Going Long: An Interview with Nick Willis

Tracksmith recently announced the launch of the Varsity Club, an NIL program designed to support a small number of top-level college track & field and cross country athletes by providing them a gear stipend, mentorship, and the opportunity to travel to Europe for training and competition in summer of 2024. The program caught my attention for a few reasons: one, it's Tracksmith's first foray into the NIL space; two, it's an application-based initiative, differentiating it from other NIL deals brands are making with athletes; and three, it's headed up by Nick Willis, who was a seven-time All-American at the University of Michigan and understands the landscape of collegiate track & field as well as anyone. Anyway, I had a lot of questions, which Nick was generous enough to answer for me.

Chasing Beautiful Dreams at The Millrose Games

The Millrose Games were on Saturday in New York City. I didn’t watch the event live because I was racing myself but I enjoyed this post-race show called After The Final Lap with Chris Chavez and Kyle Merber of Citius Mag and special guest host, 2016 Olympic 1500m gold medalist Matthew Centrowitz. It’s unscripted, insightful, and pretty entertaining on the whole. I mean, it’s worth it alone to watch men’s Wanamaker Mile champion Ollie Hoare trying to chug beer out of the winner's trophy on a live broadcast.