Random But Somewhat Interesting On A Slow News Day
- Chinese Bragging That None Of Their Olympians Tested Positive In London
- Tracksters Can Relate: Only 10% Of Tennis Pros Make Decent Money If you are outside the top 20 in the world, it's tough.
- Starter Who DQed Bolt In 2011 Is Big Bolt Fan & Wasn't Surprised At All By His Wins This Year This year, he saw the bottle come flying onto the track. "He's done many things that we'll never see again in our lifetime."
- All British Gold Medallists Receive Commander Of The British Empire (CBE) Status
*Athletics Weekly
Steve Cram, Who Still Feels Goose Bumps When He Thinks About Mo Farah's 10k Win, Is Enjoying The Accolades For His Great BBC Race Call But Says No One Would Remember What He Said If Mo Had Gotten Second *Steve Cram's Website
Administrative News For Track & Cycling
- Cycling Head Dismisses Greg LeMond's Bid To Replace Him "(He) may know a little bit about cycling but he knows nothing about BMX, he knows nothing about Africa, I would contend to know a lot more. I can offer the UCI a lot more in terms of what it needs, not just elite cycling."
- More Cycling News: A Review Of David Walsh's New Book On What It Was Like To Pursue Lance Armstrong For 13 Years Trying To Expose The Truth The new book "In Seven Deadly Sins - My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong" is now out. *Buy Here
- Support Growing For London 2022 Commonwealth Games Bid
- Japan's New Government Pledges Full Support To Tokyo 2020 Olympic Bid
US News
- Suzy Favor Hamilton Loses Another Sponsor In The Wisconsin Potato And Vegetable Growers Association Disney was one thing, but losing the Potato and Vegetable Growers Association has gotta hurt.
- Molly Huddle Defers Med School To Keep Running "I'm lucky to be doing what I'm doing. There's an expiration date. You have to see what you can do. I'm not taking any classes or doing any part-time jobs."
- Good IAAF Profile Of Arizona University HJer Brigetta Barrett, Who "Emerged From Relative Obscurity" To Win Silver At The London Olympics "I remember one person told me, 'You're here for fun, and we're out here thinking about how we'll eat.' In my mind, I was like, OK, I understand what you're talking about but, at the same time, I'm hungry, too. It doesn't matter if I'm trying to feed a family or not; I'm still going to go out there and take what's mine."
- Recommended Read: Arthur Duffey Inducted Into The USATF Hall Of Fame More Than 100 Years After He Set The 100-Yard WR His records were originally erased because of "never-confirmed reports" of "professionalism" aka taking sponsorship money.
- Alaska's Winter Solstice Marathon Won In 4:08 -30 Degrees Fahrenheit Conditions
- Edward Cheserek Gets His Indoor Season Going By Anchoring His SMR Team With A 1:51.7 800 Split After Going Out In 52 The Armory meet also included an interesting mile steeplechase race which was won in 4:50.04.
- Ex-Marine Runs 41:24 10K Carrying 40 Pounds To Set WR (He Also Has WRs At 400m, 1Mile, 5k, Half & Full Marathon For Running With 40-Lb. Pack) 40 pounds is used because it is the weight marines used to carry when going into battle (aka assault weight).
- RunnerSpace Catches Up With Bring Back The Mile Head Ryan Lamppa As The Movement Comes Up On Its One-Year Anniversary
Scientific Study Finds That Your Body Will Release More Pain-Killing Chemicals When You Believe The Pain Is Good For You So pain tolerance increases when pain is believed to be beneficial.
Results/Upcoming Races
- Peter Wahome And Nancy Githaiga Karindi Win Cross-Country Race In Kenya Yesterday
- "Mass Transit Racers" Succeed In Their Attempt To Beat The NYC Subway On Foot From 110th To 116th Street (~.4 Miles) The group was co-founded by NJ-NY Track Club elite miler Liam Boylan-Pett, who spoke of putting on more races around the city.
- Feb. 3rd: Interesting Matchup Set For Moscow Indoor Meet As Olympic 800 Silver & Bronze Medalists Nijel Amos & Timothy Kitum Will Race Over 600m They'll have a shot at the WR of 1:15.12 and if not, the junior record of 1:16.92 held by US runner Casimir Loxsom from 2010.
More 2012 In Review
- HepsTrack Reviews 2012 Top Ivy League Performances By Collegiates And Alumni
- IAAF End-Of-Year Review - Road Running/Marathon
- European Athletics Year In Review: Men's Mid-D & Steeplechase
- Irish Times Writer Says "Track And Field Will Always Define The Olympics"
Random International news
- Jamaica's Two-Time Olympic 4 X 400 Bronze Medalist Shereefa Lloyd In Christmas Day Car Accident She's fine, but her Mercedes Benz isn't.
- UK Sport Investing $16,135,000 Into Funding UK Coaches To Prevent Them Leaving To Coach For Other Countries They've also been spending money taking coaches from the US.
