Small Business 

(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission. ATLANTA (28-Feb) -- After winning the historic Manchester Road Race in Connecticut last Thanksgiving, Andrew Colley took some downtime with his wife, Tristin.  They visited with family and spent some time with his relatives' children.  It was great fun, but there was a downside. "I had a little bit of a holiday sickness from being around the little ones at the holidays," Colley said at a press conference here today in advance of Sunday's USATF Half-Marathon Championships, part of the Publix Marathon Weekend. Colley, 33, felt well enough to knock out a personal best 1:00:47 at the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon on January 19, but whatever pathogen had invaded his body wasn't done with him. "Actually, I had to go from the Houston finish to an urgent care," said Colley.  "I had a throat infection from strep throat that I didn't know I had." Colley --who trains under the ZAP Endurance program in Blowing Rock, N.C., coached by Pete Rea-- revealed that he's been struggling with illness for the better part of two months. "Since December 23rd I've been on three rounds of antibiotics because I've been sick so much," Colley lamented.  "I'm just happy to have that out.  So, I had to take a little time to let my body heal up before getting back into training after Houston."  He added: "I took about, like, a week to kind of get that out of my system.  Training's been pretty good, a lot of mileage, too." Here in Atlanta, Colley hopes to make a fourth national team, and his first in road running.  He's competed at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships three times with a best finish of 36th place in 2023.  He has always loved head-to-head racing, and at Sunday's race the top-3 men and top-3 women will qualify for the 2025 World Athletics Road Running Championships, regardless of their finish times.  Unlike the Olympic and World Championships marathons, the world championships in San Diego have no time standard for qualifying. "I kind of lean towards the racing versus the time trial," Colley said.  "I feel like racing, you have things that go wrong, people can make different moves.  It's just much more exciting for the runners and the fans.  If it's just a time trial you know everyone's there to run fast, it's a little more boring.  I'm excited about the chance to respond to moves, see how my competitors are doing, and try to outrace them." On February 13th in Armagh, Northern Ireland, Colley vividly demonstrated that he had gotten past his recent illness.  Racing in the 47th Armagh Road Race --perhaps the world's deepest 5-K with 152 men running sub-15:00-- Colley set a course record 13:33.  He prevailed in a three-way sprint finish. "That was kind of like a let's race and see how your wheels are doing, despite doing mileage," Colley explained.  "I set a course record and I've never been more confident in my kick than I am now.  I'm pretty excited to see what I'm able to do." While the course for Sunday's race here is World Athletics-certified and record-eligible, it's unlikely that Colley would set a personal best.  That's because the course is hilly, with an elevation difference of 58 meters (190 feet) between the course's highest and lowest points.  Colley, who had a top finish of seventh place at the NCAA Cross Country Championships during his collegiate career with North Carolina State, likes his chances on a hilly course. "We're up in the mountains," said Colley of his Blowing Rock training domain.  "So we've been doing some hills and getting used to some changes in elevation." All of the training for Sunday's race is part of a longer preparation program for the Prague International Marathon on May 4.  Colley hopes to significantly drop his 2:11:22 personal best from Chicago in 2023.  He'd like to see something closer to 2:07, the pace he was on in the 19th mile of the 2024 USA Olympic Team Trials Marathon in Orlando when he dropped out.  That's a reasonable goal given that his half-marathon personal best is equivalent to a 2:07:37 marathon according to the time-tested Riegel Formula. "I try not to limit myself too much," Colley said, thinking about Prague.  "The next goal is to run Prague Marathon in the spring and run really fast."  He continued: "Pete is saying he wants me to run 2:07 or better.  I'm going to try." Now in the last phase of his pro career, Colley is trying to pick his spots and tackle his remaining goals.  He's also trying to keep in touch with the joy of running itself which originally brought him to the sport when he was a teenager growing up in Williamsburg, Va. "The beginning of my career being so riddled with injuries and setbacks, I just have an expectation of myself that I haven't even come close to," Colley revealed.  "I kind of approach every day with I'm going to have as much fun as I can with running today.  That is what I've felt has kept me going when a lot of people have kind of lost the mojo for it." PHOTO: Andrew Colley (left) leading the 2023 USATF 20-K Championships in New Haven, Conn. (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission. (26-Feb) -- After Emma Grace Hurley finished 89th in her senior year at the 2019 NCAA Cross Country Championships for the ninth-place Furman Paladins, the possibility of a professional running career seemed remote.  