Lots of Interesting Reads on A Friday

• Recommended Read Craig Masback Writes About How He Went From 4:48 in HS to Being The 2nd Person Ever To Break 4 at Iffley Road The former USATF head nearly quit running after college, but before his career was over Roger Bannister was critiquing his races, and that running career led to him leading USATF.
• The guys at the Daily Relay share their strongest memories from 2016 From watching the Olympic marathon trials in a bar to Allyson Felix bombing out of the 200, they’ve got you covered with the highs and lows of the year.
• Toni Reavis suggests we get rid of track world records by switching back to imperial distances of 100 yards, 220, 440, 880, one mile, 3-mile, and 6-mile
• 66-Yr old guy vowed to run at least 1 mile and drink 1 different type of beer every day in 2016 – he ended up with 1,950 miles and 366 different beerss His favorite beers? AleWerks Brewing Company’s Jubilee and Berkshire Brewing Company’s Shabadoo Black.
• Michigan HS Coach Wayne Roberts – Who Ran The Day After A Heart Attack – Has 36-Year Run Streak Snapped After He’s Hit in Hit & Run Accident

Post Retirement News For The Eatons

• Great Read Harry Marra talks about when he 1st saw and met Ashton Eaton and what it’s been like to coach he and Brianne
• The Eatons Have Already Picked Up Snowboarding as a Hobby In Their Retirement They also are likely to relocate and live in Canada. *MB: Say it ain’t so – Ashton Eaton likely to live in Canada after retirement

Sprint / Hurdle / Jump / Throw News

• Croatia’s Sara Kolak win in the javelin was one of the biggest upsets in Rio – Learn about her backstory here At the Olympics, she PRd by nearly 9 feet. Yes, it’s true. 2.68 meters.
• Jamaican columnist wonder is Wayde van Niekerk will try the 200 / 400 double at Worlds? And if so, will the schedule be changed? We’re wondering if Bolt is giving up on the 200 – his supposed favorite event – as he doesn’t want to end his career with a loss to van Niekerk at Worlds?
• Jordan Geist Throws 6k Shot (Used For World Juniors) 70 feet, 6 inches – 2nd farthest in US history
• Olympic 400m hurdles silver medallist Boniface Mucheru wants gold in 2017 “I usually tend to lose my steps especially on the seventh hurdle and that has cost me a lot,”

Olympic News

• Will Eurosport Turn Into The European Olympic Channel? Eurosport CEO Says He’s Hoping To Give Olympic Fans Year-Round Olympic Buzz Now That They Control Olympic Rights In Europe “Go back to how the Olympic Games affects you, it is great that the moment affects people, but also look back in time. I have got a picture on the wall here of Seb Coe winning in Moscow in 1980, but I remember him breaking three world records in 41 days the year before … the whole thing became a longer story, and that is what we want to do with the Olympics.”
• Good Read Phil Hersh Hands Out His End-Of-Season Olympic Awards – Usain Bolt, Not Michael Phelps, Is His Male AOY As he has for the last 30 years, Phil Hersh hands out out his end of season Olympic awards. From Neymar to Uchimura to Jorgensen, he’s got you covered.
• Another Good Column Toni Reavis Ponders A Few Questions As The Calendar Switches To 2017 Among his questions: “Why when you turn 40 do they call runners Masters? Master? Are they kidding? It’s like they’re mocking you. Believe me, by the time you hit the big 4-0 you’re no master.”

