October 14, 2015 | LetsRun.com

Week That Was

LRCRyan Hall = Joan Benoit? Chicago Drops Pacers, We Celebrate Steve Jones' 1985 Run, + Great Advice From Joe Newton

Is Ryan Hall this generation's Joan Benoit Samuelson? Chicago drops pacemakers, we remember Steve Jones's magical 1985 run, and great advice from legendary coach Joe Newton.
*MB: Ryan Hall=Joan Benoit Samuelson?

Elite Distance News: Sunday’s Amsterdam Marathon Is Stacked

Two-Time World Marathon Champion Abel Kirui Trying To Get Back On Top In Amsterdam On Sunday 33-year-old Kirui has struggled in recent years with a stress fracture in 2013 and DNF at Boston 2015, but thinks he’s in shape to challenge his 2:05:04 PR from 2009.
Amsterdam Preview: Abel Kirui Vs. Defending Champ Bernard Kipyego And CR Holder Wilson Chebet (2:05:27) Also Tsegaye Mekonnen (2:04:32), Jonathan Maiyo (2:04:56), Markos Geneti (2:04:54), Dadi Yami (2:05:41), Feyisa Bekele (2:06:26) and Eliud Tarus (debut – 60:04 half).
Berlin Marathon Champ Gladys Cherono Victim Of Social Media Impersonator Someone started a fake Facebook account using her name and tried to raise funds for “charity.”
RunningTimes Q&A With New Mexico Coach Joe Franklin After some key international recruits and transfers, the women Lobos have been ranked #1 all year. They’ll get to prove that this Friday at the Wisconsin Invitational.
Sara Hall Shares Her Chicago Marathon GPS/Heart Rate Data She says that in the first half she was “running with a good pack of guys” but struggled to keep pace when she was left on her own the second half of the race.
Alexi Pappas Blogs About Training With Her “Biggest Role Model In Sport And Life,” Deena Kastor, In Mammoth Lakes Last Month Pappas said she gained a lot of confidence and insight from training with Kastor and even watching her train.

Miscellaneous Stuff

Singer Alicia Keys Latest Celebrity To Announce They’re Running The NYC Marathon
Carrie Tollefson Video: 5 Tips For Running With Your Dog
Vin Lannana Satisfied With IAAF’s Latest Visit To The World Indoor Facility At The Oregon Convention Center In Portland Allyson Felix, Ben Blankenship and Jason Richardson were on hand to voice their support for the meet, saying they all hope to be there competing.

Jamaican Sprint News

Usain Bolt Is Happy To Be Back In Training After His Post-Season “Vacation” He plans on making a big push this year to break his 200m WR and get under 19 seconds.
*2nd Article Bolt: “I’m starting the season in a much better shape than I did the last one, so it is only forward from here.”
Actor Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon) Is A Big Usain Bolt Fan “The area that he covers in a short period of time. It’s amazing. It’s poetry, it’s beautiful to watch. Poetry in motion.”
Kaliese Spencer Talks On Decision To Leave MVP Track Club And Coach Stephen Francis “I don’t think that I was needed any longer (at the club), put it that way … I just believe I was like an outcast really.”

2015 BOA Chicago Was Sunday *Results

LRC: Dickson Chumba & Florence Kiplagat Win, Americans Luke Puskedra And Elkanah Kibet Impress, Deena Gets Masters Record (updated) A great day on the streets of Chicago as two non-rabbited races ended with exciting finishes. Dickson Chumba (2:09:25) and Florence Kiplagat (2:23:33) made it a Kenyan sweep as Americans Luke Puskedra, Elkanah Kibet, Deena Kastor and Sara Hall all cemented themselves as contenders for an Olympic spot come the Trials in February.

Deena Kastor On Shooting For Sub-5:40 Miles: “I remember at mile 23 I was struggling, and I was like, ‘Please don’t let it be 7-minute pace.’ I looked down and it was still 5:38.”
Chicago Tribune Recap RD Carey Pinkowski tells Kenyans who had a problem with no pacers they can go to Berlin next year.
RRW Recap: Some Top Kenyan Men Not Thrilled With The Lack Of Pacers Puskedra: “With 10-K to go, just get on the pony and ride. I was all-out, I think. I imagined myself to be Usain Bolt, but probably looked like Luke Puskedra out there.”
Fionnuala Britton Puts Her Name In Contention For Irish Olympic Spot With A 2:33:15 Qualifying Time She ran 2:31:46 in her debut last year, but it wasn’t within the Olympic qualifying window.
“Celebrity” Results From Chicago Running 3:11:27 was Sarah Attar, who in 2012 became one of the first Saudi Arabian women to compete in the Olympics.
InsideTheGames: Chicago Blends Pace And Competition
Paramedic Revives Chicago Runner Who Had A Heart Attack

On The Boards:

Upcoming

Preview: Japan University Ekiden Season Kicks Off Today With The Izumo Ekiden
Oct. 18: 10 Sub-60:00 Men Will Line Up For The Valencia Half On October 18th World XC silver medalist Bedan Karoki leads field that includes Abraham Cheroben (58:48), doper Matthew Kisorio and Leonard Komon.

