Kenneth Rooks On His “Rollercoaster” 2025 Season And His Hopes For The World Championships In Tokyo

Kenneth Rooks On His “Rollercoaster” 2025 Season And His Hopes For The World Championships In Tokyo

"Going into Tokyo, as long as I get back to those basic things that helped me be successful in the past, I'm going to be just fine. I can focus on the process, get back to running my race, focus on what I need to do each lap in different circumstances and scenarios, have fun, and not put too much pressure on myself."

My guest for today's episode is Olympic silver medalist Kenneth Rooks. However, he hasn't quite looked like that this entire season. It left many wondering if last year's Olympic silver medalists had slipped from his form. But back at Hayward Field just a couple weeks ago in his element, Rooks gave the answer. He was calm through the opening kilometers of the U.S. Championship final, unhurried as the laps ticked by. He moved up lap after lap until he was finally leading – and he never gave that lead back.

A 59-second last lap sealed his third straight U.S. Championship title in 8:26.56, fending off his training partner Dan Michalski and veteran Bernard Keter. Rooks officially punched his ticket to Worlds and then a couple weeks later helped Michalski get the standard to secure his own berth to the World Championships in Tokyo.

It was a vintage Kenneth Rooks race: patient, poised, and relentless when it mattered most. Now the BYU alum returns to the global stage in Tokyo with the big question hanging in the air: can he summon that magic again?

We talk about bouncing back from some disappointing performances, how the results make a bit more sense when you look at the bigger picture, managing the weight of expectations, and how he's looking to summon that same grit again in Tokyo.

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Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠

Guest: Kenneth Rooks | @kenneth_rooks on Instagram

Produced by: Jasmine Fehr | ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr on Instagram⁠⁠⁠

Mentioned in this episode…

Watch: 2025 U.S. Championships Men’s 3000m steeplechase final

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Nick Symmonds on retirement, marathon training, David Rudisha and the all-time U.S 800m race

Nick Symmonds on retirement, marathon training, David Rudisha and the all-time U.S 800m race

Two-time Olympian, six-time U.S. outdoor 800m champion and 2013 world championship silver medalist Nick Symmonds joined the show to discuss his retirement from the track, his plans for the Honolulu Marathon in December and reflecting on his career. Symmonds also discusses David Rudisha's dominance, his 0-12 record against the world record holder, a hypothetical all-time U.S. 800m race and when's the last time he ever ran in short shorts. All that and more in this week's episode of the Citius Mag Podcast. Subscribe on iTunes and leave a five-star review.

29 Juni 201731min

Gut reactions to Team USA 2017 vs. Team USA 2016 (ft. Kevin Liao)

Gut reactions to Team USA 2017 vs. Team USA 2016 (ft. Kevin Liao)

Kevin Liao and Chris Chavez share their initial thoughts on how Team USA looks on paper compared to last year's Olympic team and how the new squad may fare at the upcoming IAAF World Championships in London. Some of the topics discussed include... Thoughts on how a non-Olympic year, yields a changing-of-the-guard in certain events while others still have some veteran presence. Fred Kerley vs. Wayde Van Niekerk talk Paul Chelimo's solo 13:08 The return of Aries Merritt The women's 400m hurdles is a must-watch event at-last And much more... Subscribe on iTunes and leave a five-star review. This episode was dedicated in memory of Tyrone McGraw, who passed away after a battle with cancer.

27 Juni 20171h 1min

Sheila Reid on her comeback from injury, Athletics Canada, Tinder and more

Sheila Reid on her comeback from injury, Athletics Canada, Tinder and more

Canadian Olympian and OTC Elite middle distance runner Sheila Reid joins the Citius Mag Podcast after hitting the world championship qualifying standard with her 4:07.07 victory at the USATF Middle Distance Classic. Reid ran at the same meet last year but then felt a twinge in her leg. Reid explains how it became a strain and bursitis that derailed her Olympic dreams of competing in Rio de Janeiro. Reid seriously considered leaving the sport but shares how she made the decision to continue through the 2020 Olympic cycle. Reid also shares her thoughts on the emergence of distance running in Canada, what her training situation is like with OTC and her cautious approach to 2017. Come for the training insight but stay for the Tinder talk as Reid also delves into some of the messages shoe gets and sends on the popular dating apps. The Citius Mag Podcast is available on iTunes so subscribe, leave a five-star review and then subscribe on your friend's phone.

