May 17, 2017 Homepage Archive

TrackTown Summer Series Draft 2.0 Is Friday

LRC “GM” Nick Symmonds, Hoping To Make USAs One Final Time, Is In 1:50 Shape Right Now, Ready For Friday’s Tracktown Summer Series Draft This is Symmonds’ final season on the track and he’s hoping to qualify for USAs and see what happens. Meanwhile, as GM of team San Francisco, he’s getting ready for Friday’s Tracktown Summer Series draft, and also getting ready for life after being a pro track runner.

*Seven Top Athletes Sign Contract Extensions For 2017 TrackTown Summer Series Emma Coburn, Brenda Martinez, Ben Blankenship, Brittney Reese, Queen Harrison, Phyllis Francis and Erik Kynard have all signed with teams for 2017.

Sprint Stuff

Usain Bolt Donates His World Record Spikes To Raise Money For Charity Bolt gave up the spikes he wore when he broke the 100m WR in 2009 to be auctioned off to raise money for a charity which provides equipment and medical services for Jamaican hospital pediatric wards.
Good Read/Watch:Article And 22-Minute Documentary On Jamaica’s Boys’ And Girls’ Champs The documentary follows several sprinters before and through the biggest high school meet in the world.
Olympic Hurdler Queen Harrison Stars In TV Show “Say Yes To The Dress” Harrison is engaged to three-time Olympic medalist Will Claye, who proposed in the stands after winning TJ silver in Rio. *USATF Article
Multi News: Good Listen: Podcast Q&A With Former World Decathlon Champion Trey Hardee In a three-hour interview, Hardee opens up about his career, training and life as an athlete/father.
NCAA Athletes Of The Week Are Sprinters Christian Coleman And Deajah Stevens Coleman is the first collegian (8th man in history) to go sub-10 and sub-20 in the 100/200 on the same day while Stevens put herself #2 on the NCAA all-time 200 list with a 22.09.

Drug News

Disgraced Canadian Sprinter Ben Johnson Stars In Video Ad Making Fun Of PED Use The ad for sport betting app Sportsbet features Johnson, a Lance Armstrong look-alike and numerous comical doping puns.
*Watch The Ad Here
*Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority Lodge Complaint About The Ad An ASADA statement said, “This advertising campaign belittles the achievements of clean athletes and denigrates those who work to protect clean sport across the world.”
European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen Accused Of Covering Up Doped Athletes In The 1980s Former HJ world record holder Patrik Sjöberg accused Hansen of having clean athletes take tests on behalf of doped ones and Hansen is even accused of taking a test himself for an athlete.

LetsThrow.com

China’s 2012 Olympic Shot Put Silver Medalist Gong Lijiao Is Chasing An Elusive Gold At London 2017 Lijiao has medaled at five global championships, but they are all silver and bronze.
The Republic Of The Congo’s African Games Shot Put Champ And Olympic 4th Placer Franck Elemba Talks About One Of The Biggest Obstacles He Faced In Starting His Career Elemba talks about the difficulty of overcoming frequent moves from country to country in his childhood as he has lived in 7 different countries.
Alyssa Wilson Breaks High School National Shot Put Record With 17.41m Throw
From Last Weekend: Poland’s Two-Time World Hammer Champ Pawel Fajdek Extends His World Lead To 81.51m
This Weekend:IAAF World Hammer Throw Challenge Series Kicks Off In Japan

Interesting Reads

After Missing 2015 And 2016 Due To Injury, Jake Robertson Is On Fire In 2017 And Wants To Race Mo Farah In London*MB: Jake Robertson is eyeing Mo Farah: “If my brother and I are in shape we at least can make him hurt for it.”
2017 May Be The First Year You Get Custom 3-D Printed Shoes Thanks To Adidas
8 Pieces Of Old Running Gear That Runner’s World Writers Can’t Throw Away From the Ipod Shuffle to the Timex Ironman, they’ve got some items we love as well.

