Quote Of The Day

In the realm of drug abuse in running, how many federations, events, sponsors, and managers can be said to be willfully indifferent to the PED abuse that has banned one nation from international competition since 2015, Russia, and threatens another in 2024, Kenya?

With that in mind, should more than just individual athletes be held to account for the scourge of drug abuse that plaques this sport to the point of public indifference to the outcome of its competitions?...

If the agents are at the hub in this system, the ones who connect the athletes to events and sponsors, why not require the agents to post a bond before races as a guard against future drug positives? That puts the onus on the agents to ensure their athletes compete clean.

=Toni Reavis brainstorming ideas to stop doping in the sport after 2:09:56 women's marathoner Ruth Chepngetich tested positive. "Thoughtsleader" had a similar idea on the MB of fining agents an increasing amount after each positive.

MB: Breaking: Marathon world record Ruth Chepngetich has tested positive

    If it's too good to be true....

    Suspicion of Chepngetich was sky high last October when she ran 2:09:56 in Chicago and now she's been popped.. But since Chepngetich tested positive for a masking agent, she could be competing again as soon as April 2027 even if her ban is upheld. Is that fair? Plus is the AIU nearing a breaking point with Federico Rosa and Kenya?
    *Tonie Reavis column on Ruth C's bust: Why don't agents, shoe sponsors or marathon Title sponsors do anything about the doping scourge Reavis correctly points out that just banning the athletes isn't working. What is agents were required to put up a bond to vouch fo athletes being clean?

    *MB: Breaking: Marathon world record Ruth Chepngetich has tested positive - Will Kenya's Parliament apologize to yours truly?|
    *2024: Amby Burfoot says it out loud - Chepngetich is doping
    *2024: Kenyan parliament is currently discussing my questions of Ruth Chepngetich & are demanding that I apologize Remember when 13 members of Parliament went on a 20+ tirade ripping LetsRun for asking Chepngetich what she would say to people who thought her performace was too good to be true.

    London DL Is Saturday & Already Sold Out 
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    For the first time in more than three years, Donavan Brazier, who missed all of 2023 and 2024, will race on the Diamond League circuit. And if he runs well, it will be the first time since August 2019 that the former world champ breaks 1:50 in an official Diamond League 800.

    Sydney's Elite Men's Field is Released

    The men's field has 9 guys who have broken 2:05, including 2 of 9 fastest men in history in Eliud Kipchoge and Birhanu Legese. It also has 15 who have equalled or broken Sydney's 2:06:17 course record. 2025 Sydney will clearly be the greatest non-Olympic marathon ever run in Australia. But what if we told you the field only includes one man who has finished in the top 3 at a major in 2024 or 2025 and zero men ranked in our top 10 for 2024?
    *MB: Men's Sydney Marathon field next month is stacked..... Or is it?
    *Related: LRC Nov 2024: Expanding Into Irrelevance? World Marathon Majors Expansion Is Ill-Conceived Unless They Do This

    On The Boards
    On The Boards
    Rudy, Rudy, Rudy
    The Latest Distance News
    This Week's Pod

    USAs are only 15 days away. Who will make the team? Jakob Ingebrigtsen is back training. How will he do at Worlds? Plus, Front Office Sports' Dennis Young joins us to discuss the state of pro track and field.

    Administrative News
    Guest Column

    Imagine a robot that can only run 60-second 400m pace. At what race distance could the world's best humans create the biggest gap? In 1962, Peter Snell became the first athlete to finish 15+ seconds ahead. Now we are approaching the 20-second barrier. Which current athletes are best-suited to break this "meta-barrier"? Andy Hardt gets nerdy and explores.

