New Road World Record (Actually, 2!)

IAAF World 1/2 Marathon Zersenay Tadese 58:23 WR

Eritrean Zersenay Tadese followed through with his promise to chase Sammy Wanjiru's world half marathon record, shaving 10 seconds off the Kenyan's time on the record-legal course in Lisbon - winning by almost 2 minutes.

*Zersenay Tadese Nabs 2 World Records From Wanjiru And Gebrselassie Not only did Gebrselassie have a bad day in New York, he also lost his world 20km road record by almost 30 seconds to Eritrea's Tadese, who covered 20km in 55:21.

Sunday Road Results

2005 World 10,000m Medalist Moses Mosop Debuts At 59:20 For Half Marathon That's quite the debut time. Article in Italian.

Seoul Marathon: Sylvester Teimet Wins in Close 2:06 Battle Sylvester Teimet won in  2:06:49 as Gilbert Kipruto Kirwa was 10 seconds back. Amane Gobena won in 2:24:13 on the women's side.

Wesley Korir Repeats In L.A. But Edna Kiplagat Steals $100,000 Gender Battle Prize
Kiplagat, 30, is a very talented runner, but her marathon PB was only 2:50 coming into this race. Her win in this non-drug-tested race ends an 11-year streak by Russian women. Korir's run was again inspiring as he overcame an East-African pack to remain the King of L.A. while on his honeymoon, no less.

John Kemboi And Tera Moody Win BoA Shamrock Shuffle 8k In Chicago

Collegiate Meet Highlights - Oregon Preview And USF Bulls Invite

NCAA Cross Country: Pacific-10 Conference Championships Oregon Preview Quotes From Ducks We're wondering if Oregon would have won indoors with Matt Centrowitz, Jr.?

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Oregon Preview Results The outdoor season is here.
*Boards:
Mathew Centrowitz Victorious in outdoor return @ Oregon Preview 3:48 win for Centro, Jr.

Oregon's Zoe Buckman 4:12 OTC's Sally Kipyego opened in 4:10 for 1,500.

McNamara 7:53.63
Jordan McNamara keeps getting better.

*Results:
Walter Dix Runs Open 400 In 46.88 To Win By 1 Second In Florida

LRC Can't Miss: Training Talk #6 With Craig Virgin Two-time World Cross-Country champion and two-time American record holder Craig Virgin joined us for Training Talk #6 and talked about a wide range of subjects, including his high school and college training, his time with Nike and Athletics West, racing 3 times in 4 days during a "front-loaded" career, and Jimmy Carter and the 1980 US Olympic Boycott that cost Virgin his best shot at an Olympic medal. Virgin is a true ambassador of US distance running and one of the greatest-ever US distance runners - whether you're looking for training advice, inspiration or entertainment, his stories and opinions are a must-hear.

Weekend Racing Overseas

*Legitimate World Record Talk: Zersenay Tadese Going For Wanjiru's HM Mark In Lisbon Eritrean Zersenay Tadese is the king of the half marathon (4-time world champion) and probably the most talented male runner out there - 10k and up - besides Haile Gebrselassie, Kenenisa Bekele and Sammy Wanjiru.
*LRC 2009 World Half Marathon Photos Tadese won yet again and Dathan Ritzenhein was 3rd.

*Less Likely WR: Micah Kogo ran 27:27 in Laredo, ESP and missed his road 10km WR of 27:01.

*Seoul Marathon Preview - Watch For 2:06 19-Year-Old Ethiopian Bazo Worku And Frankfurt Champ Gilbert Kirwa There might be some real fireworks in Seoul if these two guys are on top of their game.

*Japan Running News Previews Rome Marathon Rome race organizers have chosen to honor the 50th anniversary of Abebe Bikila's 1960 Olympic Marathon win in Rome - a marathon he ran in bare feet.

