Boots are on the ground in Serbia where Jonathan Gault reports the 80-degree temps on Saturday will be the real challenge not the very flat Belgrade course although it's been spiced up with hay bales, artificial hills and a mud pit.

The Kenyan Team is AMAZINGLY good. We just aren't sure which Kenyan is the favorite for gold. Is it the defending champ Beatrice Chebet who ran 14:05 last year or is it Kenyan champ Agnes Ngetich who just ran a 28:46 10k world record in January?

Kelati ran 66:25 at the Houston Half and 30:33 at The TEN and is looking to become the first US woman to finish in the top 10 at World XC since Shalane Flanagan in 2011.

Last year, the world's greatest footrace lived up to its billing. What will happen in 2024? Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo have split the last two World XC titles. Will one of them break the tie in Serbia or could 12:40 man Berihu Aregawi or World Half champ Sabastian Sawe shake things up?

Who wins 2024 World XC?

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Where will Weini Kelati finish at 2024 World XC?

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Who wins the women's race at 2024 World XC?

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Non LRC World XC Coverage
Tebogo opens impressively

Tebogo cruised at the start but had plenty at the end.

More Sprint News: Rhasidat Adeleke reflects on how she almost didn't take the leap of faith and go to Univ of Texas She's happy she did and is looking to break the 4 x 200 world record at the Texas Relays in her outdoor opener.

Distance News
Sprints / Jumps
Following Up With The First Woman To Finish The Barkley Marathons
More Recent Results
Trans Debate
Week That Was

It's official. Simeon Birnbaum is a Duck as he race for UO for the first time and while the men of Oregon have had a rough start under Jerry Schumacher's tenure but Rojo wonders if they could actually podium at NCAAs in the near future. Gary "Laz" Cantrell once said women "are simply not tough enough" to finish the Barkleys Marathons but that quote didn't age well. Plus Cam Myers continues to rock Down Under and two Texas teams led by LSU signees broke the HS 4 x 100 record.

NCAA News
Olympic / Hosting News
African Games In The Books
Weekend Results From Some Young Stars

The previous record was 39.76 by Fort Worth Wyatt HS. And crazily, Atascocita wasn't the only ones to break it; second place Duncanville HS ran 39.65 to also dip under the old record. *Video
*MB: TWO TEAMS JUST BROKE THE HS 4x100 RECORD IN THE SAME RACE

Barkley Marathons

Before this year, only 17 people had ever managed to finish the notoriously difficult 100 mile race (five 20 mile loops) within the 60 hour time limit. This year, Ukrainian Ihor Verys finished first in 58:44:59 while Paris just made the cutoff by less than 2 minutes, finishing 5th in 59:58:21.

Christmas Is Cancelled At World XC

She said, "I’ve changed my plans and decided to continue training over competing at World Cross Country Championships. I prefer to give my body more time to recover from the marathon and focus on what is ahead."

NCAA News
Interesting News
Via @buzi2011
Article We Liked on Thursday
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False start - Yes or No?

What do you think - DQ or not? Watch the infraction in the video above and then click on the link to talk about it on our messageboard. She was only given a yellow card due to supposed crowd noise.

Noah Lyles and Lance Brauman Podcast

Noah Lyles and his coach Lance Brauman have their eyes set on golds in Paris. They believe Lyles can possibly break Usain Bolt's world record in the 200m, but they know first comes the most brutal meet in the sport - the US Olympic Track and Field Trials. Article and podcast.

Champs In Jamaica Have Started
Distance Results
Random Distance Stuff
NCAA / HS News
Non-Distance News
Olympic News
Our written weekly recap

The incredible form of Nico Young continued at The TEN but he was far from the most improved runner at the meet -- that honor goes to Australia's Lauren Ryan.

Doping News
Distance News - Centro To Retire After 2024
The Ten
The Ten

Young was sensational and DESTROYED the collegiate record but Alicia Monson's AR attempt went south really quickly and she dropped out.  Tsigie Gebreselama fan the first sub-30:00 women's 10,000 on US soil, Weini Kelati and Britain's version of Parker Valby, Megan Keith, both got the standard.

NYC Half

Karoline Grøvdal and Abel Kipchumba got the $20,000 wins as Kenenisa Bekele and Clayton Young struggled but have their eyes on bigger prizes down the road.

