April 04, 2014 Homepage Archive

Where Your Dreams Become Reality

Archived Homepage For April 04, 2014

Quote Of The Day

“Like any agency with too thin a budget and too broad a portfolio, USA Track & Field has become a prisoner of its own constitution. Irrespective of who has sat as head of the organization, USATF has been unable to extract itself from the knot of futility and frustration defined by its own internal inconsistencies. Without a common goal to bind its component parts, each discipline finds itself competing for limited resources, constraining the growth of any in the process. …”

“… Consider if Little League Baseball, Slow Pitch Softball, Wiffle Ball and Major League Baseball all came under the same organizational umbrella, with MLB having no standing, more or less, than any other component. What odds of success would you offer that arrangement? … What has become abundantly clear is that this one-size-fits-all organizational model, while well intentioned, is over-burdened, under-funded, and simply a vestigial relic of a time now passed.”

– Toni Reavis suggesting that the problems with USATF may stem from the fact that it is too large for its own good as it is responsible for everything from professional track and field to youth events to mountain/trail racing.

Week That Was

LRCWTW: Even Kenyan Teens Are Embarrassed To Run, Kenya Rules Ethiopia In Quantity But Not Quality, And Hope For Galen Rupp?

This week we give Galen Rupp fans reason to believe a victory over Bernard Lagat at 5,000 is possible, are amazed that even Kenyan phenoms are sometimes embarrassed to run, wonder why Kenya rules Ethiopia in quantity but not quality, and go crazy with our quotes of the week.

Weekend Road News

Sunday:Joyce Chepkirui Wants To Go Under 1:06 At Prague Half Marathon The 1:07:03 runner will face a deep field with 7 sub-70-minute runners including 2-time World XC champ Emily Chebet (1:08:20) and former NYC Marathon champ Firehiwot Dado (1:08:35). In the men’s field there are 4 sub-60-runners and 2 more who have ran just over, led by Philemon Limo (59:30) and Hunegnaw Mesfin and Peter Kirui (both 59:39).
Sunday:Ireland’s Fionnuala Britton Rematches French Rival Sophie Duarte At Great Ireland Run 10K In Dublin Duarte won Euro XC Champs when Britton was going for her 3rd straight title. World XC champ Japhet Korir leads the men’s race.
Next Sunday: Last Year’s Runner-Up Abebech Afework Leads Women’s Field For Rotterdam Marathon Afework has a 2:23:59 PR.

HJer Bohdan Bondarenko Will Open His Season May 11th At Tokyo World Challenge

Distance News

Bekele, After Running Up To 150 MPW, Ready For Marathon Debut In Paris & Says Some Of Training Was “Boring” No word yet on what the halfway pace will be.
*On The Boards: K. Bekele ran up to 150 miles /week for his marathon debut in Paris on Sunday
David Rudisha Confirms That Article Saying He Was Retiring Was An April Fools Joke
RW Talks To Desiree Linden (Davila) About Her Training Ahead Of Boston 2014 Linden says she’s had a good training buildup which included altitude training in Kenya. She said, “I think I’m ready to be competitive, and I think I will be, but still, it’s going to be a jump from Berlin (where she ran 2:29). Where exactly I land, who knows?”
Ken Goe Talks To A.J. Acosta, Who Is Working As An Elementary School Substitute Teacher To Continue To Fund His Running Dreams

High Fitness Associated With High Brain Function Later In Life New study shows that cardio fitness has long-term effect on several key cognitive functions.

Mexico Will Not Bid For 2024 Olympics Because Of “Economic And Infrastructural” Difficulties

Road News

Amy Hastings Drops Out Of Boston Marathon, Citing Lack Of Fitness Also, Colombia’s 2012 Olympian Yolanda Caballero is out due to a positive result in out-of-competition drug testing in Kenya,
Deena Kastor To Compete In More Magazine/Fitness Magazine Women’s Half Marathon On April 13
Kenya’s 2:06:58 Runner Henry Sugut Will Try To Win His 4th Straight Vienna City Marathon On April 13th He’ll face Ethiopia’s 2:04:50 man Getu Feleke as well as 5 other sub-2:08 men.
Pyongyang Marathon In North Korea Open To Tourist-Runners For First Time
Telegraph Gives A Quick Fact Breakdown For UKers About Mo Farah’s Marathon Debut In London This Month
RW: Fans Can Expect Some Changes At Boston Marathon As Authorities Increase Security New security guidelines discourage costumes and put extra barriers on course between fans and runners.

