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(link fixed) Michael Crawley and Geoff Burns write in a fascinating long essay entitled "The Ethiopian running secret" on Aeon.co, "For a long time, African knowledge has been seen by the West as intuitive, superstitious and practical, and some might view the Ethiopian methodology as unscientific. We argue it may be just the opposite."

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Sprint News

 At the time, it was written it was "greater than Randy Matson’s 21.52m shot put and Ron Clarke’s 27:39.4 10,000m, according to the Portuguese Scoring Tables.” Smith was quite the athlete as he held 11 different world records at once.

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The 34-year-old from Birmingham, Alabama, took advantages of great condition in the 4th edition fo the race and crossed the line in a new overall course record with an official time of 56:09:48, smashing the previous mark of 58:47:18 in the race that goes from Sedona to Flagstaff, AZ and was watched by more than 20,000 people live online.  Kilian Korth was second overall and the first man to finish, crossing the line in 57:28:36 *Outside
*MB:The official Cocodona 250 2026 thread. 345,000 people watched the live stream on Wednesday. Wow.
*MB: Runner drops dead in middle of Cocodona 250 Mile. Race goes on.

  • BBC: Mashed potato & 19 minutes' sleep - The secrets to Entrekin's epic race "Somewhere around mile 200, I slept for five minutes at an aid station," said the 34-year-old, speaking to BBC Sport the morning after her success. "Then around 230 miles, I took two seven-minute naps on the floor. And food, it's impossible to say how much I ate but as far as real food goes, I had a lot of mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes are the best. You get tired of chewing and you don't want to expend any extra energy doing that."
More Sub-2

Adidas reveals to the NY Times the secrets behind the 1:59 marathon super shoe: From ‘unreasonable ambition’ to ‘actual magic’ The magic seems to be in the foam and in moving from the energy rods to a carbon rim around the perimeter. By changing the “formulation” of the foam, "they reduced its weight by 50 percent and increased forefoot energy return by 11 percent."

Rojo On NPR

NPR radio devoted one hour to what made sub-2 possible. Was it the athlete, the shoes, nutrition, etc?  Full transcript at the link above or you can listen to it on your favorite podcast player.

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More From World Relays

The crowd in Gaborone was sensational as Botswana's stars Letsile Tebogo & Collen Kebinatshipi put on a show.

More Results From The Weekend
Weekend Big Talk

Nico reflects on his indoor campaign and has a big plans for the sumer: 5ks in Oslo & Paris, a 1500m in Stockholm, and a 10k road debut at Peachtree. Plus he explains why he views his 12:45 as an American record.
*T&FN Interview — Nico Young

Fireworks on final day of World Relays:

Botswana ran 2:54.47 (.18 of WR). On leg #2, South Africa's Lythe Pillay ran 42.66, the fastest split ever. Races were at 3300 feet of altitude. *WA recap
*MB: South Africa's Lythe Pillay 42.66 4x400 split at World Relays

Coe Speaks
More Sub-2 Marathon Talk
USATF 5k Champs

Cooper Teare (13:28.04) and Gracie Hyde (15:03.59) were the third place finishers in the race where the top 2 won spots to the World Road Running champs. Abdihamud Nur was only 7th (13:34.87) and Shelby Houlihan was only 15th (15:50.13). Katelyn Tuohy isn't in the results.

    World Relay Championships Day 1
    More Weekend Track Action
    Too Good To Be True

    Sawe's 1:59:30 was real, but analysis from LetsRun.com and German timing ace Helmut Winter reveals his 24th mile was almost certainly slower than 4:12. The race's official timing company has told LetsRun it has removed the time for mile 24 from its list of splits to prevent confusion.

    Be inspired / 3 Recommended Reads / Listens
    Post-London News

    Want to go behind the scenes of human history? Adidas has released a new 12-minute documentary, "Chasing Sub 2," following Sebastian Sawe’s monumental 1:59:30 run at the London Marathon. Narrated by the legendary Haile Gebrselassie, the film explores the fusion of supreme talent, relentless hard work, and cutting-edge lab technology that broke one of the sport's most iconic barriers.
    *MB: Adidas releases 12-minute short film chronicling Sabastian Sawe’s historic sub-2-hour marathon 

    Meet Vinny Mauri

    Neal, who coached Mauri at Notre Dame from 2023-25, said he thought he might be able to break 2:08 in Toledo based on the training Mauri had done before the race. "We kind of always knew if he could ever stay healthy, he’d be real dangerous.... He’s just a tremendous kid and has worked his butt off for this."

