March 18, 2015 | LetsRun.com

Week That Was

LRCJenkins Vs. Cheserek, Jenkins Vs. Rupp And Solinsky, The Worst Cross-Country Coach In America, Ryan Hall, Ryan Gregson, Andrew Wheating And More

We take one more look at Jenkins vs. Cheserek and our first at Jenkins vs. Rupp and Solinsky and Leah O'Connor vs. Simpson and Coburn. Plus a look at the worst cross-country coach in America, whether Ryan Hall went out too fast, and Ryan Gregson and Andrew Wheating.

Doping Updates

What Else Is New? Two More Russian Race Walkers Banned For Doping Andrei Ruzavin was banned 2.5 years while Nina Okhotnikova was banned 2 years. Both were caught with the biological passport and have had results annulled going back to 2011.
NY Times Reporting That Lance Armstrong Recently Met With USADA Head Travis Tygart About Reducing His Lifetime Ban Reportedly, Armstrong has confided to close friends that the meeting went well and that he was hopeful of further talks.
Seb Coe Underlines Need For IAAF To Introduce Independent Drug Testing He thinks it will remove “potential conflicts” within federations and speed up the sanction process.
Jamaican Organization Concerned That There Will Be No Drug Testing At Next Week’s ISSA Boys’ and Girls’ Championships Apparently JADCO promised last year that they would have drug testing at the high school championship meet.
Russia’s Temporarily Suspended IAAF Treasurer Valentin Balakhnichev Says They Have Been Receiving International Support From Those Who Don’t Believe Systematic Doping Allegations

Marathon News: Bekele Out Of London

Kenenisa Bekele Withdraws From London Marathon With Achilles Injury On a positive note, Geoffrey Mutai was added to the men’s field and Dubai Marathon winner Aselefech Mergia (2:19:31 PR) was added to the women’s.
Recommended Read: Ryan Hall Spoke With The New Yorker Article About His Running Philosophy Before The LA Marathon A lot of insight into the mind of Hall, who pre-race said, “I’m not afraid of failure. I don’t take it personally. So if I blow up, I’m bummed for sure, but it’s like, life goes on. It doesn’t define me. So I’m not afraid to take big chances.”
*MB: Longish article on Ryan Hall in the New Yorker today pre LA
RunBlogRun: Jared Ward Adds Himself To The Long List Of Possibles For One Of The 2016 US Olympic Marathon Spots Right now, Meb Keflezighi is the only person who could be considered a “favorite” to make the team, so there are at least two spots wide open.

Random Stuff

Bizarre: San Francisco Thief Steals Paralympic Hopeful’s Prosthetic Running Leg The leg is valued at $30,000, but Ranjit Steiner says they’re custom so only he can use it. “There’s no real black market for [prosthetic legs].”
Poll Finds Students Who Played High School Sports Were More Likely To Make Six Figures At Their Jobs Later In Life
Study Finds 30-Minute Naps Can Help You Feel Less Pain
Tucson Runner Fined $89 For Running On Roads Cop said he should have been on the sidewalk.

Trial Update: Police Describe Gun Battle With Boston Marathon Bombers

2015 NCAA Indoors Results Day 1 TV Replay Day 2 TV Replay Fan Poll Results LRC Post-Race Interviews
NCAA DII/DIII Results / Streams

M3,000 LRC Eric Jenkins Takes Down Edward Cheserek For NCAA Title #2 – Or Did Cheserek Let Him Win? Two hours after we wondered if Edward Cheserek would ever lose another NCAA race, Cheserek lost, but was it on purpose? This one will be debated forever.
MB: That was F***ing awesome – Oregon Civil War – Jenkins FTW!! Edward Cheserek is human!! (Wait: Ches says he let Jenkins win!)

