One of the greatest distance runners in American history has retired: four-time Olympian and 2017 New York City Marathon champion Shalane Flanagan announced on Monday that her incredible professional running career is over after 15 years.

This past weekend of NCAA cross country gave us a much clearer picture of how the rest of the 2019 campaign will unfold. With the Nuttycombe and Pre-National Invitationals bringing together the best squads across the country, team title favorites strengthened their cases while top individuals emerged from the crowded pack to position themselves at the front heading into the postseason.

We outlined the big questions for the women’s race this Saturday in Terre Haute; now here’s what to watch for in the men’s race. 

Less than 24 hours after the Nuttycombe Invitational, the second big NCAA cross country meet of the weekend gets going in Terre Haute. The Pre Nationals meet at the site of this year’s NCAA Championships features four of the top seven women’s teams in the nation. Here are three big questions that will be answered in the race: 

Searching for that perfect post-long-run-and-chill content? 

The women’s race at Friday’s Nuttycombe Invitational in Madison functions as a preview for November’s NCAA Championships. Yes, some top teams and individuals will compete the next day at the Pre Nationals meet in Terre Haute, but the fields in Wisconsin will be stacked. Three of the top four teams in the nation are set to race (and six of the 10, and eight of the top 12). 

Last month, the NAU men’s team began their season as expected. The winners of the last three NCAA titles went to Terre Haute for the John McNichols Invitational, held out two of their best runners and still beat second-ranked Stanford by a comfortable margin. 

Jason and Kevin discuss Eliud Kipchoge fulfilling his sub-two-hour goal, Brigid Kosgei’s smashing the world record in the women’s marathon, the Nike Oregon Project disbanding and much more.

With searing heat combined with high humidity expected for Tokyo next August, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced today that they planned to move the Olympic Marathons and race walking events to Sapporo, more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) north of Tokyo on the island of Hokkaido. 

All attention in Division II cross country over the weekend was in Romeoville, Illinois, as the Lewis Conference Crossover went down on Saturday. Despite the meet featuring none of the mighty Colorado heavyweights-- Adams State, Colorado Mines or Western Colorado-- the race still had plenty of podium implications and individual title contenders.