Americans Light Up the Indoor Track

This article originally appeared on Womens Running

It might be winter, but track is back! And, in warmer climes, the half-marathon and marathon season is beginning to come to life.

Although the indoor track season is just warming up, Alicia Monson, Yared Nuguse and Woody Kincaid ran with midseason form over the weekend in meets in Boston and New York. Meanwhile, North Carolina state standout Katelyn Tuohy set a new collegiate record for the mile, while dozens of men broke the 4-minute mile barrier -- including eight University of Washington runners in a single race in Seattle.

At the January 27-28 Doctor Sander Invitational held at The New Balance Track & Field Center at The Armory in New York City, Monson won an exhilarating women's invitational mile race in a world-leading time of 4:23:55. The On Athletics Club runner, who is known as a 10,000-meter specialist on the outdoor track, set a new personal best and meet record in running the 8th fastest time ever by an American, while also setting a world-leading time for the 1500m en route (4:06.38).

Adidas pro Whittni Morgan placed second a half stride behind her in a new personal best of 4:23.97, while North Carolina State's Katelyn Tuohy, the 2022 NCAA Cross Country champion, was third in a new collegiate record of 4:24.26. In all, nine of the 11 women in the race set new personal bests, while fourth-place finisher Sintayehu Vissa set a new Italian national record of 4:28.71.

In the women's 1,000m invitational race, Sage Hurta-Klecker (On Athletics Club) was shooting for Jen Toomey’s American record of 2:34.19. But U.S. veteran Ajee’ Wilson (Adidas) outran her to the finish line in 2:35.97 -- her 17th victory at the Armory since 2014 -- while Hurta-Klecker finished second in a new PR of 2:36.37.

At the January 27-28 John Thomas Terrier Classic at Boston University, Nuguse, a former Notre Dame standout who also runs for the On Athletics Club, broke Galen Rupp’s American record for 3,000 meters with a 7:28.24 clocking. That time not only surpassed Rupp's 7:30.16 effort from 2013, but it also puts him ninth in the world's all-time top 10 list. Right behind Nuguse, British runner Sam Atkin set a national record of 7:31.97, and in fifth place Drew Bosley of the University of Northern Arizona ran a collegiate record of 7:36.42.

In the men's 5,000, Woody Kincaid (Nike) ran to a new American record of 12:51.61, a time that broke Rupp's previous record of 13:01.26 and put him at No. 4 on the all-time world list. Runner-up Joe Klecker (On Athletics Club) wasn’t far behind with a new personal best of 12:54.99 (No. 3 on the U.S. all-time list and No. 7 on the all-time world list), while University of Tennessee graduate student and Notre Dame transfer Dylan Jacobs finished fourth in a new collegiate record of 13:11.01.

Other meet highlights included Canada’s Lucia Stafford winning the 1,000m in a world-leading and national-record time of 2:33.75 and 15 men breaking 4 minutes in the mile, led by Flagstaff, Arizona-based Luis Grijalva’s 3:53.53 Guatemalan national record.

Perhaps the most stunning race of the weekend was the fast heat of the men's mile at the University of Washington Invitational on January 27-28 in Seattle. Joe Waskom, a Huskies junior, won the race in a meet-record and NCAA-leading 3:51.90, and in doing so led seven of his teammates to fast times as Brian Fay (3:52.03), Nathan Green (3:52.76), Kieran Lumb (3:53.83), Sam Ellis (3:53.84), Luke Houser (3:55.98), Aaron Ahl (3:57.94) and Aidan Ryan (3:59.55) all broke the 4-minute plateau.

American Betsy Saina wins Seville Half Marathon

Betsy Saina, a Kenyan-born American runner sponsored by ASICS, won the Seville Half Marathon on January 29 in Sevilla, Spain in a course-record 1:08:25. In a race that included 2,396 women, she outlasted Germany's Alina Reh (1:08:42) to earn the 1,000 Euro first-prize. The 34-year-old Saina, who formerly competed for Iowa State University, earned U.S. citizenship in 2021 and should be a contender to make the U.S. Olympic marathon team in 2024. Although her time was slightly off her own PR from 2019 while she was still running for Kenya, her winning effort put her at No. 10 on the all-time U.S. list. Ethiopia's Amdework Walelegn won the men's race in 1:00:28.

Ethiopia's Haven Desse wins Osaka Women's Marathon

Ethiopia's Haven Hailu Desse won the Osaka Women's Marathon on January 29 in Osaka, Japan with a strong 2:21:13 effort. She was impressive in outlasting countrywoman Meseret Gola Sisay (2:22:12) and Japan's Yuka Ando (2:22:59), but it was the depth of the 41st annual race -- 11 women finished under 2:30 and 25 under 2:40 -- that was most notable. The women's half marathon wasn't quite as fast or deep, but Japan's Rinka Hida (1:10:10) narrowly edged Hina Yanagidani (1:10:11) at the finish line amid the roaring local crowd in an event that was televised nationally across Japan.

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