Big news day! ⏱
Lap 44: Sponsored by Run Moore
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5k World Record — again!
After coming up short of a world record by just one second earlier in 2021, it’s no mystery why Berihu Aregawi would want to time himself on another attempt. In November, Aregawi ran 12:52 in France to narrowly miss Joshua Cheptegei’s mark of 12:51. Well, let’s just say he didn’t drop the ball in Barcelona this New Year’s Eve! (Thank you, folks!) With a pacer for only the first kilometer and the nearest competitor 41 seconds behind him at the finish, the 20-year-old crossed the line in 12:49.
The rising star from Ethiopia first burst onto the scene as a bronze medalist at the U20 World Championships in 2018, but started to come into his own in February 2020 with a pair of 7:35 and 7:36 performances over 3000m. Fast forward a couple of years, and he came out of the pandemic a grown man, running 26:50 for 10,000m to qualify for the Olympics in Tokyo, where he finished a surprise 4th. He capped off his track season with a Diamond League Final victory going 12:58 on the very funky (i.e. stupid) makeshift track in Zurich.
When we talk about the lack of Western coverage of East Africans, Aregawi is a prime example. He finished 4th at the Olympics, won the Diamond League Final, and is now a WR holder and I can not find a single interview or profile to learn more about him. When an American runs 13:49 on a road 5k there’s practically a media tour afterwards. All I have for you is that Aregawi is represented by the Italian super agency Rosa Associati, and hails from the Tigray region of Ethiopia, which has unfortunately been in the news regularly due to ongoing war and famine.
I could save myself a lot of time by writing up some boilerplate copy for whenever this happens.! For the eleventh time in 14 months, some version of a women’s 5k or 10k record has been broken. While that statistic encompasses road and track races, women-only and open fields, and ratified or unofficial courses, that is a remarkable number of times for the same headline. This weekend it was Ejgayehu Taye’s turn — her 14:19 showing knocked a whopping 24 seconds off the record for a mixed race previously held by Sweden’s Meraf Bahta.
Taye is still a relative newcomer on the international scene, but her entrance has certainly caused a splash. After finishing the 2019 season with a 5000m best of 14:53, she posted no results in 2020. But once back on the track, she clocked a 14:14 at the Ethiopian trials to qualify for the Olympics where she finished 5th.
It’s been a journey since becoming a World Athletics ratified event in 2017, but it finally feels like the records for the road 5k are closer to where they’re supposed to be. Only 9 women have ever run under 14:20, while 22 men have dipped below the rough equivalent time of 12:50, per WA tables. These records don’t seem quite out of reach yet — well, except for me and you they are!
Quick chats with Ben Blankenship 🌲
One name that stood out on the entries for the USATF Cross Country Championships on Saturday (streamed via RunnerSpace+) is Ben Blankenship. The 2016 Olympic 1500m finalist has also run 28:08 for 10k, making him a serious contender for the win, but we haven’t heard much from him recently… that is, until now! Let’s find out where he's been:
We haven’t seen you since the Olympic Trials when you made the 1500 semi-finals off just eight days of running. What have you been up to since then?
I spent this fall in Arizona getting healthy, which was my only goal. Could I string together enough weeks to be in reasonable enough shape to stand on the start line and feel confident again? It’s been a big block since October of regular runs and sessions. I like to workout every 48 hours — I’m always getting ready for another session. It’s consistent but nothing ever brilliant. There was a lot of disappointment last spring where I’d feel okay, but then get a mile into a run and know it was garbage — it sucked.
The Trials took a lot out of me. I was willing to put myself in that situation for the opportunity to make my second Olympic team, but I don’t think I realized how impactful it’d be on my body. It killed me. Afterwards it was like, “what can I accomplish this summer?” There was no rush so why would I press? I went to Greece for a month to float in the sea everyday.
You won the Club XC Championships in 2018 and you’re stepping back onto the grass this weekend once again. Do you have any expectations coming in?
My expectation is to put myself in a position to be competitive and I don’t know where that ends. Do I get through 10k? Or do I get to 9k and blow up? I run to be competitive. So I’ll stand on the line and say let’s do it and see what happens.
Are you still a 1500 guy? You’ve run 28:08 for 10,000m — that would suggest you could be quite competitive in the 5k. Any plans to shift focus?
