LetsRun.com

The Week That Was

LRC Week In Review This week, we compare Molly Huddle's and Bernard Lagat's American records to all of the other current mid-d and distance records, praise Asbel Kiprop while comparing him unfavorably to Ryan Gregson and Andrew Wheating, give props to Fasil Bizuneh and start to talk about the fall marathons in Chicago and New York.

Tuesday's Italian Action

Justin Gatlin Race #4 10.06 (10.14 Unaided), Caster Semenya Runs 2:07 Gatlin ran his fastest time of the year, although when you adjust for wind and altitude, it's worth 10.14. The best news for Gatlin was he was only .03 behind Yohan Blake (who suffered a mild injury at the end of the race). Caster Semenya didn't show up and Sara Hall ran a 10:00 steeple.
*Video Of Gatlin Vs. Blake

Great Clash Wednesday In Zagreb

• Zagreb Preview (Tyson Gay Vs. Nesta Carter, Nick Symmonds The Favorite In The 800, Great Shot Put)
• Wed. In Zagreb, Croatia: Tyson Gay To Battle Co-World Leader Nesta Carter

This Week's Sign Of The Apocalypse
Caster Semenya Hoping To Do 800/1,500 Double At 2010 Games And Then Become A Boxer At Age 30

10 Questions With 8:46 High Schooler Jeramy Elkaim

Drugs

• Usain Bolt Tells BBC It's Time To Clean Up The Sport And Understands Why People Might Think He's Dirty
• 9.99 Man Mark Jelks Is Suspended For Doping Missing 3 Tests

David Rudisha Does It Again! 1:41.01 *Results *Rest Of Meet Recap *LRC Photos (Updated)

LRC Rudisha 1:41.01!!!!! One week after he ran 1:41.09 to take down Wilson Kipketer's world record, Rudisha took to the famed Rieti track and set the 8th world record ever on it by running a 1:41.01, coming up just short of the first 1:40 clocking. The first four all set personal bests, including American Nick Symmonds.
*Praise Coming From Kenya For Rudisha's 1:41.01
*IAAF Recap Of Rieti: David Rudisha Runs 1:41.01 To Break 800m World Record
*AFP Recap Of Rudisha's 2nd World Record In A Week
*Video Of Rudisha's Run

*Recap Of Rest Of Rieti: Bernard Lagat Gets 3,000m American Record, Asbel Kiprop Wins Again, And Everyone (Especially Nesta Carter) Runs Fast In 100m

Alan Webb Is Back! *Video Of Race

LRC Alan Webb Runs 3:41.16 1,500m (= 3:58.90 Mile) And 14:15 5k In Antwerp, Belgium The Webbster appears to be progressing very well in his comeback, as he won the race and beat a guy who has run 3:36 twice this year. *Webb Post-Race Video *Salazar Post-Race Video

Crim 10-Miler *Results

• Molly Huddle Can Relate To This
  Recommended Read Kenyans Go 1-2-3 As Fasil Bizuneh Captures US 10-Mile Championships Bizuneh ran the fastest time by an American at Crim in 11 years (47:29) to get 4th overall and get his 1st US title at age 30. Kenyan, Julius Kogo, who paid his own airfare to the race, was justly rewarded with victory. Random aside - this is a nice piece of running journalism. *LRC MBoard Talk On Race
• Women: Mare Dibaba Wins In 53:52 As 6-Time Champ Ndereba Finishes 5th (56:04)
• Paul Aufdemberge Wins Masters *USATF Release On Bizuneh's Win
• Video: Interview With Fasil Bizuneh *Video: Interview With Runner-Up Antonio Vega

54,000 Watch Finland Beat Sweden In Dual Meet *Results Here

Final DL Meet Brussels Was Friday *Results *LRC Brussels Photo Gallery *More Photos

LRC American Record For Molly Huddle, Manzano Impresses Again, Rudisha Over Kaki, Semenya Gets Beaten Huddle's record is what the record books will remember, as her great 2010 continues (she's dropped her 5k PR 33 seconds). Despite her record, she was only 10th in the race, thanks to emerging Kenyan women. The American distance performance of the night in our book was Leo Manzano's second-place finish in the 1,500m to Asbel Kiprop. If this race had been 1,510m, Manzano would have been the champ. David Rudisha prevailed over Kaki in their dual and Semenya was soundly beaten, making some wonder if it was on purpose. In the sprints, Tyson Gay won 9.79 over Nesta Carter's 9.85, Priscilla Lopes-Schliep performed well under pressure, and Blanka Vlašić completed a perfect Diamond League season (too bad for her it wasn't the Golden League).
*BBC Recap Of Brussels
*IAAF Recap Of Brussels
*Reuters Recap Of Brussels
*BBC Post-Race Video Interview With Caster Semenya We think if you watch the video, you'll conclude she didn't lose on purpose.

