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Running USA’s Virtual Roundtables resumed the important conversations sparked during the 2025 Industry Conference and will now continue on a quarterly basis. These sessions provide a valuable forum for professionals across the running industry to reconnect, exchange ideas, ask questions, and seek advice from peers within their specific sectors. By extending the dialogue beyond the annual conference, the roundtables help foster collaboration, innovation, and shared problem-solving throughout the year.

Running USA’s Virtual Roundtables resumed the important conversations sparked during the 2025 Industry Conference and will now continue on a quarterly basis. These sessions provide a valuable forum for professionals across the running industry to reconnect, exchange ideas, ask questions, and seek advice from peers within their specific sectors. By extending the dialogue beyond the annual conference, the roundtables help foster collaboration, innovation, and shared problem-solving throughout the year.

Running USA looks forward to bringing the 2026 Industry Conference presented by haku to St. Louis, Missouri, from Feb. 1-3, 2026. To learn more about the city, its running scene and the Greater St. Louis Marathon, which will run its 25th edition in two weeks, we caught up with Mona Vespa, Executive Director of GO! St. Louis, who has dedicated her career to the organization. Watch the video to get to know Mona and learn more about what St. Louis has in store for us next year!

(c) 2024 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved NEW YORK (09-Jun) -– The USATF NYC Grand Prix, a World Athletics Continental Gold-level meeting, was a sprint showcase, but also featured three exciting middle-distance races on what turned out to be a warm and windy afternoon at Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island. Great Britain's Jake Wightman, the 2022 world champion in the 1500 meters, won his specialty with a well-timed kick, while American Sage Hurta-Klecker and Mexico's Tonatiu Lopez took the 800s. The men’s 1500 set off at a modest pace, passing 800 meters in 1:57. The entire 12-man field was separated by just one second at the bell, with Eric Holt, an unsponsored athlete with the local Empire Elite Track Club, in the lead (2:41.1) as he aimed to win this race for the second year in a row. But Wightman, who missed the 2023 season due to a foot injury, continued his comeback campaign by timing his finishing kick perfectly. He cranked out a 52.6-second last lap to win in 3:34.01.  Holt was rewarded for his aggressive running with a personal best 3:34.05, while Hobbs Kessler, bronze medalist at March's World Athletics Indoor Championships, took third in 3:34.41. "I was trying to work out the wind," Wightman told Race Results Weekly. "I knew it was going to be in the home straight. So, my hope was that I could be strong enough that no one else could run into the wind. But, Holt ran fast. He was there all the time. If I could have asked for that, I would have wanted it. It was a good simulation for the [upcoming British] Trials which is what I need." Holt had been hoping the early pace would have been quicker so he might hit the Olympic qualifying standard of 3:33.50. "Unfortunately, it was really slow, but it is what it is," said the SUNY Binghamton grad. "I thought I was gonna win the race. But [Wightman] is a world champion for a reason and today my effort wasn't good enough." He then lamented his status without a sponsorship deal. "Every race I step on the track I just want to show the sponsors that I deserve to be a pro, that I'm not just some schmuck, that I work really hard," said Holt, who finished 4th at the 2022 USATF Outdoor Championships. Vincent Ciattei (3:34.62) came home fourth, while 5000/10,000-specialist Grant Fisher ran a personal best of 3:34.90 for fifth and Eduardo Herrera set a Mexican national record 3:35.29 in sixth. The women's 800 field was towed through the first lap in 59.0, with Sammy Watson taking over for the pacer and leading through 600 meters and into the final turn. Coming into the straightaway, Hurta-Klecker surged to the lead and broke the tape in 2:00.33. Olivia Baker swung wide and mounted a late challenge, but couldn't quite close the gap, finishing second in 2:00.73. Watson placed third in 2:00.91. "My first couple of races were super, super fast, and this was just a good racing experience," said Hurta-Klecker, who ran a season's best of 1:58.48 to finish seventh at the Prefontaine Classic in May. "It's a little bit different from a Diamond League where everything is lined up, strung out, so I needed a little bit of practice of getting into position and going for the win." Baker was also pleased with her run. "The goal was just to take another step forward. I ran 2:01 last week, two-flat today," she said. "So, I'm moving in the right direction. I'm really happy with where I am going into the Trials." The men's 800 also featured a frantic sprint to the line. Lopez had trailed the pacer through an opening 400 of 50.9, and refused to relinquish the lead, despite Isaiah Jewett’s best efforts. Lopez, who won the silver at the Pan American Games last fall, held his form and clocked 1:44.96 for the win, holding off a rush of challengers. Lopez, who was targeting the Olympic qualifying standard (1:44.70), didn't realize that the field was quickly gaining ground down the homestretch. "I didn't know that they were so close to me," he said. [There was] no screen to see. I don't feel the steps [behind me].  So, I was thinking it was only me. But I'm very happy that I finished first." NCAA Division II champion Wes Ferguson of Nebraska Wesleyan, just seventh with 100 meters to go, closed well for second in a personal best 1:45.06. Josh Hoey (1:45.35) also set a PB after passing Jewett (1:45.41) a step before the line. Clayton Murphy (1:45.75), the Olympic bronze medalist in 2016, placed fifth. Ferguson, who won his third-straight Division II outdoor title on May 25, was pleased to be the top American in the field but had some regrets over his tactics. "I'm really happy and I wouldn't say that I'm ticked off, but if I had started that kick any time sooner, that would have been mine," he said. "So, a good lesson to learn going into the Trials. A big PR, so I guess I can't be too upset." PHOTO: Jane Wightman (right) just edged Eric Holt in the 1500m at the 2024 USATF NYC Grand Prix (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)  