Sprints / Jumps / Multis

Jamaica Boys And Girls 100m Champ Zharnel Hughes Likely To Compete For UK In 2016 Olympics He can compete at Worlds and Commonwealth Games for Anguilla, but will need to choose a country with an Olympic committee for 2016. Right now he says that competing for the UK would be the “best choice.”
*2nd Article: Hughes Could Join UK LJ Record Holder Shara Proctor, Who Is From Anguilla But Competes For The UK
*LRC Jamaican Champs: Zharnel Hughes Breaks Yohan Blake’s “Champs” 100m Record With 10.12
*LRC Meet Zharnel Hughes: The 18-Year-Old Has A Shot At Taking Down Yohan Blake’s 10.21 And Usain Bolt’s 20.25 “Champs” Records
UK Independent Talks To Rising Sprint Star Adam Gemili Gemili feels he is in the “best place he can possibly be” as he made the switch this year to train with a new group that includes sub-ten-second runner James Dasaolu.
Telegraph Profile On UK Rising Multi-Event Star Morgan Lake In February she broke the world youth indoor pentathlon record previously held by Olympic and three-time world champion Carolina Kluft.
IAAF Previews Oceania Combined Events Championships In Australia On Friday & Saturday Which Start Off The IAAF Combined Events Challenge
Brittney Reese Leads LJ Field For Pre Classic

2014 IAAF World Half Marathon ChampionshipsOfficial ThreadResults (Updated With Team Scores)

LRCGeoffrey Kipsang And Tiny Eritrea Have Days To Remember

Geoffrey Kipsang is a name you had better remember. The 2011 World XC junior champ got his first global senior title with an impressive 59:07 win without a rabbit as he led 30,000 runners to the finish line in the first time ever that the World Half Marathon Champs were a mass participation race. Tiny Eritrea got gold in the team competition.

LRCGladys Cherono's Gold Leads Perfect Kenyan Team As Bersagel And Kleppin Lead Strong American Effort

The Kenyan women were perfect and the American women almost got the bronze.

More In OurWorld Half Special Sect ion:

#USATF Still Doesn’t Get It

LRCUSATF's Reinstatement Of Gabriele Grunewald Was Another Example Of Itself Violating Its Own Rules And Making Them Up On The Spot

Greg Harger of the Indiana Invaders helps us see the reality.
*MB:Did the USATF Really Violate Its Own Rules by Reinstating Gabe Grunewald?

LRCUSATF Talks About The "New Conclusive" Evidence That Got Gabe Grunewald DQed

The LRC take is it was not new or conclusive. And if it was, then Grunewald should still be DQed.

College Meets/2014 Texas Relays Tx. ResultsAll College Meets

Baylor Frosh Trayvon Bromell Sets Texas Relays And Baylor Record Of 10.02 (.9 m/s) He of course famously broke 10.00 last year but with an illegal wind. *Video

IAAF Texas Relays Recap

2014 Jamaican “Champs” – Greatest HS Meet In World

Calabar’s Javon Francis Breaks Usain Bolt’s 45.35 “Champs” Record With Ridiculous 45.00
Calabar, Edwin Allen Are Champions Of Champs 2014
LRC Zharnel Hughes Does It – Takes Down Yohan Blake’s Champs Record At 10.12!!! Hughes, who we talked to earlier this week, had to fight for it as second was 10.16.
*Video*Jamaica Gleaner
*MB:Zharnel Hughes runs 10.12 @ Jamaica HS Champs
Hughes Injured Hammy Running 10.12 – Pulls Out Of Champs 200m Final Fans wanted to see the first sub-20 in “Champs” history.
Zharnel Hughes Runs Incredible 20.32 In 200 Semis Not Even Going All-Out In the 100 semis, he won running 10.68 into a 3.8 m/s wind.
Champs 2014, Day 3 Highlights – Michael O’Hara Runs 20.60 PR In 200 And Loses His Semi
*O’Hara False Starts – Kicked Out Of 100 In Semis
Australia HS News: 48/1:51/3:52 Aussie Jonas Aranda Is Bound For Harvard

