A new large-scale summer festival, 2025 Haeundae Festa, will launch at Busan’s Haeundae Beach from July 1 through the end of August.

Organized by the University Festival Organizing Committee, the event combines performances, beach sports, interactive experiences, and local food to revive Haeundae’s signature summer energy and support nearby businesses.

Under the slogan “Dreaming of Haeundae Again,” the festival aims to recreate the atmosphere of Haeundae’s past summers with a modern twist. Its featured programs include a Steel Troop Experience Zone inspired by the television survival series, a beachside DJ water party, and the return of the Haeundae University Song Festival.

The Steel Troop Experience Zone offers 10 challenge-based courses such as trench combat, tire moving, and tightrope walking. Admission is 15,000 won for elementary students and 20,000 won for older participants.

A DJ-led water party will run daily from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., followed by DJ sets from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., welcoming both domestic and international artists. Tickets for these all-ages sessions are 10,000 won per person.

In the food zone, Woongjangsanghoe, visitors can try dishes made with local ingredients, with free access to shade tents, bean bags, and tables on the beach. Central to the event grounds, a beach sports area will host volleyball, hockey, and Zumba performances against the ocean backdrop.

The opening ceremony on July 4 at 7 p.m. will feature live performances by Baek Ji-young, Jang Min-ho, Kim Soo-chan, and Nora Jo.

The Haeundae University Song Festival returns for a second year, with the final round scheduled for July 26. Composer Kim Hyung-seok will head the jury, joined by Harim and Kwon Jin-won. The event will be hosted by Oh Sang-jin and Park Jin-joo.

To strengthen ties with local commerce, the organizing committee has delivered 60 million won in community funds to the Haeundae Traditional Market Merchants Association and Gunnam-ro shop owners. Coupons will also be issued to tourists during the festival period to encourage spending in surrounding shopping areas and markets.

PHILADELPHIA— Natalie Dumas has pulled off another jaw-dropping triple crown.

The Eastern junior won her third national championship at New Balance Nationals on Sunday, stopping the clock at 2:00.11 to rewrite the New Jersey state record set by Neptune legend Ajee Wilson in 2012. Dumas’ time is also a meet record and the fifth fastest time in U.S. history.

There has never been anyone quite like Natalie Dumas, not in New Jersey and perhaps not in the country on the scholastic level!!! 

Dumas, the indefatigable junior at Eastern, showcased her breathtaking talent once again on Sunday by sending the high school track and field world into an absolute frenzy by completing probably the greatest triple by a U.S. high school girl with yet another head-spinning victory at the New Balance National Championships at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

Dumas, who already won the 400 hurdles on Friday (a meet record 55.99 ) and the flat 400 on Saturday (a meet and NJ record 51.14), pulled off another stunning performance in the 800 when she used a quick burst right before the finish line to win in heart-pounding fashion, stopping the clock at 2:00.11, which smashed the meet and NJ records and is No. 5 in U.S. history!!!! 

That’s right – Dumas went 3 for 3 with 3 meet records and 2 NJ records over the past 3 days! This is a trifecta for the ages!!!!! 

Oh, and she also earned All-American honors with a fast anchor split in the SMR!! So she is a quadruple All-American!

This is the National Championships!!!!! No one is supposed to be able to do that!!!! 

We will be throwing a lot of numbers and stats at you about Dumas, which almost don’t seem real. But first a look at how the 800 played out.     

Dumas was locked in a great battle with national leader Emmry Ross of Michigan, who led after a 58.85 opening 400, but Dumas stayed on her heels with a 59.08 quarter.

Dumas didn’t want to sit and kick, so she took the lead with about 300 to go and opened a 5-meter lead on Ross. But Ross refused to go away, fighting back and drawing just about even with Dumas with around 50 meters left and looked like she might take the lead. But Dumas, with Ross on to her right shoulder, did what she always does, finding something deep down in her tank to make one final surge to get just a stride ahead of Ross to secure the victory. Ross was second in 2:00.25, No. 6 in U.S. history.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

No let’s get into all the numbers and stats for Dumas.

With her times of 55.99 in the 400 hurdles, No. 6 in U.S. history, 51.14 in the 400, also No. 6 in U.S. history and her 2:00.11 in the 800, Dumas is the first girl in U.S. high school history to run sub-52, sub-56 and sub-2:01!!!

In the span of less than 24 hours, Dumas broke state records held by two of the greatest athletes in U.S. history, NJ legends Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Ajee’ Wilson. 

When Dumas burned her 51.14 to win the 400, she broke the NJ record of 51.87 that she shared with McLaughlin-Levrone, who ran that time as a junior at Union Catholic at the 2016 Meet of Champions. McLaughlin-Levrone is a 4-time Olympic gold medalist and the current World Record holder in the 400 hurdles.   

With her 2:00.11 in the 800 on Sunday, Dumas broke the NJ record of 2:00.91 set by the great Ajee’ Wilson of Neptune when she won 2-lapper at the the 2012 IAAF World Junior Championships. Wilson is a 2-time Olympian, is the current American Indoor Record holder in the 800, and she won the 800 at the World Indoor Championships in 2022.