Vaulting News

Olympic Pole Vault Bronze Medalist Eliza McCartney Talks About The Moment When She Realized She Had A Future In Track & Field McCartney unexpectedly won the Australian Junior Championships back when she had only been pole vaulting for seven months.
High Schooler Cole Riddle Breaks Arizona State Pole Vault Record With 17-7 (5.35m)
HS Pole Vault Star Mondo Duplantis Voted European Athlete Of The Month Duplantis, who has Swedish citizenship, is already expected to make waves in the pro ranks after he cleared a world U20 record of 5.90m at the Texas Relays.
*In Addition To Winning The PV, Duplantis Was Runner-Up In The Louisiana State Meet Long Jump
RunBlogBlog Article About The Difficulty Pole Vaulters Face When Traveling With Their Poles Transporting 8-10 poles on flights, to and from meets and storing at hotels is as difficult as the competitions themselves.

From The Track To The Gridiron

USA Today:Decathlete Garrett Scantling Trying To Make It In The NFL Scantling hasn’t played football since high school, but after getting 4th at the Olympic Trials last year, Scantling has put track on hold and is trying out for the Atlanta Falcons.
Baltimore Ravens Have Two Former Track Athletes Among Draft Picks Marlon Humphrey was a world youth champion in the 100H and 400H while Tim White was 4th at NCAAs last year in the TJ.

The Latest On #Breaking2

LRC How Far Did Eliud Kipchoge Really Run In His Breaking 2 Attempt? What Was the Deal With Him Crossing the Blue Line? Kipchoge’s incredible 2:00:25 clocking wasn’t achieved because he ran less than 26.2 miles. No, the course may have actually been seven seconds long.

2024 Olympic Bid News

**Nike Sub-2 Marathon Distance Attempt *Race Replay**

LRC Breaking2 Falls Short, But Eliud Kipchoge Runs An Astonishing 2:00:25 It won’t go in any record books, but Kipchoge showed once again he is the greatest marathoner of all time. We try to break down his remarkable run.
*Miss The Show?Watch The Replay Here

*Form Analysis:What Could Nike Scientists Do To Better Manage Fatigue The Next Time Around?
*Pat Butcher:“So, Superman is not a big, chisel-jawed white Jewish guy from New York, after all. He is a weedy little black guy from 3,000 metres up in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya.”
*RW:Processing The Aftermath Of The Sub-2:00 Attempt An interesting note is that Kipchoge unexpectedly used the new Swedish sports drink used by Kenenisa Bekele and the rival Sub2Hr project.
*IAAF:Eliud Kipchoge A “Happy Man” “I hope next time people believe it is possible.”
*NY Times:Eliud Kipchoge Runs World’s Fastest Marathon, In Nike’s Special Shoes
*WSJ: Nike Marathon Stunt Fails To Break Two-Hour Barrier

A Friendly Debate – A Noted Sub-2 Optimist And Pessimist Share Their Thoughts On What Eliud Kipchoge’s 2:00:25 Means

LRC Was Eliud Kipchoge’s 2:00:25 A Monumental Step Forward In Marathoning? No, It Was Not – We Still Are 20+ Years Away From A Legitimate Sub-2 Marathon LetsRun.com co-founder Robert Johnson said four years ago that are nowhere close to a sub-2 in a legitimate race and he’s not backing down.

LRC Guest Column By Dr. Michael Joyner: Kipchoge’s Run & What Might (Or Might Not) Happen Next What does the man who famously predicted way back in 1991 that a human could run a marathon in 1:57:58 think of Eliud Kipchoge’s 2:00:25 run? Find out here.

MB: Dr. Michael Joyner and LetsRun’s Robert Johnson share their thoughts on what Eliud Kipchoge’s 2:00:25 means.

News Worth Noting

USATF Announces Finalists To Host 2020 Olympic Trials Eugene obviously, but also Sacramento and Walnut, California. A final choice will be made no later than mid-July.
*Ken Goe Suggests Delayed Renovations Could Possibly Be An Issue With Eugene Hosting 2020 Trials
London 2017 Won’t Be The Best Women’s Marathon Ever:Mary Keitany And Florence Kiplagat Turn Down Kenyan World Championships Marathon Spots There are mixed reports on what other selected team members (including Eliud Kipchoge and Wilson Kipsang) are planning to do.

NCAA Studs

LRC Top 10 Greatest Performers From NCAA Conference Weekend: Christian Coleman, Fred Kerley, Deajah Stevens, Grant Fisher, Dani Jones And More Shine Just another ho-hum NCAA weekend with a 9.97/19.98 double, 44.09 in the 400m, 11.05/22.09 double, 51.8-second lap in a 1,500m. Plus there was some great distance action. From Grant Fisher‘s domination of the PAC-12 1,500 to the arrival of Texas A&M’s true freshman Devin Dixon as an NCAA star (1:45 win at SECs), we’ve got the top performances from last week covered.

