Almost a month after finishing eighth in the 5,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, Josette Norris raced on the track again—and she ran like she had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
On Sunday, July 18, the Reebok Boston Track Club runner positioned herself within striking distance of the leaders during the early stages of the women’s 1500 meters at the Sound Running Sunset Tour in Mission Viejo, California. When she approached the bell lap and saw the clock, she remembered her coach Chris Fox’s pre-race instruction: “If you see 2:58 with a lap to go, go for [sub-4 minutes].”
So Norris put her head down and did exactly that.
Heading into the final 200 meters of the race, Norris passed race leader Jessica Hull and switched gears, running a closing pace (60.9 seconds for the last lap) Hull could not match. As she crossed the finish line, Norris’s huge smile said it all. Her winning time of 3:59.72—which puts her at No. 9 on the U.S. all-time performer list, and is nearly a seven-second improvement on her previous best—was the affirmation she wanted after Trials.
“I needed this coming off the Trials,” Norris, 25, told Runner’s World at the Trabuco Hills High School track. “This shows me that everything is in the right direction. I’m ecstatic!”
After her victory, Norris shared how she returned from the setback faster than ever by trusting her training, focusing on long-term goals, and listening to the advice of her fiancé, Olympian Robby Andrews—who congratulated Norris with a hug at the finish line.
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Using time wisely
The COVID-adjusted season was a pivotal time for Norris, whose goal one year ago was to simply make the 5,000-meter final of the Olympic Trials. After navigating several injuries during her college career at the University of North Carolina and Georgetown—including rolling her ankle and getting attacked by a dog that led to compensation issues and a stress reaction in her femur—Norris finally hit her stride during her fifth year with a fourth-place finish in the 5,000 meters at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Less than a year after signing her first pro contract with Reebok, the pandemic hit and caused most major sports events—including the Tokyo Games—to be postponed. The delay proved beneficial for the Charlottesville, Virginia-based runner, who seized the opportunity to build more strength so she could handle the rigors of pro-level training.
“When I saw that the Olympics were postponed and the Trials weren’t happening, I just felt like I could take a deep breath and know that it’s okay, I have more time,” Norris told Runner’s World in June. “I felt all this pressure going into my first year as a professional in an Olympic year. I wasn’t even qualified for the Trials … The extra time has been huge for me.”
Norris showed the rewards of that hard training in a breakthrough performance at the Sound Running Track Meet in Irvine, California, last May. She finished second in the 5,000 meters with a time of 14:51, a 28-second improvement on her personal best. That time shattered the 15:10 Tokyo Olympic standard, put her at No. 10 on the U.S. all-time performer list, and launched Norris as the national leader heading into the Olympic Trials.
Trusting the training
But a podium finish at the championship in Eugene, Oregon, was not meant to be this year. Three days after winning her 5,000-meter semifinal heat in 15:32 on June 18, Norris faded to eighth in the final with a time of 15:48. Elise Cranny won the race in 15:27 ahead of Bowerman teammate Karissa Schweizer (15:28) and third-place finisher Rachel Schneider (15:29), who will all represent Team USA in Tokyo this summer.
“[The trials final] was really tough,” Norris said. “This whole season, I feel like I’ve been trying to catch up mentally with what I’ve been putting out. And then I was being talked about making the Olympic team. Six months ago, I wasn’t even qualified for the Trials, so a lot has happened in the last six months. I think it kind of all hit me in that moment of the Olympic Trials final. I think that a lack of experience got the best of me there.”
In the month since the race, Norris said she leaned into her progress in workouts, trusting her fitness to carry her into the remainder of the track season. “I knew I was in shape to do something big,” she said.
Getting the most out of the opportunities ahead
Norris shifted her focus to achieving the next goal: hitting the 2022 IAAF World Championship standards of 15:10 for 5,000 meters and 4:04.20 for 1500 meters, starting with the first of two back-to-back Sunset Tour meets on July 18 in Mission Viejo and July 25 in Azusa, California.
“The goal was to come out to these races and get two world [championship] qualifier standards and two wins,” she said. “So I’m going to try to run that 15:10 and win next week, and keep racing until my legs don’t have anything left for the season.”
Norris also recalled the advice Andrews shared that has helped her thrive as an up-and-coming professional runner. He wanted her to avoid the mistake of “making the moment so big.” For example, instead of racing an entire 1500 meters, he suggested she focus on racing the last 500 meters of the distance. “[Robby] makes things a lot smaller, so it’s not overwhelming in the moment,” she said.
After she finished the race in a new personal best on Sunday, Andrews—a fellow New Jersey track star who competed in the men’s 800 meters earlier that night—could barely contain his excitement for his fiancé and the progress she has made.
“The confidence that she runs with and the ferocity that she runs with is just so inspiring to me,” Andrews told Runner’s World. “Coming from when I first met her, she was more or less a broken college runner who kind of fell out of love with the sport. She had so much success in high school, and then she got through the NCAA ringer, and to see her pull herself up and be where she wants to be, I don't know if she thought she was going to run 3:59 tonight. Oh my God. It's just incredible, and I'm so happy for her. To bounce back after a disappointing trials is just a testament to who she is and how much he loves the sport.”
To celebrate her victory, Norris said she was going to grab a burger and milkshake from In-N-Out and enjoy a date night with Andrews in Laguna Beach the following day. She is also looking ahead to her next goal: completing the rare triple of running sub-15 minutes for 5,000, sub-4 minutes for 1500, and sub-2 minutes for 800 meters.
Based on her workouts last week, Norris believes the last event is within her reach. “Now I have to find an 800!” she said.
Taylor Dutch is a writer and editor living in Austin, Texas, and a former NCAA track athlete who specializes in fitness, wellness, and endurance sports coverage. Her work has appeared in Runner’s World, SELF, Bicycling, Outside, and Podium Runner.
