#TheJourneytoCompete, A cross-country newsletter, Issue 5, November 7, 2025
#TheJourneytoCompete is a celebration of all things cross-country and a collaboration between #NIKErunning and #RunBlogRun. We will publish #JourneytoCompete weekly, on Fridays, from October 10, 2025, to January 10, 2026! To subscribe, send an email with your email address to runblogrun@gmail.com. We will sign you up! We will post archived copies of the NIKE Newsletter at runblogrun.com and RunningNetwork.com
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NIKE Pegasus 41
The Pegasus 41 is an excellent entry shoe for the high school cross-country runner: fast, nimble, and a good mileage shoe. Your athletes can run in this one daily! Learn more at www.nikerunning.com.
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NIKE #TheJourneytoCompete Special Report: Eliud Kipchoge and Sifan Hassan compete at the 2025 New York City Marathon! Check out their journey from cross-country runners to marathon stars.
| Cooper Lutkenhaus, Micro Clip 1, Going Pro | | Cooper Lutkenhaus, photo by Kevin Morris | |
Cooper Lutkenhaus is the Track & Field News Male athlete of the year for 2025. Cooper set the World Under-18 and American Under-20 World records for the Men’s 800 meters, with his time of 1:42.37, taking second in the USATF Outdoor 800 meters.
In this clip, Cooper spoke about going professional during this past summer and foregoing his eligibility as a high school athlete. Cooper is training daily with his high school teammates, who are his friends and classmates.
| | From Issue #4: Cooper Lutkenhaus, the RunBlogRun Interview | | To listen to the entire interview of Cooper Luktenhaus, | |
From Issue #3: Connor Mantz Breaks AR for the Marathon with his 2:04:43, and eyes a bid for the U.S. World Cross-Country team! | |
The NIKE Interview: Connor Mantz, new American record holder, Marathon (2:04:43). On October 12, 2025, Connor Mantz, who was 8th in the Paris Olympic marathon, finished fourth at the #BankofAmericaChicagomarathon, breaking the 23-year-old American record of Khalid Khannouchi! Here’s the story!
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From Issue#2: Sinclaire Johnson is the new American record holder for the Mile!
| Sinclaire Johnson, photo by Kevin Morris | This interview was conducted just before the Tokyo World Championships, where Sinclaire competed in the 1,500 meters. A state high school cross-country champion, Sinclaire Johnson, is an excellent example of how cross-country helps build middle-distance runners! Enjoy the interview by Larry Eder. Sinclaire Johnson is sponsored by NIKE. |
The Pegasus PLUS. Here’s the newest of the Pegasus line, the Pegasus PLUS! If you like the ride of the NIKE Pegasus line, please try the Pegasus PLUS. The Pegasus PLUS is a great upgrade from the Pegasus 41. The Pegasus PLUS has NIKE Zoom AIR and the feel of a fast training flat! Check it out at www.nikerunning.com
| Cross-Country History Lesson Number 6, Eliud Kipchoge and Sifan Hassan |
Eliud Kipchoge, Coach Bennett and Sifan Hassan, by Larry Eder at NIKE House of Innovation, November 5, 2025
"Only the disciplined ones in life are free." ~Eliud Kipchoge
Eliud Kipchoge entered the sport as a cross-country runner. In 2003, Eliud won the Junior title at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships.
In 2011 and 2012, Eliud Kipchoge ran in the iconic Great Run Edinburgh Cross-Country Festival, winning the short race in 2011, defeating Asbel Kiprop, and finishing third in the short race in 2012.
After his second win at the London Marathon in 2016, Eliud Kipchoge gave this writer a bit of his beliefs on developing as a runner: “Begin with cross-country, and move to track and field before going to road running. Runners need to develop,” is how Eliud put his own philosophy.
Eliud Kipchoge has 4 Olympic medals (bronze in Athens 2004 for 5,000 meters, silver in Beijing 2008 for 5,000 meters, and gold in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021 for the marathon).
Eliud Kipchoge has now completed all seven World Marathon Majors, having won London, Berlin, Chicago, and Tokyo. Eliud has won eleven World Marathon Majors (five Berlins, four Londons, once at Chicago (2014), and once at Tokyo (2020).
Eliud Kipchoge, (he turned 41 on November 5), just completed the New York City Marathon, where he took 17th in 2:14:36.
For Eliud Kipchoge, the Zen Master of the marathon, it all began with cross-country.
