September 25, 2017 | LetsRun.com

2017 BMW Berlin Marathon Tracking & Results TV & Streaming

LRC Final Eliud Kipchoge (2:03:32) Holds Off Debutant Guye Adola (2:03:46) To Win 2017 Berlin Marathon As World Record Attempt Fizzles The great Eliud Kipchoge rallied in the final 5k to restore order and prevent one of the biggest upsets in marathon history. American Ryan Vail had a nice run to grab 8th.
*Recommended Watch: Watch The Final Mile and Stuart Storey’s Epic Call of Eliud Kipchoge’s Win at 2017 BMW Berlin Marathon If you missed the race, you are in luck as the final mile is now available to be watched and Stuart Storey‘s solo call of the final half mile was pure brilliance.
*Eliud Kipchoge Says He Knew At 5k A WR Was “Not Possible” Due To Wet Conditions

LRC 6 Quick Thoughts About The Fantastic Men’s Race At 2017 BMW Berlin Marathon This piece is for those of you that were up at 3:15 am ET to watch it.

The World Reacts To Kipchoge’s Win

Patrick Sang: “In these terrible conditions, 2:03 is amazing.”
Form Analysis With Slow Motion Video Of Eliud Kipchoge, Guye Adola, Kenenisa Bekele And Gladys Cherono Adola’s technique was pretty good, but not quite as good as Kipchoge’s.
Strava Compares Eliud Kipchoge’s Run To User Date From 2016 Spoiler alert – Kipchoge is way better than the average Strava user.
Sean Ingle: “Kipchoge does not need a record to prove he is the greatest 26.2‑miler in history.”
Kipchoge: “Planning to run a marathon is like life, anything can happen. You can run fast today and tomorrow you run slow.”
Kenya president is pleased with Kipchoge’s win and says, “You are, undoubtedly, the best marathon runner the world has ever seen,”
Kipchoge’s Wife Was AnticipatingA WR But “… content with the win which is a pride to the country.” She and his kids watched the race at the Klique Restaurant. Edna Kiplagat was there and said the humidity cost Kipchoge the WR.
Announcer Goes Ga-Ga Over LetsRun.com’s Coverage

Berlin Mania On The MBoard

Full Berlin Coverage on 2017 Berlin Marathon Page

Non-Berlin News

Poland’s Blazej Brzezinski Gets Upset Victory To Win Warsaw Marathon In 2:11:26 Ethiopia’s Bekelu Beji (2:35:08) won the women’s race after pre-race favorite Recho Kosgei collapsed with half a mile to go.
Former GB Olympic Champ Kelly Holmes Opens Up About How She Used To “Cut Herself Every Day” With Scissors When She Was Injured Holmes concealed her depression at the time, but now wants to help people by showing them that “there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.” *BBC Article

Pre-Berlin Message Board Talk

Guys Adola is the dark horse in Berlin A fantastic prediction.
When Bekele gets the World Record …
60:45 PACE for HM in Berlin tommorow ! 61 flat if it’s raining.
It’s supposed to rain overnight in Berlin. How will a wet road affect race?
Kipchoge Training in detail (link)
Berlin is next weekend. We can officially start the “Expect Great Things” thread!

More Berlin Coverage

RRW Ryan Vail – America’s Lone Elite Men’s Entry – Is Hoping For A PR At 2017 BMW Berlin Marathon Vail, who has been running as much as 130 miles per week on just six days of running, has been battling the injury bug of late as he hasn’t finished a marathon since November of 2014.

LRC The Craziest Guy In Berlin? Japan’s Yuta Shitara Ran 60:17 For A Half LAST Weekend And Likely Will Go Out With Leaders He’s got a 2:09 PR. We’re not sure how to say cojones in Japanese.

Wilson Kipsang Says He Respects, But Does Not Fear Eliud Kipchoge Kipsang also weighed in on Kipchoge’s Breaking2 run and said he thinks he’d run just as fast as Kipchoge.
Wilson Kipsang: “My motivation continues to be great. I have not yet had enough.” Interesting stuff from Kipsang, who says he wants to win all the marathon majors (he only needs Boston and Chicago), has dropped his mileage and increased speed for Berlin 2017 and hints that the newest adidas sub2 shoe could give him an edge.
InsideTheGames’ Mike Rowbottom Thinks Berlin Will Be Great, But Doesn’t Want To Hear Talk About The “Greatest Of All Time” (GOAT) Rowbottom thinks the race will be historic, but actually hopes they don’t run the WR.
Gladys Cherono Wants To Break 2:20 And Maybe Even The CR In Berlin
SPIKES: Berlin Marathon By The Numbers Eliud Kipchoge, Kenenisa Bekele and Wilson Kipsang have each won Berlin once so far in their career.
MB: Get A Look At Eliud Kipchoge’s Training Log In The Month Leading Up To Berlin Some interesting insights into the training of the best marathoner in the world.
LRC Let’s Get Excited: Eliud Kipchoge Vs. Kenenisa Bekele Vs. Wilson Kipsang Vs. World Record Sunday In Berlin It doesn’t get much better than this. 3 global titans, including the greatest distance runner ever (Bekele) vs. the greatest marathoner ever (Kipchoge) on the only course where the world record has fallen the last 15 years.
Full Berlin Coverage on 2017 Berlin Marathon Page

