Valerie Constien
United States
Valerie Constien is an accomplished American track and field athlete specializing in the steeplechase. She has competed at national and international levels, showcasing her skills in endurance events. Known for her dedication and competitive spirit, Valerie has made a name for herself in the track and field community.
Personal Bests
5000 Metres
15:32.83
2/15/2025
3000 Metres Steeplechase
9:03.22
6/27/2024
3000 Metres
8:41.77
2/10/2023
Mile
4:37.52
1/27/2023
1500 Metres
4:09.97
4/1/2022
Recent Mentions
“For me, the most important thing is practicing winning and practicing trying to win. Because at the end of the day, PRs are awesome and running super fast is great, but people aren’t going to say, ‘Oh, well, 9:03 is the third fastest time.’ They’re going to say ‘Val won,’ right? And so for me, I just want to try to win. That’s all I care about. I don’t even care if we run slow because I just want to win.”
Valerie Constien was on the show about two months ago so if you haven’t heard that episode, I think it sets thighs up perfectly for more context on her comeback from a torn ACL last year. I enjoyed hearing from the listeners that they felt more invested in Val’s comeback and were overjoyed to see her running well at the Prefontaine Classic and at the Trials knowing more about her.
At the Trials, Val put together one of the best races of the entire 10 days. She won the women’s steeplechase in 9:03 – which moved her to No. 3 on the all-time list behind Courtney Frerichs and Emma Coburn. The whole race was epic and I’d encourage people to watch it on YouTube. Val qualified for her second U.S. Olympic team. She will be joined in Paris by Courtney Wayment and Marisa Howard.
In this episode, we unpack that U.S. Olympic Trials final and then look ahead toward Paris, where Val is thinking that she has a shot at a medal.
Host: Chris Chavez | @chris_j_chavez on Instagram
Guest: Val Constien | @valerieconstien on Instagram
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Episode 19 - Just Some Great Running Advice
This episode just has some great running advice. Hence the name of the episode. This isn't an exhaustive list... it's just some great running advice. I've got more. This is just some of what I got. I can't give you everything on episode 19. You wouldn't come back for episode 20 and I want you back. And that's not all this episode has! I go over... in detail... the Chicago Marathon weekend... which was awesome. There is also the mail bag AND another Mindful Minute with coach tammie. It's an all around great episode.
00:00 Intro and Chicago Marathon Weekend Recap
22:15 Just Some Great Running Advice
44:00 Mailbag
47:35 Mindset Minute with coach tammie of the how up society
49:35 See Ya Laters
Check out these links!
Check out the Chicago Marathon
Check out coach tammie of the show up society
Check out Pizzano in Chicago (three nights of spaghetti can meatballs)
Check out Sifan Hassan
Check out Joan Benoit Samuelson
Check out Valerie Constien on Instagram
Check out Jordan Hasay on Instragram
Check out Nell Rojas on Instagram
Check out Kelvin Kiptum on Instagram
https://www.pizanoschicago.com/locations/chicago-loop/
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Olympic steeplechaser Valerie Constien talks about her recovery from tearing her ACL, signing with Nike, Popeye's biscuits, Waffle House and the importance of fast-food, her YouTube Channel (everyone follow it @valerieconstien8711 ) her new car and why she loves it, why she's still having fun in the sport and more!
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Olympic steeplechaser Val Constien talks finding balance between work and running, traveling, being realistic about track and field, her love of music, interests outside of the sport, homemade burritos and burrito bowls, baking cookies and more.
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Valerie Constien is the United States’ third-fastest steeplechaser heading into the Olympic Trials with a personal best of 9:25. That’s also good enough for No. 14 in the world for 2021. She is a graduate of the University of Colorado and now competes for the Tracksmith Amateur Support Program while being coached by Mark Wetmore and Heather Burroughs.
We’ll be featuring a few more Tracksmith athletes before we kickstart our daily podcast series – Trials Talk with Chris & Kyle – live from Eugene, Oregon. Kyle Merber and I will be bringing you a show recapping the biggest performances and surprises from each day of the Trials.
The women’s steeplechase will certainly be one of them. Do not sleep on Valerie for that third possible spot on the Olympic team since there’s still a few question marks around Colleen Quigley since she hasn’t raced since February or steepled since 2019. That race has gotten super interesting in recent weeks with some big performances by Valerie, Mel Lawrence, Marissa Howard and a slew of collegiate women. Get to know Valerie before she possibly shocks the country.
Follow Val on Instagram here: @valerieconstien
Photo by Jake Willard: Follow him @runjwill
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