Birmingham - Aviva Indoor Grand Prix - Is Saturday *Live On BBC One 1-4:30 PM ( 8 AM ET - 11:30 ET US - UK proxy required) *Schedule/Entries/Results

Latest: Mo Farah: "I've told Galen I might just have to go out and beat him by point-something, just to wind him up even more."

Asafa Powell Hates The Cold But Is Ready For Birmingham Indoor


Interesting:
Emiel Puttemans Reflects On His 38-Year-Old European 2-Mile Record, Talks About How He Could Have Broken 10,000m Record In 1972 Olympic Heats Farah is after Puttemans' 8:13 European record and Rupp's world-leading time. Puttemans says he doesn't follow the sport too much today. He talks about how he could have broken the world 10,000m record in the heats of the 1972 Olympics. *Discuss Here

Athletics Weekly Preview: Mo Farah Eyes 2-Mile Record, Hannah England Takes On Dibaba, + Robles Vs. Liu
*IAAF Preview A week after his traning partner Galen Rupp set the US 2-mile record, Mo Farah will go for the 37-year-old European two-mile record of 8:13.2. That certainly should fall, but the question is if Farah will win, as he faces a stacked field that includes Eliud Kipchoge, who ran 7:32 last weekend. World Championships silver medallist Hannah England will face world leader Genzebe Dibaba in the 1,500 while Anna Pierce continues to try to find her form, whereas 1,500 world #1 Morgan Uceny will try to continue her good form at 800m.

*UK Athletics: Hannah England has been waiting for this race since August

2012 RAK Half Is In The Books *Photo Gallery Of Winners *Top Results

LRC Mary Keitany & 17-Year-Old Dennis Koech Win 2012 RAK Half Marathon Windy conditions slowed down the winning times considerably (60:34 and 66:42), but Mary Keitany did still produce the 8th-fastest 13.1 in women's history as a 17-year-old Kenyan dispatched the 2012 world leader and a 2:03 marathoner in the men's race.
*IAAF Recap Geoffrey Mutai Withdraws With Sore Foot And Then Fast Times Are Blown Off Course The IAAF is saying that Koech is 18.
*Pre-Race Photos *Race Previews

Out Of Work? The IAAF Is Hiring And Looking For A "Whereabouts" Asst. It looks like a perk of this job won't be that you get to look at Track & Field stars' private parts - it's more of clerical help. *Job Offer

We Disagree
Ken Goe Thinks That Bring Back The Mile Idea Isn't A Good One We disagree with Goe's overall argument but agree with him here: "The rest of the world isn't going to give up the metric system because it's uncomfortable for the U.S. geriatric set." The thing that all BBM detractors seem to don't get is - we aren't saying BBM will save the sport - we're just saying it can only help and won't hurt. The sport needs to make every incremental improvement it can. As Meb said Thursday, "Well, in running or track and field there's three prime events, there's the 100 meter, the mile and the marathon."

Bolt Update: Glen Mills: "Usain Bolt Is Not Injured" According to this, Bolt has scheduled visits with "Healing Hans" several times a year for treatment for his scoliosis, so this is just a routine thing. Mills could have avoided the speculation by saying that from the start instead of trying to cover it up with a faux "business trip."

Week That Was

LRC Rupp's Record Vs. Lagat's Record, Down Goes Rono, Miles Batty, Chris Derrick And Ryan Hill?, Plus Katie Flood, Marathoning, White Dudes In The 4 X 400, Some Canadian Coaching Advice And More Just in time for Valentine's Day, the track and field world came afire with some sizzling action and records galore. We got the meat (what you expect) and the potatoes (what you wouldn't expect) of the track and field world covered. We guarantee you won't be disappointed. If you are, complain here.

Interesting Read: Patrick Makau Speaks On Being Self Coached, His Half Marathon Loss In Spain, And His Two Newborn Twin Sons He gives great training advice, as he talks about listening to his body and says that he could have won in Spain, but he decided to save himself for other things ahead. Good read from Mutwiri Mutuota.
*10-Minute Video Interview With Makau From Same Story

Sprint News

Recommended Read: The Telegraph's Ian Chadband Catches Up With Yohan Blake After His 2012 Season Opener - Blake Still Plays Cricket Every Sunday With Glen Mills' Blessing Can anyone in America imagine a college coach letting a sprint star play pickup games on the weekend? Yet Blake, who comes from a tough background, is super-fast. "I wasn't born with a golden spoon in my mouth; it was a really tough life. So many times, we had no money to even get to school. I'd have to find empty beer bottles to sell and spent hours carrying water on my head because we had no water at home. It gave me strength which helps me today."

