LetsRun.com’s 2018 World And US Rankings

W 800 LRC Caster Semenya & Ajee’ Wilson Come Out On Top Again For the third year in a row, Caster Semenya was undefeated but was this the last of her dominance?  Domestically, Ajee Wilson was the best of a strong group of US runners. Should US#3 Ce’Aira Brown be ranked in the world’s top 10?

M 800 LRC Emmanuel Korir Is Our World #1 As Clayton Murphy Regains Top Spot Among Americans Emmanuel Korir had the best 800 season since David Rudisha‘s magical 2012 campaign. Meanwhile, Clayton Murphy started off both indoors and outdoors slowly but nearly returned to his Olympic bronze medal winning form.

RIP

• 1980 Olympic Javelin Silver Medalist Saida Gunba Dies, Age 59 She represented the Soviet Union at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.
• Longtime USATF Board Member Sam Germany Passes Away, Age 73

What’s Up With Nike’s 4% Shoes?

• Outside Magazine: Are Marathoners Getting Faster Or Is It The Shoes? Alex Hutchinson plots the top 100 marathon times for the past decade and concludes that the recent improvements in times in 2016-2018 “aren’t noticeably bigger than the fluctuations in annual performance in previous years.” Also, if it was really just the shoes, there should be a bunch of 2:04 guys running 2:01-2:02 like Eliud Kipchoge.
• A New Independent Study Confirms Findings That Nike Vaporflys Improve Running Efficiency By 4% The professor doing the study claims that they are even 2.6% faster than track spikes.
• LRC Archives: It’s Gotta Be The Shoes? Des Linden & Molly Huddle Discuss Nike’s Vaporfly 4% And The Running Shoe Arms Race
• MB: I bought a pair of Cheaterfly 4% , how are they even legal?
• MB: NYTimes research suggests that Nike Vaporfly may actually be 4% faster based on Strava data
• MB: New IAAF rules are out – Will Zoom Vaporfly 4% be banned for violating “spirit of the universality of athletics?”

Olympic News

• Tokyo 2020 Budget Not Expected To Go Down When Third Version Announced This Week The latest number was $11.8 billion.
• USOC Says That Bankruptcy Is Not An Option As They Face Lawsuits Over Larry Nassar Scandal USA Gymnastics filed bankruptcy earlier this month.
• Salt Lake City Selected As US Candidate For Potential 2030 Winter Olympic Bid
• North And South Korea To Meet IOC In February To Discuss Joint Bid For 2032 Olympic Games

Zatopek 10k *Results *Full Video Of Races

Stewart McSweyn (27:50.98) And Hitomi Niiya (31:32.50) Win Zatopek 10ks McSweyn ran a 15-second PR but was nowhere near his pre-race goal of the Aussie record (27:24.95)  due to windy conditions. Arkansas’ Jack Bruce was third in 28:49 and Patrick Tiernan didn’t run. 41-year-old Aussie Sinead Diver ran 31:50.98 and missed the Worlds standard by less than a second. *IAAF
*MB: Zatopek 10k on right now 

GB News

• The Telegraph: UK’s Kyle Langford Says He Isn’t Holding Grudges Against EPO Cheat Kipyegon Bett Bett beat Langford out for 2017 bronze. He has since been banned for EPO, but will get to keep his Worlds medal.
• GB’s Dina Asher-Smith Is Proud Of Her End-Of-The-Year Awards, But Knows She Is Not The Best Yet “I’m really happy and proud but I’m under no illusions. It was the Europeans – it wasn’t the Worlds, it wasn’t the Olympics.”
• Dina Asher-Smith And Tour De France Winner Geraint Thomas Named Sportsman/Sportswoman Of The Year By Britain’s Sports Journalists’ Association
• Dina Asher-Smith’s Coach Says She’ll Run The 100/200 Double At Worlds Next Year He also vaguely spoke of how some of her competitors were engaging in a ploy to try to “psyche her out.”
• GB’s Former World 110H Champ Colin Jackson Named New Chancellor Of UK University Wrexham Glyndwr

Honolulu And Other US Action

• RRW:Despite Powerful Trade Winds, Kenya’s Titus Ekiru Comes Close To Honolulu Marathon Record With 2:09:01 Victory Ekiru won by 4 minutes, not far off the 2:08:27 course record. Olympic steeplechaser Donn Cabral made his marathon debut for 4th place in 2:19:16. The women’s title went to Vivian Jerono Kiplagat (2:36:22).
• RRW:Successful Marathon Debut For American Donn Cabral At Honolulu Marathon Cabral thought he was in 2:15 shape on a flat course, so figured around 2:18 at Honolulu would be equivalent. He ran 2:19:16, but said the wind hindered him.
  *MB: Donn Cabral 2:19:16 Marathon Debut in Honolulu
• RRW:Edward Cheserek Wins Fast Kalakaua Merrie Mile In Photo Finish Cheserek defended his title from last year with a 3:54.83 victory over Leonard Bett (3:54.89). Craig Engels was 3rd (3:59.94), Canada’s Ben Flanagan 4th (3:59.97) and Nick Willis 5th (4:00.78). Merriam Cherop won the women’s race in 4:22.54, breaking her own record as the fastest mile on Hawaiian soil by a woman.
• Pre-Race: RRW: Steeplechaser Donn Cabral To Make Surprise Marathon Debut In Honolulu On Sunday Cabral says he wanted to run a marathon because he thinks he responds well to that kind of training and it will help him run his best at the steeplechase.
• Camille Herron Runs 162.9 Miles To Break The 24 Hour World Record Running at the Desert Solstice Invy in Phoenix, Herron broke the WR and won the overall race, beating all the men, including world 12 hour record holder Zach Bitter. *Results
  *MB:CAMILLE MF HERRON!!!!!!!!!
  *MB:Follow Camille Herron’s WR Attempt

Thursday Night Marathoning *Abu Dhabi Top 10 Results

MB: Official 1st Ever Abu Dhabi Marathon Discussion Thread

Rojo Speaks  Was The Inaugural Abu Dhabi Marathon Course Short? I Think It Was – Update: I Know It Was – Here’s Video Proof The splits make no sense. I’m supposed to believe a 2:06 guy went 62:35-61:29 to run 2:04:04, running a big negative split in 70 degree temps with a 13:55 5k from 30 to 35k? Sorry, I can’t do that.
*MB: Length matters: Here’s why I believe the Abu Dhabi course was short 

LRC Marius Kipserem Upsets Half Marathon WR Holder Abraham Kiptum In 2:04:04 At Inaugural Abu Dhabi Marathon, But Was The Course Short? Forty-four years after Muhammad Ali had his Rope a Dope moment in boxing, marathoning had its own version of it as Kipserem sprinted to a $100,000 victory after Kiptum grabbed the lead at the 2:02 mark.

Ababel Yeshaneh Wins Women’s Race In 2:20:16 (Results Only)

Pre-Race LRC One Of The World’s Richest Marathons Is Taking Place Tonight At 9 PM ET – Get The Inside Scoop On The Inaugural Abu Dhabi Marathon Here