Dumas is now the second fastest junior in U.S. history in the 800. The only junior to go faster is Mary Cain of New York, who went 1:59.51 at the 2013 Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field in Oregon.

The 2:00.11 by Dumas would have placed her sixth at the NCAA Division 1 Championships!

Oh, I almost forgot, about 2 hours after she won the 400 on Saturday Dumas split 2:03.90 to rally Eastern from sixth to second in a NJ No. 4 and U.S. No. 12 all-time 3:53.15!

WHERE DOES THIS RANK?

There has already been plenty chatter about where this jaw-dropping performance by Dumas ranks all-time in U.S. high school history.

Well, I think it’s fair to say that McLaughlin-Levrone making the 2016 U.S. Olympic team in the 400 hurdles as a 16-year-old at Union Catholic is the greatest single-race performance we’ve ever seen by a girl in U.S. high school history. 

I also think it’s equally fair to call this hat trick by Dumas, with the SMR anchor to go with it, the greatest all-round performance we’ve ever seen by a U.S. high school girl.  There just isn’t anyone who can match the kind of range that Dumas has. She’s also run 4:55.66 for 1,600, 24.02 for 200, and she ran 20:26 for 5K at Holmdel Park last fall!!!      

And she has one more year left!!!! 

9:42pm – Men’s Javelin

In a field full of Olympians, Julian Weber and Neeraj Chopra took first and second place, as they so often have this season.

This time, Chopra got the better of Weber, throwing 88.16 to Weber’s 87.88. Weber still maintains the World Lead of 91.06m, with Chopra right behind in 90.23m. The next closest athlete is the United States’s Curtis Thompson, whose throw of 87.76m is almost three meters back from the two clear javelin favorites this year.

And while the top two had a less-than-ideal meet in terms of distance, the third place finisher, Luis Mauricio Da Silva threw an extremely strong 86.62m—a new Area Record and personal best for the Brazilian.

9:43 – Men’s 110 Hurdles Final

The semifinals set my expectations high for the finals of the men’s 110m hurdles, and they did not disappoint.

Grant Holloway, again, ran a season’s best in 13.11—finishing in fifth place. Holloway looked the fastest over the first 70m, but like in the heats, faded over the final two hurdles. The American hurdler is unbeatable over 60m, but stringing the final stretches of the race together continues to be a struggle over this season. 13.11 is still solid, and Holloway has time before USAs to put it all together. 13.16 and 13.11 as a rustbuster is pretty damn good.

Jason Joseph and Rachid Muratake, third and fourth, also ran quickly in the final—finishing in 13.07 and 13.08, respectively. Joseph’s 13.07 equals his Swiss national record set in 2023, and Muratake’s 13.08 equals his season’s best, run in the heats.

Trey Cunningham and Dylan Beard, first and second, both ran personal bests in the final—Cunningham tying his with a 13.00 clocking and Beard dropping .06 to run 13.02. Cunningham and Beard are both establishing themselves as two of the best American hurdlers, if not two of the world’s best. It’s only a matter of time before they both break the 13 second barrier.

Cunningham, Beard, Holloway and fellow Americans Cordell Tinch, Freddie Crittenden, Jamal Britt, and Jakobe Tharp are all running quick. Even if I was a betting man, I would not bet on who makes the United States team for the 110m hurdles.

9:51 – Women’s 400m

Marileidy Paulino and Salwa Eid Naser matching up against each other is, and will always be, must-see racing. They went toe-to-toe for the entire homestretch clear of the field but unable to fully separate from each other, and they crossed the line within four-hundredths of a second.

Eid Naser still holds the world lead, set back at Grand Slam Track’s first meet in Kingston, but Paulino continued her winning ways with a 48.81 to Eid Naser’s 48.85. The rest of the field fell behind but still ran well, with Martina Weil running a Chilean national record of 49.83, and Amber Anning running a season’s best 49.96. Isabella Whittaker has run race after race after race in her first Diamond League season, and while this wasn’t her best time, she still posted a 50.18 with a quick closing 100m.

9:59 – Men’s 1500m

I don’t know what I expected from this race.

I knew they were getting paced to 3:28.

I knew people ran fast on the track all evening.

I knew the runners in the field were in good form.

I knew Azeddine Habz going for the French record in front of a sell-out crowd was perfect motivation.

I knew it was going to be fast.

But when the pacer stepped off with 500m to go, and the racers stayed in front of the green wavelights, that’s when I knew it was going to be special.

Every athlete in the field improved their personal bests, except for Abel Kipsang, who was 0.35 seconds off.

The average personal best improvement was 2.2 seconds, and the average season’s best improvement was 3.29 seconds.

The average race time was 3:30.23—in a fourteen person field.

The fastest runner, Azeddine Habz, ran 3:27.49—the French National Record, World Lead, and sixth fastest 1500m of all time.

