Quote of the Day

"Then there is largest purveyor of road races in the nation, The Competitor Group ... despite its name, is almost devoid of true competition ... CGI’s working model pays one marquee athlete (like American Olympic medalists Shalane Flanagan in the recent Rock `n’ Roll San Antonio Half Marathon, or Meb Keflizighi at their Los Angeles and San Jose half-marathons) a healthy appearance fee to run a solo effort without the inconvenience of competition. This reductive market approach minimizes athlete expenditures, guarantees the marquee athlete as no-fuss winner, while covering the elite-athlete angle for the local press which doesn’t cover the sport on a regular basis.

While theirs is a for-profit, growth-seeking business with every right and privilege to run that business as they see fit, when combined with the other atrophying trends evident in the sport, the CGI model is particularly ill-timed for the health of the sport overall , and just another indication that, while going faster than ever, the sport of distance running has hit its own wall. (Not to be confused with participatory Activity of running which is healthier than ever.)"

- Toni Reavis, in a blog entitiled "Distance Racing Has Hit The Wall", talking about the status of US distance running, mentioning subjects such as foreigners winning NCAAs, the lack of interest in World XC, and Lukas Verzbicas. Here he criticizes The Competitor Group for killing competition by cutting prize money and instead paying one big name professional to "solo effort" an easy "win".

Turkey Day Action *Manchester Results *Silicon Valley

Manchester: Brian Olinger, Sally Kipyego Win 75th Manchester Road Race ZAP's Landon Peacock and Team USA Minnesota's Andrew Carlson were 2nd and 3rd.
*Local News Coveragewww.courant.com
*MB:Brian Olinger, Sally Kipyego Win

Silicon Valley:
David McNeil, Jackie Areson, Win Silicon Valley Turkey Trot McNeill ran 13:33, Diego Estrada was 3rd only 3 days after NCAAs, Ritz was 5th (13:49). Race videos/photos posted here.
*Video Interviews With McNeil, Areson, And Estrada
*MB: Ritz running 5K on Thanksgiving

Australia: Craig Mottram Runs A Comfortable 13:46 To Win Victorian Champs 5k

Sacramento:
Stember runs 19:30

*Adam Goucher Lists 10 Running Things To Be Thankful For
*10 Things to Be Thankful For in TrackTown USA


Challenges And Choices For Kenia Sinclair

This Weekend

Some Interesting Science

*Science Of The Sport Examines Talent Vs Training And Refutes The "10,000 Hour Rule" Says the "10,000 hour rule" is "nothing more than the realization of genetic potential."
*How Laziness Makes You A Better Runner Basically a study says your body tries to finds a stride/form that uses the least energy when running.

T-Day PreRace

Silicon Valley: Ritz, Stephen Sambu, David McNeill Racing At Thursday's Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot/5K Sambu was the NCAA XC runner-up last year and has apparently turned pro.

Manchester: Manchester Road Race Turns 75 And Sally Kipyego Gunning For Course Record This is the Granddaddy of all Turkey Trots. Calling it a Turkey Trot is a slap in the face to its history.
*75 Reasons To Like Manchester Turkey Trot Hartford Courant

Sacramento: 1,500m Olympian Michael Stember Trying To Break 18 Minutes For 5k For Charity Thanks to LRC advertiser CharityBets, washed-up former Olympians (and you too) can race for charitable causes. Michael is racing for the amazing American Indian Model Schools. If you want to support the cause, click here.

On The Boards: $40 for local 4 mile Turkey Trot is absurd

LRC Jason Vigilante Leaves The University Of Virginia Vigilante (the coach of Alan Webb and Robby Andrews), who rose to fame as the mid-d and distance coach at the University of Texas, has confirmed to LetsRun.com that he is no longer leading the Virginia program after three plus years in Charlottesville. *Discuss: Vig out at UVA

2011 NCAAs Are History *Men's Results *Women's Results *Entire Race Video Replays

Men: LRC Wisconsin Badgers Take Control Early As Lawi Lalang Dominates Lawi Lalang waited until 5k before deciding it was time to crush the competition once and for all, while #1 Wisconsin showed no fear and put a stranglehold on the competition from the very beginning and held off a belated charge from Oklahoma State and a surprising Colorado team as the Cowboys tried to three-peat. American Chris Derrick took home individual runner-up honors to cap a brilliant career in style. *Discuss

