Fast Women, September 9, 2019, Issue 36

Jenny Simpson and Elle Purrier lead the 2019 Fifth Avenue Mile. (Photo courtesy of NYRR.)
 

Jenny Simpson wins her eighth Fifth Avenue Mile in record time, but it’s close

Sunday’s Fifth Avenue Mile was a thrilling race between Jenny Simpson and Elle Purrier, which came down to the final steps. Simpson prevailed in 4:16.1, and broke the record of 4:16.6, which she shared with PattiSue Plumer. Purrier also broke the record, running 4:16.2.

As Simpson and Purrier led the way down Fifth Avenue, Craig Masback speculated on the TV broadcast that Simpson was up front because she wanted a fast time. I don’t doubt that she wanted a fast time, but I think it was more because she was doing what she needed to do to win, and she knew there were some great kickers behind her, including Nikki Hiltz. Hiltz (who finished fourth) was out of striking distance by the time the runners started kicking, but I’m sure the thought of her, plus Purrier by Simpson’s side, kept the pace quick.

As big of a run as this was for Simpson, it was an even bigger run for Purrier, who, in my opinion, broke through to a new level with this race. Yes, she already ran a 4:02.34 1500m personal best this season, but she finished seventh in that race. Challenging Simpson to the line against a strong field unlocks a new level of achievement.

Behind them, Rebecca Mehra, who has been on a roll recently, beat many runners with 1500m PRs faster than hers to take third in 4:22.0. (Results)

Ajee’ Wilson and Raevyn Rogers go 1-2 in Diamond League 800m and Ce’Aira Brown makes the world championships team

At part two of the Diamond League Final in Brussels on Friday, Ajee’ Wilson ran from the front and her training partner, Raevyn Rogers, came from behind, but at the finish, they were 1-2 in 2:00.24 and 2:00.67. The times were likely slowed by the cool, rainy conditions. Wilson earned $50,000 for her win and got to ride around the track in a fancy car. Hanna Green, the third U.S. runner in the field, seemed to have a bit of an off day and finished seventh in 2:02.47. (Results)

Wilson’s win also earned her an automatic berth to the world championships. She already had a spot on the team, but it means the U.S. gets to send three additional women to the world championships. (Rogers and Green had already secured their spots as well.) The next woman in line who has the world championships standard is Ce’Aira Brown, who barely missed making the final at the USATF Championships when she was coming off an injury, so now she’s on the team, too.

There were no U.S. women in the other distance event, the 5,000m, but Sifan Hassan, who trains in the U.S. with the Nike Oregon Project, won her second Diamond League title in two weeks, running 14:26.26. Hassan notably beat reigning world 5,000m champion Hellen Obiri for the first time ever, as Obiri finished fourth in 14:33.90. Back in seventh, Gabriela DeBues-Stafford ran 14:44.12 and earned her seventh Canadian record of the year.
 

Brigid Kosgei runs the fastest half marathon ever by a woman, with an asterisk

At Sunday’s Great North Run, Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei ran the fastest half marathon a woman has ever run, 1:04:28, but it will not be ratified as a world record because the course is not record-eligible. Still, it was 23 seconds faster than Joyciline Jepkosgei’s record of 1:04:51, and she ran completely solo. Kosgei is scheduled to defend her Chicago Marathon title in five weeks, and all signs indicate that she’ll be a heavy favorite heading into that race.

To be record-eligible, the start and finish of a race must be no more than 50 percent of the race distance apart, measured as the crow flies, and must average no more than one meter of elevation loss per kilometer. The Great North Run doesn’t meet either of those criteria as it drops 30.5 meters and has more than 75 percent separation. Kara Goucher ran 1:06:57 to win this race in 2007 but does not hold the American record for those reasons.

Guinness world records follow no such rules, because they’re invented and governed by an entirely different organization. So Great Britain’s Aly Dixon, running for charity, set a pending Guinness world record for the fastest half marathon in a superhero costume. She ran 1:18:27 dressed as Wonder Woman the week after she set a pending 50K world record. (Results)
 

Molly Huddle and Emily Sisson tune up on Long Island, Amanda Eccleston earns another mile title

Molly Huddle and Emily Sisson wanted to run a 5,000m tuneup race before racing the 10,000m at the world championships, and rather than going to Europe, they asked professional runner Kyle Merber if they could “crash” his event, the Long Island Mile. He obliged. Huddle and Sisson worked together throughout, until Huddle kicked to the win, 15:08.67 to 15:10.62.