    Jerome Classic

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    Coaching / Recruiting News
    More Money Problems For GST
    More Recent Results
    London Diamond League Is Saturday
    Tuesday Night
    Not everyone can run Monaco - Ed Murphey Classic Was Saturday
    Sunset Tour

    Bailey Hertenstein (14:48.91 pb) outkicked Taylor Roe (14:49.91 pb) to win the 5k as Karissa Schweizer and Lauren Ryan also broke 15:00. American record holder Alicia Monson ran 15:01.63 in her return to racing. Meghan Hunter (1:58.21) won the 800, where 4 women ran 1:58. Navasky Anderson (1:44.40) won the men's 800, where Hobbs Kessler was only 4th (1:44.77). NCAA champ Brian Musau dominated the 5000 in a big 12:59.82 pb as Rocky Hansen also PR'd in 2nd in 13:07.77. Drew Hunter picked up a big win in the men's 1500 (3:33.41), winning by 0.46 while Josette Andrews crushed the women's field by nearly 2 seconds in 4:00.10 as Katelyn Tuohy ran 4:08.

    Distance News
    Doping News
    Distance News
    Monaco DL
    Monaco DL

    The men's 800 was better than the Olympic final and Wanyonyi showed why he's the Olympc champ. Wanyonyi now has six career sub-1:42s in the 800, one shy of David Rudisha's record, while Hoey is now 5-0 against rival Bryce Hoppel in 2025. In the 1k, Nelly Jepchirchir got the win in 2:29.77 as Addy Wiley broke her own AR. Yomif Kejelcha dominated the 5k. In the 400h, Femke Bol has also had a world lead (51.95). In the 5 also were world leads in the Jordan Scott (17.44 tj), Woo Sanghyeok (2.34 hj) *Youtube show  *WA Recap


    Sad News: RIP
    Gender Battles Continue
      European Under-23 Champs Are Next Week
      Stars in the News
      The Latest Distance News
      Pre Was So Good We Can't Stop Talking About It
      Pre Was So Good We Can't Stop Talking About It

      Plus the coaching merry-go-round among the top US women's 1500 runners this year and thoughts on the NBC broadcast, which disappointed.

      More Post Pre News
      Other News That Passed Our Human Filter

      3 finalists for women's Bowerman award named and they are all very deserving - Fan voting now open What a trio. Pamela Kosgei was undefeated outdoors, won 2 NCAA titles, and ran the #2 time ever in the 5k and 10k. Doris Lemngole SHATTERED the steeple record and broke 9:00. Savannah Sutherland ran 52.46 in the 400h and broke SML's NCAA record.
      *Fan voting now open and runs through Thursday, 2 p.m. ET

      Sifan Hassan Stepping Way Down In Distance Later This Month
      • Sifan Hassan Announced For London Diamond League Mile On July 19 Hassan said she's moving back down from the road to shorter distances for the track season explaining, "Last year my curiosity pushed me to take a risk and compete in three distances at the Paris Games. I know I’m probably a bit crazy to mix it up so much, but I like the combination of track and road and I want to see what is possible."
      Non-Distance News
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        More News Of Note
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        The 50th Pre Classic
        The 50th Pre Classic

        Laros edged out Yared Nuguse by .01 in a thrilling Bowerman Mile while Mu finished last in her return to the 800 in 2:03.44.

        For the first time in 32 years, two outdoor women's distance world records on the track fell on the same day. Chebet is the first woman under 14:00 for 5000m on the track while Kipyegon broke the 1500 record for the third time. *WA Recap
        *Cornell grad Rudy Winkler breaks US and Diamond League record with 83.16m heave in hammer

        What a meet. Full results as well as race replays.

        Pre on the MB

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        Protecting Women's Sport
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        Non-Pre Weekend Action
        Outside Pre Coverage
        Track Drama
        Distance News
        RIP To A Legend

        As an athlete, Dellinger, 91, was an NCAA champion, American record holder, world record holder  and Olympic medalist As a coach, he won four NCAA XC titles as coach at the University of Oregon, where he coached legendary athletes such as Steve Prefontaine, Alberto Salazar, and Matt Centrowitz.

        Meet Phanuel Koech

        Koech's coach Claudio Berardelli says his talent could be comparable to that of his two biggest stars, marathoner Sabastian Sawe and Olympic 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi. "I’m still trying to figure out exactly what happened and what is the potential of this boy," Berardelli said.

        Breaking-4
        Non-LRC coverage Breaking 4 Coverage
        Live LRC Watch Party & Reaction Show

        The race pretty much went exactly how Rojo thought it would go way back in April.