- Q&A With Mo Farah On Being A New Parent He's framing his Olympic medals for his twins for Christmas, but said, "I'm not hanging the medals in their room. They have to realise what that medal is - you can't just give it to them. They're theirs, but they have to see what they mean and how I came to have them."
- IAAF Profile On 16-Year-Old World Junior Triple Jump Champion Ana Peleteiro She's very talented and only trains 4 times a week.
- Host City For The 2014 Winter Olympics, Russia's Sochi, Hit By Earthquake And Gas Explosion
Olympics-Related News
- Not A Good Christmas: Brazil's Paralympic 200m Champion Alan Fonteles (The Guy Who Started The Controversy Over Leg Length After He Beat Oscar P) Was In Drunk Driving Accident
- British Public Still Fuming That More Than Half The Tickets For Some Of The Biggest Events In London 2012 Were Set Aside For VIPs Includes interactive chart with ticket breakdown for each sport.
- Moscow Pulls A 180 And Says Historic Luzhniki Stadium Won't Be Demolished, But Renovated Instead For 2018 FIFA World Cup
Kim Conley Enjoying Her First Christmas As An Olympian And Talks About How Things Have Changed "I called myself a professional runner before the Olympics, but it's hard to call yourself a professional if you don't make any money."
Athletics Illustrated Interview With Canadian Heptathlon NR Holder Jessica Zelinka, Who Is Ranked 7th In The World In Both The Heptathlon & 100 Hurdles However, despite being ranked 7th in the world in two events, Athletics Canada recently dropped her from funding. Adding to her bad luck, she got a strike for missing a drug test while she was delivering a speech to the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Watch A Different Christmas Movie This Year: "The Man Who Saved Christmas" Is A 2002 Film About 1908 PV Olympic Champ And Toymaker Alfred Gilbert Gilbert set two pole valut WRs and invented the Erector Set.
The Media Reacts To Suzy Favor Hamilton
Mid-Saturday Update:
Definitely Not Politcally Correct: Chicago Sun-Times Columnist: SFH isn't alone - lots of female distance runners are total nut jobs SFH had "a glint of ferocity in her eyes, of suppressed danger. I saw the look in many of the Wisconsin middle-distance and long-distance female runners. In my book, I made special note of them, of their lapses
into near insanity, of their successes and crashes and eating disorders
and dependence on their controlling German head coach, Peter Tegen."
*Foot Locker Midwest Head Says Hamilton Can't Even Work As Volunteer At Its Event - Doubts She'll Keep Any Running Jobs
"There is not a person in my opinion who has given more back to the sport of distance running than she has. That's why it's so tragic. We're
losing Suzy." The UW-Madison School of Education, and the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association also are re-considering.
*FBI Might Be Interested
*The Daily Beast Examines How Escort Services Work (link fixed)
Usain Bolt Gets Dumped And Other Random News
- Usain Bolt Gets Dumped By British Girlfriend She says she couldn't handle the long-distance relationship and spills the beans on what it was like to date the global superstar.
- Video Interview: Jenny Simpson Talks About Her Move Back To Boulder And Coach Mark Wetmore
- Mo Farah On Queen's New Year's Honours List
- Madrid Anti-Doping Testing Laboratory Suspended By WADA And Its Head Has Resigned Due To A Testing Anomaly This is bad timing for Madrid as they turn in their bid file to host the 2020 Games to the IOC in 3 weeks.
- Canadian High Schoolers Wanted: Tokyo University Head Coach Looking To Recruit Male Distance Runners From Canada
- YouTube Documentary: "The Steeplechase: Man's Greatest Barrier"
Previous SFH News
*Husband Reacts With Compassion "Yes, I knew. We were essentially separated the past year. We are trying, with help, to see if we can make
it work. Suzy is a good person who went down the wrong path, obviously."
*AP Knocks On Hamilton Door Gets No Answer, Finds Psychologist Who's Not Surprised "She needed to have some way to express some other side of herself that
didn't feel as clean or wonderful or upstanding as she appeared to be."
*Seduction
Author Not Surprised Either
"I believe at least fifty to sixty percent of all single women are
Wholesome Pretenders. ... The vast majority of women are taught and
brainwashed to behave as 'innocent, wholesome good girls.' For most
women, that is not the reality of their inner sexuality."
*Fox Sports.com: Sex scandal not funny, just sad.
