January 28, 2016 Homepage Archive

Where Your Dreams Become Reality

Archived Homepage For January 28, 2016

Quote Of The Day

“The original running boom leaders had to be creative just to get noticed, consider the five-borough New York City Marathon in 1976. The current crowd doesn’t have to be creative. They just keep repeating the same old story over and over again. Everyone is satisfied with the status quo. There’s no electricity in the racing anymore. It’s just reshuffling the deck every year. There’s no impact, no juice …”

“The leadership in the sport failed to draw people’s attention to the professional side of the sport. People see the event as the sport, but it’s not, the race is. I couldn’t tell you who won Boston last year. We know Meb won in 2014, because it was so unusual. But in general, the race makes no impact at all, because the focus is on the event. The race has become perfunctory, an after-thought.”

– Quotes from Pat Lynch, the man in charge of the elite athletes at the Boston Marathon from 1986 to 2012, in a great Toni Reavis article on why our beloved sport struggles for popularity. Is track’s popularity simply a marketing problem or something inherent with the sport?

MB:Marketing fail? Longtime Boston Marathon elite coordinator admits he couldn’t tell you who won Boston last year

BREAKING! Galen Rupp Running The Olympic Trials

It’s Official:Galen Rupp To Run 2016 US Olympic Marathon Trials As Well As World Indoors Turns out all the speculation (see here, here and here) was true as Rupp will be lining up on the streets of LA next month to make his highly anticipated marathon debut while shooting for an Olympic berth.
*15-Minute Video Interview With Rupp Rupp talks about the decision, his training and his plans to run both US and World Indoors after the marathon trials.
*MB:BREAKING: Rupp Running USATF Marathon Trials (For REAL)

“Failure” = Victory If You Focus On The Journey

LRCFour More Years: Mike Cassidy Misses Olympic Trials Qualifier, But Finds Victory In The Journey As He Looks On To 2020 Cassidy qualified for the 2012 OT, but fighting back from chronic injury issues saw him come up short for 2016. He shares his experience and explains why he feels privileged even to be able to try.
*LRC Archives:The Time of My Life: Staten Island Native Mike Cassidy Shares His Experience Finishing The NYC Marathon Hand-In-Hand With His Hero Meb Keflezighi Cassidy’s essay after the NYC 2013 NYC generated more than 12,000 “likes” on Facebook.

Week That Was

LRCMeet The Japanese Super Running Twins, Ryan Hall Is A Great Dude, Kate Grace Is Back, Mo Farah Vs. Kamworor, And When Sub-4 Isn't Sub-4

Dubai is in the books, the indoor track scene started to heat up, Japan's dominance over America in the marathon is complete, a sub-4 isn't always a sub-4, and Mo Farah will take on Kamworor for the world title in March.

Video:High Schooler Pole Vaults Off A Hoverboard

Olympic News

UCLA Chosen As Site For Athletes’ Village If LA Wins 2024 Bid
Process Started For Referendum On Rome 2024 Olympic Bid
Tokyo Considering Limiting Smoking Ahead Of 2020 Olympics Currently, Japan has no penalties for businesses that don’t limit second hand smoke.

Still Nothing Confirmed To Report In Adidas-IAAF Story

Irish Independent Claims Nike Is “Poised” To Replace Adidas As IAAF Sponsor And Says Adidas Pullout Won’t Hurt The IAAF Financially The IAAF sold its marketing rights to Japan-based agency Dentsu who sold them to adidas.
The Telegraph Says Seb Coe Is “Locked In Crisis Talks” With Adidas To Try And Save The $30 Million Deal
The Guardian: “Other Sponsors Standing By IAAF Despite Adidas Pullout” Canon and Dentsu both said they have no plans to terminate their contracts early.
IAAF Statement:“We are in close contact with all our sponsors and partners as we embark on our reform process.” Adidas statement: “Adidas has a clear anti-doping policy in place. … we are in close contact with the IAAF to learn more about their reform process.”

