Drug Free Since 2000

Bob, You Had a Positive Influence:

"I didn’t run for glory, I didn’t run for money—although I never walked away from a paycheck. I really ran to see how good I could be. If that mental attitude and dedication to being the best you can possibly be translates to anyone else, if I can serve as a role model in that way, I will consider myself as having a positive influence on the sport. American distance running will get better; my records will eventually be broken and that's a good thing."
-American 5k legend Bob Kennedy in an interview conducted by the top American miler of the 1990s Steve Holman

"I remember sitting in Coach Bell's office after the 1994 track season. I had run 13:05 and 13:02 that summer, and was ranked #4 in the world. Coach and I talked about having a goal to break the world record in 1996 and making a run at a medal in Atlanta. At the time of that conversation, Said Aouita held the world record of 12:58 and change. After the 1996 season, I had broken Aouita’s record, but so did a few other guys by much more than I did."
-Bob Kennedy

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Book Review: Running Within
Want to improve your mental outlook on running? Then Running Within is the book for you. Read our review of this excellent book.
Recommended Reads
Looking for a good running book ? Read our mini-reviews and suggestions

We interview one of our own:
LetsRun.com's Rojo talks about coaching at Cornell

We Didn't Even Know this Existed:
Video Of Roger Bannister's 4 Minute Mile

You No Longer Can Keep Your Head in the Sand: Barry Bonds a Steroid and HGH Cheat We're sure some of you wanted to believe he was clean and he didn't know what he was taking, but now Sports Illustrated and a new book prove otherwise. And this proves clean drug tests don't mean anything.
More Doping News: Interview With Dick Pound, Head of World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) BBC
*
Austrian Athlete Implicated in Doping Raid Retires
*Kenteris and Thanou's Lawyers Say Dick Pound, Head of WADA, is Prejudiced Against them

Japanese Car News and Running:
The Good: LA Marathon by Honda to Offer US Prize Money, Olympic Trials Qualifier Bonuses for First Time

The Bad: Former Kenyan US Road Star Brian Sherrif is a Man Without a Country Stranded in Japan and Says the Mazda Corp Owes Him Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars for Running on Their Corporate Ekiden Team
 A very interesting read.

US Record Holder Deena Kastor to Run Berlin Half Marathon on April 2nd

NCAA News:
*
2006 NCA
A Women's Indoor Fields Announced
*2006 NCAA Men's Indoor Fields Announced
*
Message Board Thread

Kenyan XC Trials:
*
Isaac Son
gok Wins 4k at Kenyan XC Trials, Unheralded Hosea Macharnyang Wins Men's 12k, Prisca Jepleting and Alice Kimeto Win Women's Races IAAF
*Kenyan Team for World XCs Announced

Collegiate Action:
Eastern Champs:
Men's Results: Penn State Wins, Cornell
second. Josh McDougal 7:53 3k, Rojo's Cornell 4*800 squad wins with top time in the nation this year.
Women's Results: Georgetown wins, Cornell's Morgan Uceny 2:04.42 800
Last Chance Meets:
Notre Dame: Alex Wilson Invite Results
Wisconsin DMR gets in, qualifiers in women's 3k and 5k.
Washington: Results
2 sub 4 minute miles, Galen Rupp gets in 3k with 7:54 3k

LetsRun.com Analysis:
The World Marathon Majors Are Born
Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London and New York announced they were becoming the World Marathon Majors, along with the Olympic Games and World Champs, and would form a winner take all, World Marathon Major Series. We analyze (yes we actually wrote something original for the site) what this means for the sport and express a few concerns. Find out all the details.
More on the Majors:
Paula Likes New Major Marathon Series Daily Telegraph

UNBELIEVABLE FINISH:
TERGAT OUTKICKS RAMAALA

The world record holder, Paul Tergat, and the defending champ, Hendrick Ramaala, battled it out during the final straight separated by inches. In final 10 meters, Tergat got a half foot ahead and Ramaala dove for the finish but it was a futile dive and Tergat triumphed by the smallest amount. On the women's side Jelena Prokopcuka got a narrow win over Susan Chepkemei. Chepkemei has a narrow lead until she started vomiting her fluids while running. American Meb Keflezighi was with Tergat and Ramaala until the final mile and finished 3rd while fellow American Abdi Abdirahman was 5th.

