Reality Over Hype: The Best & Worst of 2025 - Hocker, Brazier & Grand Slam Flop

🏃 Get your World XC shirts today Get your official World XC shirts before they're gone! Shop now at shop.letsrun.com It's the final LetsRun.com podcast of 2025 — our Year in Review episode! What a year it was: Americans breaking world records, Cole Hocker winning 5K gold at Worlds, the rise and fall of Grand Slam Track, Donovan Brazier's incredible comeback, and 16-year-old Cooper Lutkenhaus running 1:42 for 800 meters. We hand out our awards for Race of the Year, Flop of the Year, Runner of the Year, Coach of the Year, and Person of the Year. Plus: the wild stat about non-African born men sweeping distance golds at Worlds, Faith Kipyegon's controversial sub-4 attempt, Fred Kerley's fall from grace, Erriyon Knighton's ban, and Sebastian Sawe's remarkable anti-doping gesture. 🎽 World XC Shirts: Get yours before the deadline! Two designs available at shop.letsrun.com 🎉 World XC Party: Join us at Township in Tallahassee, Saturday January 10th at 3:00 PM after the races! Join the Supporters Club at LetsRun.com/subscribe Links: Discussion:What were your favorite moments of 2025? Discussion: Who were the biggest losers of 2025? World XC Shirts - shop.letsrun.com Dan Michalski feature article Shelby Houlihan pod Evan Jager pod Grand Slam Track bankruptcy thread Timestamps: 00:00 World XC Shirts Promo & Party Info 02:04 Intro: 2025 Year in Review 02:43 Jane Hedengren & US Teen Stars 03:19 Rojo's "Friday 15" Solo Pod 05:01 Robert's Complexity & Ethiopian Guest 06:19 Unbelievable Events of 2025: A List 08:30 Rise of Non-African Born Distance Runners 17:39 Donovan Brazier's Comeback 20:05 Shelby Houlihan's Return 23:45 Evan Jager & The "Likely Doping" List 25:41 Cole Hocker: US Distance GOAT? 32:60 Jakob Ingebrigtsen's Indoor Double Gold 37:10 Grand Slam Track: Flop of the Year 47:46 Indoor World Records: Nuguse & Fisher 48:33 Hobbs Kessler's Tough Year 53:52 Race of the Year: US 800m Final 59:08 American Records & US Runner of the Year Debate 1:04:37 Faith Kipyegon's Sub-4 Attempt Controversy 1:12:52 Fred Kerley's Fall from Grace 1:15:53 Erriyon Knighton's Ban 1:23:34 Sebastian Sawe's Anti-Doping Gesture 1:28:20 Performance & Coach of the Year Awards 1:32:09 Person of the Year: Donovan Brazier Contact us: Email [email protected] or call/text 1-844-LETSRUN podcast voicemail/text line. Spread the word to a friend. Find out more at http://podcast.letsrun.com Send us your feedback online: https://pinecast.com/feedback/letsrun/ea24f196-732f-4716-be6d-52dd121ee4f9