Although Hurley had performed well at the conference level, she never made an NCAA national track championships in any discipline.  By the time she graduated she had achieved only a modest 5000m personal best of 15:57.23.  Not a single shoe company tried to sign her. Fast forward six years and Hurley, who represents ASICS, is coming off of a career year where she won the USATF Running Circuit overall title, finished on the podium at five USATF championships, represented Team USATF at the World Athletic Cross Country Championships, and made an excellent half-marathon debut of 1:08:26 which made her the 12th-fastest American of all time. "I'm so grateful to still be in this sport," the 27 year-old told Race Results Weekly in a telephone interview from Atlanta yesterday.  "No one, no one would have thought in 2019 at cross country that I would still have opportunities like this so I am really grateful." It's been a long road for Hurley, originally from Roswell, Ga., where she competed for the Fellowship Christian School before heading for Furman.  Now based in Indianapolis, she's back in Atlanta for Sunday's USATF Half Marathon Championships, part of the Publix Atlanta Marathon Weekend organized by the Atlanta Track Club. The event is the USA selection race for the 2025 World Athletics Road Running Championships. The top three men and women will qualify for the team, and Hurley is the sixth-ranked athlete in the women's field based on personal best.  She's approaching the race cautiously, but thinks she has a shot at the podium. "The thing I always think to myself is to never have my mouth move faster than my legs can run," Hurley said.  "That's a big fear of mine, to throw something out there then not live up to it and have it be this pressure.  But in my head, the way I, like, have to go into it is to see myself as a podium finisher or else it's not going to materialize." With the COVID-19 pandemic gripping the nation after Hurley finished college, her elite running career got off to a slow start.  She moved back home to Roswell and joined the Atlanta Track Club's Elite program under then coaches Amy and Andrew Begley.  She clicked with the Begleys and began to put in the work.  She won the local Thanksgiving Day 5K in 2021 and set a then club record with her 16:13 clocking.  She had found a home. "Andrew and Amy were so chill," said Hurley.  "I actually felt less pressure in races (than in college), not just because they believed in me, but... I felt like they didn't hold expectations and they weren't going to get too high or too low no matter how the race went or how the workout went.  And that for me was really nice, knowing that the race was just the race and they were going to be proud of the effort and still believe in me just as much." In 2022 results started to come, even though Hurley was still only running 60-mile weeks.  In the fall she finished fifth at the USATF 10K Championships at the Great Cow Harbor 10K in Northport, N.Y., putting up a personal best of 32:50 on a hilly course.  She also ran a fast 10-miler of 53:24. Hurley benefited from the diversity of athletes on the Atlanta Track Club team, and was able to work on both speed and endurance without having to train alone. "I was on a team with anyone from 800 to marathon, and so being the only in-between person at that point I was just always getting pushed in workouts by people who were stronger than me in long runs, or... always getting pushed on the track.  I had a really good balance." In 2023 Hurley became a bonafide national-class athlete.  Skipping the indoor season, she took second at the USATF 15K Championships at the Gate River Run in March in Jacksonville, Fla., and was beaten only by American marathon record holder Emily Sisson.  She had struggled with "impostor syndrome" in her earlier elite races, but now she felt like she belonged on those starting lines.  She earned $5000 in prize money, the biggest payday of her career. "That didn't suck," said Hurley with a laugh.  "I think that was kind of the first time I felt like I belonged."  She continued: "Like, the previous year at races, for example like the B.A.A. 5K, I was looking around me and just being like, what am I doing here?  I don't know why I'm here." She got on two more national championships podiums in 2023, third at the USATF 10-Mile Championships at the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-Miler in Washington, D.C., and third at the USATF 10-K Championships at the Great Cow Harbor 10K.  In the 10K she was beaten only by 2024 Olympian and USA half-marathon record holder Weini Kelati and 2023 USATF cross country champion Ednah Kurgat.  She credited consistent work for her success. "I think that maybe the previous year and a half-ish of work was really good and really consistent," Hurley explained.  "One of the things I do really well isn't necessarily nailing one day and having a crazy workout or anything like that.  But I did a really good job of, up until that point, of not having missed anything." But a big change was coming.  The Begleys and Atlanta Track Club had parted ways, and Hurley had to make a decision about what to do. "There was definitely a level of anxiety," said Hurley, who ran her last race in ATC kit at the USATF 5K Championships at the Abbott Dash in November, 2023 in New York City.  