*Colin Cowherd (Chris Lear And Rojo's Favorite Sports Radio Guy) Leads ESPN Show With SFH Talk - *Listen As He Says Her Actions Probably Aren't As Rare As You Think
*SFH Lands On Cover Of Daily News
*SFH Banned From All Disney Sporting Events
*runDisney Drops SFH As Event Speaker
*Competitor Group Drops Her As Well
*Bleacher Report: Former Olympian Deserves Privacy To Handle Personal Issues
Unbelievable
The Smoking Gun.com: Suzy Favor Hamilton Has Been Working As $600/Hour Escort For Last Year SFH, the 3-time Olympian, has
been one of the hottest commodities in the escort business over the last year as she jumped up to a #3 ranking and got rave reviews for her runner's body and for providing
the "full GFE (girlfriend experience)." One client raved, "I would do anything to protect her. ... She is worth every penny. I will go bankrupt before I stop seeing her. I hope no one else goes to see her, because I want her all to myself. ... I never thought I would find anyone in this hobby like her."
*Suzy Favor Hamilton Issues A Statement
*MB: Suzy Favor-Hamilton: Vegas Escort
Reaction From Across The Globe:
*NY Times: 1,176 Words On SFH: Former Olympian Cites Depression For Taking Job As Escort
*NY Daily News On Hamilton
*RRW: Suzy Favor Hamilton Admits To Double Life As $600 Per Hour Escort (link fixed)
*Hometown Reaction: Wisconsin State Journal: Suzy Favor Hamilton cites depression as
reason she led "double life" as high-priced prostitute
*Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Olympian Suzy Favor Hamilton admits she worked as escort
*Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Profile On Hamilton In July Where She Talked About Battling Depression
Suzy Favor Hamilton TV Report In Chicago
US Collegiate Athletes Of The Year Are Announced
The Bowerman: LSU's Kimberly Duncan And S. Utah's Cam Levins Win The 5k and 10k champ Levins won on the men's side over the 100 and 110H champ, but there was even more intrigue on the women's side. Duncan had an incredible season as
she won two individual NCAA crowns in the 200, was runner-up in the 100 and was on LSU's winning 4 x 100 and runner-up 4 x 400 teams, but one LRC visitor at a minimum is irate that Arizona's Brigetta Barrett didn't win. How do you top being being undefeated for the collegiate season and then winning an Olympic silver?
*MB: So an undefeated collegiate woman who won an Olympic silver medal isn't the NCAA track AOY - a non Olympian is?
The BBC Interviews Alberto Salazar & He Doesn't Hold Back In His Assessment Of Mo Farah's Place In History
- Salazar: Mo Farah Completed Toughest Olympic Double In History "Mo Farah's double gold at London 2012 was the greatest distance running achievement in history, according to his coach Alberto Salazar."
- BBC: Salazar Compares Mo To Other Double Olympic Champs - "He's surpassed them by far."
- Salazar: "I knew Mo and Galen were ready when they wanted to play Fifa Soccer instead of go to their last track workout."
- Listen Here: BBC Interviews US "Super Coaches" Dan Pfaff & Alberto Salazar For 2 Hours LRC has always said John Kellogg and Pfaff are the only two people we know who are geniuses when it comes to track and field. We think Salazar's quotes come from this piece.
A MUST Read - One Of The Greatest Races Ever Run - The US Women's Version Of The Billy Mills 10,000 Win
RWorld Reintroduces The World To Debbie Heald, Who 40 Years Ago Incredibly Ran The US HS Indoor Mile Record Of 4:38.5 Steve Friedman's piece on Heald is moving to say the least. Heald, whose father had committed suicide,
who had been molested and who was always battling injury (13 different running-related surgeries), somehow
at the US vs. USSR meet at age 16 in 1972 beat the greatest runners in the world, including the indoor 1,500 record holder and that year's eventual Olympic 1,500 champion, by running an a 8.5-second PR of 4:38.5. She came from way back to win thanks to a ferocious kick and she was known for having no kick. Her life since then has been full of struggles with schizophrenia but her HS indoor record still stands.
MB: Debbie Heald article in RW
Heald's Incredible 1972 Race
More On Heald:
*2002 LA Times Feature
*1972 Sports Illustrated
*1967 Faces In The Crowd At Age 11
From The MB:
*16-year-old Debbie Heald takes down the Russians, sets AR in 1972
*No Wikipedia entry for Debbie Heald ...
*1972 USA vs. USSR: 16-year-old wins the women's mile in a national record. (still standing)
*1972 Video Of Debbie Heald
The XMas Holiday Wasn't Real Kind to Mo Farah
- Mo Farah gets detained by US Customs officials for terrorism questioning so he shows them gold medals to no avail "I couldn't believe it. Because of my Somali origin I get detained every time I come through US Customs. This time I even got my medals out to show who I am, but they wouldn't have it." *MB: Mo Farah - a terrorist?
- Muslim Mo Farah gets asked on radio twice about his Christmas celebrations
- MB: Mo Farah only runs 12.9 for 100m time on BBC Superstars Show That's barely 52 seconds for a 400 for a guy who closes races almost that fast.
- Mo Farah is disappointed he didn't get knighthood like Bradley Wiggins If we were the Brits, having learned from the Lance Armstrong case, we wouldn't touch knighthood for any endurance athlete like Wiggins until 10 yrs after their careers are over.
