The Build: Bandit Running Co-Founder & CEO Nick West

The first track and field session at the Tokyo Olympics is finally here! Chris Chavez, Dana Giordano and Kyle Merber reunite to cover the Games. The first session did not disappoint. – We had the fastest overall heat of the steeplechase but only Benard Keter will advance to the final. We answer what happened to Mason Ferlic and Hilary Bor – Team USA put three women in the 800-meter semifinal led by Athing Mu but Kyle explains why we shouldn't sleep on the Great Britain squad that may be just as good – The men's 400m hurdles is shaping up to be the crazy duel that we're waiting for in the final between Karsten Warholm and Rai Benjamin – Even without Sha'Carri Richardson, the women's 100m heats provided 10.78, 10.82, 10.84 and 10.91 performances so something special could be ahead. The Olympic record is not safe. + More observations and thoughts from the first day at the Olympics including positive COVID tests and athletes being withdrawn from competition while in the Olympic Village. TUNE IN AND LISTEN TO TORCH TALK WITH CHRIS, KYLE AND DANA. Our daily podcast covering the Olympics is presented by Hayward Magic. Hayward Magic is a really unique and fresh editorial channel on IG that captures the magic and intensity of track & field. Their mantra is #makeittohayward because Hayward is not just a place. It’s a state of mind. It's where guts meet magic. All athletes, fans and feats of guts welcome! @HaywardMagic on Instagram. HOW TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST 🎙️ Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. 💵 Pledge any dollar amount to us on Patreon.com/CITIUSMAG or Hit us on Venmo @CITIUSMAG 👕 Pick up merch from the CITIUS MAG store to show your support for the podcast and website. 📧 Subscribe to the CITIUS MAG Newsletter 🎥 Subscribe to the CITIUS MAG YouTube channel

30 Juli 202139min

"If you look in the past at world championship races that have been in this type of humidity you never know what can happen and that kind of excites me. I know that racing in hot and humid conditions is really tough but I also know I can game up and I can do it. I like to think my Iowa roots have helped me with that." Karissa Schweizer is a runner for the Nike Bowerman Track Club and became just the fifth American woman to qualify in the 5,000 meters and the 10,000 meters at the same Olympics. She was a standout star at Mizzou, where she was a six-time NCAA champion and 10-time All-American. As a professional, she has flashed some range with personal bests of 4:00.02 for 1,500 meters, the indoor 3,000m American record of 8:25.70, her 14:26.34 personal bests for 5,000 meters is the second-fastest in U.S. history. Her 30:47.99 makes the fourth-fastest 10,000m runner in U.S. history. At the U.S. Olympic Trials in June, she pulled off runner-up finishes in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters, which she’ll be contesting in Tokyo in just a few days. Hear more about her preparation for the Olympics, why the Trials were so successful, how she handled the Shelby Houlihan news and much more. 📈 Support for this episode comes from WHOOP. WHOOP is offering 15% off with the code “CITIUS” at checkout. Go to WHOOP and enter CITIUS at checkout to save 15%. Sleep better, recover faster and run faster. Get to the start line healthy with WHOOP. https://join.whoop.com/citiusmag ✍️ FULL SHOW NOTES + MORE QUOTES ON CITIUSMAG.com HOW TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST 🎙️ Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. 💵 Pledge any dollar amount to us on Patreon.com/CITIUSMAG or Hit us on Venmo @CITIUSMAG 👕 Pick up merch from the CITIUS MAG store to show your support for the podcast and website. 📧 Subscribe to the CITIUS MAG Newsletter 🎥 Subscribe to the CITIUS MAG YouTube channel

27 Juli 202142min

Phil Knight is the co-founder of Nike, which he started back in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports with his college coach Bill Bowerman. I know…I’m also a bit surprised this happened. During the Olympic Trials, a mutual friend who has worked closely with me on launching The Magic Boost sprung on me the chance to sit down and chat with the Nike founder for 30 minutes. With little prep and everything going on at the Olympic Trials, I figured I’d just roll through and kick back to briefly discuss the new Hayward Field, his thoughts on legacy, the present state and future state of the sport and some of his favorite moments as a track fan. If you want more of the Nike talk and that whole backstory, due to the limited time we didn’t touch on much of it and you can get that out of reading his book Shoe Dog. Think of this one as basically just being a fly on the wall for two fans of the sport meeting over coffee for the first time. 📷 Podcast episode photograph by How Lao | @howlaophotography 🗣 HIRING A PART-TIME PODCAST PRODUCER http://citiusmag.com/seeking-part-time-podcast-producer/ 📈 Support for this episode comes from WHOOP. WHOOP is offering 15% off with the code “CITIUS” at checkout. Go to WHOOP and enter CITIUS at checkout to save 15%. Sleep better, recover faster and run faster. Get to the start line healthy with WHOOP. https://join.whoop.com/citiusmag ✍️ FULL SHOW NOTES + MORE QUOTES ON CITIUSMAG.com HOW TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST 🎙️ Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. 💵 Pledge any dollar amount to us on Patreon.com/CITIUSMAG or Hit us on Venmo @CITIUSMAG 👕 Pick up merch from the CITIUS MAG store to show your support for the podcast and website. 📧 Subscribe to the CITIUS MAG Newsletter 🎥 Subscribe to the CITIUS MAG YouTube channel