#USATFIncompetence #40daysandcounting

LRCUSATF's Incompetence Makes Front Page Of Wall Street Journal Marketplace Section Under Headline, "Nike Runs Into Trouble On The Track"

40 days ago, the wrong person was DQed in a USATF National Championship. USATF has done or said nothing about it. Total bullshit. Now, the WSJ is on the issue and framed it as a Nike issue. Will that be enough for USATF to get its act together? *WSJ Article

Weekend Track Action *All Weekend NCAA Action

USTFCCCA Weekend NCAA Preview: Edward Cheserek 10K Debut Highlights Deep Distance Races At Stanford Baylor freshman Trayvon Bromell will race at Florida Relays after running 10.01 last weekend to tie the WJR.
First Stanford Meet Is Friday & Saturday – Meet Info
*Live Results*Entries*Schedule
Oregon’s Laura Roesler Going For Sub-2 Minutes At Saturday’s Oregon-Arizona Dual At HaywardMac Fleet vs. Lawi Lalang in the 1,500.
*Live Stream On PAC-12 Network
Ole Miss Track Meet Cancelled Because Of Problems With The Track Surface
*MB: Ole Miss cancels home meet?
Japan Running News Weekend Preview: Kanaguri Memorial Meet Starts Off Japan Outdoor Season World 10,000 bronze medalist Paul Tanui will race the 5K. On the roads, Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov’t) will run his third marathon of the year at Sunday’s Saga Sakura Marathon.
IAAF Recap Of Day 1 Of Melbourne IAAF Combined Events Challenge
U.S. Area Youth Olympic Trials Begin Friday

NCAA Stuff: Outdoor Gets Going With First Stanford Meet This Weekend

Edward Cheserek Making His 10K Debut Friday At Stanford Oregon’s Coach Johnson said the goal was just to get the NCAA Regional qualifying time of 28:45, not to run a really fast time.
Dartmouth Sub-4 Miler Will Geoghegan Will Do His 5th Year At Oregon
*LRC Archive: Will Geoghegan Q & A: The Secrets Of Going From 4:05 To 3:58 In The Mile Are Revealed

Doping News

Galen Rupp Most USADA-Tested Athlete In 2013Dathan Ritzenhein and Shalane Flanagan were the 4th and 5th most tested US athletes across all sports.
*MB:USADA Targeting Rupp
Valerie Adams Angry, As She Should Be, That Belarus Doper Nadzeya Ostapchuk Won’t Get Lifetime Ban For 2nd Doping Offense Ostapchuk had her second positive test for steroids at the London Olympics after initially finishing first, but she’ll only be receiving a 4-year ban.
*Adams Tweets Out In Anger: “WTF”
1968 Double Olympic Champion And Former 400 WR Holder Lee Evans Gets 4-Year Doping Ban From Coaching Evans was banned for giving a girl he coached a banned substance that caused her to fail a doping test and collapse. A second coach was banned for life; the athlete was unnamed.

2014 Carlsbad:ResultsFull Video Race Replay*LRC Photo Gallery

LRCDejen Gebremskel And Julia Bleasdale Win 2014 Carlsbad 5,000 – Bernard Lagat Sets New American Record Of 13:19 Gebremeskel turned the tables on Lagat from World Indoors but Lagat left with a nice consolation prize. In the women’s race, no one came close to Bleasdale, who became the first non-African born winner since 2002. Brenda Martinez was the top American – not JordanHasay or Gabriele Grunewald.
*MB:Official 2014 Carlsbad Live Discussion Thread: Bleasdale & Gebremeskel Win – Lagat Gets American Record
*MB:Oh crap! Grunewald vs Hasay rematch at the Carlsbad 5k, who’s gonna win?