Boltgate Day II
*Despite Denials, Sportsmail Says Bolt Visited Doctor In Germany
*Meet The German Doctor Bolt Went To See Instead of Running 400m Last Week - The Doctor They Call "Healing Hans" In December, ESPN did a long profile of Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt - the doctor to the stars - including 5 of the 8 Berlin 100m finalists, plus people like Bono. He swears by Actovegin injections - calf's blood.

Previous:
Bolt Doesn't Run 400m Because He Has "Business Trip"
*Coach Says He's Stunned That People Think Bolt Is Hurt But Yohan Blake Admits He Went To Get A "General Checkup"

USATF Classic *Results *Photo Gallery

LRC Galen Rupp's American 2-Mile Record Is Highlight Among 5 World Leaders Pre-race, we pondered if this was the best men's indoor mile in the US since LetsRun.com was founded and it lived up to the hype, as Silas Kiplagat edged Caleb Ndiku in a world-leading time, but it was Galen Rupp, running to honor the late Geoff Hollister, who stole the show with an impressive American record at 2 miles. In other action, Brenda Martinez took on some of the world's best in the mile, Jamaica's 8th best sprinter beat all the Americans, and Tianna Madison (a long jump world champion most of you have forgotten) shocked VCB and Allyson Felix in the 60m.

USATF XC *XC Results *Men's Photos *Women's Photos

Molly Huddle Celebrates Too Soon, Sara Hall Wins XC On Lean, Bobby Mack Beats Aaron Braun Great races in the chill of St. Louis, as Molly Huddle and Sara Hall battled to the line. Huddle put up her hands thinking she won, but Hall leaned and got the win. Photos here. On the men's side, Mack pulled away from Braun the final 600m. More coverage here. Photo finish photo here.

Friday Action 12:58! For Thomas Longosiwa

A Sad Day In The World Of Track And Field

Geoff Hollister, An Original Nike Employee And Former University Of Oregon Track Runner, Dies At Age 66 Hollister was a legend at Nike and the sport of track and field and Nike wouldn't be the same without him. He also was the producer of Fire on the Track, which was voted the best running movie ever on LetsRun.com. Members of the Oregon Project wore special singlets at NB supporting him as he was critically ill at the time.
(Photo by Jeff Johnson via Walt Chadwick Larger Here)

Bank Of America Chicago Registration Full

LRC Abdi Talks Olympics As He's In Chicago For Launch Of Registration For 2012 B Of A Chicago Marathon Abdi talked to LRC's Wejo via phone. Abdi discussed the Chicago launch, his track plans, his training group, and gave us an update on drug cheat Martin Fagan. Registration was over 18,000 as of 4pm.

London Marathon Goes To Iten

Virgin London Marathon, Which Made 2012 Athlete Announcements In Kenya, Is Giving Back To Iten, Eldoret Communities

LRC Photo Of The Day: Virgin London Marathon Fields Announced From Iten, Kenya We didn't realize London was in Iten to announce its 2012 fields. Very cool.

Bring Back The Mile Officially Launches For years, we (and many in the sport) have wondered why the mile isn't the #1 distance event in the land and why it's not run instead of the 1,500 or 1,600. Finally, someone has decided to do something about it.
*Bringing Buzz Back To The Mile *Discuss *Like On Facebook

Recommended Read: NY Times Article On Australia's LJer Mitchell Watt, Who Quit Track For 5 Years But Came Back And Got 2nd At The World Champs Apparently he was convinced to keep competing by a "12 page email" from his coach.

US Men's Olympic Trials Marathon News *LRC Vote Totals *Men's Results *Women's Results *Mile-By-Mile Splits *Yahoo Flash Photos

LRC Men's Marathon Trials Analysis And Reaction The 2012 Trials race was a classic. We throw some love to the top 3, ponder Ritz's future in the marathon, tell you who had the best debut, and tell you who that guy you never heard of was. Plus we talk about Meb's 74-year-old badass dad and look at the fortune of some old timers who didn't make the team, Josh Cox and Dan Browne, in addition to the ones who did (Meb and Abdi).

