Northern Arizona Elite U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials preview
This weekend, months of hard work will be decided over 26.2 miles as the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials take place in Orlando. Arizona will be well-represented in Saturday's races.
HOKA Northern Arizona Elite, a professional running team based in Flagstaff, has six athletes competing — four in the women’s race and two in the men’s race. The first race is the men, which starts at 8:10 a.m. MST. The women follow 10 minutes later. The competition will be streamed live on Peacock.
In the women’s race, Stephanie Bruce, Lauren Hagans, Kellyn Taylor and Aliphine Tuliamuk are running. In the men’s race, it will be Futsum Zienasellassie and Nick Hauger.
“The feeling’s great, it’s always exciting to be apart of the Trials,” NAZ Elite executive director Ben Rosario said. “It’s humbling. We’re grateful for the opportunity, and we’re excited about our chances.”
Hagans, Hauger and Zienasellassie arrived in Orlando 12 days ahead of the race and got an airbnb in Kissimmee, just south of the city, in order to get acclimated to the heat. Taylor and Tuliamuk arrived eight days early. Bruce, who is also a mother of three, was the last one to join, doing her heat acclimation at her home in Flagstaff. She used a treadmill that was inside of a hot yoga tent.
This time of year, the weather in Flagstaff and Orlando could not be more different. Flagstaff is projected to have a high of 33 degrees and a low of 17 on race day — Orlando 71 and 47.
“My understanding is that athletes have really enjoyed being down and really felt like it was the right thing to do for them,” Rosario said. “We did some level of acclimation before they went with the hot yoga dome and the humidifier, and the heater. We were getting that tent up to about 75, 80 degrees with 60% humidity. That was pretty good before they went down.
"Florida itself, you can’t get more specific than that. So they’ve done some workouts in 80-plus degrees. They’ve been sweating like crazy on their runs. I feel like they’re very prepared, and that’s what they feel like as well, which is the most important thing.”
The NAZ Elite group’s title sponsor, HOKA, has partnered with Citius Mag, an upstart publication that covers the sport of running and track and field that was founded and created by Chris Chavez, to create the Citius Cafe at the Olympic Marathon Trials. There, Citius is providing a “whole weekend of programming, live shows and a shakeout run.” HOKA is displying its newest technology as well.
It’s all part of building up the brand and creating a tight-knit community.
“I think on the front-end, it’s gone really well, setting everything up,” Rosario said about the Citius Mag parternship. “Now we gotta execute. But I expect it’s going to be very fun because they’re sort of the new kids on the block in terms of the running content creation space and they’re doing a wonderful job. I think their brand, and the way they do things, their tone, is very symbiotic with HOKA, its tone and what we like to do as a team. So it should be nothing but spectacular.”
Even though they’re over 2,000 miles from their homes in Flagstaff, the support has been strong for NAZ Elite.
On the night before the race, the team is holding a pep rally. Reservations are already filled, with 300 people expected to attend.
“It’s been amazing,” Rosario said. “Our sponsor, HOKA, has really crushed it this weekend. I just went for a run this morning with one of the guys from the marketing department, and he was showing me around. They have what they call a 'FlyLab,' where they’re going to be interacting with fans all weekend long, showing them the new racing shoes. They’ve rented out a walkway, branded it, and that’s for fans. They’ve got a big-screen TV where you can watch the race live outside. That’s what we’re all about, interacting with the fans and having fun at these big events.”
As for the race itself, NAZ Elite has a good chance of having at least one of its six athletes making the U.S. Olympic Team. To do so, runners must be in the top three and have run a qualifying standard, or be ranked in high enough in the official World Athletics global marathon rankings. This shouldn’t be a problem for the women as most of the top athletes have that standard, but only two men have it.
Tuliamuk is the defending champion, having won in 2020 when she ran 2:27:23 in Atlanta. She had a daughter following her win in 2021 but has resumed training and recorded a new personal best in the marathon since then.
Taylor and Bruce, who both recently gave birth as well, are back running and while they face an uphill battle, come with a wealth of racing experience. Hagans has recently switched from road racing to the marathon, but has proven capable with her 2:25 personal best.
Zienasellassie, the former NAU standout who helped jumpstart the school’s dynasty in cross country back in 2016, is back with the group after a brief period away. He’s a contender to grab one of those three spots.
“We would certainly like to win again, but it’s hard to do,” Rosario said. “We’re just going to do our best. But last time, our best was good enough for a victory.”
Other Arizona runners to watch
— Emily Sisson (Flagstaff/Phoenix) is a favorite to win the women’s race. Sisson, who trains and runs professionally for New Balance, is the American record holder in the marathon and has split her time living in the two cities.
—Molly Seidel (Flagstaff) finished second to Tuliamuk at the 2020 Marathon Trials. Update: on Thursday morning, Seidel announced she was withdrawing from the race due to a knee injury.
—Sara Hall (Flagstaff) has run the fourth-fastest time in U.S. history for the marathon. She’s the mother of Mia Hall, who recently won four Arizona Interscholastic Association state championships in cross country and track field at Flagstaff High School and is now competing at North Carolina State.
—Molly Huddle (Scottsdale) used to hold numerous American records on the track and in the half-marathon and is one of the most famous distance runners ever.
—Brian Shrader (former NAU runner) is competing in the men’s race. Shrader lives in Boston now and is an assistant coach at Harvard, but has deep ties to Arizona. Schrader attended Sinagua High School in Flagstaff and won 10 state titles in cross country and track and field before becoming an All-American at NAU.
—Biya Simbassa (Flagstaff) was the USATF 7-mile champion in 2023.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Northern Arizona Elite U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials preview
