Welcome back to The Blue Line - your fortnightly hit of running news and views.
We’ve got a monster issue for you this week - some Stewy McSweyn goodness, only the essentials from the NCAA XC Championships, and a look at how fast those Hollywood types really are.
Finally, we’ll get a sneaky look at what’s coming up on Joel Tobin-White’s favourite podcast, FTK. I won’t lie to you - it’s a very long issue. Let’s get into it.
by Elise Beacom
For Australian middle-distance runner Stewy McSweyn, this year was a tale of two halves.
First half: Covid woes
Second half: Crushing it
With a reputation as a fearless racer who takes his competitors on and leads from the front, it was almost offensive to see Stewy get spat out the back of races while recovering from Covid challenges earlier in the year.
Stewy told The Blue Line it was tough seeing a few of those results: “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t hard. Mentally it was probably harder than even the physical side, purely because it’s hard going into races not knowing if you can do what you need to do.”
There came a point when Stewy was more concerned about his long-term health than whether he would get back to his best, but with time and patience, he bounced back, and in spectacular fashion.
“[As an athlete] you’re like a yoyo, you go up and down a lot. You’ve got to ride the lows…because they make the highs so much sweeter,” Stewy said.
Incredibly, at the end of the season, Stewy ran some of the fastest times of his career, including 1500m in 3:30:18 (Lausanne), 5000m in 12:56.50 (Brussels) and 3000m in 7:31.93 (Stockholm). And earlier this month, Stewy won The Fst in Fukuoka, a new road mile race in Japan (one of his favourite countries - presumably because he blends in so well).
The results speak for themselves, but what don’t you know about the man? How about these nuggets -
· He loves Maccas Hotcakes and chicken nuggets during the off-season.
· He’s a sports nuffy and a big stats man (especially footy and cricket).
· His sister Carmen makes sure he’s fed, watered and submitting assignments for his teaching degree on time.
· He has a “more chiselled” footy player twin brother (Gus) who ran a 34-minute-flat 10k off minimal training during Covid times (got Stewy worried).
· He describes himself as “pretty quiet” and not a big risk taker outside of races.
“I’m not really bold at anything else – it’s only racing where I’ve been aggressive and taken things on, but the rest of my life is pretty relaxed and nothing too crazy," Stewy said.
Next up for Stewy: the carnival series in his home state of Tasmania, which he calls the most fun racing you’ll ever do, and the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in February – a big goal for 2023.
by Elise Beacom
While not a World Marathon Major, runners in their droves will head to Valencia 🇪🇸 (a city named after an orange 🍊) for the marathon on 4 December, lured by the promise of a flat, fast course, strong field and (hopefully) cool conditions. Seven national records were broken in the Spanish city last year and the men’s race ended in a sprint finish (not desirable at the end of a marathon, if you were wondering). Unfortunately, winner Lawrence Cherono was subsequently suspended for doping 💉, but the clip is still quite the spectacle.
In 2022, the elite line up is impressive as ever, including fifteen women who have run faster than 2:26 (our Sinead Diver 🇦🇺 among them) and fourteen sub-2:07 men. After recently running a few marathons in tough conditions (heat, hills, etc.), Sinead is ready to blitz a quick one. She told the Inside Running Podcast she intends to run as fast as she can in Valencia and hopes everything lines up on the day. Training looks good in any case, and if Sinead manages to break the Australian record (2:22:36), Joel will probably try to take some credit because he’s been helping her in sessions.
Hopes are high for Letesenbet Gidey’s 🇪🇹 debut – the Ethiopian is the women’s world record holder in the 5000m, 10000m, 15k and half-marathon. On the men’s side, fellow Ethiopian and 2022 world marathon champion Tamirat Tola is one to watch. There’s also a raft of YouTubers and podcasters running, including Ben Parkes, Matt Rees and Brady Threlfall, so expect some rich content after the race. (The Road to Valencia series on Inside Running’s patreon channel has served up some primo pre-event hype.)
For punters at home, a live stream will be available on the day, and there’s a tracking app to follow your favourite athletes as they move through the course. Links to both will be published on the event website. Vamos!
by Chris James
To be honest, you don’t need to know a heap about what happened at NCAA’s. It’s a bunch of kids chasing each other around a field, basically - think Splendour in the Grass with less music. Anyway, there are a few essential facts you do need to know for the future. They’re here.
Katelyn Tuohy is the next great American distance runner. The most decorated high school XC athlete ever, Tuohy won her first individual college championship this past weekend in a commanding performance. Tuohy is viewed similarly to Galen Rupp or Jordan Hasay when they were coming up - the next great American hope, who will attract huge interest from shoe brands when she turns pro. Her school, NC State, wears adidas, and in the last 48 hours Tuohy has signed an NIL deal with adidas - often seen as the first indication of a longer term professional contract once her college career is done.
The Aussies did good
Top placed Aussie went to New Mexico sophomore Amelia Mazza-Downie who finished in 22nd position. In last year’s championship race she finished 58th. Mazza-Downie helped her school to 2nd overall in the teams championship, and was the Lobos’ leading scorer (this is big, especially as New Mexico are quite good). You can follow the Maz on Strava here.
Izzi Thornton-Bott continued her stellar season for Oregon, finishing as the top Duck 🦆 in 36th spot. ITB (does anyone call her that? Can we?) has regularly been Oregon’s best runner this season, and must be loving having Shalane Flanagan on hand for advice.
