Craig Engels, “I love pure racing and seeing who the best racer is.”
by Jeff Benjamin
Craig Engels has been at the Elite level now since 2017 & is 31! In 2019 he won the USATF indoor mile at Ocean Breeze and is returning to compete in the 3000!
1) How’s your training coming along?
Craig Engels: “Training is going great! Really balancing living life with hard training. I recently moved to flagstaff and started training with the Nike Swoosh team. Double threshold is new for me but has actually been kinda fun.”
Craig Engels, 2025 Ed Murphy Classic, photo by Kevin Morris
2. I’d think after indoor season this is an outdoor track year to pursue records and personal bests – do you agree?
Craig Engels: “I actually hate going after records. You’re chasing something fleeting and temporary. I love pure racing and seeing who the best racer is.”
Craig Engels, 2025 Ed Murphy Classic, photo by Kevin Morris
3. As a visitor here How do you like the Ocean Breeze facility?
Craig Engels: “This will be my first time returning since winning my first USA title! I’m stoked to be back.”
Craig Engels, photo by Jeff Benjamin
4. With all the changes in the sport throughout more than a decade of you competing – super shoes, nutrition, bi-carb – how do you still stay sharp & motivated?
Craig Engels: “I just keep the sport fun. I don’t make it my identity. I’m sure in 10 more years there will be a new training method of quadruple threshold every 6 hours and sleeping between. Technology and information will continue changing but in the end I just love competing.”
Donavan Brazier and Craig Engels, USATF Outdoor Track & Field Championships Eugene, Oregon, USA July 31 – August 3, 2025, photo by Kevin Morris
Senior Writer Jeff Benjamin has written for almost 40 years for RunBlogRun! The Former President of the Staten Island AC & was the 5th man scorer for his 1982 Susan Wagner High School NYC XC City Championship team. Also a member of the College of Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame for XC, Jeff is also a retired NYC DOE history teacher. Some of Jeff's subjects have included Sebastian Coe, Eamonn Coghlan, Matt Centrowitz, Billy Mills, Joe Newton, Tom Fleming, Bill Rodgers, Abel Kiviat, Frank Shorter, Rod Dixon and Carl Lewis as well as Book Reviews and articles covering track meets and races primarily in the Northeast U.S. and beyond.
Jeff has also covered Track & Field events at the 1996, 2016 & 2024 Olympic Games as well as the 2022 World T&F Championships in Eugene, Oregon. A noted T&F historian and chronicler of the athletic achievements of Jim Thorpe, Jeff helped with the restoration of Thorpe to the official IOC 1912 Record Books.
In 2023 Jeff was honored with the awarded the prestigious James Dunaway memorial award for excellence in Track and Field journalism by the Track and Field Writers Association.