- On The Bright Side: Mo Farah 'blown away' after being made CBE
Ridiculous Claim: 37-Year Old 2:14 Marathoner Luke Kipkosgei Says He would have won Olympic gold had he not been injured Kipkosgrei, who did win a world indoor 3k bronze in 2003, is hoping to run the Moscow WCs. Good luck with that.
End-Of-Year News
David Rudisha Named TFN's Athlete Of The Year For 3rd Straight Year - Joins Carl Lewis As Only Athlete With 3 Straight Wins Ashton Eaton got more 1st place votes but didn't get his WR in the Olympics. We might have given it to Aries Merritt, who won indoor and outdoor gold and absolutely obliterated the world record.
*MB: The Case For Aries Merritt Being 2012 Track and Field's Athlete of the Year
*David Rudisha's 1:40.91 Is Ranked As #2 African Sporting Moment Of 2012 - Zambia's PK Africa's Cup Win Is #1
*Usain Bolt Named The Best Athlete Of 2012 By The International Sports Press Association (AIPS) He beat out Djokovic and Phelps. Serena Williams won the women's over Ennis & Felix.
Valerie
Adams Wins Women's AOY Award The 1st shot putter in 32 years to win the award. And to think she was initially viewed by the press as an Olympic disappointment.
TFN Releases Its Men's Top 10 World Rankings The rankings are bound to be controversial. Olympic silver medallist Leo Manzano is only #9, for example. As a result, we thought it would be good to discuss some of the selections. Maybe we'll pick two more tomorrow.
*MB: Discussion: Track & Field News' 2012 World Steeple Rankings: Kemboi #3? (Kipsiele Koech #1) Jager Nabs #10
*MB: Discussion: Track & Field News' 2012 World 1,500 Rankings: Kiplagat #1, Makhloufi #4, Centro #5, Manzano #9
*European Athletics 2012 End-Of-Year Review - Men's Long Distance And Road Running
*European Athletics 2012 End-Of-Year Review - Women's Long Distance And Road Running
*IAAF End-Of-Year Reviews - Middle Distance
Random Distance News
- Say It Ain't So
Desiree Davila Pulls Out Of 2013 Boston Marathon As She's Still Recovering From Her Stress Fracture - After 55 Years, Sapporo International Half Marathon Will Be Run For Last Time In 2013 The elite-only races in Japan are having a tough time surviving.
- An Interview With Iona's Ethan Heywood The transfer to Iona didn't run NCAAs but had PRs of 3:50 and 8:17 before he transferred in.
Yet Another Example Of It Being Best Not To Pre-Judge (Employee 1.1, Are You Reading This?) 2011 European XC Champ Atelaw Bekele Cleared Of Doping Charges Those responsible for the false news that he missed 3 tests, and not one when traveling in Ethiopia, should be sued.
Sprint News
- Because of Stanford Schedule, Steve Solomon Won't Race Oscar P - Will Only Return to Australia for Nationals
- Athletics Australia Finds No Evidence John Steffensen Was Left Out Of Individual 400 Because Of Racism The guy they "snubbed" him for, now Stanford freshman Steve Solomon, only made the final.
- Well Deserved: Kirani James Is Thrilled To Be Honored For His Oscar P Gesture His "unparalleled spirit of humanity" was one of the highlights of the Games.
- 22-Year-Old Aristocrat Lawrence Clarke Got 4th In 110H In London
- Usain Bolt Partnered With KFC To Give Out Gift Packages To 200 School Kids On Boxing Day (Dec. 26)
- USC 400 News: 3rd Placer At Olympic Trials Bryshon Nellum Gets 6th Year- 4th Placer Josh Mance Transfers Out
- World's Fastest Man From 1902 - Who Later Was Banned By The AAU Without A Trial - Gets Redemption And USATF Hall Of Fame Induction Arthur Francis Duffey was a GTown student who ran 9.6 (100y) in 1902 but got shafted for allegedly letting his expenses be paid.
- Adam Gemili, The 18-Year-Old (Now 19) World Junior Champ, Had The Tinme Of His Life At The Olympics And Couldn't Believe Rudisha, Bolt & Felix Knew Who He Was "I remember sitting next to David Rudisha on the (bus) to the stadium on the night he won his gold medal. I took a picture of him and he said: 'Well done for winning the World Juniors.' Allyson Felix also said that to me. I was amazed that she actually knew who I was. And of course the best thing was Usain Bolt coming up to me and saying congratulations as well. I met him in the village and we got talking a little bit."
- 4 X 400 Bronze Medallist Shereefa Lloyd Crashes Car On Same Highway That Bolt Crashed In 2009 - Is OK
- British Hurdler Jack Green Loved Mo Greene As A Kid "(Because of him), I realised that sport could be entertainment, with his pre-race snarling and prowling."