It’s difficult to string two long seasons together. When I was younger, I’d thrash through indoors and then get a world standard before taking 10 days off from sessions and get right back to it. Now I have to be more methodical about how I target stuff. It is so easy to get super excited about different opportunities. I love racing and running and I can be talked into things.
I’m naturally a 1500 guy, although I’ve tried to fight that. But when you hear the 10,000m champs will be held separately this year, I am like ‘wow, that makes me think!” But I haven’t changed my training. Maybe I’d be on the track earlier, but it’s still over-distance work of 10-12k, the long tempos, and quality runs. My mindset hasn’t changed, but in time my body will decide where we go.
I hate to say this, but you’ve become one of my favorite people on social media. You use it sparingly, but every post seems meaningful when you share. This goes against the Ben I know.
To say it doesn’t matter is not living in the real world. It’s all a marketing campaign and that can be tough. It’s hard to show up to workouts and have to think about content. I’m in the position often where I am all by myself and who holds that camera when I am alone? It’s a struggle to think about having extra people at a session with a camera. Plus an ugly guy like me — there aren’t many good pictures to choose from.
I loathe Instagram when a friend DMs me instead of texting, but I enjoy speaking with random people I have never met. All of a sudden they’re part of this training block too and it’s like, ‘come along with me’.
What’s your current coaching situation? I see you working out with lots of people.
I am still coached by Mark [Rowland], but he has given me an incredible tether which I couldn’t live without. We collaborate, chat, and have great conversations. I am sure on his side it's frustrating because I get these crazy ideas that I go off on. He’s allowed me the freedom to explore and that’s allowed me to stay in the sport for so long. I love jumping in sessions with other people to hear other people’s thoughts and talk training. I can work out with Sara Hall once in a while when it overlaps and it's super fun to get that perspective.
Hakone Ekiden 🇯🇵
The best part of the Hakone Ekiden is that the title sponsor of a college race is Sapporo. Who do I have to speak with before the next NCAA Championship to get Natty Light on board?
The two day spectacle is comprised of ten relay legs, totalling 217.1 kilometers, and is absurdly popular for a 10+ hour road race. Each day ~50 million people tune in to watch a bunch of amateurs become superstars. For perspective, only 14 million people watched the final game of the 2021 World Series.
The heavy favorite coming in delivered as expected. Aoyama Gakuin University won their sixth title in the past eight years, and in dominant fashion. After taking the lead on the third leg, the Eagles never looked back (this is a cool graphic charting every team’s placing as the race unfolded). Aoyama Gakuin’s time of 10:43:42 was almost two minutes ahead of their own previous course record and more than ten minutes ahead of this year’s second place squad. Despite some serious hills along the way, the squad averaged 2:57 per km, or 4:45 mile pace, for my American readers who don’t already have some form of a pace calculator bookmarked.
Although each leg is a different length, if you tally it up, athletes run an average of about a half marathon each. Racing this sort of distance would be sacrilegious for American collegiate athletes. But consider that in 2020, only 19 Yanks broke 63-minutes for 13.1 miles — I’m speaking of Americans broadly here; to my knowledge no MLB players even sniffed that sort of half marathon result — while there were 183 Japanese men who did so. According to Japan Running News, Aoyama Gakuin University had sixteen men who have run under 29-minutes for 10,000m, and some recent 62-minute half guys didn’t make the final team.
If organizers have any interest in capturing the attention of an extra few thousand American fans, then send an invite Northern Arizona University’s way.
(The still popular, but not quite as famous New Year Ekiden Corporate Men’s National Championship was also this week. The 100km race features professional teams who are sponsored/work for the various brands. As a guy who drove his 2006 CRV for 227k miles, it’s no surprise that in a test of endurance Team Honda pulled this one out.)
Do you have an interest in supporting elite athletes? Subscribe to our Friday morning premium newsletter! This week we speak with Olympic Steeplechase finalist and 2x Canadian Champion, John Gay. This initiative has now raised over $16,000 with all proceeds going towards the athletes whose stories we share.