Brussels On The Boards: *Molly Huddle 14:44.76 American Record
*Manzano 3:32.18!!! PR Just Behind Olympic Champ Kiprop! The American distance performance of the meet in our minds, even though we'd rather have an American record.
*Semenya tanked on purpose?
*Rudisha Over Kaki

Sad News

20-Year-Old Trying Out For North Carolina A&T Track Team Drops Dead A tragedy for all involved, including possibly A&T, as it looks like lawsuits are in the making as a trainer wasn't present. Can people ever admit tragedies just sometimes occur?

New York Marathon News

• Pregnant With First Child, Deena Kastor Will Miss ING New York City Marathon This Fall
• Half Marathon Stud Mary Keitany Commits To Marathon Debut In New York Plus they got much more. The world champ Abel Kirui is running and barely mentioned. Plus Gebre Gebremariam comes back to the marathon hot on the roads, Peter Kamais, Emmanuel Mutai and Werkdnesh Kidane.

More Track News

• Recommended Read: How Mo Farah Beat Moorcroft's British 5,000m Record BBC The article takes a statistical look at Farah's run. It's hard to believe his run was the FIRST British male track record in over a decade. What has happened to the Brits?
• When Usain Bolt Is In Australia In September, He'll Study Fabrice Lapierre's Long Jump Form For Possibly Taking Up Event After 2012
• Tyson Gay To Run 100m In Zagreb On September 1 Getting a little more cash for his vacation.

Chicago Is Back - Take That, New York!!!!!

Boston And London And Olympic Champs Added To Chicago Field
The race officially announced its field and the addition of Tsegaye Kebede (who we crowned the current top marathoner in the world after his win in London) and Boston champ Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot with the previously-announced Ryan Hall and (unofficially-announced) Olympic champ Sammy Wanjiru make this a race for the ages. For those of you who don't know, that means you have the World Marathon Majors leaders(Kebede and Wanjiru) going head to head for $500,000, have the reigning Boston champ, the reigning London champ as well as and Hall. *Article On Chicago Written By New York Professional Athlete Consultant David Monti

The Week That Was

LRC Week In Review This week we praise a steroid user, rip the NFL, and talk about Wilson Kipketer, David Rudisha, Caster Semenya, Chris Solinsky, Adam Goucher and others. Along the way, we introduce you to a 16-year-old prodigy from Britain and try to cheer up Galen Rupp.

Road/XC News

Parkersburg Half Marathon Course Records Broken This used to be the US Half Marathon Champs course and is a very difficult half marathon.
*Video Of Parkersburg From Local TV Station

News We Missed: Edna Kiplagat Throws Out First Pitch At Dodgers Game She won the LA Marathon last spring, which we completely ignored since the race does not drug test despite having the resources to do so.

Could XC Running Really Come To The Winter Olympics? espn.com Think of what a legend Paul Tergat would be. One race, one true champion. Anyone remember Alan Culpepper's win in Boulder?

Menjo Does It Again - 3:53 Solo Mile! The LRC cult hero who soloed a 12:55 5k earlier in the week capped the week off in style by soloing a 3:53.62. Adrien Blincoe was second in 3:59.27. *Meet Results Here *LRC MBoard Thread On Menjo's 3:53

Sad News - Track And Field Loses Three Heroes

• Olympic Hammer Champ And World Record Holder Harold Connolly Passes Away Good read for those of you wh know very little on this legend. New York Times
• Meb Keflezighi Shares His Memories Of Scott Davis
• Philip Hersh: Track And Field Has Lost 2 Of Its Greats In Harold Connolly And Scott Davis
• Track Announcer And Former Mt. SAC Director Scott Davis Passes Away He announced NCAAs, Pre and the World Juniors champs this year but contacted an infection in Canada and died on Wednesday. *IAAF Eulogy *Message Board Thread On Davis' Passing
• Unsung Hero Of Kenyan Athletics, Joseph Chelimo, Has Passed Away The coach of world/Olympic champions Reuben Kosgei, Richard Limo, Enock Koech, Eliud Kipchoge and Brimin Kipruto was respected by many in Kenya as 2,000 turned out for his funeral.

