Citius Mag Podcast

Mary Ngugi-Cooper has been a formidable force in the Kenyan marathon scene within the past decade. Mary's journey is not just about her remarkable achievements on the roads; it's about her unwavering commitment to empowering women through the sport she loves. In the wake of a tragic loss that shook the running community to its core, Mary took action by responding to the heartbreaking murder of Agnes Tirop by founding Nala Track Club in October of 2022. Named after the Swahili word for a powerful, successful woman, Nala Track Club is a sanctuary for female athletes.  But it's more than just a club; it's a beacon of hope. Mary's vision extends beyond the finish line, providing not only a safe haven for young women to train but also covering housing and education costs for those in need. Additionally, Nala Track Club has pioneered a groundbreaking coaches training program, empowering women to lead and mentor the next generation of Kenyan athletes. Nike has come on board with the to assist wit

This is The Lap Count newsletter by Kyle Merber, as read by Chris Chavez. Join more than 16,000 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: – Boston Marathon — Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner 

We’re opening up The CITIUS MAG Podcast to have ANYONE join us to share their Boston Marathon stories. It’s going to be a rapid-fire, live podcast recording where we don’t know the guests and just want to connect and hear cool stories from the community.

Chris Chavez, Kyle Merber and Eric Jenkins will preview all of the top athletes and storylines to watch for the men's and women's elite races at the 2024 Boston Marathon. Evans Chebet, Hellen Obiri, Emma Bates, Sharon Lokedi, Zouhair Talbi, Gabriel Geay, Des Linden, CJ Albertson, Jenny Simpson, Sara Hall are among the notable stars competing at the historic race. We will also share our picks at the end of the show. HOW TO WATCH THE RACE ON TV: All the Marathon Monday action gets underway on April 15th with pro races beginning at 9 a.m. The professional men’s field starts at 9:37 am E.T. and the pro women at 9:47 am E.T. Locally, the race will be viewable live on TV or online at WCVB-5. If you’re not in Massachusetts, the race will be shown live on ESPN2 with coverage beginning at 8:30 am E.T. READ OUR PREVIEW: https://citiusmag.beehiiv.com/p/2024-boston-marathon-preview-evans-chebet-hellen-obiri

This week in track and field, Chris Chavez and Anderson Emerole discuss: Kenya cutting down down on its list of athletes for their Olympic Marathon team selection (Find out who is in and who is out); some of the key performances of the Miramar Invitational in Florida; Abby Steiner raced for the first time since season-ending surgery last summer; Olympic silver medalist Christine Mboma is eligible to compete in the 100m and 200m. Topics discussed: – Athletics Kenya has trimmed down on its names for its potential marathon quad for the Paris Olympics. We are now down to five men and six women who are up for selection for the Games. – The Miramar Invitational lost its spice after Sha’Carri Richardson and Shericka Jackson withdrew from the meet in the days leading up to it but we still saw strong runs from Kenny Bednarek, Britton Wilson, Alaysha Johnson and Melissa Jefferson. – In her first race back from surgery to repair a bone spur in her heel that was pressing up against her Achilles, Abby Steiner ran 51.58 to

“All I want is to be healthy and train consistently. That’s literally it. I try to keep things as simple as possible. I have a lot of confidence in myself that if I’m there on the start line and I’m prepared, I’m going in and do my thing and do really well…Last year unfortunately was another year where I wasn’t able to do that. I do try and take stuff from those tough times. There’s a lot to be gained when times are tough.” We continue our mini-series with members of the On Athletics Club as Mac Fleet sits down with Morgan McDonald on a recent trip to Boulder. In this episode, we chat about how he navigated his comeback from injury in 2023 to be able to compete at the World Championships in Budapest and Riga. He’s played it a bit cautious with his approach to the indoor season but he’s ready to open up the 2024 outdoor campaign with the Australian National Championships. We also get his thoughts on changes he’d like to see in the sport, the success of OAC and much more. Host: Mac Fleet | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This is The Lap Count newsletter by Kyle Merber, as read by Chris Chavez. Join more than 16,000 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: – BACK-TO-BACK JACKS 

