Running News Daily

Gripping the steering wheel of her Audi Allroad while driving on an Arizona highway three days ago, Molly Seidel spoke breezily on her cell phone about what it’s like to go fast.  Seidel, whose stunning second place finish at the USA Olympic Team Trials nearly a year ago in Atlanta catapulted her into the national spotlight, enjoys both running and driving fast.

“This thing goes fast,” she said of her car.  “I’m a bit of a leadfoot.”

Seidel, 26, will be returning to Atlanta on February 28, where she will run a special edition of the Atlanta Half-Marathon which will be held at the sprawling Atlanta Motor Speedway, partly on the facility’s 1.5-mile race track.  The race, part of Atlanta’s Marathon Weekend organized by the Atlanta Track Club, was moved from the streets of the city a year ago to the racetrack grounds in order to offer athletes of all abilities a COVID-safe, in-person running competition.  Seidel said she’s never actually run on a racetrack, but she’s very excited by the concept.

“When the race opportunity came up in Atlanta we immediately jumped on that,” Seidel told Race Results Weekly.  She added: “I’ve had a lot of exposure to race tracks because my dad and my brother race cars semi-professionally.  It’s super cool to watch.  I love it.”

Speed is what Seidel will be after in Atlanta.  She’ll be using this event as part of her build-up to the Olympic Marathon in Sapporo on August 7, and thinks it fits perfectly into the training plan she and coach Jon Green have devised.  She is trying to use as productively as possible the extra year of preparation time she’s been given by the pandemic in advance of the Tokyo Olympics.

“Basically being in kind of a unique position of having already secured the spot several months out we, my coach Jon and I, got to plan backwards a little bit,” Seidel said.  “A big part of that is try to, like, get in a combination of strength and speed that I need for Sapporo.  For me I really wanted to be able to focus on the half-marathon a little bit more just because… doing stuff on the roads gets me a little bit more excited than doing stuff on the track.  The half-marathon is a distance that I haven’t been able to deeply explore yet.  It’s been fun getting to learn that distance a little bit better.”

It’s hard to believe that Seidel only ran her first half-marathon on October 26, 2019, at the low-key Cape Cod Half-Marathon in Massachusetts.  Facing no competition, she clocked 1:14:10 and finished ahead of the next woman finisher by more than eight and a half minutes. Some five weeks later, she ran her first serious half off of full training, winning the Humana Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio & Half-Marathon in a very elite 1:10:27, bettering Shalane Flanagan’s course record by 22 seconds.  That performance was pivotal because it qualified her for the Olympic Trials where she made her marathon debut.

Since then, Seidel has lowered her half-marathon best to 1:09:20, a mark she set in a “micro race” outside of Las Vegas last month which only had 37 finishers.  For that event, called the Las Vegas Gold Half-Marathon, Seidel said that she went into it with no set goals and just tried to have fun.

“It felt great,” she said of the race which was only for elite athletes.  “Really my coach just told me, don’t look at the watch.  Just go out, hop between groups of guys as they come back to you, but have fun with it.  That’s really what it was.  It was just a chance to bust a run, trying to get back into the swing of things, try out the new shoes.  Yeah, it was a good day.”

The “new shoes” were her Puma racing shoes, the first time she wore them in competition after announcing she had switched sponsors from Saucony to Puma last month.  She’s excited by that transition, and got very comfortable with her new competition footwear by wearing them extensively in training.

“Everybody at Puma, from the first time I went in to meet with them to now when I’m working with them in an official capacity, has been just awesome,” said Seidel whose cell phone signal cut out a few times as she drove through a forest.  “That was one of the reasons I wanted to go with them, like, really game for some awesome ideas.  It’s really a lot of innovation going on and a really cool attitude.  It’s been very fun.  It’s been a really good transition.  I’ve been enjoying it immensely. Even more so getting to wear, frankly, a really great pair of racing shoes, not only training in them but racing in them, exploring new things that I can do.”

As good as her performance was in the Las Vegas race, Seidel was quick to point out that it did not represent a full effort off of dedicated preparation.  The Atlanta race will be different. She wants to see what she can do after putting everything into it, like a race car driver bringing out a new car with a newly tuned engine.

“The Vegas one we just kind of trained through that,” she explained.  “We just used that as a workout.  This one we’ll go into it with a full-on race mentality, taper a little bit that week.”