Race Recap:
Meb Keflezighi Captures 2012 Olympic Trials Marathon Title

NY Times Recap: Meb Over Hall, Abdi Grabs 3rd Spot
The race lived up to the billing as the top four all broke 2:10, whereas previously there had only been one sub-2:10 in OTM history. After a blistering first half (63:25), Meb Keflezighi got his 2nd PR in 69 days, as he ran 2:09:08 to win over Hall (2:09:30). A resurgent Abdirahman (2:09:47) hung on for the final Olympic spot in 2:09:47 over Ritzenhein, who broke 2:10:00 for the first time (2:09:55). In the process, Meb became the first American to make an Olympic marathon team 8 years after making it previously. Abdi had no idea until we talked to him that Martin Fagan, whom he trained with some this winter, had reportedly tested positive for EPO.
LRC
Trials Live Thread Here

Trials On The Boards:

Lance And LIVESTRONG

Outside Magazine Article Accuses LIVESTRONG Foundation "If Lance Armstrong went to jail and Livestrong went away, that would be a huge setback in our war against cancer, right? Not exactly, because the famous nonprofit donates almost nothing to scientific research." *MB: Livestrong expose in Outside magazine

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.

Sydney Track Classic *Results

Kiprop 1:45.9, Rudisha 45.61, David Torrence 3:35.6 Wins The Australian season got underway in full force with the two best mid d distance runners, Olympic and World 1500m champ, Asbel Kiprop, and World 800m Champ David Rudisha, both dropping down in distance. Rudisha ran 45.61 at 800, while Kiprop got the 800m win in 1:45.9. Kiprop dropping down let American David Torrence win the 800 in 3:35.6. World hurdle champ Sally Pearson did the hurdle, 200m double. Nick Symmonds did not have his kick and was a well beaten 6th in 1:47.44, which is a pretty good opener.
On the boards: Kiprop Wins it in 1:45.96, Riseley Kicks Hard for Second
PreRace: *MB: Predict Nick Symmonds & Asbel Kiprop's Time & Place For Tonight's 800 Showdown

LRC Track Talk Live From Kenya LRC Employee #1 talks about meeting Kiprop and Rudihsa. Did you know Rudisha was doing the decathlon for a while?

Kenyan XC Champs Are Saturday

IAAF Preview Of Kenyan XC Champs: Link Fixed Linet Masai Is Women's Favorite, Is World Junior XC Champ Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor Men's? With no World XC this year, this is definitely the top XC meet in the world.

Kenyan 5,000m And 10,000m Trials To Be At Prefontaine Classic
This is big news. The details clearly aren't out, as Chris Solinsky is trying to figure out what it means for him (i.e., whether the races will be Kenyan only). More here.

LRC Track Talk Live From Kenya Employee #1 has been in Kenya for 2-week meeting with many of the sport's stars. In this 45-minute broadcast, get the inside scoop.

Talk About A Comeback: Philip Mosima, Who Competed In 1988 Kenyan Olympic Trials As A 12-Year-Old, Is Trying To Make A Comeback At Kenyan XC Champs He ran 12:53 in 1996 when 12:53 was unbelievably fast.

1 Month & 1 Day From Friday

Meb, Ritz, Kara And Desi To Run 2012 NYC Half Also sponsorless man Scott Bauhs will run as will a bunch of other Americans, including 2009 WChamps 5,000 team member Julie Culley in her 13.1 debut. *AP

*Transcript Of Meb, Bob Larsen & Mary Wittenberg Teleconference (Word document) Meb reveals that his wife ran a 5k in 26:05, officially eliminating their children as #1 prospects for the class of 2030.
*Denver Post Catches Up With Ritz, Who Is Excited To Get Back To The Track - Ritz: "I still think I'm one of the best runners in the world."
*Ritz Blogs About His Recent Training: "I got out my spikes for the first time in two and a half years."

Interesting Reads

Some Good Interviews

Fast Times In Lieven! *Website/Results

More Recent Action We Want To Make Sure You Realized Happened

2012 Millrose Games *Results *Lagat, Wanamaker Mile Video

2012 Boston Marathon

LRC Boston Marathon Releases Elite Fields For 2012 2011 champs Geoffrey Mutai & Caroline Kilel will try to defend their titles against a field that includes 5 sub-2:05 and 2:23 competitors.

