The half marathon WR holder (Yalemzerf Yehualaw) is racing the 5,000/10,000 WR holder (Letesenbet Gidey) on Sunday in Valencia. Rhonex Kipruto (57:49 pb), 5k world champ Muktar Edris, and Kenyan XC champ Rodgers Kwemoi headline the men's race which saw four men break the WR last year.
*MB: Set your alarm clocks now (2:30 am ET Sunday). The women are going for the WR in Valencia. Will we see a 62 minute half?
Where Your Dreams Become Reality
Friday's Updates from Valencia
Frank Lara is hoping to go sub 60 minutes in the Valencia half marathon on Sunday.
Yehualaw's 63:44 at the Antrim Coast Half Marathon in August came on a course that was 54m short, meaning the WR is now Ruth Chepngetich's 64:02.
On The Boards
Performance director Sara Symington has also left. *The Times *Independent
*MB: UK Athletics in turmoil after CEO Joanna Coates resigns after 20 months on the job
Interesting Reads
- US Olympic Trials qualifier Meghan Roth had a heart attack between miles 7 and 8 at 2021 Boston Marathon, but a fellow runner gave her CPR and she's doing well now
- Dad accidentally runs Manchester Marathon... yes really He signed up for the half but got there at the wrong time when the marathon was starting so he decided to do that.
- #30 Montana State men's cross country team is ranked for 1st time in 17 years They were 12th at Prenats.
Free Tax & Training Advice
- An inside look at how Nike founder Phil Knight is giving a fortune to his family while avoiding billions in U.S. taxes. Part of Bloomberg's look at the "hidden ways the ultrarich pass wealth to their heirs tax-free."
- Have a Disappointing Marathon? The NY Times says you need to learn to "reframe it" like Ryan & Sara Hall, Reed Fischer and Scott Fauble
- Former British summer and winter Olympian Craig Pickering writes about how coaching with so much data can be good (and bad) "We can often manipulate the numbers to support whichever message we desire."
Distance News
Distance News
- MB: Shannon Osika joins Pete Julian’s group The 4th placer at the US Trials in the 1500 (4:00 pb) was in search of training partners and has left long-time coach Mike McGuire.
- After failing to make the Olympics on the track, Ben Flanagan thinks he'll be focusing more to the roads soon
- Harvey Lewis broke WR at last week's 2021 Big Dog's Backyard Ultra with 85 laps (353.5 miles)
- MB: Big Dog's Backyard Ultra - 3 left, have gone 325 miles, running for 78 hours - can someone run until they die
- 10 Storylines to Follow at Mt. SAC Cross Country Invitational 2021
- Jury selection resumes slowly in Ahmaud Arbery slaying trial
- Senators pay glowing tribute to Agnes Tiropo
Recent LetsRun Videos
Cathal Dennehy is in Kenya and watched Kipchoge do 8 x 1600 + 8 x 400.
Sprint / Hurdle News
She's had great success there in the past, having won a World Jrs, three NCAA titles and a US title in the city.
- Q&A with 100 hurdle champ Jasmine Camacho-Quinn who says things have been 'crazy' since the Olympics but she'll soon be focusing on "perfecting my craft" She's got an endorsement with Buchanan's Whiskey which is neatly celebrating Hispanic-Americans as 200 percenters - 100% American & 100% Hispanic.
- Big 12 indoor 400 champ Ashton Hicks (45.60 pb) has transferred from Ok State to LSU and is loving it
- It's Black history month in the UK and long jumper Jazmin Sawyers isn't sure how much progress is being made “I don’t know how much progress we're actually making when you see the racial abuse the England footballers got during the European Championships [after England lost on penalties in the final]. Black people can be national heroes but, once they do anything wrong, the racist abuse comes out."
- Anti Olympic group NOlympicsLA publishes syllabus to show why Games should be scrapped
- Stephen Francis thinks 2019 LJ champ Tajay Gayle may end up being a star sprinter "I suspect that he will be in the position to challenge for the title of fastest Jamaican [in 2022.]”
- How the NCAA system has helped churn out the best of Nigeria track and field stars
LRC Exclusives
A year ago, Bates was training in Idaho preparing for a pb at the Marathon Project. That pb would not come, and she would wind up leaving Idaho for Boulder following her divorce. Now, however, she's thriving with Team Boss after a runner-up finish at the Chicago Marathon. Audio and written highlights.
We recap the week in running for you and wonder why 2022 Boston is also planning to have a reduced size.
*MB: Kenya has had 3 World/Olympic champions die in their 20s in the last 10 years, when (if ever) has this happened to an American?
MB: Galen Rupp will run Eugene World Championship marathon in 2022 Sarah Lorge Butler confirmed the news with Rupp's agent, Ricky Simms.