“I think I’m ready for it. I’m excited for it. I have a lot of self-hatred, anger and adrenaline kicking in for this race. I know it’s just the beginning of my season…With this, it’s just about proving where I belong in Australian running and I have to back myself thinking I am in record holder in the event and I should act like it and train like it. I feel like we’ve been training smart and training well over the past few months. I’ve gone from a little confidence to a lot of confidence in about six weeks.” Australian Olympian and 1500m national record holder Olli Hoare unfortunately had to miss last year’s World Championships with a sports hernia and some swelling in the groin area. He had just run a personal best of 3:29.41 at the Oslo Diamond League but the pain was too much to race through. After some time off and some heavy cross-training, he rejoined his OAC teammates for workouts in the fall and will race for the first time this weekend at the Australian National Championships. In this episode, Mac F

"I've been to three Olympics and in two Olympics, I've gotten number two. I do believe if I will be one of them representing Kenya, it will be my biggest opportunity to show I've been doing this on the track but now I'm a marathoner. This time it will be that time to get that gold that I've been looking for so many years." The last time Hellen Obiri was a guest on the CITIUS MAG Podcast was way back in 2022 when she sat down with us at the World Championships in Eugene. That was just months before she made her marathon debut. Now, she’s one of the best in the world. Last year, she won the Boston and New York City Marathons to really showcase her potential over the 26.2 mile distance. In less than two weeks, she will attempt to defend her title in Boston and hopefully do enough to impress Athletics Kenya’s team of selectors who will announce their marathon team for the Paris Olympics following the spring slate of marathons. I believe she would be Kenya’s best chance at gold, espec

Sharing some of our bold predictions for the 2024 outdoor track and field season with potential upsets and possible world records to fall. Plus some thoughts on: – Gabby Thomas opens up with a 10.88 for 100m and then comes back and runs 22.08 for 200m less than 45 minutes later. – Quincy Wilson ran 45.19 at 16 years old to hit the U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying mark – Best relay performances of the weekend: Grant Holloway and Gainesville Elite runs 37.67 for the 4x100m | Dina Asher-Smith, Rhasidat Adeleke, Lanae Thomas and Julien Alfred run the fastest 4x200m ever outdoors in 1:27.05 (Julien Alfred was clocked at 20.8 for the anchor leg, which was the fastest since Marion Jones) – World 100m silver medalist Letsile Tebogo went 19.94 in his first 200m of the outdoor season.Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host: Anderson Emerole | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@atkoeme on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

"I am a little bit less experienced than some of these other runners that I'm going up against. And I was like, 'That's what's going to make me a better runner' is getting experience with both tactics and championship racing because it is different than just going out and time trialing... And I think that this indoors, especially at the World Championship, just proving to myself that I can hold my own in a tactical championship race gave me that extra bit of confidence I need going into this year. I feel like I finally proved to myself that I. I am good at tactical racing. Before I thought, 'Oh, maybe I'm just a fast runner, but I can't run a good tactical race.' And that's something that I was a little bit self-conscious about last year. Like, 'Oh! People think that I can't put it together when it really matters.' It's not really about what other people think but I just wanted to prove to myself that I can run a good race when it matters. And now

We've decided to bring back This Week In Track and Field. CITIUS MAG's newest contributor, Anderson Emerole (who heads The Final Leg YouTube channel) will co-host every week as we riff on the biggest news stories and results in track and field. In this week's show (since it was a slower week of results and news): – We introduce Anderson to our audience a bit more formally – Anderson shares a bit about his trip to Kingston, Jamaica for The ISSA Grace Kennedy Boys and Girls Championships, which is known as Champs and is Jamaica's biggest sporting event. – What it was like interviewing Usain Bolt, Elaine Thompson-Herah and other stars – An early assessment of the men's and women's sprints scene Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host: Anderson Emerole | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@atkoeme on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

"I never had any problems with the workouts, but for me personally, I think it started to affect my mental and social side to where my relationship with running wasn't really happy. There was almost a nonexistent excitement for workouts and I was just kind of going through the monotony, but not enjoying it. And so changing it up, when you need excitement to love running again – being with VNTC guys lit that spark for me again. I am getting better at physical training and it's exciting with Hobbs. That guy's amazing and I just needed a new change of scenery." The kid from Midland, Texas went to the University of Kansas to chase some big dreams and now Bryce Hoppel is a World Indoor Champion. It was won with experience as much as it was with fitness. It happens in the blink of an eye that the rookie becomes the veteran, but now Hoppel is in the prime years of his career. I hadn’t yet given my congratulations to him so I reached out to hear how everything was being digested since Glasgow. H

