Depressing As Hell – There Will Be No Spring Marathon Majors

2021 Boston Marathon Is Postponed 6 Months Out Race organizers are looking for a fall 2021 date but don’t have one yet. *BAA Press Release *Boston Globe
*MB: 2021 Boston Marathon Postponed.

Compare and Contrast Johua Vs Mo

• Joshua Cheptegei’s 5000 WR is ratified Cheptegei seems focused to set more as he says, “My ambition is to dominate the track for the next five or six years,”
  *MB: Was Cheptegei’s beatdown at World Half good for track? 
• Mo Farah signs up for “I’m a Celebrity” reality tv show in Britain Farah will be battling the elements for up to 22 days in a “Survivor” type show. Will he even be able to train?

Huge News: Christian Coleman Banned For 2 Years

LRC Christian Coleman’s Ban For Missing Three Drug Tests Is Upheld; World’s Fastest Man Will Miss The 2021 Olympics Coleman received no sympathy from a World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal, which concluded: “… the Athlete’s attitude to his obligations can fairly be described as entirely careless, perhaps even reckless.”
*Q&A: Sean Ingel succinctly explains why Christian Coleman was banned
*MB: Christian Coleman BANNED until May 2022 as AIU Tribunal upholds his ban for 3 missed drug tests

• Harsh Criticism From The Telegraph‘s Oliver Brown: “No One Can Believe A Word Christian Coleman Says, The Tokyo Olympics Will Be Better Off Without Him” Brown wrote that the verdict “should serve as an enduring monument to [Coleman’s] stupidity.”
• Christian Coleman’s Lawyer Says He Will Appeal “And This Will Be Resolved Well Before The US Olympic Trials”
• Related: Michael Johnson Criticizes Decision Clearing Salwa Eid Naser Johnson also said he’d like whereabouts violations to result in a 4-year ban rather than 2 years.

More Distance News

• Mo Farah To Appear On British Reality Show “I’m A Celebrity” It is a “survival reality” show which has the contestants doing challenges and being voted off by the viewers.
• History Lesson: A Look Back At The Rivalry And Friendship Between Mile Greats Ron Delany (Ireland) And Laszlo Tabori (Hungary)   The two raced many times during the 1950s with Delaney winning Olympic 1500m gold in 1956.
• World Athletics Profile: Jacob Kiplimo’s Rise Continues With First Senior World Title A good run through of Kiplimo’s career and rise to the top.

NCAA News / First Week Of Rankings

• Register-Guard: University Of Oregon Accepting Public Proposals For Remaining Historic Hayward Field Salvage Materials Many materials are now in Hayward Hall, a 4,000-square foot museum inside the new Hayward Field, but there are still more items which need to find a home.
• William And Mary Women’s Track Team Refuses “Urgent” Meeting With Athletic Director; Instead Requests Meeting With School President And Other Officials The track team is also questioning the way the athletic department has been handling finances and accusing them of financial mismanagement and “potential theft of restricted monies.”
• NAU Men Lead First 2020 NCAA XC Coaches’ Poll BYU, Arkansas, Stanford and Oklahoma State were ranked 2-5.
• Arkansas Women Are Ranked #1 In First USTFCCCA XC Coaches’ Poll New Mexico, BYU, NC State and Stanford made up the rest of the top 5.
• Two-Time Olympian Distance PattiSue Plumer Now Coaching At The University Of Texas Plumer, who has been coaching at the high school or college level since 2006, said, “We have a team that has potential to win national championships this year, should COVID allow it.”
• USTFCCCA’s NCAA Athletes Of The Week

Olympic News

• Bill Which Gives US Congress Power To Remove USOPC Board Members Delivered To Donald Trump To Sign Or Veto The act is meant to establish safeguards to protect athletes from abuse from coaches and other officials.
• IOC President Thomas Bach Says The Olympics Should Be About Unity And Not “A Marketplace Of Demonstrations” Bach said that athletes “being politically neutral on the field of play and during the ceremonies” was pivotal to the success of the Games.
  *Bach’s Full Op-Ed In The Guardian
• Japanese Government Developing Anti-Drug Smuggling Device For Tokyo 2020 The device will use radio waves to detect stimulant drugs in a person’s body.
• Tokyo 2020 Athletes’ Village To Have A “Health Base” For Potential COVID-19 Infections
• Ticket Refund Process For Tokyo 2020 Expected To Begin Next Month Fans have the option to roll their tickets over to the rescheduled Olympics or get a refund.
• Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee Honors First Female Doping Control Officers
• IOC President Thomas Bach To Accept Seoul Peace Prize For Role In Staging 2018 Winter Olympics In Pyeongchang Where South And North Korea Marched Together In The Opening Ceremony
• Chief Revenue Officer Promises LA 2028 Not Taking Time For Granted
• Olympic Flame To Visit 14 Japanese Prefectures Before Tokyo 2020 Torch Relay Resumes

You Don’t Stop Running Because You Get Old; You Get Old Because You Stop Running

Former Irish Olympian Tommy Hughes Runs 2:30:02 To Break World M60 Marathon Record He was the overall winner at the Down Royal Marathon in Northern Ireland, taking more than 6 minutes off the previous age group WR.
*Hughes Says He’s Been Running 100-Mile Weeks And Could Have Been Two Minutes Faster If It Hadn’t Been So Windy