CRAIG ENGELS WAS RUNNING OUT OF CHANCES to meet the 2020 Olympic standard in the 1500 meters, and one of his best opportunities-the competitive Diamond League series final-was almost within reach. Engels sat one spot below the meet's qualification cutoff, and he had just one race left to move up: the Meeting de Paris. Many runners would have channeled the high stakes and ticking clock as extra motivation, and the cards were in Engels's favor. He was training in nearby St. Moritz, Switzerland-just a few train rides away from Paris-and he was in the best shape of his life. It seemed all he had to do to make the final and presumably hit the standard was show up.
But when the runners approached the Paris track, Engels was 4,000 miles away, trying on a suit to go with his trademark mullet and mustache. He had skipped the race to attend a friend's wedding in Nashville.
As Engels posed for photos with the other groomsmen, Uganda's Ronald Musagala crossed the Paris finish line, and Engels's chance at the Diamond League final seemingly disappeared. "Everyone around me was like, 'Dude, you're dumb," Engels says. But was he? The following month, he ran in the race anyway as an alternate after another athlete dropped out-torching his way to a 3:34.04 PR and beating the Olympic standard by almost a full second.
This story is from the Issue 03, 2022 edition of Runner's World.
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This story is from the Issue 03, 2022 edition of Runner's World.
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Already a subscriber? Sign In
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.
