KESSLER EXCITED FOR DISTANCE DOUBLE AT USATF INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPSBy David Monti, @d9monti.bsky.social(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permission.
NEW YORK (20-Feb) — Not yet 22, Hobbs Kessler has already won medals at two world championships, made a top-five finish at an Olympic Games, and recorded the third-fastest indoor mile in history: 3:46.90. But the Ann Arbor, Mich. native, who represents adidas, is far from satisfied with his nascent athletics career. Putting up fast times is great, he said, but he wants to win races, big races, and that means working on all aspects of his craft.
“Basically, I’m just trying to develop into the best athlete I can be,” Kessler told Race Results Weekly during a telephone interview yesterday from Ann Arbor. “Not really focusing on one specific race, but kind of trying to level-up across the board: get my legs to be quicker, and my engine bigger, and everything in between. The racing will take care of itself.”
To that end, Kessler is entered in both the 3000m on Saturday and the 1500m on Sunday at the USATF Indoor Championships presented by Prevagen at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island. It’s a championships double he’s never tried, and he’s only run a handful of 3000m races during his career. His best was the 7:35.06 personal best he ran at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston 18 days ago, a performance he has been surprisingly critical of.
“I got a little humbled,” said Kessler, who finished fourth, and said he made some tactical errors. “I had been aerobically fitter than I had ever been. I felt I could have run, maybe, 7:28 or so, 7:27, if everything lined up. I just kind of felt out of it from the beginning.” He continued: “For a few reasons, it just didn’t turn out to be my day.”
That race was particularly disappointing for Kessler because his fall and winter training in Flagstaff had gone so well. Coached jointly by his father, Mike, and former Georgetown and USC coach Pat Henner, Kessler ran 80 to 90 mile weeks and worked on all aspects of his running and overall fitness.
“I pretty much did the same week over and over again,” Kessler explained. “It’s just sprinting, threshold, hills, and weights. That’s it. Obviously, easy running too.” He continued: “I always like to use the fall to become a better runner. There’s nothing to interrupt it. You can just focus on the things that make you better for three months with no interruptions.”
Six days after his run in Boston, Kessler got to show his true fitness in the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games at the Nike Track & Field Center at The Armory in Upper Manhattan. After closely following Olympic 1500m bronze medalist Yared Nuguse in the final laps, Kessler’s spectacular time of 3:46.90 was largely overlooked because Nuguse ran a world record 3:46.63 just a few meters ahead of him. Again, Kessler wasn’t satisfied.
“I was pretty disappointed not to win,” Kessler admitted. “It’s tricky because, obviously, times are such a good measure of things, but this year things have just become so inflated, where fast times don’t really carry the same value. Everyone’s putting up good numbers. What we care about is winning races. Millrose is iconic; I really wanted that win.” He continued: “If you really want to do lasting things you have to win races.”
This weekend will be all about winning for Kessler. Although he was the world road mile champion in 2023, he’s never won a national title. His two races are less than 24 hours apart, and in the 3000m he’ll face strong competition from Dylan Jacobs (7:30.45 PB), Matt Wilkinson (7:37.14), and Kessler’s training partner Morgan Beadlescomb (7:38.55). In the 1500m his main rivals should be Vince Ciattei (3:31.78 PB), Sam Prakel (3:34.63), and Joe Waskom (3:33.74). Three of America’s best-ever runners –2024 Olympic medalists Grant Fisher, Cole Hocker, and Yared Nuguse– will not be competing.
“It’s just a great opportunity to challenge myself and do something that I’m really intimidated by,” Kessler said of doing the double. “You’ve got to exercise that mental muscle and become comfortable with these really scary situations. It’s really intimidating and uncomfortable, but I know that you have to learn to handle those situations if you want to compete for medals.”
Kessler is disappointed that neither Fisher, Hocker, nor Nuguse will be competing this weekend at the national championships. Fisher completed his indoor season with his 12:44.09 5000m world indoor record at Boston University last weekend, while Hocker will run a 5000m at BU this weekend.
“I think what we should be focused on is titles, big meets, and not running fast at BU,” said Kessler. “It is what it is.”
Regardless of how he finishes this weekend, Kessler said that competing in the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, in March was not in his plans (the top two finishers in each event earn team berths). Those championships, which are scheduled for March 21 – 23, are too late in the spring for Kessler, who has his eyes on the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September.
“Not this year because it’s late and it’s so far,” said Kessler, who won a bronze medal in the 1500m at the 2024 edition of those championships in Glasgow. “It would be too expensive, time and training-wise. I want to focus on my outdoor season.”
Despite his youth, Kessler is already focused on what he hopes will be a long career where he’ll compete successfully in many settings at different distances. Similar to athletes like Mo Farah, Bernard Lagat, and Kenenisa Bekele, Kessler wants to master the entire span of aerobic running. He loves the 1500m, but doesn’t want to be known only as a miler.
“I just want to be a good runner,” Kessler said. “I don’t want to be an eight/fifteen guy, a fifteen/five guy, I just want to be one of those great runners who can do anything, who’s a threat in a 5-K, a threat in an 800.” He added: “You’ve got to be great across the board if you want to be competitive in the fifteen.”
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