Citius Mag Podcast

“I make 800 meters. 800 meters does not make me. You must go back to the statistics. You will understand. If you look at my stats, you’ll understand what I mean. So for me, I have no unfinished business in the 800 meters because I have done what I was supposed to do.” Caster Semenya is a two-time Olympic champion and three-time world champion in the 800 meters. She just released her book, The Race To Be Myself, where she opened up for the first time about the personal and professional effects of taking hormone-suppressing medication for six years following her win at the 2009 World Championships at 18 years old. Semenya is considered a female athlete with differences in sexual development (DSD) due to her hyperandrogenism, which leads to higher-than-usual levels of natural testosterone in her body. For the past few years, World Athletics has required DSD athletes to medically reduce their testosterone levels in order to compete in events from 400 meters to the mile. As a result, Semenya has not raced her sig

"Everyone's so different... For me, it’s just getting B+ training in and hopefully getting A+ results because I'm not burning out. I can be consistent and get brilliant training blocks in throughout the year without burnout or anything. And I think that's got me to this point. It's nothing crazy, it's nothing fancy, it's just simplicity. You think in your head for the longest time that you need to be doing ‘this, this, and this’. And actually, it's just taking a step back like, and enjoying running for what it is… Take away the goals, take away the times. Just enjoy running for the simplicity of it and the results will hopefully show.” Calli Thackery just ran the second-fastest marathon by a British woman in her marathon debut at the McKirdy Micro Marathon in New York. She crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 22 min and 11 seconds. Only Paula Radcliffe is ahead of her on the all-time list. She’s also now No. 3 on the all-time European list behind Radcliffe and Sifan Hassan. Wit

This is The Lap Count newsletter by Kyle Merber, as read by Chris Chavez. Join more than 15,000 people who stay up-to-date with all the thrilling action and biggest stories in the world of track & field – delivered right to your inbox every Wednesday morning. Subscribe at ⁠http://thelapcount.com/ In this week's newsletter: –The Valencia Half Marathon got real!

"There have been seasons and periods of my NCAA journey where it hasn't felt fun. To me then it's like, Why are you doing it? Otherwise, it's just painful… The fun part is warming up with my teammates and chatting on the cool down about whatever drama happened with their friends that day. This year at camp when we sat down as a women's team to think through what we want out of this season, that was a big part of our conversation. We want to be successful, absolutely. That’s a top priority here. But how we go about doing that is up to us." 2023 NCAA 1500m champion Maia Ramsden, a junior at Harvard, just signed an NIL deal with On. In this episode, you’ll get to hear a bit more of her story as she’s lived in so many awesome places including New York. New Zealand (which she represents internationally), Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Ethiopia and now Cambridge. She had an amazing season that included a personal best of 4:08 to win the NCAA title in Austin. She’s also having a really great c

This is The Lap Count newsletter by Kyle Merber, as read by Chris Chavez. Join more than 15,000 people who stay up-to-date with all the thrilling action and biggest stories in the world of track & field – delivered right to your inbox every Wednesday morning. Subscribe at ⁠http://thelapcount.com/⁠ In this week's newsletter: - The New Age of Marathoning: Short Loop

“After Berlin, I came home thinking I have a chance to make this team. I’m a stats guy, I’m a realist, it’s not this astronomically high chance — but I have a chance again… I have some of the best training partners in the nation and I have the pieces I think that I need now. So it's a fun opportunity.” My guest for today’s episode is 2016 U.S. Olympian Jared Ward, who just ran 2:11:44 at the Berlin Marathon. It’s been a while since Jared joined us on the show but he’s back to recap that race and how he somehow ended up in a tight battle with Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa, who ended up breaking the women’s world record in 2:11:53. He also shares some of his thoughts on training partners Conner Mantz and Clayton Young’s big performances in Chicago. Plus, Ward gives us an update regarding some discussion about the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.  Last week, several of the top U.S. marathoners met with USATF CEO Max Siegel and other members of USATF’s team to discuss the noon start time for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Mar

"I think at this point, it’s the NAU show up front for both the men and the women.” The biggest NCAA regular season weekend took place in Madison and Charlottesville this weekend with the Nuttycombe Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin and the 2023 Pre Nationals hosted by the University of Virginia.  We discussed the biggest winners and underperformers from the weekend with CITIUS MAG's cross country guru Isaac Wood. Hosts: Chris Chavez | ⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠ Guest: Isaac Wood | ⁠@isaacew on Instagram⁠ SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

