July 29, 2014 Homepage Archive

Where Your Dreams Become Reality

Archived Homepage For July 29, 2014

Quote Of The Day

“I’ve got to pinch myself, it is very exciting. To come back and actually win is indescribable. … You just try to run the best you possibly can and it was a dream to be honest. I’m still buzzing, I can’t believe it.”

– Australia’s Michael Shelley talking after surprisingly winning the Commonwealth Games marathon in a PR of 2:11:15.

2014 World Juniors TV & StreamingResults, Schedule, Start ListsLRCMeet PreviewEvent-By-Event PreviewsEvent-By-Event RecapsPhotos

*Day 3 Photos (Mary Cain) *Day 2*Day 1

Day 6: W 1,500: LRC: W 1,500: Ethiopia’s Dawit Seyaum Reigns Supreme; Elise Cranny Closes Well For 4th; Alexa Efraimson Fades To 6th Seyaum moved to the front at the bell and broke away from the field over the last 200. Efraimson was in the hunt for a medal with 200 to go but couldn’t hold on while Cranny moved up well for 4th, tied for the second-best finish ever by an American in an event longer than 800 at World Juniors.

M 800/Steeple: LRC Alfred Kipketer Wins Men’s 800 Impressively In 1:43; Barnabas Kipyego Captures 3,000 Steeple Title Kenya’s dominance in these events extended to the junior ranks as Kenyans went 1-2 in both races. American Tre’tez Kinnaird was sixth in the 800 while Bailey Roth was 10th in the steeple and re-broke his U.S. high school record that he set in Friday’s prelims.

IAAF: USA Sweep Men And Women 4 X 400 Relays, US’s Kendell Williams Sets Championship Record In 100H (12.89) Brit Morgan Lake completed a unique double gold with the heptathlon and HJ while Cuba’s Lazaro Martinez set a championship record in the TJ (17.08m).

MB:Official 2014 World Junior Discussion Thread

More: 4 Ethiopian Athletes Missing From World Juniors There aren’t many details, but it’s likely they are seeking political asylum. The local police department as well as the FBI are involved in the search to find them.
*RRW: Vin Lananna Reacts To News Of Four Ethiopians Missing
What About The Sport? Ken Goe Observes That Not Many Of The Young Athletes At Hayward For World Juniors Stayed To Watch The Elite Meet Afterwards On Saturday If you missed it, recap of that meet is here.
Photo Of The Day: Cool Long Jump Shot
RRW: East Africans Dominate Distance Events On Final Day Of World Juniors
United States Matches Its Highest-Ever Medal Total At WJs 21 total medals (11 golds, five silvers, five bronzes). Kenya was 2nd with 16 (4 golds).

Geoffrey Kipsang Wins Bogota Half-Marathon In 1:03:18 Over Tokyo Marathon Champ Dickson Chumba (1:04:10) Rita Jeptoo easily won the women’s race in 1:13:39 as World Half champ Gladys Cherono had a poor showing in 5th with 1:17:14. Times were slow as the race was at altitude.
RRW: Delilah DiCrescenzo Wins Eugene Half Marathon In CR Time With 1:16:15 Kevin Castille won the men’s race in 1:05:28.
RRW: Kenyan Jacob Chemtai, Ethiopian Degefa Biruktayit Eshetu Set Event Records At Eugene Marathon Chemtai won in 2:16:07 as Eshetu ran 2:33:15.
Kenya’s Issac Kosgei And Local Mateja Kosovelj Win Gorski tek na Grintovec Mountain Race In Slovenia

Other International News

Morocco’s Abdalaati Iguider Talks About How Hard It Is To Train During The Muslim Holy Month Of Ramadan When He Cannot Eat Or Drink From Sunrise To Sunset The Olympic 1,500 bronze medalist is making do, however, as he broke 3:30 for the first time at the Monaco DL meet (3:29.93).
France’s Pole Vault WR Holder Renaud Lavillenie Says He Takes Euro Champs Very Seriously As They’re Just As Hard As Worlds In His Event Most of the other top men’s PVers in the world right now are European.
Darya Klishina Hoping To Finally Get LJ Gold At European Champs After Winning Russian National Champs She’s won Euro indoors twice, but not outdoors.

