Quote Of The Day


"I eat, sleep and run. It is part of my life. I will someday stop competing, but I will not stop running."

- The great Haile Gebrselassie. Gebrselassie kicks off a great 3 hours of running tonight at 7:10 pm Eastern as he tries likely for the last time at the Tokyo Marathon to make his final Olympic team. Then at 10 pm Eastern, Bernard Lagat and Galen Rupp square off again.

2012 Tokyo Marathon Is This Weekend (The Last Chance For Geb To Make The Olympics) *Watch Live 7 PM ET Saturday Night Here *Also On Twitter @JRNLive

LRC Has Father Time Caught Up With Gebrselassie? Saturday is a distance fan's delight. Make a date with your computer if you can. At 7:10 pm Eastern, Gebrselassie will try to make his Olympics and then at 10:05 Eastern, Galen Rupp tries to end his 0-for-11 streak vs. Bernard Lagat. Tokyo is likely Haile Gebrselassie's final chance to make the Ethiopian Olympic team. Geb has dropped out of his last two marathons. Can he regain the magic here? He faces a few 2:05 and 2:06 guys and the Japanese men led by amateur Yuki Kawauchi. Originally Geb was going to go for a "controlled 2:05." Now the IAAF reports the rabbit will run 2:06:33, pace but Reuters says he wants the World Record and AP says he wants sub-2:04. *IAAF Preview
*Japanese Perspective: Brett Larner's Final Tokyo Marathon Preview

More Weekend Action

Almost As Good As World XC: World's Best 10k Preview: Superb Women's Race: Linet Masai Vs. Vivian Cheruiyot Vs. Shalane Flanagan Their is no World Cross-Country this year, but the top 3 from last year are all racing at what is arguably the premier 10k on American soil. Photos from Flanagan's bronze here.

S. Africa: Former World Champ Mbulaeni Mulaudzi Racing Saturday In First Race Since Withdrawing From Worlds

Rome: 2:19:44 Marathoner Florence Kiplagat To Face A Challenge From Agnes Kiprop At Rome Half Marathon

Menjo Mania: Almond Blossom XC Race Preview In Portugal: The Legendary Menjo Is the Only Foreign Male Athlete Of Note

Want To Know More About The Athletes' Battle With USATF On Uniform Restrictions? We Figured It Out.

LRC USATF And Athletes At Impasse Over Uniform Regulations: USATF Says Blame Nike Contract The problem we see is USATF is blaming its inability to allow more logos on its sponsorship contract with Nike when the Nike contract says nothing about sponsors' logos. Fired former USATF CEO Doug Logan, who negotiated the Nike contract, says he'd even testify on the athletes' behalf.
Previous: Athletes have an excellent memo here on their position that includes details on the USATF contract and USATF states its position here.

More Upcoming Action

Aussie World Indoor Team Plus Some Other Interesting Stories

More Kenyan News

.*Kenya Names 2012 World Championships Team - Calls It The Strongest Ever Pamela Jelimo is on it for the women but teen sensation Caleb Ndiku and 5,000 WL Thomas Longosiwa are left off in favor of sub-7:30 3,000 performers Augustine Choge and Edwin Soi. Silas Kiplagat in the 1,500, Boaz Lalang in the 800.
*It's Unclear Whether The Kenyan Olympic Trials For The 5k & 10k Will Be In Eugene Pre meet director Tom Jordan sounds more optimistic about getting the 10k and not the 5k, almost certainly not all four.

The NYC Half Is March 18th: Liliya Shobukhova Running Only NYC Half And Bank Of America Shamrock Shuffle 8k In Chicago Before Olympics In NY, she will face Desi Davila and Kara Goucher.
*Ritz Explains His Decision To Race The NYC Half

Nike Technology Unveiled

News From Japan

It's Official - Only Rich People Do Triathlons
90% 55% Of All Triathletes Make More Than $100,000 Per Year
This is good news for Lukas V fans as it's official - the African athletes have little chance. It's also worth noting that triathletes spend over $2,000 per year on the sport but less than 5% of that on running shoes.

Oregon-Related News

Saturday's Birmingham - Aviva Indoor Grand Prix *Results

Top Indoor Meet Of Year
Eliud Kipchoge 8:07.4 2-Mile Defeats Mo Farah
This was a tremendous race with 4 guys, Kipchoge and Farah plus Uganda's Moses Kipsiro and Tariku Bekele, battling on the final lap. Kipchoge, the 2003 World 5,000m champ, got the win and World Leader. If you think this makes him the best Kenyan right now, think again. Kipchoge was 4th in the 3,000m in Germany last weekend. In other action, Genzebe Dibaba blasted another fast 1,500 (4:01, Anna Pierce 4:11), Liu Xiang ran a PR to beat Dayron Robles, Jamaica's 8th-fastest 100m man last year, Lerone Clarke, ran a national record in the 60 ahead of Asafa Powell, Meseret Defar ran 8:31.56, Jessica Ennis had 2 PRs and a world best in the hurdles, and Bernard Lagat was well beaten at 1,500m. 8,000 fans in attendance. This is what track and field needs.

