Quote Of The Day
– Nick Symmonds talking about stepping up in distance this year from the 800 to the 1,500. He also plans on racing the 5,000 at Payton Jordan (May 2nd) and wants to run under 14 minutes.
NCAA XC Regionals Are Friday
LRC 2014 NCAA Regionals Men’s Cross Country Preview: Who’s On Track to Qualify for the Big Dance? What 3 ranked teams look like they’ll be left home? What 4 un-ranked teams will be dancing? We break down each region and tell you which races hold the most significance for at-large purposes (hint: not the South or South Central).
*MB: 2014 NCAA Cross Country Regionals – Let the madness begin
LRC Who’s In? Who’s Out? 2014 NCAA Regional Projections Assuming Everything Goes According To Form Thanks to former Duke runner Bo Waggoner, we can tell you who will qualify for NCAAs should the current USTFCCCA Regional Rankings hold.
Vote LRC Who’s Going To The Big Dance? LRC NCAA Regional Fan Polls Open
Bringing Lydiard To The Masses – Run Faster By Running More Relaxed
LRCBook Review: 80/20 Running By Matt Fitzgerald Another book by prolific author Matt Fitzgerald is out, but this one, which once had the proposed title of High Mileage Manifesto, intrigued us so much Robert Johnsonwrote the foreword as it attempts to bring Lydiard to the masses. “It would have been nice if this book had existed from late 198os to the late 1990s, during the dark days of American distance running.”
*MB: Matt Fitzgerald’s new book 80/20 Running – Rojo what can u tell us about this book since you wrote the foreward
Random Stuff
International Marathon Results
- Athens Marathon: Felix Kandie Wins Breaks Stefano Baldini’s 10-Year-Old CR From The 2004 Olympics Kandie ran 2:10:37 in warm conditions to break Baldini’s mark by 18 seconds and his own PR by more than 5 minutes. Naomi Maiyo took the women’s race (2:41:06).
- After 2nd And 3rd Place FInishes, Ethiopia’s Shume Hailu Finally Wins Marathon des Alpes-Maritimes Nice-Cannes In 2:09:27 Kenya’s Rose Jepchumba won the women’s race in 2:33:52.
- Ethiopia’s Fikadu Girma (2:12:26) And Mulahabt Tsega (2:29:15) Win Beirut Marathon
- Justus Kagongo (29:13) Wins Tegla Loroupe Peace Run 10K In Kenya Gladys Yator won the women’s race (35:03).
- Recap Of Japanese Women’s Ekiden Weekend Action
USA News
2014 Is A Record-Breaking Year For USA Women In The Marathon (In Terms Of Running Sub-2:35) Alberto Salazar: “I believe that in the marathon … (American women) can be competitive. They believe it more than the American men do.” LRC note: The US has 2 women competitive on the world stage (sub 2:25), the US men 1 (Meb).
- Janet Bawcom (1:13:05), Daniel Vargas (1:04:20) Win Rock ‘N’ Roll Savannah Half Marathon
- Sonja Friend-Uhl Wins USATF Masters 5k In 18:23
- Fred Kieser Wins USATF Masters 5k Champs In 16:02
Doping News From Yesterday:Asbel Kiprop, Janeth Jepkosgei, Priscah Jeptoo, Martin Lel, Many Others Pros Defend Rita Jeptoo’s Agent Federico Rosa They insist they are clean and want Rita Jeptoo to speak the truth on who doped her.
Nick Arciniaga Q&A On Rita Jeptoo: “I have read up a little bit about it since being back home and everything seems pretty shady to me. Even the comments from Rita’s coach and agent. It is terrible for the sport, but it’s nearly impossible to know who to believe.”
British Corner
- Sue Mott Writes About “Astonishment” Of 41-Year-Old Not Getting UK Government Funding We think it would be crazy to fund a 41-year-old as a medal prospect for Rio if that is the criteria.
- A Look Back At John Ngugi’s 5-Time World Championship Career: In Mud, Hail, Rain Or Snow, Ngugi Thrived “Cross country is difficult. Sometimes you run in the mud, sometimes in the snow. There can be hail or rain. Many runners don’t want to do it now. That is sad.” He’s in Scotland this weekend.
- After Giving Birth In July, Jessica Ennis-Hill Wants To Compete At Worlds Next Year
- Olympic High Jump Bronze Medallist Robbie Grabarz Plans Indoor Return After Knee Surgery
Latest Post-NYC News
LRCWhat Shoes Did The Pros Wear In New York?
What shoes did the pros race in in the 2014 New York City Marathon? We tell you.