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Sifan Hassan photo by NN Running team
“I like Crazy” ~Sifan Hassan
Sifan Hassan, the six-time Olympic medalist (bronze at 1,500m, 5,000m, and 10,000m, gold at 5,000m, 10,000m, and marathon).
Sifan Hassan and her family emigrated to the Netherlands as political refugees. Sifan started in road running and cross-country. In her first time competing for her home country, the Dutch athlete won the U20 European Athletics Cross-Country in 2013, helping her team to gain the bronze medal.
In 2014, this writer watched Sifan Hassan first-hand win the 1,500 meters at the European Athletics Outdoor Championships.
Sifan liked to double and triple on the track. She competed in World Championships from 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022, and 2023. Sifan took a bronze in 2015, a bronze in 2017, two golds in 2019, a 6th and a 4th in 2022, and a bronze, a silver and an 11th in 2023. She was busy!
Sifan holds the world record for the Hour run, and she held the world record for the mile. Sifan currently holds European records for the 1,500 meters, mile, 3,000 meters, 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters, hour run, and Marathon!
And Sifan Hassan, who still has miles to go before she retires from this great sport, traces her running roots to cross-country!
Special Bonus
Interview with Eliud Kipchoge and Sifan Hassan, by NIKE’s Coach Bennett, November 5, 2025, NIKE House of Innovation, click here to read the story and see the interview:
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Nike Vomero 18 is an excellent entry shoe for the high school cross-country runner: fast, nimble, and a good mileage shoe. Your athletes can run in this one daily! Learn more at www.nikerunning.com
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From Issue #1: How did the NIKE Cross Nationals begin? Here’s a great story on the celebration of high school team cross-country! Read this story on Twenty Years of NIKE Cross, by Deji Ogeyingbo!
| For nearly two decades, the Nike Cross Nationals, or NXN, has been the stage where America’s most promising high school cross-country runners measure themselves against the very best. The event has grown into a national institution, drawing athletes from all corners of the United States to Portland, Oregon, where Glendoveer Golf Course becomes the proving ground for speed, strategy, and determination. |
#ForShoeGeeksOnly: What’s the Matumbo? Read on, curious readers
| The Matumbo story is classic NIKE. Bernard Lagat, 2007 World Champion at both the 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters, told Johnny Truax, a former NIKE shoe geek, this story about the “Matumbo”. NIKE PLM for Track & Field, Patrick Richie, with the encouragment of NIKE PLM for Track & Field and Road Racing, Natalie Kile, told #RunBlogRun this story that should go Viral! | Artwork for DragonFlyXC interview, art by Mike Deering/The Shoe Addicts | Jane Hedengren debuts at BYU in cross-country and sets CR at Pre NCAA Nationals | Jane Hedengren, photo by BYU |
Jane Hedengren won the NIKE Cross Nationals in 2024, going away! A bit of a surprise, Jane was just tempting fans with her cross-country prowess. In the spring of 2025, Jane set nine US high school records and was named the Gatorade Track and Field Athlete of the Year.
Jane announced that she was running at Brigham Young University. In her first race as a collegian, Jane Hedengren shook up the form charts, destroying the course record at the Gans Creek cross-country course in Missouri, the course that will host the 2025 NCAA Cross-Country Championships for Division 1. At Gans Creek, Jane set a new course record, running 18:42.30, passing 5k mark in 15:36!
In her second college cross country race, Jane Hedengren won the Big Twelve Cross-Country Championships, setting a course record of 18:29.6 for 6000 meters and leading the Brigham Young women to their third consecutive cross-country team title.
Go, Jane Hedengren!
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#ForShoeGeeksOnly, Do you need a great cross-country racing shoe? Here you go! Check out the NIKE DragonFly XC 3!
| Artwork for DragonFlyXC interview, art by Mike Deering/The Shoe Addicts | From the RunBlogRun ARCHIVES: The Finest of Cross Country Stories, From the Archives, The Story of Janet Bristol, The Roads Not Taken: The Untold Story of Janet Bristol, one of America’s most promising distance runners, a story by Rich Englehart with photos by Jeff Johnson | Janet Bristol, 1970 New England AAU Cross Country, photo by Jeff Johnson, used with permission | Faith Kipegon, photo by NIKE |
Faith Kipyegon just loves the NIKE Vomero Premium! Have you taken a run in the most cushioned shoe from NIKE?