2012 RAK Half Is In The Books *Photo Gallery Of Winners *Top Results

LRC Mary Keitany & 17-Year-Old Dennis Koech Win 2012 RAK Half Marathon Windy conditions slowed down the winning times considerably (60:34 and 66:42), but Mary Keitany did still produce the 8th-fastest 13.1 in women's history as a 17-year-old Kenyan dispatched the 2012 world leader and a 2:03 marathoner in the men's race.
*IAAF Recap Geoffrey Mutai Withdraws With Sore Foot And Then Fast Times Are Blown Off Course The IAAF is saying that Koech is 18.
*Pre-Race Photos *Race Previews

Out Of Work? The IAAF Is Hiring And Looking For A "Whereabouts" Asst. It looks like a perk of this job won't be that you get to look at Track & Field stars' private parts - it's more of clerical help. *Job Offer

We Disagree
Ken Goe Thinks That Bring Back The Mile Idea Isn't A Good One We disagree with Goe's overall argument but agree with him here: "The rest of the world isn't going to give up the metric system because it's uncomfortable for the U.S. geriatric set." The thing that all BBM detractors seem to don't get is - we aren't saying BBM will save the sport - we're just saying it can only help and won't hurt. The sport needs to make every incremental improvement it can. As Meb said Thursday, "Well, in running or track and field there's three prime events, there's the 100 meter, the mile and the marathon."

Bolt Update: Glen Mills: "Usain Bolt Is Not Injured" According to this, Bolt has scheduled visits with "Healing Hans" several times a year for treatment for his scoliosis, so this is just a routine thing. Mills could have avoided the speculation by saying that from the start instead of trying to cover it up with a faux "business trip."

Week That Was

LRC Rupp's Record Vs. Lagat's Record, Down Goes Rono, Miles Batty, Chris Derrick And Ryan Hill?, Plus Katie Flood, Marathoning, White Dudes In The 4 X 400, Some Canadian Coaching Advice And More Just in time for Valentine's Day, the track and field world came afire with some sizzling action and records galore. We got the meat (what you expect) and the potatoes (what you wouldn't expect) of the track and field world covered. We guarantee you won't be disappointed. If you are, complain here.

Interesting Read: Patrick Makau Speaks On Being Self Coached, His Half Marathon Loss In Spain, And His Two Newborn Twin Sons He gives great training advice, as he talks about listening to his body and says that he could have won in Spain, but he decided to save himself for other things ahead. Good read from Mutwiri Mutuota.
*10-Minute Video Interview With Makau From Same Story

Sprint News

Recommended Read: The Telegraph's Ian Chadband Catches Up With Yohan Blake After His 2012 Season Opener - Blake Still Plays Cricket Every Sunday With Glen Mills' Blessing Can anyone in America imagine a college coach letting a sprint star play pickup games on the weekend? Yet Blake, who comes from a tough background, is super-fast. "I wasn't born with a golden spoon in my mouth; it was a really tough life. So many times, we had no money to even get to school. I'd have to find empty beer bottles to sell and spent hours carrying water on my head because we had no water at home. It gave me strength which helps me today."

Boltgate Day II
*Despite Denials, Sportsmail Says Bolt Visited Doctor In Germany
*Meet The German Doctor Bolt Went To See Instead of Running 400m Last Week - The Doctor They Call "Healing Hans" In December, ESPN did a long profile of Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt - the doctor to the stars - including 5 of the 8 Berlin 100m finalists, plus people like Bono. He swears by Actovegin injections - calf's blood.

Previous:
Bolt Doesn't Run 400m Because He Has "Business Trip"
*Coach Says He's Stunned That People Think Bolt Is Hurt But Yohan Blake Admits He Went To Get A "General Checkup"

USATF Classic *Results *Photo Gallery

LRC Galen Rupp's American 2-Mile Record Is Highlight Among 5 World Leaders Pre-race, we pondered if this was the best men's indoor mile in the US since LetsRun.com was founded and it lived up to the hype, as Silas Kiplagat edged Caleb Ndiku in a world-leading time, but it was Galen Rupp, running to honor the late Geoff Hollister, who stole the show with an impressive American record at 2 miles. In other action, Brenda Martinez took on some of the world's best in the mile, Jamaica's 8th best sprinter beat all the Americans, and Tianna Madison (a long jump world champion most of you have forgotten) shocked VCB and Allyson Felix in the 60m.