    This Weekend's Action
      Non-London News
      The Sub-2 News Keeps Poring In
      Previous Sawe's Sub-2 Coverage
      GB News
      Catching Up On Some Recent Results
      LRC Podcast
      Upcoming Track / Diamond League Action
      NCAA / HS News
      The Myth Of The Sub-2-Hour Marathon

      13-years ago, Rojo wrote the original The Myth Of The Sub-2-Hour Marathon and claimed we were nowhere close to a sub-2 and that we likely wouldn't see it in his lifetime. Well now that it has happened and everyone on the Internet is dunking on him, how does he feel? He's not backing down and claims the logic of his original column was right on the money.

      Post-London Analysis

      How in the world did Sabastian Sawe turn was looked to be a 2:01 race into a historic 1:59:30 marathon world record? Did adidas' new 3.4 ounce shoe -- the Adios Pro Evo 3 -- tip the scales? What about the wind?

      Their Pro Careers Didn't Work Out How They Wanted

      The reviewer states that Cain "writes that (in HS) she was taunted for her physical appearance and badgered by her petty teammates, their overbearing parents and her creepy coach, who took perverse interest in the sex lives of his female runners."
      *MB Mary Cain makes more allegations: Claims her HS coach took a perverse interest in the sex lives of his female runners

      More From The London Marathon
      Felix Is Back Baby

      Felix is hoping to make the relay pool for what would be her 6th Olympics at the age of 42. She'll start her full training schedule under her longtime coach Bobby Kersee in October and return to competition in 2027. Felix said, I totally get the person who sticks around too long and you’re like, ‘What are they doing?’ I know, at 40, I am not at my peak. I have no illusions about that. I’m very clear in what it is and what I want to see. And so I hope it's seen that way."

      American Marathon News

      Mauri, who had a best NCAA XC finish of 68th in 2023 while at Notre Dame and doesn't even have a PB longer than 5000m on the World Athletics database (13:34.03 from 2025), came out of nowhere to break the American marathon debut record.

      London Marathon

      Sebastian Sawe has run a 59:01 second half in London to break the 2:00 barrier and Yomif Kejelcha in the greatest marathon ever run. What. A. Race.

        Assefa successfully defended her title and lowered her own women's-only world record to 2:15:41, prevailing in a tactical battle that saw an unprecedented three women break the 2:16 barrier.

        Penn Relays

        NAUA's Colin Sahlman got the stick with a 2-second lead but Marco Langon and Simeon Birnbaum were in hot pursuit. This time Langon turned the tables on Birnbaum and got sweet revenge, splliting 3:55.94 to give Nova a victory by 0.05 over Oregon in 16:18.52 after a 53.6 last lap. Watch the last leg (or full race) in the video above. In other action, NC State ran away with the women's 4 x 1500 (16:59.86) and Michigan broke a 41-year old Penn Relays record in the men's 4 x 800 by running 7:09.24, just missing the 7:08.96 CR.

        Drake Relays
        Kip Keino Classic

        Wanyonyi impressively held off Worlds bronze medalist Reynold Cheruiyot over the last 400 to win in a pb of 3:34.11. Thomas (11.01/21.89) ran a world leader in the 200 but her wait for a wind-legal sub-11 in the 100m goes on. All did not go well for world 800m champ Lilian Odira who was beaten in her specialty.

        Latest HS Sub-4
        Previous Penn Relays Coverage
        Drake Relays
        Post-Boston News

        The 37-year-old Ringer, whose wife listens to the LetsRun podcast, talks to us after finishing 8th in his World Marathon Major debut. He discussed how the 2026 Boston times compare to a flat course like Valencia and his thoughts on World Athletics' decision to take the marathon out of the World Championships and reveals amazingly that he's PRd every single year that he's been running.

        Free for everyone

        Cooper talks about his undefeatead indoor season, his "just send it" mentality, what's on tap outdoors and what it's like being a world champion walking the halls of his Texas high school.

        Even Faster Super Shoes?

        Sebastian Sawe's super shoe weighs less than 4 ounces.

        USATF Road Mile Championships

        You can watch a video of the men's finish here. Written race recap with quotes from Nuguse and Wiley here.

        Making sense of Boston

        Monday's Boston Marathon saw five Americans break 2:06, including the two fastest marathons ever by Americans. How much did the tailwind help their times?