While Seidel wouldn’t offer a specific time goal, the Atlanta Track Club has recruited two male pace makers to shepherd her through the two-loop, record-eligible course at a sub-1:09 pace.  Depending on how she feels, it is always possible that the American record could enter her mind.  The USA record is 1:07:25 by Molly Huddle set in Houston in 2018.  Only four American women have run sub-1:08 on a record-quality course: Huddle, Emily Sisson (1:07:30), Deena Kastor (1:07:34), and Jordan Hasay (1:07:55).  (Kara Goucher also ran 1:06:57 at the slightly downhill Great North Run in England in 2007).

“Road racing is just exciting to me in a way that track racing is not,” Seidel admitted.  “Not that track racing isn’t exciting, but it’s just a different style of running.  It’s much more similar to cross country in college, rather than that exacting nature of hitting your exact paces every lap on the track.  I think I love the competition and… the fact that it will be different every time.  I personally find that road racing lights my soul on fire more.”

Of the other 16 elite women entered in the race at least two, Eilish McColgan of Scotland and Natosha Rogers of Rochester Hills, Mich., could challenge Seidel.  McColgan, the 2018 European Championships silver medalist at 5000m, will be making her half-marathon debut.  She has covered the distance before, unofficially, working as a pacemaker at the 2020 Virgin Money London Marathon last October where she went through halfway in 1:12:26.  She was supposed to run the super-fast RAK Half-Marathon in Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, but that race was recently cancelled due to the pandemic.  Rogers, now part of the Hansons-Brooks Original Distance Project, was the USA half-marathon champion in 2017 where she set a personal best of 1:10:45.  Seven women in the field have run sub-1:14.

Motor racing may excite Seidel, but she won’t be driving her father’s race car any time soon.  She’s 5′-4″ (163cm), and the driver’s seat is permanently set for his six-foot height.

“I’d love to but, frankly, I’m not tall enough,” she said with a laugh.  “It’s very set for their specific heights.  So, I’d need to wear stilted shoes, or something.  I do enjoy driving very much.  I’m definitely not the fastest in my family, though.”

After years of battling injury and uncertainty, Jake Heyward is proving that resilience can be just as powerful as raw talent. The Welsh middle-distance star has announced his return to the sport in emphatic fashion, producing the performance of his career and emerging as one of the athletes to watch in the men's mile at the upcoming Commonwealth Games.

At the London Diamond League, Heyward delivered a sensational run, finishing as the second-fastest British athlete behind mile world record-holder Josh Kerr. His time of 3:46.73 not only established a new Welsh record but also elevated him to third on the United Kingdom's all-time mile rankings, trailing only Kerr and British legend Steve Cram.

For many athletes, such a breakthrough would simply mark another career milestone. For Heyward, however, it represents the culmination of an extraordinary journey back from one of the toughest periods of his life.

The 26-year-old revealed that before undergoing surgery, he had been competing while suffering from Haglund's deformity, a painful condition affecting the heel that placed constant strain on both Achilles tendons. The problem eventually led to a devastating double Achilles injury, forcing him away from competition for an astonishing 20 months.

Rather than allowing the setback to define him, Heyward used the prolonged rehabilitation to rebuild both physically and mentally. Reflecting on that difficult chapter, he believes the experience has transformed his outlook on the sport.

"I truly believe that, because I've gone through this experience and I've had to ask myself certain questions, I actually understand the sport more. In terms of expectations and times, I'm super excited. I think there's no limit on what I can achieve. Running for Wales once again is a huge motivation."

Those words now carry even greater weight after his record-breaking performance in London.

Heyward's resurgence has injected fresh excitement into British middle-distance running and has positioned him as a genuine contender heading into Glasgow. With renewed confidence, a healthier body, and a deeper appreciation of the sport forged through adversity, he appears ready to challenge the world's best once again.

His journey from nearly two years on the sidelines to becoming Wales' fastest-ever miler is a powerful reminder that some of the greatest victories are earned long before the finish line. If his recent form is any indication, Jake Heyward's comeback story may only be just beginning, and the Commonwealth Games could provide the perfect stage for its next unforgettable chapter.

Australian sprint sensation Torrie Lewis continues to redefine the limits of her remarkable young career after storming to a stunning 11.04 seconds in the women's 100 metres at the TIPOS P-T-S Meeting in Slovakia, setting a new Australian record in breathtaking fashion.

Lewis sliced 0.04 seconds off her own previous national record of 11.08, producing the fastest performance ever by an Australian woman over the distance. Her blistering run confirmed that her rise is no fleeting moment—it is the arrival of one of the world's most exciting sprint talents.