Marathon Trials News – Less Than 3 Weeks To Go

Recommended Read:It’s Been A 4-Year Journey For Desiree Linden Since Her Heart Was Broken At The 2012 Olympics; Now She’s “Exactly Where She Plans To Be” Great profile by Michael Heald on Linden and her road back from injury and prep for 2016. Many insights from her and coach Kevin Hanson as well.
Olympic Trials Shake-Up:Ethiopian-Born, Former Bahrain National 2:25:45 Marathoner Misiker Demissie Now Has US Citizenship Demissie just got cleared by the IAAF to run for the USA. She ran 2:25 back in 2013, but her agent doesn’t think she’s in 2:25 shape currently (she ran a 1:13:07 half last weekend).
*MB:Who is Misiker Demissie who just got cleared to run the trials? (link fixed)

The Big Pro US Meets Are Fast Approaching And Start This Weekend

LRC 2016 Camel City Elite Preview: Matt Centrowitz, Shannon Rowbury And Ashton Eaton Headline Fields As Indoor Season Heats Up The first big US pro meet of the year takes place in Winston-Salem on Saturday night afternoon and we’ll be there to cover it for you. Centro and Rowbury will both be in the mile while Eaton and wife Brianne Theisen-Eaton tackle the 60m hurdles. Cas Loxsom (800), Brandon Johnson (800), Melissa Bishop (800), Stephanie Garcia (mile), Garrett Heath (3k), Lawi Lalang (3k) and Foot Locker champs Drew Hunter (3k) & Weini Kelati (3k) are also entered.
*Anna Cockrell, The 5th-Fastest HS Hurdler Ever, Who Is Racing Camel City, Is The Younger Sister Of Pittsburgh Steeler Ross Cockrell

Evan Jager, Edward Cheserek, Cam Levins, Eric Jenkins, Ryan Hill and Lopez Lomong All To Battle in NYRR Millrose Games 3000
Nick Willis, Abbey D’Agostino, The Eatons And Jenna Prandini Will All Compete At The New Balance Indoor Grand Prix In Boston On Valentine’s Day Previously the meet had announced Meseret Defar, Trayvon Bromell and Brenda Martinez.
32-Year-Old Nick Willis Says 2016 Olympics May Not Be His Last
Allyson Felix Will Run NYRR Millrose Games On February 20th For First Time In 11 Years The women’s 60 will be loaded as it also includes Tori Bowie, the 2015 World Championships bronze medalist in the 100 meters, Tianna Bartoletta, Jenna Prandini and Remona Burchell.
A History Of Indoor Track And Field In America It all started in NYC in 1868.
College: In Its Storied History, A Regular Season Arkansas Track Meet Has Never Been Televised Until Now This weekend’s meet will be on the SEC Network.

News From Overseas

Eugene And USATF, Are You Reading This? Brilliant Idea“Club Members, Coaches, Volunteers And (Athletics) Supporters” Will Get 1st Crack At 2017 World Tickets We think USATF members and volunteers should get the first crack at all USATF events.
The Internet Is Making Ity Possible For adidas To Cut Ties With Sports Bodies Like IAAF “Under former boss Horst Dassler, adidas practically invented the idea of long-term deals with sporting federations like FIFA and the Olympics to get its logo onto the field. It is now focusing more on contracts with the highest-profile players, clubs and national teams and less on federations” as their individual athletes can interact directly with fans on the Internet.
Geoffrey Kamworor And Bedan Karoki To Clash On Sunday At Discovery Kenya Cross-Country At Eldoret Golf Club
Q&A British HJ National Record Holder Isobel Pooley Article includes a standard training week for Pooley, who got hurt right before Worlds last year.

Obligatory Daily Doping/Corruption Section

Doha’s Bid For The 2017 And 2019 World Championships Under Investigation The IAAF Ethics Commission is investigating claims that Qatar officials were paying off IAAF voting members with “brown envelopes”.
UK Vs Drug Cheats Round 2:UKA Wants To Ban British Athletes Caught Doping From Ever Representing At The Olympics You might remember this law was challenged and defeated in the courts before London 2012. Now their loophole is making athletes sign a contract if they want to represent GB.
Video:Three Way Interview With Paula Radcliffe And The UK MP Who Unintentionally Outed Her As The British Athlete Who Had Suspicious Blood Values The exchange gets a bit awkward as MP Jesse Norman refuses to apologize. Skip to 4:30 for a laugh.
*Don’t Have 15 Minutes To Watch? Read The Highlights Here Radcliffe alleges that the parliamentary meeting was “a set-up” to purposely out her.
Some More On Russia’s Former Euro Silver Medalist Irina Maracheva, Who Got A 2-Year Ban Maracheva and her coach claim the biological passport anomalies are due to a childhood head injury combined with altitude training. Priceless.
*AP Article:Lynsey Sharp: “Remember that time I was the only clean athlete on the podium?”
Russian Coach Lyudmila Fedoriva Gets 4-Year Doping Ban She coaches her daughter, 2008 4 x 100 Olympic champ Alexandra Fedoriva. Distance runners Alyona Kudashkina and Maria Nikolayeva also got 4-year bans.

