Dani Jones On Turning Pro After One Of The Most Accomplished NCAA Careers at Colorado
“I honestly never expected entering CU to leave the way I did. I know that Colorado gave me everything I needed to succeed. Mark and Heather gave me every opportunity and every chance in the world to be great. Because of that, I’ll always root for them and I’ll always root for the Buffs. I’m really just grateful for the experience I had and I know there will be more athletes like me.” Dani Jones joins the CITIUS MAG Podcast after announcing that she has decided to forego her remaining NCAA eligibility to turn professional and sign with Hawi Management. The four-time NCAA champion out of the University of Colorado said she will be joining Joe Bosshard’s Boulder-based training group that includes Emma Coburn, Aisha Praught, Dominique Scott and Cory McGee. We run through the decision-making process that took place after the COVID-19 pandemic wiped away her attempt at an 800/mile double at the 2020 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships and then her last remaining outdoor season. This outdoor season was going to be focused on winning the NCAA 1,500 meter title, hitting the Olympic standard in the same event and making a push at the U.S. Olympic trials. With the Summer Games and trials postponed a year, Jones is among the athletes who could reap the benefit of one more year of training. Jones takes us through the biggest races of her Colorado career including the 2017 NCAA indoor titles in the DMR and 3,000m, the 2018 NCAA cross country individual and team title and last year’s NCAA 5,000m outdoor title, which came shortly after her father’s passing. We also touch on the influence of coaches Mark and Heather Burroughs in her development, training with Jenny Simpson and where she stands among the greats that have come out of Colorado. (Plus, her Mt. Rushmore of Colorado Buffaloes) Support CITIUS MAG & pick up some merch: https://www.bonfire.com/store/citius-mag/ ▶ Follow us: twitter.com/CitiusMag | instagram.com/citiusmag | facebook.com/citiusmag ✩ Connect with Chris via Email: chris@citiusmag.com | twitter.com/ChrisChavez | instagram.com/chris_j_chavez
8 Mai 20201h 10min
The Sport Gets Creative + Rise of Virtual Race and Drug Testing
Chris Chavez and Matthew Luke Meyer catch up from New Jersey and Montana to unpack the biggest storylines in the sport for Aprl 2020. With races and events cancelled through most of the summer, the sport has gotten creative with virtual races, time trials, backyard ultra marathons and pole vault competitions. This is how we're staying active and entertained amid a pandemic. We did our best to not say the c*********s word in the podcast. Among notable news from the month of April: World Athletics says that no performance between April 2020 and November 30, 2020 will count toward Tokyo qualification. The new window will run from Dec. 1 to May 31 for the marathon and then through June 29 for all other events. Some athletes were a bit upset by this blanket suspension. The Berlin Marathon was the first major marathon to be affected by the pandemic and gathering limits. It will be postponed or scaled down to an extent. The re-scheduled Boston is scheduled to take place two weeks before that. No Diamond League Meets through June but Oslo will be putting on The Impossible Games. Oregon 2021 becomes Oregon 2022 with the world championships being held from July 15 to July 24 at the new Hayward Field. The meet is early and will be held before Commonwealth Games and European Championships oddly enough. 'Dopers Gonna Dope' with Asbel Kiprop still saying he's innocent, Daniel Wanjiru getting busted for a biological passport violation and athletes recording whereabouts failures. Bad news: Coogan's, the popular track and field NYC bar by The Armory, has closed for good. Good news: Shalane adopted a baby! What's the most impressive run we've seen on Strava since quarantine? All that and more on the latest episode. ▶ Follow us: twitter.com/CitiusMag | instagram.com/citiusmag | facebook.com/citiusmag ✩ Connect with Chris via Email: chris@citiusmag.com | twitter.com/ChrisChavez | instagram.com/chris_j_chavez ✩ Connect with Matt on Instagram: Instagram.com/matthewlukemeyer
4 Mai 20201h 8min
Morgan McDonald on His Early Start In Sport to His Four NCAA Titles At Wisconsin
"Those races are weird now that I look back at them. Pretty much I feel like I entered the most intense flow state where my memories of them – I'm not going to say that they weren't painful but I was just so accepting that they were going to be painful. I was willing to do whatever it took. I knew I was good enough to compete. I wasn't going to let anyone beat me I suppose. Closing in 52 was a product of that. If you would've asked me, I wouldn't say that I'm going to be able to close in a 52 but it was just on that day, that's what I had to do to win. That's kind of how it played out. It was kind of an interesting chess battle between me and Grant. We're actually very similar runners if you think about it. We're both very strength-oriented with big kicks essentially, who can do well in the mile up to the 10K or whatever. (Coach Mick Byrne) called how that race would go pretty well. It had been an interesting battle between us with who had the lead at the bell in a few of the races leading up to that. That had kind of decided some of the races during indoors. I think that's more important indoors to have an early lead but I felt that Grant wanted to have the lead at the bell going into that outdoor 5K. If you watch the video, he really did. We jostled over that. Mick said that's what's going to happen