- Wilson Kipsang Looking Ahead To 2015, Saying He Wants To Win Worlds And Get Back His World Record From Dennis Kimetto
- Pre- And Post-NYC Interview With Ryan Vail Interesting to see Vail’s thoughts before and after the race side-by-side. Overall, he said he would have liked better than 9th, but thought he did everything he could do.
- Podcast Interview With Desiree Linden After Her 5th Place NYC Finish
*Interview Transcription Her marathon advice: “In training and in racing, we all have moments that hurt. You’ve just got to smile and remember that what you are doing is fun.” - Forbes Gives Full-Time Lawyer Annie Bersagel Mention For 10th Place Finish In NYC
Tuesday’s Pro Distance Updates
After Worst Season Of Her Career, Caster Semenya Makes Coaching Switch Away From Former Olympic Gold Medalist Maria Mutola She has joined Jean Verster‘s training group, which includes Nijel Amos and Andrew Olivier.- Nick Symmonds Backs Eugene’s Bid For 2019 Worlds He says the idea of Worlds in Eugene might be enough to keep him running through 2019 when he’s 35.
- From The Weekend:Feyisa Bekele Won Seoul Marathon In 2:07:43 In Tight Finish With Evans Kiplagat (2:07:46)Thomas Kiplagat was a close 3rd (2:07:52) as three-time defending champ James Kipsang was only 9th (2:11:31).
- Extensive Gary Cohen Q&A With Abdi Abdirahman Abdi is only the 2nd American men’s distance runner to compete in four Olympics.
- Daily Relay’s Marathon Awards For 2014 “Not Rabbit of the Year” goes to Haile Gebrselassie for his horrible pacing job in London.
- IAAF Work, Rest And Play Interview With CGs/African 10,000 Champ Joyce Chepkirui Do elites even care about those flower bouquets they get at the finish when they win? Chepkirui does and even remembers which meets give the best ones.
High School XC Corner
- Oregon High Schooler Matthew Maton, Who Broke Galen Rupp’s State Meet Record, Will Be Splitting From His Team In The Post-Season Maton will be going to Foot Locker while the rest of his team is favored to make NXN.
*MB: Maton Chooses Footlocker Over Team Battle At NXN
*MB: It’s time to have ONE national championship. - Blog Post: Why Grant Fisher Isn’t “The Next Dathan Ritzenhein” Author makes the point that they are like apples and oranges as Ritz was a strength runner putting in 100-mile weeks and Fisher has a ton of speed off not much mileage. *Discuss
Sprints/ Jumps: What Was Bolt’s Best?
Interesting Analysis:What Is The Greatest Race Usain Bolt Has Ever Run? This author concludes that the Beijing Olympic 100m was Bolt’s greatest as he shattered the previous WR and “did it in style.”- Meet Wayde van Niekerk, The 400 Runner Who Came Out Of Nowhere To Break A 15-Year-Old South African National Record With 44.36 He was 2nd at the CGs behind Kirani James, but only moved focus from the 200 to the 400 in 2013. He still has trouble dealing with the longer distance; after his silver medal he was too tired to run a victory lap.
- Reeva Steenkamp’s Mother Publishes Memoir, Says She Doesn’t Believe That Oscar Pistorius Killed Her Daughter By Accident She feels the SA justice system “let her down,” but that she forgives Pistorius.
- UK LJer Greg Rutherford: “Becoming a dad better than winning Olympic gold medal.”
US Weekend Road Action
EQT Pittsburgh 10: Leonard Korir Wins, Ryan Hall 10th, Sara Hall Sets Course Record And Wins $3,500Jonathan Grey was the first American in 5th.
*Results *OTB: Ryan Hall 50:25 in Pittsburgh??- Olympians Janet Bawcom And Daniel Vargas Win Rock ‘N’ Roll Savannah Half Marathon Nick Hilton and Tara Martine were the winners in the full.
- Josh McDougal Wins Stockade-Athon 15K In Schenectady, NY (46:34) Megan Hogan won the women’s race in 51:09. *Full Results *MB Thread
- Ben Blankenship Wins Kansas Road Mile In 4:04:34 (updated) 2009 1,500m world champ Yusuf Kamel was a distant 2nd (4:13.30). Kristen Findley won the women’s race (4:49.89). *Results
Track Stuff: Throws / Sprints
- Forbes’ List Of The World Highest-Paid Athletes Usain Bolt is the only track athlete (#45) on the list of 100. They have him down at $23.2 million. Boxer Floyd Mayweather is on top at $105 million.
- Q&A With NZ Shot Putter Tom Walsh On His Off-Season Training Walsh had a breakthrough year with silver at the Commonwealth Games and bronze at World Indoors.
College Recruiting Guide For Track Athletes This guide is written for throwers, but most of the advice is applicable for all events.
