience that aligns with their goals, that’s what makes partnerships happen outside of the most obvious ones.

Right now, I can’t find any publicly available information about the demographic information of who is watching or participating in running. If I was World Athletics, USATF or a World Marathon Major, then I’d commission a consumer insights company to do a survey. I’d hope they already have, and if so, please share the findings with me! That’s how you can get sponsors that don’t sell shoes.

Did they change the start time for the Olympic Trials marathon?

There are active negotiations going on right now between the athletes, USATF, NBC, and the local organizing committee. There are a lot of parties involved, though I would expect that Orlando would rather shut down some of its major roads in the morning as opposed to in the early afternoon.

No one has asked me my opinion, but I like 10 AM. That would allow east coast running fans time to get their miles in first, but most importantly allow the west coasters to wake up. Athlete safety is important, but it’s still supposed to be a professional sport for spectators and that feels like a compromise. Also, the CITIUS setup for our alternate commentary is going to be ideal for Bloody Mary consumption and I’d be afraid of who of you out there would be looking to get down to business earlier than that in the day.

Here is a letter sent from the USATF AAC to the local organizing committee.

Who is the biggest underdog you think can qualify for the Olympics?

Joel Reichow. Odds are you don’t even know who he is, but he just ran 2:10:37 in Chicago and his trajectory is insane. Minnesota Distance Elite is the most underrated team in the country and it’s not even close.