USATF XC *XC Results *Men's Photos *Women's Photos

Molly Huddle Celebrates Too Soon, Sara Hall Wins XC On Lean, Bobby Mack Beats Aaron Braun Great races in the chill of St. Louis, as Molly Huddle and Sara Hall battled to the line. Huddle put up her hands thinking she won, but Hall leaned and got the win. Photos here. On the men's side, Mack pulled away from Braun the final 600m. More coverage here. Photo finish photo here.

Friday Action 12:58! For Thomas Longosiwa

London Marathon Goes To Iten

Virgin London Marathon, Which Made 2012 Athlete Announcements In Kenya, Is Giving Back To Iten, Eldoret Communities

LRC Photo Of The Day: Virgin London Marathon Fields Announced From Iten, Kenya We didn't realize London was in Iten to announce its 2012 fields. Very cool.

Bring Back The Mile Officially Launches For years, we (and many in the sport) have wondered why the mile isn't the #1 distance event in the land and why it's not run instead of the 1,500 or 1,600. Finally, someone has decided to do something about it.
*Bringing Buzz Back To The Mile *Discuss *Like On Facebook

Recommended Read: NY Times Article On Australia's LJer Mitchell Watt, Who Quit Track For 5 Years But Came Back And Got 2nd At The World Champs Apparently he was convinced to keep competing by a "12 page email" from his coach.

US Men's Olympic Trials Marathon News *LRC Vote Totals *Men's Results *Women's Results *Mile-By-Mile Splits *Yahoo Flash Photos

LRC Men's Marathon Trials Analysis And Reaction The 2012 Trials race was a classic. We throw some love to the top 3, ponder Ritz's future in the marathon, tell you who had the best debut, and tell you who that guy you never heard of was. Plus we talk about Meb's 74-year-old badass dad and look at the fortune of some old timers who didn't make the team, Josh Cox and Dan Browne, in addition to the ones who did (Meb and Abdi).

Race Recap:
Meb Keflezighi Captures 2012 Olympic Trials Marathon Title

NY Times Recap: Meb Over Hall, Abdi Grabs 3rd Spot
The race lived up to the billing as the top four all broke 2:10, whereas previously there had only been one sub-2:10 in OTM history. After a blistering first half (63:25), Meb Keflezighi got his 2nd PR in 69 days, as he ran 2:09:08 to win over Hall (2:09:30). A resurgent Abdirahman (2:09:47) hung on for the final Olympic spot in 2:09:47 over Ritzenhein, who broke 2:10:00 for the first time (2:09:55). In the process, Meb became the first American to make an Olympic marathon team 8 years after making it previously. Abdi had no idea until we talked to him that Martin Fagan, whom he trained with some this winter, had reportedly tested positive for EPO.
LRC
Trials Live Thread Here

Trials On The Boards:

Lance And LIVESTRONG

Outside Magazine Article Accuses LIVESTRONG Foundation "If Lance Armstrong went to jail and Livestrong went away, that would be a huge setback in our war against cancer, right? Not exactly, because the famous nonprofit donates almost nothing to scientific research." *MB: Livestrong expose in Outside magazine

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.

USATF Indoors Is Saturday/Sunday *Live Webcast 2:30PM EST Sat., 12PM Sunday *ESPN Broadcast 7:30-930PM EST Sun. *Entries *Schedule *Meet Website *Start lists

LRC Lagat Vs. Rupp Round 3: Is This The Time Rupp Finally Beats Lagat? Galen Rupp has never beaten Bernard Lagat in 11 tries. As Alberto Salazar has acknowledged, he's never come that close. They square off for the third straight year at USATF indoors Saturday night at 10pm Eastern. Is the year that all changes? Click to read out preview of the 3,000m in Albuquerque and our preview of Geb's run in Tokyo, as Saturday night will be a great night for distance fans.