High School State Talk/Results
The Straight Dope On Rita Jeptoo?
Rita Jeptoo’s Estranged Husband Accuses Her Of Long-Term EPO Use Since 2011 Her husband shared legal documents where he essentially blackmailed her, saying that he’d tell WADA about her doping if she didn’t agree to a financial settlement.
*MB: Rita Jeptoo’s Husband Says She Began Doping in 2011- NY Times: Problems With Anti-Doping System Cast A Shadow On Kenyan Runners Some harsh words from Frank Shorter, who thinks the WMM should have its own testing pool that tests top marathoners (i.e. Kenyans) more regularly out of competition.
*MB: Frank Shorter in the NYTimes basically convicts all of Kenya for doping
Week That Was
LRCWeek That Was: New York, New York, Rita Jeptoo Tests Positive, Can We Go Back To College, And More
We take one final look at the 2014 TCS NYC Marathon, Rita Jeptoo's positive "A" sample, ponder whether Phoebe Wright, Andrew Wheating and many pros might want to go back to college, and why high school marathoners should go to college.
Amateur Marathon News
- Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon Winner Disqualified After Her Chip Recorded A 49-Minute Second Half Sometimes cheating is hard to catch … this isn’t one of those times.
*MB: Let’s Run sleuths needed….Chickamauga Marathon Winner Disqualified 
Doesn’t Exactly Get You Psyched To Run A Marathon:This Is What One Year’s Worth Of Beijing Pollution Looks Like In Photos Will some elites be hesitant to run the marathon at Worlds next year?- Which Tennis Stars Will Follow In Caroline Wozniacki’s Marathon Footsteps?Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray both would like to after they’re done with tennis. Others not so much.
- 12,156 Take Part In First Running of Fukuoka Marathon, A New Mass Participation Race The men’s elite race, the Fukuoka International Marathon, is a separate event in less than 4 weeks.
Distance News
Good Read:The Brother Colm O’Connell Of Ethiopia: Sentayehu Eshetu Is Coach Of Ethiopia’s Past, Present And Future Eshetu coaches young runners in the tiny town of Bekoji and has worked with Berlin champ Tirfi Tsegaye, Olympic champ Tiki Gelana, all-time greats Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba and more.
*LRC Archives: Move Over Iten, Kenya – Bekoji, Ethiopia Lays Claims To Be The Cradle Of Running- ASU’s Shelby Houlihan Looks For Big Finish To Her NCAA XC Career Houlihan says losing at Wisconsin really took the pressure off her for the rest of the season, but she’s going into Regionals and Nationals trying to win.
- Serena Williams: “My Ass Is Too Big To Run A Marathon”
- Q&A With Meb Keflezighi: Meb Tells You Why You Should Run The Marathon Meb loves running the most when he races, saying, “During the race I would not want to be anywhere else, challenging the best of the best in the world.”
- Tons Of Great Photos From Heps XC Champs Online On Facebook
The Show Goes On: Oscar Pistorius Appeal Hearing Set For December 9th
Caroline Wozniacki News
Wozniacki’s Marathon Debut Was Amazing, Djokovic Says He says he wants to run a marathon after his tennis career is over and so does Andy Murray.
Somehow We Missed This:New York City Marathon Was Same Day Caroline Wozniacki Was Supposed To Marry Rory McIlroy
Random Distance Stuff
- Q&A With Four NCAA Coaches Who Started New Positions This Year, Including Chris Solinsky At William And Mary Solinsky has been enjoying the job so far and says he it hasn’t been too hard getting in his own training.
- Athletes Come To Blows During Club XC Race In Ireland A big rivalry between two clubs led to a lot of shoving with one athlete throwing a punch and another putting an opponent in a headlock.
- Q&A Catching Up With Andrew Bumbalough Bumbalough wasn’t thrilled with his season from a time perspective as it was the first year in his career he didn’t get a PR at his primary event.
- What’s The Ideal Age For Marathoning? Based on statistical analysis of pros, right around 28 years old. Recent trend of older runners (mid 30s+) running faster could be due to financial, rather than biological, reasons.
Official TCS NYC Marathon Highlight Video (If you only want marathon highlights, skip to the 1:30 mark)
LetsRun.com Founders Named as Two of “The 50 Most Influential People in Running”
Runners World Honors You and the Brojos
We like This Photo So Much We Leave it Up
Want a Better Running Shoe?
Beta Better Running Shoe Site
It’s Time to Change How We Find Running Shoes
American Strong: The Untold Story of How American Teamwork Helped Meb Keflezighi Win Boston
28,000+ Likes on Facebook
A Real Running Hero:
The Flo Groberg Story
Flo Has Now Won the Medal of Honor
