This week was one of endings and beginnings. And no, I’m not just talking about the months. We’ve officially entered that transition period of the indoor season where the deadline for World Indoor qualifying times is just 4 days away and the championships themselves aren’t far off either. Some will be driven by desperation and others determination, but either way the focus is now on racing. The first two months of 2026 were so saturated with fast times that a few did drip into this week, but for the most part, that’s it. This part of the season is all about climbing up the leaderboard, not the all-time list. Fast times make for a good first impression, but a win is what makes it a lasting one.
1. Sam Ruthe- a distance clean sweep
By this point the words Sam Ruthe and record are one and the same. He’s had it out for his personal bests this indoor season. One by one they’ve fallen, and in such dramatic fashion that they managed to take down an incredible number of records with them. So with all this talk you’d be surprised to know that there was still one thing missing from his portfolio. Until this week of course.
Racing on Monday at the same track which saw him run two world U18 bests in the mile and 1500m, Sam Ruthe took aim at the 3000m. And, as he usually does, he scored. It might not have been a win but that second place was more than enough to send him through in a time 10 seconds faster than the previous New Zealand U20 record of 7:54.30. That record now stands at 7:43.16. If you’re curious about what the other New Zealand U20 distance records are, all you have to do is take a look at Sam Ruthe’s World Athletics profile. Because they’re all there. From the 800m to the 5000m. And of the 5, 4 were set this year. That was the missing piece, and it took him less than two months to find it.
2. The great pacemaker debate
Keely Hodgkinson is well and truly on the hunt. Her prey? Jarmila Kratichvilova’s 1:53.28 from 1983. A time she’s been stalking, circling, for these past few years, but it wasn’t until she ran 1:54.87 indoors last week that we knew the trap was set. Only this week, talk was more of her actions off the track, than on it. With no 800m race booked, she decided to light up the internet instead.
It all started with a simple Twitter poll. ‘Should male pacers be allowed to pace female races? Thoughts?’ Many. Who would have thought that with all the super shoe, wave light, no real competition debates surrounding modern world records we’d have another caveat to add to the list. Male pacemakers in female races. It’s not a new concept. Last year in her Breaking4 event, Faith Kipyegon had 11 men assisting her, but the time wasn’t valid. According to the World Athletics rules the presence of male pacemakers constitutes a mixed-gender race, one in which any time would be unofficial. Pacemakers, while not competition, should resemble competition, and that’s where things stand as of now.
Where is this coming from?
There are many different ways to tackle this debate, but let’s start by pulling it out by the roots. Why is Keely Hodgkinson asking this question? When Jarmila Kratochvilova broke the 800m world record 43 years ago, her splits were 56.82 for the first 400m and 56.46 for the second. If Keely wants to go faster, she’ll need a 56 second first 400m and to go through 600m in either 1:25 or high 1:24s. The interesting question, given the 1:56.33 she ran solo 2 weeks ago, would be can she do this herself. The relevant one though, is if a female pacemaker can do it.
Excluding Keely Hodgkinson, 17 women have a 600m personal best of 1:25.06 or lower. Of those 17, 12 were run within the past 10 years. 10 are located in the range of 1:24.19 – 1:25.06. The exact range Keely Hodgkinson would need for world record pacing. So you can see why she’s asking the question. There are women capable, but the margins are tight. Competitors are meant to be the ones chasing PBs, not pacemakers.
Which brings me to my next question: what difference does it make? Set aside the gender debate of whether men would be taking the jobs of women and ask yourself this. If the same pace is set either way, does it matter who sets it? Is there a difference between following a male pacemaker through 400m in 56 seconds, and a female pacemaker through 400m in 56 seconds? Not in times, no. But that’s not what this conversation is about. It’s a wider one. One that has to do with time trials and pacemakers in general.
Racing vs pacing
In what was eerily good timing, in a video posted by USATF the day before, Wanamaker Mile champion Nikki Hiltz declared their dislike for not only wave light technology but pacemakers themselves, calling for the return of racing in its purest form. After all, the relationship between racing and times is often misconstrued: they’re different skills, but they’re not mutually exclusive. There are no pacemakers or wave lights at the Olympics. Or the World Championships, and yet last year’s 800m final saw 3 women run under 1:55 in the same race for the first time ever in history. And it was racing alone that made it happen. Not wave lights, not pacemakers. So we can have both, the problem is it’s just not guaranteed. You can’t rely on racing to get you a world record, but you can rely on pacing.
The fact that 2026 is a so-called ‘off year’ has only highlighted this further. Now is the time to chase those records. This indoor season has been one of time trials disguised as races, or if unsuccessful, races disguised as time trials. I have no problem with chasing times. It may be less exciting for the viewer, but it’s not for the athlete. It’s their chance to self-indulge, to fully test their limits. It’s a privilege to have access to that kind of technology. But it’s a separate thing. One that we need to learn to appreciate in its own right, not as something that operates in the shadow of racing.