Some Good Reads

Alan Webb Is Having A Smooth Transition To The Triathlon And Is Enjoying The Process Last week Webb finished 2nd at a race, only steps behind a Canadian Olympian. He and his coach say the transition is going very well and they’re excited about how much room for improvement he still has.
RR: New York Times Article On The WR Setting “Peerless And Seemingly Ageless” 90+-Year-Old Relay Team From US Masters Champs Good read on the five men who set 90+ age records in the 4 x 100, 4 x 400, 4 x 800. Two of them were war vets and went ashore at Normandy on D-Day. On getting the record, Roy Englert said, “We all just managed to stay alive longer than everybody else.”
Interesting Q&A With Retired Professional Pacer Matt Scherer Talking about what pacers get paid, he said at a DL race a rabbit will get paid about the same as what the guys finishing 3rd-5th make. Not a bad deal.

Day 1 Of Commonwealth Games In The Books

Not Farah Certified:Mo Farah Pulls Out Of Commonwealth Games He’ll focus on getting ready for the European Championships, which is much easier to win given the fact there are no Kenyans. “My body is telling me it’s not ready to race yet.”
*MB Talk
*Steve Cram Blames London Marathon For Farah’s Non-Existent Track Season
Kenyan columnists reminisces about fact that Commonwealth Games corruption has been going on since at least 1982 He’s got an interesting story involving Kip Keino and the men’s 10,000 debacle from 1982.
Usain Bolt And His Coach Glen Mills Say They Think He Can Still Run Faster If He Can Just Stay Injury Free Bolt says he may limit sponsor appearances next year so he can focus more on training.
England’s Brownlee Brothers (Alistair And Johnathan) Dominate Triathlon As English Cycling (With Former Tour Winner Bradley Wiggins) Loses To Australia
Rundown Of Day 1 Of Competition No track action until Sunday.
Interesting Read From NY Times:Commonwealth Games: More Than A Colonial Vestige “The event may seem irrelevant for the unaffiliated, but not for the athletes from the 71 participating delegations.” Still, the NY Times says the future of the event is uncertain.
Video Highlights From Opening Ceremony
*“Doctor Who” Actor John Barrowman Applauded For “Wonderful” Opening Ceremony Gay Kiss

Upcoming Road Action

Study Finds 5-Hour Energy Shots Improve Your Mood, But Not Mental Performance; They Also Increase Your Blood Pressure

LRC Commentary

WTWAlan Webb’s 3:46.91 Would Have Been 8th In Monaco, Ajee’ Wilson The Present And Future, Tons Of USA PRS In Europe And The LRC SingletWe span the globe in The Week That Was. *MB:Apples to oranges: Webb ran 3:46 solo.
LRC Why Can Soccer Stars Star In Commercials During The World Cup But Not Track And Field Stars During The Olympics? IOC Rule 40 Must Go!It’s time the IOC put the athletes’ interests first.

Commonwealth Games Full Schedule And ResultsTV And Streaming Info*5k Photos

What an 800!!LRC Commonwealth Games Men’s 800 Preview: David Rudisha vs. Nijel Amos in a Championship RaceThere are no global outdoor championships this year, but world-record holder Rudisha vs. world leader Amos in the Commonwealth Games is a pretty good replacement. Kenya’s 1:42 man Ferguson Rotich (who beat Rudisha in Monaco), NCAA champ Brandon McBride of Canada and World Indoor bronze medallist Andrew Osagie of England are also entered. Set you DVR for 2:50 pm ET Thursday.

MB: Men 5,000:Calen Ndiku And Isiah Koech Go 1-2 As Zane Robertson Susprises With Bronze This one was exciting but no one could match Ndiku over the final 200 as he finished off a 54.11 last lap and 4:02 last 1,600 to win. The big surprise was the bronze by Zane Robertson. His twin was right in it as well until a late fall. Wisconsin runner Mo Ahmed was a surprising 5th in 13:18. *Photos*Results
*Athletics Weekly Recap Ndiku: “When I was approaching that finish line I couldn’t stop smiling, I realised it was my dream coming true. I had so much passion. I was meant for the podium.”