“It's not that I don't want to run faster because I do, but it's just not what motivates me to get out of bed in the morning. I want to be on a podium again at a world major, I want to finish in the top three, I want to fight for a medal someday, or at least give myself a shot. And I want to be on another Olympic team. Those are the things that get me out of bed.” U.S. marathon record holder Emily Sisson is back for her fourth time on the show. She just finished in as the top American and seventh overall at the Chicago Marathon in 2:22:09 despite battling a side stitch for the final eight miles. Unfortunately, the broadcast did not show much of Sisson’s race for the second consecutive year. Last year, she broke the American record in 2:18:29 on the course and we had her on the podcast to unpack that race. We’re keeping the tradition alive here and breaking down how it all played out for her. Sisson will now enjoy a break and then prepare for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials on February 3rd i

We are set for one of the biggest NCAA cross-country weekends before championship season approaches. The top teams in the country are split between Charlottesville, Virginia for the XC23 Pre-Nationals and Madison, Wisconsin for the Nuttycombe Invitational.  CITIUS MAG’s cross country guru Isaac Wood joined the podcast on Thursday to preview all of this weekend’s action. How to watch: The Nuttycomb Invitational will be held at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course on Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. The women’s championship 6K race will be at noon ET. The men’s championship 8K race will be at 12:40 p.m. ET. You can follow the live results here. You can watch the race with a Runnerspace+ subscription ($12.99 monthly or $119.88 annually.) The 2023 Pre-Nationals will be held at Panorama Farms on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. The men’s championship 8K race will be at 9:40 a.m. ET. The women’s championship 6K race will be at 11 a.m. ET.  You can follow the live results here. You can watch the race on ACCNX which is

"We want to compete with the best and we want to have a run at the American record soon. It’s not going to happen next year with the Olympic Trials and the Olympics, but we want to compete with the best. American distance running will eventually get to that level. It would be better to do it with us now than in three to five years with someone else. We’d rather be the ones to get that rather than reacting to someone else hitting it.” Conner Mantz and Clayton Young just became the first two American men to hit the Olympic marathon qualifying standard for the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. At the Chicago Marathon, Mantz finished 2:07:47 for sixth place. Young took seventh in 2:08:00. Going into last weekend, no American man had dipped under the 2:08:10 standard so there was a bit of stress about whether any American marathoners would have the mark before the U.S. Olympic Trials in February. Athletes can qualify for the Olympics by hitting the time, placing top five at a Platinum Label Marathon or getting with

This is The Lap Count newsletter by Kyle Merber, as read by Chris Chavez. Join more than 15,000 people who stay up-to-date with all the thrilling action and biggest stories in the world of track & field – delivered right to your inbox every Wednesday morning. Subscribe at http://thelapcount.com/ In this week's newsletter: • Word Record Holder: Kelvin Kiptum • Is there anything Sifan Hassan cannot do? • Two down, one to go for Team USA • Japan’s Grand Championship Marathon + more Rapid Fire Highlights You can read this week's newsletter here ➡️  https://www.thelapcount.com/p/goat-now SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

On Sunday, October 8, the penultimate World Marathon Major of 2023 kicks off through Millennium Park and through the streets of Chicago. The site of multiple American and world records, the Chicago Marathon is often considered one of the fastest courses in the United States and always draws strong domestic and international elite fields chasing fast times. Last year, the women’s race saw an American record from Emily Sisson and the second-fastest performance of all time (at the time) from winner Ruth Chepngetich. Chicago’s men’s course record of 2:03:45 was the world record when it was set in 2013 by Dennis Kimetto and the women’s course record of 2:14:04 set by Brigid Kosgei in 2019 was the world record until a few weeks ago – this is the place to run fast. The first wave of runners goes off at 8:30 a.m. E.T. (men and women start together). Right now, the forecast looks promising, with a low of 46F and a high of 57F. It’ll be a little breezy with 10-15mph winds, but the looped Chicago course lined in ma

Sifan Hassan has defied every expectation of how an athlete is supposed to transition to the marathon. Her debut in London was full of issues, with Hassan experiencing trouble fueling and having to stop to stretch her quad. In the later miles of the race, she even narrowly missed getting hit by a motorbike trying to pick up a water bottle. Oh yeah, and she won in 2:18:33. Then five weeks later she was back on the track racing a 10,000m and 1500m, kept her season going into August, attempted to triple in the 1500m/5000m/10,000m in Budapest, and came out with two medals, all while in the middle of her buildup for Chicago. If, by some miracle, that effort hasn’t completely burnt her legs out from under her, she has to be considered one of the biggest – if not the biggest – threat to Ruth Chepngetich’s attempted title defense. Hosts: Chris Chavez | @chris_j_chavez on Instagram Guest: Sifan Hassan | @sifanhassan on Instagram SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

We're testing something new and having an audio version of The Lap Count newsletter by Kyle Merber, as read by Chris Chavez. Join more than 15,000 people who stay up-to-date with all the thrilling action and biggest stories in the world of track & field – delivered right to your inbox every Wednesday morning. Subscribe at http://thelapcount.com/ In this week's newsletter: – The start of something new on the roads

