The Running Effect Podcast

Record-setting Tar Heels superstar Ethan Strand returns to the show today as he gears up for the Indoor Track and Field Championships this March in Virginia. 

The year 2025 has been good to this mid-distance star, as he ran a remarkable 3:48.32 indoor mile in Boston on February 1. This performance cemented Ethan as the fastest indoor miler in NCAA history while also positioning himself as the third-fastest indoor mile runner ever.

This rising legend also owns the NCAA record in the 3,000m; he ran 7:30.15 in Boston at the end of 2024, famously out-kicking his similarly-stellar teammate, Parker Wolfe. Ethan also ran his first-ever indoor 5k and won in impressive fashionwith a time of 13:26.60 at the ACC Indoor Championships in March.

Prior to entering the conversation for being on the pantheon of the greatest NCAA runners ever, Ethan attended Vestavia Hills High in Birmingham, Alabama, where he was a two-time Alabama Gatorade Cross Country Player of the Year winner (2019 and 2020). 

Ethan comes from coaching parents, as his father, Scott, is a former coach on the Alabama men’s track team, and his mother, Lori, was a cross-country coach at Samford University. 

In today’s conversation, Ethan walks me through his past few months of performances including two NCAA records and winning the ACC 5k, we discuss XC strength, why things have clicked recently for him, the inside scoop on the UNC DMR, his goals going into Nationals, and his long-term vision for outdoors. 

Take the opportunity to learn from one of the greatest to ever do it at the NCAA level. 

Tap into the Ethan Strand Special.

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