4 Interesting Reads

• #1Alan Abrahamson: Remembering Nelson Mandela Mandela was a big believer in the power of sport.
• #2: An Interview With British Olympic 1,500 Semifinalist Ross Murray On Training, Girls, Partying And The Future He was headed to Villanova until he made the Olympics. Now he’s doing nightly “core” with his gf.
• #3: Lauryn Williams Blogs About How 3 Times In Last 18 Months She’s Been Approached By People Wanting To Get Her On Supplements (Likely Banned) We loved the blog post and hope she has turned the names these “snake oil salesmen” over to WADA. WADA, read this and follow up.
• #4: As Kenya Turns 50, A Sports Columnist Remembers His Most Poignant Encounter With An Athlete – A Sloshed Henry Rono At A Hotel Bar “Three years of total inactivity. A tremendous devotion to the products of Kenya Breweries. Absolute disappearance from the limelight. A massive addition of body weight. Loss of two world records. Not any more. The wrong must be corrected. Where he was, is where he’ll be, probably further. One of the world’s greatest distance runners is ready to go again. Welcome back to the scene, Henry Rono.”

World Cup Fever – We Hop On The Bandwagon

LRCWorld Cup Draw Analysis: Is There Any Hope For US And English Fans?

2013 European XC Is Sunday *Final Entries*Live Stream Will Be Here Sunday Morning*Timetable

• IAAF Preview: Fionnuala Britton Looking To Make History As 1st Female 3-Time Champion Defending men’s champ Andrea Lalli of Italy isn’t running as he made his marathon debut (2:14) in October. 9-time men’s champ Serhiy Lebid isn’t running either.
• Really Quick Athletics Weekly Preview Of Euros
• Olympic 1,500 5th Placer Henrik Ingebrigtsen Is Looking For Gold In Last U-23 race It’s amazing he’s in the U23 race.
• After Tough 2013 On Track, 2012 Olympic 1,500 Finalist Laura Weightman Is Relishing Challenge Of European Cross-Country
• 2011 Jr. Champ Emelia Gorecka Looking For 7th Medal In Last Race As Junior
• Seb Coe Is Chairing A Cross-Country Crisis Meeting For IAAF Global Seminar (To Use Its Correct Name) In Belgrade On Monday Top names like Paula Radcliffe, Sonia O’Sullivan, Craig Virgin, Benjamin Limo and Annette Sergent will also attend to figure out how to make XC more relevant. If they want an answer, they should also include shoe executives like John Capriotti. If they tied contracts in part to XC, the problem would be solved instantly.
• A Look Back At The British Highlights At Europeans Since 2007
• Women’s Race: Britton Heads Field Of Familiar Faces As 6 Of Top 7 From Last Year Are Back
• Once Again, Ok. State’s Tom Farrell Will Be In Senior, Not U23, Race At Europeans
• Serbia’s 1,500 U23 Gold Medallist Amela Terzić Hoping To Make Day Memorable For Home Fans
• Ireland’s Michael Mulhare Working Part Time At Tesco To See His Running Dreams Become A Reality He’ll be competing with his brother in Budapest, but his sister, who won the U23s, isn’t going as Ireland isn’t fielding a team.
• Catherina McKiernan Expects Fionnuala Britton To Win European Cross Yet Again Britton recently lost to France’s Sophie Duarte. Britton received a break when Ethiopian born Sifan Hassan said she’d run the U23s.
• SPAR European Cross-Country Champs To Be Televised In 11 Countries
• Spikes-Mag: “Ten Reasons Why We Love Euro Cross”

Random

• Runners Who Use Two Or More Different Pairs Of Shoes (Rotate Them) Have 39% Less Chance Of Injury We believe it helps but doubt it’s that high. Those with two pairs of shoes are probably more conscientious.
• NYRR Give $125,000 To Staten Island’s Hurricane Sandy Relief Where are all the NYRR haters now?
• USATF’s 2013 Annual Meeting Has Begun
• 13:59 Italian Air Force Runner Banned 3 Years For Being Busted With Fake Penis
• Mahon’s Successor Arrives: Barry Fudge Appointed As UKA Head Of EnduranceAlberto Salazar will have a huge role and serve as a consultant. Paula Radcliffe is also involved. Fudge, Charlie Grice and Jessica Judd will be going to Portland next month.
• Irish Athletics Unveils Plaque In Dublin To Commemorate Site Of First-Ever International Athletics Match In 1876 The England vs. Ireland match produced a world record in the 800 (1:59.2) by Walter Slade.
• Kenenisa Bekele To Return To XC And Compete At Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross-Country On Jan. 11th Bekele won his last world title in Edinburgh.