While the USATF Outdoor Track Championships weren’t the star studded event everyone might have been hoping for, there were some amazing stories that might have been otherwise overshadowed. Grant Fisher, Sha’Carri Richardson, Noah Lyles, Tara Davis-Woodhall, Nikki Hiltz, Cooper Lutkenhaus, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden all still showed up and put on top performances. But because the field wasn’t completely filled with former champions, it left room for athletes that had yet to attend a championship or maybe had never won before.
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Jakob Ingebrigtsen is BACK baby. He’ll be at the Euro Champs.
The Boston Marathon has a lottery system coming for 2027. Caveat: you still need to hit the base qualifying time.
There are some great archive sales going on right now to clear out summer inventory by Tracksmith and Bandit.
Men’s TerraStretch Jacket - I love mine. It’s a great hefty wind layer.
Women’s Cadence Compression Shorts - people love these
Brighton Base Layer in yellow for $69. Great color, I bought one years ago and it’s a fall/winter staple.
Strata Race Crop — wish the men’s singlet was here. This is ultra light and looks fast as hell.
Women’s Twilight Short Tights - super comfy ribbed half tights.
SOAR Archive Sale, tack on code
ARCHIVE-10ADV Race Vest – ultralight race vest
Artefact T - super cool print
Women’s Split Shorts - super nice pocketed splitties
Josh Kerr called his shot months out and delivered in an epic manner. The New Balance SC Rebel and new SC Elite look great.
For the first time since 1991, NYC hosted the USATF Track Championships at Icahn Stadium—a place often reserved for high school track meets that seats just 5,000 people. For me and plenty of my east coast track loving friends, this was great news. I went down for the Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday events. I have a job so can’t simply cut out of work, nor would I really want or need to see all the prelims. The mayor’s office was giving away tickets (normally ~$50) for the first couple days, and I heard that there were over 5000 applicants!
Instead of a $1000 flight to Eugene, it was a relatively easy 4 hour drive down from Boston (or train if you planned more in advance). That said, I vividly remember how frustrated my dad got driving me from Buffalo for the various Catholic State Championship meets at Icahn that I ran in high school. I called him during the final 5 miles of my drive as I attempted to figure out the correct ramps, exits, and intersections to get to the stadium and was able to laugh about it. Plenty of fans didn’t drive in. They took Ubers, Citi Bikes (although there were only slots for 12 bikes!), or public transit and then walked across the bridge.
This phenomenon occurred for the Knicks NBA win, but was lacking even for the FIFA World Cup, and most definitely for this track meet.
From an experience perspective, people I asked noted that while it’s a pain to get to Eugene, the environment is more like what one might experience at the Boston Marathon. The entire town doubles in size just for the race. Everything outside of the event is catering to the event, restaurants and bars know its going on, and the general population is excited for it. There are go-to spots post race where everyone is hanging out. In New York, the city overwhelms the event, even the NYC Marathon, and plenty of my friends that live there were completely unaware that it was going on.
Before I get into the logistical issues of the race, or the fact that plenty of the US ringers didn’t show up, I want to talk about what was great about it. The exciting thing about “off” years like this is that there are more first-time US championship athletes and plenty of unsponsored winners who will hopefully now get contracts before the next Olympics.
The athletes were all excited to be there despite any logistical issues they experienced. I asked a few racers who had been to Eugene and they still felt the same excitement and energy. Fans were out in force, especially for Saturday and Sunday. Kids were lined up near the mixed media (post race interview) zone ecstatic for high fives and signatures. Everyone was on their feet for big moves during the race, and the Citius Mag x New Balance zone got some energy going in the crowd with coordinated “Slow-it dow-own!” cheers for both the men’s and women’s 1500m which ran tactically (read: slow).
Youth dominance: Cooper Lutkenhaus (Nike) won his first US 800m outdoor title, winning by over a second. He still has to finish senior year.
Remarkable consistency: Nikki Hiltz (Lululemon) barely held off Emily Mackay (New Balance) and Addy Wiley (adidas), but claimed their 9th straight US title.
Come back kids: 31 year old Vince Ciattei (Under Armour) got his first 5000m title after a heartbreaking finish in the 1500m. Emily Mackay also claimed her first title in the 5000 after a narrow 3rd place finish in the 1500. She was also the only athlete I caught wearing an ice vest during her pre and post meet time, despite hot temps and a unrelenting sun.
Tis a flesh wound: Mikey Brannigan (NYAC) placed 1st in the 5k and 3rd in the Para division 1500m after he had brain surgery for an aneurysm about 8 weeks ago. Tough as nails. He joked he should have been in the men’s 1500m given it was only won in 3:50.
Currently Running had 9 athletes compete, with first timer, Jessica Kain placing 6th. A disproportionate amount of their budget must be going to sponsoring pros. Bandit had 78 athletes in the unsponsored program at $2000 a piece + apparel. It was pretty quiet brand-wise, though: they had their van logo taped over and a few of the Bandit team quietly in attendance, mostly letting the athletes have their moment.