LRC2014 Carlsbad 5,000m Photo Gallery

A Look Back At Last Week’s News/Action

Recommended Read:NY Times Remembers Howard Schmertz, Man Who Guided Millrose Games For 29 Years At MSG “I don’t think track is a dying sport. It may be a changing sport. It’s becoming certainly a very expensive sport.”
Brits Are Getting Pumped That The “New Usain Bolt” Zharnel Hughes Of Anguilla Could Represent Team GB In Rio Games Anguilla is a British territory and doesn’t have it’s own Olympic charter, so Britain is his most likely country.
Jamaican Paper Wonders If Star Athletes Are Being Overworked And Abused At “Champs” After 45.00 Man Javon Francis Of Calabar Gets Hurt Calabar already had an insurmountable lead and Francis already had run 45.00. Yet he tried to run the 200 and got hurt (and was also scheduled for 4 x 100 and 4 x 400).
Kenyan Half Marathon Team Returns Home To Celebrations, Athletics Kenya Praises Coach Edith Masai Coaches look great when Ethiopia’s best sit out an event.
Jesse Squire’s Weekly Collegiate Recap

US Distance News

Sarah Baxter Runs Nation’s #1 Time In 3,200 (10:07.52) And Race Ends In A Rare TieBethan Knights has never beaten Sarah Baxter but she’s tied her now. *MB: Epic CA 3200 duel ends in a tie- Baxter vs. Knights 10:07
Frank Shorter Reflects On 1972 Gold And Says He Thinks He Had An Advantage Since He Was Also A Law Student Some think being all in on running helps, Shorter doesn’t.
Q&A With Former Sprinter (46.9 400 In HS) Turned Mid-D Star Brian Theriot (3:56 Mile) Of UCLA
Former UNCG Runner Paul Chelimo Jumps Out To Early 5-Second Lead, Holds On To 29:24 Win Over Tyler McCandless
Ridiculous: Teen Who Grew A Pink Mohawk To Support His Cancer-Ridden Mom Is Banned From HS Track Competition By Coach “[My coach] told me I can’t have pink hair with Mohawk to support my mom with breast cancer,” Barker, 17, told FoxNews.com. “I want this to change. That’s my goal.”

International News

Yuki Kawauchi Gets New Clerical Job – Assigned To School In His Hometown – Now He’ll Be Able To Commute To Work By Running
Top Stars Who All Said They’d Run In Local Meet In Kenya Blow It Off Asbel Kiprop, Nixon Chepseba, Conseslus Kipruto and Agustine Choge all said they’d be there but weren’t – Choge was at Carlsbad.

New Zealand Nationals

Nearly 3,000 Watch Tom Walsh Beat Jacko Gill In shot 20.79m got the win as Gill only managed 19.93 after being over 20 in warmups. *MB:Who you got in NZealand shot put showdown – Gill or Walsh?
Angie Smit Wins 800 (2:01.53) And 1,500 (4:17.95)
On Comeback From Injury, Nikki Hamblin Runs 2:03.23 For 2nd In Women’s 800 And Is Pleased

US News: USATF Too Big To Succeed?

Toni Reavis Argues That USATF’s Scope Is Too Broad And The Organization Should Be Broken Up Into Smaller Parts “Consider if Little League Baseball, Slow Pitch Softball, Wiffle Ball and Major League Baseball all came under the same organizational umbrella, with MLB having no standing, more or less, than any other component. What odds of success would you offer that arrangement?”
When Did The Boston Marathon Actually Start Being Called The “Boston Marathon”? The 117-year-old race was first called the “American Marathon”when it started in 1897 and different names have been used throughout the years.
San Diego Wants To Bid For 2024 Olympics

UKA Performance Director Neil Black Says He’s Confident About Mo Farah’s Fitness Ahead Of London After Visiting Him In Kenya Black said, “Alberto’s very happy. The type of phrases being used are ‘best shape’ and ‘best athlete in the world.’ Everything is positive in terms of what Alberto is seeing and understanding. … [Farah is] in absolute peak physical shape to approach the marathon.”

Oscar Pistorius Expected To Take The Stand When His Trial Resumes Monday

News From Scotland

Scottish Steeplechaser Eilish McColgan Expects Home Commonwealth Games To Be Highlight Of Her Career She was 10th in the Moscow 2013 steeple final.
Scotland’s Most Decorated Athlete In Last Decade, 400 Runner Lee McConnell, Announces Her Retirement At Age 35 She had a baby in October and had thought about continuing to compete in the Commonwealth Games at home this year, but has decided to hang ’em up.