LSU Sprinter Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake Becomes Just The Second Brit Ever To Have Sub-10 And Sub-20 Second PRs Mitchell-Blake ran 9.99 and 20.09 to finish second to Christian Coleman twice at SECs.
Ken Goe:“The Ducks’ PAC-12 Title Sweep Was A Total Team Effort”
Oregon Women Move To #1 In Post-Conference National Rankings Arkansas moved from 5th to 2nd while top-ranked Texas A&M dropped to 4th.
Texas A&M And Florida Men Stay 1-2 In Updated NCAA Ranks
Event-By-Event Best 10 College Marks From The Weekend

2017 Shanghai DL Full Results TV & Streaming

LRC19-Year-Old Noah Lyles Arrives As A Star By Winning His Diamond League Debut In 19.90! Lyles is officially the REAL DEAL as he became just the fourth human to break 20.00 before turning 20.
*Full Results

LRC Shanghai Recap: David Rudisha Trounced As The Sprinters And Jumpers Steal The Showupdated with video David Rudisha was trounced by 19-year-old Kipyegon Bett but the other favorites in the mid-d and distance races delivered as Olympic champs Faith Kipyegon and Ruth Jebet were dominant. Luvo Manyonga put on a show in the long jump and so did Elaine Thompson in the women’s 100m.

IAAF:South Africa’s Olympic Silver Medalist Luvo Manyonga Breaks Diamond League LJ Record With 8.61m Victory Olympic discus Sandra Perkovic recorded her 35th Diamond League competition win.
IAAF:Elaine Thompson, Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Noah Lyles Blast To World Leads In Shanghai

Talk About Shanghai On The Fan Forum / Message Board:

Full Coverage And Pre-Meet Coverage Can Be Found In Our Shanghai DL Special Section

The Latest On LA 2024

After 4-Day Tour Of LA, The IOC Left Impressed “The commission members were almost ecstatic about the level of the venues that they’ve found and that they’ve seen and that they’ve been able to meet those people that manage those venues.”
LA Times Criticizes IOC For Being Secretive And Less Than Transparent During LA Visit “Evaluators met behind closed doors, shutting out the public. During tours of L.A., they were kept separate from journalists and, when the groups wandered too close, officials scrambled to herd them in opposite directions.”

Hope Everyone Enjoyed Mother’s Day

Good Read:Alysia Montano Interview “On Racing, Motherhood And Medals” Montano looks back at the 2014 USAs when she ran while 8 months pregnant and was eating a sandwich in the call room beforehand.
Runner’s World:Six Runners Who Have Extra Reasons To Celebrate Mother’s Day The post-Olympic baby boom is in full swing in 2017 with many top women taking time away from the sport to have a baby this year.
Good Read:On His First Mother’s Day Without His Mom, Larry Eder Remembers Her
Sally Kipyego Was A Month Pregnant When She Finished 2nd At The 2016 New York City Marathon Kipyego talks about running the NYC Marathon not knowing she was pregnant, stopping running 18 weeks into her pregnancy, weight gain and potential comeback.

Sprint Stuff

Trivia Related To English Gardner 1) She’s The 7th-Fastest 100m Woman In History But Has Never Medaled Individually, 2) She Grew Up In The Same Town As Carl Lewis – Willingboro, New Jersey
Jamaica’s 4 X 400 Olympic Silver Medalist Christine Day Gives Her Tips For Sport And Life Day’s dating advice is, “Keep it in the dating zone and don’t rush things because that is when it can get messed up.”
Moving To Cali? Michael Johnson’s House On Sale For $3.2 Million
Sanya Richards Ross Backs WR Reset But Notes That Not All Post-2005 Times Will Be Clean Richards-Ross would inherit the 400m WR from East Germany’s Marita Koch (47.60 in 1985) as her 48.70 PR is the best post-2005 time.

More On Breaking2

LRC Pacing2: Chris Derrick & Andrew Bumbalough Tell What It Was Like To Pace Eliud Kipchoge To 2:00:25 Derrick and Bumbalough talk about not only the details of the attempt but also their tremendous respect for Kipchoge.