21 Juli 202136min

"I really wanted to make the team in 2016. When that year happened, that was the main goal. I thought it was a long shot. After that, when I made the 2017 world championship team, I said, ‘No. We are making the next Olympic team. There’s no way you’re going to be left off that list.’" You’ll see Justyn Knight in action soon as a Canadian Olympian at the Tokyo Olympics. While at Syracuse, he was an 11-time All-American, two-time NCAA champion and has continued taking care of business with coach Chris Fox as a professional with the Reebok Boston Track Club. This season, he has set personal bests of 3:33 for 1,500 meters and 12:51 for 5,000 meters. We touch on those performances, how we got to this point from being a relatively under-the-radar runner out of Canada in high school, his thoughts on how the race could play out in Tokyo, meeting Drake and much more. 🗣 HIRING A PART-TIME PODCAST PRODUCER http://citiusmag.com/seeking-part-time-podcast-producer/ 📈 Support for this episode comes from WHOOP. WHOOP is offering 15% off with the code “CITIUS” at checkout. Go to WHOOP and enter CITIUS at checkout to save 15%. Sleep better, recover faster and run faster. Get to the start line healthy with WHOOP. https://join.whoop.com/citiusmag ✍️ FULL SHOW NOTES + MORE QUOTES ON CITIUSMAG.com HOW TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST 🎙️ Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. 💵 Pledge any dollar amount to us on Patreon.com/CITIUSMAG 👕 Pick up merch from the CITIUS MAG store to show your support for the podcast and website. 📧 Subscribe to the CITIUS MAG Newsletter 🎥 Subscribe to the CITIUS MAG YouTube channel

19 Juli 202159min

“I want to be able to leave room to be able to say, ‘No, there's like real stuff to do out there beyond just doing a deal.’ And that does mean that I have to be more selective but hopefully, it also means that we'll be able to create more change. Even though you aren’t one of my athletes, you still get to benefit from the work that we're doing. And that is Nike changing our maternity policy and being able to look at a new contract like Athing’s and see that clause there that protects women's maternity. That to me is like, ‘Yeah, I don't ever have to represent you, but I'm glad I got to be a small part in putting that clause in there because that is for you. It is there for you so that you don't have to go through the stuff that I went through with Allyson that I hope no one ever has to experience. So yeah, it's a small group. It's a tight-knit group. But hopefully, the change can spread beyond just our little group.” Wes Felix is a track and field agent and also the co-founder and co-CEO of SAYSH. Just a few weeks ago, news about the new company went public when Time Magazine published a story that his six-time Olympic gold medalist sister Allyson and he were starting their own footwear company. The Saysh One lifestyle shoe ad the spikes that she wore at the Olympic Trials are the first two products to come out of the new venture. Wes shares the story about how this came to be, a little bit on how his sister took a chance on him to become an agent and represent her after his competitive days ended, how the split from Nike motivated him and Allyson to pick up the pieces and try something new. I got a lot of solid feedback from my episode with Tracksmith CEO and founder Matt Taylor so this is a good follow-up to that one. 📈 Support for this episode comes from WHOOP. WHOOP is offering 15% off with the code “CITIUS” at checkout. Go to WHOOP and enter CITIUS at checkout to save 15%. Sleep better, recover faster and run faster. Get to the start line healthy with WHOOP. https://join.whoop.com/citiusmag ✍️ FULL SHOW NOTES + MORE QUOTES ON CITIUSMAG.com HOW TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST 🎙️ Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. 💵 Pledge any dollar amount to us on Patreon.com/CITIUSMAG 👕 Pick up merch from the CITIUS MAG store to show your support for the podcast and website. 📧 Subscribe to the CITIUS MAG Newsletter 🎥 Subscribe to the CITIUS MAG YouTube channel

