Inside Jane Hedengren's Historic Freshman Year: 2 NCAA Titles, NCAA 5K Record (14:44), NCAA 10K Record (30:46) — And BYU's "Productive, Not Harder" Training Philosophy That Creates Champions
THE RUNNING EFFECT PODCAST
Dominic Schlueter
4.9 • 821 Ratings
🗓️ 16 April 2026
⏱️ 59 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Most people spend years chasing a record. Jane Hedengren did it on her first try.
On April 3rd at the Stanford Invitational, BYU freshman Jane Hedengren stepped onto the track for her first-ever collegiate outdoor race and ran 30:46.80, the fastest collegiate 10,000m in NCAA history. She broke Parker Valby's record by nearly four seconds.
That's who TRE is sitting down with this week.
But this episode isn't really about the record. It's about what it takes to perform at that level before you've had time to be afraid of it. Jane is 19 years old, the daughter of an All-American runner, competing for BYU under head coach Diljeet Taylor—and she is doing things in her freshman year that most distance runners never do in a career. Two NCAA indoor titles. The indoor 5,000m record. And now this.
The numbers are already legendary.
What this conversation goes after is everything behind them: the race tactics, the mindset between back-to-back NCAA gold medals, the training system that built her, and the question that’s been nagging many in the industry: does she let herself think about the 2028 Olympics?
TRE does. And you will too by the end of this one.
conversation that is long overdue.
Tap into the Jane Hedengren Special.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Today back on the podcast is the greatest 19-year-old in American Woman's Distance running, |
| 0:06.0 | Jane Hedingren. She runs for BYU, and already in her short freshman season, she plays second |
| 0:11.0 | at the NCAA Cross Country Championship. She was undefeated before that, set a bunch of course |
| 0:16.0 | records. And then in the indoor season, she ran 1444 in the 5K, which was an NCAA indoor record. |
| 0:22.2 | And honestly, one of the fastest times ever run, regardless of the NCAA status. |
| 0:26.8 | If she was a pro, that would have been one of the fastest times in history. |
| 0:30.3 | She has an NAL deal with Nike. |
| 0:32.0 | She also has set the 10K outdoor record beating Parker Valby's previous outdoor record for the 10K, and she |
| 0:39.2 | won two NCAA indoor titles in both 5K and 3K and Fayetteville, Arkansas. |
| 0:44.1 | Jane is on an absolute tear. |
| 0:45.4 | Before that, she set nine national records in high school. |
| 0:48.4 | I laugh. |
| 0:49.1 | It is unbelievable. |
| 0:50.2 | She is one of the greatest athletes across any sport of our generation. |
| 0:55.1 | I love this conversation. |
| 0:59.9 | We dive into Jane's mindset, how she handled a tough period of putting too much pressure on herself, expectation, managing that, how she's handled being a freshman in college |
| 1:04.2 | and handling this new level of competition and lifestyle change and her future, her perspective |
| 1:10.3 | on the sport, her legacy, and more thoughts |
| 1:12.4 | on her training, mindset, all that fun jazz. If you enjoy this one, give us a five-star view. |
| 1:17.0 | It takes nice to know time. Share the podcast with a friend that is the easiest way in which we can |
| 1:20.9 | grow and make sure you are following the podcast so you don't miss more world-class conversations |
| 1:25.7 | with the best athletes and the best sport across any sport, the sport of running. |
... |
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