More Chicago News

Thursday
LRC What We Learned In Chicago On Thursday: Chicago Cares Deeply About What LetsRun Visitors Think, A Superstar Pulls Out, Joan Benoit’s 30th Anniversary Run May Not Happen, And The Secret To Running A Marathon Every Year For Nearly 40 Years Get the inside scoop from the Windy City.

Recommended Read: Phil Hersh: Chicago Favorite Sammy Kitwara Is A Kenyan Defying All The Stereotypes – “A great talent, with a late start.” 1) He’s from the Rift Valley lowlands 2) He didn’t start running until after HS. “I saw people from Eldoret running on television and I became interested,” Kitwara said. “So I went to Eldoret to try and started training slowly, slowly.”
Recommended Read: Q&A With Sara Hall, Who Is Excited For A Chance At Marathon Redemption In Chicago And Excited To Be A New Mom X 4 During her first week as a mom, she banged out a 115-mile week.
RRW Joan Benoit Samuelson Celebrates 30th Anniversary Of Record Run In Chicago
Joan Benoit Samuelson Reflects On Her Epic 1985 Chicago Marathon Win “It wasn’t until after the marathon that I said to myself, ‘Man, I should’ve gone for a sub-2:20 marathon’ because I was so close given the way I was feeling. I intentionally left something in the tank.”
An Interesting Brief Chat With Kenyan Marathoner Wesley Korir, Who Is Racing Sunday “(Humans) are born to complain.”

USATF Critics – Read This

Important USATF Politics: Take A Look At David Greifinger’s Proposed Changes So USATF Won’t Be Able To Screw The Likes Of Bob Hersh In The Future

Sprint /Jump News

Recommended Read: Aries Merritt Is Recovering Nicely From His Kidney Transplant And Is On The Mend Dave Hunter catches up with the WR holder who is recovering nicely from his kidney transplant.
Spikes Mag Profiles US Hurdles Sensation – 20-Year-Old Shamier Little Distance fans, we suggest you read this as Little is a stud and will be a star on NBC’s Summer Olympic coverage in 2016.
Parole Board Meets In Oscar P Case, Says It Won’t Announce Anything Until Next Week As It Wants To Hear Back From His Dead Girlfriend’s Family How could they possibly want him out on the streets?
Meet Lesotho 200 NR Holder (20.36) Mosito Lehata

Should The NY DL Be Moved To Philly?

$3 Million Complete Renovation Of UPenn Track Is Complete And Penn Relays Director Dave Johnson Dreams They Someday Will Host A DL Event We think it would be a much better venue for a DL event than Randall’s Island.
Penn Relays Steeple Pit Has Been Moved To The Center Of The Track *Photos Of Penn Renovation

Big Sprint News: New Balance!? Gets Into The Sprint Game

LRC Baylor’s Trayvon Bromell Goes Pro With New Balance (Updated) A big signing for New Balance as it gets into the sprint game, locking up the services of the world junior record holder and the future of American sprinting. Also big for Ricky Simms (Bromell’s new agent) as he’ll stay in the sprint game after Usain Bolt retires.
*MB: Trayvon Bromell signs with New Balance
Bromell And Agent Ricky Simms Talk About His Decision To Sign With New Balance Bromell: “In a moment like this, it’s a 50-50 chance if you decide to go back to school. You could get injured and your value would drop. We felt like the opportunity was in our face.”
Sally Pearson Considered Retiring After Injury This Year, But Was Inspired To Keep Going By Text Message From Aussie Cyclist Anna Meares Meares fractured her neck at a race in 2008, but came back to win gold in 2012.
Upcoming Sprinter Natasha Morrison Adds To The List Of Jamaicans Who Have Left MVP To Join Asafa Powell’s Group In Texas Morrison was lead-off leg for Jamaica’s gold medal-winning 4 x 100 team in Beijing, but was reportedly asked to leave MVP.

