Boling passed on his final year of NCAA eligibility to sign with Hawi Sports Management. No word on a shoe sponsor yet.
Boling Goes Pro
This Week's Pod
On this week's show we spend most of the first hour breaking down the 2023 Berlin marathon where Tigst Assefa ran an incredible 2:11:53. How shocked were we by the run? What it made it possible - pacing, shoes, talent, or doping? Eliud Kipchoge got the men's win in the 8th fastest time in history but is he starting to slip? The US men did not do well - will they even get three into the Olympics on world ranking? Should brun the marathon Trails or does he have a better shot in the 5000? Reid Buchanan ripped Kipchoge on twitter - fair our foul? We break it down for you.
Eugene, Oregon will host the US Olympic Track and Field Trials and Rojo is irate. The NCAA xc season got underway and some super freshmen impressed while others totally bombed. Plus Brandon Miller and a ton of top sprinters have new coaches.
On The Boards
On The Boards
2024 Diamond League
- 2024 Diamond League Schedule Announced - Will Have The Most Meets Ever With 15 The season will start with two meets in China in April before moving to Doha in May and ending with Brussels in September.
- Brussels Will Host The Diamond League Final In 2024 It will be the first time since 2019 that they host the last DL meet of the season.
Drug News
- NCAA Committee Recommends Changes To Remove Ban On Cannabis The three NCAA divisions will have to vote to decide if they will actually remove it from the banned list.
- WADA Announces New Consequences For RUSADA; Imposes Multiple Sanctions WADA's compliance review committee found that RUSADA has not addressed "non-conformities" with its national legislation that were pointed out in 2022.
Berlin Marathon
Berlin Marathon
Assefa took the women's world record to another stratosphere as she skipped the 2:12s and 2:13s and ran 2:11:53 to shatter Brigid Kosgei's 2:14:04 world record. Eliud Kipchoge got the men's win in 2:02:42 as no Americans hit the Olympic standard.
Kipchoge surpassed Haile Gebrselassie for most Berlin wins and now owns 5 of the 8 fastest times in history.
Berling MB Talk
- Official 2023 Berlin Marathon Live Discussion Thread - 3:15 am ET (9:15 am in Berlin)
- American men bombed, are we not going to send 3 to the Olympics?
- QUEEN ASSEFA 2:11:53 WR
- 2:11:53 - not possible w/o drugs, supershoes?
- Man I feel for Scott Fauble, DNF before 30k
- Jared Ward battling back, he may beat Assefa
- Kipchoge needs to just focus on 3 peating at Olympics
- I don't think Kipchoge runs faster than 204-205
- Tadese Takele, 21 years old future marathon crack
More From Berlin
- Orange Climate Change Protesters Tried Blocking Runners At The Berlin Marathon They were out on the course throwing orange paint all over the road, but thankfully police forcibly removed them from the course. *Video
- Eliud Kipchoge Celebrates Berlin Win By Dancing In A Nightclub (Video)
- Amanal Petros' 2:04:58 (9th Place) Is The Highlight European Performance In Berlin He took off more than a minute from his own German national record and moved to #4 on the all-time European list. On the women's side, GB's Charlotte Purdue finished 9th in 2:22:17 (#3 on the all-time UK list).
*MB: Amanal Petros, 2:04:58, has achieved what Julien Wanders should have achieved
More Road News
Young beat out Willy Fink (28:52) and Leonard Korir (28:54) while Kelati had a dominant win over Ednah Kurgat (32:40).
- Sam Prakel (4:01) And Nikki Hiltz's (4:27) Road Mile WRs Ratified By World Athletics The road mile only became an official WR as of September 1. There have obviously been much faster times ran for a mile on the road in the past and these times will likely be broken at the World Athletics Road Champs in October.
Congrats to the newlyweds
Next up. A honeymoon in the Maldives.
Pre-Marriage: LRC Jakob Ingebrigtsen Is Getting Married on Saturday - Here's What It Will Be Like The world's fastest miler is getting married on Saturday and thank to the Norwegian press, we have all of the details.
