Quote Of The Day

"I feel like I woke up in someone else's life."

- Taku Fujimoto, a junior at Kokushikan Univ in Japan, after PRing by 20 seconds in the 5,000 and beating 3 guys who he had no business thinking he could beat in the Kanto Regional championships last weekend in Tokyo.

Running Inspiration

Olympic Carving *Great Read: 75th Anniversary Of Jesse Owens' 4 WRs In 45 Minutes At Michigan Sports Illustrated ran this piece to mark the 75th anniversary of Owens setting WRs in the 100, long jump, straight 200 and 200 low hurdles in less than an hour.

*Relaxed Running - Old Interview With Sprint Coach Bud Winter Unearthed As Winter humorously explains, one of the most overlooked keys to running (sprinting or distance) is to relax. To get re-energized with the keys to proper training, check out any of our LetsRun.com Training Talk audio interviews.

*Haile Gebrselassie Talks About His 130 Mile Weeks And Upcoming Plans

Keitany To Face Stiff Test This Weekend - Upcoming Events

Good Reads From Last Week

Sanya Richards Suffering From Bechet's Disease Flare Up We found this article fascinating. Sanya Richards talks about dealing with Bechet's Disease, the symptoms of which appear after especially stressful episodes like her platinum wedding to NY Giant Aaron Ross.

USATF High Performance Mid-D Meet At Occidental

*USATF Occidental Results Leo Manzano and Russell Brown raced to the wire in the 1,500 with Manzano getting the win and Brown a PR, both in 3:36.

*Video/Results Runnerspace was there with coverage of the women's 800/1,500 races where some big name pros stepped down in distance. Treniere Clement won the women's 800 and Nicole Edwards was the surprise 1,500 winner.

*Boards: JennyB - 4th, Clement - 1st, More results to Come Tonight! Rowbury 4th!

Former Jamaican Sportsperson Of The Year Incensed With 2-Year Ban Chris Williams, 38, is appalled at the way he was treated by the JAAA.

Kara Goucher Talks About Popular Jordan Hasay And Pregnancy Doug Binder got Kara Goucher to agree that Jordan Hasay is the most popular female runner in Oregon.

Top US Pros In LA For 800/1,500 Races
Seemingly all the healthy American mid-d runners will be in L.A. this weekend for a 4-race USATF High Performance meet at Occidental College. Also look for distance runners Galen Rupp (we heard he was entered but don't see him on the 1,500 start list), Shalane Flanagan and Jenny Barringer going down in distance to join Shannon Rowbury, Leo Manzano, Jacob Hernandez, Morgan Uceny and others in the 800/1,500 fields.
*Boards: USATF High Performance meet @Occidental College May 22nd 6:30pm West coast time start, 1,000 fans expected ...

US 25k Champ Andrew Carlson Featured In AZ Daily Sun One of America's most dedicated runners gets some nice attention after adding a US 25km title to his 15km title.

Eugene Register Guard: Oregon Looking Outside The Box For Next AD The article says, "There apparently aren't any internal candidates," but mentions former Duck and Nike exec Rudy Chapa as an example of someone who might be pursued.

Report From Kenya: Ebuya, Chepkok (12:51), Kiptoo Beaten By Unknown In Men's 10,000, US Road Phenom Chepkurui Glides To Women's Victory

NCAA Track and Field: Pacific-10 Conference ChampionshipsLetsRun.com's Week That Was Last week was an epic week. The BCS power conferences had their conference meets, the Diamond League got under way in impressive fashion, Tyson Gay ran 19.41, Charlie Francis passed away, and there were a ton of high quality road races. We try to recap it all for you. Along the way, we announce the return of Nancy Langat and give out special praise to AJ Acosta for an amazing performance at PAC-10s and famed coach Renato Canova for ripping the idiots on the LRC message boards.

Video Of The Next Sprinting Phenom? Check Out Japan's Shota Iizuka We knew something crazy must have happened when distance running enthusiast Brett Larner of JapanRunningNews.blogspot.com sent us a link to a university 4 x 100 video. Chuo University (lane 5, in white) runs 38.54 thanks to a monster anchor leg from freshman Shota Iizuka. 38.54 would have won the NCAA 4 x 100 final last year, almost beaten the 2nd American team at Penn Relays (38.50), and made almost any Olympic or WC final. Worth a watch.
*More From Larner: Dream Win For 5000m Underdog

Shanghai Diamond League Coverage *Full Results *LRC Photos

LRC Recap/Results: Bolt Smashes Competition, Fast Distance Races Headline Shanghai Diamond League
*LRC Photos Usain Bolt ran 19.76 or better for the 11th time in his career (the next closest guy in history has 3). Other happenings included Liu Xiang finishing as the 2nd Chinese hurdler, Sentayehu Ejigu winning a great 5,000 in 14:30, Asbel Kiprop showing he is in top form, and flops by some dominant field eventers.

