THOUGH SHE’S MADE HER NAME as a 1500 runner — qualifying for the last two national teams and running the third-fastest time ever by an American — Emily Mackay has shown a greater range this season. While she’s yet to win a U.S. championship in her signature event, this year she took national titles in both the indoor 3000 and outdoor 5000.
Her 5000 crown at Icahn came less than 24 hours after a narrow 3rd-place finish in the 1500, coming in 0.06 behind winner Nikki Hiltz and 0.02 back from runner-up Addy Wiley. “I think that’s the closest I’ve come to winning an outdoor national title in the 1500,” Mackay says. “I just keep getting closer and closer. It gives me a lot of confidence that I’m trending in the right direction.”
In the 5000, despite racing for the third time in four days — and falling hard to the track after the 1500 finish line — the 28-year-old Endicott, New York, native ran patiently behind leaders Parker Valby and Shelby Houlihan before unleashing a ferocious kick on the final lap, including a 13.9 last 100 to cap a 14:55.82 effort. “I felt pretty locked into the pace, it was very smooth, we were just clicking away,” she says. “I was just trying to stay patient and calm and relaxed for as long as possible.”
Following the 1500, Mackay knew it was important to contest the longer race. “I wanted to prove to myself that I could get back up and refocus and have another good performance,” she explains. “It’s really good practice for rounds in the future. I keep proving to myself how mentally tough and resilient I can be. It was a big win, more than just winning the race, but also a mental win today.”
Mackay broke out as a collegian at Binghamton, finishing 7th in the NCAA 5000 as a junior in ’21 and 6th in the 1500 as a senior. She showed promise in her first year as a pro, then in ’24 she took a big step forward, winning World Indoor bronze in the 1500 and running a PR 3:55.90 (No. 3 on the U.S. all-time list) to make the Olympic team for Paris. She earned a spot on the team for the ’25 Worlds in Tokyo as well, and then this winter added another World Indoor medal, taking 3000 silver in Poland in March.
Her next goal is to make it to an outdoor global 1500 final and contend for a medal. Hitting the DL circuit this year and doubling up at this year’s USATF have been part of a plan to take that next step.
“The most experience I can get against the world-level competition will set me up nicely,” she says. “And also doing things like this [double]. I ran two rounds of the 15 and came back in the 5K today, so that’s really good practice for rounds in the 15 for world outdoors next year, which is something I haven’t really nailed yet at an outdoor world championship.”
After initially working with Mark Coogan’s New Balance Boston group out of college, Mackay moved to Boulder, Colorado, last year to train under Nike Union Athletics Club coach Pete Julian. “I really like Pete’s approach as a coach,” she says. “He focuses a lot on tactics and very individualized training. A lot more speedwork and what we do helps me feel super confident and ready to go on race day.”
That speed — Mackay also has strong 800 credentials, clocking 1:58.17 this summer, not far off her 1:57.87 PR from ’24 — was on full display in both her national titles this year. Mackay is the only U.S. woman ever to have run as fast as 1:57 for 800 and 14:45 for 5000.
The 1500 remains her focus and she’s hoping to qualify for the DL Final and the Ultimate Championships in September. “I’m excited to see how that 5K fitness will translate into the 15 later this season,” she says.
Still, she knows she also has untapped potential in the 5000, where her PR is 14:45.81 from last year. “I haven’t really competed in the 5K at the world level, so I’d be interested to try to race a Diamond League 5K and see how I would stack up against the best in the world,” she says. “I feel more confident at the world level in the 1500 right now. I think the 5K is definitely something I want to continue to explore, but I’m not ready to be done with the 15 anytime soon.”