Laredo 10k

Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei, the three-time Worlds 10,000 champ, also picked up the Olympic standard by running 26:53.

Sunday Road Action
Random Stuff
Weekend Listening

The world's fastest man and his coach were the guests on this week's podcast after the LetsRun crew broke down NCAAs. Highlight to come but listen now. Noah is at the 82:23 mark, followed by Lance.

Big News From Kenya
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Two reporters from the Nation have carefully detailed Kelvin Kiptum's final hours, even noting what he ate and drank at the three different establishments. While Kiptum's father said Kiptum was a tee-toaler, the Nation says that is false as he had two beers at the first establishment.
*MB: How Kelvin Kiptum died: The inside story of star marathoner’s final hours. Kiptum had at least 2 beers on the night he died

Please do yourself a favor and read this article by Marc Bloom on what running was like in the 1970s. Shalane Flanagan's mom was thrilled to pay her own way to world xc and get docked pay from her job, Matt Centrowitz needed stitched after getting hit with a beer can while in HS, and Richard Kimball beat everyone in the world after running up to 69 miles in a single day. *Part I
*
MB: 50 years before Gary Martin made running with nerdy glasses cool (again), Richard Kimball set the tone and won World Jr XC

Shocker - Another Spaniard with Moroccan Ties Gets Popped
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This is far from a surprise as Oumaiz often trained alone and in Ifrane, Morocco, which is notorious for its PED usage. His coach even found it to be suspicious. After Oumaiz won the Spanish champs, he lashed out at many Spaniards who questioned his legitimacy. Now both Spanish 5000 Worlds finalists are sitting on drug suspensions and his coach has told him to admit it.
*MB: Spanish 5000m champ Ouamaiz BUSTED. Same agent as Katir/Cacho...

Ingebrigtsen News

The brothers were previously featured in Team Ingebrigtsen over the span of 25 episodes covering their lives from 2013 to 2021.

Who wins the 2024 Bowerman mile?

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Will Kerr, Nuguse and Ingebrigtsen all actually show up and race at Pre?

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Long Distance News

Korir would likely need to run 59:49 or faster in Lisbon to improve his spot on the Road to Paris list. He can cement his Olympic spot by running 2:08:10 or faster in Rotterdam on April 14.

Distance News From The UK
Doping News
Non-Distance News
Looking Ahead To Outdoor
Other News
Week That Was

Young and Valby were incredible in Boston but we offer a dose of perspective before the hype trains get out of control. Sifan Hassan is running World XC, remember the name Quincy Wilson, and Footlocker Champs Drew Griffith and Elizabeth Leachman broke high school records as did Daniel Simmons.

Other News Of Note
Nike/ New Balance High School Champs
Nike/ New Balance High School Champs

Earlier in the year, Griffith had ran 8:38.67 on an oversized track, but now he has officially broken Edward Cheserek's 8:39.15 record from 2013. There was also a world under-18 record from Quincy Wilson who ran 45.76. Wilson was also anchored Bullis High School to a 4x400 national HS record of 3:11.87. Sadie Engelhardt won the girls mile in 4:36.36 and Clay Shively won the boys mile in 4:00.47 (#8 all-time). Ali Ince took the girls 800m in 2:03.85 (#7 all-time).

    International Road Results
    D2/D3 Champs
    Day 1 NCAAs
    Day 1 NCAAs

    Nico Young is no longer just the NCAA record holder, he is now an NCAA champion, as he captured the 5000m title in impressive fashion.

    What a wonderful run from Parker Valby who made it look easy. Talk about a maestro negative split. In the DMR, BYU got the upset win and in the 800 the defending champ was eliminated.

    Previous Nike/New Balance High School Champs
    Get Your Training Questions Answered By John Kellogg

    In the year 2024, there are all sorts of advice columns all over the Internet, but we’ve never seen one for distance running. There is one now as Robert Johnson and John Kellogg are here to answer your questions in our Dear Distance Gurus (DDG) column.

    The Best of LetsRun.com

    A doctor, nuclear engineer, and D1 runner won our Marathon Trails contest and one of the top online coaches triumphed in our NCAA XC contest to become the king of LRC contests.

