Did You Run Yesterday?
- Recap Of Japan Boys HS Ekiden Champs: Sera H.S Dominates In 2:03:50 That's 4:43 pace for a marathon spread out among 7 high school runners. Top stage splits included 29:38 for a 10k and 14:13 for a 5k.
- Recap Of Girls Ekiden Champs: Kenyan Beatrice Murugi Wainaina Leads Toyokawa To A Close Win In 1:07:29 That is 5:08 pace for a half marathon spread out over 5 HS girls. Fastest 5k split of the day was 15:20.
- Interview With Mo Farah On Putting Training Above A Family Christmas He left his family behind for the holidays to train in Kenya.
- On The Boards: Haile G
trains twice a day, every day, except christmas. Who doubled today?
*Merry Christmas / How Far Are You Running Today?
A Look At The Career Of Jack Griffin, A 3-Time Olympic Coach In 1981, Who Still Coaches Today
Keep Him In Your Prayers
Olympic Legend Lee Evans Was Supposed To Undergo Surgery For Brain Tumor On Thursday
*Evans' Surgery Was Put On Hold So Docs Could "determine the type of tumor he has before taking a course of action."
*Evans Has No Health Insurance & Is In Pain As A Result "I heard his doctor in the hall and I heard him say he wished [Lee] had
been transferred somewhere else because he didn’t have insurance ... Lee
is in intense pain. Not even morphine is helping. He hasn't eaten in several days, yet there was no IV in his arm when I first went into his room. He's lying in his filth and nothing is happening. If family members aren't vigilant ... If we aren't vigilant, I don't know what would happen." *MB: Lee Evans
Stricken With Brain Tumor
Video: Eurosport Interviews Michael Johnson & Has Him Reflect On His Career He says he's most impressed by his own longevity and consistency. "At this level, anybody can win it once."
News From Kenya
- Uganda Paper Asks: "Who killed Wanjiru the international champion?" Yes, mystery surrounds his death, but know an extramarital affair and alcohol played a big role.
- Marathon World Record Holder Patrick Makau Says Training Is Going Great & He'll Run Dubai Half In February Acutally he said of his training, "Things couldn't be better."
- Joyce Chepkirui Wins Toby Tanser's Shoe4Africa 5k Race In Kenya Earlier this month, she ran the Olympic "A" in Australia (31:26). Now she's picking up $1,500 in Kenya as she got the course record with a 16:17.
In Kenya - Training And Racing To Be The Best
Saturday: Shoe4Africa Race In Iten Is Free With $1,000 For A Course Record Just wait until it's the Rock N Roll Shoe4Africa race.
Recommended Read: The Irish Times' Ian O'Riordan Writes About 3 Weeks Of Training In Iten Kenya
3-Time London Champ Martin Lel To Run Dubai Marathon On January 27 Lel was runner-up in London this year ahead of Patrick Makau in one of the most impressive performances of the year.
More US Open And Millrose
LRC USATF Trying To Continue The 99-Year MSG Track Tradition Continues With The US Open USATF is attempting to put on a fan-friendly 2-3 hour meet (instead of 6 hours) with the promotional
muscle of MSG behind it with a focus on the pros and a few select high school races. Since MSG is helping promote the meet there is a chance for success. Will the meet make changes to entertain fans once they get in the door to bring them back for year 100? See below.
LRC Emails Track And Field: Entertain Or Continue A Slow Death
An email from an LRC visitor: "The Millrose Games as you knew it no longer exists. So what? Why should any track athlete or fan care?" got Wejo to think about our sports slow decline and what needs to be done to change it. Entertaining meets with good matchups. An another emailer who co-authored books with both Bill Bowerman and Bill Dellinger says why not have a pro Millrose (at the Garden) and a separate amateur one (at the Armory)?
"The Armory is just the symptom. Boring track meets with unexciting matchups is the disease."
More: Track & Field Superfan Responds To LRC Piece On Death Of Millrose Games At MSG He basically says Millrose was already dead. "If Millrose died, then it was suffering
from senility for years." We tend to agree but don't know why the name wasn't left at MSG. Take it up to the Armory only if a meet can't continue at MSG.
Yesterday: LRC How The Millrose Games As We Knew Them Died On October 2, 2009, steps were put into place to give the Armory the rights to the Millrose name. Considering the mission of the Armory and the declining attendance, it was only a matter of time before the meet moved.
Recommended Read Portland Tribune Writer Feels For Portland's Rob Conner As He Loses Trevor Dunbar To Supposedly Better Program (Oregon) The author points out that Portland has been better than Oregon at the West Regional 5 of the last 10 years and only two Ducks have run faster than the Pilots' best 5,000 man at 13:40 and concludes his piece by writing, "Doesn't seem right. That's life, I guess." Portland coach Rob Conner also says it doesn't seem fair to him and it's pointed out that Portland actually cares about the athletes' well-being and releases them, whereas Oregon doesn't return the favor.
Drug News
- Years Into Retirement, 2-Time World Champion Zhanna Block Officially Gets Banned By Ukranian Federation - Meaning Virtually Everyone In Top 5 Of 2000 100m Final Was A Doper Block's ban technically doesn't cover her World Championships years but in our minds it's simple - once a cheater - always a cheater.