Faith Kipyegon loves it. Connor Mantz loves it, what are you waiting for? Learn more at www.nikerunning.com
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A Quote from Steve Prefontaine, Week #5:
| Steve Prefontaine, photo by Nike Communications |
Steve Prefontaine led the Oregon Ducks to the NCAA Cross-Country Championships in 1973 and, before his death, owned the American records for the 2000m, 3,000m, 5,000m, and 10,000m, as well as the two miles, three miles, and six miles!
“Pre,” as his fans called him, had an unquenchable desire to challenge himself. Here is our quote for Week 5:
" A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways as they're capable of understanding." ~ Steve Prefontaine
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If you like the ride of the NIKE Pegasus 41, and the swift feel of the NIKE Pegasus PLUS, then, you will love the cushioned ride of the NIKE Pegasus Premium. A good long run shoe, easy day shoe, the NIKE Pegasus Premium is the third of three wonderful shoes in the NIKE Pegasus channel. To learn more, go to www.nikerunning.com.
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The NIKE Cross Nationals 2025-Has Your Team Signed up Yet? Just Do it!
The NIKE Cross Nationals are the ultimate cross-country event, celebrating the team spirit and great tradition of the sport. For more information, please go to: www.NIKECrossNationals.com
| The NIKE Cross Nationals 2025 | |
The NIKE Cross Nationals are the ultimate cross-country event, celebrating the team spirit and great tradition of the sport. For more information, please go to: www.NIKECrossNationals.com
The regional schedule and registration information for the 2025 NIKE NXN Regional series can be found at www.NIKECrossNationals.com.
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November 9, 2025
NXR Heartland Regional - Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
States include: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
November 14-15, 2025
NXR Northwest Regional - Spokane, Washington
States include: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming.
November 16, 2025
NXR Midwest Regional - Terre Haute, Indiana
States include: Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and Missouri.
November 22, 2025
NXR Southwest Regional - Mesa, Arizona
States include: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah.
NXR Southeast Regional - Cary, North Carolina
States include: Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia and District of Columbia.
NXR Northeast Regional - Wappingers Falls, New York
States include: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.
NXR New York Regional - Wappingers Falls, New York
State included: New York.
November 24, 2025
NXR South Regional - The Woodlands, Texas
States include: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and Mississippi.
Nike Cross Nationals Information
December 6, 2025
Nike Cross Nationals - Glendoveer Golf Course, Portland, Oregon.
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The NIKE XC newsletter: Back issues. Please share with your teams and friends!
Issue 4, October 31, 2025, NIKE XC Presents,
#TheJourneytoCompete, A cross-country newsletter, Issue 3, Eliud Kipchoge and Sifan Hassan, beginnings in cross-country, Cooper Lutkenhaus clip, Eliud and Sifan Interview,
https://runningnetwork.com/index.php/news/446-thejoussue4
Issue 3, October 24, 2025, NIKE XC presents, #TheJourneytoCompete, A cross-country newsletter, Issue 3, Conner Mantz Interview,
https://runningnetwork.com/index.php/features/444-thejourneytocompete-a-cross-country-newsletter-issue-3-october-24-2025
Issue 2, October 17, 2025, The NIKE XC Newsletter, #TheJourneytoCompete, Sinclaire Johnson Interview, AR holder Women’s Mile, http://www.runningnetwork.com/index.php/features/443-thejourneytocompete-a-cross-country-newsletter-issue-2-october-17-2025
Issue 1, October 10, 2025, The NIKE XC Newsletter, #TheJourneytoCompete, 20 Years of High School Cross-Country Excellence, the story of the NIKE Cross Nationals, :http://www.runningnetwork.com/index.php/news/440-nike-xc-newsletter-journey-to-compete-issue-1-october-10-2025
The #JourneytoCompete is a newsletter celebrating cross-country for high school athletes and providing weekly updates on the NIKE Cross Nationals and NIKE running shoes.
You have just read the NIKE XC newsletter, issue 5, #TheJourneytoCompete, a newsletter celebrating all things cross-country! Have suggestions on what to cover? Please email us at fortiusmedia@gmail.com with the subject NIKE XC!
For more information, please go to www.nikerunning.com
Photo Credits: NIKE Communications, Kevin Morris, Brian Eder and Jeff Johnson.
The #JourneytoCompete is a collaboration between NIKE Running and #RunBlogRun. To learn more about RunBlogRun, please go to www.runblogrun.com.
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