Dubai *LRC Recap *Results

LRC Hello World, Meet Ayele Abshero (2:04:23 Debut!) The 21-year-old former Jr. World XC champ's marathon debut was super-special, as his surge with just over 3km remaining decimated the deepest marathon field in history, as four men broke 2:05 in the race, eight broke 2:06, 10 broke 2:07, and 17 broke 2:10 - all records as fastest-ever times for places were recorded in spots three through 17. 2011 belonged to the Kenyan men, will 2012 belong to Ethiopia? The women's race was super-fast and super-deep as well, as 3 women broke 2:20 in the same race for the 1st time, as Aselefech Mergia ran 2:19:31 to win and a record 9 women broken 2:25. Martin Lel was a DNF, Ramaala 2:12. *AP
*Butcher: Ethiopians Strike Back
*MB: 4 guys I've never heard of go sub 2:05 in Dubai

Wejo Speaks: LRC What About The Sport? Wejo, an outspoken critic of Millrose Games moving to the Armory, says don't celebrate USATF sticking it to Millrose. Celebrate the sport being on ESPN.

Be Inspired By These Two Olympic Trials Breakthrough Performers

US Women's Olympic Trials Marathon News *LRC Vote Totals *Men's Results *Women's Results *Yahoo Flash Photos

Flanagan Over Davila, Goucher Gets Third As Top 4 All Break Old OTrials Record Flanagan (2:25:38) pulled away from Davila (2:25:55) and Goucher was third in 2:26:06. Amy Hastings broke the old Trials record at 2:27:17 but didn't make the team. Deena Kastor was 6th in 2:30:40.

Great Marathon News

The Big Interview: Dathan Ritzenhein

LRC Ritz Reflects On The Trials, His Years With Alberto, And Looks To The Future 24 hours after Dathan Ritzenhein just missed making the 2012 the Olympic Marathon team, a frank but more upbeat Ritz sat down and talked with LetsRun.com. He looked back on the Trials race ("I ran pretty good. It just was not enough.") and back on the last three years with Alberto ("He is a very smart, very passionate guy more than anything. He will find the way." and "There's been many times when we've screwed up.") before looking ahead to both the immediate future ("The Olympics is everything.") and farther down the road ("I do love the marathon, but I think I love being good better ... I want to succeed at what I'm going to be best at."). A confident Ritz has big plans for the future. A must read (or watch) if we can say so ourselves. Plus we give you splits of the last 3.2 miles in Houston.

LetsRun.com Track Talk Live From Kenya: Friday's Live Show Is Now Available On Demand In The Player Below (Or Download It Here)

News Of Note

Rupp's 2-Mile American Record From Arkansas (Last 2:20 Or The Full Race)

Friday's RAK Half Marathon Photo Gallery

Assorted News

*Galen Rupp Says It's Looking Like He Will Race Bernard Lagat At US Indoor Champs
*Tokyo University Hakone Ekiden CR Setters Kento Otsu & Yuta Shitara To Run NYC Half On Mar. 18th They have PRs of 1:02:35 and 1:02:43.
*DI Rankings: Arkansas And Florida Still 1-2 For Men (Texas A&M Jumps From 8th To 3rd) Oregon still lead for the women; Clemson and LSU swap 2-3 positions.
*Sydney Olympic 800m Champ Nils Schumann Under Investigation For Blood Doping Was among those named in German doping scandal.

Final 400 (Or Full Race) Of Lagat's American Record (Wanamaker Mile Video Here)

Photo Gallery: Rupp Makes History (Interview Below Or Here)

USA XC Photo Galleries *Women Here *Men Here

Help Us Pick The Final Winners In The LRC Puma Faas Challenge

We Want Your Votes We've got roughly 20 pairs of Puma Faas shoes still to put to the test and we want your votes. Voting has been going on on the message boards, but here it is for everyone else. See the amazing entries from LRC nation.

Week In Review

LRC 5 Thoughts On NBIGP, Patrick Makau Gets Beaten, Drug Talk, A Crazy Half Marathon In Japan And Minnesota Mid-D We give you more thoughts on the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix and tell you who really won the 800, then turn to the roads and talk about  Patrick Makau getting beaten and a crazy half marathon in Japan, plus an update on Minnesota's great middle-d program, plus some training advice.

Osaka Marathon Photos

Trailer For "ITEN - The Town Of RED Dust"

NCAA Women's Photo Gallery

NCAA Men's Photo Gallery (500+ Photos)

Joanie Inspires

Training Corner (More In The Training Forum)

A Scintillating Men's 10,000 Finish (US Visitors Only)

Universal Sports Back To Top