- Prospective Olympians Beware: British Warn That Eating Large Quantities Of Liver Can Raise The Risk Of Testing Positive For Clenbuterol
Paul Tergat Gets Honorary Doctorate From Moi University
Pan Arab Games
Djibouti's Hassan Ayanleh Wins Quick 1,500m, Olympic Silver Medallist Ismail Ismail Upset In 800 Ayanleh, who had never run under 3:42 before, won in a quick 3:34 over Qatar's Hamza Driouch, who claims to be only 17. Maybe one day they can be as good as Matt Centrowitz.
More: Former Kenyan Silas Kirui (Now Ali Hasan Mahboob) Wins Gold For Bahrain In 10k At Arab Games
USA News
- USA Team Announced For Great Edinburgh XC; It's Led By Bobby Curtis And Neely Spence Galen Rupp and Mo Farah ran here last year, but are both changing plans in 2011.
- Deena Kastor Says She's Looking To Win Olympic Marathon Trials
- A Look At Jonathan Grey, USATF Club XC Champ And 2010 Mt. SAC 10k Champ
- The Top Moments In US Distance Running In 2011 According To Running USA They don't count the 1,500m as a distance event, so Rupp's AR in the 10k got the nod.
- A Look Back At Trey Hardee Winning Worlds Decathlon Over Ashton Eaton IAAF
And Vig's Replacement At UVA Is ... Bryan Fetzer The former distance-based program named a former football player (but recruiting whiz) to head its program, as all the gossip at the coaches' convention proved to be way off. MB: Fetzer to UVA as new Director of TNF and CC *Vallmon to UVA
2005 HJ World Champ Kajsa Bergqvist Comes Out Of The Closet "As lesbian as I feel today, as heterosexual I felt when I was together with (my ex-husband). But when I get old and look back on my life perhaps one can see that I'm bisexual." *Translated Article From Swedish *Wikipedia
Marathon News
- It's Official Patrick Makau's Marathon World Record (2:03:38) And 30km WR Are Ratified
- A Recap Of The 2011 World Marathon Majors By The World Marathon Majors People
A Brief Chat With Jessica Beard
LRC Mo Trafeh Tunes Up For Olympic Trials With 1:01:39 Half In China Even though Trafeh has never finished a marathon before, he has to be considered one of the leading contenders for next month's Trials. Trafeh even had the lead at the London marathon earlier this year.
Recommended Reads
- Catching Up With 1992 NYC Champ Bhekizizwe William Mtolo Of South Africa Although he won in NYC, he does wish he had won Comrades, but as he says, "I guess in life you can't win everything."
- NY Times: Avoiding The Trap Of Big-Time, Big-Money Sports Conference realignments that send traditional rivalries to the curb, mid-week basketball games across the country, star athletes who cheat on the SAT, coaches that leave after a year, where does it end?
- NY Times Profiles LaShawn Merritt's Comeback: Sprinter Leaves Humiliation Behind "In her testimony, the clerk recalled being amused by Merritt's routine at the store, buying juice and a lottery ticket, leaving and then returning to buy condoms and the male-enhancement pills four or five times between December 2009 and January 2010."
2-Time Boston Champ Moses Tanui Plays 117 Holes Of Golf In Single Day To Raise Money For Charity Tanui, who also was the 1st man to break 1 hour in the half marathon, is a 21-handicap golfer and covered more distance on the golf course than in a marathon.
Sprint News
- Usain Bolt's Coach Still Believes, As He Says Bolt "can do better (in London) than Beijing and Berlin."
- We 100% Agree: Jamaica Editorial: Change The Relay Schedule For Bolt If the 4 x 400 was the last event of the Olympics as it historically is, then Bolt would be much more likely to do it than if he has to run the 4 x 400 before the 4 x 100.
- Christophe Lemaitre Is France's Athlete Of Year For 2nd Straight Year
Kenyans Clean Up Over The Weekend
- Isiah Koech Dominates Brussels XC Race; Euro Champ Atelaw Yeshetela Bekele In 2nd Multiple former Euro champ Sergey Lebid was 7th place. Caroline Chepkwony won the women's race.
- Imagine If They Did This In The US: Some Runners Caught Cheating In Kenya's Kisumu Marathon Were Arrested Oh, and Joseph Biwott won in 2:13:41.
- World XC 7th Placer Philemon Limo Wins Spanish XC Race Priscah Jepleting won for the women.
Look Out
LRC Galen Rupp Enters The 2012 US Olympic Marathon Trials The American record holder at 10,000m has only run one race over 10,000m but he's now entered in next month's Trials. The question is will he run?
Our quick take on Rupp's entry.
On The Boards: Galen Rupp in Marathon Trials
Other OT News:
*Over 300 Have Entered USA Olympic Trials Marathon Overall, the USATF has collected $16,150 in entry fees ($50 each athlete). Those do not go to the Houston Marathon Committee even though they pay the athletes' travel, lodging, and meal expenses. Does that make sense?
*Aaron Braun's 12 Days Of Christmas
Study On Differences Between Genders In Running Hypothesizes Why "More men than women run fast relative to sex-specific world records." Study says "more men are motivated to engage in the kind of dedicated, high-volume training that is necessary for fast running performances." *MB: Q&A with Dr. Robert Deaner, sex differences researcher
The US Olympic Marathon Trials Are Less Than A Month Away
- 5 Minutes With 4-Time Olympic Trials Qualifier Clint Verran Pretty amazing story, as he qualified at CIM by only 4 seconds after coming back form a calf tear at Chicago, which was his first DNF ever.