Australia’s Michael Shelley Wins Marathon Gold The Aussie, who won silver last time, won in a PR of 2:11:15 over Kenya’s Stephen Chemlany, the former Iona runner who has a 2:06:24 PR.
*MB: Michael MF Shelley — Commonwealth Marathon Champion*The Independent On Shelley

Kenya Goes 1-2 In Women’s MarathonFlomena Daniel and Caroline Kilel get gold and silver as Daniel ran 2:26:45.

More: IAAF Full Day 1 Recap
Be Inspired: 17-Year-Old Rosefelo Siosi From The Solomon Islands Treated To The “Hampden Stadium Roar” As He Finishes 5,000 Dead Last In 16:55
Be Inspired X 2: England’s Former 230-Pound Chain Smoker Steve Way Breaks British Masters Record With 2:15:16 10th-Place Finish Afterwards, Way was in tears and said, “I just couldn’t have wished for a better day. I normally say something is second best to my wedding day, but this matches it.” *2nd Article
England’s Adam Gemili Fastest In 100 Heats With 10.15 Blessing Okagbare had the fastest women’s time in the heats with 11.20. The bigger news, though, is that Trinidad and Tobago’s Michelle-Lee Ahye, who had the fastest time coming in with 10.82, pulled out of the Games after getting second in her heat to advance.
Worth A Read:This Is Why Journalists Get A Bad Reputation This journalist criticizes the media for asking Bolt some weird questions in his press conference on Saturday. Some funny photos of Bolt’s facial reactions.
Full Rundown Of Day 4 Of CGs As It Happened

**Saturday US Action: Bix 7 – Molly Huddle Stays Hot *Top 25 Results**

LRCMolly Huddle Crushes Bix 7 Women’s Field – Wins USA 7-Mile Champs She ran 36:13 (5:10.4 pace), the 4th fastest Bix Time ever, and won by 1:07 over Sarah Hall. Sean Quigley won the men’s race over Maverick Darling in 33:27 (4:46.7 pace).
Pre-Race: Huddle Hopes Speed Translates From Track To Roads

Run Track Town HP Meet: RRWJordan McNamara Wins 1,500 In 3:39.03 Over Kyle Merber And Pat Casey Robby Andrews kicked down Elijah Greer to get NJ-NY Track Club the 4 x 800 win over OTC (7:16.22 to 7:16.41). Laura Roesler led the women’s team that won in 8:07.65. Christian Taylor won the TJ while Aleec Harris ran 13.14 to beat Aries Merritt in the 110H. *Full Results

Ryan Shay Mile: Heather Kampf (4:21) 3-Peats, Sets Event Record At Ryan Shay Mile, Rob Finnerty (3:56) Wins Men’s Race (updated with article)
*MB Thread

WJ Day 4

Day 4: LRC Men’s 5,000: Yomif Kejelcha And Yasin Haji Go 1-2 As Ethiopia Completes Gold/Silver Sweep Of 5ks Kejelcha put on a show at the end of this one, running his last 1,600 in 4:07 and breaking the race wide open before winning in 13:25. So good, he reminded us of Kenny B in 2008. Americans Colby Gilbert and Brian Barraza were 9th and 13th, respectively.

Day 4 Recap: US Dominates The Sprints, Led By Trentavis Friday’s Barely Wind-Aided 20.04 200 Victory US’s Kaylin Whitney won the women’s 200 and Kendall Baisden the 400.
*Oregonian: Whitney Was Almost DQed For A False Start Before Winning 200 She got a “yellow card” for what looked like a false start, but ended up being an issue with her blocks.
Not Good:USATF Clerical Error Keeps US Shot Putter Aaliyah Pete Out Of World Junior Meet Shame on the IAAF for not bending the rules for what was clearly a human error. If Jamaica did this at Worlds next year with Usain Bolt would they really not let him race?
*MB: USATF drops the ball again!
RRW: Ethiopians Kejelcha, Haji Go One-Two In 5000m at WJC