(c) 2024 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved NEW YORK (08-Jun) -- Like the conductor of a world class symphony, Senbere Teferi of Ethiopia controlled today's 52nd edition of the Mastercard New York Mini 10K simply by swinging her arms.  The 29 year-old Olympian, who represents adidas, pushed to the lead early, stayed at the front through all of Central Park's ups and downs, then flattened the competition by running a 4:32 sixth mile to put the race away.  With the finish line bathed in sunshine, she clocked 30:47 to win her third consecutive Mini title and vowed to come back to try to win again next year. "God willing, I would love to come back," the smiling Teferi told Race Results Weekly through a translator.  "It's a great race, the organizers are great, and the fans are great.  So, I would love to always be able to come back." Two Kenyan women, Sharon Lokedi (Under Armour) and Sheila Chepkirui (adidas), kept today's race honest.  Both women ran close behind Teferi through the halfway point (15:38), and were right on her heels through the four-mile mark (20:01).  Lokedi, the 2022 TCS New York City Marathon champion, was determined to keep up the pressure on her Ethiopian rival. "I knew this was like 2022 back again," said Lokedi, referring to the 50th edition of this race where she finished second to Teferi.  "I felt so strong, but I just didn't have the speed in me.  So, I just wanted to fight as much as I can and stay there as long as I could." As the race crossed over from the east to the west side of the Central Park during the fifth mile, Teferi picked up her pace slightly.  That was enough for Chepkirui to fall back and she had to settle for third in 31:09.  Lokedi held on as long as she could, but with the clock showing 26 minutes and 27 seconds Teferi put in a powerful surge.  In just a few strides, Lokedi was dropped. "We went up that hill and all of a sudden she took off, and I just couldn't cover it," lamented Lokedi, who finished second in 31:04. Teferi wasn't looking at her watch.  Running on feel and using her experience with the course, she knew Lokedi was a strong athlete and only a truly savage move would assure victory. "I could sense from the way she was breathing that she was falling back," Teferi said of Lokedi.  "At that point I just kicked." A little farther back, American Amanda Vestri (ZAP Endurance) was having the race of her life.  The 24 year-old, who ran a personal best 31:10.53 for 10,000m exactly three weeks ago in London, used the trio of Africans to gauge her pace right from the start.  Through 5 km she was only two seconds behind them, and about four seconds back at 4 miles.  She faced a critical decision. "Not like I was getting nervous, but there are a lot of Americans still here right now," Vestri said, describing the situation before halfway when Jessica McClain (Brooks), Dakotah Lindwurm (Puma/Minnesota Distance Elite), and Emily Durgin (adidas) were still near the front.  She continued: "My goal was to be top American in the race, so there was a moment in time when it was either stay back with the chunk of the Americans or go ahead with the faster women at the front." Vestri ended up running the second half alone, but she was ready for that.  She finished fourth in a personal best 31:17, comfortably ahead of McClain in fifth (31:22) and Durgin in sixth (31:49).  Vestri clocked the fourth-fastest Mini ever by an American, although times are not completely comparable because the race has used several courses, "It was like at 16 minutes when I was like, geez Amanda, you either have to pay the price and go with them and suffer a little bit... or stay back, stay comfortable and see what happens, I guess," Vestri continued.  "Honestly, I'd rather rely on me suffering than me kicking at the end of the race.  So, I decided to suffer." While Teferi earned the largest check ($10,000 for the win), Vestri also had a good day for her bank account.  She earned $2,500 for fourth place plus another $5,000 for being the top American. For the two Americans who will run the 2024 Olympic Marathon who raced here today, Lindwurm and Emily Sisson (New Balance), their results were solid.  Lindwurm, who was running just her first Mini, finished eighth in 31:58, a personal best.  Sisson, who was running her third Mini, finished ninth in 32:08.  Lindwurm loved her race experience. "Oh my gosh, it was like nothing else," said Lindwurm.  "It was a fun race.  I PR'd in the 5K (15:45) in the middle of a 10K.  I'll be back for sure; this was electric." While official results were not available as of this writing, the race likely had a record number of finishers.  The previous record was 8,885 from 2019, but with over 12,500 entries this year the record was likely broken. PHOTO: Senbere Teferi of Ethiopia wins her third consecutive Mastercard Mini 10K in 30:47; the tapeholder is 2024 USA Olympic Trials Women's Marathon champion Fiona O'Keeffe (Photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)