NIKE Indoor Nationals, five business games from Day 3. a fast 800 meters, close range scrambles and a giant shootout.

Day 3 in NIN

Day three of the NIKE Indoor Nationals was March 14, 2026. I was waiting for the bus on the road. NIN provided a bus to and from the meeting. At $50 it was a bargain. Since it cost $55 each way to wait and save on UBER, the Eder Brothers invested in two passes and saved about $200 on transportation.

As an independent media outlet, we work with sponsors and advertisers to travel the world (literally) for events to cover. In the print days (we had a group of 30 print titles from 1992 to 2017), we worked with 60+ advertisers and took a small percentage to cover the costs of our events. We have also sponsored several major event programs.

NIN travels with my brother Brian Eder (photographer and co-founder of RunBlogRun) and myself, co-founder and editor of RunBlogRun. It costs several thousand dollars. Special thanks to NIKE Sports Marketing for that support.

I’m amazed at how local clubs that come from all over the US can bring a group of athletes together. Local sponsorship and an outpouring of parents, friends and fans brought more than 5,000 athletes to the NIKE Track & Field Armory.

Here are my five giveaways for Saturday, March 14th, Day 4:

1. Battle of shooters. The NB Indoor winner flew out late Friday night to compete in New Y rk. Youngster CJ Williams from Texas, with the biggest throws in the US, hit well to win the double, NB and N KE. A small problem. Christopher Marcel, a young Wisconsinite from Marathon, Wisconsin, had dreams. Building from about 205 pounds to 245 pounds and eating 5,000 calories a day, this young man improved on each of his first five throws, from a PB of 61 feet to a PB of 65 feet. The Texan would have none of it and blasted a monster 69′-00.75″. Calling on his superpowers (I suspect a lot of WWisconsin-agedcheddar), Mr. Marcel, the dreamer, went 69- and took n. love was upset and this was extraordinary. Christopher Marcel 69-2 on his sixth attempt to beat CJ Williams 69-00 75. A surprising improvement over last season.
2. So the girls 800m championship was interesting. Atali Dumas, considered one of the most talented athletes of her generation, spent the week at Walt Disney World and arrived in New York at 3 a.m. the morning of the race. I hope it wasn’t bravery, but bad planning. Either way, there was no way on God’s green earth that Natalie Dumas could walk into the NIKE armory without performing at her best. Lily Barade had a dream and she achieved it as the No. 2 took out the No. 1 in dominant style. I’m not sure what to say to that ne. I interviewed both Eli and Natalie.
3. The boys 800 had some big performances. Again, the fastest athletes are in the last heat. Gray Mears took off to take the lead at 200m and it wasn’t until 600m that Joshua Cooper took control. Joshua Opper ran 1 50.9 for the win and told this writer he was surprised by how far off the pace he was.
4. DMR was a fun event. A Havana Miami club consisting of 1200m runner Armando Cruz, freshman 400m runner Carlos Benitez, sophomore 800m runner Jack Michalak and mile anchor Marcelo Mantecon battled through a tough field. In the boys’ 800m, third-place finisher Jack Mick Alack ran a time of 1:51.49, breaking the DMR right out of the gate. Marcelo Manteco, in his third race of the weekend, ran 4:04.73 to give Havana Miami the title, breaking the previous record set by Ridge TC in 2022 (9:53) 0. Havana Miami ran 9:47.02.
5. We’ve missed this since day one. Epic Triple Jump Battle from Thursday. In his most recent jump, Myles Nesmith became the first high school boy to go over 53 feet with his 53’0”. Second place: Yevhen Zmailo, triple jump 50’6.75″. HSR that Miles broke, just a few months old, with his 53-foot jump. You guessed it, Yevhen Zmailo’s 52’9.5”.