Day 4 AM: LRCW 1,500/M 800 & Steeple: Alexa Efraimson & Elise Cranny Both Move On To Final; American Tre’tez Kinnaird Advances In 800, Bailey Roth Breaks US HS Record In Boys Steeple Efraimson and Cranny were both auto qualifiers to the final but medals are going to be far from easy. The 35-year-old record US HS boys steeple record fell.
*South Eugene HS Coach Jeff Hess Was On Site To Watch Bailey Roth Take Down His Steeple Record
*RRW: Worth The Wait: Bailey Roth Breaks 35-Year-Old USA H.S. Steeplechase Record
*RRW:Alexa Efraimson, Dawit Seyaum Advance On Day Four
*MB:Bailey Roth breaks 35 year old steeple HSR!
*MB:Alexa and Elise both Qualified for 1500 Final

Commonwealth Games Track Action Starts Sunday

Wales’ 400 Hurdler And Team Co-Captain Rhys Williams Out Of CGs For Failing A Drug Test This is the second Welsh athlete to test positive in the lead-up to the CGs as did 800 runner Gareth Warburton.
*Former CG Medalist Christian Malcolm Defends Rhys Williams, Saying “He is always someone who’s been anti-drugs.” Are there any pros who are publicly pro-drugs?
Recommended Read:England’s Steve Way Used To Weigh 230 Pounds And Smoke 20 Cigarettes A Day; Now He’s A 2:16 Marathoner Way started running just go lose weight and get healthy, but got faster and faster and qualified for the CGs by being the 3rd Brit in London. Also, he’s 40 years old and works a 9-to-5 job while putting in 130-mile weeks.
Profile On England 2:31 Marathoner Alyson Dixon, Who’s In The Shape Of Her Life After Coming Back From Running 2011 Worlds With 3 Broken Bones In Her Foot
England’s Richard Kilty Hoping To “Shock” People In 100 As He Did When He Won The World Indoor 60
Athletics Weekly Previews
*Men: *Distance *Sprints *Jumps *Throws *Multis/Relays
*Women: *Distance *Sprints *Jumps *Throws *Multis/Relays

Ritz / Webb Updates

Dathan Ritzenhein Hopes To Race Within The Next Month As He Is Training At 85% As He Comes Back From His Sports Hernia He made the move back to his home state of Michigan last month. He says he won’t do a fall marathon, but probably a 10K or half.
Good Read:Alan Webb Talks About His “Dream Goal” Of Making The Olympics In The Triathlon And Explains The Process To Get There Some good stuff here from Webb and his wife about his tri training and his mile AR.

WJs Day 5

Day 5: W Steeple: LRCKenyan-Born Ruth Jebet Wins Bahrain’s First-Ever World Junior Gold In Girls Steeple Jebet got the win in 9:36.

M 800: LRCAmerican Tre’tez Kinnaird (Indiana) Is Surprisingly The Fastest Qualifier For The Boys 800 Final At World Juniors Kinnaird ran 1:48.04 to put himself in contention for a medal.

More: Day Five WJ Report: USA Takes Home Gold In Men’s And Women’s 4 X x100 Relays The men’s 38.70 win was the third-fastest junior performance in history and the 43.46 by the women was the 8th-fastest junior time ever. USA also got a gold in the 400H through Shamier Little‘s 55.66 win.
AP: US Team Claims 3 Golds On Day 5 At World Juniors
RRW: Ruth Jebet Makes History With Steeplechase Win At World Juniors
RRW: TrackTown USA Celebrates World Juniors With Festive Weekend Of Events Numerous side events are accompanying World Juniors, including an elite track meet and the Eugene Marathon.