In the mile, Amanda Eccleston held a slight edge at the finish, winning in 4:32.58, with Heather Kampf close behind in 4:32.79. Eccleston has struggled with injuries the past two years, but she ended her season on a positive note by adding a third title at this race to her résumé. (Race videos | Results)

Sara Hall wins the USA 20K title in the midst of marathon training

The USA 20K Championships were held at the New Haven Road Race on Labor Day and Sara Hall pulled away from Katy Jermann shortly after 10K and won the race by nearly two minutes, in 1:06:46. Jermann finished second in 1:08:38, and Karis Jochen was third in 1:09:17. Post-race interviews with the top three women are available here. (Results)
 

The injury report

Pros—they’re just like us! Pro runners get injured too, and a handful of them are dealing with issues right now. Colleen Quigley has been open about her struggles, and she admitted last week that she’s dealing with her fourth injury of the year, about three weeks out from the world championships. She reported that she had a cortisone shot last week and she was waiting for it to kick in. Diane Nukuri, who was scheduled to run the New York City Marathon, reports that she has a hamstring tear.

Neither Helen Schlachtenhaufen nor Cory McGee specifically mentioned injuries, but both were scheduled to run the Fifth Avenue Mile but opted to end their seasons early.

In positive news, Aliphine Tuliamuk is healing from a stress fracture in her femur and has posted a couple brief mentions of her return to running. Laura Muir, one of the 1500m favorites heading into the world championships, is back on the track after some mid-season injury struggles.

I’m mildly curious if we’ll see any changes in professional runners’ transparency regarding their injuries as we head into an Olympic year.

Ashley Brasovan discusses her eating disorder and return to competitive running

I really appreciated this article about Ashley Brasovan that Hailey Middlebrook wrote for Runner’s World, and how openly Brasovan spoke about her struggles with an eating disorder in high school. Brasovan’s eating disorder likely impacted other young girls, as she was the Foot Locker Cross Country national champion in 2007 and a role model, whether she wanted to be or not.

Having watched similar stories play out so many times I’m glad to be hearing from Brasovan on the other side. She talks about her comeback, and finding better balance as an adult. “I’m proud of the success I had when I was young, because that’s what made me who I am. But if I could go back, I would have done a lot of things differently. I would have had more fun. I would have eaten more. I wouldn’t have pushed myself so much,” Brasovan said.

Sometimes it’s hard to learn a lesson until you’ve experienced it firsthand, but I hope runners of future generations can just take Brasovan’s word for it and learn from her struggles without repeating them.
 

Other results

• Kate Grace won a 1500m race in Zagreb, Croatia last Tuesday, running 4:07.91. You can watch her kick here. (Results)

• Shannon Osika won a 1500m race in Andújar, Spain, on Friday in 4:07.73. (Results)

• Eilish McColgan won the road mile at the Great North City Games, part of the Great North Run, in 4:33. Allyson Felix won the 150m race and the video is pretty cool. (Results)

• Rosa Mota, the 1988 Olympic champion in the marathon, apparently won the 60–64 cross country race at the European Masters Athletics Cross Country Championships. I learned everything I know about it from this tweet.

• Liz McColgan, who won gold in the 10,000m at the 1991 World Championships and silver in the same event at the 1988 Olympic Games for Great Britain, was the last person standing at the Asics Eternal Run. (She’s better known now as Eilish’s mother.) I enjoyed her Instagram post about it. She’s 55 now and said she hasn’t run more than five miles in years, plus she has a broken toe, but she ran for more than four hours. “Maybe ultrarunning beckons,” she joked. Between Mota, McColgan, and Joan Benoit Samuelson, I think we could set up a good age-group race at one of the major marathons.

Other news

• Fast Women editor Sarah Lorge Butler wrote a great and well-timed article about Elle Purrier, which went up on the Runner’s World website shortly after Purrier’s strong performance at the Fifth Avenue Mile on Sunday. Purrier said she’s worried she’s getting a little soft because she no longer does farm chores as a professional runner, but thus far, it seems to be working out well for her.

• Emily Sisson was the guest on the Ali On the Run Show last week. Sisson, who got married a year ago, talked about choosing her honeymoon location because it’s on the way back from the world championships in Doha. She said that when she was having trouble with marathon fueling, her competitor, Amy Cragg, was helpful, as was Meb Keflezighi. She discussed being friends or friendly with most of her competitors, saying, “I think it’s really great, especially for younger girls in high school and college to see that you can see other people’s success and acknowledge it and be supportive of it while still having your own goals. [There’s no] need to tear people down to build yourself up.”

