Fast People

Sarah Lorge Butler caught up with Ahmed Muhumed shortly after he ran a 53-second personal best of 27:03.19 for 10,000m at The TEN, which puts him seventh on the U.S. all-time list. Ahmed was born in the Somali region of Ethiopia and moved to Oregon in 2011, when he was 13 years old. Though soccer was his first love, a PE teacher discovered his talent for running and encouraged him to go out for cross country and track. In addition to balancing his academics and athletics, Ahmed worked s...

Juli Benson discusses her journey from barely making it to the NCAA Track & Field Championships her senior year to becoming an Olympian, and her subsequent transition into coaching. Juli coached Jenny Simpson to 1500m gold at the 2011 World Athletics Championships, and she now coaches runners of all abilities. Juli got a flurry of attention after Nikki Hiltz, currently the U.S.'s top 1500m runner, announced last month that they are now working with Juli. But Juli coaches a number of high ...

Molly Seidel, the 2021 Olympic bronze medalist in the marathon, provides an update on her running, health, and non-running pursuits. And she shares some big news about her sponsorship status Sarah Lorge Butler on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/slorgebutler.bsky.social Fast Women on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fastwomen/ Fast Women on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/fastwomen.bsky.social Subscribe to the Fast Women newsletter: https://fastwomen.substack.com/ Thanks for ...

Mike Scannell talks to Sarah Lorge Butler about coaching Grant Fisher to Olympic Bronze medals in the 5,000m and 10,000m last year, as well as two indoor world records in February. Some Highlights: Discussion of Grant and Mike's post-Olympic recoveryThe importance of pacers maintaining rhythm in high-stakes racesGrant thanking his pacer mid-race, while setting the indoor 5,000m world recordWhat makes Grant unique, from a mental standpointOn whether it's harder to get high school kids to commi...

Professional track & field athlete Valery "Val" Tobias recently had a breakthrough race to run 1:59.55 and finish second in the 800m at the USATF Indoor Championships. That qualified her to represent the U.S. at the World Athletics Indoor Championships, which take place March 21–23 in Nanjing, China. Val was born in Texas but lived in Mexico until middle school, when she moved back to the U.S. Her teachers discovered her talent for running during a gym class mile, and she's been on ...

Heather MacLean shares her remarkable journey from growing up in a low-income family to becoming one of the best runners in world. This one is for anyone who loves an underdog story. She discusses growing up with seven siblings and a single mother, joining her high school track & field team by chance, and becoming the first person in her family to graduate from college. She also talks about navigating her early professional running years while often working full-time. Heather discus...

Professional marathoner Keira D'Amato discusses her upcoming book "Don't Call it a Comeback: What Happened When I Stopped Chasing PRs, and Started Chasing Happiness." She also discusses overcoming her fear of failure, her move to Utah to train under coach Ed Eyestone, the supportive running community she's found there, and how her Boston Marathon training is going. Preorder Keira's book: https://static.macmillan.com/static/smp/dont-call-it-9781250344946/ (Available September 9, 2025) Fo...