- Great Interview With Terrence Mahon Gives his thoughts on just about every big player (men and women) who will be in the hunt at the Trials.
- A Brief Chat With Desiree Davila "If you can make it in Houston, you're going to be on one of the best Olympic teams ever. It's great for the sport and it's really exciting for women distance runners."
- Q&A With Ryan Hall He doesn't plan on running conservatively and says, "I'm not at all thinking I'll have the luxury of running any easier than all-out." Also talks about trying to get his brother, Chad Hall, into marathoning.
- Hansons-Brooks Runner Sage Canaday Blogs About His "Relationship" With Distance Running And Why The 2:14-2:30 Marathoner Should Even Bother
- 2:09 And 2:28 In Houston To Make The Olympic Team? This Writer Says No Way Desi and Ryan predicted record breaking times to make the Olympic team this year, but writer mentions that the '84 Trials had a way deeper field and 2:11:50 took the 3rd spot.
- Catching Up With 27:28 Man Tim Nelson Runners World calls this a "Brief Chat," but it's actually very long and full of useful info. Nelson talks honestly about his training and prospects for the Olympic team, which he rates as being an "outside chance" if everything goes perfectly. He gives insight into a 20-24 mile tempo run at 5:30 pace the entire group did
together (including Teg & Jager) even talks about the Schumacher
versus Alberto group rivalry.
More Marathon News: - 4 Years Removed From Picking Up Running & Starting As A 2:58 Marathoner, Kiwi Is Dreaming Of London 2012 And Kiwi Record His PR is 2:15 right now but weirdly New Zealand will send him if he finishes top 10 in an IAAF Gold Label race so he's going to China to run January's Xiamen marathon.
- Desiree Davila, Ryan Hall Predict Record-Breaking Times At 2012 Olympic Trials Marathon Desi says it will take 2:24 to win and 2:28 to make the team (the Trials record is 2:28:25). Ryan Hall says the top 3 on the men's side will be sub-2:10.
Upcoming
Virgin London Absolutely Stacked Again
Keitany Vs. The Two Kiplagats The 2012 women's Virgin London Marathon field was announced on Monday and it is absolutely stacked. You've got 3 of the 4 top marathoners in the world squaring off and 15 women who have run under 2:25. Keitany, the 2011 Champ who ran like a maniac in NY, will take on 2010 NY and World Champ Edna Kiplagat and Berlin champ and 2:19 runner Florence Kiplagat.
Centro To Run Indoors: 1,500m Medallists Jenny Simpson And Matt Centrowitz To Make 2012 Debut In Boston At New Balance Meet
On The Boards: Centro To Run Indoors
David Oliver, Jenn Suhr To Run Under The Lights At US Open At MSG On Jan 28th We'll have more on this meet and TMFKAMG later this week, but hear the Garden is promoting it and ticket prices are about as reasonable as it gets in NYC ($15-$75). Asafa Powell is also running.
TMFKAMG: LaShawn Merritt Extenze Himself To 500m If he breaks the WR he'll get $25k. Much smarter than trying to add a few inches.
Saturday XC Action: Foot Locker *Boys Results *Girls Results *Boys Photos *Girls Photos *Full Girls Race Video *Full Boys Race Video
LRC Boys: Cheserek Outkicks Futsum For The Win
This race lived up to its hype as the top 2 African-born stars went mano-a-mano until the final 100m. After a cat-and-mouse 9:50 opening 2 miles, their last 1.1 was run at a pretty quick pace (4:31 mile pace), but the winning time of 14:51.5 wasn't close to Reina's 14:36 CR.
LRC Girls: Molly Seidel Turns Back Tough Challenge From Erin Finn
Seidel was the favorite, undefeated in 2011, but Finn was the top
returner and Finn made it super-interesting as she opened up a big lead
and even managed to regain the lead once Seidel caught her.
Recommended Read: Dyestat Recap: Cheserek, Zeinasellassie Forge Bond In San Diego
More Coverage: *Newark Star-Ledger Recap Note the paper incorrectly reports their last 800 as being a 1:54. No chance.
*San Diego Tribune Recap Cheserek says he just wanted win - might go for Reuben Reina's record next year.
MB: *Where would Cheserek have placed at NCAA XC? *Cheserek and Futsum's last 800 meters - 1:54? *Poll: How old are Cheserek and Futsum? *Will an American male ever win Foot Locker again? *Another
FL Finalist Staying Home
Pro Track Stars Making News
Three Years Too Late: Asbel Kiprop To Finally Gets His Olympic Gold Medal
More News On Young Phenoms: "17"-Year-Old
Mohammed Aman, Who Stopped David Rudisha's Winning Streak And Ran 1:43, Is
From White Collar Family, Uses Facebook, Likes Action Movies
NCAA Long Jump & 100m Star Ngoni Makusha Has Signed With Li-ning We have no idea if this is new news, but the profile on Makusha in the Zimbabwe paper is new. Makusha wants to keep his Zimbabwe accent so he can pick up American girls.