*
Top Results *Full Results

"I left a piece of me on that race course that day. If I had to leave part of myself on any race course, that was a good place."-Dick Beardsley on his famed battle with Alberto Salazar in the 1982 Boston Marathon. Beardsley according to this article still knocks out 70 to 90 miles a week.

Drugs Drugs Drugs

Recommended Read:A Great Look at The East German Doping Program

World Half Marathon Champs
LetsRun.com Coverage:
LRC Exclusive!!!!! 3.5 MB Quicktime Video of Crazy Men's finish.
*Results

A Legend Passes: "I don't train never have. I don't think of running as training. I just go out and run each day, and let the racing take care of itself"- Jack Foster of New Zealand, who ran a 2:11:17 marathon at the age of 41 to win silver at the Commonwealth Games in 1974. He died in a bike accident yesterday at the age of 72.

A Look Back at a Truly Great Run: Todd Williams American Record at 15k Williams was on fire in 1995, and his 15k is one of the best American records. He finished 9th at World XCs that year when all the best in the world raced in one race. Nice read by Amby Burfoot

More isn't always better:
"I had over-trained. I put too much pressure on myself because I wanted that gold medal too much. If I had trained 15 per cent less, I would have won. I was training like a crazy person. There was a lack of self-confidence and a lack of maturity. An athlete does not only train with his body. He trains with his mind."

-Hicham El Guerrouj on why he didn't win Olympic gold in 2000

Paula Radcliffe Out of Commonwealths With Foot Injury The Games lost her and swimmer Ian Thorpe, two of the biggest stars. She still plans to compete in the Flora London Marathon.
More Commonwealth News: Steve Cram Writes About the Relevance of the Commonwealth Games and Gives His Preview of Events to Watch
*2006 IAAF World Athletics Tour Gets Underway in Melbourne on Thursday
*Patrick Johnson and Matt Shirvington are Ill and Likely to Miss Thursday's Commonwealth Warmup Meet
*Jana Pittman, Tamsyn Lewis Feud Has Simmered Down

David Krummenacker Says 1500m Will Be His Staple Race in 2007 and 2008 Runners World

Eritrea's Zersenay Tadesse Continuing to Improve, He Hopes to be a Force at World XCs

Commonwealth News:
*
Previe
w of Asafa Powell's Warm Up Race This Thursday IAAF
*Asafa Powell Experiences Tightness In His Legs During Workout, but is Scheduled to Race on Thursday in Australia
*Iwan Thomas' Withdrawal Has Hurt 4*400 Chances of Wales at CommonwealthsBBC
*
British 400m Runner Daniel Caines Pulls Out of Commonwealth Games BBC
*
Augustine Choge is the 'Most Versatile Athlete' Brother Colm O'Connell Has Ever Coached
*1/3 of Kenyan Delegation to Commonwealth Games Isn't an Athlete

"The world has lost interest in distance races like 5,000 metres, 10,000 metres and even cross-country because they are regarded as competition between Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes"
-Paul Tergat

Japanese News: Jose Rios of Spain Wins Lake Biwa Marathon in 2:09:15
XC: 2 Japanese Runners Win Fukuoka IAAF XC Race The world xc race will be there at the end of the month.

