LetsRun.com

Weekend In Review - Photo Edition (Our Favorite Way To See What Happened In Races We Couldn't Watch)

*LRC Photos: Top Races From NYC's New Balance Games Andy Baddeley and Erin Donohue pick up pro mile wins (see which college stars are running post-collegiately).
*LRC Dubai Marathon Photo Sequence - How Race Unfolded It's a disgrace Haile wasn't on television or the internet, but our photo sequence is the next best thing to watching the race (or the official message board thread).
*LRC Photos: Jenny Barringer Signing Ceremony In New York City Armory

UK Media Company Launches Campaign To Give Regina Jacobs' 2003 Indoor Gold To Dame Kelly Holmes
This prompted us to look back in the old days for a LetsRun.com classic - Rojo's Regina Jacobs Answers A Few Drug Related Questions - that we remember reading using dial-up internet.

LRC Boards: The REAL Story About The Oregon HS XC Situation
Thousands of XC fans from around the country have responded to the OSAA, who discussed eliminating or significantly altering the team aspect of Oregon HS XC (there's a facebook group with 3600+ members).
*DyeStat Article: Oregon's OSAA Hears From XC Fans, Loud And Clear

800m World Medalist Jenny Meadows - Training In South Africa - Describes Semenya's Treatment As Inhumane
We don't understand why this article assumes Caster Semenya will win in London 2012 if she's allowed to compete. Nobody would ever have thought a certain female named Pamela Jelimo would be a non-factor in 2009 would they?

National Pro Ekiden Recap And Results From Japan

Almost 1/3rd Of Top 100 At Chinese Marathon DQed For Cheating This isn't some minor scandal. It was a big one because if you're under 2:34 in China, you get extra credit for the incredibly competitive college entrance exams. *LRC: MBoard Thread On Chinese Cheating For College

Interview With America's 2:10 Marathon Debut Surprise Brett Gotcher
Stanford grad Brett Gotcher was on pace for 2:09 or faster until the last couple miles in Houston. Looking back, he "only" ran 28:51 for 10,000m in college but he also ran 28:59 in his sophomore year at the age of 20.

If 600 Is Your Favorite # - You Are In Luck
*Batman Vs. Quow Makes Interesting Matchup At 600y At Millrose A former 400h world champion versus the current 400 bronze medallist.
*Meanwhile, The 600m In Moscow On February 7th Might Be Even Better, As Olympic 800 Meter Champ Wilfred Bungei Will Be Making Comeback From Injury The article is a few weeks old, but LRC has learned Bungei, who is coming back from a torn Achilles, will be in a great 600m race in Moscow on February 7th with Borzakovskiy, Ismail, Belal Mansour and Milkevics.

Kenyan XC Buzz
*Nice Profile Of The Man Who Slayed Bekele - Josesph Ebuya The story starts with the following great opening line: "He left his fellow herdsmen and travelled over 400 kilometres to Eldoret with a dream - to run and earn money to buy land and settle away from cattle rustlers."
*Undefeated In 2010, Linet Masai Returns To Kenya Dreaming Of World XC Gold She ended up with silver last year but wants gold this year.
*A Brief Look At Saturday's Armed Forces Championships

Preview Of Saturday's 6th IAAF XC Meet In The Uk Newly-crowned European XC champ Hayley Yelling, who just turned 36 this week, is one of the biggest headliners of a good field. *Yelling Named European Athlete Of Month

XC Winter News

This Is For Real - They're Axing Team XC In OREGON
Save Team High School XC In Oregon
Yes, that's right, the Oregon HS Sports people want to eliminate team qualifying for Oregon's state XC meet.
LRC MB: Oregon High School Cross-Country ...

Poland's World XC Course Is Under 2 Feet Of Snow IAAF

Non-Running-Related But We Don't Care

US Kids Now On Computer, Cell Phones And TV For Average 7.5 Hours Per Day
Five years ago, the number was 6.5 hours and researchers thought for sure they had hit a ceiling.

NY Times On EPO - The Risks Of Moderate-High Doses vs. The Rewards well.blogs.nytimes.com
Now they've figured out doses so that you can cheat without giving yourself a fatal heart attack or stroke.