- Jessica Ennis Gets $500,000 Deal With adidas
- LJ Van Zyl To Skip S. African Outdoor Meets To Focus On Olympics
- After Birth Of 2nd Child And 2nd Retirement, Tia Hellebaut Will Resume Defense Of Her 2008 Olympic High Jump Title In January
2011 Fukuoka Produces Compelling Drama *Photos *Top 10 Results
Josphat Ndambiri Wins In 2:07:36 Debut; Yuki Kawauchi 3rd In 2:09:57 In the most memorable Fukuoka since Sammy Wanjiru's debut in 2007, sub-27 man Josphat Ndambiri, the fastest Kenyan in Japan, lived up the hype in his marathon debut,
as he won comfortably. But once again the story of the day in Japan
was the WILL of the amateur
Kawauchi, who took home top Japanese honors in 2:09:57 and ended up in the medical tent. Alistair Cragg was a DNF and Andrew Lemoncello struggled with a hamstring problem and ran 2:24. MB: *2011
Fukuoka MB Thread *Yuki Kawauchi is a bada$$
*IAAF Recap Kawauchi talks about his new tactic of surging at the water stations.
*Alistair Cragg Fails To Finish In Japan The Irish Times wasn't nice to Cragg, as they said he dropped out "as he has done far too often in the past, including a few high profile track races."
Don't Know Kawauchi? Well, he's a man who approaches races with the mindset of "Every time I run, it's with the mindset that if I die at this race it's OK." He made headlines by fainting at the finish of Tokyo this year. *Video
Of Tokyo
*More: *13:59 5k, 29:02 10k Japanese AMATEUR Runs 2:08:37 At Tokyo Marathon And Passes Out *Kawauchi Appreciation Thread *Kawauchi
hospitalised with heat exhaustion
80-Year-Old 3:15 Marathoner Ed Whitlock Breaks A Rib
Show Me The Money
Matthew Centrowitz Explains His Decision To Leave Oregon Early To Turn Professional "I weighed
both ends of this. It took me a couple months to decide. ... I had to make the decision based on what would keep me progressing, and keep me hungry."
*Centro Jr. Turns Professional *Matthew Centrowitz Jr., World Championships bronze medallist, has given up his final year of track to run professionally. Financially, it seems like a no-brainer for the former Oregon Duck.
Discuss: Centro Jr Turns Pro
LRC Archives: Worlds: Men's 1,500m: Matt Centrowitz Closes In 51.6 To Get Bronze As Asbel Kiprop And Silas Kiplagat Get Gold And Silver
USATFs: Men's 1,500m Final: Matt Centrowitz Jr. Pulls Away From Bernard Lagat
Video: *Centro's 1,500m Bronze Race *Post Race Reaction/Interview
2011 NCAAs Are History *Men's Results *Women's Results *Entire Race Video Replays
Men: LRC Wisconsin Badgers Take Control Early As Lawi Lalang Dominates Lawi Lalang waited until 5k before deciding it was time to crush the competition
once and for all, while #1 Wisconsin
showed no fear and put a stranglehold on the competition from the very beginning and held off a belated charge from Oklahoma State and a surprising Colorado team as the Cowboys tried to three-peat. American Chris Derrick took home individual runner-up honors to cap a brilliant career in style. *Discuss
More: Wisco #1: *Give 'em five: Badgers lay claim to program's fifth national title *Krause earns redemption as Badgers storm to fifth national title
host.madison.com
OSU #2: *Dave Smith Calls Loss "Disappointing" - But Expected www.okstate.com
Colorado #3: *Wetmore Calls Medina Most Improved Runner In Country www.denverpost.com *CU Coach Mark Wetmore Pleased With Buffs 3rd Place Run
Individual: Coach Li - I Think Lalang Would Have Got Course Record If He Was Pushed www.arizonawildcats.com
Week That Was
LRC Geoffrey Mutai Amazes Again, Adam Goucher Retires, & Lukas Verzbicas Calls It Quits We go behind the scenes to take a look at the last two weeks in the running world, which included the NYC Marathon, Adam Goucher's retirement, and Lukas Verzbicas leaving Oregon mid-season. Plus we take a look at the Phil Hersh-Ryan Hall spat and compare Hall to Tim Tebow.
2011 ING NYC Marathon *Men's Results *Women's Results *Viewing Info *Flash Yahoo Photos
LRC 2:05:06!!! Geoffrey Mutai Caps Year In Style An unbelievable year in men's marathoning had an appropriate finish, as the Kenyan man who had the most unbelievable of all years, Geoffrey Mutai, smashed the previous NYC Marathon record by a stunning 2:38 - that's two minutes and 38 seconds. If it wasn't the greatest 2nd-greatest men's marathon performance
ever, you'll have to tell us what was. American Meb Keflezighi hung with the leaders for 20 miles after a blistering 63:16 1st half and ended up with a much-deserved PR. Mutai picked up $200,000 by winning, but the big financial winner was runner-up Emmanuel Mutai, who won $635,000 ($500,000 for the WMM title).
LRC Mary Keitany Beats
Herself The women's race was full of gut-wrenching
drama, as Mary Keitany went out in a crazy 67:56. The problem was she came back in 74:42, as unheralded Firehiwot Dado (Rome
Marathon champ) got the win.
LRC Post-Race Interviews: Meb And His Coach Bob Larsen Talks About His PR Despite Throwing Up Plus the winners - Geoffrey Mutai, Firehiwot Dado, men's and women's top 3, Ed Moran, Molly Pritz, Lauren Fleshman and Bobby Curtis.