Indoor Action:
*France, Russia Win European Indoor Cup
IAAF

Germany: Wilfred Bungei Wins 800 in 1:45, Ralf Bartels Throws Shot over 21 Meters in Germany

France: Christine Arron Impresses in French Meet
*World Champ Nadzeya Ostapchuk Throws Shot 20.86m

Athletics Kenya is Doing Well Financially but Athletes Have Complaints

Australian Brisbane Recap
*Jana Pittman Defeas Nicola Sanders in Brisbane in Hurdles
*Brisbane Results
*Christian Malcolm Upstages Mark Lewis Francis in 100m in Australia as Patrick Johnson Wins

Rain Halts Final S. African Outdoor Meet

Brief Chat With Moulton Twins: They Both Ran 2:15 Marathons Runners World

Craig Masback and Mary Wittenburg Talk About NYRR Becoming Presenting Sponsor of US Distance Project

Asafa Powell Says He's Still the Fastest Man on the Planet

30th Edition of Bloomsday Roadrace Will Have Timing Chips, New Route

Response to PJ Browne's Article: An Irish Athlete's Perspective on the Scholarship System "What coaches and athletes alike need to realize is that running is not the sole objective of attending a college. If running was to be the only objective, why go to college to begin with? Coming to America was the best thing that could have happened to me."-Eamonn O'Connor

Married Thanks to LetsRun.com:
"I don't want to say it. It sounds crazy but it was a dream come true"

-John Stiner, on getting married to his wife, Sarah, who he met on the LetsRun.com message boards. Read about their incredible story.

"Everybody in Kenya is trying to come to America. I had no dream about coming because I knew this was impossible. It was a miracle," Kiplagat said. "That is why I take advantage of every opportunity. I came here, graduated in three years, and count myself blessed"- Richard Kiplagat who graduated from Iona in 3 years and had a 3.75 GPA

WADA Confident it Can Detect Super EPO It shouldn't be. It can't detect HGH or regular EPO very well. Drug research funding is way too low.

"This is not coming out of retirement, this is just me showing that if you just enjoy what you are doing and stay in there and set little goals. I do a lot of speaking, I've spoken to every group in Australia and I tell them back when I ran I set little goals and I think here I am telling these guys, but I've got to do it myself and tonight was really a chance to walk the walk"
-Steve Moneghetti, who at age 43, broke the world best for the 1 hour run for master's, averaging sub 5 minute pace the whole way as Ron Clarke, John Landy, and Robert De Castella watched him run.

Paul Tergat
*"As the holy scriptures say, 'for whoever much is given, much is expected,' it is, therefore, my duty and privilege to help in any small way in giving back to society."
-Marathon world record holder, Paul Tergat, speaking after founding a sports foundation that will help disadvantaged youths.
*Tergat's hamstring injury has healed and he says he's ready to go at NYC: "I expect good results as I am in good shape" but he's out of next week's Half Marathon in Britain, but interestingly Gezahegne Abera (remember him, formerly the greatest marathoner in the world) is running. www.registerguard.com

Jos Hermans Tells Why Ethiopians Beat Kenyans: According to Jos it has little to do with training: "Ethiopians have more respect for their women, which explains why their women athletes perform better than their Kenyan counterparts, who excel in junior championships only to pander to cultural and domestic demands later in life" and "A mentally prepared athlete can easily beat a physically prepared one,"

JK Speaks: Progressing To Peak Fitness LetsRun.com coaching guru John Kellogg talks about progression runs and the art of the sport versus the science of the sport.

British Sports Minister Richard Caborn Proposes Drug Companies Fund Anti Doping Research to £12m Million a Year While the US Congress dances around one of the main issues (money), Caborn has proposed something that might make a difference. If the pro sports leagues would kick in their fair share as well, serious anti-doping research could be done. In other good news, it was announced that the HGH test now can be used on non-whites.

Vitamin C Can Help Marathon Runners Not Get Colds The surprising news is may not do much for the general population.

Drug News:
WADA Admits to Some Problems With Nandrolone Test

LetsRun.com Book Reviews 2 Good Reads on Milers 50 years apart:
Sub 4:00 and The Perfect Mile

Read the review of story on Alan Webb's (and Nate Brannen's) first brush with adversity. Plus, read about 3 great milers trying to be the first under 4 minutes 50 years ago.