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          Freeman found incredible success in an event that has often plagued American relay squads, but USATF chose not to renew her contract at the end of 2024. Why? Jonathan Gault investigates.

          The 800 Gets LetsRun Love
          The 800 Gets LetsRun Love
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          Kersee doesn't talk often to the media but he talked to our Jonathan Gault about his plans for Athing Mu. Kersee said he believes racing the 1500 will help make Mu a better 800 runner but said he also hopes she can run more 400s moving forward and that she can eventually break 49 seconds in that event.

          Hoey's career had stagnated until connecting with Rinaldi in 2023. Within minutes of seeing him train in-person, Rinaldi knew he was special: "I said, if I can’t get this guy to run 1:44, there’s something wrong with me." (SC paywall lifted)

          Portland Track Festival - Brazier's Back Baby!

          Donavan Brazier is running in the 1:43s after only 2 races in his comeback. This one was a beautiful victory that reminded us of the Brazier of old. In other action, former high school phenoms Katelyn Tuohy and Drew Hunter got wins, as current high schoolers Owen Powell and Josiah Tostenson ran 3:36 (#2 and #3 on the HS all-time list). Justyn Knight and Luis Grijalva returned to action.

          GST LA Cancelled

          After the most successful meet of the year in Philly, there will be no meet #4 in 2025 as it was abruptly cancelled 2 weeks before it was to take place. GST did not give a reason for the cancellation, but claimed there will be a meet in 2026 in LA.

          World XC Will Be Here Before You Know It - Make Your Travel Plans Now

          This is a good idea as you'll save money and have a built in crowd. Plus you'll expose the current edition of US HS talents to the pros. The event will be used to pick the team for the World XC champs to be held in Tallahassee in January 2026. For the U20 teams, the top four finishers at USAs will get a spot, with the final two spots reserved for the NXN and Foot Locker champions.

          Who?

          Jonah Koech wasn't even supposed to be in Sunday's 1500. As they approached the bell, he was in 13th out of 17. A lap later, he was the champion. He is just the third American man to win a Diamond League 1500/mile and the first runner sponsored by Under Armour to win a DL race. His 3:37.27 pre-race pb is also the slowest of any man to win a DL 1500/mile.

          How Josh Hoey Rose To The Top Of The World

          For five years, Hoey cylced through coach after coach but barely improved from his 1:47.67 high school 800m pb. Learn why he moved around so often -- and why he never gave up. Part I of JG's 7,000+ word feature.
          *MB: Josh Hoey profile by JG

          Stop Obsessing Over Your Diet

          The US indoor 1500m/3000m champion overhauled his fueling in workouts before the 2024 season. Now he swears by his routine.

          The Record Books Are Getting Rewritten In 2025

          In the span of one week in February, runners broke five world indoor records and every American men's middle-distance record from 800m to 5000m. Jonathan Gault spoke to some of America's top athletes and coaches to find the reasons behind all of the fast times.

          One More Look at a Legendary Race

          From novice fans to running diehards, there was something for everyone (except perhaps Brits and Norwegians) to enjoy about one of the greatest middle distance races ever run.

          Blanks = NCAA XC x 2

          Just before Blanks chases a 5,000m pb and collegiate record in what is likely his final NCAA race at Boston University on Saturday, he told LetsRun about the key session of his 2024 XC season -- one he described as "probably the best workout I've had so far in my career."

          Jonathan Gault pays tribute to two legends

          Simpson and Centrowitz, who both 1st medalled in 2011 and retired in 2024, leave the sport as two of the faces on the Mt. Rushmore of American 1500m running after piling up a combined eight medals at global championships. And despite not ever finishing in the top 3 on the yearly 1500 list (Simpson's best was 4th, Centro's 9th), they will be remembered as two of the better milers of their generation.

          Best of the LetsRun.com Track Talk Podcast
          Best of the LetsRun.com Track Talk 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.

          LetsRun.com Pro Coaches Tour
          LetsRun.com Pro Coaches Tour

          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
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