MMile LRC Cristian Soratos Goes For It But Edward Cheserek Runs 2:19 Last 1k To Win Men’s Mile The reigning NCAA XC and 10,000 champ was unfazed by a mid-race 53 second 400 and got the win by running the 2nd fastest 1k in NCAA history. #unfair

WMile LRC Leah O’Connor Of Michigan State Sets NCAA Meet Record In Women’s Mile Shelby Houlihan broke the old NCAA mark as well but lost as O’Connor was spectacular.

W3,000: LRC What A Night: Arkansas’ Dominique Scott Wins NCAA Individual Title, Team Title And Gets Engaged

3k Race Recap Scott Pulls Away from Stud Frosh Elise Cranny To Close Out A Perfect Weekend Dominique Scott won her first individual NCAA title in convincing fashion over Elise Cranny.

800s Natoya Goule (2:01.64 MR) & Edward Kemboi (1:46.05) Win Fast 800s Goule broke the meet record and Kemboi ran faster than anyone else had at NCAAs in 14 years as the 800 action was fast.

LRC Omar McLeod Of Arkansas Breaks 18-Year-Old NCAA Record In Men’s 60 Hurdles, Gets Jamaican Mark As Well

AP Recap Of NCAA Indoors In addition to all the action above Kendell Williams broke her NCAA record in the pentathlon.

Distance Runners Usher Oregon’s Dominant Ducks To The Men’s NCAA Indoor Title Ken Goe of the Oregonian recaps the Ducks win.

LRC In Defense Of Ryan Hall: The Moses Mosop Connection How Kenyan 2:03:06 man Moses Mosop proves Ryan Hall’s self-coaching wasn’t a mistake and why there is hope for the US’s fastest marathoner to get back on top.

Week That Was

WTWAndrew Wheating Your Kiwi 800 Champ, Great 1,500 Video From Euros, The Great Julia Lucas, Airbrushed Logos, Tweet Of The Week And More

The classy Julia Lucas hung them up in style, Nick Willis won the Kiwi champs and so did Andrew Wheating. We've got some great 1,500 action from Euros, a tweet of the week, a video of the week and airbrushed logos.

Julia Lucas Retires

Recommended Read: Julia Lucas Blogs About The 2012 Olympic Trials 5,000 And Her Retirement From Professional Track And Field “And so, as I emerge from a career that ended not as I would have liked, disappointed with what could have been and almost was, I still look to running. … A race is just a race, but running can be anything.”
*MB: Julia Lucas wrote an article about losing out in the 2012 Olympic Trials 5,000
*LRC Archives: The Women’s 5,000 Final – The Olympic Trials At Its Absolute Best
*“It Should Be Mathematical: One Couple, Two Dreams, .04 Seconds” Popular piece by Michael Heald.
*Official Julia Lucas Appreciation Thread!!!

LRC Remembering LRCer Van Townsend The running world lost one of its bright lights this week with the death of Van Townsend.
*MB: RIP Van Townsend: Share Your Respects Here

Elite Distance News

Great Read: Toni Reavis Talks About How The “BIG 3” From 2000 Foot Locker Champs (Dathan Ritzenhein, Alan Webb, And Ryan Hall) Are “Down To 1” Reavis talks about the rise of the internet and how it put a lot of pressure on these three from an early age. Mostly, though, he analyzes Hall’s recent DNF in LA and the direction his career is going.
*MB: The BIG 3: Only one remains
39-Year-Old Blake Russell Talks To Runners World About How She Shocked Many By Winning The US Marathon Champs In La In 2:34:57 She hadn’t even finished a marathon (despite three attempts) since 2008. Russell added more mileage, longer workouts and did more on the road vs. track.
Athletics Kenya Expected To Announce Final World XC Squad Soon Apparently even though he ran absolutely terrible at the trials (and all year for that matter), defending champ Japhet Korir is being considered for a wild card spot along with others like Geoffrey Kipsang and Bedan Karoki.
UW’s Baylee Mires Ran Most Of 1,200 Leg Of NCAA DMR With One Shoe She handed off in 7th and UW finished 5th.
Weekend Video Highlights: LA Marathon, NYC Half, Seoul Marathon And Sydney Track Classic Philip Kangogo won the Barcelona Marathon in 2:08:16.
Watch Video Replay Of NYC Half Marathon Men and women’s finishes are in part 9.

