Another College Coach Finds The Pro Lifestyle Better Than College

LRC Mark Coogan Talks About His Move To New Balance We caught up with the 1996 Olympian this afternoon to ask him about his move. Who’s coaching Abbey D and Dartmouth this spring? Is Abbey following him to New Balance? What happens to Ben True and Sam Chelanga? How hard was it to say goodbye?

Extensive Interview With Abbey D’Agostino By Gary Cohen She talks about this year’s XC Champs, plans for 2014 and decisions about pro running. The interview is from before the Mark Coogan-New Balance announcement, so she doesn’t comment on that.

*New Balance Press Release: Abbey D’Agostino’s Coach Mark Coogan Leaving Dartmouth To Lead Coaching For New Balance All of the shoe companies are seemingly starting their own groups.
*Dartmouth Press Release

Jamaican Doping Updates

• Day 1 Of Sherone Simpson’s Doping Trial: Claims Supplement New Trainer Gave Her Caused Her Positive Test She said she spent 14 hours researching the supplement before taking it and didn’t find anything in it on the banned list. But she also admits she did not disclose it on doping control forms.
• Pointing The Finger The Other Way: JAAA President Warren Blake Claims Increased Anti-Doping Efforts Have Increased Jamaica’s Medal Count “If you look at our performances over the years, they took off when the anti-doping efforts really took off and ironically that was when the performances from Europe fell.”

Assorted International News

• IAAF World Relay Championships Might Be $7 Million Over Budget
• Many Are Upset With the UKA CEO’s Big Pay Bonus, But The Guardian Asks If Niels de Vos Is Worth It This article points out that De Vos has saved UKA millions and secured lucrative sponsorship deals such as the move from adidas to Nike.
• More From Japanese Ekiden Team That Had Kenyan Team Member Drop Out Of Hakone Ekiden With A Fractured Fibula The rest of the team all ended up still getting to run their stages, they just couldn’t count in official results.
• Indian Sprinter Amiya Mallick Will Work With Glen Mills And Usain Bolt’s Training Group In Jamaica For 4 Months Mallick is hoping to learn from the world’s top sprinters and improve his 10.69 and 21.22 PRs.
• European Cup Winter Throwing Meet Day 1 Recap

Hot XC Action

• Albert Rop Wins Campaccio XC Race Over World XC Champ Japhet Korir And Imane Merga Rop won in 28:19 with Korir 28:22 and Merga 28:25. World steeple silver medalist Conseslus Kipruto was 5th and the US had some representation with Chris Barnicle in 8th. Ethiopian steepler Hiwot Ayalew won the women’s race with 2009 World 10K champ Linet Masai 3rd and World steeple champ Milcah Chemos 6th.
• Tons Of Stars Running In This Saturday’s Kenyan Police XC Championships According to this article the men’s field will include Wilson Kipsang, Geoffrey Mutai, World junior XC champ Geoffrey Kipsang, World 5,000m bronze medallist Isaiah Kiplangat, Moses Masai and a slew of mid-d runners including Asbel Kiprop. On the women’s side, World junior champ Lucy Kabuu will face Edna Kiplagat, Linet Masai, Florence Kiplagat and  World 5,000m silver medalist Mercy Cherono.

UK Athletics CEO Niels de Vos Gets A 55% Pay Raise Worth $147,700 The pay raise bonus angered many UK athletes who pointed out how coaches and athletes are losing jobs due to lack of funds and many volunteer coaches are getting nothing.

Family Of 8-Year-Old Boy Killed In Boston Marathon Bombing Seeking Charity Runners For This Year’s Marathon They have created a charitable foundation in his memory.

Two Recommended Reads

• Recommended Read #1 Why Do Tens Of Millions Watch 15 Hours Of Distance Running In Japan? Brett Larner’s Got Some Ideas Larner agrees with us – an Ekiden is way more entertaining than a regular race. NYC Marathon producers, please read.
• Recommended Read #2 Four Years Ago, She Was A 2:41 Marathoner, Now At Age 37, She’s A 2:23 World Silver Medallist – The Incredible Story Of Valeria Straneo According to the IAAF, the key to her breakthrough was she had her spleen removed as she suffered from “a rare hereditary disease called spherocytosis, an anaemic condition which can damage red blood cells.”

