“The biggest learning experience was definitely Worlds. I feel like the other races are races I’ve done a lot before and I know how they go. Worlds was something I’ve only really done one other time. A big thing I wanted to take away from Worlds was just framing my mindset in a way that’s ‘You are as good as you think you are. You just have to go out there and act like it.’ … I gained a lot of success really quickly so it’s been a bit surprising. I’m trying to focus on who I am as a runner...

“When I was running the race, I really didn’t have a time in mind. I knew when I crossed that line that it was going to be a decent time…When I looked at the time, that was not what I was expecting to see there. That was pretty surreal. I’m super, super grateful.” Texas A&M junior Sam Whitmarsh popped onto our radar with a 1:44.46 at LSU’s Battle on the Bayou meet on March 30th, which moved him to No. 7 on the all-time collegiate list.  When we put the call out on the CITIUS MAG team...

Mary Ngugi-Cooper has been a formidable force in the Kenyan marathon scene within the past decade. Mary's journey is not just about her remarkable achievements on the roads; it's about her unwavering commitment to empowering women through the sport she loves. In the wake of a tragic loss that shook the running community to its core, Mary took action by responding to the heartbreaking murder of Agnes Tirop by founding Nala Track Club in October of 2022. Named after the Swahili word for a...

This is The Lap Count newsletter by Kyle Merber, as read by Chris Chavez. Join more than 16,000 people who stay up-to-date with all the thrilling action and biggest stories in the world of track & field – delivered right to your inbox every Wednesday morning. Subscribe at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://thelapcount.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ In this week's newsletter: – Boston Marathon — Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner 🦄 – Parker Valby Takes Her First Crack At The 10K 🐊 – A World Record in the Field of...

We’re opening up The CITIUS MAG Podcast to have ANYONE join us to share their Boston Marathon stories. It’s going to be a rapid-fire, live podcast recording where we don’t know the guests and just want to connect and hear cool stories from the community. Thanks to HOKA for creating a safe and welcoming space for all these people to share their stories with us. Hear from: 7:00 – JT from Los Angeles 13:49 – Francesco from New York City 22:14 – Kristen from Kennett Square 28:40 – Mike...

Chris Chavez, Kyle Merber and Eric Jenkins will preview all of the top athletes and storylines to watch for the men's and women's elite races at the 2024 Boston Marathon. Evans Chebet, Hellen Obiri, Emma Bates, Sharon Lokedi, Zouhair Talbi, Gabriel Geay, Des Linden, CJ Albertson, Jenny Simpson, Sara Hall are among the notable stars competing at the historic race. We will also share our picks at the end of the show. HOW TO WATCH THE RACE ON TV: All the Marathon Monday action gets underway...

This week in track and field, Chris Chavez and Anderson Emerole discuss: Kenya cutting down down on its list of athletes for their Olympic Marathon team selection (Find out who is in and who is out); some of the key performances of the Miramar Invitational in Florida; Abby Steiner raced for the first time since season-ending surgery last summer; Olympic silver medalist Christine Mboma is eligible to compete in the 100m and 200m. Topics discussed: – Athletics Kenya has trimmed down on its...

“All I want is to be healthy and train consistently. That’s literally it. I try to keep things as simple as possible. I have a lot of confidence in myself that if I’m there on the start line and I’m prepared, I’m going in and do my thing and do really well…Last year unfortunately was another year where I wasn’t able to do that. I do try and take stuff from those tough times. There’s a lot to be gained when times are tough.” We continue our mini-series with members of the On Athletics Club as...

This is The Lap Count newsletter by Kyle Merber, as read by Chris Chavez. Join more than 16,000 people who stay up-to-date with all the thrilling action and biggest stories in the world of track & field – delivered right to your inbox every Wednesday morning. Subscribe at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://thelapcount.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ In this week's newsletter: – BACK-TO-BACK JACKS 🇰🇪 – K-I-P-L-I-M-O… And Kiplimo was his name-o! 🇺🇬 – Mixed Relay, Rave Reviews! 🙌 You can read this week's newsletter...

“I think I’m ready for it. I’m excited for it. I have a lot of self-hatred, anger and adrenaline kicking in for this race. I know it’s just the beginning of my season…With this, it’s just about proving where I belong in Australian running and I have to back myself thinking I am in record holder in the event and I should act like it and train like it. I feel like we’ve been training smart and training well over the past few months. I’ve gone from a little confidence to a lot of confidence in...

"I've been to three Olympics and in two Olympics, I've gotten number two. I do believe if I will be one of them representing Kenya, it will be my biggest opportunity to show I've been doing this on the track but now I'm a marathoner. This time it will be that time to get that gold that I've been looking for so many years." The last time Hellen Obiri was a guest on the CITIUS MAG Podcast was way back in 2022 when she sat down with us at the World Championships in Eugene. That was just months...

Sharing some of our bold predictions for the 2024 outdoor track and field season with potential upsets and possible world records to fall. Plus some thoughts on: – Gabby Thomas opens up with a 10.88 for 100m and then comes back and runs 22.08 for 200m less than 45 minutes later. – Quincy Wilson ran 45.19 at 16 years old to hit the U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying mark – Best relay performances of the weekend: Grant Holloway and Gainesville Elite runs 37.67 for the 4x100m | Dina Asher-Smith,...