Year In Review
- Great Overview Of The Breakout Year (And Career Leading Up To It) For Morgan Uceny Coach Terrence Mahon: "Since I believe that Morgan was the best 1,500 runner in the world in 2011 (minus some bad luck with an unfortunate fall in the world final), then I don't really think too much needs to change to be a podium athlete in London." *MB: Morgan Uceny article
- Euro XC Champ Fionnuala Britton (As Well As Long-D Runners In General) Acknowledged As Hardest-Working Irish Athlete "It is simply the nature of her sport. A tiny, elfin wisp of iron, Britton's regular training companion is pain, lactic acid, physical suffering. It takes a certain kind of person to accept it on a daily basis; and there aren't many of them around."
- EAA Year-End Review: Men's Long Distances & Road Running
Olympic News
- Could Jamaica Sweep The 100m Medal Stand At The London Olympics? Without Mullings, that leaves them with Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake and Asafa Powell for their top 3. Maurice Greene predicts Blake to beat Bolt in London.
- Australia Projecting Its Lowest Medal Haul In 20 Years For London This puts a lot of pressure on Sally Pearson to win gold. She says the best way to deal with it is "Just say no to the outside influences ... It sounds selfish, but you have to be selfish to be the best athlete. I have to put my needs first. I have to put my training first and my competitions - and everything else comes second."
- Len Johnson Says That
The A/B Standards ForWalking Events Are Too Easy ... fixed. - London River Saved Thanks To The Positive Environmental Effect Of The Games
- Olympic Rings Stolen From Amsterdam Stadium
- Boost For Doha's 2020 Olympic Bid
Behind Every Great Man, There Normally Is An Even Better Woman
Recommended Read: Remember Dwight Phillips' Wife - Valerie (Williams) Phillips - Was Once Quite A Jumper Herself Their kids may not realize that their mom once jumped, but she's still got the high school TJ state record in MD. Dwight credits her with a coaching tip that led to his breakthrough. A great article on love, family, etc. Perfect for Xmas.
HS/Japanese News
- Recommended Read Dyestat Takes A Look At The Amazing Ekiden Relays In Japan, Including The HS Nationals That Are Held On Xmas Imagine a US high team of 7 HS boys who have an average 5,000-meter best of 14:11.28. That exists in Japan.
*Girls Japanese Ekiden Recap: Toyokawa H.S. Returns To Top
*Boys Preview: Will Wanjiru's Stage Record Fall? - More HS News: Dyestat's High School Track/XC Stories Of The Year
- More Japanese News: Two Japanese Women Pick Up Olympic "A" Qualifiers - 1 In 5,000, 1 In 10,000 Yuko Shimizu ran 31:43.25; Mika Yoshikawa ran 15:15.33.
- Reminder: January 29th Osaka Marathon - A Japanese Olympic Selection Race - Should Be A Good One In her first marathon in 4 years, 2004 Olympic Marathon Champ Mizuki Noguchi will race the Japanese 5,000 record holder Kayoko Fukushi & 2008 Olympic Marathon Champ Constantina Dita. Fukushi ran 2:24 in Chicago.
IAAF Year-End Reviews *Hurdles *Jumps *Combined Events *Throws
Year In Review With Some Sprint News
- Athletics Weekly Announces British Athletes Of Year Mo Farah and Hannah England.
- LeMaitre And Dai Greene Were Highlights Of European Sprinters In 2011
- A Look At 800 Thru The Steeple For Men In Europe A medal at 800 and the steeple at Worlds.
Dyestat High School Track Year In Review
Sprints: 3 Of 4 Women From Indian 4 X 400 Commonwealth Gold Medal Team Get Drug Bans - Former NFL Star, 1980 Olympian And Current Star Masters Track & Field Athlete Willie Gault Sued By SEC In Stock-Pumping Fraud
US Olympic Marathon Trials Are Approaching Quickly
- Galen Rupp Says Training Has Been Going Well But He's Not 100% Certain About Olympic Marathon Trials "I've been doing a lot of workouts with Dathan (Ritzenhein) and I've been hanging on really well on longer stuff. He's in great shape, and healthy, and doing a lot of strength work. So it makes me (think) 'Leave that option open.'" *Discuss
- Recommended Read USATF Profiles Former 8:19 Steepler And Now Marathon Hopeful Brian Olinger Olinger has never raced over 7 miles in his life.
- Ryan Hall's Following Of Tim Tebow Mania Generates An Article On Hall In USA Today Hall apparently has not been training for the Trials at altitude.
- A Brief Chat With Greg McMillan The McMillan Elite coach talks about all of his athletes as they get ready for 2012.
World HJ Champ Jesse Williams & Shot Putters Will Put On Show At MSG's US Open In 2012
Sad News
Zithulele Sinqe, Who Ran 2:08:04 And 1:00:11 Half Marathon In Apartheid S. Africa, Dies In Crash This guy sounds like a legend and sadly until his death today and a reader email we had never heard of him. Way back in the '80s, he ran 2:08:04 and 1:00:11 in S. Africa. Because of apartheid and/or apartheid boycotts, he could never compete abroad.
On The Boards: South African Icon Passes Away
BBC Sports Personality Of The Year Awards
*World
Road Race Champion And Tour de France Green Jersey Winner Mark Cavendish Beats Mo Farah For BBC Sports Personality Of The Year British Open champ Darren Clarke was 2nd, Farah 3rd.