I was surprised to see 2 stars still unsigned that topped the podium: Sandi Morris, the multi-time World Champs medalist and 2016 Olympic silver medalist, and Shelby Houlihan, the former Nike mid distance runner and 5000m American record holder and reigning USA Outdoor champion in the event. I imagine Morris will be signed before the Olympics by a either Puma or Nike, while it’s unclear if Houlihan will get the same treatment from any major brand. Houlihan served a 4-year ban after popping for nandrolone, and returned to the track just last year. In post-race interviews she was asked point blank if brands have been citing the suspension in their reluctance to sign her, to which she said that her agent has been mostly dealing with them. She noted she’s hopefully close to a deal now. My money is on Skechers, since she’s been seen training in those and it seems like the Lets Run forum agrees. It’s interesting that despite other doping convictions on the sprint side where Nike did not drop athletes, she was blackballed. A former pro posited that if she’d taken the 2 year ban quietly, and Nike kept her signed, that this would have long blown over.
Diljeet Taylor of BYU and Swoosh TC Provo had a bunch of top finishing athletes. They had standout performances from Meghan Hunter for 3rd ion the 800, Duncan Hamilton for 3rd in the men’s steeplechase, and a win from Lexy Halladay-Lowry in the women’s steeplechase. Many of the athletes on their team are recent graduates, it’s the next crop of athletes they hope will be the movers and shakers come 2028. I asked Diljeet a bit about what’s inspired her style and it seems to be all her.
Alia Armstrong “Rhinestone Queen” (Unsponsored/Bandit), Sandi Morris (Unsponsored), and Teagan Schein-Becker (Brooks), all sported some serious rhinestone accents. Alia kitted out her Bandit arm sleeves, Sandi did her crop top, and Teagan did her top and even hair! The men’s side was severely lacking on style except the sprint squad from OAC Sprint, with Max Thomas (On) and Johnny Brackins (On) rocking some heavy gold jewelry and grills. Melissa Jefferson also sported some white and gold custom spikes which she wore on while defending her 200m title.
The sun was beating down pretty hard and the stadium offered no shade to the athletes. I asked around and some noted that they rarely race in shades and it was a game time decision. I saw a lot of the new 100% x Currently Running sunglasses out there on their athletes, and even Nikki Hiltz. Notably, though, I saw a smaller Korean brand, Ridar Sport, on the likes of Rachel McArthur (asics) and Teagan Schein-Becker. Both were wearing the Fever silhouette when I saw them.
The highlights from the stands were the home made tees from Team Boss with each of their athletes on it. The fans here were true spectators compared to those at the Bandit Grand Prix who were also racers. Outside of the athletes, very little athletic wear was seen beyond comfy sneakers. I think I saw 1 MothTech tee shirt in the stadium and absolutely no Radical Airflow despite the heat. Will Leer had a pretty stellar seersucker suit one day and there was a dandy gentleman rocking a straw boater and striped pants, so they are excused.
There’s a reason Icahn hasn’t hosted since 1991. Eugene and Des Moines have had a monopoly on the races, with every Trials at Eugene. These stadiums (not just tracks) support massive collegiate meets, championship racing, and have experienced staff and production teams. Even if the stadium could hold more than 5000, it wouldn’t be able to handle concessions or bathrooms. Notably Icahn is also near the Wards Island Wastewater plant which was in operation, wafting some unpleasant scents our way.
Concession lines were long. There might have been 4 spots to grab snacks or beers, staffed by 12 people. They were doing their absolute best to keep things moving, but wait times meant choosing between seeing a race or getting hydrated. A friend observed that they could have had some staff out in the stands slinging concessions like they do for every other sport.
For athletes, plenty were staying out by La Guardia Airport where there is absolutely nowhere to eat, and few places to run. It’s only about 15 minutes away, which is perfect, except there’s no practice track. They had limited time between days to get in reps with the meet starting early.
NYC has ~24 million people in the greater metro area and has plenty of competitive high school, collegiate, and post collegiate teams. That crowd was out in force. It would be hard to quantify this, but I didn’t feel like many casual fans made it out there, because it was an Odyssian journey to get there.
Between the cost, somewhat quiet marketing, and difficulty getting there, I suspect it didn’t attract many casual fans that might have just recently gotten into running. I doubt many people from the Bandit Grand Prix made it to watch some of the brand’s 78 (!!) Unsponsored Project athletes race, though that would have made for a good story. It would have been so cool for Bandit to organize a cheer zone and bus out some of their membership program with discounted seats in a cheer block. New Balance had a large contingent of athletes, and their local team on the ground bussed in a locally sponsored track club, Dashing Whippets, and local run crew, Asian Trail Mix.
Comparing this to the Bandit Grand Prix, there was such a contrast between who was going to the event. One is purely for spectating, while the other was a mix of participation and entertainment. There were things to do outside of just racing at the Grand Prix, and I would have liked to see more of that at Icahn. Non endemic sponsors showing up, popups for fans to scope out. Instead, there was just the USATF merch and a Toyoto giveaway tent.
As far as the video feed, Daniel Wynn noted that his friends struggled a bit with the frequent commercial breaks. Track is broadcasted so differently from American sporting events which have commercial breaks built into the game play itself. Having set continuous action, with longer break periods would have benefited viewers at home, and folks in the stadium who had barely enough time between races to grab a hot dog or a beer.
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