European News
- Scottish 800m Runner Jemma Reekie Wants To Win A Medal In Front Of The Home Crowd At The Glasgow World Indoor Champs Next Year It would be Reekie's first senior medal (she was 4th at the Tokyo Olympics).
- Vote For The European Men's And Women's Athlete Of The Year Last year's winners were Femke Bol and a tie between Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Mondo Duplantis for the men. All three are candidates again this year.
- Vote For The European Rising Stars Of The Year NCAA 400m champ Rhasidat Adeleke is among the candidates.
- France's Makenson Gletty And Germany’s Sophie Weissenberg Lead After Day 1 Of Talence Multi Meet
Weekend XC Action
(link updated) NAU got individual wins from Drew Bosley (23:20) and Elise Stearns (16:18 for 5k) to lead their teams to dominant wins over the BYU men and Stanford women. *Results
- Cal Poly Men And BYU Women Win Bill Dellinger Invy LSU's Davis Bove (23:40) and Oregon State's Kaylee Mitchell (19:37 for 6k) won the individual titles. Oregon freshman Simeon Birnbaum (competing unattached) finished 3rd in his collegiate debut (23:44).
*MB: Simeon Birnbaum 3rd!!! - USTFCCCA Weekend XC Round-Up: California Baptist Men And Women Take College Team Titles At Roy Griak
- DyeStat Recap: Stevens Point Boys And Wayzata Girls Win At Roy Griak Invy
How Fast Will Fauble Run In Berlin?
"I don’t think that me running in the 2:07s is a huge stretch of the imagination," said Fauble who also took a shot at the USATF leadership.
2024 Olympic Trials
Eugene fatigue is real but don't tell that USATF. This will be the fourth straight US championships at Hayward Field and the fifth straight US Olympic Trials. Eugene paid them at least $3 million for the last Trials and we all know that USATF needs at least $3 million just to pay Max Siegel. Ridiculous.
Ingebrigtsen Wants ALL of the WRs
After his double victory at Pre, Ingebrigtsen shared advice for those attempting double threshold and why he believes he can break every WR from 1500 through the marathon.
Distance News
- Street art portrait of Eliud Kipchoge in full stride is unveiled on the streets of Berlin It's located at clubhouse of Berlin-based running club Berlin Braves.
- Recommended Read Despite having won Worlds, Marco Arop will go into 2024 Olympics with a "bit of a chip on his shoulder"
- Update on Zane Robertson arrest. Kenyan papers says he was arrested for "offence of attempted rape and being in a possession of firearm without a license" He'll be detained for 5 days so police can continue to investigate.
- Ben Blankenship to make marathon debut at McKirdy Micro on October 14 The course in Rockland Lake State Park in New York "is a flat 2.94-mile loop, and it is geared toward athletes trying to run qualifying times for the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials."
- What are isometric exercises, and why should runners do them? Isometric exercises are time-efficient, need no equipment and can both prevent and rehabilitate injuries
Book News
- Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has written a book - 'Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith'comes out January 30, 2024 SML shares her pesonal story of struggles and victories, of faith and transformation. *Read the introduction here *Pre-order now. *Discuss
- Toni Reavis will be doing a book reading at the school his mother taught at on November 11th in St. Louis
Administrative News
- World Indoors in Scotland is 5 months away and they need volunteers We sure hope Kerr and Wightman race but it's concerning they weren't involved with the press activities today.
- Tenative 2024 and 2025 Diamond League dates are released
- WADA launches call for proposals for 2024 social science research grant program
Better Running Shoes a Click Away
Want to know what running shoes real runners like best? We've got some answers for you as our Better Running Shoe review site is now open to the public. Real reviews, from real runners, with data science.
Interesting Reads
Did you know that her 17-year-old training partner, Birke Haylom, led her through 3k in a World U20 record time of 8:26.03.