        Boston Marathon
        Boston Marathon
        Boston Men

        John Korir ran 2:01:52 to shatter the Boston Marathon course record as 13 men broke 2:06 in the deepest race in Boston history. Zouhair Talbi ran 2:03:45, the fastest ever by an American citizen and Charles Hicks became the 2nd fastest at 2:04:35.

        Boston Women

        Lokedi blasted the downhill section from 35k to 40k in 14:48 (with a 4:35 24th mile!) en route to a repeat victory in Boston in 2:18:51. Jess McClain was the top American for the second straight year, running a pb of 2:20:07 for 5th.

        The Marathon Project is BACK (sponsored post)

        The Marathon Project has announced a major schedule change for this year's event. The Amateurs and Professionals will now compete together in a 400-person race on Saturday, December 12. The move is designed to amplify the atmosphere and increase the intensity with more athletes, fans, and energy on the flat, fast, loop course in Chandler, AZ. According to race organizers, "The overwhelming feedback we received from last year was that the participants loved being treated like pros. Now they'll get to race with the pros as well. It's a logical next step for us." Press Release here

        Previous Track Results

        Lyles won over Max Thomas (19.98) while Taylor finished 3rd overall running in a separate heat to break Lyles' decade-old 20.09 record. On the women's side, Mariah Maxwell moved to #5 on the HS all-time list with 22.44, finishing second to pro McKenzie Long (22.42).

        Bryan Clay Invite

        Hedengren broke Parker Valby's outdoor record (although she's already ran faster indoors with her 14:44.79 at BU). NCAA champ Pamela Kosgei finished 13 seconds back in 3rd. Kansas' Emmaculate Jemutai won the women's 800m in 1:59.88; Shelby Houlihan was 6th in 2:01.68. In the open 5000m, high schooler Abdinasir Hassan ran 13:52.31 to break Edward Cheserek’s sophomore class record (#9 on the prep all-time list).

        The Latest LRC Exclusives
        The Latest LRC Exclusives

        We asked Jonathan Gault to try to find out what many of the top pros are up to.

        Richardson, who was charged with misdemeanor fourth-degree assault after shoving boyfriend Christian Coleman at the SeaTac airport, and prosecutors agreed to postpone the case for two years when it would be dismissed as long as she met certain criteria, including "no criminal law violations."

        Josh Kerr 222 podcast

        Josh Kerr is chasing Hicham El Guerrouj’s mile world record his way, choosing a packed London Diamond League over a controlled time trial and insisting on “my race, my rules.” Kerr discussed his world record attempt and most recent world title over Cole Hocker on the LetsRun.com podcast.

        Johh Kerr swears by power-to-weight training to improve his speed – here’s how and why you should do the same 'My gym coaches have done a really good job of finding where my weaknesses are. I need to create more power. My goal is that my power-to-weight ratio needs to be good.

        Your opinion counts

        We'd love to know a little more about you and how we can improve Letsrun.com.

        Meet Fotyen Tesfay

        Tesfay, who has a half-marathon best of 63:21 (#3 all-time) is the latest star in the group of famed Ethiopian coach Gemedu Dedefo, who has now coached five of the 11 fastest female marathoners in history.

        The winners of our prediction contests

        World indoors are this week. The LetsRun.com prediction contest team for Worlds is set.  Meet the winners from the USAs contest and some of our other recent contests as well. They highlight the best of LRC.

        LRC Exclusive

        Since he stopped racing in the middle of the 2025 cross country season for Iowa State, Seth Clevenger has taken DIII by storm. The Rowan University athlete is the DIII leader in three events. But following the release of a video of an alleged EPO order, multiple former teammates told LetsRun.com that Clevenger said he took banned substances in 2025 while at Iowa State and admitted as such to the coaching staff. The situation raises questions about a potential hole in the NCAA’s anti-doping policy. We investigate how a star could allegedly admit to banned drug use and remain eligible to compete.

        Best of the LetsRun.com Track Talk Podcast
        Best of the LetsRun.com Track Talk Podcast

        Your latest American stars share their insights.

        Three legends of the sport.

        One of the greatest US runners ever.

        We chatted with Frank on the 50th anniversary of his Olympic Marathon gold

        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.

        LetsRun.com Pro Coaches Tour
        LetsRun.com Pro Coaches Tour

        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
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        Take Your Love of LetsRun to the Next Level
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        LetsRun Classics

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