– Paula Radcliffe talking about how her period started the day she set the marathon world record at Chicago 2002 (that is the same year that LRC co-founder Weldon Johnson paced her).
Men’s Preview: LRC Will Kenenisa Bekele Arrive As A Marathon Force In Dubai? Or Will Countryman Lelisa Desisa Win 2nd Title In 3 Years? Only for a man named Bekele would two marathons in the 2:05 range be viewed as a disappointment. Bekele, now working with coach and LRC message board poster Renato Canova, is targeting the course record of 2:04:23 but the favorite is Desisa, who just lost out to Wilson Kipsang in New York last year and leads a group of 20 other men who have broken 2:10, including 2:04 guys Berhanu Shiferaw and Feyisa Lilesa.
*IAAF Preview: Hermens Says Bekele Is In Best Marathon Shape Of Life, 2:04-Low Would Be A Good Result CR holder Aselefech Mergia leads the women’s entries.
*MB: Now that’s what we call talent – Kenenisa Bekele trained for just 7 weeks – ran 2:05 in Chicago.
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LRCThree Thoughts On 2015 Boston Elite Field: Who Has A Better Shot At Victory – Meb Or Shalane? How Does It Compare To London? Could We Have A “Wild Card” Winner? 10 sub-2:07 guys and six sub-2:22 women will battle it out for glory. Which American has the easier path to victory? Meb or Shalane?
*Quotes From Wilson Chebet, Patrick Makau And Joyce Chepkirui
*Lusapho April Hoping To Become The First South African To Win The Boston Marathon The 2:08:32 man was a disappointing 15th last year.
*Press Release: John Hancock Announces 2015 Elite Field
*RRW: Meb Keflezighi To Face Patrick Makau, Lelisa Desisa At 2015 Boston Marathon
*MB:2015 Boston international field announced – Meb will have his hands full with 5 sub 2:05, 10 sub 2:07 guys!!!
2015 UW Indoor Preview Results:Shannon Rowbury (2:40.25 / 4:27.86) Beats Teammates Jordan Hasay, Treniere Moser In Both The 1,000 And Mile; Matt Centrowitz Wins 1,000/Mile Double Over Evan Jager And Cam Levins Stanford’s Elise Cranny was 4th in the 1,000 (2:42.39). In other action Mary Cain was 4th in the 600 (1:30.03) and then won the 800 (2:07.21), German Fernandez was 2nd in the 3,000 (8:04.59). Pros Andy Bayer, Phoebe Wright, Geena Lara also competed.
*Stanford Article On Sean McGorty’s Sub-4 Mile And Elise Cranny’s Impressive 1,000
*USTFCCCA Weekend NCAA Highlights Collegiate leads for Oklahoma State’s John Teeters in the 60 (6.54), Texas A&M’s Shavez Hart (20.76 in the 200), Oregon’s Jasmine Todd (7.15 60m), NCAA indoor 200 champ Dezerea Bryant (23.12 in the 200). Video Highlight: Purdue vs. Indiana women’s dual came down to a photo finish in the 4 x 8 with Purdue getting the win by .001.
*MSU Open:Cristian Soratos Runs Altitude Converted 3:56.87 Mile (4:05.18)
*Texas Posts Nation-Leading Marks In Opener In Sprints And Throws
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.”
Not Your Normal Boring Q&A: Good Chris Derrick Q&A – “I think I can run with anyone in the world.” “My college teammate Garrett Heath just went out there and beat the world cross-country champion. I never lost to Garrett in cross-country, so if he can do that, I want to be able to do that, too.”
*MB: Chris Derrick talks big: “I think I can run with anyone in the world.”
More Good Stuff: Alan Abrahamson Breaks Down The 2024 Boston Bid Like Only He Can He said it was obvious Boston was the choice when Thomas Bach came out with an Op-Ed in the Boston Globe two days before. Also was Boston selected because it’s on the East Coast?
*Boston 2024 Likely To Get Insurance To Protect Against Cost Overruns
Steve and Sara Slattery are hosting the party and want runners, non-runners, and LRCers to be there.
LRC2012 Olympic Gold Medalist Jenn Suhr And Husband/Coach Rick Suhr Share Thoughts On The “Year Of The Vault” Since the women’s pole vault is expected to be one of the marquee events of the 2016 Olympics with hometown favorite Fabiana Murer, it’s time for you, the LRC visitor, to learn about one of the event’s biggest stars. We sat down with Jenn Suhr on Tuesday in Boston. She’ll be back there for the NBIGP and USAs this winter.
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
Poll Finds Majority Of Boston Residents Support 2024 Olympic Bid It wasn’t by a lot, though, as 55% supported it, 40% were against it and 5% were undecided.
LRC Remembering LRCer Van TownsendThe running world lost one of its bright lights this week with the death of Van Townsend.
*MB: RIP Van Townsend: Share Your Respects Here
LRC Meb Or Galen? Vote For LetsRun.com’s 2014 Award It’s time to vote. Vote and tell us who are the male and female runners of the year for the World, US, and NCAA. Plus vote for the “best record-breaking performance,” the “race of the year,” the “moment of the year” and “unusual moment of the year.”
Recommend Read: Kudos To The Ultimate Internet Sleuth: MB: Canadian proves that 2012 Russian Olympic champ competed on Dec 30th while banned!Evan Dunfee has done an amazing job showing you how the Russians have doctored photos to make it look like Elena Lashmanova‘s race took place in 2012, not 2014. *IAAF Investigating
Ethiopians Yebrgual Arage (2:23:23) and Birhanu Gedefa (2:08:03) got the wins as American Kellyn Taylor (2:28:40) had a nice debut and Aaron Braun (2:12:54) was the top American man.
On The Boards: Also at Houston - Aaron Braun 2:12:54; Kellyn Taylor 2:28:40
Chris Derrick Says It’s A Shame The US Or European Countries Don’t Want To Host World XC Champs And That The UK Won’t Send A Full Team “I think the athletes, myself, other top Americans and Europeans need to make a commitment to show up and do it. If we’re not going to commit to it, the fans aren’t going to commit to it.”
Jeremy Wariner May Open 2015 With 800m Run If he does, thousands of LetsRun.com fans will get the answer to the ultimate hypothetical they’ve been debating for years.
*MB: At last our dreams will become reality: Jeremy Wariner may open 2015 up at 800m!!! How fast (slow) will he go?
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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?
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