- MB Zane Robertson arrested in Kenya - Sexual assault investigation leads to unlicensed firearms arrest - LetsRun.com A woman told police she was sexually assaulted at a house party on Tuesday and while investigating that they arrested him for having an unlicensed AK 47.
- Prince William went for a run unnoticed in Central Park on Tuesday morning A letsrun messageboarder claims to have had a talk with him. We're highly confident he is a troll.
- Who will coach Marcell Jacobs moving forward? Some think it might be Marco Airale There are "already reports linking him to another Italian coach, Marco Airale. Airale, a former track and field athlete based in Padua, has worked with several Italian sprinters and is particularly renowned for guiding British sprinters Reece Prescod, Daryll Neita, and Jeremiah Azu."
- 2022 London champ Amos Kipruto is ready for Berlin: “I have had a fantastic training."
- Edward Cheserek admits he surprised himself with his 59:11 half in Copenhagen “Yes, I was surprised because I still have a bit of rust…I have been competing on track for a while," said Cheserek who has now run more than 30 seconds faster than any American in history. He'll make his marathon debut in NYC. *MB: Edward Cheserek wins Copenhagen Half Marathon in 59:11
Random But Interesting Distance News
- Jakob Ingebrigtsen Runs 5:22 Beer Mile At His Bachelor Party Ingebrigtsen is getting married later this year and decided to do a beer mile in Norway with his brothers and friends as part of his bachelor party.
*MB: Jakob ran a Beer Mile after Pre. - NY Times Article On Why Some Elite Distance Runners Are Ditching Their GPS Watches Some say they find it taking the fun out of running as they focus too much on pace and distance. Sam Prakel says, “I just started running too fast on all my runs and it became harder to recover from them because I was so focused on my pace. I learned pretty quickly that it wasn’t good for me.”
- World 800m Champ Mary Moraa Gets Engaged Her fiancé was waiting on one knee at the airport when she arrived home from the Pre Classic.
- In Case You Didn't Know, Athing Mu Didn't Win The Diamond League Trophy/Title As we mentioned in our recap, she was presented with the trophy on the track after winning the Pre Classic, but since she was a wildcard entry and didn't get in on points, the trophy actually went home with Keely Hodgkinson.
Non-Distance News
- Noah Lyles Talks About The Attention He Received For His NBA Comment "There are a bunch of funny things that come from it, like having Drake notice it. Like, Drake, what are you doing here? Go back home. This is an NBA conversation. But I couldn't go on TikTok for more than three seconds because it would just be like, me. And I'm like, Can I see something else? I don't want to see me. I go to Twitter to see other things.
- 92-Year-Old Age-Group 100m WR Holder Disappointed To Only Run 18.17 Japan's Hiroo Tanka was well short of his 16.69 WR, but it's worth noting his 18.17 came after he ran the 400m 2 hours before. He also ran the 200m afterward.
- World Hammer Champ Camryn Rogers Gets Nike Contract She said, “Money is not the reason we do this, but money is the reason we are able to do this.”
- RIP Germany's Two-Time Olympic Javelin Champ Ruth Fuchs, 76
Our Weekly Recap
Who were the biggest winners of the 2023 track season? Noah Lyles, Niels Laros, Faith Kipyegon, Sha'Carri Richardson, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Lamecha Girma, and Yared Nuguse all make the list, but in what order?
Marathon News: Berlin Is Sunday
- Berlin Marathon Preview: Eliud Kipchoge And Tigst Assefa Return To Defend Their Titles Their main challengers will be London winner Amos Kipruto (2:03:13) and Sheila Chepkirui (2:17:29).
*MB: Official BERLIN MARATHON 2023 predictions
- Olympic 10,000m Silver Medalist Paul Tanui Making His Marathon Debut At The Buenos Aires Marathon This Sunday The article calls it his debut, but he did previously start a marathon, but was a DNF.
- GB's Charlotte Purdue Hoping To Get Her Marathon Career Back On Track In Berlin She ran 2:23 in London 2021 and 2:25 in Boston 2022, but she's been a DNF and DNS in her last two marathons.