She added: "Knowing that there was going to be a transition at the end of the year was a little stressful." Amy Begley took a job at USATF as director of long distance running programs and moved to Indianapolis with Andrew.  Hurley wanted to stay with the Begleys' coaching and decided to move, despite the fact that meant she would lose the financial support she got from the Atlanta Track Club.  Atlanta was also her home. "The only reservations I had were that my family and my boyfriend was in Atlanta, and my friends were in Atlanta," Hurley said.  "Obviously that's a lot of reservations, but I don't think anyone really questioned that they were the right coaches for me, and this is such a finite time where I can do this.  Of course, I was going to do everything I could to take advantage of the next few years my body can do this." Early in 2024 Hurley's management agency, Flynn Sports Management, got her a sponsorship deal with Asics. She was already a fan of their shoes, and Asics was making a renewed push into road running.  It seemed like a good fit. "I first got some ASICS shoes to try in early February, and then my first race in their uniform was Gate River Run in 2024," Hurley recounted. Hurley's 2024 competitive year was a whirlwind.  She did more than a dozen races from the mile to the half-marathon.  A very consistent performer, she finished fifth or better in every national championship she entered, except for the USATF Road Mile Championships (she still ran a credible 4:37.55).  In her last two national championships of the year, she finished third in both the 10K and the 5K.  In November she clinched the USATF Running Circuit title which included a $30,000 paycheck. But Hurley saved the best for last.  Just a week after the USATF 5K Championships at the Abbott Dash, Hurley secured a late entry for the CNO Financial Group Indianapolis Monumental Half-Marathon.  She felt fit and wanted to put it all out there in a half marathon for her last race of the year. "I was excited about that," Hurley said.  "I really, like, decided to do it the week of.  I really started thinking about it maybe the day before the Dash, and I had told myself if I get second or third at the Dash I was for sure going to do the half next week."  She added: "I was really grateful that they gave me the opportunity the week of." Because it was a last-minute thing, Hurley didn't have all of her usual race preparations in order, like where and what to have for dinner the night before.  Unable to get a restaurant reservation in downtown Indianapolis, she and a friend ended up eating pub food the night before, and as good as her legs felt during the race her stomach was pushing back. "I had seen Amy and Andrew (on the course) and they told me that I was going to win," Hurley recounted.  "I got to, like, enjoy that last mile (and) that was awesome.  The homestretch, to be completely honest, I had a little whoops on dinner the night before.  She continued: "We didn't get dinner reservations.  I called around too late, and we had, like, burgers and nachos and I was really freaking in the homestretch.  I was not underfueling or losing energy, but I had literally eaten the wrong things.  I was getting sick." She ended up throwing up a few minutes after the race. "It didn't feel good," she said good-naturedly.  "It was my own fault."  She added: "I wouldn't have eaten this before a workout.  Why did I think this was a good idea?" For this Sunday, besides making sure she eats a good meal on Saturday night, Hurley is feeling completely ready.  She hasn't run a race since last November, and she just completed her first-ever altitude camp.  She spent five weeks in Albuquerque and ran three 90-mile weeks, something she's never done before. "I really wanted, like, a good couple of months (to only train)," Hurley said.  "Even if you aren't taking a full down-week for a race you're still missing 10 to 15 miles in there.  I wanted to see what happened if I was just really consistent in training and not interrupting things to race." But running at altitude is so much harder than at sea level, so Hurley isn't sure exactly where she is fitness-wise. "I think preparation went well, but at the same time I don't know what things mean there," she said of her paces.  "So, we'll see how it translates.  But I've been in Atlanta for about a week and a half now, and everything feels really good."  She added: "I'm optimistic." While Hurley didn't discuss the rest of her racing plans for the year, it's a safe bet that you'll see her in longer events. "I think I always knew that I was going to end up in longer things," Hurley said.  "I think we're still kind of exploring and discovering that, but I think that's where I'm most at home right now." PHOTO: Emma Grace Hurley finishing 3rd at the 2024 USA 5K Championships at the Abbot Dash in New York City (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

Erica Edwards-O’Neal, Chief Diversity Officer for New York Road Runners (NYRR), was honored with the 2025 Running USA Award of Excellence at our recent conference in Louisville. Learn about her role at NYRR and favorite place in NYC. As she says of fellow conference attendees - “the passion is palatable.” Thank you for passionately bettering and educating the running industry, Erica!