Upcoming: Defar Racing XC On Jan. 5th
Olympic 5,000 Champ Meseret Defar Will Race Bupa Edinburgh 3k XC Meet On January 5th It was also announced that former World 100m champ Kim Collins will race an indoor meet in Scotland as well.
2012 Year-End And Olympic Reviews
- Caster Semenya's 800 Olympic Silver Medal Was South Africa's Only Track Medal Of The Games Semenya: "I am happy with the silver but I know the coach (Maria Mutola) isn't really happy as I didn't do a good job, but you learn from your mistakes."
- Olympic 400m Champion Kirani James Was The First Non-American To Go Sub-44 When He Ran 43.94 For Gold In London Michael Johnson has said that James could be the one to finally beat his 43.18 WR.
- Poll Finds That Almost 80% Of The British Public Believes That The London Games Were Worth The $14 Billion They Spent On It
- IAAF End Of The Year Review: Long Distance
- Instead Of An End-Of-The-Year Review, Science Of The Sport Has Put Out An End-Of-The-Year Quiz; See How You Do We liked his rules: "The [quiz] points don't matter anyway - they're like doping controls in the 1990s."
- Japan Running News' Top Ten Japanese Men Of 2012 Yuki Kawauchi wasn't named in the top 10, but was mentioned as a "fan favorite" and his world record for shortest time between two sub-2:11 marathons was voted Japanese men's performance of year.
The Top Ten Japanese Women Of 2012 Kayoko Fukushi took the number 1 spot for her 8th (5,000) and 10th (10,000) place finishes in the London Games. - European Athletics 2012 Recap: Women's Mid-D And Steeplechase
- Usain Bolt And Serena Williams Named United States Sports Academy's Athletes Of The Year
- Seb Coe 2nd On The Telegraph's List Of Top 10 Britons Of The Year
- Paralympic Highlights: Day 4: Oscar Pistorius Is Upset In 200 By "Long-Legged" Brazilian Alan Oliveira
*Day 8: Jonnie Peacock Wins 100m In *Day 10: Oscar P Defends His 400m Title
US News
- RW Q&A With Brenda Martinez About Her Training And Focus Going Into 2013 She's coached by Joe Vigil, who wants her to work on becoming stronger so she can be more consistent and maybe eventually be able to run a good 5k or 10k rather than just 800-1,500.
- Since US 4 X 4 Runner Manteo Mitchell Finished His Leg After Breaking His Fibula During The Olympics, He Has been Told He's Even Inspired Some Smokers And Drinkers To Quit Mitchell: "Yeah, breaking my leg got me the attention, but the message behind breaking it is what inspires people ... I did what I felt like any other person would have done for me. I do not train years for 44 seconds to quit. No matter what."
Not Much Happened The Day After Christmas
- OTB:
- Why does triathlon allow a 10% deviation in distance in the course?
- More Impressive:Daniel Komen's 2 mile or Kenenisa Bekele's 5000m WR?
- Sex and Running/Competition
- Can you recommend any REALLY good movies on Netflix Instant?
- 10X400 in 68 for each w/ 2 min rest between each. What can I do for mile or 800?
- When can I get married?
- Which Dragonball Z character does your racing/training style most closely represent?
Christmas/End Of The Year News
- EatRunSwag Funny Running Christmas Carols We're particularly fond of "Ruppdolph the Face Masked Runner."
- Running Parody On "'Twas The Night Before Christmas"
- Video: The Weirdest World Record Of 2012? The Juggling Triathlon
IAAF End Of Year Review: Jumps The US had two Olympic champs in Christian Taylor & Jenn Suhr.
*Hurdles: Aries Merritt Breaks The WR - Telegraph Pictures Of The Year 2012: Olympic And Paralympic Games
From Monday: Mercy Kibarus Won Shoe4Africa Women's Road Race In Iten With A 16:45 Valentine Kibet finished second in 16.57.32.
IAAF Preview Jan. 6th Campaccio Cross-Country: Italy's Andrea Lalli Will Be Up Against Olympic 5,000 Bronze Medalist Thomas Longosiwa & Leonard Komon Also includes Ethiopia's World Junior 5,000m champ Muktar Edris. Priscah Cherono leads women's field. *EA Prevew
Patrick Makau Reveals That He Ran Frankfurt Instead Of Berlin This Year Because Race Organizers Weren't Willing To Pay Him Enough Makau: "For someone to attempt a world record is not easy. Last year, I used a lot of effort to make the world record but in this case, we could not agree with them on what I was to get."
Merry Christmas:
- Mo Farah Will Train On Christmas Day - Will You?
- Bolt Wishes Fans Merry Xmas Via Twitter
- Did You Know? 1908 Olympic Gold Medallist In Pole Vault, Who Invented 1st Toy Widely Advertised In Media, Saved Xmas In 1917 By Continuing Toy Production During War
- Unrelated To Christmas But Heartwarming - Is The Meaning Of Life Love?