More: Wisco #1: *Give 'em five: Badgers lay claim to program's fifth national title *Krause earns redemption as Badgers storm to fifth national title host.madison.com
OSU #2: *Dave Smith Calls Loss "Disappointing" - But Expected www.okstate.com
Colorado #3: *Wetmore Calls Medina Most Improved Runner In Country www.denverpost.com *CU Coach Mark Wetmore Pleased With Buffs 3rd Place Run
Individual: Coach Li - I Think Lalang Would Have Got Course Record If He Was Pushed www.arizonawildcats.com

NCAAs On The Boards

UK Shot Putter Gets Nine Months In Prison For Trafficking Steroids, UK Anti-Doping Trying To Figure Out Who Drugs Were For Give him one month less of prison for every athlete he spills the beans on.

Olympic Marathon Trials Are Less Than 2 Months Away

Australians In The News

London 2012 News

Random

Sad News

1:01:38 And 1:10:57 Win 13.1s In France

Philly Was Sunday *Results *Half Results

*RIP: Two Runners Die After Collapsing In Philly Marathon A 21-year-old man collapsed at the finish line and a 40-year-old collapsed about a quarter-mile before it.
*Philly Marathon: Tuko Folisho Wins In 2:19:16 Mariska Kramer wins women's in 2:35:46.
*Philly Half Results: Samuel Ndereba Wins In 64:04 (Close Race Places 1-6) Yihunlish Delelecha wins women's in 1:12:42.

International Weekend Results

Q&A With World University Games 800m Champ Lachlan Renshaw Includes video with a pretty crazy last 100m. Renshaw is part of OTC and trains with Nick Symmonds and Tyler Mulder. Gives some insight into the OTC mid-distance training under Coach Mark Rowland, whose program seems to emphasize mileage more than many mid-d programs.

Doping

Steve Mullings Found Guilty He may face a lifetime ban as this is his second offense. *2nd Article
*BOA Chariman Colin Moynihan Accused Of Making "Misinformed Allegations" By Angry WADA Chief
*Colin Moynihan To Defend Anti-Doping Policy Against WADA

Week That Was

LRC Geoffrey Mutai Amazes Again, Adam Goucher Retires, & Lukas Verzbicas Calls It Quits We go behind the scenes to take a look at the last two weeks in the running world, which included the NYC Marathon, Adam Goucher's retirement, and Lukas Verzbicas leaving Oregon mid-season. Plus we take a look at the Phil Hersh-Ryan Hall spat and compare Hall to Tim Tebow.

Shoe News

Alan Webb Still With Nike

Look Out, Nike: Kenyan Brand Kourage Launched Of course Nike and Kourage both don't have a chance since Puma has partnered with little LetsRun.com for the LRC Puma Faas Challenge.

2011 ING NYC Marathon *Men's Results *Women's Results *Viewing Info *Flash Yahoo Photos

LRC 2:05:06!!! Geoffrey Mutai Caps Year In Style An unbelievable year in men's marathoning had an appropriate finish, as the Kenyan man who had the most unbelievable of all years, Geoffrey Mutai, smashed the previous NYC Marathon record by a stunning 2:38 - that's two minutes and 38 seconds. If it wasn't the greatest 2nd-greatest men's marathon performance ever, you'll have to tell us what was. American Meb Keflezighi hung with the leaders for 20 miles after a blistering 63:16 1st half and ended up with a much-deserved PR. Mutai picked up $200,000 by winning, but the big financial winner was runner-up Emmanuel Mutai, who won $635,000 ($500,000 for the WMM title).

LRC
Mary Keitany Beats Herself The women's race was full of gut-wrenching drama, as Mary Keitany went out in a crazy 67:56. The problem was she came back in 74:42, as unheralded Firehiwot Dado (Rome Marathon champ) got the win.

LRC Post Race Interviews: Meb And His Coach Bob Larsen Talks About His PR Despite Throwing Up Plus the winners Geoffrey Mutai, Firehiwot Dado, men's and women's top 3, Ed Moran, Molly Pritz, Lauren Fleshman and Bobby Curtis.

US Administrative

UK Legal Stuff:
*
A Change In Tax Laws Might Persuade Usain Bolt To Compete In The UK
*India Threatens To Boycott 2012 Games They're protesting London's sponsorship deal with Dow Chemical, the company that owns Union Carbide, which was responsible for the huge 1984 environmental disaster in Bhopal.
*Welsh Disc Thrower Supports BOA Olympic Ban For Selfish Reasons

Wednesday's News

Japan: Kenya Wins Chiba Ekiden, US Team 5th IAAF
*Breakdown Of US Legs At Chiba Ekiden Bobby Curtis, Janet Cherobon-Bawcom and Robert Cheseret were on the US Team, as was Bobby Mack, who ran well.

