The CITIUS MAG Podcast | A Running + Track and Field Show

"I feel completely devastated, lost, broken, angry, confused and betrayed by the very sport that I’ve loved and poured myself into just to see how good I was. I want to be very clear. I have never taken any performance-enhancing substances. And that includes that of which I am being accused. I believe in the sport and pushing your body to the limit just to see where the limit is. I’m not interested in cheating. I don’t do this for the accolades, money, or for people to know my name. I do this because I love it. I have so much fun doing it and it’s always the best part of my day.” On Wednesday afternoon, a virtual press conference was held by the Bowerman Track Club where it was announced Shelby Houlihan, the American record holder in the 1500 meters and 5000 meters, has been suspended for four years after testing positive for the banned substance Nandrolone. The test was taken in December 2020 and she was notified of the positive test in January by the Athletics Integrity Unit. The reason she has not raced in 2021 is that she was provisionally suspended while trying to fight the case. Upon learning of the positive test, Houlihan logged her meals and determined that the nandrolone likely came from a burrito that she consumed the night before her test. It is estimated that the test took place 10 hours after the burrito's consumption. Lawyer Paul Greene was hired and argued that pig organ meat can serve as one of the sources for Nandrolone. Because the Athletics Integrity Unit had not charged her yet, Greene and Houlihan's team called on them to charge her with a violation so she could appeal before the start of the U.S. Olympic Trials. Last week, on June 11, she learned that her appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport was unsuccessful and the four-year ban was upheld. A four-year ban knocks the 28-year-old out of the Trials, the Tokyo Olympics, the 2022 World Championships in Eugene and the 2024 Olympics in Tokyo in the prime of her career. A full decision and report from the Court of Arbitration for Sport will be published when it is finalized. What you're about to hear is the audio from the press conference and the prepared statements from Greene, Houlihan and Bowerman Track Club coaches Jerry Schumacher and Shalane Flanagan. What follows after is questions from the media present. You can read about the case in my story for Sports Illustrated: https://www.si.com/olympics/2021/06/15/shelby-houlihan-doping-ban-nandrolone-olympic-trials-positive-test-explained You can watch the statements by Houlihan, Schumacher and Flanagan on the CITIUS MAG YouTube page. Update: Here is the release from CAS that says: "Finally, the CAS Panel unanimously determined that Shelby Houlihan had failed, on the balance of probability, to establish the source of the prohibited substance"

15 Juni 202154min

Valerie Constien is the United States’ third-fastest steeplechaser heading into the Olympic Trials with a personal best of 9:25. That’s also good enough for No. 14 in the world for 2021. She is a graduate of the University of Colorado and now competes for the Tracksmith Amateur Support Program while being coached by Mark Wetmore and Heather Burroughs. We’ll be featuring a few more Tracksmith athletes before we kickstart our daily podcast series – Trials Talk with Chris & Kyle – live from Eugene, Oregon. Kyle Merber and I will be bringing you a show recapping the biggest performances and surprises from each day of the Trials. The women’s steeplechase will certainly be one of them. Do not sleep on Valerie for that third possible spot on the Olympic team since there’s still a few question marks around Colleen Quigley since she hasn’t raced since February or steepled since 2019. That race has gotten super interesting in recent weeks with some big performances by Valerie, Mel Lawrence, Marissa Howard and a slew of collegiate women. Get to know Valerie before she possibly shocks the country. Follow Val on Instagram here: @valerieconstien Photo by Jake Willard: Follow him @runjwill 📈 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

14 Juni 202143min

Ben Flanagan returns to the podcast! He first came on in 2018 after winning his NCAA title in the 10,000m. Now he’s a professional runner for the Reebok Boston Track Club and he’s currently quarantined in Canada before he competes at their respective Olympic Trials in Montreal later this month. We’re all fairly familiar with what it takes to make the U.S. Olympic team with a top three finish at each event but it’s a little more complex with Canada. He explains why. His personal best in the 5,000m is 13:20, which was run at the Platinum PT Qualifier put on by Tracksmith at the end of May. I was behind the mic for that race and while I saw it was a four-second personal best, he tells us why it was a much bigger deal in his hopes for Tokyo. We also catch up on life since his last podcast appearance, he’s got some nice things to say about Mason Ferlic and much more. You can watch Ben compete in the men's 5,000m on Saturday, June 26 at 8:30 p.m. ET. Athletics Canda said the event will be streamed for free on athleticscanada.tv.| Full schedule here. Pick up a copy of Don't Count Me Out by Ben Weingart here. 📈 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

9 Juni 202154min

"I have a really unique privilege of being able to do both worlds. I don't know if anyone's been able to work out with pros and do their easy runs with their high school team. It's super cool. It just works because of the circumstances of my dad being the coach and Ron (Warhurst) being the assistant coach at Skyline. I definitely wish a lot of people knew I'm not just training like a pro. I work out with those guys but I'm a high schooler and I treat running like I'm a high schooler. I just have fun with my teammates and jump in the river on runs and stuff." Hobbs Kessler is a high school senior competing for Skyline High School in Ann Arbor. He just made history this past weekend by running 3:34.36 for a new U.S. high school 1,500m record but it’s also now faster than the recent 3:34.68 NCAA record. Kessler’s time is faster than Jim Ryun’s U-20 record of 3:36.1 that was run back in 1966. And of course, this guarantees Kessler’s spot at the U.S. Olympic Trials later this month. What’s next for him? Well, he’s looking to win his first state title this weekend when he goes up against other people his age at the Michigan high school state meet. In this episode, you’ll learn more about his backstory including a better understanding of just how great of a rock climber he is, why his parents are his role models as runners, how coach Ron Warhurst plays the Yoda role in the Very Nice Track Club, the buzz about turning pro 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 👕 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