More European News: As Usual, Fast Times At Russian Champs ... Russian Indoor Results

Stockholm - *Results *Video Of PV WR *More Yahoo Photos Of Record

World Record For Yelena Isinbayeva (Updated) In case you wondered, Yelena Isinbayeva is fully back as she went 5.01 for the world record. Asked whether anyone could beat her this year, she said, "I think you can answer that question yourself," in reference to her 29cm winning margin. Isiah Koech won the 3k over Dejen Gebremeskel, Caleb Ndiku and 7:29.94 man from earlier this year Augustine Choge. Morgan Uceny ran 4:08 to get a close 3rd in the 1,500m as Anna Pierce struggled again.
*Brit Holly Bleasdale Was A Distant Second In PV With 4.72m
*Athletics Weekly Recap: Mohamed Aman Wins 800 In 1:45.84 As Adam Kszczot Is A Disappointing 5th Worth noting that last week the roles were reversed, as Kszczot won in 1:44.57 and Aman (the man who beat David Rudisha) was 5th.
*Dayron Robles Wins Stockholm 60m Hurdles As Liu Xiang Is DQed For A False Start
*"Yelena Isinbayeva Is At Her Best When Challenged"
*IAAF Article (To Be Updated)

 Week That Was

LRC Pamela Jelimo, Nick Symmonds Medal Chances Go Down, Good News For Ritz, Coaching Advice Of The Week And Photos Of The Week We catch you up on the goings-on of the running world in LetsRun.com fashion. The biggest news of the week was at a race you probably didn't even know took place.

Random US News

A Definite Recommended Read & Discuss
Sports Illustrated
& Tim Layden Profile Mo Farah & Galen Rupp: A Bond Born At Speed
  The two training partners clearly will have vastly different amounts of pressure on them at the London Games and it's clear that Rupp is happy to not be in the spotlight: "I don't envy Mo. He's going to have a bunch of people cheering for him, but all that stress. It's nice sometimes to just train and not have all that external stuff."
MB:
Rupp 10.9 and Farah 11.3 for the 100m *Do you believe the rest of the SI article about Rupp & Farah? 8 x 1200 at 4,551 Ft Altitude in 3:09/2min rest? *Alberto Salazar's coaching pre-Galen Rupp *Does Rupp have any realistic chance of beating Lagat this weekend?

Kenya-Related News

Interesting Articles

Sprint News

Interesting Read A Look Back At The Last Time London Hosted The Olympics: The 1948 "Austerity Olympics" The 1948 Games were a huge success but put on with a tiny budget of just £760,000. Competitors were given bed linens but expected to bring their own towels. "Today, when seven years are needed to organise a multibillion-pound Olympics, it is fitting to reflect on these 'Austerity Olympics,' in which so much was achieved, in so little time, with so little money. The Games were an extraordinary occasion, a true celebration of victory after dark times, and one of the most inexpensive and unpretentious Olympiads of the twentieth century."

LetsThrow.com

Bertie Messitt, Former Irish Record Holder At Events From 3,000 To 10,000, Dies At Age 83

Sydney Track Classic *Results

Kiprop 1:45.9, Rudisha 45.61, David Torrence 3:35.6 Wins The Australian season got underway in full force with the two best mid-distance runners, Olympic and World 1,500m champ Asbel Kiprop and World 800m champ David Rudisha, both dropping down in distance. Rudisha ran 45.61 at 400, while Kiprop got the 800m win in 1:45.9. Kiprop dropping down let American David Torrence win the 1,500 in 3:35.6. World hurdles champ Sally Pearson did the hurdles/200m double. Nick Symmonds did not have his kick and was a well-beaten 6th in 1:47.44, which is a pretty good opener.

Kenyan XC Champs

Bedan Karoki, Joyce Chepkirui Win The Toughest XC Race On The Planet Karoki is the Japanese-based athlete who won the Stanford 10,000m last year. Chepkirui had a breakout year in 2011, running 30:38 on the roads (prior to last year, she had never broken 33 minutes) and ran 31:26 to win the Zatopek 10k. World and NYC Marathon champ Edna Kiplagat was 3rd, while former World XC Champ Joseph Ebuya was 49th.
*Bedan Karoki Says Kenyan XC Was Part Of Buildup For Fukuoka Marathon (Which Is In December)

*Over The Flu: Vivian Cheruiyot To Race World's Best 10km This Saturday She missed out on Birmingham with the flu.
*Pre Classic Update: Meet Director Tom Jordan Comments On Kenyan 10,000m Trials Being At The Pre Classic Says it looks "promising" but not "confirmed yet." He only spoke of the 10k and wouldn't comment on the possibility of the 5k being included too.
*
Kenyan 5,000m And 10,000m Trials To Be At Prefontaine Classic This is big news. The details clearly aren't out, as Chris Solinsky is trying to figure out what it means for him (i.e., whether the races will be Kenyan only). More here.

LRC Track Talk Live From Kenya Employee #1 has been in Kenya for 2 weeks, meeting with many of the sport's stars. In this 45-minute broadcast, get the inside scoop.