Sophie O’Sullivan continued her strong running for Washington, finishing as the 2nd Husky 🐺 in 73rd position - making up 26 places in the final kilometre. Again, O’Sullivan made a huge jump from last year when she placed 171st in the same race (last year she did the whole wobbly legs/crawl thing in the finishing chute which isn’t good for placings).
Aussie fellas also did well
Ky Robinson (former FTK podcast guest and basically a mini Brett) had a great race for Stanford, finishing 10th (his teammate Charlie Hicks won), while Sydney gun Zach Facioni finished 20th for Wake Forest - the same college NBA legend Chris Paul went to. I don’t know if that means they go to the same events, but here’s hoping.
Nico Young is the male equivalent of Katelyn Tuohy - Young led the race for the early going but ultimately wasn’t up to the job. He is a prodigious talent and someone who has a huge following already. He came 2nd on the weekend, but all that matters here is that you remember his name as it will come up a bit in the next 5 years.
So there you have it. If you remember anything about NCAA’s - Katelyn Tuohy is the next big thing, and the Aussie contingent were very very good. Ky Robinson and AMD the standouts.
by Fraser Darcy
Ego is massive in running, whether we like to admit it or not. There are not many better feelings than uploading a big session into Strava and watching the kudos’ come rolling in. One place where you may not have looked to get your ego stroked a bit is the movie industry - we’re so used to being bombarded by sex symbols or unattainable traits on the big screen that we view these stars as superhuman. Watch any Hollywood blockbuster and I’m sure that little monkey with the symbols 🐵🥁 in your head starts to wonder “How damn fast are those people actually running?” Clap along with ease little monkey, I’ve done some calculations to help work it out.
Let’s launch into it with the opening chase scene in Men In Black. Will Smith’s character is going after an alien 👽 and to my calcs is holding 2:30/km pace (60 sec 400m) for only short little 30m intervals at first, and still not catching the bugger. Old mate Mr. Alien yeets up to the top of the Guggenheim and Smitty has to take the 431m ramp (at an average incline of 6.7%). His speed drops off, leg turnover really takes a hit but his form is still ok, and eye-balling it looks like he’s holding just above 3 min/km pace. So if you’ve got some speed in your legs you might’ve been ok against Smith without needing to jump to the top of the Guggenheim.
What about if we stretch out the interval a bit longer, then what does Hollywood do to the pace? In Point Break (OG version), Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze (RIP to the King) go after it for a full 2 minutes and 20 seconds holding roughly 3:30/km pace through California suburbia. At the point your non-running Uncle or Joel would go ‘oh my knees couldn’t handle that’, Reeves’ knee gives way, and Bodhi makes a getaway. If you’re comfortable at 3:30/km pace for even only a few minutes I’d say that you would’ve been fine against either of these two. Extra points to Patrick Swayze’s character for getting in some altitude simulation training with his Ronald Reagan mask - factor that in. Maybe you’d need 3:10/km pace to escape an uninhibited Swayze.
The final example is not a chase scene but the classic running montage got its start with Rocky in ‘76. In the sequel, Rocky goes loping off on a 49.2 km progression run (yep, it’s been mapped out) where the whole town joins in, just like a typical Sunday longy for the Bendigo Bats. Going from 4:10-4:30/km pace right down to 2:20/km pace for the final sprint (55 sec 400m) Rocky and Hollywood are definitely pulling our leg here with what’s possible. No gels, no super shoes, full cotton tracksuit, no drinks, great finishing form, it’s an almost unbelievable performance. Kinda makes you think - what could Sly have done in Alpha’s with a gut full of Maurten and some $300 splitties?
by Joel Tobin-White
“The event that’s not an event with the official unofficial results”
This past weekend in Melbourne an extremely special race was put on. There was very little promotion (for reasons about to be explained) for this event but if you follow the right people on Instagram you would have seen strangely dressed runners racing each other along Port Phillip Bay. The unofficial event I’m talking about is Run The Bay Relay.
A few years ago Melbourne based runners Alex Tyrrell and Michael Masseni were chatting about the interesting relay events put on across the world - namely things like The Speed Project and Hood 2 Coast, both of which take place on the west coast of the US. Fast forward - the pair decided to create their own race.
The original concept for the race involved circumnavigating Port Phillip Bay - but this was quickly canned as it would have required every participant to cover more than a marathon. Eventually the pair settled on the 100km Port Melbourne to Sorrento version we know today.
The race on the weekend was the third edition of Run The Bay with 17 teams tackling the 100km course in their ekiden-esque coloured sashes. With no road closures, no insurance and no profiting this really is an unofficial event. Michael and Alex send out a race handbook to all teams outlining the recommended course and suggested changeover points but they really are just that - recommendations and suggestions.
The first team arrives at The Sorrento Hotel in about 6 hours and the last team around 3 hours after that. This is where all the athletes come together to share their battle stories from the day, comparing course-cutting atrocities and awkward toilet stops in front of lycra-clad cyclists. Teams are awarded for The Best Team Name, Biggest Movember Donation, Best Dressed Team and Best Moustache (thanks to For The Kudos shaving off Jack Rayner’s Mo, this year the prize went to Cody Shanahan). With the culture they’ve set up around the event, there’s less hype around being the fastest team on the day - the event is so much more than a ‘race’.
So why is this my win of the week? These two boys Michael and Alex did what 99% of Australian males that dream up something big around an outdoor table from Bunnings never do - actually follow through with their wild plan. Not only that but in the three events that have run since 2018, Run The Bay Relay has raised over $10,000 for Movember.