Interesting:You Think Breaking A WR Is Tough? It’s Even Harder For Horses Human WRs have dropped significantly in the last 50 years, but horse times haven’t got much faster. This article looks at some of the reasons why.

Sprints / Jumps

Watch Out In 2016, Usain: Are We Seeing The Future Of Sprinting In Trayvon Bromell And Zharnel Hughes? Last weekend, Bromell tied the WJR with 10.01 and Hughes ran 10.12 to win Jamaica’s prestigious Boys and Girls Champs.

Lolo Jones Returning To The Track At Drake Relays She’ll run the shuttle hurdle relay instead of open 100H.
IAAF Q&A With Qatar’s World Indoor HJ Champion Mutaz Essa Barshim He says he’d like to go over 2.40m this outdoor season.
Australia Could Send A Rare “Full Quota” Of Sprinters In The Women’s 100H To Commonwealth Games Unlike the US, Australia doesn’t try to send all the athletes it can to major championships, but it has 3 under or close to the “A” standard in the 100H, led by Sally Pearson. The other two are Shannon McCann and Michelle Jenneke.
*Day 1 Recap Of Aussie National Champs

Oscar P’s Defense Lawyers Expected To Call Pathologist As First Witness Pistorius himself is expected to take the stand eventually.

Berlin Half

LRCLeonard Komon Runs Fastest Half Marathon Debut Ever - Wins In 59:14 In Sprint Finish In Berlin

Komon was pretty spectacular and wanted even more - the World Record - as he went out with the wind in 13:39 (57:36 pace). LetsRun.com wind geniusJohn Kellogg estimates the wind might have cost Komon around 17 seconds. *Results
*Ken Nakamura:List Of Fastest Half Marathon Debuts In History*Chronological List Of All Sub-60 Half Marathons In History

Articles Worth Reading

Ugandan Victims Of Sexual Assault/Harassment By Coach Fear He’ll Never Be Punished As He’s A Member Of Police And Police Seem Already To Be Looking Other Way A very troubling story.
Q&A With Ashton Eaton, Who Says His Favorite Workout Day Is Wednesday When He Tries To Overcome His Fear Of Running “I get nervous for the running and I like that feeling of fear and overcoming it.”
Mile Great Jim Ryun Reflects Back On His Running And Political Careers Ryun on why politics wasn’t ideal for him: “I learned as an athlete that you don’t cut corners. In Congress, you have to shout your accomplishments from the rooftops. That wasn’t me. I wasn’t comfortable doing that. Someone once told me that I was a great workhorse but not a great showhorse.”
Rome DL Organizers Say Bolt Won’t Compete There Because He’s Injured – Agent Ricky Simms Says Nice Try, Bolt Never Had A Contract To Run There In The First Place
Q&A With Hurdles Great Edwin Moses, Who Has Been Appointed Chair Of WADA’s Education Committee

LetsRun Goes To Jamaica

LRCJamaica Day 4: Rare Insider Access To A Racers Track Club Workout With Yohan Blake And Warren Weir, And Watching Track In The Bathroom At Usain Bolt's Sports Bar

Steve was given unprecedented access to a workout session of the famed Racers Track Club and learned the sprinters actually work their asses off. Afterwards, he celebrated in style at Usain Bolt‘s sports bar. Steve loved the establishment – the only problem is track was only being shown on the TV in the bathroom.

Meet Warren Weir – The Man Whom Glen Mills Calls The “Heart And Soul” Of His Racers Track Club He’s not as well known as Bolt and Blake but has a lot of respect within the club.
*More In Our LRC Goes To Jamaica Special Section

More LetsRun.com Goes To Jamaica

LRCJamaica Day 3: Lifting With Yohan Blake; Hanging At The Car Wash With Warren Weir; Getting Pumped Up With Calabar High; And A 1 AM 10-Mile Run In KingstonSteve Soprano went inside the weight room with sprint stars Yohan Blake and Warren Weir and then had lunch at the car wash with Weir, who later gave a crazy “Champs” pump-up speech to Calabar High. Before the night was done, Steve decided he absolutely had to go for a 10-mile run at 1 am on the streets of Kingston.