Midday Treat with HOKA NAZ Elite

HOKA NAZ Elite's Krissy Gear recaps her bronze medal finish at the 2023 USATF Indoor Track and Field Championships in the 1500 meters. The race also featured Nikki Hiltz and Sage Hurta-Klecker. Krissy describes her mindset going into the race, what it's like to race in a tactical 1500, and what she was thinking as the race heated up with 300 meters to go. Plus, she's got a great way for how to determine whether or not you had a good race, "Did I have my best day?"

HOKA NAZ Elite's Abby Nichols recaps her 4:29.09 mile victory at the 2023 BU Bruce Lehane Scarlet and White Invitational. The run was Abby's first time under 4:30 for the mile and it was a HOKA NAZ Elite Team Record. Hear about what the race was like mentally and physically, and what it means for Abby, moving forward.

Happy NCAA Cross Country week! In advance of the Championships, we hosted a Fantasy XC Draft and recorded it for this special edition of the Midday Treat with NAZ Elite Podcast hosted by Ben Rosario and featuring coach Jenna Wrieden, Krissy Gear, Olin Hacker and surprise guest Kyle Merber of Citius Mag. Enjoy!!

An awesome conversation between Futsum Zienasellassie and NAZ executive director Ben Rosario about Futsum re-signing with the team, his upbringing in Eritrea, moving to the U.S. at the age of 14, finding cross country after missing the date for soccer tryouts, his up and down career at NAU, and what he's looking forward to in the months ahead.

HOKA NAZ Elite rookie Abby Nichols talks about growing up in a family of musicians, switching from gymnastics and cheer to running track, becoming a state champion, choosing Ohio St, transferring to CU, the pressure of the NCAA Championships, moving to Flagstaff, her new teammates, and her goals for the next few months. (1:00) Intro to Abby's story (2:20) Talking the great state of Ohio and finding running (5:00) Growing up in a family of musicians (7:00) Abby's high school career (8:30)...

Olin Hacker takes us through his high school career in Wisconsin where he became a State Champion and finished second at both NXN and Foot Locker finals his senior year in cross country. Then he discusses his seven years at the University of Wisconsin that culminated in an NCAA Championship at 5,000 meters. Finally, he chats about his first month-and-a-half with HOKA NAZ Elite and his goals for 2023.

Ben Rosario and Jesse Williams of Sound Running talk for an hour and dig into where the sport of track and field and distance running is going...or could go. Jesse previews his next event, The Cross Champs, in Austin, TX. Then the two talk about the Sound Running Meets and what they could become in the future.

Alan Culpepper and Ben Rosario have an awesome chat about high school cross country training and racing with the championship season right around the corner. (1:00) Alan updates the fans on the NAZ Elite team. (5:36) What Alan thinks about the U.S. HS XC landscape and how teams are training--good and bad. (11:15) How to handle racing and where it fits in the training cycle. (14:28) Good aerobic workouts for HS athletes. (16:10) Preparing specifically for the State Meet course. (19:19) How to...

(1:00) Nick reveals his fall marathon choice (7:33) Nick talks about Alan Culpepper coming on as NAZ's new head coach (12:14) The NAZ rookies (16:35) Training with Matt Baxter (17:58) Nick's new level of fitness (19:40) What some of the NAZ athletes are really like (22:00) Learning from Steph Bruce's big win at the USATF 10k (25:55) Talking double workout days (33:55) Nick talks about the upcoming USATF 10 Mile Champs

HOKA NAZ Elite's Julia Griffey announces what marathon she'll be running in the fall of 2022, discusses her battle with Long Covid, tells us about playing college soccer and then joining the XC/Track teams as a fifth-year senior, running for fun after college and then getting more serious, winning the Twin Cities Marathon, finishing 10th at the Trials and getting engaged after the race, and she catches us up on her current training. Great episode! (1:35) Julia announces her fall marathon...

HOKA NAZ Elite's Ben Bruce talks about his trip to Chamonix, France to watch the 2022 UTMB race which featured a much-hyped battle between ultra stars Kilian Jornet and Jim Walmlsely, among others. Ben takes us through the entire week, what the vibe is like in Chamonix, and gives an incredible play by play of watching the race. Enjoy! (1:15) What is UTMB? (3:20) HOKA's role and why Ben went this year (5:40) UTMB week (7:50) What was the vibe like in Chamonix? (17:15) What's the buildup like...

A must-listen for all of you Kellyn Taylor fans. Kellyn shares the news that she's pregnant, reminisces about her career thus far, lists her three favorite marathons, discusses the foster care system (she and her husband Kyle have fostered 17 children in three years), and makes it very clear that she will indeed be back competing next year. Enjoy! (1:00) Kellyn is Pregnant! (4:40) Discussing fostering (7:40) First thoughts after finding out about the pregnancy (9:05) Gaining confidence from...

One of the newest members of HOKA NAZ Elite, Adriaan Wildschutt, chats with Ben Rosario about growing up in South Africa, following his brother Nadeel to Coastal Carolina University, running for former World Champion Zola (Budd) Pieterse, transferring to Florida State, racing Wesley Kiptoo, Conner Mantz, and Abdihamid Nur at NCAA Championships, competing at the World Championship and Commonwealth Games, and what he's looking forward to as a pro.

HOKA NAZ Elite's Alice Wright catches us up on the injuries and illnesses that caused her to miss two years of racing, how she came back from all of it to finish second at the 2022 Houston Marathon, and how her preparation is going in advance of this summer's European Championships.

HOKA NAZ Elite’s Ben Rosario talks with HOKA Festival of Miles Meet Director Tim Cornell about the history of FOM and what to expect from the 2022 edition. Tim discusses top athletes to look out for including high school superstars Natalie Cook and Gary Martin.

Ben Rosario talks with Tyler Day about what led to his Haglund's Deformity surgery in September of 2021, what the surgery entailed, how he's doing now, and what he's looking forward to the rest of this year.

Listen to the full press conference announcing two-time Olympian Alan Culpepper as the new Head Coach of HOKA NAZ Elite. NAZ Elite Executive Director, Ben Rosario, and HOKA Global Director of Sports Marketing, Mike McManus, spoke to reporters on Thursday, May 19, 2022 about the transition and about the future of the Team.

HOKA NAZ Elite Coaches Ben Rosario and Ben Bruce talk about Ben B's decision to run the 2022 Boston Marathon, and the Big Sur Marathon six days later! "The Bens" discuss how to prepare for both races, the importance of downhill preparation, recovery between events, and much more. They also talk about Ben's wife, Stephanie, and how she's approaching her final year as a pro runner. Show notes: (1:00) NAZ + Big Sur Partnership (2:00) Ben B explains the Boston 2 Big Sur Challenge (5:23) Ben B's...

HOKA NAZ Elite added NCAA Outdoor 5,000 runner-up Katie Wasserman to its roster in October of 2021. Katie joins Coach Ben Rosario for an intro podcast where she reveals that she didn't even run cross country in high school, she never ran a 5,000 on the track until grad school, and she never considered running professionally until the very end of her college career.

In the final episode of our Fall '21 Workout Wednesday series, Coach Ben Rosario give out some great tips on Marathon Race Weekend--from traveling on Friday, to relaxing on Saturday, to race morning...and of course for the race itself!!