The race itself was a spectacle from start to finish. Lewis exploded from the blocks, held her composure through the drive phase, and unleashed a powerful finish to edge one of the greatest sprinters in history, Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica, who crossed the line in 11.06. Austria's Christania Williams also clocked 11.06, making it one of the most fiercely contested 100-metre races of the meeting.

Beyond the victory, the performance carries even greater significance. Lowering a national record is never easy, especially after already establishing yourself as the country's fastest woman. Yet Lewis demonstrated that she is still finding new levels, delivering a performance that signals she is becoming an increasingly serious contender on the international stage.

The 11.04 clocking is another milestone in a season that continues to gather momentum. With every race, Lewis is proving she possesses not only exceptional speed but also the consistency and composure needed to challenge the world's elite when the stakes are highest.

As global championship season approaches, Australia's sprint star has sent a powerful message to her rivals. If this latest record-breaking performance is any indication, Torrie Lewis is only beginning to reveal the full extent of her potential, and the fastest chapters of her career may still lie ahead.

Some moments in sport transcend generations. They remind us that while records may fall, the spirit of greatness never fades. One such moment unfolded when legendary New Zealand coach Arch Jelley watched Josh Kerr produce a breathtaking 3:42.66 mile world record—not from the stands, but from his bed, sharing the historic occasion with his former athlete, 1988 Olympian Christine Pfitzinger, herself once New Zealand's mile and 1500m record holder.

For most fans, Kerr's astonishing performance was simply another unforgettable chapter in the evolution of middle-distance running. For Jelley, however, it was something far more profound. It was a bridge between two eras separated by more than half a century, connecting the glorious past he helped shape with the remarkable future he lived long enough to witness.

As he approaches his 104th birthday on August 13, Jelley has seen the mile transformed in ways few people ever will. Long before modern technology, advanced sports science and super shoes reshaped the event, he guided one of athletics' greatest pioneers.

On August 12, 1975, in Gothenburg, Sweden, Jelley coached Sir John Walker to a revolutionary 3:49.4, making him the first man in history to break the seemingly impossible 3:50 barrier for the mile. It was a performance that changed the sport forever and cemented Walker's place among the all-time greats. Less than a year later, Walker crowned that success by winning the Olympic 1500m gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Games, fulfilling the promise of one of the finest coach-athlete partnerships athletics has ever known.

Yet Walker was only one chapter in Jelley's extraordinary coaching legacy.

Across more than six decades, the master coach nurtured and inspired countless elite middle- and long-distance runners, earning a reputation for developing athletes through patience, wisdom and an unwavering belief in their potential. Even retirement could not keep him away from the sport he loved. At the remarkable age of 93, Jelley returned to coaching to help Hamish Carson qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, proving that passion for excellence has no expiration date.

Now, more than fifty years after witnessing Walker redefine what was possible, Jelley has watched another runner push the boundaries of human performance. Josh Kerr's magnificent 3:42.66 was not merely a new world record—it was another milestone in the endless pursuit of greatness, one observed by a man who has devoted almost an entire lifetime to that very journey.

There is something beautifully symbolic about the scene: a coach who once stood trackside guiding history now watching a new generation rewrite it through the lens of modern technology. The setting may have changed, but the emotion remains the same.

Few people in athletics can claim to have witnessed the evolution of the mile from the dawn of the sub-3:50 era to today's astonishing world-record performances. Arch Jelley can.

His life is more than a coaching story—it is a living timeline of the mile itself. From John Walker's historic breakthrough in 1975 to Josh Kerr's record-shattering masterpiece in 2026, Jelley has remained a constant witness to the relentless pursuit of human excellence, proving that while champions come and go, the love of the sport endures across every generation.

When Sir Roger Bannister crossed the finish line in Oxford on May 6, 1954, in 3:59.4, he did far more than become the first man to run a sub-four-minute mile. He demolished one of sport's greatest psychological barriers, proving that what had long been considered impossible was simply waiting for someone bold enough to achieve it.

More than seven decades later, that historic run remains the most famous mile ever raced—not because it is still the fastest, but because it transformed athletics forever. Bannister's achievement inspired generations of runners to dream bigger, train harder and believe that seemingly unreachable barriers could be broken.

Today, however, the mile has entered an entirely different dimension.

Josh Kerr's sensational 3:42.66 world record has redefined the limits of middle-distance running. In one unforgettable race, the Scottish star erased Hicham El Guerrouj's legendary 3:43.13 mark that had stood untouched since 1999, proving once again that every era has its athlete capable of rewriting history.