Talk About A Comeback: Philip Mosima, Who Competed In 1988 Kenyan Olympic Trials As A 12-Year-Old, Is Trying To Make A Comeback At Kenyan XC Champs He ran 12:53 in 1996 when 12:53 was unbelievably fast.

Upcoming

Meb, Ritz, Kara And Desi To Run 2012 NYC Half Also sponsorless man Scott Bauhs will run as will a bunch of other Americans, including 2009 WChamps 5,000 team member Julie Culley in her 13.1 debut. *AP

*Transcript Of Meb, Bob Larsen & Mary Wittenberg Teleconference (Word document) Meb reveals that his wife ran a 5k in 26:05, officially eliminating their children as #1 prospects for the class of 2030.
*Denver Post Catches Up With Ritz, Who Is Excited To Get Back To The Track - Ritz: "I still think I'm one of the best runners in the world."
*Ritz Blogs About His Recent Training: "I got out my spikes for the first time in two and a half years."

Fast Times In Lieven! *Website/Results

2012 Millrose Games *Results *Lagat, Wanamaker Mile Video

2012 Boston Marathon

LRC Boston Marathon Releases Elite Fields For 2012 2011 champs Geoffrey Mutai & Caroline Kilel will try to defend their titles against a field that includes 5 sub-2:05 and 2:23 competitors.

Dubai *LRC Recap *Results

LRC Hello World, Meet Ayele Abshero (2:04:23 Debut!) The 21-year-old former Jr. World XC champ's marathon debut was super-special, as his surge with just over 3km remaining decimated the deepest marathon field in history, as four men broke 2:05 in the race, eight broke 2:06, 10 broke 2:07, and 17 broke 2:10 - all records as fastest-ever times for places were recorded in spots three through 17. 2011 belonged to the Kenyan men, will 2012 belong to Ethiopia? The women's race was super-fast and super-deep as well, as 3 women broke 2:20 in the same race for the 1st time, as Aselefech Mergia ran 2:19:31 to win and a record 9 women broken 2:25. Martin Lel was a DNF, Ramaala 2:12. *AP
*Butcher: Ethiopians Strike Back
*MB: 4 guys I've never heard of go sub 2:05 in Dubai

Wejo Speaks: LRC What About The Sport? Wejo, an outspoken critic of Millrose Games moving to the Armory, says don't celebrate USATF sticking it to Millrose. Celebrate the sport being on ESPN.

Be Inspired By These Two Olympic Trials Breakthrough Performers

US Women's Olympic Trials Marathon News *LRC Vote Totals *Men's Results *Women's Results *Yahoo Flash Photos

Flanagan Over Davila, Goucher Gets Third As Top 4 All Break Old OTrials Record Flanagan (2:25:38) pulled away from Davila (2:25:55) and Goucher was third in 2:26:06. Amy Hastings broke the old Trials record at 2:27:17 but didn't make the team. Deena Kastor was 6th in 2:30:40.

Great Marathon News

The Big Interview: Dathan Ritzenhein

LRC Ritz Reflects On The Trials, His Years With Alberto, And Looks To The Future 24 hours after Dathan Ritzenhein just missed making the 2012 the Olympic Marathon team, a frank but more upbeat Ritz sat down and talked with LetsRun.com. He looked back on the Trials race ("I ran pretty good. It just was not enough.") and back on the last three years with Alberto ("He is a very smart, very passionate guy more than anything. He will find the way." and "There's been many times when we've screwed up.") before looking ahead to both the immediate future ("The Olympics is everything.") and farther down the road ("I do love the marathon, but I think I love being good better ... I want to succeed at what I'm going to be best at."). A confident Ritz has big plans for the future. A must read (or watch) if we can say so ourselves. Plus we give you splits of the last 3.2 miles in Houston.

Conference Champs Weekend *USTFCCCA Conference Champs Central

*ACC Day 1: Virginia sweeps top 3 in 5k, no Robby Andrews.
*Big 12 Coverage Day 1 results here. German Fernandez didn't run but was mentioned in the OSU press release, so we assume that means he runs Saturday.
*MPSF (PAC-12) Coverage Great men's DMR (Miles Batty vs. Chris Derrick on the anchors). *Discuss Here *Day 1 Results
*
Big Ten Preview
*HepsTrack.com Previews Ivy League Championships
Many of the above meets have live streaming at the coverage links above.

Fabulous Read: San Diego Tribune On Eamonn Coghlan's World Record In Indoor Mile 31 Years Ago We can give this the attention it deserves after this weekend's action.

Saturday Night In Albuquerque