World Marathon Majors Soon Will Be Dead....... Unless

Expanding the number of world marathon majors to nine is an absurd idea unless the majors make one simple change that will instantly keep them being compelling, elite sporting events.

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2024 AOY

There are two finalists in each category (six men and six women total). They are Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Letsile Tebogo (men's track), Sydney McLaughlin-levrone, Julien Alfred (women's track), Mondo Duplantis, Miltiadis Tentoglou (men's field), Yaroslava Mahuchikh, Nafissatou Thiam (women's field), Tamirat Tola, race walker Brian Pintado (men's out of stadium), Sifan Hassan, Ruth Chepngetich (women's out of stadium).

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Conner Mantz (6th, 2:09:00) set an American course record in New York while CJ Albertson (10th) ran 2:10:57 just 21 days after running 2:08:17 in Chicago.

As usual, it came down to the final mile in Central Park, but Chepkirui turned the tables on the famed kicker Obiri to win her first major. Sara Vaughn (6th, 2:26:56) was the surprise top American.

A New World Marathon Major

Sydney is the first race to join the series since Tokyo joined 11 years ago. The current "six star medal" will remain in place for those that complete the original races, but it could be a nine star medal in the future with Cape Town and Shanghai also candidates to join the WMM.

Conference Champs

The Big 12 showdown between the top two teams in the country lived up to the hype while Wisconsin's Bob Liking became the fourth man to win four Big 10 XC titles.

Signing News
Saturday In NYC

Rodenfels repeated as champ in 15:20 while Muhumed held off Sam Prakel by one second. Plus a Joe Waskom update -- he's running the highest mileage of his life and wants to run World Indoors.

NCAA XC Is Almost Here - Get Your Gear For Madison

It's time to get excited for NCAA xc. Order one of these shirts now and we'll bring it to you in Madison. Buy today for 50% off for 48 hours.

Friday 15

We'll get you ready for Sunday's NYC Marathon and talk a little about NCAA xc.

The Olympic champ Tamirat Tola says he's read. So is Conner Mantz. Clayton Young is healthy but has he lost his confidence after getting crushed by Mantz in practice?

We could see a fast day on Sunday, Dakotah Lindwurm has a new name, and Jenny Simpson is retiring. Plus, does Tirunesh Dibaba have anything left at age 39?

Gemedu Dedefo, the coach of the previous world record holder Tigist Assefa, reminded LRC that he predicted a sub-2:10 was coming last year and thinks women are capable of running even faster: "in my mind, they can go near to 2:08." That being said, he admitted there was one thing that was "strange" about the record.

NYC Men's Preview

Tola, Olympic silver medalist Bashir Abdi, 2022 NYC champ Evans Chebet, plus Americans Conner MantzClayton Young, and CJ Albertson should make for a great race on Sunday.

NYC Women's Preview

Dakotah Popehn (formerly Lindwurm), Jessica McClain, and Aliphine Tuliamuk lead the US field.

 More US Distance News

Emily Mackay says it really hit her that she's an Olympian during the opening ceremony “I don’t think it fully sank in until I was at the Opening Ceremony on a boat with all of Team USA,” she says. “When I saw the Eiffel Tower lit up with the Olympic rings, I think that was the moment it sunk in: Wow! I’m an Olympian and this is happening.”

Great Minds Think Alike

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    The Ekiden Is Crazy Popular

    It's wild that the World Series is drawing more TV viewers in Japan (15.9 million) than in the US (13.8 million), but did you know that a 2-day road race that takes more than 10 hours to complete has attracted nearly 65 million viewers?

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    Valencia Half Analysis

    Kejelcha's pbs at 3k, 5k, 10k, and the half all rank in the top 10 all-time. Plus hear how Agnes Ngetich went from hurt to a near-WR in four months.

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    Supporters Club podcast

    Start your weekend out by getting briefed on the latest in the running world.

    Main Podcast

    Leo & Lex were the guests on the podcast this week. Click for full show notes or start listening to them at 78:19.

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    RIP To A BIG Legend
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    Q&A with Mark Coogan about Parker Valby

    Coogan's team earned two medals at World Indoors in 2024 (including gold for Elle St. Pierre), put two women on the US Olympic 1500 team, and last week signed NCAA superstar Parker Valby.