Read this article on a high school superstar physics teacher with a disabled son & then watch this video.
- Non-Cheerful News: Sorry Guys, Hannah England Is Engaged
Oregon Thought He Didn't Recruit Distance Studs - Others Thought He Only Got Them To Transfer
Who Says Martin Smith Can't Recruit Distance Runners? 4:02 HS Miler J. Burcham Commits To Oklahoma Burcham is a beast who ran 4:33 in 8th grade.
Columnist Implies Racism Resulted In Mo Farah Finishing 4th In BBC Sports Personality Of Year Award We disagree. One could easily argue that the two men who beat him (Andy Murray and Bradley Wiggins) deserved it more than he did and Jessica Ennis' gold is comparable and likely to garner more votes as she's the leading female.
Jamaican News
- Official Team Jamaica Behind-The-Scenes Video From The 2012 Olympic Games
- Kirani James Wants Bolt To Bolt 100m For 400m As he should, as his appearance fees would go way up. The author disagrees.
How Many Cups Of Milk Should Kids Drink A Day? Experts Say Two Per Day You don't want too many or your iron absorption is compromised.
Sunday Results: Both Euro XC Champs Lose And Show The Best Europeans Are Still Not As Good As Mid-Level Africans
- World Junior Steeple Silver Medalist Gilbert Kirui Wins IRIS Lotto Crosscup In Burssels Over Good Field As Euro XC Champ Andrea Lalli Was Back In 7th Ethiopia's World Junior Championships 5,000 silver medallist Ruti Aga took the women's race after a battle with Ireland's 2011 and 2012 European champion Fionnuala Britton.
*Athletics Weekly: Silver for Britton in Belgium
*Irish paper: Britton gets silver in Brussels for xmas - World Junior 5,000 Record Holder Hagos Gebrhiwet & Berlin Marathon Champ Aberu Kebede Were The Winners At Yesterday's Great Ethiopian Run 10k Gebrhiwet ran 28:37 and Kebede 33:27 in the race founded by Haile Gebrselassie back in 2001.
- Yukiko Akaba Defends Her Title At The Sanyo Ladies Road Race Half Marathon In 1:09:56
Justin Gatlin Says He Still Hasn't Given Up On Beating Usain Bolt "I've got world champion blood in me. It's not about times but about running to the line, being the first across it. ... I've got the Gatlin guns to throw at the Lightning Bolt and the Beast (Yohan Blake) and Tyson Gay."
Kenyan News: Peter Mateelong Wins And Asbel Kiprop Is Healthy Again *Photos
- Peter Mateelong Wins KCB/Athletics Kenya National Cross-Country Series Meet Over 7-Time World XC Veteran Hosea Mwok Macharinyang Asbel Kiprop rabbitted the first 5k as 2011 African XC champ John Mwangangi was 4th. African 5,000/10,000 Champ Glady Cherono won the senior women's race over Chicago Marathon 3rd placer Lucy Kabuu and in the junior women's race, there was a huge upset, as World Junior XC gold medallist Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon was 5th as World Junior 3,000m champ Mercy Chebwogen won. *2nd Article focusing on some of the other top runners who lost. *Photos
- RunBlogRun Post On Why Kenyan Elites Are Starting To Move Away From Group Training Camps LetsRun has always said that Athletics Kenya always forcing their athletes to go to controlled training camps in the weeks ahead of major championships is a horrible idea.
- Toni Reavis Jokes That According To The Stats, The Marathon Could Be Considered For Elimination From The Olympics The IOC says Olympic sports should be "widely practiced around the world" and outside of Kenya and Ethiopia, only nine other nations have runners with times in the top 100 for 2012 (and those nations have only 1 or 2).
- Former Steeple World Champ Brimin Kipruto Looking Forward To Taking Back His Title At Moscow 2013 This will be his fourth World Championships appearance, with his first back in 2005.
- Prize Money For July Nairobi Marathon Winners Still Unpaid
Ireland's Paralympic T13 100/200 Champ Jason Smyth Says He Wants To Defend His Titles In 2016
New Year's Eve: Delilah DiCrescenzo And Ashley Higginson Lead Women's Field For Emerald Nuts Midnight Run Christian Thompson, Liam Boylan-Pett and defending champ Landon Peacock lead men's field.
Spikes Magazine: "The Rise Of The Jager Meister" Jager says he got his start in soccer where he "used to run the entire game without needing a sub and I usually did it faster than everyone else too."
Stop Complaining: NYC Marathon Announced Cancellation Policy And You Can Get A Refund Get a refund or pay again for next year and run next year (while paying for this year as well).