European News: UK Racewalker Comes Out As Gay

Racewalker Tom Bosworth Is First British Track Athlete To Comes Out As Gay He said everyone, including Mo Farah, was very supportive, but that when he was a teenager in school he was verbally abused and once had his head smashed through a window.
UK Sprinter Richard Kilty Has Been Without A Coach For The Last Year Since Rana Reider Left British Athletes “There’s not even a coach in the country that I can go to that would suit me or is at the level to coach me.”
Dafne Schippers, Jessica Ennis And Hammer Thrower Anita Wlodarczyk Are The Three Finalists For Euro Athlete Of The Year Award

Big Paydays For Two US Steeplers

MB: Max King And Bridget Franek Win Warrior Dash 5k World Titles And $30,000 The Warrior Dash, a 5k obstacle race, is perfectly suited for steeplers, who are crazy enough to do it and fast and athletic enough to dominate it.

Monday – US Road 10k *Results

LRCThe Molly Huddle Show Rolls On With 31:21 Win At USATF Road 10K Champs In Boston

Huddle earned her fourth USATF Running Circuit victory in the last five weeks, adding the 10k crown to the 20k, 5k and 10-mile crowns she claimed earlier this year. Her training partner Emily Sisson celebrated her 24th birthday by taking second while 2014 USA track 10,000 champ Kim Conley was the third American (fourth overall). Plus the return to action for Joan Benoit Samuelson.
*MB: Molly Huddle does it again – She just dominated Tufts Health Plan 10k for Women – 31:21 FTW!
*RRW: Huddle Wins Tufts 10-K In Event Record 31:21

Random US Distance Stuff

Video: Exciting Finish As High Schooler Kicks For The Wrong Finish Line And Has To Rally To Try To Come From Behind
Scary: Jogger Gets “Hacked To Death” In Dallas By Former Texas A&M Football Player Police are saying it was a completely random act of violence.
NCAA DI Athletes Of The Week Are UMass Lowell’s Robert Allen And Boston College’s Laura Hottenrott They each won their respective races at the New England XC Championships.
Couple Stops At Mile 8 During Chicago Marathon To Get Married
Japan: Japan Running News: Aoyama Gakuin University Smashes Izumo Ekiden Course Record

European News

Shortlist For Euro Men’s Athlete Of The Year Down To Three Mo Farah, LJer Greg Rutherford or Russian hurdler Sergey Shubenkov.
Former UK Sprinter Donna Fraser Announced As Next UKA Vice President

Non-Chicago Weekend Action *Full NCAA Results

Daniel Salel, Mary Wacera Win BAA Half Marathon Crowns And 2015 BAA Distance Medley Crowns $30,000 for both of them for a little over an hour’s work.
Paul Chelimo Edges Nicholas Kipruto In Army Ten Miler They were both clocked at 48:19, but Chelimo got the nod. Shadrack Kipchirchir was a close 3rd in 48:20. Tina Muir won the women’s race in 55:20. *Results
Max King Takes Home 30 Grand For Winning Warrior Dash World Championship
Texas A&M Men And Women Sweep Houston Baptist Open
Ryan Dohner And Marion Kandie Capture Great Halloween Race 10K Titles

International Road / XC Results

Kenya’s Stephen Chebogut Wins Eindhoven Marathon In 2:05:52 Over Deriba Robi (2:05:58) And Mark Kiptoo (2:06:00) Belgium’s Els Rens won the women’s race (2:38:16). *Results
Gladys Chesire Runs World Lead In ASICS Grand 10 Berlin, Joshua Cheptegei Breaks Ugandan 10K Record Despite Windy Conditions Chesire won in 30:41 while Cheptegei ran 27:50 to break Moses Kipsiro‘s NR by 2 seconds. Steepler Paul Kipsiele Koech made his road debut with a 6th place finish in 28:25.
World XC Bronze Medalist Muktar Edris Wins Giro Al Sas 10K In Italy Edris ran 28:46 to win over Edwin Soi and Thomas Longosiwa.
Yuki Kawauchi Wins Kitakami Marathon In 2:13:21 This year, Kawauchi has been dealing with injury issues and sub-par running, but post-race he said: “This is the first time in a long time that I’ve been able to run like myself. This was a good race.”
Kenyans Stephen Ogari And Nancy Kimaiyo Win Paris 20K
Former Africa XC Champ Caroline Chepkoech And Nicodemus Kipkirui Win Ndalat Gaa XC Meet I n Kenya

Random: Bolt Vs. Powell – Who’s Better Looking?