"I am a little bit less experienced than some of these other runners that I'm going up against. And I was like, 'That's what's going to make me a better runner' is getting experience with both tactics and championship racing because it is different than just going out and time trialing... And I think that this indoors, especially at the World Championship, just proving to myself that I can hold my own in a tactical championship race gave me that extra bit of confidence I need going into this...

We've decided to bring back This Week In Track and Field. CITIUS MAG's newest contributor, Anderson Emerole (who heads The Final Leg YouTube channel) will co-host every week as we riff on the biggest news stories and results in track and field. In this week's show (since it was a slower week of results and news): – We introduce Anderson to our audience a bit more formally – Anderson shares a bit about his trip to Kingston, Jamaica for The ISSA Grace Kennedy Boys and Girls Championships,...

"I never had any problems with the workouts, but for me personally, I think it started to affect my mental and social side to where my relationship with running wasn't really happy. There was almost a nonexistent excitement for workouts and I was just kind of going through the monotony, but not enjoying it. And so changing it up, when you need excitement to love running again – being with VNTC guys lit that spark for me again. I am getting better at physical training and it's exciting with...

“It’s just a really cool moment. You just never know what opportunities will arise and what full-circle moments will happen. I’m just happy that I took that tough call in 2019 to move back here and figure my life and self out to become the runner that I am today and to be welcomed back by Brooks. It’s a really cool opportunity. I’m stoked to be back.” Jess McClain (née Tonn) has signed a professional contract with Brooks Running a month after finishing fourth at the 2024 U.S. Olympic...

This is The Lap Count newsletter by Kyle Merber, as read by Chris Chavez. Join more than 16,000 people who stay up-to-date with all the thrilling action and biggest stories in the world of track & field – delivered right to your inbox every Wednesday morning. Subscribe at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://thelapcount.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ In this week's newsletter: – The TEN heard ‘round the world 🌎 – Catch a ride on the sub-27:00 train 🚂 + more rapid-fire highlights from the past week You can read this...

"When Elle races in a championship, I always say, ‘You want to be in the race with 400m to go for a shot at making the team or winning. Just give yourself a shot.’ Because you can’t control what other people are doing and you don’t know how the chips are going to fall. I was really confident she was going to be there with 400m to go. I was just watching her closely. I watched her chop her steps a couple of times and was thinking, ‘Gosh. She’s just chomping at the bit.’ I didn’t know she was...

“This is a different moment in my career compared to any other one in the past because I’ve suffered a major disappointment. It’s up for debate if I should’ve taken a break after the Trials and reset but, man, I didn’t feel like I could stop. All of this training is in me and this motivation to show the world the hard work I’ve put in. I didn’t take this journey lightly. I really care about making this transformation from middle distances to the longer stuff. I just really wanted to keep...

This is The Lap Count newsletter by Kyle Merber, as read by Chris Chavez. Join more than 16,000 people who stay up-to-date with all the thrilling action and biggest stories in the world of track & field – delivered right to your inbox every Wednesday morning. Subscribe at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://thelapcount.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ In this week's newsletter: – The Best of Boston: Presented by Kyle 🏆 – Pick a number, any number: Which would pros take? #️⃣ – What are these kids up to? 👶 – College vs....

"Cherish the people around you. Coming to Stanford and having such an amazing team has made such a difference for me in the sport and just how I view it...This sport is tough. Some days it's so rewarding and you feel like you're on top of the world but then other days, it crushes you. Having that great support system and realizing that's the best thing you can gain from the sport. I've won a lot of races but at the end of the day, the people I've met and the friends I've made is most...

"I am so hungry. As soon as I finished the race, I said, 'I know I can do better. I know I raced wrong.' I need to go back to how I raced in high school. Even in high school, if I didn't get out front in an 800m, I didn't win. For outdoor, I need to race the way I race best." Georgetown freshman Tinoda Matsatsa, the NCAA 1000m record holder and a New Balance NIL athlete, chatted with Chris Chavez and Kyle Merber while at New Balance Nationals Indoor in Boston. Matsatsa was just coming off an...

"With the NCAA, you just never know. You always have someone coming around...It's cool to see. People get to have their moments every season. There are highs and lows. It's sweet to see so much change between the athletes." While at New Balance Nationals Indoor in Boston, Chris Chavez and Kyle Merber caught up with 2023 NCAA Cross Country Champion Graham Blanks. Unfortunately, he had to miss the indoor championship season due to injury but has returned to running ahead of the 2024 outdoor...

CITIUS MAG's Anderson Emerole reports from the 2024 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at The TRACK at New Balance in Boston as NAU's Nico Young and Florida's Parker Valby win both the 3000m and 5000m titles, Valby sets the new 5000m collegiate record in 14:52.79, Texas Tech's Terrence Jones wins both the 60m and 200m, Arkansas wins the women's team title, Texas Tech wins the men's team title, and more. For more interviews from the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, head over...