November 12, 2014 Homepage Archive

Where Your Dreams Become Reality

Archived Homepage For November 12, 2014

Quote Of The Day

“I think of the old phrase, ‘tell me it isn’t so,’ but it is so. Like a lot of people, I would always have considered the elite Kenyan distance runners to be clean. That image has been shattered. And as a coach, it definitely knocks a bit of the wind out of your sails. … Initially you’re shocked, or maybe in denial. But then there is a level of acceptance, and with that some anger.”

“… This is not a case of someone slipping something into their drink. With EPO, we know, it has to be more sophisticated, so the athlete must realise there is something going on here, and not just the coach, or the manager. … the Kenyan athletics federation has to sit up now, take notice, stop saying to themselves there is no problem, stop blaming foreign coaches and managers … make sure a testing centre is built. … With time, hopefully, Kenya can rebuild that reputation, of competing with great honesty, and integrity.”

– Coaching legend Brother Colm O’Connell talking about the damage done to Kenya’s reputation after Rita Jeptoo‘s doping positive and calling on Athletics Kenya to stop ignoring the problem.

Week That Was

LRCWeek That Was: Frank Shorter Is Full Of It (Or Right?); Drugs, Drugs, Drugs; Ryan Hall Vs. Josh McDougal & Ingrid Kristiansen

We look at whether the Kenyans are only good because they cheat in light of Frank Shorter's comments, plus we compare Ryan Hall and Josh McDougal, and look at throwback Ingrid Kristiansen.

Distance Legends In The News

Hicham El Guerrouj Among Twelve Latest Inductees Into IAAF Hall Of Fame
Full Profile And Interview With Tegla Loroupe, The First African Woman To Win The NYC Marathon She is someone who used her running success to improve things back in Kenya, saying, “…Yesterday you were poor, and today you are rich. What makes you forget where you come from? Go and empower the people over there, be the person of the people.”

Tuesday’s Pro Distance Updates

After Worst Season Of Her Career, Caster Semenya Makes Coaching Switch Away From Former Olympic Gold Medalist Maria Mutola She has joined Jean Verster‘s training group, which includes Nijel Amos and Andrew Olivier.
Nick Symmonds Backs Eugene’s Bid For 2019 Worlds He says the idea of Worlds in Eugene might be enough to keep him running through 2019 when he’s 35.
From The Weekend:Feyisa Bekele Won Seoul Marathon In 2:07:43 In Tight Finish With Evans Kiplagat (2:07:46)Thomas Kiplagat was a close 3rd (2:07:52) as three-time defending champ James Kipsang was only 9th (2:11:31).
Extensive Gary Cohen Q&A With Abdi Abdirahman Abdi is only the 2nd American men’s distance runner to compete in four Olympics.
Daily Relay’s Marathon Awards For 2014 “Not Rabbit of the Year” goes to Haile Gebrselassie for his horrible pacing job in London.
IAAF Work, Rest And Play Interview With CGs/African 10,000 Champ Joyce Chepkirui Do elites even care about those flower bouquets they get at the finish when they win? Chepkirui does and even remembers which meets give the best ones.

High School XC Corner

Oregon High Schooler Matthew Maton, Who Broke Galen Rupp’s State Meet Record, Will Be Splitting From His Team In The Post-Season Maton will be going to Foot Locker while the rest of his team is favored to make NXN.
*MB: Maton Chooses Footlocker Over Team Battle At NXN
*MB: It’s time to have ONE national championship.
Blog Post: Why Grant Fisher Isn’t “The Next Dathan Ritzenhein” Author makes the point that they are like apples and oranges as Ritz was a strength runner putting in 100-mile weeks and Fisher has a ton of speed off not much mileage. *Discuss

Random Stuff

$$$: Medal From Athens 1896 Olympic Games Sells For $286,000 1896 was the first modern Olympics.
Peter Magill And Kathryn Martin Win US Masters 5K XC Champs
GB Athletes Mark 1,000-Day Countdown To London 2017 World Champs

International Marathon Results

Athens Marathon: Felix Kandie Wins Breaks Stefano Baldini’s 10-Year-Old CR From The 2004 Olympics Kandie ran 2:10:37 in warm conditions to break Baldini’s mark by 18 seconds and his own PR by more than 5 minutes. Naomi Maiyo took the women’s race (2:41:06).
After 2nd And 3rd Place FInishes, Ethiopia’s Shume Hailu Finally Wins Marathon des Alpes-Maritimes Nice-Cannes In 2:09:27 Kenya’s Rose Jepchumba won the women’s race in 2:33:52.
Ethiopia’s Fikadu Girma (2:12:26) And Mulahabt Tsega (2:29:15) Win Beirut Marathon
Justus Kagongo (29:13) Wins Tegla Loroupe Peace Run 10K In Kenya Gladys Yator won the women’s race (35:03).
Recap Of Japanese Women’s Ekiden Weekend Action

NYC Marathon Photos

NCAA XC Regionals Are Friday *Vote In LRC Polls

LRC Women’s Preview: Who’s Going (And Not Going) To NCAAs? Say it ain’t so. Defending champ Providence, along with Villanova, teams that have won 3 of the last 5 NCAA titles, seem unlikely to make NCAAs together for the 1st time since 1988. Get the low-down on each region and see which unranked schools (Portland?) could crash the party.