Politics

“Democracy Inaction”: Editorial In Times Of San Diego On USATF Board’s Disregard For Democracy Kevin Liao points out how board vice chair Steven Miller‘s comparison to the Electoral College system (where the popular vote doesn’t necessarily win) was flawed, since with a presidential election, the Supreme Court can’t go about “arbitrarily reversing a result it doesn’t like.”
Seb Coe Against Ukraine’s Call For A Boycott Of The 2018 World Cup In Russia “I will always oppose boycotts of sport. I don’t think they actually achieve what they set out to do. The only people they really damage are competitors and athletes.”

2016 World Indoors And US Champs Will Be In Portland

2016 USATF Indoor Championships Join The 2016 World Indoor Championships In Portland US Champs will end 6 days before Worlds begin. *USATF Release
Happy St. Patrick’s Day: A Look At The Designs For Portland’s Green Indoor Track For 2016 World Champs

NCAA-Related

Recommended Read: Article On Former Foot Locker South Champion Bill Matthews, Who As A Prep Star Dreamed Of Greatness But Had A Seizure Disorder End His Collegiate Career Matthews struggled for years trying to train and race through the seizures and medication which made him anemic, eventually needing two major surgeries to remove brain tumors. His determination to keep fighting and not to quit is inspirational.
Binghamton’s Jesse Garn Talks About His “Heartbreaking” False Start DQ In The 800 At NCAA Champs
Big Legal Day Tuesday For NCAA Athletes As The Pay Vs. Amateurism Debate Reaches A “Pivotal Stage”
Full List Of NCAA DI All-Americans

Ultra News

Michael Wardian Sets 50K Treadmill Record On Second Attempt In 30 Hours Wardian first ran 3:06:24 (5:59.9 pace) thinking he had the record, only to find out a few hours later that it was actually 3:05:57. So he went back to the treadmill and ran 3:03:56 (5:55 pace). Making it even weirder, he did it on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean.
Max King Voted International Association Of Ultrarunners Male Athlete Of The Year GB’s Ellie Greenwood won the women’s award.

United Airlines NYC Half Results LA Marathon / USATF Champs Results Gate River Run / US 15k Results

RRW Huddle Wins United Airlines NYC Half In Course Record 1:08:31, Leonard Korir Outleans Stephen Sambu Andrew Bumbalough was the first American in his debut in 1:02:04, Ritz ran 1:02:07, and Meb 1:02:17. *Results
*LRC NYC Half Photo Gallery Here

LRC Jared Ward (2:12:55) And Blake Russell (2:34:57) Win 2015 US Marathon Championships As Both Finish 3rd Overall At Asics LA
*LRC Post-Race Interview With Jared Ward
*LRC Post-Race Interview With Matt Llano
*MB: Official Thread
*MB: Ryan Hall DNFs at LA. Will he ever run a good marathon again?
*ESPN.com: LA Marathon Notebook: Kenyans Sweep; Ward Wins U.S. Title; Hall Drops Out

Saturday: Ben True, Amy Hastings Win US 15k Champs At Gate River Run (US 15K Champs) Recap from Jacksonville paper. *Results *Discuss

Totally Shameful: USATF Board Votes 12-1 To Keep Hightower As IAAF Council Nominee As Some Talk Impeachment Ken Stone with a nice recap in the San Diego paper as the USATF Board showed it does not give a shit what its members think, only about itself. Be outraged. *Discuss Here

