Japan Running News’ Osaka International Women’s Marathon And Osaka Half Marathon Preview Race features a showdown between the last 3 winners in defending champion Tetiana Gamera-Shmyrko (Ukraine) and Japan’s Risa Shigetomo and Yukiko Akaba.

Kenenisa Bekele Thinks Move To The Marathon Can Make Him Officially Surpass Haile Gebrselassie As One Of The Greatest Ever Bekele: “If you want to compare, just take a look at the races I won and the medals I received. Haile has run for a long time with a great achievement and I have got a huge respect for him. But … no one has broken my records so far. I think it is clear that my achievement in those track races is better than any other athlete.”

• Elite Field Announced For 2014 LA Marathon On March 9th 2:06 man Raji Assefa has the fastest PR in the field as he faces defending champ Erick Mose and 2013 runner-up Julius Keter. Aaron Braun is the top American as he makes his marathon debut. The women are led by Ukraine’s Olena Burkovska (2:27) and Ethiopia’s Genet Getaneh (2:25).
• Ben Bruce To Run Debut Marathon At Rock ‘N’ Roll New Orleans On February 2nd The announcement comes the day after CGI announced it was reinstating its elite athlete program. Bruce said he plans on focusing on the marathon looking ahead to 2016.
• $40,500 American Prize Purse Added To 2014 DICK’S Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon The race with its new “American Development Program” will have tons of US-only prize money, including time bonuses to those who hit Olympic Trials qualifying marks. There will be a total of $135,000 in prize money.

• Oklahoma Bomb Squad Called In To Investigate Item That Turned Out To Be A Shot Put
• Some Weird World Records: 100m On All Fours, In High Heels And Doing The Moon Walk Videos included.

• Strong European Field Will Compete At Lotto Crosscup In Belgium This Sunday
• Prague Hosting Its First Major Track Meet Since 2009 On February 25th As Test Event For 2015 European ChampionshipsBlanka Vlasic is expected to compete in her comeback from injury.

USATF Fan Twitter Interview With Olympic HJ Silver Medalist Erik Kynard

2014 Tokyo Release:Elite Fields Announced For 2014’s 1st Major (Feb. 23rd) Finally Released 2:04 man Tadesse Tola and 2-time World champ Abel Kirui lead a men’s field that has 5 others who have gone 2:06 or better, including 2011 World Junior XC champ Geoffrey Kipsang. 2012 Olympian Arata Fujiwara leads the Japanese charge. The women’s favorite is 2:19 runner Lucy Kabuu, who will face Tirfi Tsegaye (2:21:19).
*IAAF Preview

2014 London Women’s Field Released: LRC4 Quick Takes – Priscah Jeptoo To Try To Defend As Tirunesh Dibaba Debuts At Star-Studded 2014 London Marathon The 2014 London field is totally stacked as Priscah Jeptoo, who was totally unbeatable in 2013, will clash with Tirunesh Dibaba, who is making the most anticipated women’s marathon debut in 10+ years (maybe ever?).

2014 Boston Field Released
LRC Three Thoughts About The 2014 Boston Marathon Field There certainly won’t be talk of Boston being watered down in 2014 as both fields are quite strong. The men’s field includes TFN’s world #1 and #2 marathoners from 2013, Dennis Kimetto and Lelisa Desisa,and the women’s field is led by sub-2:20 women Mare Dibaba and Rita Jeptoo.
*Boston Marathon Releases Fastest Field Ever For 2014 Race
*MB Talk: Ritz is going to get rocked at Boston

Kenyan Athletes In Uproar Over New Tax Laws

• Top Kenyans Threaten To Defect Over Government Taxation Issue Berlin Marathon champ Florence Kiplagat: “If this matter goes on like this, I will defect to another country which will appreciate my effort.”
• Angry Athletes Threaten To Boycott Olympics And Wesley Korir And Wilson Kipsang Talk Of Forming A Kenyan Athletes’ Union
• Edna Kiplagat Says Government Shouldn’t Backdate New Tax Regulations Since They Were Not Able To Plan Their Finances Ahead Of TimeAsbel Kiprop explained how currently he can win $10,000 winning a DL meet, but only get to keep a bit over $3K.
• Isaiah Kiplagat Claims There Is No Problem With Athletes Paying And The Media Is Blowing It Out Of Proportion He also said that if athletes hire a “tax expert” and write off their training expenses they might not pay anything.
• Athletes Say Government Should Provide Athletes With Training Facilities And Better Health CareHaron Lagat: “You cannot sow from where you have not planted.”

•  Saturday:Former Africa XC Champ Timothy Kiptoo Going For A Hat Trick At The Kenya Prisons Championships He’ll take on a deep field that includes Olympic 5,000m bronze medallist Thomas Longosiwa, World 1,500 silver medalist Silas Kiplagat and former World Half Marathon champ Wilson Kiprop.
• Sunday: Asbel Kiprop, Geoffrey Mutai, Nixson Chepseba And Geoffrey Mutai Square-Off At Discovery Kenya XC Championships The women are led by London/NYC Marathon champ Priscah Jeptoo, who faces Berlin Marathon winner Florence Kiplagat and World 5,000 silver medalist Mercy Cherono.

Chris Christie Spokesman Denies Carl Lewis’ Allegations That He Was Bullied By Christie When He Was Trying To Run For State Senate He says Lewis is just “sour” that he lost his court case and wasn’t allowed to run for NJ office.

Cool Idea For You High Schoolers:DyeStat Trying To Find The Deepest Team In The Nation In The Mile By Introducing Sub-5/Sub-6 Challenge Which schools in the country have the most sub-5 (boys) or sub-6 (girls) milers?

• GB’s Lynsey Sharp Will Receive 800 Gold Medal From 2012 Euro Champs At Glasgow International Meet She finished 2nd in the race, but was upgraded to gold when Russian Yelena Arzhakova was banned for two years for doping.
• Commonwealth Games Federation Concerned About Lack Of Interest In Hosting Future Games So far no one has expressed interest in hosting the 2022 event ahead of a March deadline.
• 31-Year-Old GB Sprinter Mark Lewis-Francis Still Going Strong And Aiming For Rio 2016 He won a  relay gold medal back in Athens 2004.