“It’s just a really cool moment. You just never know what opportunities will arise and what full-circle moments will happen. I’m just happy that I took that tough call in 2019 to move back here and figure my life and self out to become the runner that I am today and to be welcomed back by Brooks. It’s a really cool opportunity. I’m stoked to be back.” Jess McClain (née Tonn) has signed a professional contract with Brooks Running a month after finishing fourth at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in a personal best of 2:25:46. McClain burst onto the marathoning scene winning the Mesa Marathon in Feb. 2022 and then securing a U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying mark of 2:29:25 at Grandma’s Marathon in June 2023. She has been coaching herself. Even after the signing, she will remain in Arizona and will still coach herself. McClain is the Olympic team alternate, which means if O’Keeffe, Sisson or Lindwurm were to get injured and unable to race in Paris, she would be called in as the replacement. Host: Chr

This is The Lap Count newsletter by Kyle Merber, as read by Chris Chavez. Join more than 16,000 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 TEN heard ‘round the world

"When Elle races in a championship, I always say, ‘You want to be in the race with 400m to go for a shot at making the team or winning. Just give yourself a shot.’ Because you can’t control what other people are doing and you don’t know how the chips are going to fall. I was really confident she was going to be there with 400m to go. I was just watching her closely. I watched her chop her steps a couple of times and was thinking, ‘Gosh. She’s just chomping at the bit.’ I didn’t know she was going to beat (Gudaf) Tsegay because she’s run 14:00. But, (Elle’s) an animal." This is an episode of Office Hours with Kyle Merber and Mac Fleet kicking back and chatting with coach Mark Coogan of Team New Balance Boston. We had a chance to just catch up with him at The TRACK at New Balance on our recent visit to Boston for New Balance Nationals and the NCAA Indoor Championships. At this year’s World Indoor Championships, he was trackside to watch Elle St. Pierre win gold in the 3000m and Emily Mackay take bronz

“This is a different moment in my career compared to any other one in the past because I’ve suffered a major disappointment. It’s up for debate if I should’ve taken a break after the Trials and reset but, man, I didn’t feel like I could stop. All of this training is in me and this motivation to show the world the hard work I’ve put in. I didn’t take this journey lightly. I really care about making this transformation from middle distances to the longer stuff. I just really wanted to keep going.” 20 minutes of catching up with Olympic medalist and world champion Jenny Simpson before she takes on the NYC Half on Sunday. It is her first race since unfortunately dropping out of her marathon debut at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Orlando last month. We chat a bit about her lessons from that race, whether she would’ve done anything differently and how she’s taking that into her next few races. Moments before we did this interview, the BAA announced Jenny has been added to the Boston Marathon field for April 15 – alon

This is The Lap Count newsletter by Kyle Merber, as read by Chris Chavez. Join more than 16,000 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 Best of Boston: Presented by Kyle

"Cherish the people around you. Coming to Stanford and having such an amazing team has made such a difference for me in the sport and just how I view it...This sport is tough. Some days it's so rewarding and you feel like you're on top of the world but then other days, it crushes you. Having that great support system and realizing that's the best thing you can gain from the sport. I've won a lot of races but at the end of the day, the people I've met and the friends I've made is most important." Stanford sophomore Roisin Willis, the 2023 NCAA indoor 800m champion and a New Balance NIL athlete, caught up with Kyle Merber to chat about how her first two years of college have gone and her hopes for preparing for a second U.S. Olympic Trials run. She was previously a guest on the show as a high school senior when she won the 2022 New Balance Nationals indoor 800m title. Host: Kyle Merber | ⁠@kylemerber on Instagram⁠ Guest: Roisin Willis | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@roisin.willis on Instagram⁠⁠⁠

"I am so hungry. As soon as I finished the race, I said, 'I know I can do better. I know I raced wrong.' I need to go back to how I raced in high school. Even in high school, if I didn't get out front in an 800m, I didn't win. For outdoor, I need to race the way I race best." Georgetown freshman Tinoda Matsatsa, the NCAA 1000m record holder and a New Balance NIL athlete, chatted with Chris Chavez and Kyle Merber while at New Balance Nationals Indoor in Boston. Matsatsa was just coming off an appearance at the NCAA Indoor Championships, where he didn't make it out of the semifinals but shares what he took away from his freshman indoor campaign. He ran a personal best of 1:46.87 for 800m, which was the eighth-fastest in the country. He also shares a little bit of news on which country he has decided to represent interationally. Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host: Kyle Merber | ⁠@kylemerber on Instagram⁠ Guest: Tinoda Matsatsa | @ti