Socialing The Distance featuring Geordie Beamish (complete interview), before he won Gold in Glasgow

Geordie Beamish won the World Indoor Athletics Champs 1,500 meters in Glasgow, Scotland, on March 3, 2024. This was the first gold medal in a World Championships for an ON-running athlete (the first happened on March 2, 2024, when Yared Nuguse took silver in the Men’s 3000m). Geordie has had a fantastic transformation, from a promising athlete at NAU, where he took the NCAA indoor Mile champs in 2019, to multiple New Zealand record holder, from the steeplechase (8:13.26, Monaco 2023), to the 5,000m indoors (13:04.33, Boston, 2024), and 5k on the roads (13:36, 2022, Boston).

His final 100 meters in Glasgow was masterful, 12.78 seconds for the last 100 meters! Geordie Beamish went from 9th to 5th, and then 5th to first! Geordie took the gold from Cole Hocker, winning in a PB of 3:36.54.

In a story on the On running site, Coach Dathan Ritzenhein said this of Geordie Beamish: It’s incredible how far Geordie has come, from two broken legs to World Champion. The silver is a tremendous first medal for Yared. He is going to learn so much for Paris from that.”

The following interview is from October 2020, after Geordie joined Dathan’s OAC during its first season. A fascinating interview, and it gives you an appreciation of how far the New Zealander has come in four short years! Beamish has joined the fine New Zealanders, from John Walker, Dick Quax, Rod Dixon, Peter Snell, Murray Halberg, and the many others that have given New Zealand its prominence in distance running. 

RunBlogRun presents

Socialing The Distance

with Larry Eder

Featuring Geordie Beamish

Geordie Beamish is a New Zealand athlete who, via Northern Arizona University, was coached by Mike Smith and developed into a promising middle-distance runner.

Geordie Beamish’s biggest challenge has been injuries. Light on mileage, Geordie has gone 13:31.58 at 5000m outdoors (May 2, 2019) and 3:56.90 at the indoor mile (February 8, 2020). In 2019, Geordie surprised everyone by surprising himself and his coach with his NCAA indoor mile.

I enjoyed speaking with Geordie Beamish. He is a straight shooter and thoughtful, and he knows he has been fortunate in his relationships with coaches. Mike Smith at NAU, and now, Dathan Ritzenhein.

Our discussion was relaxed, and I intended to learn about Geordie Beamish…