10 thousand meters in Madrid 🇪🇸
Is there anything cooler than winning the prestigious race that’s held in your backyard? Spain’s Mohamed Katir had that privilege last week in Madrid at the San Silvestre Vallecana 10k when he won in a swift 27:47. After sitting back for the early stages of the race, Katir made a bid for the front, battling out against Burundi’s Rodrigue Kwizera. He ran away before entering the stadium, took one of the final turns extra wide and enjoyed the finish with another signature celebration. Katir turned heads in 2021 with a miraculous progression, dropping his 1500 best from 3:36 to 3:28, and running 7:27 for 3000m and 12:50 for 5000m. Well before doing all that he ran 28:58 here in 2020, so maybe expect more breakthroughs in the near future.
In her first race since finishing 2nd at the London Marathon (2:17:58), Ethiopia’s Degitu Azemiraw was clearly excited to be racing again — she came through the 5k in 14:38! Although it would ultimately result in a positive split, Azemiraw held on better than all the rest to win by 18 seconds in 30:26, continuing the tradition of NN Running Team being at the front of every race.
The elite squad, directed by Jos Hermens of Global Sports, might as well be based out of Hollywood with some of the cinematographic masterpieces their YouTube channel produces. A look through this lens into the culture of the Ethiopian women during training camp provides insight into their continued success. The athletes have a wonderful appreciation for their place in the history of the sport, both crediting those who inspired them and acknowledging their role in motivating the next generation. Also, having endless dirt roads at altitude and an army of extremely capable male pacesetters they can beat up on whenever needed probably doesn’t hurt.
RIP Jud Logan
The sport lost a giant on Monday with the passing of Jud Logan, 62, due to COVID-related pneumonia. During a 28 year career at Ashland University, Coach Logan guided the team to 59 individual and multiple team national titles, most recently at the 2021 DII NCAA Championships. As an athlete, he competed in the hammer throw at four Olympic Games between 1984 and 2000 and is the former American record holder. Since 2019, he had been battling a rare form of leukemia. Our deepest condolences to Jud’s family, friends, and athletes.
Emily Infeld leaves Bowerman
After graduating from Georgetown University in 2012 as an NCAA Champion, Ohio-native, Emily Infeld, moved west to join the Bowerman Track Club, coached by Jerry Schumacher. Nine years ago there were few women on the team, but given the success of Shalane Flanagan, it was a leap well worth taking. And by all accounts, it paid off. Emily would go on to take the bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships and qualify for the Rio Olympics in the 10,000m. However, on January 1st of this new year, Emily announced that she is no longer a member of the Portland-based group and will be pursuing new opportunities. Enjoy this short Q&A with her about that decision:
Spending nine years with a single group and coach is quite rare in this sport. What was the main motivation behind exploring new opportunities at this point in your career?
I honestly haven’t been totally happy in this situation for a while and have lacked consistency in my training. I kept rationalizing that this system has worked for me in the past and that if I could stay healthy at the right time I could run really, really well. But just because this system worked for me in the past, doesn’t mean it still works for me now. I realized as I had less healthy months out of each year that I was losing what I love about running and this sport. I have big goals and I realized that you can only go so far when you don’t have any consistency. As much as I really love the people of the group and respect the coaches, I knew the training hadn’t been working for me and I needed to make a change.
Since 2017 it seems like staying healthy has been the major challenge. What sort of specific changes in your approach do you hope to make in training that will make that difference?
Much of the last four years I feel like I was either injured, coming back from injury, or on the verge of injury. I know injuries are part of the sport but it became overwhelming for me. I never felt like I could get in a rhythm to build any consistency. I felt like I was in a constant state of catching up and getting further and further behind. It was emotionally and mentally exhausting. For me, I believe less intensity and more individualized training will help keep me healthy and happy. As professionals, we are all extremely talented but I think what makes most athletes reach that next level and stay at that level is consistency and happiness. I still believe I'm talented and hard working, but I need to get consistency and happiness out of a situation in order to thrive. I think there is a huge benefit to having training partners, but I also believe that some days you just need to listen to your body. I’m excited to have training that is written for me, and to collaborate with a coach on training and racing.
After the Trials you had a busy summer of racing — running 14:54 and setting personal bests in both the 1500 and mile in the process — relatively uncharacteristic of BTC. Was that just about having fun with it again or do you intend to stay on the track through this next cycle?