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    The top-8 men broke Parker Wolfe's 23:04 CR from three weeks ago. The #3 Arkansas men won the team title over #4 Iowa State and #9 Stanford. On the women's side, New Mexico's Pamela Kosgei ran 18:59 to beat Florida's Hilda Olemomoi by 3 seconds and #2 BYU won the team title over #3 Washington and #1 ranked NAU.
    *MB: 2024 XC Pre-Nats
    *MB: Not impressed with NAU today

      International Weekend Distance Action
      Is 2:09:56 Real or Fiction?

      From Amby Burfoot's attack on Chepngetich to Kenyan parliament calling out LetsRun.com's Robert Johnson, the fallout of Chepngetich's WR has been unlike any other. Jonathan Gault tries to make sense of it and reveals that she did recently switch from the Vaporfly to the Alphafly - could that explain her remarkable run?

      Valby gets paid

      Another high-profile female NCAA athlete will train under Mark Coogan as part of the Team New Balance Boston group.
      *MB: Parker Valby to New Balance Boston

      Law Enforcement News
      News From The Commonwealth
      New Track and New Color for The Armory

      The Armory in New York City has undergone a major overhaul and has a new blue color.

      News From Japan

      Princess Ekiden Preview and Streaming Sunday is the Princess Ekiden, the official qualifying race for November's Queens Ekiden, the season-ending national championship race for corporate women's teams.

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      The Latest Jonathan Gault SC Feature

      For many years, Kwemoi was defined by the 3:28.81 1500 he ran in 2014, which made him the fastest teenager in history. Now Kwemoi is an Olympic medalist and will join Grand Slam Track in 2025. How did it happen?

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      SC Paywall lifted

      At the start of 2024, only five men had ever broken 1:42. Five have done it in 2024 alone, and David Rudisha's 1:40.91 world record looks poised to fall. What is going on? Jonathan Gault interviews coaches and scientists from all over the world and unveils Project 99 - the quest for the first sub-1:40 800 in history.

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      Chicago is Sunday
      Chicago is Sunday

      Chepngetich went out in 64:16 for the half -- the #5 half marathon time ever -- and came back in 65:41 to take almost two minutes off Tigst Assefa's 2:11:53 world record from last year.

      John Korir became the 6th fastest man in history and joined his brother Wesley as a World Marathon Major winner.

      Non-Distance News
      Collegiate News

      Clinger won in 22:54 as BYU went 1-5 to dominate over Oregon. On the women's side, Oregon's Madison Elmore won in 19:40 while #6 Utah beat #12 Oregon, 25 to 53. *Results
      *MB: Oregon gets CRUSHED at home

      This Week's Pod

      Rinaldi the coach of Will Sumner, Josh Hoey, and Peter Bol joined us to talk about coaching some of the best 800 meters runners in the world while having a full-time job. Plus, he talked about the Peter Bol "EPO" case, where he sees the event going, and the great Donavan Brazier.

      Plus Chicago Marathon preview.

      Pre-Race Chicago Coverage
      Pre-Race Chicago Coverage

      With such a strong core of US women, will an American record attempt be on the cards? Jonathan Gault has the inside scoop.

      No man has won Chicago in his debut since 2003 but Worlds 10k silver medalist Ebenyo could end that drought. Panning ran great at the Trials through 20 miles while Albertson has been crushing workouts again in his buildup.

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      NCAA Updates
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      Weekend Long Distance Results

      He beat out Eritrean Olympic steeplechaser Yemane Haileselaisse by 9 seconds while Clayton Young was third in 46:07. Natosha Rogers won the women's race in 52:29. Marathon wins went to Shadrack Kimining (2:10:17) and Molly Bookmyer (2:28:52). *Discussion Thread

      Women's Distance News
      Sad News - RIP
      Weekend NCAA Action

      #3 Notre Dame was a close 3rd with 70 points. BYU's Lexy Halladay-Lowry won the race in 15:57. On the men's side, #9 ranked Notre Dame beat #4 NAU 55-68. Texas Tech's Ernest Cheruiyot won the race in 22:20.
      *MB: 2024 Joe Piane Discussion Thread

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      Big Kenyan Doping Bust

      Anyango finished 2nd in Valencia earlier this year where Agnes Ngetich ran the current WR of 28:46. Anyango also placed 4th at World XC, but missed making Kenya's Olympic team, finishing 6th in the 10,000m trials at the Pre Classic.

      XC Runner Of The Week

      Parker Wolfe and Brian Musau impressed last weekend but so did D3's Nathan Tassey. Who was the runner of the week?