The second fastest runner, Phanuel Kipkosgei Koech, ran the World U20 Record, in 3:27.72. The 18 year old dropped 4.54 seconds off his PB, set earlier this year—he was a 1:46.93 800m runner before this season.

The third fastest runner, George Mills, ran 3:28.36 to become the second fastest British runner ever over 1500m—hurdling Mo Farah, Jake Wightman, Steve Cram, Sebastian Coe and many more in the all-time standings. The 11th fastest British runner is now the 14th fastest EVER.

I AM NOT DONE.

Three national records—Habz, Stefan Nillesen (the 22 year old) ran 3:29.23 for a Dutch National Record, and Tshepo Tshite ran a South African record of 3:31.35.

The slowest runner, Louis Gilavert, ran 3:32.25.

This race took 3:35 runners and made them 3:31 runners. I can’t attribute it to a single, specific reason—the race had it all.

Perfect pacing—yes. Runners motivated by the crowd—yes. The new shoes and nutrition improvements—yes. The track itself had everyone from hurdlers to distance runners commenting on how fast it felt, so—yes. The weather cooled down to 79 degrees, with little wind and all shade—yes.

Are Habz, Koech, Mills and company contenders now? I don’t know. Koech is a relative unknown, Habz is a contender to make finals but usually not for medals, and Mills has shown incredible gains over the 5000m and 1500m this year. I would not be surprised if they do contend for medals this summer and beyond.

Or is it that middle distance, not just the 800m, is having renaissance upon renaissance? 2024 was historically fast. 2025 looks even faster.

Two other side notes:

• The math on the race times are here in this spreadsheet, for those who love data like I do.
• With Breaking4 right around the corner, Nike has to be pretty happy about choosing the same stadium for their record attempt. I’m ready to see Faith Kipyegon run her fastest, and at Stade Charléty. Who knows what can happen?

10:08 – Women’s 200m

Anavia Battle is undefeated over Diamond League racing this season.

She’s also currently undefeated over the 200m distance—and is putting together a consistently solid resume that makes her a factor coming into championship season.

In this meet, Battle ran a season’s best of 22.27. The second and third place finishers, Amy Hunt and McKenzie Long, both ran season’s bests 22.45 and 22.49. Nobody else ran a season’s or personal best, but the top three got it done—and sometimes, that’s all it takes.

10:20 – Women’s 100m Hurdles

Welcome to the 12.2s, Grace Stark! The short hurdles continued to be fast, with Stark winning the overall race in 12.21, and the world record holder Tobi Amusan running second in 12.24.

Ackera Nugent also ran well, with a season’s best of 12.30.

I remember watching the Women’s 100m Hurdles in 2022, and being incredibly shocked by the 12.12 that Tobi Amusan threw down to break the World Record. Now that we’re three years out, and people are clawing their way back to that mark, I think it’s safe to say the 100m hurdle record is in danger this year. Masai Russell and Jasmine Jones went 12.17 and 12.19 in Miramar, and now Stark and Amusan are within striking distance—with only 0.7 m/s in wind.

The assumption is that contenders are trying to build in time to peak for the national and world championships. With that being the case, it’s hard not to look at these times a month out from championship racing and think the WR is not as far as it once felt like it was.

10:27 – Men’s 5000m

The men’s 5000m was paced to a world record in Paris. It didn’t go down, but Yomif Kejelcha sure as hell put up a fight.

It wasn’t until three laps to go that the lights started to pull away from the Ethiopian, who doggedly committed to the pace from the gun—sitting at the front with all intentions of crossing the finish line alone.

Nico Young and Graham Blanks rolled with Kejelcha through the 3000m mark, and both Americans did an incredible job of competing. Yes, Birhanu Balew, who represents Bahrain, kicked to an Area record of 12:48.67, beating Blanks to the line. And yes, Young faded to seventh, behind new French National Record holder Jimmy Gressier (12:51.59), Samuel Tefera (12:53.44 PB) and Souffiane Bakkali (this isn’t a 3000m steeple! 12:55.49 PB).

I left this race inspired by watching Kejelcha, Young, and Blanks commit to the insane task of running a world record in a 5000m on this random night in Paris. The tanks were more than empty after the race, but they went for it. They found their limits (somewhere around 3-4k), and it makes them all the more ready for whatever comes next.

10:50 – Women’s 1500m Final

Final race of the evening, and it’s the women’s 1500m final.

Once again, everyone ran either a season’s best or personal best (aside from 13,14, and 16th place)—it wasn’t the miracle that the men’s race was, but it was still extremely fast.

Nelly Chipchirchir took home the win in 3:57.02, with Sarah Healy right behind her in a personal best 3:57.15. 11 runners in total ran sub four minutes, which shows incredible depth in not only this race, but women’s running as a whole.

In 2022, only 16 women went under the four minute threshold for the 1500. Last year, 41 women ran under four minutes, and so far this year, 20 runners have. The stakes are getting higher and the times are getting faster, and Paris magic struck in both 1500m races.

Batten down the hatches for the Prefontaine Classic. It’s about to be a good one.

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