and so sit on his shoulder. In the final 200, I go to his outside shoulder on the turn. I don't really know why I was there but Mick told me to do that, so I did it. It just felt right. Coming down that last 100, I had an extra gear. That was exactly how Mick said I should play it. It turned out so perfect." Morgan McDonald, now a professional runner for Under Armour, joins the podcast to take us from his early running days on a club team in Australia to what ultimately led to his success as a Wisconsin Badger. In his senior year, McDonald won the 2018 NCAA cross country title, 2019 NCAA indoor 3,000m and 5,000m title and then took the NCAA outdoor 5,000m crown in one of the best duels we've seen in recent years. McDonald owns personal bests of 3:54 for the mile and 13:15 for 5,000 meters. He represented Australia at the 2017 and 2019 world championships in the 5,000 meters. Follow Morgan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morganmcdonald__ ▶ Follow us: twitter.com/CitiusMag | instagram.com/citiusmag | facebook.com/citiusmag ▶ Connect with Chris via Email: chris@citiusmag.com | twitter.com/ChrisChavez | instagram.com/chris_j_chavez
29 Apr 20201h 6min
Chris Solinsky 10 Years After His 10,000m American Record (26:59) + Revisiting His Entire Career
"For me, my passion is still within running. It’s now all on, and I mean this wholeheartedly, getting the kids that I work with to experience excitement levels like that night, going under 13, winning the NCAA title or competing for a U.S. title or Olympic team. Those are the types of things that really motivate me now. It’s seeing that excitement level in the kids that I work with now. If I talk about that 10K that night or that day, it’s more anecdotal. It’s more of what I learned and what I went through." Chris Solinsky joins the show as we approach the 10-year anniversary of his 10,000-meter American record run at the 2010 Payton Jordan Invitational, where he became the first non-African to break 27 minutes for the distance. It was his debut at the distance and he managed to break Meb Keflezighi's previous record by 14 seconds. It's one of the best races to re-watch. In this episode, we'll go through that race in detail but start in his hometown of Junction City, Wisconsin. Even as a high schooler in Stevens Point, he was building an engine within and started garnering that reputation as one of the hardest-working grinders in the sport. We'll also touch on: - His recruitment and why Wisconsin initially was the last place that he wanted to attend. - How the University of Colorado missed out on Chris Solinsky… - His training philosophy and taking pieces of influence from coach Jerry Schumacher - The first sub-four mile on Wisconsin soil and the friendly rivalry with Matt Tegenkamp - Turing professional and betting on himself by choosing Nike - Advice for those who have that option and go through the process - What he believes is the best race of his career… - Having a hot hand during a season and breaking 13 minutes for 5,000m three times in one season - Clarifying his dog's role in his hamstring injury - The marathon attempt that never happened and giving it one more shot in 2014 - 2021 comeback odds and more… Related links: 2010 Payton Jordan finish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Rkvd5dfwMQ Podcast with Ryan Fenton on calling Solinsky's race: http://citiusmag.com/citius-mag-podcast-ryan-fenton-flotrack/ Sports Illustrated profile: https://www.si.com/more-sports/2010/06/23/chris-solinsky ▶ Follow us: twitter.com/CitiusMag | instagram.com/citiusmag | facebook.com/citiusmag ▶ Connect with Chris via Email: chris@citiusmag.com | twitter.com/ChrisChavez | instagram.com/chris_j_chavez
14 Apr 20201h 23min
Mike Wardian On How He Won the Quarantine Backyard Ultra Marathon After 63 Hours and 262 Miles
"There’s something inherently interesting about people going out to seek out what their limits are. The format is interesting too because you don’t really know if the race is going to end in one day, two days or six days. It ends when the last person either can’t go forward or isn’t allowed to go forward. That’s something I hope people would find interesting and maybe it brings more eyeballs on what we’re doing or inspires them to do it on their own." Mike Wardian joins the podcast less than 12 hours after winning the Quarantine Backyard Ultra Marathon. The race featured more than 2,000 runners from more than 50 countries competing over Zoom. How’d it work? Each competitor had to complete a 4.167-mile loop every hour - starting exactly on the hour and it goes on until there’s just one person remaining. The race started on Saturday morning and on Monday, Radek Brunner of the Czech Republic and Mike Wardian of Arlington, Virginia were locked in a duel. There were two different approaches on display. Mike was running loops around his block. Brunner was running on a treadmill in his home. At 11 p.m. on Monday night, Lap 63 begins. Wardian takes off for his loop. Brunner stands by the treadmill but doesn’t move for about 90 seconds. It looked like he was doing something on his iPad. According to the rules, you have to be in your starting corral (so for Brunner that was his treadmill) and you have to start on the hour (and it appears that he did not). Race organizers from Personal Peak made the decision to disqualify him and then Wardian kicked it in for a 31:05 final lap - his fastest of the whole race. The decision was not without controversy and uproar on social media. "Radek Brunner failed to leave the corral when the bell rang," Personal Peak said in a Facebook post. "This is what makes the backyard format