*British Press Says Jessica Ennis & Paula Radcliffe Stole Show With Stunning Outfits At BBC Awards
Year End Reviews
- Kenyan Marathoners Show Impressive Depth For 2011 Currently 41 of the top 50 times for 2011 were achieved by a Kenyan. 719 times a Kenyan has broken 2:20 this year.
- Athletics Weekly Athletes Of The Year Announced Simple fan voting - not what year-end awards should be.
TMFKAMG
LRC Wejo Speaks October 2, 2009: The Day The Millrose Games As We Knew Them Died Our very own Wejo did a little research and tells you why they Millrose Games as we all knew them died not this past spring with their announced departure from Madison Square Garden, but on Oct. 2, 2009, when plans were quietly put in place to give the Millrose Games to the Armory Foundation. Then considering the mission of the Armory and the state of track and field in America, it was not surprising that in only two years, Dr. Norb Sander, the head of the Armory, would go from saying, "This (the Millrose Games) is the flagship event of indoor track and field and its presence at the Garden is crucial" to telling Wejo, "I'm not sure we left it (the Garden) reluctantly. It's (the Armory) a better place to have the Millrose Games than the Garden for track." Fortunately, 98 years of tradition have not been completely tossed aside, as USATF is hosting the US Open at the MSG this year, the 99th straight year track will be at MSG.
Mo Farah Making News
Mo Farah Back In UK To Launch His Foundation And For BBC Sports Person Of The Year Awards He's the third betting choice to win Thursday's award as the top sportsman in Britain. Then Friday, it's off to a training camp in
Kenya apparently without Galen Rupp or his family. Mo did the media rounds in Britain and said he still wants to do
the Olympic double, went to Somalia this fall with his family and "it was like Beatle-mania." His foundation website is here and wants to help people in need in Somalia.
More Mo: Mo Will Go On Friday To Kenya For A Training Camp Sponsored By Virgin London
Mo
Writes In The Telegraph: "I'd lost in the final of the 10,000 metres to Ibrahim Jeilan. We didn't have a
clue who he was." It was the distance race in the year in our minds. Final lap here. The announcer even says "It's over, I think" with 300 to go.
TJ News
- Wow -
We Didn't See This Coming: World Indoor TJ Champ And WR Holder Teddy Tamgho Banned For 6 Months For Fighting With Female At French Training Camp Conveniently, the suspension ends in May - well before the Olympics - but he will miss out on defending his world indoor title (assuming that was possible,
as he broke his ankle).
*"Not clear if Tamgho actually punched the woman"
*Tamgho has "expressed his regrets and acknowledges the verdict." - Earlier Rival Phillips Idowu Will Ban His Partner And Kids From Watching Him "They're not coming. No way, man. I'd be worried they were okay. If I see them in the stadium, or hear my son crying, it distracts me."
- Quitters Never Win Meet Colombia's 1st-Ever World Championships Medallist - TJer Caterine Ibargüen The former HJer wanted to quit the sport when she failed to qualify for the Olympics in 2008 but now she has a bronze in the TJ. "When I failed to qualify for the 2008 Games, I felt depressed, like I wanted to quit the sport."
USATF Can Relate: Athletics Ireland's Sacking Of Its CEO In 2009 Cost It Over €800,000 "The report also points out that the settlement was 'without admission of liability,' but if handing over €800,000 of Irish sport's money is not an admission of liability, then it's hard to know what is."
NY Times Exposé: GPS Watches Are Inaccurate
Genetics Are Key Dyestat Profiles 2-Time Foot Locker Finalist Catarina Rocha, Who Is The Daughter Of 2 Finalists (As Well As Niece Of Another) This article will depress anyone who doesn't think genetics are HUGE in running, as Rocha had never even heard of Foot Lockers until she went out for cross-country before her sophomore year and she ended up making the meet that year.
News From Britain:
- Mo Farah Will Open Season On Jan. 28th In Glasgow In 1,500
- West Ham: Olympic Stadium Doesn't Need Football (Soccer) Tenant To Be Financially Viable
- British Looking For Naming Rights Deal For Olympic Stadium To Close £20 Million Gap LetsRun.com was looking into doing the deal until it was revealed that it will be called "Olympic" stadium for the Games and then LetsRun.com or Random Company Stadium after that. Who would want to sponsor the Olympic stadium if it didn't cover the Olympics?
- Olympic Rings Put In France On English Channel Train Tunnel Entrance To Celebrate Olympics
Japan Distance Running News
- Ridiculous: 2 Weeks After Running 2:09 At Fukuoka, Yuki Kawauchi Runs 2:12:33 For 2nd Place At Hofu Yomiuri Marathon Mongolia's Serod Bat-Ochir won the race in 2:11:56. *MB: yuki kawauchi 2nd in 2:12.33
- IAAF Recap Of Japan National Corporate Women's Ekiden Championships 2009 World Champs marathon silver medalist Yoshimi Ozaki led Dai-ichi to the team victory. *Japan Running News Recap
- Japan Marathon NR Holder Mizuki Noguchi To Race Dec. 23rd Sanyo Women's Half Marathon She'll us it as a tuneup for the Jan. 29 Osaka International Women's Marathon, where she'll be up against Japan half marathon NR holder Kayko Fukushi.
European News
- Wow: Former TJ World Champ Charles Friedek Sued The German Olympic Federation For Not Taking Him To The Olympics ... And He WON! The article is translated from German, but says something about a settlement of €70,000.
