by Larry Eder
#CoffeewithLarry, Episode 819, November 24, 2025, it was a Cross-Country Weekend
This is my daily chat with #RunBlogRun viewers and track fans on all things track & field!
Our topics:
1. Furnished Quarters, specialists in stays of a month or more, sponsored RunBlogRun’s visit to the NYC Marathon. We had a great time. Learn more about them at www.furnishedquarters.com
2. #RunBlogRun visited Mesa, Arizona for the #NXR Southwest cross country regional over the weekend. 3,500 runners, and the morning of inspired running reminded me of the power of cross country!
3. I wrote this piece after watching the NXR Southwest. Let me know what you think: Cross Country Changes Lives, https://www.runblogrun.com/…/cross-country-changes…
4. Congrats to Jackson Spencer, who won the Boys Champs 5k in 14:31.1, and Lily Alder won the Girls Champs 5k in 16:36.1, and all 3,498 other runners who made the NXR Southwest spectacular.
5. Special thanks to the NIKE club #SwooshTC members, who answered a question from me and were quite gracious. Finally, I was able to meet Woody Kincaid, what a straightforward guy! We spoke about meeting Frank Shorter!
6. Special thanks to Liam Murphy, Parker Wolfe, Ethan Strand, Drew Bosley, Maggie Condon, Yusuf Bizimani, Elise Stearns, Abdi Nur, plus visiting athlete Mo Ahmed for their tips and just taking the time to support the 3,500 high schoolers, who totally dug them on Friday and Saturday. NIKE sure got their sponsorship value in Mesa, as I watched one young athlete thank a NIKE Swoosh athlete for slapping their hand prior to the race! She said it inspired her!
6. Verily Storyworks is working on a program on #JimThorpe, a three year series, learn more at www.verilystoryworks.com and www.Republic.com on how you can help restore the legacy of Jim Thorpe!
7. Congrats to OK state and NC State for winning Men’s and Women’s Div 1 NCAA Xc titles!
8. Congrats to Habtom Samuel, who won Men’s NCAA after two straight second places and Doris Lemgole, who won for the second straight time.
7. Jane Hedengren took second in the women’s race and Rocky
Hanson was second in the men’s race. Both were the first Americans.
8. Controversy on the men’s side, as some top athletes cut the course in several places, not only was it pretty blatant, it was just, well, unsportsmanlike.
9. Nice interview last week of Waeleed Suliman of #BrooksBeastsTC. It will appear in the #BrooksRunGuide, our collab with Brooks Running with tips on how to be a better runner and better coach. Learn more about NIKE at www.nikerunning.com
10. The NXR regional is eight down, one more to go!
11. The NXN is on December 6, 2026, in Portland, Oregon.
12. Brooks is sponsoring the Brooks XC by Fleet Feet Sports, which has qualifying for Midwest, East and South on 11/29 and West on 12/6. Brooks XC Nationals is December 13, 2025. Learn more at https://www.soundrunning.run/brooksxc…
See you tomorrow at #CoffeewithLarry !