Championships News

LRC The Week That Was Last week was an amazing one for track and field fans, as you had World Indoors and NCAAs taking place on the same days. We're not going to recap the meet again, but instead we talk about interesting tidbits like new world-record-holder in the 1,000m heptathlon - Curtis Beach, unheralded "world champions" from the NCAA meet, -200 degrees performance-enhancing cryotherapy chambers, the drug-free L.A. marathon (as in you're free to use drugs), and our performance of the week ... and it's not by who you think it is.

NYC Half Marathon - Haile STOPS

Haile Gebrselassie Says Asthma Ended His Day Early He slept wrong in Dubai. The air was bad in New York. Can Geb still run with the best in the sport?
*LRC Photos See Gebrselassie on the side of the road - plus shots of all the action in the race full of interesting characters.

*Deena Kastor Says She's Happy With Her Effort ... Despite getting passed at the end. She flew through 10km in 32:30 and will face Mara Yamauchi again at Virgin London.

Favorites Fall In Dramatic Fashion In New York
The Haile Gebrselassie coronation did not go as planned, as he inexplicably pulled off the course while running with eventual race winner Peter Kamais in mile 8. Deena Kastor built a huge lead in the women's race, running on course record pace, before being reeled in by a determined Mara Yamauchi.

UNREAL TRIBUTE IN ROME!! (Well ... Maybe Not)

Runner Takes Off His Shoes, Sprints Across Rome Marathon Finish Line In Tribute 50 years after pioneering Ethiopian Abebe Bikila won the 1960 Olympic Marathon in Rome, Ethiopian Siraj Gena removed his shoes 500m from the line and sprinted across in 1st place barefoot in 2:08:39. According to the AP article, Gena outsprinted 2 Kenyans to the line.
*Boards: Rome offers 5000 euro bonus for barefoot finish We were much more excited about the tribute before we saw this.
*Photo Of Siraj Gena Barefoot
*More Photos

Weekend Track And Field Wire

Athletics Kenya Track Meet Can't Host Steeple, Pole Vault, Hammer And Other Events Because Of Vandalism And Lack Of Water We complain about a lack of money in the sport, but look what Kenyan runners do without having the funds to host a track meet on a decent track. Londoners are fighting over the Olympic track stadium, which apparently costs about $750,000,000 (see below).

QATAR-DOHA-IAAF WORLD INDOOR ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS Recommended Read:
Interview With Triple Jump World Champ And World Record Holder Teddy Tamgho We like 20-year-old Tamgho.

Seb Coe Stands Up To Soccer Manager And Says Olympic Track Stadium Will Retain The Track Post-Games We're wondering how and why the stadium, which will be used basically for one event and then they'll tear about 60,000 seats out of it, cost $750,000,000. The money involved in the Olympics is outrageous.

For Now Usain Bolt Has No Plans For 400m Racing Until After London 2012

Boston Marathon Chatter

Brief Chat With Jason Lehmkuhle Team USA Minnesotan Jason Lehmkuhle says he can run 2:11 in Boston. Headlining American entrants Ryan Hall and Meb Keflezighi are really flying under the radar as Boston is now 1 month away.

World Cross-Country Is Going To Be A Muddy Mess

Polish National Women Take Nearly Half An Hour To Run Muddy, Snowy 8km World XC Course The best women's XC runners in Poland could barely cover the course that will be used for Worlds in under 6:00/mile.

US World XC Team Officially Announced With Dathan Ritzenhein out, the only realistic US chance for a medal lies with Shalane Flanagan. Check out the rest of the senior and junior teams, as it's a significant accomplishment for all of those folks.

The Runners That Inspire Us

Diamond In The Rough - Videos Of Some Of Henry Rono's Greatest Races

RUNNING: 16th Keep L.A. Running 5 and 10K Do Any Videos Of Henry Rono Exist? Thanks to a couple of LRC visitors, you can now watch Henry Rono races from 30 years ago on YouTube in some of the most amazing running performances you will ever see.
*Link To Videos

The Rage - Barefoot Running Discussion

The Science Of Sport - Q&A On Barefoot Running Part 1 *Part 2 *Part 3 *Part 4 Almost every day, we answer questions from friends and acquaintances about the barefoot running push. Our friends at Science of Sport are hosting a lengthy discussion of the topic.