- UK Sprinter Who Put Himself Up For Auction On Ebay Still Waiting To Find Out Who His Sponsor Is
- BOA Says If They Lose CAS Case, Former Drug Cheats Will Get "the same treatment as anybody else and we will wish them luck."
- Euro 200m Record Holder Pietro Mennea Looks Back On Career And 1980 Olympic Win Mennea had the WR for 17 years before Michael Johnson broke it.
- Lengthy Article On Ireland's Fionnuala Britton And Her Victory At Euro XC Champs
- SPAR Euro XC Champ Emma Pallant To Lead British Team At Edinburgh XC Race On Jan. 7th
NCAA, High School, And The NFL
- NY Times Article (By Former Maryland Track Athlete) Chronicles Maryland's Journey From Top Program To Another Budget Cut On raising money for the team, former AD Dick Dull said, "A lot of possible donors don't believe they should pay for what they feel the institution should be paying for themselves."
- The Best Track Athletes In The NFL - All-Time Lists For NFL Players TrackSuperFan compiled all-time lists for NFL players in the various track and field events.
- Fresh Off FL Win, Edward Cheserek Wins Mile In 4:09
- Did Cheserek Put Friendship Ahead Of Records In Foot Locker Duel? Author suggests that he didn't want to embarrass Futsum by beating him by too much, but offers zero real evidence.
A Look Back On Dick Beardsley's Life And Many Many Freak Accident Injuries Talks about how through all the injuries and surgeries, for a time he became addicted to pain killers and was taking 80-90 a day.
LRC's Blue-Collar Hero Makes News Again
- Unbelievable: 2 Weeks After Running 2:09 At Fukuoka, Amateur Hero Yuki Kawauchi Will Race Another Marathon This Weekend We had thought for sure this was a half marathon, as this is truly crazy - plus he's running Tokyo in February.
*Japanese Collegian Takuro Nakanishi Also Is Running Hofu Yomiuri Marathon He's got a 13:58 5k PR but is dreaming of London 2012.
Week That Was
LRC Foot Lockers, Fukuoka Pulling People From The Course, Africans NOT Running To School, Chinese Dopers, And Sam Chelanga's YouTube Video It was the end of the US high school season, the beginning of the Australian pro season, and we take a look at it all, exactly one month before next month's Olympic Marathon Trials.
Update
Oscar Ponce Charged With 2nd Sexual Assault, Authorities Can't Find Him Ponce posted a $50,000 bond yesterday and now the authorities want to charge him with a second crime and can't find him. The first charge involves a victim under the age of 15.
On The Boards: Oscar Ponce Arrested
Tuesday's Distance News
- Hamstring Injury Has Caused Tera Moody To Miss A Month Of Training Before Trials If anyone can come back quickly, it is Tera, as she did it before Worlds, but time is against her here. RW Brief Chat
Goucher's Goal For Miami Was Only 73 Minutes She, too, is coming back from injury and ran 72:59. IAAF - 29:53 Ethiopian Meselech Melkamu To Be In Kenya As A Guest Of Paul Tergat's At Athlete Of Year Awards
- Dutch Watchdog Group Says Utrecht Marathon Discriminated By Having €100 Prize For Race Winner, €10,000 For The First Dutchman The solution: Call it a national championship.
Miami Half Marathon:
Flanagan Looks Good For The OTrials, Goucher??
Flanagan Flies (69:58), Goucher Runs 72:59 But Leaves Upbeat & Simon Bairu Finds It Harder Than Expected To Run 65:38 Flanagan ran the fastest loop course US time of the year; Goucher, who ran 1:09:08 1 month before the Boston Marathon, only ran 72:59 but left the race upbeat. In the men's race, Miami Heat fan Simon Bairu found it harder than he expected to run 5-minute pace in a race that sub-4 miler Christian Hesch led early. *MB Talk: Simon
Bairu, Brent Vaughn 1:05 Tempo Runs, Shalane Flanagan 1:09:58, Kara Goucher 1:12:59
Club XC Nationals *Videos
USATF Profiles The Toughest Distance Runner On The Planet - Max King The ultra/trail star is now turning his attention to his ultimate goal:"I have some goals within ultra running and winning ultra trail races, but my immediate goal is making the Olympic team." King was 7th at club nats.
Men's Results: Jonathan Grey Of Team USA Minnesota Wins Convincingly Aaron Braun 2nd, Centro 4th, McMillan Elite wins team title over Boulder Running Co. Prior to this, Grey's claim to fame was a 5th at NCAA indoors. If you have no idea who he is, click here.
Women's Results: Brie Felnagle Over Neely Spence Adidas/Team Rogue Elite wins.
On The Boards: Club Cross Updates?
2011 European XC *Results
- Euro Women: Ireland's Fionnuala Britton Gets 2nd Irish Title At Europeans She joins
Sonia O'SullivanCatherina McKiernan as an Irish champ. - Men: Belgium's Atelaw Yeshe Bekele Goes Wire-To-Wire, Lebid Drops Out
- IAAF Recap: Ethiopian-Born Bekele Dominates Sr. Men's Race No, not Kenenisa.
- BBC: GB dominate at Euro cross country
- Eurosport: Britain Reigns Supreme With 12 Medals - 6 Gold Steph Twell was 4th in U23 women's.
