“By the time we get there, I don’t think we’ll leave any stone unturned for the first one. There’s still room to grow, but I do think I’ll be very ready.”

My guest for today’s episode is Emma Grace Hurley: an ASICS athlete and one of the most consistent American road racers of the last two years. She trains under Andrew and Amy Begley at Heartland Track Club in Indianapolis, and in 2026 she has already set the American Record at 8K (24:29 at the Shamrock Shuffle), won the USATF 10-Mile title at Cherry Blossom, won the 25K title at the Gate River Run and finished second at the USATF 5K Championships in her own city, running 15:00 flat to miss the sub-15 barrier by four-tenths of a second.

She is also, as of this week, officially confirmed as one of the scoring members of the U.S. half marathon team for Copenhagen — one of the three athletes who were misdirected in the closing mile of the USATF Half Marathon Championships in Atlanta in March. World Athletics granted a special exception that will allow seven American women to compete, with Jess McClain, Emma Grace, and Ednah Kurgat as the scoring athletes alongside Weini Kelati. The top three official finishers — Molly Born, Carrie Ellwood, and Annie Rodenfels — will make their international debuts as non-scoring athletes.

What makes Emma Grace one of the more interesting stories in American distance running right now is the shape of her career. She graduated from Furman in 2020 with a 15:57 5K personal best, quit running entirely, took a client associate job at JP Morgan, and did not think she was coming back to the sport. She is now a 15:00 road 5K runner, an 8K American record holder, a national 10-mile champion, and a two-event Worlds qualifier. She has not run a marathon yet — it’s happening this fall.

In this conversation, recorded in Brooklyn, we get into all of it: what it actually took to bounce back after Atlanta and immediately set a national record three weeks later, why she doesn’t love the track but is a 15-flat road 5K runner, the Cherry Blossom 10-mile where she lost the overall by one second to a woman who finished seventh in the 10,000m at the Tokyo Olympics, the moment she finally felt like the long slow build was paying off, and what scares her most about the marathon block ahead.

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Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez⁠

Guest: Emma Grace Hurley | @emmagracehurley

Produced by: Jasmine Fehr |⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr⁠

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VELOUS: VELOUS makes recovery footwear designed to help runners bounce back faster between sessions. Their sandals feature Tri-Motion™ Technology: a technical three-density foam system and contoured footbed engineered to cushion impact, support your arches, and help your toes stretch and relax on every step. Run. Recover. Repeat. with VELOUS! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get 20% off your VELOUS order with code CITIUSMAG20 at checkout including FREE Shipping!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

OLIPOP: Raspberry Sherbet is a limited-edition, nostalgic new flavor that blends tangy raspberry with creamy vanilla. Every can of Olipop contains their Olismart blend, which includes ingredients designed to support digestive health and help feed your gut microbiome. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders.⁠⁠

Emergency bonus episode triggered by World Athletics dropping the Beijing 2027 qualification system.

Chris Chavez and Preet Majithia spend nearly an hour walking through every significant change in qualifying. The core shift: the hybrid model of entry standards plus world rankings is being tilted from a 50-50 split to 40% via entry standards and 60% via world rankings — achieved by making standards significantly tougher across nearly every event.

The episode covers:

– The four qualification pathways

– The new wild card structure (including the unprecedented wild card for World Ultimate Champions)

– Qualifying windows

– Marathon specifics

– The category requirement change that effectively ends NCAA-level meet qualifying

– The political reality of getting into high-category meets,

– Full distance standards breakdown

– The impact on US collegiate athletes

– The BU indoor ban and what the Dempsey loophole might be

– The closure of the Ramona discus advantage

– The women’s 10,000m standard correction

– The end of the cross country qualifying route for 10,000m

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Hosts: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ + Preet Majithia | @preet_athletics

Produced by: Jasmine Fehr |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

____________

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

XENDURANCE: Xendurance Protein is designed specifically to help your body recover, rebuild, and get stronger after training. It combines four different types of protein, so your body gets both fast absorbing protein for immediate recovery and slower release protein to support muscle repair over time. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Check it out at Xendurance.com and use code CITIUS for 25% off your first order.⁠⁠⁠⁠

VELOUS: VELOUS makes recovery footwear designed to help runners bounce back faster between sessions. Their sandals feature Tri-Motion™ Technology: a technical three-density foam system and contoured footbed engineered to cushion impact, support your arches, and help your toes stretch and relax on every step. Run. Recover. Repeat. with VELOUS! ⁠⁠⁠⁠Get 20% off your VELOUS order with code CITIUSMAG20 at checkout including FREE Shipping!⁠⁠⁠⁠

OLIPOP: Raspberry Sherbet is a limited-edition, nostalgic new flavor that blends tangy raspberry with creamy vanilla. Every can of Olipop contains their Olismart blend, which includes ingredients designed to support digestive health and help feed your gut microbiome. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders.⁠⁠

Chris Chavez and Kyle Merber close out Memorial Day weekend with a debrief on the Enhanced Games, a quick Xiamen Diamond League recap, and a full LA Track Fest breakdown.

Discussed in this episode:

– Enhanced Games debrief: It’s not track and field, it’s not a competitor to the sport, and last night was actually a best-case scenario for Enhanced Games skeptics because no athlete watching thought, “I should take drugs, look how well it worked.”

– Xiamen Diamond League: Masai Russell’s 12.14 was the race of the meet. Broke her own American record and missed Tobi Amusan’s world record of 12.12 by two hundredths; Collen Kebinatshipi running 43.92 for a world lead, now reportedly holding world leads in both the 100m and 400m simultaneously; Alison dos Santos is in arguably the best early-season form of his career; Abby Caldwell wins the women’s 1500 again in 3:57, making Australian Commonwealth Games selection very complicated; Yan Ziyi throws 71.74 in the javelin on her 18th birthday.

– LA Track Fest: Parker Valby returns with her first race on the outdoor track in 19 months, winning the 5K in a 14:49 personal best; Brandon Miller wins the 800m over a stacked field, but Josh Kerr gave us data on where he’s at eight weeks out from his London mile world record attempt; Cooper Lutkenhaus runs his first 1500m at 17 years old and goes 3:45 + more results from LA.

– This weekend: Bislett Games (Continental Tour), Rabat Diamond League on Sunday, and the Bandit Grand Prix at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City on Saturday.

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Hosts: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ + Kyle Merber | @kylemerber

Produced by: Jasmine Fehr |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

____________

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

XENDURANCE: Xendurance Protein is designed specifically to help your body recover, rebuild, and get stronger after training. It combines four different types of protein, so your body gets both fast absorbing protein for immediate recovery and slower release protein to support muscle repair over time. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Check it out at Xendurance.com and use code CITIUS for 25% off your first order.⁠⁠⁠

VELOUS: VELOUS makes recovery footwear designed to help runners bounce back faster between sessions. Their sandals feature Tri-Motion™ Technology: a technical three-density foam system and contoured footbed engineered to cushion impact, support your arches, and help your toes stretch and relax on every step. Run. Recover. Repeat. with VELOUS! ⁠⁠⁠Get 20% off your VELOUS order with code CITIUSMAG20 at checkout including FREE Shipping!⁠⁠⁠

OLIPOP: Raspberry Sherbet is a limited-edition, nostalgic new flavor that blends tangy raspberry with creamy vanilla. Every can of Olipop contains their Olismart blend, which includes ingredients designed to support digestive health and help feed your gut microbiome. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders.⁠⁠