LRC Video: Usain Bolt And Asafa Powell Argue Over Who Is Better Looking The competition between these two sprinters is taken off track as an online poll settles their debate.
Running For Children: How Far Is Too Far? A lot of cautionary messages about kids running and training for long distances, but no studies have examined long term effects. However, a UK professor of pediatric sport and exercise says that optimal activity for kids is high intensity and sporadic, rather than moderate and chronic.
Haile Gebreselassie Encourages African Sports Stars To Invest Their Money Wisely At Home He’d like athletes to invest in Africa and create jobs to give back to their country.
Nick Symmonds’ Run Gum Company Celebrates Its One-Year Anniversary

Chicago Race Previews

LRC Women’s Preview: Who Wins & Will A 40+ Woman Be The Top American? HM WR holder Florence Kiplagat, Tokyo champ Birhane Dibaba and ’14 Dubai champ Mulu Seboka are the favorites. The battle for top American is wide open as 42-year-old Deena Kastor goes for the US masters record (2:28:40) against 40-year-old US marathon champ Blake Russell and Sara Hall. Then there is ageless wonder, 58-year-old Joan Benoit Samuelson, who will try to run within 30 minutes of her 2:21 winning time 30 years ago.
*MB: Liza Hunter-Galvan running Chicago Marathon
*Ireland’s Fionnuala McCormack (Britton) is also in field

Sammy Kitwara (l), Wesley Korir and Abera Kuma (r). LRC Men’s Preview: Will Sammy Kitwara Arrive As An Abbott World Marathon Major Winner? 2014 2nd and 3rd placers Sammy Kitwara and Dickson Chumba – both of whom set personal bests here a year ago – will be in the field to tackle Tokyo champ Endeshaw Negesse, Rotterdam champ Abera Kuma and ’12 Boston champ Wesley Korir. The U.S. pros are led by 2:11 man Fernando Cabada and former Oregon star Luke Puskedra (61:36 half PR) as the headliners.

Is Usain Bolt A Legend & Will He Compete In 2017?

Usain Bolt: “If I go to the Olympics and win (again), I will feel comfortable saying to anyone I’m a legend.” He says he’s not comfortable saying that now. We disagree.
Usain Bolt Says He Should Do Worlds In 2017 But Doesn’t 100% Commit To It How could he possibly be motivated to go for another year if he wins triple gold (again) at the Olympics? London $$$ is the only answer.
Future Legend? After 60-Mile Weeks This Summer, CA State Champ Austin Tamagno Is Ready To Rock His Senior Year The team XC state title is what the 3:46 guy (5th at Foot Locker) wants most.

Video Of The Week? Czech Hockey Goalie Celebrates Win With On-Ice Track And Field Display He attempted the javelin, shot put and hammer throw using his goalie equipment.

WADA Reports That Positive Tests “Down By 10%” Despite Increased Testing In 2014 Are fewer athletes cheating or just more getting away with it? WADA director general David Howman said even though only 1.36% of samples came back positive, more than 10% of athletes could be doping. *2nd Article

Rio 2016 Cuts Budget By 30 Percent Amid Brazilian Economic Crisis

Doping Videos

Sports Gene 2.0? Video: “DNA Editing: Doping Of The Future?” Will WADA have to eventually test athletes for “gene editing”?
Tori Bowie And Adam Nelson Appearing In Anti-Doping Documentary: “Doped: The Dirty Side Of Sports” The documentary airs Thursday on EPIX at 10:30PM. Nelson will talk about how he finally got his 2004 gold medal from the IOC nine years afterwards in the Atlanta airport food court.

News From Down Under

Recommended Read: The Story Behind Peter Norman, The White Guy In The Black Power Salute Photo With John Carlos And Tommie Smith At The 1968 Olympics You might assume that the white sprinter in the iconic photo is just a bystander, but he actually was taking party by wearing an “Olympic human rights” badge and fought against Apartheid laws. Norman suffered in Australia for his beliefs, but became friends with Carlos and Smith, who ended up being pallbearers as his funeral in 2006.
Sally Pearson Says She’s Back On Track For Rio 2016 After Nasty Arm Break “I’ve been training while they’ve been competing. I’m running already and training quite hard. It’s been intense.”
IAAF Personal Bests Q&A With Australian Racewalker Jared Tallent Tallent says his best friend in athletics is his wife, who is also an elite racewalker.

Olympic Stuff

WADA President Craig Reedie Says Any Athletes Denied Medals By Drug Cheats At 2016 Olympics Will Get Their Own Special Medal Ceremonies Later On
Petition Unveiled Campaigning Against Skateboarding Being Added To The Olympic Program You might assume it’s people who are anti-skateboarding, however, the petition was actually started by grassroots skateboarders who don’t want to see it “exploited and transformed to fit into the Olympic program.”
UN Accuses Brazilian Police Of “Killing Children” In An Attempt To “Clean Up” Image For The Rio Olympics
London Legacy Group Will Cover Costs Of Staff At 2012 Olympic Stadium Rather Than West Ham Soccer Team West Ham rents the stadium from owners LLDC so LLDC (therefore, some fear taxpayers) will pay for staff and upkeep.