The numbers tell a remarkable story of progress. If Bannister's iconic 3:59.4 were placed in the same race as Kerr's 3:42.66, the man who first conquered the sub-four-minute barrier would finish almost 17 seconds behind. At the pace Kerr sustained, that deficit would amount to well over 100 metres—an extraordinary margin in an event where the world's best are often separated by hundredths of a second.

Yet those statistics should never be mistaken for a comparison of greatness. Bannister and Kerr competed in vastly different eras, under different conditions and with entirely different levels of sports science, training knowledge, footwear technology and track surfaces. Bannister raced on a cinder track wearing heavy leather spikes, balancing elite athletics with his demanding medical studies. Kerr benefits from decades of scientific advancement, world-class support systems and cutting-edge equipment that have helped athletes push the boundaries of human performance.

Every generation has added another chapter to the mile's extraordinary story. Just weeks after Bannister's breakthrough, Australia's John Landy lowered the record to 3:57.9. The baton then passed through legendary names including Derek Ibbotson, Herb Elliott, Peter Snell, Michel Jazy, Jim Ryun, Filbert Bayi, John Walker, Sebastian Coe, Steve Ovett, Steve Cram, Noureddine Morceli and Hicham El Guerrouj. Each champion dared to believe the record could fall again, leaving the event stronger than they found it.

Josh Kerr is now the latest custodian of that legacy. His world record is not simply another fast time—it is the culmination of more than 80 years of relentless progress. Every stride he took was built upon the courage, ambition and achievements of those who came before him.

Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the mile is how dramatically its meaning has changed. In 1954, the world was captivated by one question: Could anyone ever run under four minutes? Today, the conversation has shifted to how much further the event can evolve. With Kerr already under 3:43, the now-unthinkable prospect of a sub 3:42 mile no longer feels like fantasy but a genuine possibility for the future.

That is the enduring beauty of athletics. Every world record eventually falls, but the performances that redefine belief never fade. Bannister's sub-four-minute mile remains the sport's most iconic breakthrough because it changed the way humanity viewed its own limits. Kerr's 3:42.66 is the newest benchmark of excellence, standing as proof that the impossible is never permanent—it is simply the starting point for the next generation.

Josh Kerr has already etched his name into athletics history with a breathtaking world mile record of 3:42.66, but the numbers hidden within that extraordinary performance suggest an even greater achievement could be just around the corner.

While the world celebrated the fastest mile ever run, another remarkable statistic quietly emerged. On his way to that historic finish, Kerr passed the 1,500m mark in an astonishing 3:27.62—the seventh-fastest performance ever recorded over the distance and just 1.62 seconds outside Hicham El Guerrouj's iconic world record of 3:26.00, which has stood as one of athletics' greatest benchmarks for more than a quarter of a century.

What makes Kerr's split so extraordinary is the context in which it was achieved.

Unlike a dedicated 1,500m race, Kerr wasn't running to the finish line when he reached 1,500 metres. He still had another 109 metres remaining before completing the mile. Throughout the race, he had to carefully distribute his effort, knowing there was still significant work left after crossing the traditional 1,500m distance.

His world-record mile required approximately 724 strides, each averaging about 2.22 metres in length. By the time he reached the 1,500m split, he still had enough energy reserved to launch one final charge toward the mile finish, meaning he could not afford to completely exhaust himself at that point.

That reality has fuelled growing excitement across the athletics community.

Imagine Kerr lining up for a race built solely around the 1,500m. With elite pacemakers setting the perfect rhythm from the gun, competitors pushing the pace all the way to the finish, and no need to save anything for an additional 109 metres, the conditions would be dramatically different. Every stride, every surge and every ounce of energy could be devoted exclusively to chasing one target—the world record.

Many athletics experts believe that under those ideal circumstances, bridging the remaining 1.62 seconds is far from impossible. In fact, they see it as a realistic challenge for an athlete who has consistently demonstrated remarkable finishing speed, tactical intelligence and the ability to perform under immense pressure.

Hicham El Guerrouj's 3:26.00 has long been regarded as one of the most untouchable records in middle-distance running. Yet every era eventually produces an athlete capable of redefining what was once thought impossible.

After witnessing Kerr's astonishing mile masterpiece, the conversation has shifted dramatically. The question is no longer whether he belongs among the greatest milers in history—it is whether he can become the man who finally brings down one of the sport's most enduring world records.

If his latest performance is any indication, the countdown to another historic assault may already have begun.