- Eliud Kipchoge Ahead Of Berlin: "I have been putting in the work together with the team, doing all my training, and trusting the process. I am ready to go back to my special place, back to Berlin to take on the challenge again."
This Week's Pod
What an end to the 2023 track and field season at the Pre Classic. The LRC breaks it all down. No resting this week as Berlin is Sunday!
This Week's Pod
What an end to the 2023 track and field season at the Pre Classic. The LRC breaks it all down. No resting this week as Berlin is Sunday!
Sprint Stuff
- Tobi Amusan's Whereabouts Case Headed To CAS As AIU Files Appeal A previous report said that the deadline had passed to file an appeal, but the AIU says they filed last week.
- Ferdinand Omanyala Challenges Faith Kipyegon To A 400m Race In a lighthearted video, the two are seen joking and laughing about who would win. Omanyala was very confident saying he'd win even if he "walked the last 100."
- Olympic 100m Champ Marcel Jacobs Parts Ways With His Coach Less Than A Year Ahead Of Paris 2024 Jacobs said, "I realized that I needed to completely change things... I want to be in a new place, find athletes who can train with me, push me, and above help me with the more difficult work of winter training.
- Sha'Carri Richardson Wants To Be On Top In The 200m Next Year Too "I want to be competitive. I'm not one of those athletes that just runs the 100m. I'm a 1-2 runner."
NCAA / HS XC News
- NAU Men On Top In Week 1 NCAA XC Rankings OSU, BYU and Stanford are ranked 2-4. *Regional Rankings
- NC State Women Are #1 In Week 1 NCAA National XC Rankings NAU, OSU and Notre Dame are ranked 2-4. *Regional Rankings
- Vin Lananna’s Coaching Contract A University Of Virginia Extended Through 2028
- NC State Dominates At Adidas XC Challenge The men swept the top-6 spots lead by John Malach while most of the women's team ran unattached (so they didn't actually score), with Leah Stephens leading a 1-3 sweep. *Results
- Southern Utah Men And Utah Valley Women Win At UC Riverside Invy Unattached runner Habtamu Cheney won the men's race in 23:35; Utah Valley's Ari Trimble won the women's race.
- Jane Hdengren Edges Elizabeth Leachman 15:32.5 To 15:32.6 At Woodbridge XC Classic As They Run Top Two 3-Mile XC Times In US Prep History Sadie Engelhardt was 3rd in 15:37.4.
- Evan Noonan Wins Woodbridge XC Classic Sweepstakes Race In 13:41.3 (Third Fastest Time In Meet History)
Running Meets Heat Wave
- UK Marathon Cancels Race Due To Extreme Heat With 1000 Runners Still On Course Some water stations ran out of water and 10 runners were sent to the hospital.
- 26 Sydney Marathon Runners Were Hospitalized In Australian Spring Heat Wave
Day 2 Pre
Day 2 Pre
Gudaf Tsegay surprised with a 5000 WR as Athing Mu surprised with an American record and win. Grant Fisher got an AR but was beat while Mondo was Mondo and a whole lot more. *WA Recap
- Official 2023 Prefontaine Classic Day 2 Live Discussion Thread
- 14:00.21 WR Tsegay
- Mu runs 1:54.9 in LANE TWO !!! Athing Mu is Still the BEST!
- Keely Hodgkinson - 1:55.19!
- Jakob Double: 4609m in 11:07.36 - 3:43.76 & 7:23.63 on consecutive days is better than any individual WR - this will never be beaten
- Jakob is finished
- Grant MF Fisher 7:25!!!
- Brooks PR 2-Mile Runner Up runs a 7:25 3k
Pre Discussion
- Getting tired of Mondo’s world records
- Too many World Records being set —- not happy
- ETHIOPIA GOES HOME DEVASTATED
- Jakob post-3:43 interview
- Video of Josh Kerr reacting to 3:43 miles from Jakob
- Grant Fisher is the new Chris Solinsky
- Commercial break on Peacock for men’s 3000
- Ingebrigtsen stays in lane 1
- What are these guy's on?