12 Juli 20211h

"Whenever I try to sum up what that period was like after Atlanta, it's kind of hard to explain. I didn't drop out of that race to save myself...My legs were obliterated. They were not in good shape after that race. It was heartbreak. Because as runners, running is such a big part of us and part of our identity whether that's a good thing or not. It's not just our job. I felt like I poured everything into that buildup and did everything I could. On that day, it just didn't work out. My body broke down...It is heartbreaking when you invest so much and go all-in for it to not work out. And then to walk away from that race with nothing to look forward to. Even if there was something, I didn't feel good running for a while so it wouldn't have mattered anyway. It was tough. I felt like I failed so badly. I never failed like that before...To pick up the pieces, I was like, 'What can I control? What can I focus on right now?' I was sad for a little bit. I talked to my coach. I talked to my husband. I talked to my chiropractor. My coach, Ray Treacy, said, 'You're going to lose a year of races from the looks of it so invest this time wisely.'" Olympian Emily Sisson joins the CITIUS MAG Podcast to discuss how she rebounded from dropping out by mile 22 of the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in February 2020 to dominating the women's 10,000-meter final at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials last month in 31:03.82 for a new meet record. Sisson led for the final 21 laps in 85-degree heat at the new Hayward Field. She ended up winning the race by 13 seconds ahead of Karissa Schweizer and Alicia Monson. In this episode, you'll hear how she got over the heartbreak from Atlanta and decided to make the most of the pandemic year to train and regroup for the track. She shares insight from how her coach helped her cast any doubt aside and reminded her of what's made her into an NCAA champion, world championship finalist and two-time U.S. champion. Plus a little bit on her plans for the marathon and track and her future... 📈 Support for this episode comes from WHOOP. WHOOP is offering 15% off with the code “CITIUS” at checkout. Go to WHOOP and enter CITIUS at checkout to save 15%. Sleep better, recover faster and run faster. Get to the start line healthy with WHOOP. https://join.whoop.com/citiusmag ✍️ FULL SHOW NOTES + MORE QUOTES ON CITIUSMAG.com HOW TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST 🎙️ Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. 💵 Pledge any dollar amount to us on Patreon.com/CITIUSMAG 👕 Pick up merch from the CITIUS MAG store to show your support for the podcast and website. 📧 Subscribe to the CITIUS MAG Newsletter 🎥 Subscribe to the CITIUS MAG YouTube channel

8 Juli 202144min

"It was doing writing, photography and short films. I was really bad at all three of them but this was pre-Flotrack, pre-you guys. If you were into this content, there really wasn't a place to find it. I just learned as I did that project what was really interesting was what people were actually interested in. I went into it thinking everyone wanted to know what splits everyone was doing in their workouts. In my first week, I was at the University of Portland and those guys were kind of wild and crazy and really fun to be around. I did the equivalent of an MTV Cribs thing to show their house, how they lived and the bikes they would ride around campus. That was the thing that everyone was like, 'We want more of that content!' They didn't care that they did 5 x mile with three minutes rest. That was really interesting and pretty fundamental in my experience with Tracksmith and how to tell stories in an interesting way and what people will resonate with." Matt Taylor is the founder and CEO of Tracksmith. In this episode, we discuss how he built the company through his early start in track and field storytelling. We touch on how the brand has started to cater beyond the serious runner and into the athleisure and general running community + now the throws? The episode was recorded at the Olympic Trials. Kyle Merber co-hosts the conversation as we explore some of the areas that he wants to see change within the sport, what his company is doing to be part of that and much more. We’re on the cusp of a running boom and so there’s much more to come from Tracksmith. 📈 Support for this episode comes from WHOOP. WHOOP is offering 15% off with the code “CITIUS” at checkout. Go to WHOOP and enter CITIUS at checkout to save 15%. Sleep better, recover faster and run faster. Get to the start line healthy with WHOOP. https://join.whoop.com/citiusmag ✍️ FULL SHOW NOTES + MORE QUOTES ON CITIUSMAG.com HOW TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST 🎙️ Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. 💵 Pledge any dollar amount to us on Patreon.com/CITIUSMAG 👕 Pick up merch from the CITIUS MAG store to show your support for the podcast and website. 📧 Subscribe to the CITIUS MAG Newsletter 🎥 Subscribe to the CITIUS MAG YouTube channel

6 Juli 20211h

For the final episode of Trials Talk with Chris and Kyle, we dissect the wildest hour of track and field on U.S. soil in a while. In the men’s 5,000m, Paul Chelimo toyed with the field and won a scorcher of a race in 13:26 ahead of Woody Kincaid and Grant FIsher. We had a bit of a weather delay where the meet was postponed due to extreme and record-setting heat. We had a world record in the women’s 400m hurdles where Sydney McLaughlin took .26 seconds off Dalilah Muhammad’s previous mark. Athing Mu did her thing with the second-fastest U.S. women’s 800m mark of all-time to win the women’s 800m over a loaded field. Ajee Wilson and Raevyn Rogers snuck in behind her for the other two spots to Tokyo. As if anything could follow those up, we saw one of the best 1,500 meter duels in recent history with Cole Hocker defeating the reigning Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz. Noah Lyles closed out the show with a world-leading time in the men’s 200m of 19.74. TUNE IN AND LISTEN TO TRIALS TALK WITH CHRIS AND KYLE. Our daily podcast from the Olympic Trials is presented by Tracksmith. We’re excited to partner with Tracksmith, an independent running brand fueled by a deep love of the sport. They celebrate the amateur spirit and seek to inspire the personal pursuit of excellence. Tracksmith is pleased to be supporting 30 Olympic Trials qualifiers in Eugene, including athletes across 14 disciplines, as part of their Amateur Support Program. Check out Tracksmith's essentials for racing and training - including the Strata kits their Trials athletes are racing in this week - at Tracksmith.com/CITIUS and use code CITIUS to receive 10% off any order until the last day of the trials, June 27th.

28 Juni 202135min