Spring Training
Wise words from Lauren Fleshman, blazing fast times from Emily Sisson and Molly Huddle, and a weekend packed with extreme racing.
Hello again!
It’s been a little while. On my end, I’ve been in the thick of marathon training for Boston, which is coming up real quick! A whole lot of exciting things have happened in the world of women’s running since last time. Here are some of the highlights. (For more timely updates between issues, you can follow the Kick on Twitter.)
New rules in Boston
Earlier this month, in response to last year’s ordeal at the Boston Marathon, the BAA announced changes to the prize money structure for the women’s race. As a result, more women will be eligible for the pro field than in previous years. (The elite men will also have a separate start for the first time, as the women have had since 2004.) There’s been a lot of chatter in the running community over the past few weeks in response to these changes, and the short answer is that there’s no perfect solution. But I find it encouraging to see the BAA paying attention to the rise of high-level, sub-elite women marathoners and acting accordingly. Veronica Jackson Graziano, a marathoner who’s qualified for the 2020 Olympic Trials and finished 13th in Boston last year, shared her thoughts on Instagram recently and I agree with much of her analysis.
On a related note, Fritz Huber’s latest piece for Outside focuses on why the running world should embrace change. While he ultimately disagrees with the decision to separate the men’s start in Boston, this line of his is worth remembering: “Change often makes people nervous. That might be especially true for running, a sport whose long legacy and inherent simplicity can make any tinkering seem like an assault on something ancient and pure. But, in running as elsewhere, we shouldn’t cling to the idea that the old way is always the best way.”
Wisdom from Lauren Fleshman
There are so many women I admire in the running community, but Lauren Fleshman is way up there. I love how outspoken she is about the sport and how she believes it should change, but I also appreciate her transparency and honesty about her own relationship with running and how its evolved. Her latest piece of writing (published on the Oiselle blog) centers on her recent performance at the Shamrock Run Half Marathon, where she surprised herself and won after sandbagging her way to the starting line. The whole thing is worth reading, but this part stuck with me: “Is it weird to say I loved myself that day? I realize it is quite a departure from the sandbagging that started this whole thing. I loved winning of course, but that's not the thing that really did it for me. I loved myself before I took the lead.”
Inching toward equality
I edited a story by Christine Yu for Outside earlier this month about a recent wave of policies across various sports—including ultrarunning, cycling, and surfing—to support female athletes, and how much process we’ve made toward equality for women in sports. While the scope of the piece extends beyond running, the policies she’s talking about (like equal prize money, maternity leave, and salary minimums) are relevant to all female athletes and anyone who cares about women’s sports. In short, she concludes that this progress is worth celebrating, but that we still have a long way to go before male and female athletes are truly on equal footing.
Power duo: Emily Sisson and Molly Huddle
If you’re a core running nerd, you’ve already heard a lot about the new world standards and all the drama surrounding them. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can read Fritz Huber’s story about it here. The main takeaway is that the new standards are insanely fast.) But on Friday at the Stanford Invite, Emily Sisson and Molly Huddle earned the standard in the 10k with blazing fast times. As Alison Wade pointed out, they’re the first American track and field athletes to earn the standard in any event this year. (The qualifying window has only opened for some events.) I’m so excited to keep watching Molly and Emily train and race together—the results of their training partnership so far have been incredible.
The Barkley wins again
It’s the weekend of the notorious Barkley Marathons, and once again, no women finished the race. Last year, I wrote about some of the incredible women who attempted the Barkley, and I still believe that we’ll see a female finisher before long. For some required Barkley reading: Outside’s Ariella Gintzler just wrote a great profile of Lazarus Lake, the man behind the event.
In other news
It was a busy weekend for intense racing! On the pro side, the world XC champs took place this Saturday in Aarhus, Denmark. The course was a gnarly one, and Steph Bruce finished first among the American women, taking 33rd place. Also this weekend was The Speed Project, an unsanctioned, 340-mile relay from Santa Monica to Las Vegas featuring teams of six runners. There were a few all-women’s teams out there this year, and they crushed it.
Called out
Drop me a line
I want to hear from you! Tell me about what you like here, what I missed, and what’s going on in your running life. (You can also follow the Kick on Twitter, and on Instagram.) Thanks for reading, and enjoy your miles.
Molly