- Jakob, the best pace maker who also wins
- Kelati GET OUT OF LANE 1!!!!!!!!!
Day 1 Pre
Day 1 Pre
Both men narrowly missed Hicham El Guerrouj's WR of 3:43.13 as Nuguse smashed Alan Webb's 3:46.91 American record. *Race video (Need a VPN to see it? Get the VPN we use)
Day 1 of the 2023 Pre Classic started and ended with a bang. We break it all down and give our thoughts on everything except the mile, Rai Benjamin's big win, Christian Coleman making 2024 very interesting, Sha'Carri getting beat, Faith Kipyegon capping what may have been the greatest season ever by a distance runner, and the 529th performance all-time American record in the women's shot put.
The LRC crew breaks down Pre day 1 and Yared Nuguse's American record in the mile in this Supporters Club podcast.
Pre Day 1 Talk
Doping News
Tobi Amusan Free To Compete As The 30-Day Period The AIU Had To Appeal Decision To Lift Her Ban Ended YesterdayWhen her ban was lifted initially, the AIU said they were disappointed with the decision and indicated they might appeal. At the time AIU head Brett Clothier said, "We have some concern that it might set a precedent which will be difficult for future cases."
*Update: The AIU Has Appealed Her Case to CAS- Kenya 2:20:59 Marathoner Agnes Barsosio Gets Five-Year Ban For Doping Her ban was originally going to be six years (because of the "seriousness of the violation"), but she had a one year reduction for admitting to the rule violation and accepting the ban.
Road News
- Edward Cheserek Wins Copenhagen Half-Marathon In 59:11 Cheserek beat out Bernard Koech by two seconds while Irine Cheptai dominated the women's race in 65:53. *Results
- Betsy Saina Wins Sydney Marathon In 2:26:47 She just beat out Ethiopia's Rahma Tusa by six seconds. Morocco's Othmane El Goumri won the men's race in 2:08:20.
- Former Olympic 10,000m Champ Almaz Ayana And Kenya's World 10,000m Silver Medalist Daniel Ebenyo Lead Fields For The Delhi Half On October 15 Ayana is the big favorite while with a PB more than a minute faster than the next fastest runner. Ebenyo will face six other sub-60 minute men.
Shoe News
- Athletics Weekly: Autumn Road Season Braced For Impact Of New Adidas Super Shoes Olympic marathon champ Peres Jepchirchir says: “The lightness of the ADIZERO Pro Evo 1 is like nothing I’ve felt before and I know it will give me an edge over my competition when it comes to race day. I am confident I can win my next major marathon with these shoes.”
*MB: Adidas Unveils Its Newest Racing Shoe & It Costs $500 - Shoe News Allyson Felix Has Her Own Shoe Company That She Launched With Her Brother The company is called Saysh and makes shoes for women. They've put out several shoes (and even a racing spike), but just put out their first "performance running shoe."
World XC Champs In Trouble
- World XC Champs In Limbo After World Athletics Pulls Event From Croatia World Athletics said that “preparations have not advanced sufficiently” for Croatia to host. So now they are in talks with an unnamed host in Europe and the event will be in March instead of February 10 as scheduled. *WA Release
- Former UK Record Holder Organizing A "Night Of The 10,000m-Style" World Champs XC Trials Race director Eamonn Martin is making a spectator-friendly course that will have some interesting features for the January 20th event.
The Latest News We Found Interesting
Despite being massive in size, the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 somehow weighs just 4.8 oz (138g). It weighs 38% less than their previous lightest shoe.
- MB: Chris Fox, who led Syracuse to the 2015 NCAA XC title, returns to Syracuse as an assistant coach Fox had been coaching the Reebok Boston Track Club. Remember kids, A level coaches hire A level assistants. B level coaches hire C and D level assistants
*MB: So if Fox is going to Syracuse, that means he's not going to be the HOKA NAZ Elite coach so who is? rojo - MB: Brazilian man quits IBM job, runs a marathon for 366 straight days. 2,000 fans show up for last one
XC Super Fan
Mahon, 61, has been to more than 52 meets a year over 38 seasons and has no plans on slowing down.
