Thanks to everyone for the kind words and messages after yesterday’s announcement that I will be doing CITIUS MAG full-time and bringing a few friends along for the ride as we ramp up our coverage. Personally, I want to try and get back into a routine and habit of doing some form of writing for the website on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I’m not tied up with podcasting or video duties.

Always open to reader feedback but didn’t want to overwhelm your inboxes with making this into another newsletter. I expect this to be a mix of news gathering (with the occasional scoop here and there) of the biggest story from the previous day, opinion, commentary and recommendations on what else to read, watch or listen to.

Parker Stinson Moves On From Coach Dathan Ritzenhein

2:10 marathoner Parker Stinson announced he has parted ways with coach Dathan Ritzenhein after three years of working together.

Under Ritzenhein’s guidance over the past three years, Stinson improved on the roads to personal bests of 62:02 for the half marathon (Grand Rapids, Sept. 2019) and 2:10:53 for the marathon (Chicago, Oct. 2019). In May 2019, he set the American record of 1:13:48 for the 25K.

“As a professional athlete for Saucony, Dathan took me once again to new heights I had only allowed myself to dream of,” Stinson wrote on Instagram. “His confidence in me was sometimes overwhelming but allowed us to work towards goals that I would have been too scared to strive for. With this, I would go on to become an American record holder, 2:10 marathoner, and someone who believed that their Olympic dream could become a reality. “

Stinson is sponsored by Saucony through 2024 and has contracts with Gatorade and Coros through the end of 2022. He was the only non-On sponsored pro athlete coached by Ritzenhein since he took over head coaching duties with the On Athletics Club in Boulder, Colo. and was often seen training with Joe Klecker and other members of the group. Most of Stinson’s marathon training was done solo.

“It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” Stinson told CITIUS MAG in a call on Wednesday afternoon. “It made Dathan and I sad to make the decision. We have a really strong relationship and I think it got to the point where we knew the situation had not been working for a while but we both care about each other so much that we selfishly wanted to keep working with each other in spite of the situation.”

“At the end of the day, OAC is doing amazing things and it’s Dathan’s job to coach the team,” he added. “What allowed me to break an American record and run 2:10 was that relationship and the time he was able to invest in me and show up to the practices. There was an energy when we worked off each other. We haven’t been able to spend as much time together as we used to. I was very happy when I was with Dathan and able to train and link up with OAC occasionally. They treated me like family. The problem was when I had to start marathon training for three or four months, I was basically on my own.”

During his Boston Marathon buildup, Stinson strained his gluteus maximus and the fascia around his tensor fasciae latae. He got a cortisone shot in his glute that allowed him to race but he finished way off his personal best in 2:21:21 for 27th place. Stinson took 6 weeks off after the race to recover from the injury but plans to run the NYC Half and Pittsburgh Half before a spring marathon.

Stinson is finalizing his next move and plans to announce it in next week’s edition of The Lap Count so be sure to subscribe and learn about it when it drops next Wednesday.

🎙️ In the meantime, you can go back and listen to our podcast episode with Parker from last fall.

Photo by Kevin Morris.

Here’s What Else Is Happening In Track And Field

👴 Pat Casey officially announced his retirement in an Instagram post. Finished his career with personal bests of 3:35.32 for 1,500 meters and 3:52.62 for the mile. He says he will be staying in Flagstaff to assist Stephen Haas with the Dark Sky Distance team. He was sponsored by Under Armour since 2018 and also ran for the Nike Oregon Track Club after graduating from Oklahoma.

💰 Sara Vaughn has signed with Puma just weeks after running 2:26:53 for her marathon debut at the California International Marathon. A few days ago, she teased the announcement on her Instagram story while on vacation with her family and finally announced it on the C Tolle Run Podcast. She said that Puma was on the phone with her very soon after the marathon and she asked questions about their product to Amy Hastings Cragg, who coaches the professional Puma group in North Carolina. Vaughn noted she is not quitting real estate.

If you missed her appearance on “More Than Running with Dana’ on Dec. 16, check that out here.

🇮🇹 Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs will run his first race since winning gold in the 100m and 4x100m at the Summer Games. Race organizers announced he’ll be in the 60m dash at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Lievin, France on Feb. 17. While his gold medal in Tokyo took many people by surprise, it wasn’t his first championship gold medal since he earned a gold in the 60m at the 2021 European Indoor Championships. His personal best of 6.47 is an Italian national record.

🙏 The World Athletics Cross Country Tour stop in Eldoret, Kenya on. Feb. 12 has been named the Memorial Agnes Tirop World Cross Country Tour in memory of the 25-year-old Olympian and two-time world champion who was killed in October. Three-time world cross country champion Geoffrey Kamworor and women’s half marathon world record holder and 10,000m Olympic bronze medalist Letsenbet Gidey are the headliners right now.