LRC Nike Or Its PR Firm Altered The Time On The Clock In Eliud Kipchoge Breaking2 Finish Line Photo The best marketers in the world wanted everything to look perfect, so they just added 2 seconds to the finish line clock photo they sent out, which was off.

Good Read: Ross Tucker Calls Tesla The “Unsung Hero” Of Eliud Kipchoge’s 2:00:25 Tucker estimates that the the pace car with the large clock as a windshield reduced drag, saving Kipchoge 1:30 to 2:00 over the marathon distance. Overall, Tucker says “Kipchoge is probably good for a 2:02:15.”
*Good Read #2: A Much Longer In-Depth Post-Race Analysis By Tucker Tucker says, “If the sub-2 hour marathon is the Mount Everest of human endurance performance, then Kipchoge has reached the ledge just beneath its summit.”
Meet The Man Behind The Scenes Who Was “Crucial To The Breaking2 Project” Samuel Kipkogei Kiplagat, known affectionately as “Chef Sammy”, cooks Kipchoge’s meals says he kept his simple usual diet.
Sarah Barker In Deadspin:“Eliud Kipchoge Managed To Steal A Show Nike Set Up To Be About Them” Barker also criticizes Paula Radcliffe for giving some of the credit to Nike’s Zoom VaporFly shoes.
*MB: “Paula Radcliffe … Zoom VaporFly shoes … arrogant, disrespectful, and total bullshit”
Adidas Sets Aside Rivalry To Congratulate Nike And Eliud Kipchoge On Breaking2 Attempt We’re sure they were silently celebrating his near miss.
Opinion Piece:“The Breaking2 Event Demonstrated Exactly What Has Been Lacking In Cross Country Running” Can XC mimic some of the Breaking2 marketing strategies to gain more popularity?
RunBlogRun’s Larry Eder Has “Seven Deep Thoughts” On Breaking2

More Upcoming Action

Today In The Caribbean:LaShawn Merritt, Andre De Grasse, Brittney Reese, Will Claye And Ryan Crouser Lead List Of 25 Rio Olympians At Guadeloupe International Meeting
Saturday:British 10,000m Runners Hoping To Seal London 2017 Qualification At Highgate Harriers Night Of The 10,000m PRs Top Brits fighting for a Worlds spot include Jo Pavey, former NCAA champ Kate Avery, Andy Vernon and Dewi Griffiths.
*Last Year’s Winner Ross Millington Says The Atmosphere At The Night Of The 10,000m PRs Was Better Than In Rio Last year’s race was famously run through a beer garden on the backstretch.
May 28:Tirunesh Dibaba Will Defend Her Title At The Great Manchester Run 10K
May 27:US Champ English Gardner And Olympic LJ Champ Tianna Bartoleetta Lead Pre Classic 100m FieldVeronica Campbell-Brown and Trinidad and Tobago’s Michelle-Lee Ahye are also in the race.
May 27:Five Major Championship Medalists Lead Heptathlon Field For Hypo Multi Meet In Gotzis GB’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson will be hoping to get back to the level which saw her win the meet in a lifetime best of 6,682 points back in 2014.
May 28:Defending Champions Nick Goolab And Sarah McDonald Return To The Westminster MileSeb Coe is running the “Olympians Mile” along with other former UK sporting greats.
June 4:Noah Lyles And Four Olympic Champions Announced For Boston “Street Meet”
June 15:Dafne Schippers Announced For Oslo Bislett Games 200m

Fast Monday 1,500 At Swarthmore

MB:Johnny Gregorek Wins Swarthmore 1,500 In 3:36.61 Over Jordy Willamsz (3:36.87) Robby Andrews was 6th (3:38.42) but how about the Ivy League with 3 guys under 3:40, led by Yale’s James Randon at 3:37.93. *Video *Full Meet Results

IAAF Publishes Qualifying Standards For 2018 World Indoors The standards didn’t change by much from 2016 World Indoors except the women’s 3,000, which got significantly faster from 9:00 indoors/8:36 outdoors to 8:50 indoors and 8:28 outdoors.

PA Sports Writer Bashes High School Track And Field; Gets Ripped Apart By Track Community, Including Ato Boldon In reaction to the writer calling track “as intense and high pressure as frisbee golf,” Ato Boldon wrote in the comments section, “Mike Gross, kindly return whatever sum you were paid to write this.”