Doping News

• IAAF Issues Updated Set Of Guidelines Detailing How Russians Can Compete As Neutrals In 2017 Events You can download the guidelines in English here. *BBC
• Names Of Around 200 Russians Suspected Of Being Implicated In Doping Per The McLaren Report Have Been Provided To The IAAF
• Russian Athletics President Complains That IAAF Won’t Provide It The Names Of The Athletes Suspected Of Doping In The McLaren Report
• Russian Retest Results From 2014 Sochi Will Be Released in “One To Two Months”
• President Of International Press Organization (AIPS) Calls For Track’s World Records To Be Erased

Random Links For A Slow Wednesday

• Associated Press Takes A Look At Why So Many Sneaker Companies Are Based In Boston: Beantown As Shoetown: Sneaker Makers Stake Claim In Boston | The Island Packet Somehow they fail to talk much about Portland or Baltimore (Under Armour).
• Usain Bolt Wants A Cameo In The Flash Movie Due Out in 2018 Flash is the fastest man alive in the DC Universe.
• Shawn Barber To Open His Season At Akron Pole Vault Convention This Weekend
• Nos Galan Road Races Founder Bernard Baldwin Dies Aged 91He founded the New Year’s Eve races in 1958 in memory of Guto Nyth Bran. Every year they feature one mystery runner.
• Susanna Kallur Announces She’ll Compete In Karlsruhe On Feb. 4 – Site Of Her WR in 2008 The women’s 60H is stacked as Sally Pearson is in it as well.
• 2016 IAAF Diamond League Review: Part I*Part II

Two Interviews We Liked

• Great Read Pat Butcher Talks To The Extraordinary Ed Whitlock Whitlock ran his first marathon in 3:09 in his 40s. In his 70s, he’d break 3 hours. Check out Butcher’s Emil Zatopek biography here.
• Interesting Q&A With Scott Newman, Former Athletics New Zealand Head And Agent For Eliza McCartney And Tom Walsh NZ won 4 Olympic track medals while Australia won just two.

Administrative News

• Man In Charge Of 2017 World Champs, Niels de Vos, Says London 2017 Is Vital To Reboot The Sport
  *Niels de Vos Thinks London 2017 Will Be Better Than Rio 2016 – At Least For Those From The UK People can watch the action live and there will be no other sports to distract the fans.
• IOC Refuses To Lift Kuwait Olympic Ban
• Peru May Lose 2019 Pan Am Games As They One Again Fail To Make $3.3 Million Rights Fee Payment

LetsRun.com’s World And US Rankings

*Men’s Marathon:Eliud Kipchoge Caps A Historic Year As World #1 As Breakout Marathon Star Galen Rupp Leads The Americans
*Women’s Marathon: London/Olympic Champ Jemima Sumgong Tops The List; Shalane Flanagan Top American
*Men’s 3,000/5,000:Mo Farah Is #1 Again; Paul Chelimo Tops U.S. List After Shock Silver In Rio
*Women’s 3,000/5,000: Almaz Ayana Is World #1; Shannon Rowbury Or Molly Huddle For U.S. #1?
*Men’s Steeple: Men’s Steeple: Conseslus Kipruto Ascends To #1 After A Year To Remember; Evan Jager (#2) Leads Americans Again
*Women’s Steeple:Ruth Jebet Leads The Way; Olympic Medallist Emma Coburn Tops U.S. List For Third Straight Year
*Men’s 1,500: Olympic Champion Matthew Centrowitz Is Our World #1
*Women’s 1,500:Faith Kipyegon Unseats Genzebe Dibaba As World #1; Jenny Simpson Back On Top Of U.S. Rankings
*Women’s 800:Caster Semenya Is the Clear World #1; Kate Grace Finishes A Shocking Year As U.S. #1
*Men’s 800 David Rudisha Is On Top For 2nd Year In A Row; Olympic Bronze Medalist Clayton Murphy Leads The Americans

IAAF End-Of-Year Reviews: *Jumps *Throws *Multis *Hurdles *Relays *Racewalks  *Mid-d *Long Distance *Road & XC

Athletics Weekly‘s Rankings:Top 3 International Rankings For All Women’s Events You can see their top 10 rankings by purchasing a digital copy of their bumper 112-page end-of-year stats special.

• AW’s Top 3 Rankings For All Men’s Events
• AW’s Top 3 UK Men’s Rankings For 2016
• AW’s Top 3 UK Women’s Rankings For 2016