The Berkshires Seem Dreamlike on Account of that Frosting

Photo by Howard Lao

January 30, 2026

The Berkshires Seem Dreamlike on Account of that Frosting

Words Jeff Merrill

Thanks to the lords of the skies, and more specifically, the ones who control a certain Atlanta-based airline, I have found myself with a delta of 8 extra hours between my current location of SLC and my beloved home of PDX. Enough time to jot down some notes about the opening weekend of track season.

Cole Hocker and Cooper Teare ran 4:52 and 4:54 in Blacksburg to kick off the action with Hocker’s time registering as a new American Record! The very next morning, while the snow and ice swirled around much of the United States, the stars popped off in Boston and New York. A World Record in the 2k eclipsed by both Hobbs Kessler and Grant Fisher (4:48.79 and 4:49.48). A World Record 800m run by Josh Hoey in the 800m (1:42.50). 1:45.23 by the high school junior, Cooper Lutkenhaus in a win at the Armory. A triumphant return to racing from Elle St. Pierre to win the 3,000m in Boston in 8:26 and a 7:27 3,000m win and National Record by young Aussie miling sensation, Cam Myers. There was no shortage of excellent marks in the leaders’ wake.

In the ever-changing landscape of the sport, we don’t entirely know what times mean exactly, at least I don’t. The training, execution, support, tools and overall structure around elite contenders is getting more fine-tuned. Hobbs said after his race, that he’s doing the same training as last year (highly scientific and scrutinized), “except tighter.” Stacking bricks, learning more about each brick, shaving the edges to fit more neatly, one up against the other with the right kind of mortar to make them stick. The off-season more than ever seems to place us as an audience in a sort of purgatory, waiting to see how all of these variables have affected the racers preparing to take the track. We’ve got some starting points to chew on now and can start to visualize what the game might look like this year. Last year is ancient history, and this year, a postmodern circus of speed. I, like the elite ball-knowing gate-keepers of the 20th century, am genuinely concerned that someone’s organs will explode on the track if we continue to race at evermore scintillating speeds- spreading a feast out on the track akin to what I imagine airline executives dine on in the most exclusive terminal lounges.

A few years back, I wondered how the advancements in nutrition, training, race prep and technology that affected cycling would find their way to running, if they would, and in what form?

During the 2020 Tour De France, Primož Roglič held a small lead over Tadej Pogačar heading into Stage 20. During that stage, Pogačar blew the doors off of his rival and the rest of the field as he time trialed up the steep slope to La Planche des Belles Filles. He swapped bikes mid stage to power a steed more suitable to the gradient, and dialed fueling so precisely that he took what he needed at specific instants, knowing when the effects of the fuel would kick in at crucial points of the ride. His plan was carefully and strategically mapped over the course and he obliterated his rivals, beating Roglic, looking out of sorts in an ill-fitting time trial helmet by 1:56 and the next fastest rider to him by 1:21 in a stage that took him only 55 minutes to complete.

Running is a different beast than cycling, where a person’s body (in addition to ‘the shoes’) is the entire locomotive machine, where in cycling, a person is the engine, a single component albeit a large one nestled into the cogs, chains and wheels of a bike…. but when great leaps were being made in cycling, it seemed a harbinger for a similar tightening of the screws and a resultant advancement in running. And now, in the year of our flight lords 2026 (6 hours remain until boarding), we have long-standing world records being broken in the first weekend of ‘meaningful’ competition.

It has been said that the NB track is not as fast as The Armory. That’s not for me to decide, but it is a nugget of information to take with you into the glitziest weekend indoors. The Millrose Games is the pinnacle of the indoor season even as other meets exist around it and can sometimes approach similar levels of talent, and even as there exists a World Indoor Championship. My brain can be convinced otherwise, but my beating heart, the heart of a fan, cannot.