NCAA Day 2 Distance Photo Gallery – 200+ Photos

New Balance High School Indoor Nationals

RRW: Grant Fisher Almost Crashes Onto The Infield, Still Wins In 4:03 To Repeat As New Balance National Mile Champ Ryen Frazier got the 2-mile win, but was denied the victory in the mile by Nevada Mareno, who beat her by just over a second (4:43.23).
*MB: Should Grant Fisher have been DQd at NBN? According to the race recap by RRW’s Chris Lotsbom, Fisher took 4-5 steps on the infield so would have been DQed if there was a protest, but there was none. He also estimated that Fisher might have ran 4:00-high to 4:01-low if he hadn’t stumbled.
RRW Rhode Island’s La Salle Academy Completes Rare Sweep Of 4 X Mile Relay At 2015 New Balance Nationals
RRW Anna Rohrer Runs 16:10.70, Edges Ryen Frazier And Sets National High School 5,000m Mark

Recap Of USATF Hershey Youth Indoor Championships

Trial News

Oscar Pistorius’ Lawyers Fail To Block Appeal By Prosecutors So now that the appeal of the appeal is out of the way, they can move on to whether or not the actual verdict/sentence will change.
Carjack Victim Describes Harrowing Ride With Boston Bombers
Jurors In Bombing Trial See Video Of Carjack Victim’s Escape

World Cross And World Relays Are Fast Approaching

Two Weeks To Go Until IAAF World Cross-Country Championships – Emily Chebet Added To Kenyan Team The defending champ was only 14th at the Kenyan Trials.
50 Days To Go – IAAF World Relays, Nassau 2015

International Distance News

UK Announces Team For World XC Champs: Gemma Steel Leads The Women, Andrew Butchart The Men Earlier this year, UKA said they’d only take runners with “top-30 potential” but “exceptions could be made.” They’re taking 4 men (enough to score), but only 2 women (not enough for a team place).

Update On Sierra Leone Sprinter In UK (If You Missed This, Check Saturday’s Homepage)

The Power Of Social Media: On A Whim, PHD Student Starts “FundMe” Campaign For Jimmy Thoronka; Has Raised Over $42,700 In 2 Days
*“Thoronka Inundated With Offers Of Help” Money, food, a place to stay, training equipment/supplements, you name it.
BBC Post-Prison Interview With Thoronka
Thoronka Released From Police Custody And Taken To Immigration Accomodation; Has Applied For Asylum
*Could Face Deportation

Runner Of The Month

LRCThe Nate Houle Story: "Trying to live life while you've still got it."

Nate Houle had it all: a beautiful wife, wonderful son, and his dream job coaching track at his alma mater Southern Utah University (Cam Levins' school, Nate was Cam's teammate). Then, in the span of five months, he lost his job, and was diagnosed with a rare cancer. Rather than make Nate bitter, the cancer has given Nate a new appreciation for life and God's plan for him. That makes him our Runner of the Month.

Random But Interesting

What Are The World’s Most Expensive Marathons? Sorry, America, 7 of the top 10 costliest marathons in the world are in the US, with NYC being the worst.
Video: Meet GB’s 95-Year-Old World Sprint Champion Charles Eugster ran 55.48 seconds for 200.

International Distance Comebacks

Caster Semenya Hoping For A Comeback Year In 2015 After Making Coaching Change Late Last Year Since finishing 2nd at the Olympics, she has failed to qualify for 2013 Worlds or the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Last year, her best mark was only 2:02.66.
Watch Out, Evan Jager: Kenyan 8:01 Steepler Conseslus Kipruto Back In Training And Focused On Bejing After A Year Off With Injury “I don’t fear anyone and having been out due to injury, I’m glad to be back. My worst enemy is myself because I set high standards that I have to beat.”