• MB: Autistic teen Mike Brannigan runs 4:17.04 mile (US#4), qualifies for 2014 Millrose mile
• Really Cool: Siberian Man Runs Coldest Marathon Ever At -36 F (-38C), Vows To Try Another One At -76 F (-60)

• Team Run Flagstaff Launches Pro Division – Olympians Ryan Hall And Janet Cherobon-Bawcom Join Good news – there’s now a non-profit in the birthplace of LetsRun.com supporting aspiring elites.
• Lolo Jones’s Case For Spot On Olympic Bobsled Team Gets Boost With Silver Medal Run In Germany Jones and Lauryn Williams are two of the four finalists for three push spots.
• Canada News: Canadian 71:42 Half Marathoner Dayna Pidhoresky Has Moved To Vancouver To Train With The BC Endurance Project (BCEP)

Asbel Kiprop Allegation & Denial

Asbel Kiprop Denies Gun Assault/Alcohol Claims Kiprop has issued a vehement denial and says he was just looking for grub after watching a Premiere League match with his training mates.
MB: Kiprop denies all allegations: “At the moment, I am only armed with my spikes and training shoes. I  do not take alcohol.”

Previous: 1,500 Star Asbel Kiprop To Be Charged For Beating Up Security Guard That Wouldn’t Let Him Drink After Hours At Bar “Kiprop punched me several times on the mouth and kicked me on my private parts saying that he is a police inspector and cannot be questioned by anyone or taken anywhere.”
MB: Asbel Kiprop Might Be Going To Jail
*Assuming He’s Not In Jail In A Week, Asbel Kiprop Will Try To Defend Great Edinburgh Cross-Country Crown Next Saturday
*Blog From Kenya: Someone Please Advise Asbel Kiprop Before He Loses His Career

New Running Shoe Introduced

LRCMizuno Running 2014: The Launch Of The Wave Paradox

What A Difference A Decade Makes

Recommened Read 10 Years Ago, The US Sucked In The Mid-Distances, Now The US Is A World Power – Why? David Monti reminds us just how much things have changed from 2003 to 2013 as 10 years ago no one from the US made the final of Worlds in the 800 or 1,500 and only six men and women broke 3:40/4:10.

2013 IAAF End-Of-Year Review Of 800 And 1,500 Races 2013 was supposed to be the year of the 800 but some of the stars of the incredible 2012 Olympic final struggled in 2012, but not Nick Symmonds and Mo Aman.

Protect Your Weenie:

Toni Reavis On Running In The Cold And Dealing With Dreaded Penis Frostbite

The Key To Jamaican Sprint Success Unveiled?

Perfectly Symmetrical Legs Are Key To Jamaican Sprint Success “We found that Jamaican children have particularly symmetric legs, in comparison to Europeans. Furthermore, in children symmetry in the legs, particularly in the knees, predicted their willingness to sprint and their sprinting times when they were adults.”

3 Good Reads

• #1 Australian Olympians Ryan Gregson & Genevieve LaCaze Are Dating Quite an interesting read. Did you know that Gregson one day hopes to be a bar owner?
• #2 Great Profile Of Ireland’s 3rd-Ever World Champ Rob Heffernan: Emerging From The Shadows To Be Best Of Best Yes, we’ve ridiculed the walks over the years, but this is a great profile of what it takes to get to the top. That being said, we didn’t like how he praised Russian dopers for all of the hard work they put in before they dope.
  *Previous: Heffernan’s Gold Medal Stolen But Recovered By Police *Heffernen’s Tweet Causes Uproar
• #3 Chris Kelsall Congratulates India For Banning Entire States For Doping Did you know the Ancient Olympics were finally shut down in 393 because of rampant corruption?