In this week’s episode of the A to Z Running Podcast, 2x Olympian Hillary Bor reveals how champions race. We get inside Hillary’s head as he shares why tactics matter and his strategies for championship racing.

INTRO

• • • • Follow and Subscribe (on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform)
      • Follower inputs about hot weather running. Two great ones from long-time listener, Gretchen.
        • Perfect frozen towel for your neck
          • Wet a towel
          • Put on a bowl
          • Freeze
        • Use your kid’s towel with a hood over your headrest in the seat of your car when your sweaty after a hot run.
      • This episode is sponsored by Roll Recovery. We have been enjoying our R8s (deep tissue massage tool) by taking them everywhere. The custom Roll Recovery R8 makes an excellent special gift for your loved one.

World of Running

WHEN: Thursday, July 1st, 2021

WHERE: Oslo, Norway

WHAT: Diamond League – Oslo (Bislett Games) (watch the BBC coverage here, full results here)

Diamond League Fact- Winner receives 30,000 USD and a Diamond League Trophy, each first place finisher gets $10,000

• Men’s mile: crazy times, records dropping
  • Australia’s Stewart McSweyn won in blazing 3:48.37, a new Oceania and Australian record
    • Australia represented well with Jye Edwards in 3rd in 3:49
  • In 2nd, Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski set a new Polish record in 3:49.11
  • Uganda’s Ronald Musagala also set a new national record in 3:53.04
• Men’s 3,000m: PRs for everyone!
  • Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha set a new Diamond League Record in 7:26.25
  • The top 8 men all ran personal best times
• Because it happened… Karsten Warlholm of Norway broke the 400m hurdles world record → a time USA’s Rai Benjamin only missed by .05 seconds at the US trials… watch out for those two at the games!
• Women’s 800m: USA represent
  • USA’s Kate Grace (click here to check out our episode with Kate), after finishing 4th at the US trials, ran a blazing lifetime best 1:57.6 to win her first diamond league victory
  • Won over the defending world champion, Halimah Nakaayi of Uganda
  • Not surprisingly, Grace was chuckling after the race, clearly some balance of exasperation and triumph with an incredible performance but perhaps 4 days later than desired
• Women’s 5,000m
  • In a 4th place finish, Eilish McColgan broke Paula Radcliffe’s British record by running 14:28.55
  • She held on well to an aggressive race that world champ Helen Obiri of Kenya won in 14:26

WHEN: Sunday, July 4th, 2021

WHERE: Stockholm, Sweden

WHAT: Diamond League – Stockholm (watch the BBC coverage here, full results here)

• 3000m Steeplechase
  • The race went out fast → WR
  • Pole Vaulter had to tell the photographers to get off the track while the steeplechase was going
  • Leah Falland (click here for episode with Leah) moves back to the fifth fastest American of all-time in the event in a personal best time of 9:16.9

• Women’s 1500m
  • Diribe Welteji of Ethiopia in 4:00.68
  • The next two spots claimed by US women Shannon Osika who was 4th at the Olympic Trials in 4:00.93
  • Helen Schlachtenhaufen followed in third in a personal best time of 4:01.09.  Helen was 5th at the U.S. Olympic Trials. 

• Men’s 1500m
  • After being left off the Kenyan Olympic team, 2019 world champion Timothy Cheruiyot put up again
  • Ran 3:32 for a decisive victory

• Women’s 800m
  • Kate Grace set ANOTHER new PR of 1:57.36, 3 days after her previous lifetime best

WHEN: Sunday, July 4th, 2021

WHERE: Atlanta, Georgia

WHAT: Peachtree Road Race, USATF 10k Championships (according to Letsrun)

• • For the women…
    • Sara Hall took the race, her 11th USATF Road title, in a final 400m kick that put 8 seconds on second place Emily Durgin
  • For the men… 

• Sam Chelanga (Check out our episode with Sam) broke the race apart with around 1k to go, breaking away from the likes of Galen Rupp and Jake Riley (Check out our episode with Jake Riley), who will represent USA in the marathon
  • Chelanga won the race by only a slim margin over Fred Huxham (who apparently ran over a minute PR for the distance in any format) and recent 15k road champ Clayton Young (Check out our episode with Clayton Young)
• USA’s marathon team just about all showed up for the women and men, putting in a hard effort about a month before the games 
• Congrats also to previous guest on the show, Shawanna White (check out our episode with Shawanna) for her 2nd place masters finish. 
• Congrats also to masters winner Gina Rouse!

OLYMPICS UPDATE:

• Cole Hocker was confirmed for team USA
• Canada announced final team selections
• Australia announced final team selections which included previous guest Oliver Hoare (Check out our episode with Ollie).
• The Netherlands announced final team selections, including Sifan Hassan, 1500m and 10,000m world champ and previous 10,000m world record holder
• Japan announced final team selections, and keep an eye out for the distance runners 
  • marathoners especially have some real medal potential, like Suguru Osako 
  • remember when he ran back-to-back 10,000m heats at the Portland Track Festival in May? 
  • He’s also a 2:05 marathoner!
• Competition schedule for the games
• Spain announced final team selections, and 50k race walker Jesus Angel Garcia will set a new record for Olympic appearances by making his eighth Olympic team at 51 years of age (reported by World Athletics)
  • First Olympic games in 1992, hasn’t missed one since
  • Won world champs in 1993
  • Best Olympic finish was 4th in 2008