    Rojo's Dreams Come True

    We received an unsolicited piece of Gonzo journalism from LRC visitor, Tim O'Hearn, who attended Millrose. The author remembered Rojo on the podcast saying he wanted to see a subjective writing style applied to track and field. Even if you think you know what happened at Millrose, you need to read this piece to capture what really happened from the modern track fan.

    Deal of the Day (Affiliate)

    Want a shoe for your faster runs? Want the #2 rated Brooks, the Brooks Hyperion Tempo on sale for $64.95.

    A Highly Recommended Guest Column
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    In a guest column, Andy Hardt describes what the fans and the sport of running have lost after Kelvin Kiptum's death at the age of 24.

    Rest In Peace: Henry Rono 1952-2024

    Rono achieved legendary status in 1978 when he set four world records in four different events in 81 days. Robert Johnson, who has an autographed poster of Rono on his office wall, pays his respects.

      Past MB Talk On Rono

      RIP Kelvin Kiptum
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      In just three races, Kiptum turned the marathon world upside down, setting a world record, and running the three fastest second halves ever in a marathon. Jonathan Gault recaps his life and career.

      Let the Anticipation Build - Only 178 Days until The Olympic 1500 Final

      Stavanger Aftenblad's Erlend Nesje went to Jakob's house to catch up with one of the sport's biggest stars who is on the comeback trail from injury. After finishing up an hour-long run, Jakob had some interesting comments to say about fame, Josh Kerr, and Jake Wightman.

      BetterRunningShoes.com Presents

      We present to you the LetsRun.com Shoe Awards for 2023. What is the best shoe of 2023, the supershoe of 2023, the newcomer of the year and more?

      Everyone's still looking for an edge

      Kelvin Kiptum, Faith Kipyegon, Keely Hodgkinson and everyone in the OAC are among the stars who experimented with Maurten Bicarb System in 2023 ($65 for 4 doses). The big question: does it work? (paywall lifted)

      BetterRunningShoes.com

      We think most of you could guess the #1 brand, but the #2 might be a surprise. We break down the most popular brands overall, and for road, trail, and racing.

      Sick of Shoes that Break Down Too Soon?

      Running shoe construction has changed a lot in the last decade. Runners are still looking for more durable running shoes, but we take a look at some of the most durable shoes and what makes them stand out.

      Get a Better Running Shoe

      Stack heights on shoes are getting bigger and bigger. Runners are liking these shoes more and more. We try and make sense of the cushioning revolution.

      Fill out the LetsRun.com shoe survey and we will enter you into a drawing a free pair of shoes.

      Overall
      /10
      Comfort
      /10
      Cushioning
      /10
      Durability
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      Appearance
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      Value
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      Better Running Shoes a Click Away

      Want to know what running shoes real runners like best? We've got some answers for you as our Better Running Shoe review site is now open to the public. Real reviews, from real runners, with data science.

      Paywall lifted!
      Paywall lifted!
      The Latest JG Feature

      What links Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the NAU cross country team, and Sebastian Coe? Double threshold training, which is having a moment in 2023. Note, most of this article is behind our SC paywall for 72 hours (until Saturday).

      How do you explain the ridiculous indoor distance times?
      Kipchoge loving the LetsRun Shirt in Berlin

      Your latest American stars share their insights.

      Three legends of the sport.

      One of the greatest US runners ever.

      We chatted with Frank on the 50th anniversary of his Olympic Marathon gold

      American Record Holders
      American Record Holders

      Keira D'Amato, the new American record holder in the marathon, was joined by Deena Kastor, who held the record for 15 years.

      Sisson was the guest on the LetsRun.com Track Talk podcast after she became the first American to go sub 67 in the half marathon on a record-eligible course. Podcast highlights above. Full pod here.

      Woody Kincaid joined us after he broke the American record indoors at 5000. He talks above why he left the Bowerman Track Club. Podcast highlights and link to full podcast here.

      Coogan's New Balance Boston team had 3 Olympians in 2021 and 2022 could be the biggest year yet for the program with 2 new additions and the TRACK at New Balance coming on March 1st.

      Danny Mackey has taken the Brooks Beasts from an unproven club to the Olympic podium in its first decade.

      Dathan Ritzenhein is the first of the top pro coaches to sit down and talk about his club heading into the 2022 campaign.

      Best of Jon Gault
      Best of Jon Gault
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      Take Your Love of LetsRun to the Next Level
      Take Your Love of LetsRun to the Next Level