(c) 2024 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, Published with permission. NEW YORK (18-Feb) -- Olympians Conner Mantz (Nike) and Emily Sisson (New Balance) are set to lead the USA charge at the 18th edition of the United Airlines NYC Half here on Sunday, March 16.  The two USA record holders --the half-marathon for Mantz and the marathon for Sisson-- are part of a star-studded field announced today by race founders and organizers, New York Road Runners.  The 2024 edition was the second-largest half-marathon in the United States last year with 27,824 finishers. Mantz, 28, who won the USA Olympic Team Trials Marathon last February, is coming off a record-setting runner-up finish at the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon on January 19 where he set a new American record of 59:17.  In that race Mantz also set national records at 15 km (42:05), 10 miles (45:16), and 20 km (56:23) on his way to the finish.  Last November, he finished sixth in the TCS New York City Marathon in 2:09:00, the fastest time ever by an American at that race. "I was fortunate to kick off my 2025 season with an American record in the half-marathon," Mantz said through a statement. "Racing the United Airlines NYC Half will help me to continue that momentum during an important year of racing. Every time I race in New York, the crowds and camaraderie are unmatched, so I'm excited to have another opportunity to compete against some of the fastest and strongest athletes in the world." Sisson, 33, made her half-marathon debut at the NYC Half back in 2017 when she battled her then training partner Molly Huddle right to the tape, clocking 1:08:21 to finish second by two seconds.  She finished second again in 2018, and hasn't competed in the event since.  However, she later ran excellent half-marathons on flatter courses, and set a since-broken national record of 1:06:52 in Houston in 2023.  She set the still-standing USA marathon record of 2:18:29 at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in 2022. Both Mantz and Sisson will have plenty of competition for the NYC Half's $20,000 first prize.  Two Kenyans, Abel Kipchumba and Richard Etir, have fast personal best times of 58:07 and 59:32, respectively on their résumés.  Kipchumba, who represents adidas, won the 2024 edition of the race in 1:00:25, while Etir will make his New York debut. Other top entrants include Briton Patrick Dever (1:00:11 PB); Americans Hillary Bor (1:00:20), Biya Simbassa (1:00:37), and Reed Fischer (1:00:54); Kenyan Wesley Kiptoo (1:00:34); Eritrean Yemane Haileselassie (1:01:34); and Japan's Yudai Kiyama (1:00:32) and Hibiki Murakami (1:01:46).  Canadian Olympic 5000m silver medalist Moh Ahmed, and two-time American Olympian Woody Kincaid will make their half-marathon debuts (both have run sub-27:00 for 10,000m on the track). On the women's side three-time European cross country champion, Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal of Norway, will try to retain her title.  She won the 2024 edition of the race in 1:09:09, 18 seconds ahead of Kenyan Gladys Chepkurui. "Winning the 2024 United Airlines NYC Half was a dream come true and set the tone for the rest of my season," said Grøvdal, who represents adidas. "This race is extremely special to me and to have the opportunity to defend my title is an incredible honor." Including Sisson and Grøvdal, a total of seven women who are entered have run under 68 minutes for the half-marathon distance.  The others are Lonah Chemtai Salpeter of Israel (1:06:09), Calli Hauger-Thackery of Great Britain (1:06:58), Sara Hall of the United States (1:07:15), Sharon Lokedi of Kenya (1:07:42), and Fiona O'Keeffe of the United States (1:07:42).  O'Keeffe was the 2024 USA Olympic Team Trials Marathon champion. In the professional wheelchair division, Susannah Scaroni will try for her third straight NYC Half title, while Dutchman Geert Schipper will try to win for the second consecutive time. ** This year's NYC Half will take runners over the Brooklyn Bridge for the first time after using the Manhattan Bridge since the start was moved to Brooklyn from Manhattan in 2018.  The finish line will still be in Central Park, just south of Tavern on the Green.  The point-to-point course is not record eligible, but is very tough with many hills and a high point of 45 meters above sea level. PHOTO: Conner Mantz competing in the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)  

Presented by HydraPak, a leader in sustainability efforts in the outdoor hydration space, this engaging panel will explore how events of all sizes can adopt and implement sustainable practices to reduce environmental impact while inspiring participants and stakeholders. Moderated by Tina Muir, the discussion will highlight real-world applications for small to medium-sized events, broader industry-wide sustainability strategies, and innovative product solutions for greener events. Whether you're an event organizer, brand partner, or sustainability enthusiast, this session will provide actionable takeaways to make a positive environmental impact at your next event. Panel: Matt Helbig, CEO, Big River Race Management Tina Muir, Founder/CEO, Running for Real Roger McClendon, Executive Director, Green Sports Alliance Jennifer Krupey, Vice President of Marketing & Ecommerce, HydraPak