Previous Commonwealth Games News

Usain Bolt Confirms He’ll Run In The 4 X 100 Relay Heats At Commonwealth Games, Which Are On Friday, August 1st Bolt said he’s in good shape, but feels like he has to run in the heats to get some racing in as it’s his first time out of the season.
*BBC: Bolt Gives Games Some Welcome Razzmatazz
*Rundown Of Day 3 Some more details from the weird press conference with Bolt, where he was asked about Scottish kilts, for “selfies” and whether or not he was actually going to run. Asked about Scottish independence, he responded, “I don’t even know what that is.”
Good Read: Interesting Interview With Michael Johnson About His Career, Doping And Working As A Commentator Johnson: “Watching sport, there have been plenty of commentators I’ve found annoying. If anything, I’ve modelled myself on not being like them.
Bad Blood Between Kim Collins And St. Kitts And Nevis Federation Continues Collins says he’s reached out to the federation with no response and they say the opposite. He wanted to run at the CGs, but didn’t show at the national championships.
Sally Pearson At War With Australian Athletics Team Bosses She is no longer on speaking terms with head coach Eric Hollingsworth and is saying that there have been instances when medical services haven’t been provided.
*Pearson And Alex Rowe Were Fined $1,300 For Missing Athletics Australian Team Camp Pearson didn’t want to disrupt her training buildup in London and Rowe was busy equaling the Australian 800 NR at the Monaco DL.
Australian 800 NR Holder Alex Rowe Pulls Out With Hamstring Injury
Canada’s Derek Drouin Wants To Join The 2.40 Club
AW Looks At The History Of The Men’s Marathon At The CGs
*History Of The Women’s Marathon At CGs

World Juniors Day 3: Cain Wins

Day 3 LRC Mary Cain Wins Women’s 3,000 – The U.S.’s First-Ever Distance Medal At World Juniors Entering Thursday, the U.S. had won four medals in the 800 at World Juniors but none in an event longer than that. Mary Cain made history, unleashing a big kick over the final 175 meters to pull away for the gold in 8:58.48. *RRW

Cain Mania On The Message Board:*MARY CAIN DOES IT! CAIN WINS 2014 JUNIOR CHAMPS 300 IN 8:58.48!
*How fast could Mary Cain go in 3000 time trial right now?
*Who was that guy that cain kissed on her victory lap???
*What is the point of the W 3000 meters at WJ Champs

LRC W 800/M 1,500: Margaret Wambui And Jonathan Sawe Claim Two Golds For Kenya
Good Read:More On 800 Champ Margaret Wambui’s Amazing Rags-To_Riches Story Wambui is the daughter of a single mom. A former hepthatlete, Wambui only recently switched to the 800 after running 2:05 in the multi. “Hers is a tears-eye story of determination, self-confidence and a humble upbringing.”
*MB: Letsrun, do we have another ‘Caster Semenya situation’ in girls 800 at 2014 World Juniors?

More: Day 3 Report: France’s Wilhem Belocian Becomes First Junior Under 13 Seconds In The 110 Hurdles Trinidad and Tobago’s Machel Cedenio won the 400 (45.13) and Russia’s Alena Lutkovskaya won the PV as Desiree Freier won the US’s first ever medal in the event with 2nd place in a American HS and junior record.
Alberto Salazar On Mary Cain’s Win: “I told her to relax, run as little distance as possible, wait until the last 200, and that nobody could outkick her.”
RRW: Alexa Efraimson Ready To Challenge For Medal at IAAF World Junior Championships
Video: Uganda’s 10,000 Champ Joshua Cheptegei Accidentally Delays 100m Runner With His Victory Lap Angela Tenorio (ECU) was redoing the race after she successfully contested her DQ.
RRW: Fast Finish Earns American Elinor Purrier Spot In WJC Steeple Final

Day 3 Photo Gallery

Full Coverage in 2014 World Juniors Special Section.

A New Running Brand Is Here

Tracksmith: New Premium Performance Running Brand Launches Tracksmith, a performance running brand that celebrates the style and culture of the sport, launched this morning. Friend of LRC, Matt Taylor, the man behind the Usain Bolt iPhone game and chasingtradition.com, and the former Global Head of Marketing for Running & Training at Puma, is one of Tracksmith’s founders. He wanted to create a different type of brand that celebrates the grace, style and tradition of the world’s oldest sport, with products designed and manufactured in America (mostly in New England). Good luck to Matt. Check it out at www.tracksmith.com.