- Under-23 Women: Emma Pallant Leads British 1-2
- Under-23 Men: France's Florian Carvalho Gets Under 23 Win
More News From Britain:
- Interesting: Every Single Men's Distance Gold Medallist From Beijing Will Race Each Other In XC Race In Britain On Jan 7th Kiprop (1,500) vs. Bekele (5/10) vs. Kipruto (steeple). Bekele says his training has been going well.
- Possible Bad News For GBR: 20-Year-Old Charlotte Purdue Injured Her Knee In Kenya
Honolulu Marathon Results: Chelimo Outkicks Ivuti, Marathon Debut Of Former Arkansas Star Josphat Boit
Zatopek 10k: Emmanuel Bett Outkicks Bitan Karoki To Win In 27:39, Ben St. Lawrence Wins Aussie Title Bett, 28, is fairly new to the pro ranks but quickly making a name for himself. One spot behind Galen Rupp in Brussels this year (26:51), he got his first big track win. Craig Mottram surprisingly could not stay with 13:56 pace. *Zatopek:10 Results
- Post-Zatopek News Since He's The Only With "A" Standard - Ben St. Lawrence Is Definitely Going To The Olympics He ran a conservative race (28:01) as he just wanted to make sure he was the top Aussie. Former NAU star David McNeill was next in 28:12.
- IAAF Recap Of Zatopek 10km
- Melbourne Herald: Mixed bag for Ben St Lawrence and Craig Mottram in Zatopek:10
- Rec. Read: "A Kenyan Brotherhood" Talks about Kenyan camaraderie worldwide. Olympic steeple champ Reuben Kosgei says of Bernard Lagat, "He's still Kenyan." Plus Mention of Karoki being added to field.
Two Recommended Reads From The 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games
- NPR Story On Mexico City Olympic
GoldBronze Medallist John Carlos Carlos was made famous by making his iconic "black power" salute on the medal stand and received a ton of backlash for it, including threats on his life. The pressure led his wife to kill herself, but he still says he would do it again. - 1972 Olympic 400m Gold Medallist Vincent Matthews (4 X 4 Gold In '68) Inducted Into T&F Hall Of Fame Matthews: "I had to work. I had to have a job. There was no possible way of making money from track. The top guys of today, they can't understand what we went through." He talks about night-time practice sessions where they scaled the fence of a locked-up high school track.
Week That Was
LRC Centro Goes Pro (Should German Have Too?), Kawauchi, NXN, And How Soft Are The Women's Olympic Marathon Trials Standards? We cover the big stories in the world of running in the last week, the ones above, plus the USATF convention and we take a look at the amazing depth of the Fukuoka marathon, where you can't compete unless you can run under 2:42.
2 Weeks And NCAAs In Review
LRC NCAAs Go According To Form, Chris Derrick's College Career Comes To An End, Tim Tebow = Don't Overtrain, Track Returns To The Garden, And Alan Webb Has Sex Now that we've got your attention with the Alan Webb headline, get your weekly read on the running world. After the Thanksgiving break, we're back with a good week in review if we must say so ourselves. Plus a little comedy if you haven't seen the Border Clash XC false-start video.
The Uganda Witch Trials
Moses Kipsiro & Other Top Athletes Flee Home Training Area Because Of Witchcraft Where the 12:50 performer Kipsiro lives, the police get three reports a week of witches operating. Recently two women in their 80s were thrown off a cliff.
A Brief Chat With 4:07 1,500-Meter Runner Katie Follett A recent engagement has resulted in a new coach for the first year pro.
This Would Have Been Quote Of The Day Had It Not Been For Centro: Question For NCAA #4 And Canadian XC Champ Cam Levins - Q: What was your average mileage per week throughout the fall season? A: 155+ miles *MB: Cam Levins is my new favorite runner
2011 NCAAs Are History *Men's Results *Women's Results *Entire Race Video Replays
Women: LRC Georgetown, Reid Win Tight Battles Six women kicked for home over the last 400m of the race but in
the end it turned into the duel
many expected and Sheila Reid of Villanova got the narrow win over Jordan Hasay.
The big surprise was in the team's race, where the Georgetown women, who were only third at Big East, won by eight over Washington as #1 Florida State faltered and finished 4th. *Discuss
More: *Georgetown Gets Its First National CC Title GUHoyas.com
*Washington Comes Up 8 Points Short GoHuskies.com
*#1 FSU Finishes 4th & Coach Karen Harvey Pulls No Punches"I felt like I was watching a nightmare. I really thought there was no way this is happening." www.seminoles.com
*Wetmore Says 11th-Placed Colorado Women Purposely Peaked For PAC-12s, Not NCAAs www.denverpost.com
*The FSU women finished fourth and the men 12th at NCAA Cross Country Championships www.seminoles.com
*Lananna Says Hasay's Runner-Up Finish Was A Big Step Forward As She Didn't Get Antsy & Kick Too Early www.oregonlive.com
He Will Be Missed Adam Goucher Retires Goucher is having knee surgery on Friday and says his competitive racing career is over. We've always said that one way to judge whether a runner's
career was a good one or not is simple: Were They Good Enough That They Could Retire Or Just Quit? Goucher certainly is retiring, as he had an INCREDIBLE career - Foot Locker champ, NCAA champ indoors, NCAA champ outdoors
and NCAA champ in XC, USA champ in XC and track and an Olympian. Goucher is a runner at heart and we wouldn't rule out seeing him in the 2016 Marathon Trials.
*MB: Adam Goucher retires