LRC 2014 NCAA Regionals Men’s Cross-Country Preview: Who’s On Track To Qualify For The Big Dance? What 3 ranked teams look like they’ll be left home? What 4 unranked teams will be dancing? We break down each region and tell you which races hold the most significance for at-large purposes (hint: not the South or South Central).
*MB: 2014 NCAA Cross Country Regionals – Let the madness begin

LRC Who’s In? Who’s Out? 2014 NCAA Regional Projections Assuming Everything Goes According To Form Thanks to former Duke runner Bo Waggoner, we can tell you who will qualify for NCAAs should the current USTFCCCA Regional Rankings hold.

Vote LRC Who’s Going To The Big Dance? LRC NCAA Regional Fan Polls Open

US Distance News

Q&A: Aaron Braun Looking To Defend His Title At .US 12K Champs This Sunday Braun is in good shape as this is the focus of his fall season. He’s planning his second marathon this winter or spring after his debut in March was a total bust (2:19:51). *Race Will Be Live On USATF.tv
Women’s Running Q&A With Stephanie Rothstein-Bruce Talking About Her New Baby And Future Racing Plans Bruce shares some of the issues involved with coming back from pregnancy which apparently include peeing your pants on runs.
Post-NYC Marathon Q&A With Lauren Kleppin She was slightly disappointed with her 15th-place finish.

Track Fans, Just Remember You’re Not Alone:A Total Of 358 Million Watched The 2014 European Championships On TV

Sprints/ Jumps: What Was Bolt’s Best?

Interesting Analysis:What Is The Greatest Race Usain Bolt Has Ever Run? This author concludes that the Beijing Olympic 100m was Bolt’s greatest as he shattered the previous WR and “did it in style.”
Meet Wayde van Niekerk, The 400 Runner Who Came Out Of Nowhere To Break A 15-Year-Old South African National Record With 44.36 He was 2nd at the CGs behind Kirani James, but only moved focus from the 200 to the 400 in 2013. He still has trouble dealing with the longer distance; after his silver medal he was too tired to run a victory lap.
Reeva Steenkamp’s Mother Publishes Memoir, Says She Doesn’t Believe That Oscar Pistorius Killed Her Daughter By Accident She feels the SA justice system “let her down,” but that she forgives Pistorius.
UK LJer Greg Rutherford: “Becoming a dad better than winning Olympic gold medal.”

US Weekend Road Action

EQT Pittsburgh 10: Leonard Korir Wins, Ryan Hall 10th, Sara Hall Sets Course Record And Wins $3,500Jonathan Grey was the first American in 5th.
*Results *OTB: Ryan Hall 50:25 in Pittsburgh??
Olympians Janet Bawcom And Daniel Vargas Win Rock ‘N’ Roll Savannah Half Marathon Nick Hilton and Tara Martine were the winners in the full.
Josh McDougal Wins Stockade-Athon 15K In Schenectady, NY (46:34) Megan Hogan won the women’s race in 51:09. *Full Results *MB Thread
Ben Blankenship Wins Kansas Road Mile In 4:04:34 (updated) 2009 1,500m world champ Yusuf Kamel was a distant 2nd (4:13.30). Kristen Findley won the women’s race (4:49.89). *Results

Track Stuff: Throws / Sprints

Forbes’ List Of The World Highest-Paid Athletes Usain Bolt is the only track athlete (#45) on the list of 100. They have him down at $23.2 million. Boxer Floyd Mayweather is on top at $105 million.
Q&A With NZ Shot Putter Tom Walsh On His Off-Season Training Walsh had a breakthrough year with silver at the Commonwealth Games and bronze at World Indoors.
College Recruiting Guide For Track Athletes This guide is written for throwers, but most of the advice is applicable for all events.

Sprints And Jumps

4-Sec. PR In 400m: UK 400 Runner Matthew Hudson-Smith Excited About The Future After Huge 4.01-Second Breakthrough In 2014 Hudson-Smith had a 48.76 PR before this year and finished with 44.75. He didn’t even expect to be selected for Euro Champs and ended up winning two medals there.
UK LJer Chris Tomlinson Plans To Continue On Despite Losing Lottery Funding He says it’s a “breath of fresh air” as he can do whatever he wants instead of listening to UKA. He is being coached by his dad and living where he wants.
US 400H Champ Kori Carter Talks About The Huge Jump Joining Bob Kersee’s LA-Based Star-Studded Training Group Carter joined the group this season which includes top sprinters like Allyson Felix and Dawn Harper Nelson.
Africa’s Fastest Female Sprinter Blessing Okagbare Is Married Check out photos from the World silver medalist’s wedding.

Bringing Lydiard To The Masses – Run Faster By Running More Relaxed

LRCBook Review: 80/20 Running By Matt Fitzgerald Another book by prolific author Matt Fitzgerald is out, but this one, which once had the proposed title of High Mileage Manifesto, intrigued us so much Robert Johnsonwrote the foreword as it attempts to bring Lydiard to the masses. “It would have been nice if this book had existed from late 198os to the late 1990s, during the dark days of American distance running.”
*MB: Matt Fitzgerald’s new book 80/20 Running – Rojo what can u tell us about this book since you wrote the foreward