I say this after coming to the enlightened perspective through soul-searching and meditation that it’s ok that there are time trials in this world. In fact, I even appreciate them and what they bring to the structure of a season, so long as there are meets of meaning punctuating the season at a satisfactory cadence. I don’t know what that cadence is, and it’s kind of nice that the structure is fluid and organic, changing from year to year. Track lord, take the wheel.  I’m a passenger on this spaceship orbiting around the sun, and don’t need to control everything. I can take a deep breath, sit back and see what unfolds. That’s been my journey and my growth and I thank you for allowing me to change and evolve. From my new state of being as water, I see 3 general types of meets that exist, my friend:

• There are meets that exist solely for the purpose of targeting a time. Either a standard or record.
• Meets that exist as a means to settle a score. Championship racing. End of season. A stamp, finale, a dust up to claim the ultimate prize and settle THE ARGUMENT once and for all! at least for a time- for the season.
• And finally, a middle-ground: a meet that exists midseason, where times can be the goal but top athletes line up against each other rather than with each other. Catch my drift? There is both pursuit of time as well as a trophy of cultural significance. The Millrose Games is the best example of this type of meet, one that is culturally significant, has history, is an ‘Event’ that you’d like to go to and be seen attending- loosely tying your best retro sneakers that are actually trainers from when you were in high school, you dinosaur. The prize of winning is important and so is the time achieved, and both of those goals communicate with each other in a concert that ever ascends the significance of each.

Cole Hocker ran at a meet constructed solely for the purpose of grabbing a time. Whether that was to bust rust doesn’t change that goal, as he didn’t step to the line looking to settle a score with a foe.

The New Balance Indoor Grand Prix still exists in a place more similar to the meet Hocker raced in Blacksburg than to Millrose. We don’t champion the victor of NBIGP the same way we do the champion of races at Millrose. The time achieved is still more important than the end standing in the race at The Track™ in Boston. I realize I’m ignoring World Athletics points and prize money in this discussion and relying heavily on hype, lore, tradition, supernatural intervention? It’s my article though, and in my advanced age of wearing retro shoes that my high school coach wore when he told me to uh go run to the lake and back and don’t stop for chips at the taco stand this time, this is my reality.

Photo by Adrian Umpierrez

This comes down to how we talk about any given race the moment it happens and how those talking points accumulate over time. It also comes down to how the fields are shaped… which is contributed to by how we talk about a given race over time. Athletes are not immune to this discussion, and want to win races of importance, solidify a legacy and build a respected body of work. This is done by running fast times, but also by winning against formidable competition in storied races. The winner of the Wanamaker Mile receives a big shiny trophy that links them to all previous winners of the race and all winners to come from here to time immemorial. It’s heavy (the trophy is too. You can see the strain in Yared Nuguse’s mid-d goose wings). NBIGP does not give a trophy, which may seem like a small thing until you throw any piece of material on the ground in front of a group of humans and say: “winner gets this.” I once put on a road mile in Lodi, CA where the winner (in addition to prize money) received a grape vine that I had salvaged from a burn pile and drill blasted down to be smooth. You wouldn’t believe how desired that gnarled piece of wood became in the minds of competitive athletes. It was their precious. It is still displayed proudly in the houses of some.

The races that occurred this week whet our appetites for what is to come. In no small way, they are fitness checkpoints and it’s a blast to see how the fitness will be used in attempts to checkmate. The first weekend is a helluva check-in, and under the bright lights in The Armory (at Millrose), we’ll get to see who can take a trophy in fields of which each runner is proud to be a part. They’ll also want to do it kind of fancy, and with less to lose than at a big old season ending championship, they should! There’s meaning to these Millrose Games races, but you can also let’er rip knowing that there’s a season in front of you and a chance to right wrongs, correct mistakes and lay a better strategy down for the next time. Heck, it actually behooves the racers to take some chances and either hog the headlines for a couple weeks or come away with valuable knowledge. Big media will of course take a different approach. Whatever happens, the talking heads will build up the winners too much and discount the losers too much. You know why? Because that’s how the sausage is made. Storylines are stretched to their elastic limit in order to magnify the comeback stories and accentuate the falls. Because friend, you don’t click on nuance. You want the big juicy stuff, and as much as you strive to be more level-headed, you know that about yourself. You’re either GOATed or washed in this IG Pod vlog world, and there’s no inbetween. Our growth journey will be seeking the serenity that comes with acceptance and understanding of the inbetween as this great and glorious season unfurls in front of us. It is there where we can hang out together before we’re GOATed fr fr.

Millrose Games:

4-6pm EST Sunday 2/1 on NBC

Field Lists! Scroll to bottom for pro races.