      On the women's side, newcomers Judy Chepkoech and Pamela Kosgei impressed as did returnees Sadie Sigfstead and Judy Kosgei.

      Interesting Distance Links
      A Film On A Current Sprint WR Is Coming Soon
      Business News
      NCAA News

      The NCAA has a nice rotation of xc and indoor hosts and XC is heading back to Terre Haute for the 1st time in 7 years, but outdoors the NCAA continues to choose nothing but Eugene.

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      World Indoors First Time Hosts
      LRC Pro Weekly Recap
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      The guy who destroyed Jakob Ingebrigtsen 5 years ago at World Juniors and quickly moved to the roads is now a major marathon winner as Berlin turns 50. In addition to breaking down Berlin, we introduce you to a hot new race in Colorado.

      College Recap

      Our Jonathan Gault has the inside scoop on the NCAA xc action. Does Villanova have a potential NCAA champion you've never heard of? What's up with the top American returner who didn't race this weekend? How do you get a Kenyan eligible when they show up at the end of September? Plus all hail the Big 12 as the BYU and Iowa State men impressed and could the OK State men be even better than 2023? Plus Stanford was resurgent.

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      The World Marathon Major Season Starts on Sunday

      The men's race was close with the top 4 finishing within 20 seconds of each other and Mengesha, the 2019 World U20 Xc champ, beating Kenya's Cybrian Kotut by 5 seconds. It was also DEEP as 14 broke 2:07 and 22 broke 2:08. Ketema, who had the fastest debut (2:16:07) in the marathon earlier this year in Dubai, dominated the women's race winning by over two minutes.

        NCAA XC
        Coaching News: The Start Of One Career, The End Of Another
        Athlo$ NYC For Women

        Miss the meet? Watch all the races in less than 8 minutes without knowing the results. Or you can watch the full broadcast above. 

          David Rudisha's 800m Record on Borrowed Time?

          At the start of 2024, only five men had ever broken 1:42. Five have done it in 2024 alone, and David Rudisha's 1:40.91 world record looks poised to fall. What is going on? Jonathan Gault interviews coaches and scientists from all over the world and unveils Project 99 - the quest for the first sub-1:40 800 in history.

          Two Final LetsRun.com Pieces On The Paris Olympics
          Two Final LetsRun.com Pieces On The Paris Olympics

          The Olympics produce the most incredible highs and lows. Which athletes overachieved and overachieved in the Paris track and field action?

          Almost no one who emerged from the repechage made the final in Paris. World Athletics president Seb Coe admits, "It was an IOC creation. It wasn’t something that we chose ourselves."

          Supporters Club podcast

          One final look back at Paris, a look ahead to LA and we pay respects to Usain Bolt's 100m world record and ponder how Tyreek Hill could do in a race vs Noah Lyles.

          LRC Exclusives
          LRC Exclusives

          Was this the best Olympic track & field competition ever? Why did the US men run so well? Plus the greatest unanswered questions from Paris 2024 and why Jakob Ingebrigtsen should not abandon the 1500m.

          A lot to talk about on this week's LRC podcast. We couldn't get to it all so join the Supporters Club to get Friday's bonus podcast.

          Your latest American stars share their insights.

          Three legends of the sport.

          One of the greatest US runners ever.

          We chatted with Frank on the 50th anniversary of his Olympic Marathon gold

          American Record Holders
          American Record Holders

          Keira D'Amato, the new American record holder in the marathon, was joined by Deena Kastor, who held the record for 15 years.

          Sisson was the guest on the LetsRun.com Track Talk podcast after she became the first American to go sub 67 in the half marathon on a record-eligible course. Podcast highlights above. Full pod here.

          Woody Kincaid joined us after he broke the American record indoors at 5000. He talks above why he left the Bowerman Track Club. Podcast highlights and link to full podcast here.

          Coogan's New Balance Boston team had 3 Olympians in 2021 and 2022 could be the biggest year yet for the program with 2 new additions and the TRACK at New Balance coming on March 1st.

          Danny Mackey has taken the Brooks Beasts from an unproven club to the Olympic podium in its first decade.

          Dathan Ritzenhein is the first of the top pro coaches to sit down and talk about his club heading into the 2022 campaign.

          Best of Jon Gault
          Best of Jon Gault
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          Take Your Love of LetsRun to the Next Level
          Take Your Love of LetsRun to the Next Level