NCAA XC Is Here

LRC Pre-Season NCAA XC Voting Our super polls are back where we let you the educated fan show up the coaches and their polls. Top 10 voting nationally and for the major conferences now open. Get your votes in!!!
*USTFCCCA Pre-Season Coaches Polls Released We're trying to not bias our polls and tell you who is #1.
*Sam Chelanga Interview He caught a 45-lb. fish in Alaska, is running 70 miles a week in singles and wants to get to 90-100.

This Weekend's Continental Cup

Provisional Start Lists For Continental Cup This Weekend Each area (Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa) can enter 2-3 athletes with no more than 1 per country. David Rudisha is in the 800, and Leo Manzano gets a shot at Kiprop (and Kamel) again in the 1,500. Bernard Lagat is in the 3k and 5k, meaning Solinsky won't get experience in a tactical race.

Today's Distance Fix

• Rudishas To Slaughter 50 Cows And Have Party Of All Parties To Celebrate His World Records
• Science Of Sports Guys' Take On When We'll See The 2-Hour Marathon (80 Years From Now) This article is analyzing an academic paper that cites LetsRun.com and Chris Solinsky that is discussed in this thread.

Cathy Freeman To Reignite Olympic Flame Next Month To Celebrate 10th Anniversary Of Sydney Olympics

Recommended Reads

• Profile Of Australia's 20-Year-Old Great Hope - Ryan Gregson It's inspiring to learn that the late Kerryn McCann played a role in getting him started in the sport.
• NPR Profiles The First Female Full Scholarship Track Athlete At Cal - A Woman Who Said "Nope To Dope" She said back then steroids were all over the place.

The Rudisha Celebration That Was & Is To Be

• Rudisha's Family Treats Village To Free Drinks After 2nd World Record Was Broken
• 50 Bulls To Be Slaughtered When Rudisha Returns Home Rudisha is pumped and considers himself to be a true Masai warrior.

Continental Cup Coming Next Week: Africa Vs. Europe Vs. Americas Vs. Asia/Pacific

Overall Women's Preview Two women per event score.
Team Europe Profiles:
*Women's 5,000: Abeylegesse Leads *Women's 3,000: Alminova & Bekele Lead Charge *Women's 1,500: Dobriskey & Dehiba *Women's 800: Savinova & Meadows *Women's Steeple
*Men's 1,500: Casado & Baddeley *Men's 800: Lewandowski And Rimmer *Men's Steeple

Great Meet Sunday In Rieti, Italy *Results *Rudisha 1:41.01 *Recap Of Rest Of Meet *Photos (More Coming)

(Non-Rudisha) Rieti: LRC Bernard Lagat Gets 3,000m American Record, Asbel Kiprop Wins Again, And Everyone (Especially Nesta Carter) Runs Fast In 100m Yesterday, Bob Kennedy turned 40. Today, he lost his last American record as a week after coming up short of the record, Bernard Lagat ran 7:29.00 to get the record and narrowly lost to Tariku Bekele in the process. In other action, Asbel Kiprop beat the top 1,500m field of the year and had time to celebrate a bit while doing it, and the men's 100m was super-fast as the first 7 all set personal bests, including Nesta Carter's world-leading 9.78. Someone check the timing the equipment in Rieti!
*IAAF Recap Of Rieti: David Rudisha Runs 1:41.01 To Break 800m World Record

If you're wondering about David Rudisha's 1:41.01 world record, that is covered here.

Down Goes Solinsky ...

Menjo Does It Again, Solos A 26:56 10k, Winning By Over 5 Minutes Menjo (he only needs one name) has put on 3 incredible solo performances in the last month in Finland. First it was a solo 12:55 5,000m, then a 3:53 mile and now it is a 26:56 10,000m where he won the race by over 5 minutes (there were only 2 other competitors in the race). American Chris Solinsky was the previous world leader in the event and with no major 10ks in the world this year, hoped to have the world leader stand. Instead, Menjo goes out and time trials a 26:56 by himself. Incredible.