*
Bolt 19.76 Video
*Shanghai Meet Writeup From IAAF
*Bolt Tells Gay He Can Chase The Records Bolt says to Gay - go ahead and chase my times, I'm just trying to stay undefeated this year.

Readers React To Lananna's Criticism Of NCAA Regionals

*Why NCAA has regionals
*DEAR VIN LANANNA: Here are the reasons to have regionals
*Original Article: Lananna On Ducks' Entries In Austin

More Results: USA's Karjuan Williams Runs 1:45.79 For 5th In Brazil The X-Man won the slower of two 200m heats and the men's 5,000 was won in 13:17 in this IAAF World Challenge meet attended by a number of US sprinters.
*Festival Of Miles Elite Men Video 2 guys broke 4:00 in Missouri, led by Andy McClary.

Latest Track Talk

NCAA "Round 1" Declarations Announced ... Wheating Doubling 1,500/800

*Men East - West *Women East - West
In the new system starting this year, the top 48 D1 performers in each event from the East and West compete for 12 spots in their region. Combine the top 12 from East and West to make the 24-person fields in the NCAA finals in Eugene.
*Championsip Central
*Site/Date: Greensboro, NC and Austin, TX ~ May 27-29 (Thu-Sat)

Lance And Landis Hot On The Boards After Unexpected News:

Shanghai Previews

Diamond League Shanghai Entry Lists
Usain Bolt
, Jeremy Wariner and Liu Xiang highlight Sunday's sprinting action and we'll also see many of the top African distance runners square off, including Asbel Kiprop and Deresse Mekonnen in a loaded 1,500, Pamela Jelimo and Jenny Meadows in the 800 and Linet Masai in the 5,000. Plus field event fans will like to see Irving Saladino (PAN) vs. Dwight Phillips (USA) vs. Fabrice LaPierre (AUS) in the 2nd of 12 Diamond League meets.
*Liu Xiang And Bolt Meet Shanghai Press - Liu Says Bolt Is Not From Earth

Running Times Interviews Lukas Verzbicas After demolishing the competition at the '09 Foot Lockers, Lithuanian-born Verzbicas cemented himself as the best HS distance runner in the US. Only a sophomore, Verzbicas may focus on the triathlon for a few years to try to make the US 2012 Olympic Team.

Daegu Crowds Stand And Applaud Bolt

Olympic and world champion Bolt of Jamaica poses with his caricature, a gift from a South Korean fan, during a news conference before his race in Daegu Boards: Bolt 9.86 In Daegu
*Recap Bolt got a bad start before running hard to an 9.86 victory on a day where most times were not fast. See the race video to the right. (Shorter Video (1:00))

Recommended Read: Funeral For A Friend - Jim Ferstle Recalls Charlie Francis Ferstle describes the pinnacle of the sprinting world: "Contrary to popular belief, not everyone was seeking an 'edge' from doping, many just wanted it to be a 'fair fight' where each side came into the battle with similar tools."

Maybe We Should All Listen To The Smart Guy

12th IAAF World Athletics Championships - Day FiveRecommended Read: World-Leading Sports Scientist Tim Noakes Speaks Out In Defense Of Semenya, ASA If anyone has an educated, unbiased grip on the Caster Semenya situation, it's Tim Noakes, the South African-based co-founder of the IOC's Olympic Science Academy and of the Sports Science Institute in Cape Town. In no uncertain terms, Noakes explains why he believes unequivocally that Caster should be allowed to run and the case is more about protecting image rather than a reality.

History Lessons

File photo of athletics coach Francis of Canada talking with sprinter Johnson during a workout in Toronto Ben Johnson Says The Time Has Come To Speak The Truth - Will Appear At NYC Symposium, Release Book

Recommended: Mike Hurst - A Personal Perspective On Coach Charlie Francis A great read from a friend of Francis titled "End of good run for flawed coach."

Freshman Japanese Sprinter Runs Unbelievable 4 x 100 Anchor