LetsRun.com

LRC The Week That Was In Running
This week we give props to Joseph Ebuya, pay homage to the man who invented running in Central Park, talk about how ridiculously stacked the SEC is, are inspired by the minds of two champions (Usain Bolt and Bernard Lagat) worry about Asbel Kiprop and talk about the women's 800 stars of 2008 (Pamela Jelimo) and 2009 (Caster Semenya).

Kiprop Struggles Continue - Hammered In Nakuru

Nixon Chepsaina Beats Asbel Kiprop By 10 Seconds In Nakuru 1,500 A muddy track didn't stop Nixon Chepsaina from running 3:39 while Olympic Champion Asbel Kiprop was 4th in 3:49. From the stats available, 2008 Olympic Champion Kiprop has not won a race this year in at least half a dozen tries.

Maine And Montana State - 1,500m Powerhouses

LetsRun.com And Maine Favorite Riley Masters And Coach Lech Talk About His Training For Sub-4 Read about Masters' secret workout (a 4-minute mile in 5 minutes) that led him to 5th in the NCAA mile. The author is a LetsRun fan and a senior at Maine.

Montana State Freshman Pat Casey Finished 3rd At NCAAs And Now Redshirts Outdoors

Sport And Society

Chinese, Sri Lankan And Nepalese Athletes And Officials Denied Entry To Canada For World University XC A very interesting story as Canadian immigration officials are refusing to give Visas to athletes coming from squalid conditions as it's feared they will seek asylum in Canada.

*8 Months Later, Caster Semenya Case Is Unlike Any Other
*NY Times: Female Athletes Redefine Public's Image Of Beauty
Stanford Prof: "Brittney Griner is such an athlete, and so gifted, you almost don't notice that she is part of a slowly unfolding, civilized response in this country to the slightly androgynous female."

Weekend Sprints

• Busted US Indoor Champ Ivory Williams Back From Pot Suspension Running Wind-Aided 9.88
• Jehue Gordon Lowers His 400m Hurdles Record At Carifta

Interview With Bernard Lagat Where He Says He Wants To Run 12:50 And Shares Training And Mental Advice Lagat says he's going to Flagstaff to train himself to get ready to break the American record in the 5k. He also discusses why he's so good at 35 and his A sample EPO positive from 2003.
*Boards: Will Lagat run 12:50 outdoors

World XC - A Story Almost Too Good To Be True

LRC Training Talk 7: Joseph Ebuya's Coach And Manager Talk With LetsRun.com

Women's 800m - Most Dramatic Event In Track

*Pamela Jelimo Returns And Records 2:06-Flat On Muddy Nairobi Track Unbeatable in 2008, Jelimo couldn't find top gear in '09.
*Maggie Vessey Makes Debut Running 400, 800, 200 Vessey hopes to follow her remarkable 2009 with a more consistent 2010. Last year hardly anyone even knew her name and she had no sponsor. Vessey: "I literally won Prefontaine in like a surfer tank top that I've had since I was 16."
*Caster Semenya Told She Must Wait Until June For IAAF Test Verdict

College Action

17-Year-Old Alabma Freshman Kirani James Runs 45.02 To Break 32-Year-Old School Record At CARIFTA Games It's going to be an unbelievable year in the 400 in the SEC.
*UF 4 x 400 3:00.31!!!!!

Florida Relays: *Results
*Jeff Demps Runs 10.11 At Pepsi Florida Relays Christian Taylor, best known as a long and triple jumper, showed what an unbelievable athlete he is by running 45.55 to win the open 400. Francena McCorory and Shana Cox set world leads in the 200 and 400. In distance races, Julius Bor nipped Ryan Foster in the 1,500, both running 3:41.
*Penn State 4 x 800 Runs 7:18 More amazing is that it's only the 7th-best time in school history.

Texas Relays: *Results
*Boards: Will Chelsey Sveinsson be a bigger phenom than Jordan Hasay?
*Texas A&M Dominates Texas Relays AP article
*Ashton Eaton Misses NCAA Record In Decathlon At Texas Relays
*Chelsey Sveinsson Runs 10:07 3,200m To Break State Record At Texas Relays
*UTEP Olympic Medalist Blessing Okagbare Wins Texas Relays LJ In Record 22'7"

Wilfred Bungei Tells Is Like It Is

*Wilfred Bungei Says Kenyan Defections Will Kill Athletics If Kenyans keep defecting, Bungei says, there will be 12 Kenyan-borns in every distance final at the major events. 3 Kenyan males who didn't even make their team have run 27:22 or faster on the roads this year.
*Bungei Says David Rudisha Can Break WR And Cautions Media In Dealing With Athletes

Caster Semenya's Comeback Compared To Tiger Woods'

• NY Times: Tiger Woods And Caster Semenya Making Comebacks Like We've Never Seen Before Most LetsRun visitors think Semenya should compete as a male (see poll, right).
• Mike Hurst Points Out Semenya Or ASA Defying IAAF Could Jeopardize Other Athletes *2nd update: this rule still stands (earlier Hurst told us the IAAF had changed the rule but then he found it in a different place in the IAAF rulebook).

Spring "Marathon Major" Updates

• Ryan Hall Talks With Running Times About His Faith And Running We give Hall a lot of credit as he talks sincerely about his morals and beliefs.
• WBZ Boston Catches Up With Low-Key Ryan Hall Training On Boston Course We'll see how Hall's non-existent racing schedule pays off in 3+ weeks.
• Boston Elites Robert Cheruiyot pulls out but Meb K remains only the 16th-fastest PR in the deep field.
• Virgin London Elites Biggest international superstars still heading to London.