Houston Half  (USATF Champs) And Full*Results *Photo Gallery

LRC Diego Estrada (60:51!) And Kim Conley (69:44) Very Impressive, Win 2015 USA Half Marathon Championships Estrada dominated the race by almost a minute in 60:51 (7th-fastest US performance ever) as Jared Ward was 2nd, Meb 4th. Conley won by just over 30 seconds in 69:44 (she’s now #8 on US list) over Brianne Nelson & Janet Bawcom. Recap, analysis, results.
*RRW Article

Arizona: Americans Amy Hastings (1:12:04 FTW) And Ryan Hall (104:16 2nd) Make Less-Pressured Debuts

• Rowbury Double

• C E N T R O

• Great Run by Elise Cranny!

• Mary Cain 2:07?!?!?

• SEAN MCGORTY SUB 4 - UW Invite

Weekend XC Action

• Two-Time World XC Champ Emily Chebet And Bronze Medalist Teklemariam Medhin Win Cross Internacional de Italica XC Race In Spain Medhin beat a deep field that included top 2014 steepler Jairus Birech (2nd), World and 10,000 bronze medalist Paul Tanui (4th). Chebet beat Mercy Cherono, who was leading but fell behind after a fall.
• Former World Jr. 10,000 Bronze Medalist Geoffrey Kirui Wins Kenya Defence Forces XC Champs Over 38-Year-Old Mark KiptooSelah Busiene just barely upset World half-marathon champ Gladys Cherono to win the women’s race.
• Lily Partridge And Adam Hickey Win British Athletics Cardiff Cross Challenge

Paula Radcliffe Talks About Her Expectations For The 2015 London Marathon “With the foot issue and training at 2/3rds of what I used to, I don’t really have a goal in mind other than to try and run as well as I can and enjoy the experience and the fact that 18 months ago I never ever thought I would be able to reach this point.”

Greek Think Tank Determines That 2004 Athens Games Cost Greece $7.5 Billion Articles states that this “didn’t significantly affect the debt-heavy country’s finances.”

News From Kenya

• Kenya Sports Cabinet Secretary Hassan Wario Tells Top Athletics Kenya Officials To Resign Over The Increased Recent Doping Scandals “People like [Rita] Jeptoo have now joined the other side of disgraced athletes like Marion Jones, and they belong to the hall of shame and not hall of fame.”
• 2nd Article: Hassan Wario Claims AK Officials “Refused To Cooperate” With The Goverment’s Anti-Doping Task Force
• Dennis Kimetto Talks About Facing His “Friend And Mentor” Wilson Kipsang In London And Bringing The World Title Back To Kenya In Beijing Kimetto has never run at a major championship, but says he’s committed to doing the World Championships ifhe is selected by AK. Why wouldn’t they select the WR holder? Well, it’s AK.

Doping News

• Lenghthy Post By Discus Olympic Champ Robert Harting, Who Says He’s Lost Trust In WADA And It Was Obvious The Russians Were Cheating(translated) On the Russians: “I see increasingly acne, changes in body composition … suggesting anabolic steroids and growth hormone.Especially severe it is when you see women in training camp … Some have deeper voices than my grandpa.”
• Rita Jeptoo Will Wait Up To 3 Months Before Hearing Her Drug Ban Sentence
• “Ben Johnson” Steroid Still Responsible For More Doping Cases Than Any Other In 2014 26 years after Johnson tested positive for stanozolol at the Seoul Olympics, that drug is still responsible for the most yearly drug busts.
• Former World Champion Figure Skater Carolina Kostner Gets 16-Month Ban For Helping Her Race Walker Ex-Boyfriend Alex Schwazer Avoid A Doping Test

News From Kenya

• Former World Jr. 10,000 Bronze Medalist Geoffrey Kirui Wins Kenya Defence Forces XC Championships Over 38-Year-Old Frankfurt Marathon Champ Mark KiptooSelah Busiene just barely upset World half-marathon champ Gladys Cherono to win the women’s race. Kiptoo: “Here I competed with Kirui, who is 15 years younger than me, but I tell you age counts for nothing. It’s just about experience and preparation as well as focus and commitment.”
• Caleb Ndiku Wins 2014 Kenyan Safaricom Sports Personality of the Year Ndiku was also named Sportsman of the year while Eunice Sum was Sportswoman. Outstanding performance went to Dennis Kimetto and javelin star Julius Yego. *2nd article

Important News From Africa

• Despite Daughter’s Death, Stephen Kiprotich Is Headed To Kenya To Try To Get In Shape For Tokyo Marathon On Feb. 22nd Many were speculating he wouldn’t race. “I know it is going to be tough but I will concentrate and try to put up a good show.”
• Caleb Ndiku Is Out Of World XC, Still Hoping For Great 2015 But Flying To Austria For 3 Weeks On Knee Injury Which No Longer Is A Minor Problem

Doping News

• A “Very Productive” Discipline Hearing With Rita Jeptoo Was Held Thursday In Kenya, Committee Will Meet Again In Two Weeks They got a lot of useful info they need to spend some time looking at.
• We’ll Believe It When We See It: Russian Athletics Head Guarantees Doping Will Be Eradicated In Country Soon “I will guarantee to you that in the near future, after carrying out a difficult process, we will clean our hands of this dirt. We are not working to support doping – we are fighting against it.”

News From America

• Set Your DVRs: Two Armory Meets – Armory Track Invitational And Millrose Games – Will Be Broadcast On NBCSN As 2 Of 4 Meets Of USATF Championship Series The dates are Jan. 31 and Feb. 14.
  *Sam Ritz (4:16) And Mady Clahane (4:58) Win Millrose Games Trials
• Powerful Long Island And So Cal USATF Associations Call On USATF To Change Its Decision To Nominate Stephanie Hightower, Not Bob Hersh The Athletes Advisory Committee is also upset.
• Maine Woman, Who Ridiculed Looters In Ferguson, MO For Stealing, Is Accused Of Defrauding Boston Marathon Victims’ Fund – The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram *Discuss On The MBoard
• Carrie Tollefson Interviews Will Leer About His BeardLeer’s gf doesn’t like it but Leer says “Sometimes it takes smelling like an old sock to get people away from you on the track.”
• Maybe This Will Put Oregon In A Better Mood After The Ducks Got Thrashed By Ohio StateEugene’s World Junior Champs Gets Gold Medal For Sustainability From Council For Responsible Sport (CRS)

2015 Virgin Money London Marathon Women’s Field

LRCFour Thoughts On The 2015 Women’s Race Which Features The “Fantastic Four” From Kenya Nothing in our beloved sport can equal the 2015 men’s London field but the women’s equal is pretty special with 3 former champs in Mary Keitany (2:18:37), Edna Kiplagat (2:19:50 PR), and Priscah Jeptoo (2:20:14 PR) plus the fastest half runner in history – Florence Kiplagat.  We break it down for you.
*Paula Radcliffe is running, but will announce on January 30th is she’s in elite race or not Amazingly, Radcliffe hasn’t raced London since 2005.
*Press Release From London Organizers
*RRW:London Marathon Women’s Field Does Not Disappoint
*LRC Archives From Last Week:Is The Men’s Field The Greatest Ever?

Less Than One Month Away

LRCGet Your Butt To Boulder, Colorado For The USA XC Afterparty One Month From Today