Recent Mentions
In today’s episode, I talk to Luke Warhurst. Luke is the Director of Partnerships and Social Media at the Very Nice Track Club, one of the world’s fastest professional track teams, with athletes like five-time Olympian and two-time Olympic medalist Nick Willis, Olympian Mason Ferlic, and high school 1500m American record holder Hobbs Kessler. Wanting to document this amazing team, Luke started creating YouTube videos highlighting the workouts, race preparations, and lifestyle of the Very Nice Track Club. As a Michigan native and son of the legendary coach Ron Warhurst, running has always been a part of Luke’s life and he shares some really interesting stories of being surrounded by this elite running community at such a young age. Luke is also a racing driver and he talks about this aspect of his life along with what he believes motorsports is doing right. Also, stay tuned for a special guest appearance by Hobbs Kessler, who, like I said before, is the high school American record holder in the 1500m and current professional runner for Adidas.
I hope you all enjoy this episode!
Show notes1h 4m
The first track and field session at the Tokyo Olympics is finally here! Chris Chavez, Dana Giordano and Kyle Merber reunite to cover the Games. The first session did not disappoint.
– We had the fastest overall heat of the steeplechase but only Benard Keter will advance to the final. We answer what happened to Mason Ferlic and Hilary Bor
– Team USA put three women in the 800-meter semifinal led by Athing Mu but Kyle explains why we shouldn't sleep on the Great Britain squad that may be just as good
– The men's 400m hurdles is shaping up to be the crazy duel that we're waiting for in the final between Karsten Warholm and Rai Benjamin
– Even without Sha'Carri Richardson, the women's 100m heats provided 10.78, 10.82, 10.84 and 10.91 performances so something special could be ahead. The Olympic record is not safe.
+ More observations and thoughts from the first day at the Olympics including positive COVID tests and athletes being withdrawn from competition while in the Olympic Village.
TUNE IN AND LISTEN TO TORCH TALK WITH CHRIS, KYLE AND DANA. Our daily podcast covering the Olympics is presented by Hayward Magic.
Hayward Magic is a really unique and fresh editorial channel on IG that captures the magic and intensity of track & field. Their mantra is #makeittohayward because Hayward is not just a place. It’s a state of mind. It's where guts meet magic. All athletes, fans and feats of guts welcome! @HaywardMagic on Instagram.
HOW TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST
🎙️ Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
💵 Pledge any dollar amount to us on Patreon.com/CITIUSMAG or Hit us on Venmo @CITIUSMAG
👕 Pick up merch from the CITIUS MAG store to show your support for the podcast and website.
Show notes39m
Fresh off his 3rd place finish at the Olympic Trials steeplechase, Mason Ferlic, joins Chris, Kyle and Nick on the podcast to celebrate his newly booked trip to Tokyo. The group discusses his journey from the University of Michigan to getting dropped from his professional contract and to eventually finding a home with Tracksmith, both as an athlete and employee. Ferlic peels back the curtain to share his insights as to why he believes the importance of a balance between running, work and the rest of his life led him to this career highlight. Based out of Ann Arbor and training with the Very Nice Track Club, he is surrounded by the all-time great young American miler, Hobbs Kessler and one of the best veterans to ever do it, Nick Willis. This magic formula worked -- it is sending Mason Ferlic to the Olympics!
TUNE IN AND LISTEN TO TRIALS TALK WITH CHRIS AND KYLE. Our daily podcast from the Olympic Trials is presented by Tracksmith.
We’re excited to partner with Tracksmith, an independent running brand fueled by a deep love of the sport. They celebrate the amateur spirit and seek to inspire the personal pursuit of excellence. Tracksmith is pleased to be supporting 30 Olympic Trials qualifiers in Eugene, including athletes across 14 disciplines, as part of their Amateur Support Program.
Check out Tracksmith's essentials for racing and training - including the Strata kits their Trials athletes are racing in this week - at Tracksmith.com/CITIUS and use code CITIUS to receive 10% off any order until the last day of the trials, June 27th.
Show notes32m
There were a few surprises in the semifinals of the middle distance events during Day 6 of the U.S. Olympic Trials, with high school phenom Hobbs Kessler and 3:49 miler Johnny Gregory getting eliminated in the semifinals of the men’s 1500, and NCAA champion Sage Hurta going down in a hard fall in the women’s 800. At the end of the day, six new Olympians were named in the men’s discus and men’s steeplechase, including a friend of the CITIUS MAG pod Mason Ferlic.
Kyle and Chris are re-joined by Mac Fleet and David “chaser of steeples” Melly to break down all the action and make some bold takes for Sunday’s finals.
TUNE IN AND LISTEN TO TRIALS TALK WITH CHRIS AND KYLE. Our daily podcast from the Olympic Trials is presented by Tracksmith.