Monday Would Have Been Steve Prefontaine‘s 65th Birthday – Happy Retirement, Pre

Recommended Read:Extensive Compilation Of Quotes, Interviews And Stories From And About Steve Prefontaine In Honor Of What Would Have Been His 65th BirthdayGary Cohen has put together a nice piece of work that sharing the highlights from Pre’s life and career. Includes the classic stories/quotes we know, but plenty of less known, more obscure ones as well. Quotes from Linda Prefontaine, Gerry Lindgren, Frank Shorter, Jim Ryun and more.
MB:Interesting Steve Prefontaine Quote On Running The Steeple And Marathon One he had plans to do; the other not so much.
SI Cover Story On Pre From 1970: “The Freshman And The Great Guru” The “guru,” of course, referring to Bill Bowerman.
But It’s On The Poster!?! MileSplit Asks If Pre’s “Suicide Pace” Quote Is Fake Based on their research, it sounds like it is.
LRCSteve Prefontaine Archives

2016 World Indoors And The 2016 Olympics Are Approaching

50 Days Until World Indoors, Which May Be Largest In 20 Years Based On Preliminary Entries
Sprinters Anaso Jobodwana (19.87) And Henricho Bruintjies (9.97) Lead South African Team For World Indoors The team is 100% male.
Reigning World Indoor Champ Richard Kilty Will Race In Scottish Championships In Glasgow This Weekend
Belgian Designer Drops Lawsuit Against IOC Claiming Plagiarism Of His Logo For Tokyo 2020 The IOC lawyered up and he didn’t think it was worth it financially. “Even if I were to win, the legal costs would be so high that I couldn’t recoup my expenses.”
UK Sport Believes Team GB Can Win 79 medals In Rio No way this happens. They won 65 in 2012 and would be the first country in Olympic history to win more than they did when they hosted.
UK Sport Projects A Minimum Of 47 Medals “We can be confident it will be our best ever away games.”

More Distance News

Donavan Brazier’s 1:45.93 Garners International Attention; SPIKES Talks To Texas A&M Coaches About The Freshman Prodigy They say he has almost perfect form, if anything is underworked (running only 25-30 miles a week) and has the makings for a future Olympic medal contender.
Leo Manzano Withdraws From This Weekend’s Camel City Elite Mile Manzano pulled out due to a family emergency. This follows Bernard Lagat pulling out of the 3,000 with a calf injury.
February 21:Ethiopia’s Berhanu Shiferaw (2:04:48) Vs. CR Holder Cosmas Lagat (2:08:33) At The Sevilla Marathon 2:27 woman Miriam Wangari leads the women’s race.
Portland’s William Kincaid And Kansas State’s Akela Jones Are NCAA Athletes Of The Week Kincaid ran 7:48 in the 3,000 to just miss the NCAA all-time top 10, while Jones just missed setting the collegiate pentathlon record.

Distance News

February 12th:World Record Holder Zersenay Tadese And Olympic Silver Medalist Priscah Jeptoo Lead Loaded Fields For RAK Half Marathon Tadese faces 13 sub-60 minute runners (4 sub-59:00), including Bernard Koech (58:41), Stanley Biwott (58:56) and former WR holder Wilson Kipsang. Women’s field has 8 sub-68 women with Jeptoo vs. World Half champ Gladys Cherono and CWG champ Joyce Chepkirui.
Athletics Illustrated Q&A: Amy Cragg Focused On Being Top 3 Next Month In LA Cragg says husband Alistair runs with Jerry Schumacher and paces some of her workouts.
Alex Kosinski To Be Inducted Into Sacramento Running Hall Of Fame
Double Olympic Champ (Now Retired) Kelly Holmes To Run The London Marathon Holmes won 1,500 and 800 Olympic gold in 2004.

Sprint Q&A: Jeremy Wariner

LRCWhat’s Jeremy Wariner Doing Working At Jimmy John’s? 7 Questions With The Olympic Legend Wariner posted online that he was now a general manager at a Jimmy John’s sandwich restaurant. We wondered if it could be that one of the greatest 400m sprinters of all time was retiring, so we reached out to see what was up.
*MB: Is Jeremy Wariner’s investment in Jimmy John’s smart?