Man Of [Last] Weekend - USA's Brett Gotcher Runs 2:10 Debut

Houston Chronicle: Gotcher Makes Splash
McMillan Elite's Brett Gotcher credits training partner Paige Higgins with getting him ready for his big first splash. Amazingly, Gotcher only finished 7th with the 4th-fastest US debut of all time.
*Houston Chronicle: How Houston Marathon Was Run It was run fast.

Miles Highlight New Balance Games *Results

Baddeley And Donohue Win New Balance Miles
Next up for the flying Brit? A chance to stop Bernard Lagat from passing Eamonn Coghlan for most ever Wanamaker Mile wins on Friday in Madison Square Garden.

*Coaching Erin Donohue Keeps Gagliano Going After Losing Daughter-In-Law
A good read about the duo that are keeping each other going. Gagliano says Erin Donohue will run a fast 800 this year. She opened up with a solid 4:28 rust buster in the Armory.

3 Amazing Early Season Results

1. Georgia Phenom Torrin Lawrence Runs World's 5th-Best Time Ever In 300m (32.32) ... Without Blocks
Lawrence didn't need blocks to run a time for 300m that most of us would be pretty hard-pressed to run for 200m. (for the record, Employee #1 ran a 32 for 200m the other day and it wasn't easy).

2. Sergio Sanchez Runs 4:52 For 2,000m On 180m Track - Only Bekele And Haile Are Faster All-Time
Sanchez's time bests Eamonn Coghlan for best ever European. That's a 3:52 1,600 plus a 60-second lap. This might be a bad week for Coghlan if Bernard Lagat gets his record 8th Wanamaker Mile title on Friday night in MSG.

3. Ivan Ukhov High Jumps Remarkable 7' 9.3" (2.37m)
The drunken high jumper strikes again. Highest-ever jump in Czech territory.

Brief Chat With US Half Marathon Champ Antonio Vega
His first marathon was a 2:23.

This Weekend's NCAA Results The NCAA now has all the results in one place where it's easy for you to see any result from D1, DII or DIII.

*Mary Cullen And Mike Kigen Take Antrim XC

Big-Time XC Race In Kenya - Police National Championships

*Sammy Wanjiru Thoroughly Beaten In X-Country In Kenya Today
*Battle Of Giants As Vivian Cheruiyot Downs Linet Masai In Stacked Kenyan Police National XC Champs You won't see Cheruiyot in Poland for World XC, as she is sticking to the track. Looks like Masai will be the top challenger to the Ethiopians.
*Sammy Wanjiru Talks Some Trash, Saying Haile Is Over The Hill Wanjiru is targeting Berlin in September as the place where he can lower the marathon world record, saying London's course is probably too difficult.
*Press: Top Men "Fail To Perform" In Police Championships

Dubai Marathon
*LRC Photo Sequence - How Race Unfolded *Km-By-Km Splits *Official LRC Dubai Marathon MBoard Thread *Top 24 Male Finishers *Top Female Finishers

Geb Runs 2:06:09 Geb's record attempt came up way short, as he got caught in the race by two Ethiopians but was able to obliterate them in the sprint. The women's race also was close, as Mametu Daska (2:24:18) ran herself to exhaustion but was able to prevail over Aberu Sheway (2:24:26).
AP: Geb: "I wasn't feeling very good this morning because I had a back problem but I'm very happy to win the race. I think I slept in a different position, on my stomach, and that caused the problem."
IAAF: Geb Needed Physio Treatment Prior To Race

First They Try To Ban HS XC, Now This
Oregon Students & Parents Are Complaining That NCAA T/F Is Interfering With Graduation Personally, we do think it's absurd that Oregon students will have to graduate on a Monday. We've said all along that Eugene is being saturated with track.

USATF Announces Jenny Crain Mentoring Program Jenny was hit by a car while training for her 4th US Olympic Trials. Donate here.

Pre-Race Stuff From Dubai
LRC Photos: Aerials From Dubai's Insanely Tall Building With Haile Gebrselassie
We can't tell if the photos are taken from a plane or from the top of the building (even though the photographer wrote us and told us he rode a 40mph elevator to the top).

Good Preview Of Haile's Latest Record Attempt In Dubai IAAF
36-year-old's training was "perfect."
*Women's Preview: Past Champs Margasa & Bekele To Battle