Fast times don’t require explanation
To run the fastest 800m ever, even when that’s with the assistance of wave lights and/or pacemakers, is a huge achievement. To win the 800m at a major championship is also a huge achievement. And if you can do both, even better. Keely Hodgkinson herself has. But one shouldn’t impact the other. The fastest time run with pacemakers, the fastest time run without, those are two different scenarios. We don’t see this discussion in the marathon of which is more impressive, the women-only record or the mixed race one. Like for like comparison has to do with similarity, not personal taste. And when it comes to this topic, we could all use the reminder.
3. National Championship Weekend- shocks, surprises and ones to watch this indoor season
National Championships have that annoying habit of knowing exactly how to catch you not just at your best, but also your worst. And I’m not only talking about athletes. Because this weekend they found a new target: the national federations themselves.
Which brings me to my first point of discussion from this round of National Indoor Championships: the shocks. And the biggest, and most resounding one, came from the USA. Normally when a result is unexpected it’s because an athlete underperformed, or was out-performed by someone else entirely. Not when the performance was exactly right. In the case of the US half marathon trials, everything was going perfectly for Jess McClain. With less than 2 miles to go she was out in the lead and on her way to a national title, until suddenly, she wasn’t. Because that national title was, quite literally, in the other direction.
The lead bike had veered her, Emma Grace Hurley and Ednah Kurgat off course, a detour which cost them all a podium finish. Molly Born, who spent most of the race a minute behind them but ended up crossing the line in first, was rewarded not so much for running the best race, but for having the best navigation skills. With World Road Running Championship qualification also on the line protests were filed, but almost just as quickly denied. Molly Born’s national title, unlike the lead bike, is not changing course.
Cole Hocker remains undefeated (almost)
In other, and this time generally unsurprising news, Cole Hocker took the US indoor 3000m national title, unleashing his signature kick in the final stages to just edge out Yared Nuguse and Nico Young in 2nd and 3rd. Although things didn’t go quite so well for either Hocker or Nuguse the next day in the 1500m, because that first and second was traded for a fourth and fifth and no spot on the team whatsoever. The surprise winner was Nathan Green who out-kicked them to a new PB and likely left Hocker wishing he hadn’t used his all up in the 3000m the day before.
Ones to watch this indoor season
Now let’s talk ones to watch. After all, the whole point of National Championship weekend is to select teams for World Indoors. So who impressed the most? Nikki Hiltz, earning their 7th US 1500m title in a row is a definite candidate, especially because this season, they don’t seem to know how to do anything but win. Which, considering we’re heading into a championship where the goal is to do exactly that, is the ideal scenario.
At the other end of the distance spectrum in the 60m, Jamaica’s national championships rang out like a warning shot. Tokyo 100m silver medallist Kishane Thompson sprinted straight to 3rd on this year’s rankings with 6.46, closely followed by Bryan Levell in 6.47 and Ackeem Blake with 6.48. Jamaica didn’t win any 60m medals last year, but then they didn’t have this strong a team. And a finish that tight can only mean one thing: a clean sweep might just be in the cards.
4. Keely Hodgkinson- a 400m speed test
Just over a week after her world record-breaking performance in Liévin, Keely Hodgkinson was back on the track. Only this time, she was taking a step down to the 400m. A distance which, a lot like the indoor 800m, was long overdue a revisit, with her personal best of 52.42 dating back to 2022. And it wasn’t just revisited, it was entirely rewritten.
Running 51.49 on the same Glasgow track from the 2024 World Indoor Championships, Keely Hodgkinson took almost a second off her previous time for the win. In fact, not only did she run faster than her indoor personal best but also her outdoor one, which stands at 51.61 from 2024. She’s now moved up to 8th on the UK all-time list for the indoor 400m.
What we already suspected after last week’s 1:54.87 has now been confirmed: Keely Hodgkinson has some serious speed to play with. And its next outing, is the World Indoors.
5. Georgia Hunter Bell and the indoor 800m- a long time coming
When you look at Georgia Hunter Bell’s 800m resume, which includes the likes of a silver medal at the Tokyo World Championships, you’d probably be surprised not to find any indoor races on there. It’s not a mistake. It’s not that she’s in any way incapable. She just simply hasn’t raced the 800m indoors in 11 years. Her personal best was due even more of an update than Keely Hodgkinson’s 400m one. At 2:07.12 from 2015 going faster was a given. The question we were asking was just how high on the all-time list could she land.
The answer, was a giant leap all the way from 1989th to 15th. 3rd, in the UK. The 1:57 club has been a popular one to join this indoor season, and Georgia Hunter Bell has just become its newest member. A solo effort practically the entire way, she ran 1:57.80 to shatter her previous best by nearly 10 seconds. An achievement unheard of in the 800m, but then again an 11 year gap would have that effect.
This week Georgia Hunter Bell’s 1500m bronze medal from last year’s World Indoor Championships got upgraded to silver after Diribe Welteji was banned for a missed drugs test. On Sunday, she proved that she is more than capable of making that upgrade herself, on her own terms, at the 2026 edition.
The season’s only just beginning
February is over, and March has started. The World Indoor Championships are in three weeks and that can only mean one thing. It’s time to say goodbye to the end, of the beginning, of the indoor season.
Written by- Rosana Ercilla