On The Boards: NYC Marathon Resolution
*WSJ: NYRR Reach Multi-Million Dollar Settlment With Insurance Company After Cancellation Of NYC Marathon
New Year's: World XC Champ Imane Merga Will Take On Olympic 5,000m Bronze Medalist Thomas Longosiwa In New Year's Eve 10k Race In Bolzano, Italy Scott Bauhs is also in the field as two-time World 5,000m silver medallist Sylvia Kibet headlines women's 5k.
Good Read: Brett Larner Explains "How I Learned To Love The Ekiden And Why You Should Too" "When you put on that soaking wet, stinking piece of cloth and your own sweat mingles with it there is a physical bond formed between your life and theirs, your own years of work becoming part of something bigger, and others are waiting to join you. Giving anything less than your best is not sacrificing your gift, it is sacrificing everybody else's gifts."
Sports Science: Viagra Improves Performance In More Ways Than One
-
Athletics Illustrated Q&A With Steve Magness Apparently Viagra when combined with high altitude training has the potential to improve athletic performance.
- WSJ Continues Its Campaign To Discourage People From Exercising: Study Says Playing A Round Of Golf Is Just As Beneficial As A 100-Mile Bike Ride For Aiding Longevity We stopped reading after the second paragraph, when we saw the study is based on data taken from Olympian mortality records between 1896 and 1936.
- On The Other Hand ... Study Finds Olympic Medalists Live On Average 2.8 Years Longer Than Average Population This study looked at Olympic athletes between 1896 and 2010.
US News: Adam Nelson On His Way To Becoming An Olympic Champion
- Good News: 4 Throwers From 2004 Athens Olympics Officially Stripped Of Their Medals After Doping Retests *2nd Article
- Which Means ... Q&A With Adam Nelson, Who Stands To Be Upgraded To Gold After Official IOC Announcement Stripping Yuriy Bilonog Of His Medal "To be honest, it feels really strange and it's a weird feeling. I've heard the rumors before and have not given the rumors much credit until an official ruling. Now that it's happened I'm excited. It is all just sinking in. You know, I feel I excited as I did to not lose that event [in 2004]; I was second on a tie-breaker. I feel good that I will always be the person who threw farthest on that day."
Sad News: Two-Time Foot Locker Finalist Arrested For Murder Eric Kweder, who has popped up in a number of threads over the years, was 9th in 1995 as an 11th grader - one spot ahead of eventual Olympian Jonathan Riley.
Foot Locker Finals *Results *Boys Photo Gallery *Legends Pre-Race Photo Gallery
Boys: Edward Cheserek Repeats After Battle With Sean McGorty McGorty, the South champ, and Jake Leingang, the Midwest champ, didn't make it easy for Cheserek, but there is a reason Cheserek
doesn't lose - he's
the best in the US high school ranks. The four Regional winners went 1-2-3-4. *Results *Milesplit Recap *Edward Cheserek Interview
Girls: Anna Rohrer Overcomes Fall To Win Rohrer pulled away for the win after falling after the start. Her Midwest teammates dominated the race with 6 in the top 10. Catarina Rocha of the Northeast was the runner-up, with both runner-ups having a least one Foot Locker finalist parent. *Results
*Steve U's Recap *Anna Rohrer Interview
*OTB: Sarah Baxter 2016 Olympics? *wow footlocker, get your cameras fixed. learn how to cover a national race *Has Foot Locker gone too far?
Kenenisa Bekele Finishes His Track
Kenenisa Bekele Builds His Own Track/Runner's Paradise In Ethiopia And Hotel For Athletes Wishing To Use It It is in an area with 20 miles of forest trails in the mountains as well as flat woods right behind the hotel. He says he spent $1.5 million on the track, which currently has 6 lanes, but he plans on adding 2 more and adding seating so they can host elite track meets.
Lolo Jones Has Survived Her First Bobsled Crash And she even jokes about it: "God is real. I saw him today and he said come back later."
Track And Field's Male Fans Are Thankful For This
Fit Again & Recovered From Achilles Surgery & Bacterial Infection, Blanka Vlasic Is Ready
To Compete Again
The Running Event Is In The Books *Photos
LRC The 2012 Running Event Is In The Books: Five Takeaways On The Industry Shark Tank's Daymond John Speaks The trade show for specialty running shops was last week in Austin, Texas and LRC's Wejo was there plus Ryan Hall,
Meb Keflezighi, and most of Saucony's top athletes. The running industry should be renamed the "how to not get injured" industry. Some take-aways from the convention.
*Press Release: The Running Event 2012 Attracts 2,100 To Austin
Weekly Recap
LRC Biomechanics Are The Key? 2012 The Year Of The 800? Mo Farah The GOAT? SFH > Galen Rupp & Leo? Usain Bolt's Love Life, Wisdom From Pfaff & Salazar, And More This week we spend a lot of time wondering, "Was Mo Farah's double win really by far the greatest Olympic distance double" as Alberto Salazar claimed? (No). We also wonder if biomechanics are the key to success in T&F, wonder if this was the greatest year ever in the men's 800, compare the amount of pub generated by Suzy Favor Hamilton as compared to Galen Rupp, give you great coaching insight from Dan Pfaff (and Salazar), tell you how some coaches are never satisfied, and remind you to yawn before your next race. Plus Usain Bolt's ex-girlfriend kisses and tells, and why the best thing about altitude training may have nothing to do with altitude.
