Ahmed Muhumed

Versatile distance runner and HOKA professional, Ahmed Muhumed, joins the show today to discuss his humble beginnings and his ambitions for the future. 

Ahmed was born and raised in Ethiopia, before coming to the U.S. with his family in 2011. He started running in middle school, and then became a cross country and track star at West Salem High School in Oregon. (Ahmed won back to back cross country titles in high school.)

At Boise State, Ahmed was the Mountain West freshman of the year in cross country in 2017. He was also the 2020 champion in the indoor mile in the Mountain West conference. Ahmed then went on to grad school at Florida state, where he similarly thrived on the running scene. He finished 20th at the 2021 NCAA Cross Country Championships; he also competed at both the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships his final semester. 

Ahmed parlayed his college success into a professional contract, and in his rookie year as a professional for HOKA in 2022-23 he set PRs in the 3k, 5k and 10k. His list of PRs include a sizzling 13:08.73 in the 5k; 3:37.36 in the 1,500m; and 3:57.32 in the mile. 

Ahmed had a successful 2024 campaign, as he started it with a third place finish at the USATF Cross Country championships, and then closed it out in the fall of 2024 with a second national title–this time at the USATF 5k Championships in New York City. His impressive range was on display as he won the Philadelphia Half Marathon in late November with a time of 1:03.15.

Ahmed earned a degree in International and Global Studies at Boise State before receiving his master’s degree in International Relations and Affairs from Florida State. 

In today’s conversation, Ahmed takes me through his humble beginnings, how he transitioned into the states and went from soccer player to runner, how his upbringing shaped him, how he has built up and maintained self-belief throughout the years, his ambitions as a professional runner, and much more.

It’s hard not to listen to Ahmed and love the guy. I hope you all are inspired by this conversation. 

Tap into the Ahmed Muhumed Special.  

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"I want to reach the goals that I know I'm capable of reaching. It's going to require me to do things I have not done in the past. I feel like I just kept doing the same thing over and over in the past where I'm just coming top three, top four, top five. Sometimes I was satisfied with that. But I think if you want to be a champion, you can't be satisfied with that."

Ahmed Muhamed of NAZ Elite sits down with us for a live interview after winning the 2024 Abbott Dash To The Finish Line 5K in 13:38.

The race kicks off on Sunday, November 3rd with the women’s race starting at 8:35am E.T. and the men following at 9:05am E.T. (Don’t forget to set your clock back an hour the night before!) The race will be streamed nationally on ESPN and locally on ABC.

You can read our full NYC Marathon preview here.

CITIUS MAG is proud to partner with HOKA for our coverage of the 2024 NYC Marathon.

In this special TCS New York City Marathon–weekend edition of Set the Pace, guest-host and Olympian Carrie Tollefson interviews the 2024 USATF 5K champions, Annie Rodenfels and Ahmed Muhumed, and three-time youth girls champ, Zariel Macchia, at the finish line of the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K, which hosted the race in New York City this morning!

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