And the winner is:
Best Running Movie of All-Time: Fire on the Track
After sitting on the results for months, we're proud to announce that the best running movie of all-time as selected by our viewers is a not an academy award winner, Chariots of Fire, or a highly publicized film produced by Tom Cruise (Without Limits), but rather a running documentary, Fire on the Track: The Steve Prefontaine Story. Read all about the voting and see the 10 best running movies of all-time as selected by our viewers.

In case you missed it:
Todd Williams Hangs them up

In our lengthy 3 part interview, Todd Williams, the premier 10,000m runner in the US, talks about his illustrious career and the sport of running in general.
Part I here, Part II here, Part III here

Training Advice:
Advice from the pros
.Top 10 Training Tips
LetsRun.com's Weldon Johnson gives his top 10 training tips. They helped him run a 28:27 10k and will definitely help you too.
No Shortcuts
LetsRun.Com coaching consultant John Kellogg outlines his basic coaching approach and gives the four principals to correct training for elites. LetsRun.com co-founder Robert Johnson translates Mr. Kellogg's approach so that it is beneficial for the masses.
Marathon Training Program
Do you want to run a successful marathon? Sign up for our marathon training program. Let our experts show you how.
High School Section
Interviews
Turn Back the Clock:
Interviews With Today's Stars on Their High School Careers

Rod Dehaven: U.S. Marathon Champ
Juli Henner: U.S. Olympian
Todd Reeser: Top Road Racer Wrestled in High School
Many more
Training Advice
Learn how LetsRun.com running guru, John Kellogg, made a tiny private school in Texas one of the best teams in the state.

Dathan Ritzenhein Pulls Out of World Cross More misfortune for the young American.
*Message board thread

This Weekend:
World Indoors: Preview of Track Events at 2006 World Indoors
IAAF
*
Preview of Field Events at 2006 World Indoors IAAF
XC:
A Few US Runners to Prepare for World XC Champs at North and Central American XC Champs This Weekend
*World Indoors to Be on OLN This Weekend

ING Becomes Title Sponsor of Bay to Breakers Road Race
Consider Saving a Ton of Money andSupporting a Supporter of Running:
Click here to start saving with ING DIRECT!

Kiwi News: Kim Smith Recovering from Pulmonary Embolism of Lungs It's believed to be a result of immobilizing her leg due to her achilles injury.
*Nick Willis Picks up Small Virus Before Commonwealths

Gebrselassie on How Athletes Are Treated in Kenya vs Ethiopia:
"One time (Chicago Marathon Champ) Osoro Ondoro is shot in the neck, the next time (marathon world record holder) Paul Tergat is robbed of his car. What’s all this? Had they killed Ondoro, and I thank God that did not happen, it is like killing a nation.Athletes are precious. They bring fame to a country and they should never be treated with such cold bloodedness... We are revered in Ethiopia and not even robbers can dare attack us"
-Haile Gebrselassie where he also talks about making the sure the sport is entertaining for fans

On the boards: LetsRun.com viewers give their take on 'Crash'

"Paul Maurer, in The Gift, not only presents an interesting and captivating story, but he explores the deeper questions of why runners run, why we compete, and what makes such a simple sport, running, so rewarding to those of us who do it. The Gift is one of the best running books I have ever read. "
-LetsRun.com's Weldon Johnson on a new Running novel,
The Gift

So True: "Eight years ago, Yesalis and UCLA labratory chief Don Catlin were asked independently how much money it would take for research to really fight doping, and both said the figure would be in excess of $50 million. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency spends roughly $2million a year on research."-New York Daily News writer

"I don't want to short-change my fans and myself, I know I am more talented than I have shown the world. I want to go out there and show my full potential. Once I have shown my full potential, regardless of my age, that's when I have been on top I don't want to leave before it's my time to leave and I don't want to stay too long."
-Justin Gatlin on his plan to go after Asafa Powell's world record this year