Non-Distance News
- Elaine Thompson-Herah has begun pre-season training at Mico University College She's currently being coached by her husband and Jamaica’s 1984 world 400m champion Bertland Cameron and still wearing Nike which makes sense as most deals don't end until the end of the year.
- Elaine Thompson-Herah is conferred with Order of Distinction and Commander Class
- Elaine Thompson-Herah Says She's Watched The Video Of Her Olympic 100m Gold "A Million Times" And That She Could Have Gone Faster "I could have run 10.5, if I was not celebrating. I didn't realize I'd done the pointing. I think my body knew I wanted to win so badly. If I could run it back over, I would run straight to the line. That is the thing I could fix - the start was great, the transition was great, just that last 10 meters."
- "How Italy Got Ahead In The Sprints" A detailed look at what went into Italy's golds in the 100m (via Lamont Marcell Jacobs) and the 4x100m.
- GB's Olympic PV Bronze Medalist Holly Bradshaw Talks About Dealing With Hurtful Criticism Because She's Bigger Than Other Athletes Bradshaw, who competed in Tokyo with a modified rowing uniform, says one of the top Google searches for her used to be "Holly Bleasdale (her maiden name) fat."
Interesting Distance News
- Japan High School Builds 330m Greenhouse Indoor Track The entire track is enclosed in vinyl greenhouse material. The coach asked the high school to build it so the team could train during the very snowy winter.
- Oregon Firefighter And Paramedic Helps Save Collapsed Runner During Boston Marathon In a crazy twist, after he had started to help other bystanders perform CPR, he realized he actually knew the runner from Minnesota via mutual friends.
Salazar, Cain, Nike Discussion
- Podcast Talking With Kara Goucher And Others About Nike And Alberto Salazar - "A Running Scandal And The Price Of Power At Nike" Goucher says she saw teammates faking dehydration to get IVs at big competitions: "My coach would joke about how to fake it to get these IVs. My coach asked me to take a prescription drug that I didn't have a prescription for to help me shed weight faster ...I saw stuff that was absolutely against the rules. And it was being treated like it was no big deal."
Latest Agnes Tirop News
- Agnes Tirop's Husband To Spend 20-Days In Prison While The Murder Is Investigated Police say Ibrahim Rotich was arrested while trying to flee the country after he made a tearful phone call to his family saying he had done something terrible. He crashed his vehicle into a truck in a car chase with police.
- Amsterdam Marathon Champ Angela Tanui Pays Tribute To Agnes Tirop In her post-race interview she said, “I was running today with a white ribbon on my lapel, which is a sign of mourning my compatriot because she is someone I knew very well and were in the same management. I was running thinking about her and I wanted to do well as one way of honoring the champion."
- Kenyan Athletes Eulogize Agnes Tirop Olympic 5000m silver medalist Hellen Obiri, 2017 World XC silver medallist Alice Aprot, and former 5,000m Commonwealth Games champ Mercy Cherono were among those to pay tribute to Tirop.
General Olympic News
- Insanity: Cook Islands Olympians Finally Return Home From Tokyo 2020 After Stringent Quarantine Travel Rules Through New Zealand Athletes and their Olympic Committee president haven't been home in over 13 weeks after being forced to quarantine for over two months in New Zealand.
- IOC Express Concerns Over FIFA's Plans For Biennial World Cups The IOC is worried about how this could clash with other major sports, but do they get a say?
- Obstacle Course Racing Moves A Step Closer To Olympic Sport Status After Being Awarded "Observer Status" (A Prerequisite For Olympic Inclusion) They shouldn't celebrate too much though as there are plenty of other fringe sports in this category such as dodgeball, jump rope and
strippingpole sports. - IOC President Thomas Bach Is "Concerned" About France Sucking At The Tokyo Games The idea is apparently that Paris 2024 will be successful if French athletes are successful. France's medal tally in Tokyo was their lowest since 1992.
Drama At Beijing 2022 Olympic Torch Lighting Ceremony
- Protestors Disrupt Flame Lighting Ceremony For Beijing Winter Games Three activists snuck into the site and ran towards the torch holding a Tibetan flag and a banner that said, "No genocide games."
- Beijing 2022 Receives Olympic Flame In Low-Key Handover With Very Large Police Presence There was tight security after human rights protests disrupted the lighting ceremony.