2:02.64 Half Miler Ajee Wilson Named USATF Youth Athlete Of Year

Post NCAA XC News *Men's 2km Standings *5km Standings *8km Standings *Final Men's Results *Women's 4km Standings *Women's Final Results *Entire Race Video Replays *LRC Puma Prediction Contest Scores Here *DII Prediction Contest Scores (DIII Coming)*LRC Men's Photo Gallery *LRC Women's Photo Gallery

Jamaica Reacts To Steve Mullings' Lifetime Ban

2011 NCAAs Are History *Men's Results *Women's Results *Entire Race Video Replays

Women: LRC Georgetown, Reid Win Tight Battles Six women kicked for home over the last 400m of the race but in the end it turned into the duel many expected and Sheila Reid of Villanova got the narrow win over Jordan Hasay. The big surprise was in the team's race, where the Georgetown women, who were only third at Big East, won by eight over Washington as #1 Florida State faltered and finished 4th. *Discuss

More: *Georgetown Gets Its First National CC Title GUHoyas.com
*Washington Comes Up 8 Points Short GoHuskies.com
*#1 FSU Finishes 4th & Coach Karen Harvey Pulls No Punches"I felt like I was watching a nightmare. I really thought there was no way this is happening." www.seminoles.com
*Wetmore Says 11th-Placed Colorado Women Purposely Peaked For PAC-12s, Not NCAAs www.denverpost.com
*The FSU women finished fourth and the men 12th at NCAA Cross Country Championships www.seminoles.com
*Lananna Says Hasay's Runner-Up Finish Was A Big Step Forward As She Didn't Get Antsy & Kick Too Early www.oregonlive.com

A Former Leading Lady In The News

Soap Opera: 1991 World 10,000 Champ Liz McColgan Cleared Of Attacking Husband But the evidence reveals she had been having an affair, he had installed spyware on her computer to track her typings, and he had a secret SIM card to send her and her boyfriend text messages.

USATF Showing Some Leadership

Track And Field Will Be Back In The Garden The Millrose Games may have died moved to the Armory but USATF has stepped up and shown some leadership by announcing they will put on a new meet at Madison Square Garden next year, the US Open. Bernard Lagat says he's running it and most importantly ESPN will be televising it, showing the world our sport is not a complete joke and can be held on a grand stage. Three cheers for USATF (we're not sure if we've ever said those words in the same sentence). *MBoard Thread *USATF Article

More US Stuff

Villanova Alums Trying To Get Former World Record Holder Sydney Maree Out Of South African Prison Last month's Philadelphia Inquirer feature on Maree has motivated some people to try to help. It appears he may be sleeping on the floor due to overcrowding.
From October:  Sydney Maree: Villanova's Fallen Hero

Nick Symmonds Talks About His Leading Of The "Occupy USATF Movement" We feel Symmonds and the athletes' pain but don't think the lack of advertising space on a singlet is the key reason why athletes don't have big endorsements. Sports stars get endorsements and most runners aren't stars. Buick was never on Tiger Woods' jersey, McDonald's never on Lebron's.

College XC/Track News

*42 Years Ago From Tuesday, Lindgren Edged Pre At PAC-6s
*(Boston) Marathon Monday Ranked One Of Best College Traditions At Boston University Day drinking is a plus for most people, including this student. "Definitely, the wildest and most out-of-control moments in my college life have been Marathon Monday and Halloween. I mean on Marathon Monday you have the day-drinking, and it's spring time so kids are kind of going a little nuts because it's finally warm in Boston."
*An Incredible Hire:
Allen Johnson Hired As Air Force Assistant We wouldn't have even made him interview.
*Maryland Track Alums Vent To Washington Times About Possibly Losing Program

He Will Be Missed Adam Goucher Retires Goucher is having knee surgery on Friday and says his competitive racing career is over. We've always said that one way to judge whether a runner's career was a good one or not is simple: Were They Good Enough That They Could Retire Or Just Quit? Goucher certainly is retiring, as he had an INCREDIBLE career - Foot Locker champ, NCAA champ indoors, NCAA champ outdoors and NCAA champ in XC, USA champ in XC and track and an Olympian. Goucher is a runner at heart and we wouldn't rule out seeing him in the 2016 Marathon Trials.
*MB: Adam Goucher retires