Bob Kennedy Retires Kennedy was the best long distance track runner in America in the last 30 years and maybe the best one ever. He lost the love to compete this past fall and has called it a career, but has left his mark on a generation of distance runners.
*Share your favorite Kennedy moment here.
*How do You Rank Kennedy's career?
*More on Bob Kennedy's Retirement www.runohio.com

"they sent guys like myself, Shorter, Rogers, and Salazar down to this lab in Georgia. They told us that we would get the same benefits and run the same times that we ran at only 80 miles. I personally never listened and went out and did 130-140 miles because that gave me the confidence I needed. At the end of my era, lots of these marathoners started listening to these scientists and lowered their mileage alot. US Marathoning began to turn into an all time low. But its rising now, and just like it slowly declined it will slowly increase. Don't expect an overnight change, but give it a few years."
-message boarder reportedly paraphrasing Dick Beardsley on why US marathoners in the 1980s were deeper than US marathoners in the 2000s

More on This Later: It's Not Just the US: Track and Field's Popularity Lagging in Europe

Arthur Lydiard Quotes:
"
Train Don't Strain"

-famed distance coach Arthur Lydiard
Friday's Lydiard Quote:
"Americans arrogantly want it all now, this is why they finish last. Speed must be used in proper proportions. Build and build like the Afrikans. This is the only way to realise your potential."
-famed distance coach Arthur Lydiard


'Suddenly I got to the age of 36, and one day I realized I can't ever run any quicker than I'm running at this moment"
(Coe reportedly stopped midwork and never ran another competitive step)

-SebCoe,
2 time 1500m gold medallist and former 800m world record holder, according to Frank Deford in an audio essay on the doping scandal.

Great Advice:
"I am glad that because I chose to focus on a personal goal, pursued passionately and today I bear testimony of what it can yield, even beyond my wildest expectations. I hope that this will somehow encourage someone here today as well, to pursue his dream and vision...Usually, I get quite enriched whenever I have an opportunity to positively touch the life of someone. Such opportunities to show concern enable me, and indeed all of us, to share what God has placed into our hands."

-World Record Holder in the Marathon and Humanitarian Paul Tergat in his acceptance speech for his honary degree from Bloomfield College in New Jersey.

A True Gentleman and a Paid Male Escort, Unbelievable:
"He's a true gentleman"
-Canadian marathoner, Peter Vail, on LetsRun.com's
Weldon Johnson in an Arizona Daily Sun profile on his "running" house, plus an update on steeplechaser Anthony Famiglietti
(and if you'd like to go back in the LetsRun.com archives and read about "Surivor Flagstaff", the attempt by 5 of the World's sexiest distance runners to live in a one bedroom apartment click here)

More Great Advice for the Greatest Distance Runner Ever:
Haile Gebrselassie says work hard, be patient, and take your recovery days seriously.
Good Read.

Great Read/Advice: Such a Simple Sport:
"I train twice every day except on Sundays and on Christmas Day."

-the great Haile Gebrselassie, on his training over the holidays. He says his New Year's resolution is to win the gold medal at 10k and break the 10k world record. And Gebrselassie is still young as it is only 1996 in Ethiopia (we swear).

Great Read: "...there would be days I would run 70 km (43 miles) and then there are days I would run 20 or so. I just mentioned that figure (70) to state that there are days I would actually run up to 70 or so. The fact that I can run that much gives me confidence and makes me believe I am doing a good job."
-former world record holder in the marathon Naoko Takahashi in Part I of a fascinating interview with Japan Times on her training

*Part II Here

Inspirational Running Poem

You know you're a runner if....... (our reader's fill in the blanks with some hilarious responses on the message boards)

Is it the VAAM?:
"I thought for a few minutes my legs would be sore. But my legs weren't heavy at all. I went jogging and felt as good as ever."
-Naoka Takahashi won won the Berlin marathon and reportedly went for a "long run" the day after. Takahashi credits some of her success to VAAM, the sports drink from made from stomach acid of killer hornets that she drinks.
If you want order VAAM
click here

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