2 Juni 202152min

"We sat down and [Jerry Schumacher's] big thing was that he thinks everyone kind of has their ideal race distance. For some people, it's the 1,500m. For other people, it's the 5K. For some people, it's the 3K so if you're going to run the 3K at the professional level, you also need to be able to hurdle. He said he didn't really know what that was going to be for me, but he thought the steeplechase could be something that I'd be potentially good at and would maybe want to experiment with if I join the team. I kind of knew where his head was at before I joined the team." Sean McGorty is a member of the Bowerman Track Club. Way before that he was a standout runner out of Virginia who went on to become an NCAA champion at Stanford. Since graduating in 2018, he’s run personal bests of 3:36.61 for 1,500m, 3:55.21 for the mile, 13:06.45 for the 5K and most recently 8:20.77 for the 3,000m steeplechase. His win in his steeplechase debut at the USATF Golden Games gave him the Olympic standard and now an option to possibly make that team for Tokyo this summer. However, maybe two years ago all of that would’ve seemed distant since he was facing a mysterious infection that required multiple surgeries to alleviate. He made a comeback from that last summer and hasn’t looked back since. You’ll hear more about that mystery and why he still has no answers behind it. Plus his outlook on the 5K and steeplechase scene ahead of the U.S. Olympic Trials. 📈 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 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

26 Maj 20211h 1min

"Nike was trying to offer me less than what they offered me when I came out of college. To me, it was just a slap in the face. I was like, ‘I've made the Olympic team. I'm pretty much, you know, not to sound cocky, but like I'm probably going to make another Olympic team. I've made five USA teams since I graduated. How could I possibly be worth less than I was when I came out of college?’ They were able to come up a little bit when I was just straight up, like, ‘No. That's not a starting point.’ And they came up a little bit, but I'm still making almost three times what that was, with the same bonus structure, with the same incentives and no reductions. So now I don't have to worry about ‘Oh you didn't race ten races this year.’ Yeah like I've raced eight. Who really cares? I didn't make it off by doing things like the local turkey trot to get my tenth race. Lululemon isn’t ticky tacky and counting every little thing. They want me to be happy. They want me to live the values that their brand holds to be important, which I also believe in and stand behind. They want to be a good ambassador for their brand, which I always felt like I did for Nike. I always felt like I was a good ambassador for their brand, but it just was never enough." Colleen Quigley was a previous guest on this show back in February 2018. Now, she’s back with some BIG news. After five years of training with the Nike Bowerman Track Club, she announced she was leaving the team in January. Under coach Jerry Schumacher and Pascal Dobert, the FSU grad became one of the best U.S. female steeplechasers and has made every U.S. national team since the 2015 world championships. She’s the 3rd fastest U.S. steeplechaser ever with a 9:10.27 PR. She’s run 4:03.02 for 1,500m & 4:20 for the mile. She is now coached by Portland State’s Josh Steitz and will be running for Lululemon. That’s the big news. That’s her new sponsor. You’ll hear all about that decision and 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 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

19 Maj 202147min

“I’m thankful for the opportunity I have to make the U.S. Trials. It’s always easy to talk about things you don’t have but I’m so thankful for this club. For the first time in my career, I feel like I have opportunities to run times that I dreamed of when I was 13 or 14 years old and first started the sport. If you told my sophomore year high school or 15-year-old self that I’d have an opportunity to run 3:55 or 3:54 (for the mile), I probably wouldn’t believe you. But now I 100% believe it." Eric Holt is a member of Empire Elite, a new pro group in New York coached by John Trautmann and Tommy Nohilly who used to be part of Frank Gagliano’s coaching staff with the New Jersey-New York Track Club. In this episode, you’ll get to know Eric a bit better after he recently won the Trials of Miles Kansas City Qualifier men’s 1,500. He’s one of the guys on the cusp of break 3:40 and trying to get into the U.S. Olympic Trials. Eric went to Binghamton, where he was a six-time America East track and field champion. Eric took a break from the sport after graduating but is now fully back in. He’s run 3:40.77 for the 1,500m and 3:58.88 for the mile. This one goes out to all of the people who know there’s more to give after college and are still willing to give it your best shot, because that’s what he’s doing. 📈 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 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

10 Maj 20211h 7min

Jarret Eaton is a world championship silver medalist in the 60m hurdles. He’s a two-time national champion in the event. At this weekend’s Trials of Miles Kansas City Qualifier, he finished second in the men’s 110 hurdles. In this episode, he takes us through what it’s been like for him to push himself in this event since 2012 through some ups and downs, why he goes after it unsponsored, how to size up the 110 hurdles at the Olympics Trials and much more. We recorded this a week before the race in Kansas City. 📈 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 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

6 Maj 202143min