We’re excited to partner with Tracksmith, an independent running brand fueled by a deep love of the sport. They celebrate the amateur spirit and seek to inspire the personal pursuit of excellence. Tracksmith is pleased to be supporting 30 Olympic Trials qualifiers in Eugene, including athletes across 14 disciplines, as part of their Amateur Support Program.
Check out Tracksmith's essentials for racing and training - including the Strata kits their Trials athletes are racing in this week - at Tracksmith.com/CITIUS and use code CITIUS to receive 10% off any order until the last day of the trials, June 27th.
Show notes48m
Carrie chats with Mason Ferlic, a Minnesota native, state champ, NCAA champ, and Olympic hopeful in the steeplechase! They chat about his family being present at the Trials (and how nervous they’ll be), the advice given to him by his legendary coach Ron Warhurst, what it’s like to train with some of the best athletes in the world, how he balances professional running with his other professional interests, and so much more!
Show notes39m
Ben Flanagan returns to the podcast! He first came on in 2018 after winning his NCAA title in the 10,000m. Now he’s a professional runner for the Reebok Boston Track Club and he’s currently quarantined in Canada before he competes at their respective Olympic Trials in Montreal later this month. We’re all fairly familiar with what it takes to make the U.S. Olympic team with a top three finish at each event but it’s a little more complex with Canada. He explains why. His personal best in the 5,000m is 13:20, which was run at the Platinum PT Qualifier put on by Tracksmith at the end of May. I was behind the mic for that race and while I saw it was a four-second personal best, he tells us why it was a much bigger deal in his hopes for Tokyo. We also catch up on life since his last podcast appearance, he’s got some nice things to say about Mason Ferlic and much more.
You can watch Ben compete in the men's 5,000m on Saturday, June 26 at 8:30 p.m. ET. Athletics Canda said the event will be streamed for free on athleticscanada.tv.| Full schedule here.
Pick up a copy of Don't Count Me Out by Ben Weingart here.
📈 Support for this episode comes from WHOOP. WHOOP is offering 15% off with the code “CITIUS” at checkout. Go to WHOOP and enter CITIUS at checkout to save 15%. Sleep better, recover faster and run faster. Get to the start line healthy with WHOOP. https://join.whoop.com/citiusmag
✍️ FULL SHOW NOTES + MORE QUOTES ON CITIUSMAG.com
HOW TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST
🎙️ Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
💵 Pledge any dollar amount to us on Patreon.com/CITIUSMAG
👕 Pick up merch from the CITIUS MAG store to show your support for the podcast and website.
Show notes54m
"Other sports like cycling and swimming are very homogeneous because the cost of bike equipment runs in the tens of thousands of dollars. Swimming is a very homogeneous sport because not everyone has access to a swimming pool. In running, we can kind of toss off those shackles and you only really need a pair of shoes and an opportunity to race and train, which is more accessible than any other sport that exists. But when you start adding the technological constraint that says 'if you want to be good in this sport you have to have the sponsorship or the money' just think about what this is going to do at the high school level with kids that are racing in your $60 Eastbay spikes vs. being able to afford a $250 shoe that gives them 10 seconds to win the state championship or run a time that gets them a college scholarship. That is all of a sudden way different than the sport we knew and creates an in-equitability that is not just at the pro level but across the entire spectrum.”
Mason Ferlic is currently an unsponsored professional runner but trains alongside Nick Willis and Hobbs Kessler in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was an NCAA champion at the University of Michigan in the steeplechase. He also teaches a statistics class there and works as a research engineer and lab manager at Michigan’s Exercise & Sports Science Initiative. He's a super-smart guy so it’s no surprise when he was asked by Flotrack’s Kevin Sully about his thoughts in the great spike debate that’s engrossed the sport that Mason delivered a great answer so I wanted to get him on the pod to talk a bit more about it, where he views the inequities are within the sport and how we move forward now that this arms race is in full swing.
💪 Support for this episode comes from MOMENTOUS. I've been able to try Momentous' ArcFire Strength Recovery Proteinas one of the newest additions to my training regimen. Try it for yourself. CITIUS MAG Podcast listeners will generously receive 20% off their first order of Momentous by using the promo code CITIUS at checkout on LiveMomentous.com. That's CITIUS at checkout for 20% off your first order of plant protein, whey protein, sleep formula and more.
You can catch the latest episode of the podcast on iTunes so subscribe and leave a five-star review. We are also on Stitcher, Google Play and Spotify!
✍️ FULL SHOW NOTES + MORE QUOTES ON CITIUSMAG.com
HOW TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST
🎙️ Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
💵 Pledge any dollar amount to us on Patreon.com/CITIUSMAG
👕 Pick up merch from the CITIUS MAG store to show your support for the podcast and website.
Show notes1h 19m
Kevin and Gordon discuss Keira D'Amato's logging another personal best, Mason Ferlic getting a cross country victory over Paul Chelimo and the programs that will face the toughest decisions this March.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Show notes48m