American track and road superstars Evan Jager and Galen Rupp decided to run the U.S. cross country championships this afternoon in Tallahassee for the first time ever, for reasons that are not entirely clear. Rupp had only run once cross country race (in 2011) since winning an NCAA title in 2008, while Jager hadn’t…
Dathan Ritzenhein has been one of the United States’ best distance runners for over a decade. He participated in the Athens, Beijing, and London Olympics, and once held the American 5k record. Ritzenhein was sponsored by Nike for his entire career until March, and lived in Oregon to train under Alberto Salazar with…
Before today’s running of the men’s marathon, U.S. runner Galen Rupp had only tackled 26.2 miles once—at the U.S. Olympic trials, which he won with a time of 2:11:12. He finished third today in Rio, at 2:10:05.
Eugene, Oregon is a picturesque college town, sparkly with streams and framed by dark pine-forested hills, with a population equal parts public radio, Dick-and-Perry-with-a-snort-of-Eminem, and hippie. The U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials are happening there right now—bands of backward cap-wearing dudes are…
The Olympic Marathon Trials have been tried and decided. By finishing in the top three, your 2016 Olympic marathoners are Galen Rupp, Meb Keflezighi and Jared Ward on the men’s side, and Amy Cragg, Des Linden, and Shalane Flanagan on the women’s. Should one of those Mister or Miss Americas be unable or unwilling to…
I had just dragged ass into the JW Marriott in downtown Los Angeles—race headquarters for the Olympic Marathon Trials—and got in the elevator with Des Linden. She is one of, if not the, favorites in today’s race to determine the Rio team. Linden came up to my shoulder, the size of many 10-year-olds, but thinner, and…
The distance running world was shaken a few months ago by top-level Kenyan and Russian doping convictions, but, you know, that was somewhere else. It was over there, not here in the US of A. Until yesterday, ironically, National Running Day. Two Molotov cocktails—an article on ProPublica by David Epstein and an…
Some people look badass in masks. Galen Rupp does not.
Eamonn Coghlan is not too sensitive about the fact that today's twentysomethings were infants when he ran a mile in 3 minutes 49 seconds and 78 hundredths on a 10-lap track—which is to say, a world record—and he doesn't mind that they don't know who he is or what he's done. That's OK. He's pretty diplomatic, now—a…
