Isaac Updike

Buoyed by the security of a new sponsor, injury-free training and closing speed indicative of strength and fitness, Ketchikan’s Issac Updike on Friday night delivered his fastest steeplechase performance in two years.

Updike, 31, finished second at the LA Grand Prix, which is labeled a Gold Level meet by World Athletics, track and field’s governing body. Updike clocked 8 minutes, 17.96 seconds, the second-fastest time of his career behind the 8:17.74 he put down in Eugene, Ore., in 2021.

“I’ve been in shape to do this since March,’’ Updike said. “It’s just been getting in the right race and doing it.’’

Updike said he recently signed a two-year deal with shoe and apparel manufacturer Under Armour after being previously sponsored by Nike. He said his new deal includes an option year in 2025.

“It’s been in the works for a while,’’ Updike said. “What you want is not to be worrying about finances, and concentrating on running.’’

Updike said he will continue to live and train at altitude in Flagstaff, Ariz., where several other Under Armour distance athletes reside.

With a crowded steeplechase field of 21 athletes at UCLA’s Drake Stadium, Updike immediately settled into fourth place and remained there through about 2,000 of the race’s 3,000 meters. That allowed him to negotiate the barriers and water jump without having his rhythm stymied by traffic.

“That was the plan – it’s just good racing,’’ Updike said. “With that many guys, it’s always better to be near the front.’’

Updike closed the final 400 meters in 60.85 seconds, the fastest close in the field. Still, he couldn’t catch winner Ahmed Jaziri, the Tunisian who blazed a personal-best 8:17.64. Jaziri, the NCAA steeple champ for Eastern Kentucky in 2022 and a World Championships entrant later that year, is also sponsored by Under Armour and based in Baltimore – Updike referred to the 25-year-old as his “pseudo-teammate.’’

“I kind of expected the guy in front to come back a little more in the last 400, so I kind of gave him too much space,’’ Updike said.

The race was Updike’s third steeple this season. He won the Raleigh Relays in North Carolina in a meet- and stadium-record 8:25.09 in March and defended his 2022 Penn Relays title with an 8:39.21 in April.

Granted, it’s early in the outdoor season, but Updike’s 8:17.96 Friday is the third-fastest time by an American this season. Montana State’s Duncan Hamilton ran 8:16.23 at the NCAA West Regional in Sacramento, Calif., on Friday night and BYU’s Kenneth Rooks clocked 8:17.62 in California earlier this month. Hamilton, Rooks and Jaziri own the three fastest times in the world this year and Updike checks in with the fourth-fastest – that’s before a World Athletics Diamond League meet in Rabat, Morocco, later Saturday.

Finishing third behind Jaziri and Updike was On-sponsored New Zealander Geordie Beamish, an electric closer who raced just the third steeple of his career and clocked 8:21.84, about a second off his PB.

Updike said he was scheduled to fly to Europe from Los Angeles on Sunday and be based in Belgium for a couple weeks. He plans to run a 1,500-meter race and a steeplechase in Europe. In the steeple, he aims to achieve the World Athletics standard of 8:15.00 for the World Championships later this year.

After his stay in Europe, Updike said, he’ll return to Flagstaff for three weeks prior to the USA Track & Field national championships – the qualifier for worlds – in Eugene, Ore., on July 6-9.

Additional Article Sponsors:
Black-Smith, Bethard & Carlson, LLC., RE/MAX Dynamic Properties Kevin Taylor, Aktive Soles