Pre-Chicago News

LRC The Inside Scoop On The 2015 Chicago Marathon – Meet The LetsRun.com Longshot, Discover The Secrets To The Fountain Of Youth, And Have We Found The Solution To The Sport’s Doping Problems? (link live, updated with photos) The pre-race media day was full of interesting things and we recap 14 of the most interesting for you as we talk to Joanie, Deena, Fernando, Sammy, Lucas, Luke (new dad), Sara (new mom), Sarah, and many others.

Outside Coverage

Joan Benoit Samuelson Not Running Chicago Due To Lingering Effects Of Illness More On Samuelson from the pre-race press conference.
Free History Lesson I: Larry Eder Recaps The Career Of Joan Benoit Samuelson In Chicago As she went from 2:50 in her first marathon all the way down to 2:21, the tough-as-nails Joanie helped women’s running arrive on the scene.
Free History Lesson II: Larry Eder Looks At The Life And Career Of Chicago Race Director Carey Pinkowski From sub-9 in HS to a collegiate career at ‘Nova, he was a good runner but a much better race director.
Not Sure Why Hardly Anyone Is Talking About This Guy As He Was Better Than Joanie 30 Years Ago
Where Are They Now? STEVE JONES By Athletics Weekly 30 years ago, he set the still-standing British record of 2:07:13 in Chicago after going out in a ridiculous 61:42.
*LRC Archives: MB: How tough was Steve Jones ?
*MB: Steve Jones on running today
*MB: Video of 1985 Chicago marathon Steve Jones and Joanie v Ingrid
*Great Read: 1985 Copy Of The Runner, Where Don Kardong Recapped 1985 Chicago Marathon With Steve Jones And Joanie
Phil Hersh: Marathon Champion Thinks Eliminating Pacers Could Slow Doping
RRW: Without Pacemakers, 2015 Bank Of America Chicago Marathon Becomes Wide Open Race

More Road News

Recommended Read: After Briefly Quitting Running And Gaining 23 Pounds, Luke Puskedra Is Heading To Chicago Looking To PR After a disappointing 2:28 debut in NYC, Puskedra lost his Nike contract and thought about being a car salesman or contractor. Thankfully, Andy Powell convinced him to give running another shot and he ran 2:15 at Grandmas.
Belgian 1,500 Runner Tarik Moukrime Wins His First Race Back After He Was Diagnosed With Testicular Cancer Last Year The 3:35 man won a 10K in Belgium in 30:50.
Many Runners Discouraged After Missing Getting Into Boston By Mere Seconds One said, “I thought I had made it for a full year. I planned my whole life around it.”
Actor Ethan Hawke To Run 2015 TCS New York City Marathon He’s running with his wife for charity.
Chris Derrick And Alexi Pappas To Take Part In Lead Vehicle Program At NYC Marathon Like many US elites have in the past before making their debuts, they ride in the back of the lead car watching the race.

Brojos And LRC Get Some Praise

LRC LetsRun.com Founders Robert And Weldon Johnson Named As Two Of “The 50 Most Influential People In Running” By Runner’s World LRC’s founders Robert Johnson and Weldon Johnson (Brojos) are among the 50 most influential people in running according to Runner’s World thanks to you. RW had high praise for the LRC audience, saying the Brojos are the “masterminds behind perhaps the most engaged online community of runners.”
*MB: The 50 Most Influential People in Running – wejo and rojo made the list!

The Integrity Of The Sport Is At Stake – Mike Rossi Is A Marathon Cheat And Should Have Been DQed From The 2014 Lehigh Valley Marathon

Lehigh Valley Got It Wrong: The Evidence Is Conclusive: Mike Rossi – The Viral Boston Marathon Dad – Is A Marathon Cheat And Should Never Have Been On The Starting Line In Boston In April, Mike Rossi gained international fame for his snarky response to a letter from his kids’ principal scolding him for taking them out of school for several days to watch Boston. A LetsRun.com investigation has revealed that Rossi’s principal was correct, the kids should never have been in Boston as the evidence is conclusive – their father didn’t legitimately qualify for the 2015 Boston Marathon. How confident are we that Rossi cut the course when he “ran” his 3:11:45 BQ qualifier at Lehigh Valley? Extremely. We’ll pay Mike Rossi $10,000 if he qualifies again in the next 12 months – and the qualifying time is 13+ minutes slower – 3:25.
*MB: Did Mike Rossi (viral marathon dad) cheat his way into Boston?