FEBRUARY 18, 2023. Albuquerque, New Mexico. Nikki Hiltz is on the starting line of the women's 1500m at the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships, struggling to concentrate.
Hiltz is under a lot of pressure, most of it self-inflicted. They'd shown up to the meet toggling between two states of mind: really wanting to win, and wondering why they were even there.
Still frustrated after a seventh-place finish at the Millrose Games the week before, despite a solid pace-4:24.68-Hiltz is trying to forget about last week and get their head in the game.
Don't focus on what the number on the clock will read when you cross the finish line, just race.
The group goes out slowly, which means that the last couple of laps will be fast. Hiltz closes the final 400m in 58.86.
Approaching the last lap, Hiltz moves up onto the high side of the bank to close the gap to Sage Hurta-Klecker, who leads by several strides.
The two runners enter the final stretch, stride-for-stride, until the very last moment, when Hiltz hurtles forward-a signature Nikki Hiltz kick.
With a time of 4:17.10, Hiltz wins the women's 1500m and becomes the first openly non-binary athlete to earn a USA Track & Field national title. They break the tape with a giant, cheesy smile.
"I'm the first, I hope, of many in the generations to come," Hiltz later tells me.
"DID YOU SEE the moon last night?" Hiltz asks me. It's the morning after the full moon in Gemini during Sagittarius season, and Hiltz left a glass of water outside to charge under the moon (a common astrological practice to harness the connection between the moon and the tides). Hiltz's moon and rising signs are Gemini, known for duality and quick thinking.
Denne historien er fra Issue 04, 2023 (Fall)-utgaven av Runner's World US.
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Denne historien er fra Issue 04, 2023 (Fall)-utgaven av Runner's World US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
TO RUN 26.2 IS TO FEEL ALIVE
THE SUN IS rising from the east, and the waves of the Pacific crash below to the west.
LEAVE IT UP TO A PIECE OF PAPER TO TEACH YOU TO RUN EASY
BEFORE I FELL for running, I thought the hardest thing about the sport was the fast stuff: the speedwork, the sprints, and the intervals.
WHY-AND HOW-YOU SHOULD RUN DOUBLES
Those are just a few of the titles entered into my training log for the second run of a day.
FIND YOUR RUNNING COMMUNITY, ONLINE OR IN PERSON
I SIGNED UP for my first marathon while sobbing in the back of a rideshare, on my way to the airport to fly to my uncle's funeral.
FUEL WITH WHAT YOU WANT TO EAT
AS AN ULTRARUNNER, I'm all too familiar with the saying that long-distance running is an \"eating contest with a running component.\"
AT THE FERTILITY CLINIC, MY PAST CAUGHT UP WITH ME
I SAT IN the fertility doctor's office white walls, bare wooden desk, opaque window-alone.
THIS IS NOT AN ESCAPE STORY
AT 15, DARLENE STUBBS WALKED AWAY FROM A POLYGAMOUS CULT-THEN DISCOVERED A NEW LIFE AND COMMUNITY THROUGH RUNNING.
RUNNING WITH HANK
How my daughter's rambunctious mutt saved my sanity while she was lost to the darkness.
WHEN I FOUND OUT I HAD MS.I THOUGHT I'D NEVER RUN AGAIN.
I checked the pins on my bib, shimmied my spandex shorts into place, and teed up the stopwatch on my wrist.
A RUNNER'S GUIDE to sleep
Nike rocked the running world in 2018 when it released the Vaporfly 4%, claiming that the shoe could boost a runner's efficiency by that amount.
