Roisin Willis runs 1:57.97, an American indoor 800 m record, at the BU Terrier Classic
Willis was second to Britain's Isabelle Boffey in Boston but took down Ajee' Wilson's 2020 mark of 1:58.29, six days after winning at the Indoor Grand Prix.
Photograph: Roisin Willis at the 2024 US Olympic Trials in Eugene, by Habst, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsRoisin Willis ran 1:57.97 for 800 metres at the John Thomas Terrier Classic at Boston University on Friday night, an American indoor record. She did not win the race. Britain's Isabelle Boffey took it in 1:57.43, with Willis second. The old ratified American indoor mark was Ajee' Wilson's 1:58.29 from 2020.
Willis is from Stevens Point, Wisconsin, ran at Stanford, and won both the NCAA and USATF outdoor 800 m titles in 2025. Six days before Boston she had opened her year with a win in 1:59.59 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix across town, a lifetime best at the time. Friday's run took more than a second and a half off that.
The Terrier Classic is the meet where fast times go to happen. The BU track has a reputation for them, and the last weekend of January is when the American indoor season turns from openers into business. Two world records had already fallen in Boston the previous Saturday, by Josh Hoey and Hobbs Kessler.
A national record from second place is a reminder that the clock does not care who wins. Willis ran her own race, got beaten by a better one on the night, and still left with a number no American woman had seen indoors.