True Phenom: The Incredible Story Of Silas Kiplagat, Who Ran 3:29.27 For 1,500m In His First European Race Ever At Age 20 Silas Kiplagat started running two years ago thanks to the encouragement of Sammy Kitwara. Yes, the same Kitwara we highlighted last year: Sammy Kitwara: The Best Runner You've Never Heard Of. Because of Kitwara, Kiplagat wanted to run long distances, but coach Moses Kiptanui (former world record holder in the steeple) pushed him to the 1,500m. Thanks to the IAAF Focus on Athletes project and author Mutwiri Mutuota for letting us share this story with you. Kiplagat takes on Asbel Kiprop for the first time in Europe in a great 1,500m matchup Sunday in Rieti.

Bolt's Book "Usain Bolt: 9.58" Is Coming Out Thursday, Sept. 2

• Book Excerpt - Bolt: "If there were medals for partying I'd have won them all." The sprint king has no problem being honest in the book.
• The Telegraph: Bolt's Fast & Loose "I don't want to talk about the old days. I was really bad. I'd go all night. But I never got drunk. I don't do drunk."
• More: Bolt Reveals Some Jamaicans Think He Was Bribed To Tank In A World Championship
• Report: Bolt's New Puma Deal Is Worth $32 Million, But That's Just .02% Of The Richest Sportsman In History. Apparently the Roman gladiator Circus Maximus made the equivalent of $15 billion in prize money during his career. Also, apparently an Indian cricket player makes more than Bolt does currently.
• Usain Bolt Q&A About Puma Deal He has to answer a stupid question as to whether or not Puma is exploiting Jamaicans.

Alberto Salazar's Group Talks From The Netherlands

• Galen Rupp Talks About His 2010 Season And His Upcoming 3,000 Rupp starts things off by giving the details of a recent 1,200-800-400 workout and talks about his relationship with Alberto Salazar. He then tells you what he thinks he needs to do to reach the next level and tell you his favorite and least favorite workouts. *LRC MB Talk Of Interview
• Interview #2: Alberto Salazar: "Alan Webb will break American records in the 1,500 and the mile." Salazar also says that everyone in his group, including Dathan Ritzenhein and Galen Rupp, know that Alan is most the talented of the bunch. *LRC MB: Salazar Drops the Gauntlet saying Webb WILL break ARs
• Interview #1: Alan Webb Talks Confidently About His Comeback

The Real Story At Shaq Vs. Tyson Gay

The Inside Scoop On Shaq Vs. Tyson Gay (Shaq's Injury And TV Ratings) The ratings are in and Tyson Gay was a huge hit on Shaq Vs., as ratings were up 34% from the week before. More people watched Shaq Vs. than the COMBINED audience of the Prefontaine Meet, Reebok Meet, NCAA meet and any other meet you want to throw in there. Plus, thanks to two people who were at the taping, we reveal that a third race between Shaq and Tyson had to be cancelled because Shaq suffered an injury of sorts in the second race (which you can see if you study the video carefully). Fortunately for Shaq and the Celtics, the injury wasn't serious.

Recommended Reads

• Excellent Tribute To Scott Davis In Orange Country Register
• LetsRun.com Now In Hebrew Well, it's recommended if you speak Hebrew. We always said we're world famous.

1:41.09 Aftermath

Rudisha Dedicates His Victory To His Family And Colm O'Connell; Wilson Kipketer Talks, And Rudisha Will Take On Kaki In Brussels The legendary Kenyan coach Colm O'Connell is Rudisha's coach. Rudisha had left his family to go train with Colm in Iten. If you want to see how beatiful Iten is and why you should never blame training facilities on your lack of progress, click here.
*Billy Konchellah Talks About David Rudisha's World Record Konchellah, the two time 800m world champ, father of Yusuf Kamel (and convicted rapist), is from the same area as Rudisha.
*May 2008 Profile On David Rudisha From Athletics Weekly Rudisha is only 21. Great things were predicted for him 2 years ago.
On The Boards: Bolt vs Rudisha 400m
*Rudisha 800m training
*Rudisha ist der Hammer!

ISTAF Berlin (The World's Most Popular Track Meet Attendance-Wise) Was Sunday *Results *Photos *Video Of Rudisha's WR

LRC: David Rudisha Does It - 1:41:09!!! Wilson Kipketer's nearly 13-year-old world record is now a thing of the past as David Rudisha more than erased the bad memories he had in Berlin from not making the World Championships final there last year. The race video is absolutely unreal. In other action, Caster Semenya's return to Berlin was a pleasant one as she broke 2:00 and won (video on right or here). In the men's 3,000, Bernard Lagat's American record attempt came up short as Tariku Bekele shined again. Lastly, in the 1,500, world leader Silas Kiplagat turned things around and dominated to get his 2nd European victory.