so heart-wrenching. The bell doesn't care. The bell just rings. It is we who care. It is we who do not wish it to end. But it never ends well. It may only end gracefully." I caught up with Mike on Tuesday morning to get his side of things, hear more about his strategy and how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted his own plans for 2020. Read my brief recap and a transcript of the interview on Sports Illustrated: https://www.si.com/edge/2020/04/07/quarantine-backyard-ultra-marathon-winner-mike-wardian-radek-brunner-disqualified More information on the race and its origins by Sports Illustrated's Jessica Smetana: https://www.si.com/more-sports/2020/04/03/quarantine-backyard-ultra-marathon-virtual-race-coronavirus-pandemic Follow Mike on Strava: https://www.strava.com/pros/1108954 ▶ Follow us: twitter.com/CitiusMag | instagram.com/citiusmag | facebook.com/citiusmag ▶ Connect with Chris via Email: chris@citiusmag.com | twitter.com/ChrisChavez | instagram.com/chris_j_chavez
7 Apr 202033min
Keith and Kevin Hanson on 20 Years of Advancing American Distance Running
Sat down with Keith and Kevin Hanson while in Atlanta to discuss the history of the Hansons-Brooks Original Distance Project as it celebrates 20 years of advancing U.S. distance running. We start by going back to the brothers’ roots in Michigan and the state of the sport in America before helping improve it. The Hansons made an emphasis on group training, which stood out to them from studying Ethiopians, Kenyans and Japanese. It started off as a $250,000 investment in a team that helped provide housing, health insurance, travel and equipment for a few runners but later blossomed with a partnership with Brooks. In 2008, they put Brian Sell on the U.S. Olympic Marathon team. They also helped develop and guide Des Linden into a two-time Olympian and Boston Marathon champion. In this episode, they’ll share some of the behind-the-scenes stories of those breakout moments in their history. Also, what’s it like for them to take on the challenge of rebuilding the likes of Dathan Ritzenhein or bringing Natosha Rogers into an Olympic team contender for 2021. ▶ Follow us: twitter.com/CitiusMag | instagram.com/citiusmag | facebook.com/citiusmag ▶ Connect with Chris via Email: chris@citiusmag.com | twitter.com/ChrisChavez | instagram.com/chris_j_chavez
6 Apr 20201h 1min
9-5ers & Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifiers: Matt McDonald, Alyssa Bloomquist, Ann Mazur, Duriel Hardy
It's taken me too long to release this episode but about a month ago, I hosted a live panel at the Atlanta Track Club's marathon weekend experience that lined up with the 2020 U.S. Olympic marathon Trials. I sat down and talked with Matt McDonald, Alyssa Bloomquist, Ann Mazur and Duriel Hardy about how they manage to balance their full workload and sometimes classes with training at a high level. The COVID-19 pandemic definitely has lots of us working from home and thrown us out of our routine but I hope that this episode brings you a little bit of inspiration into understanding the importance of balance in work, life and running for when things do go back to normal and that no dream is too big to chase. Hailey Middlebrook of Runners World did a fantastic job profiling each of these guests in the leadup to Atlanta. You can find all of her stories below and their result: Matt McDonald, Ph.D. student in chemical engineering at Georgia Tech (2:12:19 for 10th place) – https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a29578084/matt-mcdonald-olympic-trials-qualifier/ Duriel Hardy, Pediatric Neurology Fellow/MD at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (2:26:41 for 119th place) – https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a30286103/duriel-hardy-olympic-marathon-trials-qualifier/ Alyssa Bloomquist, Speech-Language Pathologist at Greenville County Schools - Stone Academy (2:45:20 for 129th place) - https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a29814117/alyssa-bloomquist-olympic-marathon-trials-qualifier/ Ann Mazur, Founder/owner of Runners Love Yoga & teaches Running for Fitness and Yoga at the University of Virginia (2:51:53 for 260th place) - https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a30459353/ann-mazur-2020-olympic-trials-qualifier/ This episode was brought to you by the newest podcast in the CITIUS MAG family - Track and Field History with Jesse Squire. Get all the information about the show here: http://citiusmag.com/track-and-field-history-podcast-introduction/ Subscribe on Apple Podcasts here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/track-and-field-history-with-jesse-squire
4 Apr 202044min
Tokyo Olympics Postponed + What It Means Going Forward
Chris Chavez and Matt Meyer get together over Skype to recap the biggest news of March. As races are canceled or postponed, the Olympics were the last major domino to fall. On March 24, the decision was officially made by the International Olympic Committee and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe to move the Summer Games to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. We react to the news, explain why it was the best decision and break down what it means for the sport of track and field ahead. Plus, we share what's the biggest thing that we were looking forward to in the lost 2020 outdoor track and field campaign. ▶ Follow us: twitter.com/CitiusMag | instagram.com/citiusmag | facebook.com/citiusmag ✩ Connect with Chris via Email: chris@citiusmag.com | twitter.com/ChrisChavez | instagram.com/chris_j_chavez ✩ Connect with Matt on Instagram: Instagram.com/matthewlukemeyer
28 Mar 202040min