Russian Doping Updates

Russian Whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov Writes OP-ED In NY TImes Rodchenkov says (and we believe it) that former sports minister Vitaly Mutko knew about the Russian doping program.
Reuters: New Russian Anti-Doping Chief Yuri Ganus Looking For A Fresh Start Ganus: “We have changed our director, our leadership, 90 percent of our staff. All inspectors in charge of taking samples are new … We need to understand that the culture needs to change, not only RUSADA.”

Stuff From Last Weekend We Missed On The Homepage

Ben Blankenship Runs The Fastest Mile Ever In Alaska With 3:57.85 Blankenship broke Kyle Merber‘s recent outdoor record as well as Jack Bolas‘ 3:58.3 indoor mark from 2013.
Sara Hall Moved Herself To #9 On The US Half Marathon All-Time List With 69:37 For 10th Place In Copenhagen
Harvey Lewis III Is USATF Athlete Of The Week For Winning The US 24-Hour Championships This Past Weekend 41-year-old Lewis ran 142.034 miles in 24 hours (10:08 pace). Tara Langdon won the women’s race with 131.448 miles (10:57 pace).

Oscar Pistorius Back In The News

“Oscar Pistorius: Blade Runner Killer” Movie Coming Out On Lifetime The movie is told from the point of view of Reeva Steenkamp and follows Pistorius’ track career through the tragic events on Valentine’s Day 2013 and the subsequent court cases.
South African Supreme Court Will Convene On November 3rd To Decide If Oscar Pistorius Should Get More Jail Time Prosecutors want the sentence upped from 6 years to 15.

Before Berlin On Sunday, A Look Back

LRC Classics #1 A Look Back At A Race For The Ages: Eliud Kipchoge Takes Down Kenenisa Bekele & El Guerrouj At The 2003 World Championships In 5,000 14 years ago, three of the greatest distance runners of all-time squared off at 5,000m and hardly anyone realized it.

Berlin Women

LRC Kenya’s Gladys Cherono Wins Her Second Berlin Marathon In 2:20:23 There were a ton of PRs in this one as the opening pace was hot (69:40).

(Russian) Doping Updates

WADA To Begin Audit Of Russian Anti-Doping Agency This Week The review committee will then make a recommendation to WADA’s board meeting in November on whether to reinstate RUSADA.
WADA President Craig Reedie Hints That Russia Is Moving In The Right Direction To Be Declared Compliant Before Next Year’s Winter Games Some of teh criteria Russia still has to fulfill is “acknowledgement of the McLaren Report” and granting “access to the Moscow Laboratory and its records.” (WHAT?!? How has that second one not happened already?)
Russian Whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov Is Concerned By WADA And IOC Handling Of 2014 Scandal “The expectation I once had for meaningful reform is beginning to fade. In recent weeks, news reports have strongly suggested that the World (Anti-Doping) Agency is trying to find a way to walk away from the findings of its own independent investigator.”
The Independent: “Why Is Anyone Shocked That Paralympians Have Been Accused Of Cheating?” We’re not. Anytime there is money/glory on the line, there will be some people willing to cheat.
US Athletes Are Concerned Russians Drug Cheats From The 2014 Winter Games Will Escape Punishment One winter Olympian praised the IAAF’s approach to Russia saying, “The IAAF outcome is about as elegant a solution as you could come to.”
WADA could turn to private donors for funding after Governments delay 2018-2021 budget WADA says they require a budget increase of 8, 15, 15 and 5 percent over the next four years.