- This Didn't Age Well: IOC Brushes Aside Concerns About Possible Protests At Beijing 2022 Torch Lighting Ceremony
- Beijing 2022 Flame Lighting Ceremony Overshadowed By Human Rights Protests In Ancient Olympia
- Two Protesters Arrested Night Before Torch Lighting Ceremony
NCAA / HS News
- NAU Men Stay #1 As Iow State Jumps Four Places To #2 In Updated NCAA Rankings Colorado moved up four spots to #3 and Stanford down to #4. BYU and Notre Dame both dropped down out of the top-5. *Regional Rankings
- New Mexico Women Take Over #1 Spot In Latest XC Rankings NC State and BYU dropped to 2-3 and Colorado moved up to #4. *Regional Rankings
- T&F News Chooses Hobbs Kessler As Their HS Boys Athlete Of The Year Kessler was voted unanimously by their 20 person panel.
- Pole Vault Record Setter Paige Sommers Chosen By T&F News As HS Girls Athlete Of The Year She narrowly beat out 2:00.78 800m runner Roisin Willis in the voting.
- RIP Longtime Rhode Island HS Coach And Hammer/Weight Throw Advocate Bob Gourley
Olympic Post-Mortem
Would you be surprised to know that Wallace Spearmon, the man who ended up coaching the men's 4x100 team, did not even know he was going to be the coach when he arrived at the Olympics? With no relay camp, coaching uncertainty, and just two days of baton practice in Tokyo, is it any surprise that the US failed to make the Olympic final? (Paywall lifted.)
More Results From The Weekend
- AW Extensive Weekly Round-Up There was a bunch more fast road action including: Mohamed Esa Huseyidin (59:32) and Tabitha Gichia (69:02) winning the Poznan Half in Poland, Andualem Bely Shiferaw (2:05:52) and Asayech Ayelew (2:25:07) winning the Lisbon Marathon (Beyata Dibaba won the half in 61:21), Stephen Mokoka (2:10:01) and Lysdia Simiyu (2:25:44) won the Cape Town Marathon and Weldon Langat Kipkirui (27:24) and Naomi Mitai Chepngeno (30:34) won the Laredo, Spain 10k.
- Results: Shadrack Biwott Wins Urban Cow Half-Marathon In 63:20 He also won the Fulsom Breakout Blues Half last weekend in 63:53.
- Canada's Benn Flanagat (28:41) And GB's Sarah Inglis (31:59) Win Toronto 10k Flanagat and Leslie Sexton (32:04) took the Canadian titles.
- USATF Masters 5k XC Champs Recap
British Athletics News
- Athletics Weekly: Winners And Losers In Latest British Athletics Funding Decisions Middle distance runners like Josh Kerr and Jemma Reekie were moved up in funding while Mo Farah was removed from Lottery funding completely. Surprises included Eilish McColgan only being 2nd tier funding and Jess Judd not receiving any despite making Tokyo 2020 in the 5000 and 10,000.
- Andrew Butchart Loses British Athletics Funding As His Girlfriend Lynsey Sharp Returns To The Program Sharp is returning from pregnancy as she had a baby boy with Butchart earlier this month.
- 19-Year-Old Keely Hodgkinson Given Top Level British Athletics Funding After Winning Olympic 800m Silver
- UKA Head Coach Christian Malcolm Doesn't Rule Out Mo Farah Being On Another GB Team
- UK Athletics Chief Christian Malcolm Says They "Need To Do Things Better" After An Under-Par Performance For Team GB In Tokyo A number of top athletes complained to Seb Coe about lack of confidence in the UKA leadership.
Amsterdam Marathon
Tola beat out Bernard Koech by 30 seconds while Tanui (who missed Boston due to visa issues) dominated the women's race by more than two minutes. *Discuss
Fast Times in Boston
She broke Molly Huddle’s CR from 2015 by 3 seconds to win the race by a dominant 39 seconds.
NCAA XC Heated Up on Friday
The NAU men are still incredible, the women's #1 and #2 NC State and BYU get beat, Colorado is back (both men and women), and the men's individual battle at NCAAs is going to be awesome. Plus we project how the top teams would have fared today if they had all run their studs.
Assorted Distance News
- Newbury Park's Colin Sahlman Announces NAU As His College Decision Sahlman will rejoin his former teammate Nico Young.
- Podcast Interview With CJ Albertson About His Bold Strategy At The Boston Marathon Albertson went out fast and lead through 20 miles. He talks about how he held on to finish 10th (2nd American) and how his friends and family reacted to the race.
- Laura Muir Wins Scottish Athlete Of The Year Award; Says She's Still Coming To Terms With Olympic Success "I look at the medal sometimes and it is very strange ...When you work so hard for something for so long and then you finally achieve it, there is a sense at times that it is not real."
- Sifan Hassan And Karsten Warholm Crowned 2021 European Athletes Of The Year
Best of Jon Gault
Take Your Love of LetsRun to the Next Level
LetsRun Classics