"I'm a competitor. I like to say I'm a dog. You always think that you have what it takes. And I know that I have what it takes. It was great though; it grounds you and roots you and makes you hungry. Everything happens for a reason. Every race that I'm in, I'm going to try to win. I don't like to lose. But when I do lose, I lose with grace. So for me, it was great for my career – what I just went through – for the sheer fact that it made me hungry, humble and focused for this year.” Brandon Miller is the 2022 NCAA indoor 800m champion and just wrapped up his first year as a pro runner. He just signed with the Brooks Beasts and will join the team in Seattle in 2024. After foregoing the remainder of his NCAA eligibility at Texas A&M, he spent the past 10 months working with coach Bobby Kersee in Los Angeles. He has a personal best of 1:44.97 for 800m and represented Team USA at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene. He’s been competing in the sport since he was seven years old at t

The 2023 cross country season had its first big weekend with the Virginia Invitational at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville, which will host this year’s championships on Nov. 18, the Bill Dellinger Invitational in Oregon and the Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota. To preview what may happen this year, we bring on Isaac Wood, CITIUS MAG's cross country guru and the founder of The Wood Report (2012-2022). You can read our biggest takeaways and analysis also on CITIUSMAG.com Hosts: Chris Chavez | @chris_j_chavez on Instagram Guest: Isaac Wood | @isaacew on Instagram SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

“It’s really a chance to let fans get to know them off the track. I feel like a lot of people know you from the track but for them to really support you and follow you throughout the season, they need to know about you off the track.” My guest for today’s episode is Tiara Williams. Some of you may be familiar with her since her post-race interviews have garnered quite a bit of traction in the past two years. She pushes all of her content on her Instagram page called Real Talk With Tee. Tee was a former heptathlete at Bethune-Cookman and then Texas Tech, which is where she first decided to pick up a camera and mic. Her rapid ascent in the track content creator space has been super cool to watch. She was part of The Magic Boost Program that I helped start, where our vision is for a track and field media landscape where those covering the sport more fully reflect and resemble the athletes competing in the stadium: youthful, diverse, and innovative. Tee embodies all of those values in the way she’s able to make

Chris Chavez and Katelyn Hutchison hosted the first-ever Pre Pre Show, the official pregame show of the 2023 Prefontaine Classic in partnership with TrackTown USA. The meet also doubled as the Diamond League Final. Day 2 really brought the energy as we were joined by a slew of champions and record holders. Guests include: • Karsten Warholm, 2021 Olympic Champion, 2023 World Champion and world record holder in the 400m hurdles (Bonus appearance by coach Lief Olav Alnes) • Noah Lyles, 2019, 2022 and 2023 World Champion in the 200m, 2023 World Champion in the 100m, American record holder in the 200m • Nina Kennedy, 2023 World Champion in the pole vault • Yared Nuguse, 2023 U.S. 1500m finalist, U.S. indoor and outdoor mile record holder • Cole Hocker, 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials champion, 2021 Olympic and 2023 World Championship finalist in the 1500m • Katie Moon, 2021 Olympic champion, 2022 and 2023 World Champion in the pole vault • Sebastian Coe, World Athletics president SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

Chris Chavez and Katelyn Hutchison hosted the first-ever Pre Pre Show, the official pregame show of the 2023 Prefontaine Classic in partnership with TrackTown USA. The meet also doubled as the Diamond League Final. We chat briefly about our favorite moments from the 2023 regular season and world championships, preview the events we were looking forward to the most and then we're joined by some accomplished guests. Guests include: • Kara Winger, 2022 World Championship silver medalist and Diamond League champion in the javelin • Sam Kendricks, 2x World Champion and Olympic bronze medalist in the pole vault • KC Lightfoot, U.S. record holder and Olympian in the pole vault • Nicola Olyslagers, Olympic silver medalist and 2023 World Championship bronze medalist in the high jump SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

“I still haven’t processed it. I haven't celebrated at all, I had to go back to work and take care of my daughter. Actually, I woke her up from her nap to watch Josh win because I was like, ‘He might do it, so let's wake her up just so she will remember’... Even yesterday [at the 5th Avenue Mile] they had the camera on Josh and they replayed his last 200m and I still got goosebumps. It's been three weeks, so I don't know if I'll ever process it. I hear people say this and I know what they mean; it's like you just get humbled by it. You're like, ‘Man, that was really hard to do.’” Danny Mackey has been the coach of the Brooks Beasts since the team started in 2013 and can now say that he’s the coach to a world champion after Josh Kerr’s stunning 1500m victory in Budapest. The Beasts have put together a strong year with Nia Akins winning the U.S. indoor and outdoor 800m titles before finishing sixth in the World Championship final. Marta Freitas and Isiah Harris also competed at the