Frankfurt *Larger Image Of Kipsang At Finish

Frankfurt: Oh-So-Close: 2:03:42 - Wilson Kipsang's World Record Assault Comes Up Just Short IAAF The world of marathoning continues to be simply amazing on the men's side.
*AP Recap Levy Matebo was second (2:05:16) and Albert Matebor third (2:05:25) as the women's CR was broken by Mamitu Daska (2:21:59).
Pre-Race: Last Year's 2:04:57 Course Record Holder Wilson Kipsang Says World Record Can Fall At Sunday's BMW Frankfurt Marathon Kipsang may be getting a bit ahead of himself, but he's very good. More on Kipsang here.

Bank Of America Chicago Marathon *Results *Yahoo Photos

LRC Moses Mosop A Superstar, Liliya Shobukhova Becomes Second-Fastest Woman Ever Updated Moses Mosop dominated the final miles in Chicago after Wesley Korir tried to make it interesting. Russian Liliya Shobukhova ran 2:18:20 to become the second-fastest woman ever. American Ryan Hall ran 2:08:04 for 5th. Great for any other American marathoner, so-so for him.

LRC: Wesley Korir Impresses With 2:06:15 Second Place In Chicago The former Louisville Cardinal broke the race up with a surge at 30km. Afterwards, he revealed what he was trying to do.

Ryan Hall Says He Needs More Time At Sea Level To Work On Turnover RW

LRC Non-Quotes Of The Day From 2011 Bank Of America Chicago Marathon Hall talks about what 2:08 means, Canova talks about the world record.

LRC Quick Recap With Men's Splits: Moses Mosop Breaks Course Record At 2011 Bank Of America Chicago Marathon, Shobukhova Runs 2:18:20

NYRR Dash To The Finish Line 5k *Results

LRC Chris Thompson, Sara Hall Win, Ritz Is 3rd (link fixed) Hall continued her fine fall campaign with the win in this race that serves as a huge NYRR recruiting tool. Most importantly for US distance fans, Dathan Ritzenhein did well and emerged from the race healthy (link fixed to story with Hall interview).

LRC Healthy Ritz Talks About Marathon Trials, His Track Ambititions And More After double foot surgery in March, a healthy Ritz ran what was likely his only race before the Olympic Marathon Trials in 10 weeks. He talked about his preparations for the Marathon Trials, his desire to run faster on the track, and showed he stil has a lot of fire: "The talent's still there. I'm still young. I'm 28 so hopefully I just keep getting better."

NCAA Women's Photo Gallery

NCAA Men's Photo Gallery (500+ Photos)

Beautiful People (NCAA XC Banquet Photos)

NCAA XC Is Here

LRC NCAA XC Prediction Contest Powered By Puma Our world-famous NCAA Prediction Contests are back. Tell us who will win in Terre Haute and you could win some cool Puma gear or $200,010 if you have a perfect ballot.

Cross-Country For The "Geekiest" And "Nerdiest" (Discuss Here)

LRC Catching Up With Olympian Michael Stember:
Olympian Stember On Dunking A Basketball, Nerds Running Cross-Country, And Trying To Break 18 Minutes For 5k
We know it drives a few people nuts when we call one of our own interviews a MUST read, but we are quite proud of this one. Stember talks about everything - from wondering if he really should have been an 800-meter runner, to having figured out the inner-city school problem, to solving the energy crisis and much more. Along the way he admits he once ran a 4-minute mile after months of drinking and only 3 weeks of running, admits to Gallowalking during his current training and says he has secured a rabbit to pace him to a sub-18 5k so he can win his bet on CharityBets.

NYC Men's Photo Gallery

NYC Women's Photo Gallery

Week In Review

LRC Week That Was: Wilson Kipsang's Near Miss, US Men's Marathoners Vs. Frankfurt, Mark Wetmore And CU At PAC-12s And The Wisconsin Men At Big 10s We take at look at Wilson Kipsang's near world record run in Frankfurt, discuss how the entire history of US men's marathoning was eclipsed in Frankfurt and then turn to a discussion of NCAA XC action.

Wilson Kipsang Just Misses World Record (And Coolest Finish Of A Marathon We've Seen)

Training Corner (More In The Training Forum)

BMW Berlin Marathon Photos! Makau Takes Geb's World Record

Great Deals

A Scintillating Men's 10,000 Finish (US Visitors Only)

Train Smarter (More In The Training Forum)

Great Deals

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