Max Siegel & USATF Are Getting Sued
Estes lawsuit stems from USATF's decision to disqualify Chattanooga's bid for the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials because Estes worked as a consultant on Chattanooga's bid. The idea that Siegel cited that conflict of interest as a deal breaker is laughable to us considering "under (Max) Siegel’s watch, USA Track and Field has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of business to an Indianapolis marketing firm that once advertised itself as “a Max Siegel company.”
XC Video Game
The XC video game that former Wisco runner Ryan Craven spent time developing during much of the Covid lockdowns is now available to play on your phone and it's free!!
Justyn Knight Joins The BTC
The former NCAA star announced earlier today and he is now a Nike and BTC man. We talked to him before it was announced about why he made the move and what does he have think he has left in the tank?
The Latest LRC Feature
Zouhair Talbi has had an unconventional path to 2023 Boston Marathon where he became one of a handful of men who can say they beat Eliud Kipchoge in the marathon.
A legend speaks
Michael Johnson was the guest on the LetsRun.com Track Talk podcast on the anniversary of his 19.32 double gold world record to share his thoughts on the sport and its current crop of stars.
2024 Trials Update
Are the mid-day start times great so it can be shown live on TV? Or too hot? We give you our thoughts.
Coaching News
Brosnan, who coached the greatest boys' HS distance team in history at Newbury Park, has confirmed to LetsRun.com that he won't be returning for a 2nd year at UCLA. "I'm disappointed. I'm bummed. I'm upset. I don't want to pretend like [I didn’t want to stay]. I wanted to be there. And I wish they would have kept me," said Brosnan.
Karsten Warholm Q&A
Recently Alex Geula sat down with Karsten Warholm and his coach, Leif Olav Alnes, at the IK Tjalve club in Oslo to understand Warholm's beginnings, his career, and the sprint side of Norwegian training.
The Most Untalented 3:29 Guy Ever?
Is Nordås the least talented runner to break 3:30 in history? He thinks so, "I can guarantee you I'm the slowest sub 3:30 guy in history." Text highlights from his appearance on the LRC Track Talk podcast.
Paywall lifted!
Paywall lifted!
The Latest JG Feature
What links Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the NAU cross country team, and Sebastian Coe? Double threshold training, which is having a moment in 2023. Note, most of this article is behind our SC paywall for 72 hours (until Saturday).
How do you explain the ridiculous indoor distance times?
Are all the fast times merely a product of supershoes? Or is it something more? We spoke to coaches Dathan Ritzenhein, Jason Vigilante and Dave Smith to figure it out.
Kipchoge loving the LetsRun Shirt in Berlin
Your latest American stars share their insights.
American Record Holders
American Record Holders
Keira D'Amato, the new American record holder in the marathon, was joined by Deena Kastor, who held the record for 15 years.
Sisson was the guest on the LetsRun.com Track Talk podcast after she became the first American to go sub 67 in the half marathon on a record-eligible course. Podcast highlights above. Full pod here.
Woody Kincaid joined us after he broke the American record indoors at 5000. He talks above why he left the Bowerman Track Club. Podcast highlights and link to full podcast here.
Coogan's New Balance Boston team had 3 Olympians in 2021 and 2022 could be the biggest year yet for the program with 2 new additions and the TRACK at New Balance coming on March 1st.
Danny Mackey has taken the Brooks Beasts from an unproven club to the Olympic podium in its first decade.
Dathan Ritzenhein is the first of the top pro coaches to sit down and talk about his club heading into the 2022 campaign.
Best of Jon Gault
Best of Jon Gault
Take Your Love of LetsRun to the Next Level
Take Your Love of LetsRun to the Next Level
LetsRun Classics
LetsRun Classics