2024 Olympic Bid News

Hamburg Chosen Ahead Of Berlin As German Candidate City For 2024 Olympic Bid
Critics React Angrily After It Was Announced Former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick Was Given Top Role In Boston 2024 Bid And Will Be Paid $7,500 A Day
IAAF President Lamine Diack Backs Paris’ “Increasingly Likely” Bid For 2024 Olympics
*Diack Says Lack Of Suitable Venues Costing US Chance Of Hosting Major Events “They have a lot of tracks in the country but no stadiums of athletics. Not one.”
Boston.com Opinion Piece: “Boston Being Played For A Fool In The Political, Olympic Game”

NCAA Day 1

5,000s A Night To Remember For American 5,000m As Emily Sisson And Eric Jenkins Capture First NCAA Titles The futures of American seniors Eric Jenkins and Emily Sisson look very bright as they both got their first NCAA titles in the 5,000m.
*MB: Props to Sisson for more than just winning
*Jenkins’ 5k, Historically

DMRs 2015 King Cheserek Is Magnificent And So Is Arkansas’ Dominique Scott Over Frosh Elise Cranny Elise Cranny made Dominique Scott run her best to beat her as Arkansas repeated as DMR champs. Edward Cheserek and the Oregon coaches were able to celebrate the final straight of this one.
*MB: DMR mile legs were scared of KING CHES!!!! –

LRC Shawn Barber Goes 19’4″ In Pole Vault, Trayvon Bromell Becomes #3 Fastest Person (Counting Pros) Ever At 200m Indoors Video of the 19’4″ jump.
*AP Recap Of Day 1: Marquis Dendy Goes 27′-2, Michael Lihrman Produces WT Record Of 80’10.25″
*Dendy Won By .25 Over Arkansas’ Jarrion Lawson
*Barber Had “Good Looks” At 6.0m
*PV Record Progression The record hadn’t been broken since 1999, now Barber has broken it 4 times in 2 months.
*After Getting DQed In 60, Trayvon Bromell Runs 20.23 To Break MJ’s School Record

LRC Is It The Socks? Cristian Soratos Reveals He First Wore Sonic The Hedgehog Socks When He Ran His 3:56.87 Mile Equivalent

NCAA Day 1 Distance Photo Gallery – 200+ Photos

USATF Debate Continues

Alan Abrahamson Pulls The Race Card By Accusing Lionel Leach Of Pulling “The Black-On-Black Race Card” On Stephanie Hightower Abrahamson analyzes Leach’s letter to Hightower and deems it “inflammatory and inaccurate rhetoric.”
Larry Eder Of RunBlogRun: “USATF Controversy Needs To End” “The truth is, that the new style of governance in USA Track & Field is not working. … Max Siegel’s hard work is being over shadowed by Board and President who seem to think that what they know is best and screw the naysayers.”
USATF Pacific Association Wrote Letter To USATF Board Recommending Procedural Changes They say the board interpreting the rules as the membership only “making a recommendation” is wrong.
LRC Stephanie Hightower Gets Angry Reaction From Youth Chairman Lionel Leach

Nick Willis & Andrew Wheating Impress At NZ Champs *Results

Nick Willis Closes In 51.9 To Dominate 1,500 At NZ Champs In 3:50.90 Willis says he’s feeling so good at 32 years old he may carry his career on to 2020. Nikki Hamblin won the women’s 1,500 in 4:12.02. *Race Video
*MB: Nick Willis flies last lap in 51.9 to win NZ 1500m
Video: Andrew Wheating Wins NZ 800 In 1:49.82
*Video Of Wheating’s Heat He jogged in 1:52.92.
Jake Robertson Easily Wins 5,000; Wants To Go For The 10,000 NZ Record At Payton Jordan The NR is 27:41.95 by Dick Quax from 1977. Zane Robertson didn’t race due to a calf injury. *2nd Article

Spice Up Your Winter – Photo Of The Year Contest

LRC The Story Behind The Alaskan Flip-Off: The 2013 LRC Photo Of The Year

LRC What’s Your 2014 Running Photo Of The Year? Have you taken a photo or seen a photo that could be the running photo of the year (2014 until now)*. Submit or tweet your entries to us. Winner and/or person who tells us of winner wins $100.

LetsRun.com Founders Named as Two of “The 50 Most Influential People in Running”