• Jenny Simpson doesn’t mince words in speaking to LetsRun’s Jonathan Gault about how the drug testing system works in track and field, and she says updating one’s whereabouts goes with the territory of being a professional runner. “I don’t know how in the world you can be so irresponsible to miss three in 12 months…If you miss three tests, it’s either because you’re cheating or because you’re an idiot and under both circumstances, you shouldn’t be able to compete,” Simpson said.

• Gwen Jorgensen shared her pre-run routine on her YouTube channel, which is helpful content and relatable as well, because she did it in her kitchen and living room.

• This is a well-done piece from NPR affiliate WBUR (with audio and text options) about Hayley Sutter, whose finish at last year’s California International Marathon went viral when she crawled across the finish line with a chip time of 2:45:00, which allowed her to squeak into the Olympic Marathon Trials field.

• This Track & Field News article has some background on 800m world championships team member Hanna Green, who is having a breakthrough season.

• I really enjoyed this episode of the Training for Ultra podcast with Latoya Shauntay Snell. She talked about how a person can be diagnosed with anorexia at any weight. When she lost weight, she got lots of praise and attention, and her experience underlines the potential dangers of that. She’s been a great ambassador for getting more women out running.

• Runner’s World’s Hailey Middlebrook has the story of Gina Rouse, who missed qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Marathon Trials by 25 seconds not long after having her third child, but she qualified for 2020 with room to spare. Also, I hope potential sponsors notice how many women list Roberta Groner as an inspiration. (And in this podcast episode with Australia’s Sinead Diver—she comes in around the 1:45 mark—she agrees that masters runners with jobs and families and who are able to compete with the best in the world should be of great value to sponsors.)

• Becky Wade Firth announced she’s running the Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 20 and explained her reasons for selecting that particular race. One of those reasons is that her husband will be able to serve as her pacer.

• Caster Semenya, who has been told by the IAAF that she can no longer compete in distances between 400 meters and the mile, unless she suppresses her naturally high testosterone level, announced that she has she has signed with a soccer team. But she also clarified that that doesn’t mean she is done with track and field.

• Gwen Jorgensen was inducted into the University of Wisconsin’s Hall of Fame over the weekend. Susan (Kuijken) Krumins, who runs for the Netherlands, was inducted into Florida State’s Hall of Fame.

• Professional runner Stephanie Garcia has started a newsletter.

• Jazmine Fray announced that she’s signed with Under Armour and will join the District Track Club. Josette Norris announced she has signed with Reebok and will join the Reebok Boston Track Club.

• Allie Ostrander finished 16th in 4:34 at the Fifth Avenue Mile and I appreciated this preview article about her, which pointed out that she had the second-slowest personal best in the professional field going in. Ostrander said that she relishes the opportunity to race against competition that can challenge her, and it’s part of the reason she turned pro.

• Ostrander and Nikki Hiltz were part of a live podcast taping, hosted by Ali Feller, as part of NYRR’s RunnerCon the day before the Fifth Avenue Mile. They were both great, and a video of the event is available here, or you can listen to it in podcast form.

• This was a good post from Shannon Rowbury about returning to high-level racing not only post-injury but also post-baby. She said she is still nursing and working her way back, but she’s been glad to see improvement recently.

• Karisa Nelson is still headed for the Brooks Beasts and Seattle, but first she’s going to spend a season as an assistant cross country coach at her alma mater, Samford.

• Carrie Tollefson had Magda Boulet as a guest on her podcast last week, and they talked about Boulet’s ultrarunning, as well as her prior experience as an Olympic marathoner.

• Rachel Schneider, who will represent the U.S. in the 5,000m at the world championships, is the subject of Flotrack’s latest Workout Wednesday video (she did 6 x mile with 90 seconds rest, and returned for four more mile repeats in the evening). You can watch the trailer here, but the full video is only available to subscribers.

• This is mostly only interesting to competitors and those who plan to attend, but the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials schedule has been announced.

Upcoming

“The Match,” a U.S. vs. Europe dual meet, takes place today and tomorrow in Minsk. The U.S. roster is available here and according to the press release, the event scheduled to air live on NBCSN and NBC Sports Gold 12-3 p.m. ET both days.

On Sunday, Jordan Hasay and Des Linden are scheduled to run the Philadelphia Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon.

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Thanks for reading, thanks so much to our Patreon supporters, and I appreciate so many of you helping spread the word about this newsletter, so we can reach more women's distance running fans. I hope you have a great week.

Alison