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Takes Like Coffee – Long Island Mile Preview: Stars to Run In Memory of David Torrence

By Chris Chavez

September 6, 2017

A few years back, my former colleague Mitch Kastoff used to round-up some of the day’s best headlines and provided a one-liner that was sometimes a joke, take or relatable Youtube video to go along with it. I miss it. I also miss Mitch a lot. So I’ve decided to bring it back and we’re going to call it, “Takes Like Coffee”. I’ll work this up every night before I go to bed so that you’re able to find it on the home page on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays.

I’ll do a regular mailbag every Tuesday so send over questions to chris@citiusmag.com or tweet at me @ChrisChavez. If there’s any story that you think should make the next edition of TLC, then shoot me message.

CITIUS MAG Podcast drops every Friday and sometimes a bonus episode earlier in the week. We’ll have the Scott Fauble episode out today so check it out on iTunes and Soundcloud. We’ve gotten a few requests from listeners to try and get it on Stitcher so I’ll work on that soon.

Here are some of the top five headlines going into Wednesday:

The HOKA Long Island Mile is today

I was supposed to tape a podcast with Kyle Merber yesterday but I was busy with some other work and Kyle was also putting some final touches on his race’s planning. If the listeners want Merber on podcast next week, let me know and I’ll coordinate a time for us to record. I was definitely thinking of making it an interview that’s straight up comprised of listener questions. Bill Simmons recently had a very good two-hour show with Kevin Durant that was in that style and I wanted to give that a try.

ANYWAY. His race is on Wednesday night (7 p.m. start) on Long Island. I’ll be at the race so if there’s any Citwits out there that want to say “Sup” just give me a holler. I’m nice.

This year’s race is very special. The elite men’s race will be run in memory of Olympian David Torrence, who competed at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro for Peru. He was found dead in a swimming pool in Scottsdale, Arizona on Monday, Aug. 28. Last week, Kevin Liao wrote a pretty good obit on Torrence and how he was never afraid to get after the hard effort to start a race.

I personally think that in his memory, we’re going to see someone get after it from the gun. Everyone in the field has run under four minutes for the mile – there aren’t many times that you get to say that outside of a Diamond League. Torrence had won the first two editions of the race and holds the meet record of 3:53.91. That 1998 Long Island soil record of 3:53.39 by Noureddine Morceli might tough. Nick Willis hasn’t had the sharpest of seasons but boasts the fastest personal best in the field. I think I’m going to pick Craig Engels for the victory in this one. Having not competed at the world championships and raced sparingly since, the mile has been very good to him since USAs. He broke four minutes for the first time at the Sir Walter Miler and then won Falmouth and a low key race in Memphis.

The women’s race is just as exciting as the men’s race. We’ll see a solid clash between Brenda Martinez, who made the world championships at 800 meters but comes back closer to the distance that she made an Olympic team for, against Hannah Fields, who like Engels has been on a tear the entire summer. It’s good to see Cory McGee healthy again and racing for the first time since May. Emily Infeld will drop down in distance from the 5k/10K to try and lower her personal best from 4:31.5. Momentum is on Fields’s side so I’m picking her for the win.

Both should be great races. If you’re on the island, it’s worth it to come on out, pay $5 and enjoy one last bit of track for the summer.

Nick Willis Interview on LetsRun

That first blurb went on a lot longer than I anticipated so I’ll keep the rest short before you start pouring a third cup of coffee. Nick Willis was interviewed by LetsRun at length and shared some very insightful thoughts on his training and longevity within the sport. A second part will be released soon, which I can also link to whenever that’s out.

Usain Bolt Thinks His World Records Are Safe For 15-20 Years

I actually may be inclined to agree with Bolt on this one. I think we’ve been spoiled in the past decade to watch a bunch of world records fall. If you were overwhelmed by how much they blew up the Usain Bolt farewell tour on the Diamond League stops, I think some people lost sight of remembering just how special Bolt is. I’m fortunate to have covered the sport while he was around and you should be happy that you got to witness history. It’s also part of the reason why I make it a point to sometimes get out to major sporting events like the World Series when a team I really like is involved. You appreciate things in the moment because you never know when the next great one is going to happen. You don’t want to be like the Cubs fan who elected not to go to the 1908 World Series games or celebration because they said they’d be at the next one. Look how long that took. I’d be OK if the wait for another 100m world record was 20 years. I’ll wait 40, if I have to.

Kipsang confident of lowering marathon world record

While on the subject of world records, here’s what Kipsang had to say to The Nation: ““If you compare me with those guys (Bekele and Kipchoge), I stand a chance because having broken the world record before, and having more experience, and if I prepare myself and I’m in the same shape like when I broke the world record, I think I can beat those guys.” I’m always a little skeptical of these reports out of Kenya because the headlines are always catchy but sometimes not true. But, just another reason to get excited for the clash of titans in a few weeks. Someone asked for my thoughts on the race. I’ll save that for my next mailbag. Send some questions!

Carl Lewis will receive the USATF Legend Award

20 years after his retirement, a legend gets some more recognition.


We are less than a week away from the NYRR 5th Avenue Mile and Citius will have Paul Snyder and me in the media mile race. We currently have a prediction contest going with Roll Recovery going, where if you guess what I run then you’ll win one of their R3 foot rollers. Get those guesses in by tweeting your prediction to @CitiusMag with #RollCitius. Some tidbits to help you out? My personal best is 5:28 and my season’s best is 5:45.

Chris Chavez

Chris Chavez launched CITIUS MAG in 2016 as a passion project while working full-time for Sports Illustrated. He covered the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and grew his humble blog into a multi-pronged media company. He completed all six World Marathon Majors and is an aspiring sub-five-minute miler.