23 Maj 201737min

Becky Wade joins Citius Mag, shares stories from her travels around the world and more

Becky Wade joins Citius Mag, shares stories from her travels around the world and more

Olympic Trials qualifier, world traveler and published author Becky Wade has joined the Citius Mag staff as a regular contributor. Wade's name first popped to many when she clocked a 2:30 at the 2013 CIM Marathon and qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials. She has most recently garnered attention as the author of Run the World: My 3,500-Mile Journey Through Running Cultures Around the Globe (HarperCollins, 2016), where she chronicles her one-year research of running cultures outside of the U.S. as part of her Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. The grant is awarded to 40 graduating seniors each year. Beck was born and raised in Dallas, Texas and currently lives in Boulder, Colorado. She attended Rice University and earned All-American honors on the track while studying history, psychology and sociology. Her success on the track continued as a professional when she qualified for the Olympic Trials in the 3,000m steeplechase, the 10,000 meters and the marathon. At the moment, she's in between marathons. She took third at the Houston Marathon earlier in the year and plans to run a fall marathon. She could also use the space on Citius Mag to chronicle her training. Fun fact about Becky: She is one of four Wade twins. She has a twin brother as well as an older brother and sister who are also twins and a grade older. We're super excited to bring Becky onboard. She's got some great ideas for fun content, which is what we're all about. She can hit on anything from tips for traveling runners, insight into the life of a professional runner and many stories that were left on the cutting room floor from her book. Nicole Bush and Jeanne Mack will be writing more for the site this summer and they could possibly team up for their own podcast. For now, take a listen to Becky's chat with Chris Chavez on the Citius Mag Podcast about her world travels and hopes for the site. The podcast is also available on iTunes. Subscribe and leave a five-star review.

16 Maj 201731min

Dr. Michael Joyner on Breaking2 and the sub-two hour marathon chances explained

Dr. Michael Joyner on Breaking2 and the sub-two hour marathon chances explained

Dr. Michael Joyner, a physiologist & expert in human performance at the Mayo Clinic, once published a paper noting that might be physiologically possible for an ideal human runner to run a marathon in under two hours and possibly 1:58. He's been getting calls all week about the sub-two hour marathon attempt that will be staged by Nike but we were able to catch him in between clinical work to pick his brain about the attempt. Joyner gives the Nike attempt a 10% to 15% chance of breaking two hours and he explains why. It's just a little short episode to wet the beak before the Breakin2 attempt. We'll have a full interview with Nike Oregon Track Club 1,500m specialist Pat Casey in the next few days.

2 Maj 201717min

John Nunn on race walking, earning respect, Russian doping and growing the sport

John Nunn on race walking, earning respect, Russian doping and growing the sport

The race walk isn't the sexiest part of track and field and Olympian John Nunn acknowledges that. For this week's Citius Mag Podcast, the three-time U.S. Olympian joined the show to spread some knowledge on how does someone go from running into walking, and the perception of doing so. Nunn touches on more topics like the loneliness of the race walker, Russian doping, free Olympic team spots and much more. There is a fantastic story about how he became friends with English Gardner and earned the respect of his USATF teammates. Check out the latest episode of the Citius Mag Podcast on Soundcloud. Subscribe on iTunes and leave a five-star review

25 Apr 201747min

Mary Wittenberg & Toni Reavis - The future of the sport Tracksmith panel

Mary Wittenberg & Toni Reavis - The future of the sport Tracksmith panel

On Friday evening, I was invited to be part of Tracksmith's panel discussing the future of the sport with Mary Wittenberg and Toni Reavis. It was moderated by Tracksmith's Matt Taylor Mary's got some interesting projects about the launch with Virgin Sport after a remarkable career with New York Road Runners. She discusses some of what she's been working on as well as her experience from the race management and development side of things. Toni's voice has been heard on countless marathon broadcasts and he can recite running history like no other. I'm there as the resident millennial and to shed some wisdom on the media side of things and where we see things going. Give the panel a listen and if you're in Boston, be sure to check out Tracksmith's new TrackHouse location at 285 Newbury St.. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. Recommend it to a friend. Take their phone and leave a five-star review:

16 Apr 20171h 5min

Jamil Coury, Mike Wardian on running the Barkley Marathons, 2017's epic ending

Jamil Coury, Mike Wardian on running the Barkley Marathons, 2017's epic ending

One of the biggest stories in running this week was Gary Robbins' near-miss at the 2017 Barkley Marathons, where he finished six seconds over the 60-hour cut-off time. It was later revealed that his finish may not have counted, if he had run under the time limit since he veered off the course and missed about two miles. Check out #BM100 on Twitter to see just how much people love this unique race. If you haven't watched the documentary on Netflix, please do so. A 100-mile race is crazy enough but there's many elements that make the Barkley Marathons special. John Kelly who finished with about 30 minutes to spare on Monday was just the 15th finisher in the race's history. Ultra runners Jamil Coury and Mike Wardian are good friends of the site and so we reached out to them to share their experience from the Barkley Marathons and their take on the finish. Jamil fell short of completing the Fun Run, which consists of three loops of the course. Mike was done by the first day. Mike is also best known for completing the seven marathons on seven continents in seven days earlier in the year. Subscribe on iTunes and leave a five-star review. Also: We will be at the 2017 Boston Marathon next weekend so let us know if you're interested in sponsoring the show. We will have several episodes live from Beantown. Email us at citiusmag@gmail.com

7 Apr 201747min

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