D-Day For Lance Armstrong
- D-Day For Lance Armstrong Came And Went As Yesterday Was His Last Chance To Appeal His Ban To CAS
- Tyler Hamilton: "You hear very little from Lance, but I think this will not be a permanent state. I fear Lance will hit back." "I think he is suffering a lot. He is a very proud person and thinks that - like Atlas - he can carry the whole world on his shoulders. Now everything is gone, the honour and the glory. I think it will tear him apart that he is no longer a hero."
Japan's Top Collegiate Runner Joins Salazar And The Oregon Project
Japan's #1 Male Collegiate Runner Suguru Osako (13:31 5k, 27:56 10k, 1:01:47 Half) Will Be Joining Alberto Salazar And The Oregon Project He'll be running for the corporate Nissin Shokuhin team following his graduation in 2014, but live in Oregon and train under Salazar for the OP.
Run, Recover, Run More
LRC Runners Recover Better And Hopefully Stay Injury Free With These Two Products From The 2012 Running Event Wejo talks about some of the injury prevention products he saw at the The Running Event, which include better methods for massage, icing, and compression.
Meb And The Mental Side Of Running
LRC Meb Keflezighi Talks About Getting His Start In Running, The Mental/Physical Breakdown Of The Sport Meb: "I really believe during preparation it's 90% physical, 10% mental. When the gun goes off it's 90% mental and 10% being healthy."
Christmas Has Us Emotional - Is The Meaning Of Life Love?
Read This Article & Then Watch This Video
Lance Armstrong News
- Lance Armstrong Being Sued For $1.6 Million By British Newspaper The Sunday Times Over His Libel Action Against Them 8 Years Ago Armstrong received $485,000 from them in 2004 as payment towards his legal fees after their writer, David Walsh, put out an article accusing him of drug use.
- In His New Book, Sunday Times Writer David Walsh Likens His Hunt To Nab Lance Armstrong To That Of Ahab And Moby Dick Those who feel sympathy for Armstrong or don't think he should be punished should read this as it just barely scratches the surface of how miserable he made life for people who tried to out him and tell the truth.
Dubai Marathon Is January 25th
- IAAF Looks Ahead To Dubai: 2:03:06 Man Moses Mosop Battle Martin Lel And Yemane Tsegay Mosop lost to Tsegay at Rotterdam last year when Tsegay ran 2:04:48. Ethiopia's 2012 Dubai champ Ayele Abshero (2:04:23) is out with an injury, but Dubai will also host the marathon debuts of 4 sub-60 minute half marathoners.
- Women's Race: 2011 & 2012 Winner Asselefech Has Pulled Out With Injury, So Paris Champ Tirfi Tsegay (2:21:19) Will Be The Favorite She'll be up against Toronoto Marathon Champ Koren Jelela (2:22:43).
Maggie Vessey Tests Positive And Gets A Warning
Maggie Vessey Tests Positive For Diuretic And Accepts Public Warning
The American 800m star was taking a prescription medicine that had a banned substance. She won't have to serve a suspension of any kind.
On The Boards: Maggie Vessey tests positive
The Week That Was In Running: December 10 - December 16, 2012
LRC Jenny Simpson's About Face, Sally Jenkins' Embarrassing Defense Of Lance, Fast Rugby Players, A Mea Culpa And More Not a lot happened last week on the track but there is A TON to talk about. We break down world champion Jenny Simpson's about face and return to Mark Wetmore by comparing her positively to Charles Barkely and Dan Marino, but remind people that a return home didn't resurrect the career of Jeremy Wariner. We absolutely rip Sally Jenkins for defending Lance Armstrong and for using the "rape card" to support her argument as we compare Lance to Bernie Madoff. Along the way, we tell you why legalized PED use = the end of women's sports and introduce you to the fastest rugby player in the world. Plus we fess up to a rare, rare mistake.
TodaysMiles.com Launches On LetsRun.com
Today's Miles Launches The running world has got 3.1*, 13.1 and 26.2 stickers. Todaymiles.com takes that concept to running apparel. Want to celebrate that 26.2 you did? Do it. Want to run 20 minutes and wear a 20 mile shirt? You can do that, too. More info here.
Wetmore-Simpson Round II
LRC Jenny Simpson Coaching Switch Update Former CU Buff Stephen Kasica has some details on Simpson training in Boulder last week. Plus there is a cool multimedia timeline on Simpson's career and some perspective. Simpson won Worlds under Juli Benson, yet never ran within 3.5 seconds of her 1,500m PR. Fascinating.