NCAA XC Heats Up *Full NCAA XC Results

LRC 2017 Coast-To-Coast Battle In Beantown: #27 Illinois Goes 1-2 But #3 Syracuse Men Roll As #7 Providence Women Hold Off #18 Indiana & #25 Georgetown The Orange (35 points) went 3-4-5 and cruised past the Illini (56 points) but the Friars (71 points) had to work for it despite going 4-5-6 as the Hoosiers and Hoyas were each just 7 points behind. Illinois’ Jesse Reiser (24:13) and New Hampshire’s Elle Purrier (16:49) were your individual champions. Might Illinois win its 1st Big 10 title since 1984?
*Interview With Illinois Stars Reiser And Davis

Colorado St. Men And San Fran. Women Win Roy Griak
Texas A&M Men And Women Sweep Home XC Invitational
RIP: Longtime Boston University XC Coach Bruce Lehane Dies From ALS At Age 68
Good Read A Look At The 3 Generations Of Runners In The Schweizer Family – Now Led By NCAA Champ Karissa Grandpa Frank, who started it all, was the only member of the family to actually see her cross the finish liner 1st at NCAAs last year. He started crying a ton.
Furman Track & Cross-Country Programs Get A $1 Million Donation From A Couple Who Have Already Given Them $4 Million

Bureaucracies Making News

Unreal City Of Walnut Sues Block Construction Of New Stadium That Would Host 2020 Olympic Trials Some are upset a more thorough environmental report hasn’t been done. The University President says this setback won’t impact the 2020 Trials.
NCAA Compromises With Texas A&M XC Runner With His Own Water Bottle Company He can keep his YouTube channel but can’t talk about A&M.
*MB: Best Running YouTuber getting SHUT DOWN by NCAA

Random

US Field Event News

Week That Was

LRCWTW: Galen Rupp Picks It Up Then Slows Down, NorCal Disbands, And It Was The Weakest Year In The 5,000 Since 1994

The Week That Was is in fine form this week as we talk about Galen Rupp's half in Philly, Jordan Hasay's slowdown in Philly, sub-4 mania in Alaska, races with interesting prize money structures and of course the two super-fast half marathons in Europe.

Corruption, Doping And More Negatives

Sergey Bubka Being Investigated Over $45,000 Payment To Disgraced IAAF Treasurer Valentin Balakhnichev It is suspicious because almost at the same time as Bubka paid Balakhnichev, Balakhnichev sent $45 grand to Papa Massata Diack‘s company. Bubka’s representatives claim the money was for “consultancy services … to expand the reach of the annual Pole Vault Stars tournament.” *2nd Article
New RUSADA Leader Warns McLaren Report Accusations Must Be Taken Seriously If Confidence In Russia Is To Be Restored Whether it was for show or not remains a question, but new RUSAD head Yury Ganus had some of the most reasonable statements by a Russian official that we’ve seen.
South Korean President Promises Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games Will Be Safe After Meeting With Thomas Bach There are a lot of concerns given North Korea’s recent missile tests.
RIP: Olympic Jav Thrower Martin Broomall Biles Dies At 98

Bizarre: MB: Woman jogger dubbed ‘The Mad Pooper’ wanted by police for defecating outside a family’s home

Non-Berlin News

USADA Chief Travis Tygart Urges IOC To Ban Russia From Winter Olympics
France Will Compete In 2018 Winter Olympics After All There was talk they’d pull out due to security concerns.
Interesting Read A Look Back At The History Of The Chicago Marathon In the first year, it cost $10 to enter and three people were burned when the cannon used at the start misfired and burned them.
Good Riddance Unreal: Former 2012 Olympic Champ Asli Cakir Alptekin Gets Popped For Drugs For 3rd Time – Banned For Life
Give Her Another WR No Woman Had Ever Broken 50 Flat For 10 Miles But Based On Analysis Of The Video It Looks Like Joyceline Jepkosgei Ran 49:05

Pre-Race Berlin Coverage

LRC History Lesson A Look Back At The Men’s Marathon World Records Set In Berlin The last six world records in the men’s marathon (and 7 of the last 9) have all been set in Berlin. We take a look back at those historic races.

RRW Get the Inside Scoop On The Pacemaking That Might Make A World Record Possible At Sunday’s BMW Berlin Marathon Nike’s Sub-2 event taught us pacemaking is CRITICAL to running fast. There is some big pre-race drama as Bekele and Kipchoge won’t agree on what pace should be the goal.

*Kipchoge Wants To Go Out In 60:45
*Bekele Says “60:45 has no place in my plans. I shall follow the lead if I can.”
*Kipsang Prefers 61:00-61:10

LRC Kenenisa Bekele, Eliud Kipchoge And Wilson Kipsang Talk Big Before 2017 BMW Berlin Marathon (videos + transcript) Bekele has “complete confidence” he can compete with any athlete, Kipsang says his fitness is “far much better” than last year and wonders if Kipchoge has recovered from Breaking2, and Eliud Kipchoge says he’s “really, really looking forward” to Sunday but refused to talk about Bekele or Kipsang.