I was so disappointed with my Trials race and I have missed so much racing over the years I just wanted to race every weekend. Racing is really why I do this sport. I didn’t want to end the year on my Trials performance and just figured I would throw myself into some different races and have fun with whatever performance I had on that day. After the success I had I definitely want to continue to race on the track but I want to dabble in more road races as well. I have aspirations to race the marathon and I think doing track as well as some longer road races can help me in a possible marathon in the next couple years.
How has training been going? You’re racing at the USATF Cross Country Championships next week — a race you won in 2018 — do you have any expectations going into it?
Training has been going well! It’s definitely different. I was coaching myself for a few months and have been working with a new coach the last six weeks, which has been a blast. It's a totally different approach to training and I’m really loving it. I’m definitely still in a building phase so I’m using the race as a workout. I’m not backing off training but I haven’t raced in a while, so I think it will be good to get into a race with no expectations and just try to get a really hard effort out of it. I would obviously love to win but it is going to be a very competitive field and I just want to stick my nose in it and compete.
I have to ask about your new training situation moving forward. Are you staying in Portland and with Nike? Is there a new coach yet?
I’m still in the process of contract negotiations so no news there. I am working with a new coach, but will share all that soon!
New Chapter, Same Pages
If you go back and look at the first edition of The Lap Count then you’ll see it has evolved significantly. (Just kidding, please don’t spend too much time doing that.) Well, in the next stage of the evolution is something that shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise — this passion project of mine has joined CITIUS MAG.
I started this newsletter because our sport is a difficult one to follow and despite their better efforts a lot of common fans miss out on the most exciting news each week. This was something Chris and I had spoken about at length for a while. His leaving Sports Illustrated to cover running full-time seemed like an appropriate point for The Lap Count to fully enter the CITIUS ecosystem.
Nothing is changing here, but hopefully we can reach even more people about how much we love track and field.
Rapid Fire Highlights 🔥
Cooper Teare visited Newbury Park HS to hand out some free shoes and pump the new StreakFly. Unlike college kids, teenagers — or their parents — buy shoes, and this is how you sell them. (Video)
Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen ran 31:10 for 10k to beat all the men and win a New Year’s Eve race in Cologne.
Olympic bronze medalist and second best host on the Sit-and-Kick podcast, Josh Kerr, is now engaged.
Canadian Olympian and national marathon record holder (2:09:25), Cam Levins announced he is no longer sponsored by Hoka.
Wilkerson Given (2:11:44) has joined Hansons-Brooks.
Ethiopia’s Tadese Worku (10k - 28:18) and Dawit Seyaum (5k - 15:22) won at the Boclassic in Bolzano, Italy. Watch the race video to see how wild of a course this is. Worku has run sub-27 for 10,000m and is the World XC silver medalist and Seyaum has run 3:58 for 1500 and a recent 14:39 5k.
Tinman Elite has officially added their first woman with Tori Gerlach joining the squad. Expect a rebrand to #TinPeople.
Wildfires in Boulder County destroyed over 1,000 homes. Maddie Alm and Laura Thweatt coach at Monarch HS, and have started a fundraiser which has raised over $22,000 to support their affected athletes and their families.
Stewy McSweyn ran a 3:59 mile on grass, starting the race with a huge time handicap. He ultimately didn’t win, but you’re still going to want to watch: come for the craic, stay for the announcer. (Video)
After 48 years at the helm, Mark Bauman of Flint, MI, sold his store, Bauman's Running and Walking Shop, to several of his long-time employees for $1.
So it’s not XC, but we’ve got a runner at the Winter Olympics! You may remember Winter Vinecki from 2013, when at 14-years-old she became the youngest person to run a marathon on all 7 continents, raising money for prostate cancer research. She’ll be representing the US in Beijing as an aerial skier.
Mary Cain was on the cover of Women’s Running with a nice feature about her recent endeavors with Atalanta.
Jim Walmsley also got engaged — appropriately at the top of a mountain!
Nick Willis raced on New Year’s at an empty Armory in an attempt at his 20th consecutive year running a sub-4 minute mile. The results are currently a well guarded secret, but will be revealed in a mini-documentary any day!
Thank you to Run Moore for supporting this week’s newsletter! I was thrilled when a run specialty shop enthusiastically reached out to say they wanted to sponsor an edition.