Quote Of The Day

“I have already had some thoughts and believe that we need to do the following, in the strict confidence and control within a small circle of senior IAAF staff only. This must be very secret. … ‘unofficially’ PR campaign to ensure that we avoid international media scandals related to the Moscow Championships especially in the British press, where the worst of the articles are coming from. This will require specialist PR skills (working only with me directly) from London, but I believe that if we consider using CSM we can also benefit from Seb’s political influence in the UK. It is in his personal interest to ensure that the Moscow World Champs is a success.”

“Finally, I need to be able to sit down with the Anti-doping department and understand exactly what Russian ‘skeleton’ we have still in the cupboard regarding doping. I think that the time to have unveiled the various athletes was a long time ago and that now we need to be smart. These athletes, of course, should NOT be part of any Russian team for these World Championships and Valentin should be pressured to make sure this is the case. If the guilty ones are not competing, then we might as well wait until the event is over to announce them. Or, we announce one or two BUT AT SAME TIME as athletes from other countries. Also, we can prepare a special dossier on IAAF testing which will show that one of reasons why these Russian athletes come up positive is that they get tested a lot!!! … I will do everything in my power to protect the IAAF and the President.”

– IAAF deputy general secretary and Seb Coe‘s chief of staff, Nick Davies, in a 2013 email to then marketing consultant Papa Masita Diack, about a “secret plan” to delay naming Russian dopers until after the 2013 World Championships to lessen the blow they’d face in the media.

2015 LRC Year-End Rankings

Genzebe Dibaba Runs 3:50.07 for 1500mLRC Women’s 1500: Genzebe Dibaba Reigns Supreme; Rowbury Nips Simpson for US #1 There was no doubt who was the world #1 this year as Genzebe Dibaba had the greatest season ever for a women’s 1500 runner. The battle for US #1 was more interesting as both Shannon Rowbury and Jenny Simpson had strong years.

Simpson, shown here winning at Pre in May, will look to keep her hot streak at 1500 goingLRC Jenny Simpson Says Her Rivalry With Shannon Rowbury Is Good For Both Them And The Sport, Is Disappointed Lost Shoe Cost Her Opportunity For Medal at Worlds Simpson: “I was in the shape of my life [at Worlds]…Ultimately, the run in Beijing was a heartbreaker for me. I put other priorities aside and put them all lower down the priority list for the sake of doing well in Beijing, so it was a real disappointment to not be able to race to my fitness there.”

Kiprop-Wins-2015-WorldsLRC Men’s 1500/Mile: Asbel Kiprop Claims #1 Spot After a Year for the Ages; Centro Is Tops Among US Men The men’s 1500 may be the best event in all of track and field and yet Asbel Kiprop continues to find at way to get the job done. Is he now the GOAT? It also was a good year for Nick Willis, Matthew Centrowitz and Ben Blankenship.

 

Prep News

Doping Updates

Disturbing/Not Disturbing News

Disturbing Senegalese Govt. Has Started Arresting Journalists For Reporting On The £1m Lamine Diack Allegedly Sought From Russians

Not Disturbing Whistleblowers Yulia Stepanova And Vitaly Stepanov Have Been Named As Ambassadors For A New Fair Play Programme Unveiled By The Organisers Of The Weltklasse Zürich Diamond League Meeting Precise details are still being drawn up, but it will include a forum on “moral courage” with representatives of various industries.

It’s A Real Slow Weekend In Terms Of Actual Competition

American Distance Stars In The News

Sprints/Jumps/Throws News

Interesting US News

Say It Ain’t So

LRCDid Mike Rossi - The Viral Marathon Dad - Try To Cheat LetsRun.com Out Of $10,000 On Saturday?

Has Mike Rossi cut yet another course, this time in an attempt to win $10,000 from LetsRun.com?
*MB: Did Mike Rossi (viral marathon dad) cheat his way into Boston?

Book Review – The Animal Keepers Is Certainly A Keeper

LRC Book Review"The Animal Keepers" By Donn Behnke - A Terrific Tale Of What It Means To Be A Team

We highly recommend this book - hell, we call it "a triumph" - by Chris Solinsky's high school coach, Donn Behnke. Purchase here. 5 out 5 stars.

2015 LRC Year-End Rankings

LRC Men’s 800: David Rudisha Reclaims His Crown; Boris Berian Tops U.S. List David Rudisha lost the most races of his pro career this year but he’s our #1. We tell you why. How could we possibly rank Boris Berian as the US #1 when he didn’t even make the final at USAs? Because Nick Symmonds told us to.

Symmonds put on a show to win his sixth U.S. title in JuneLRC Nick Symmonds Has No Regrets, Says His Season Played Out “Absolutely Perfectly” Symmonds: “Realistically could I have beaten Rudisha? I’m not totally sure….I absolutely believe I could have been in there for a silver or a bronze.”

LRC Women’s 800: Eunice Sum Is #1 Again; Alysia Montaño Returns To Top Of U.S. Rankings Eunice Sum nabs the top spot as the only race she lost all year was Worlds. Our US #1 Alysia Montaño cracks the world top 10.

More Russian Doping Updates

Only 4.5 Years Until Tokyo 2020

A Slow Racing Weekend

Congratulations, You (The LetsRun.com Visitor) Have Now Been Featured In A Major National Magazine

mergedoutsideOutside Magazine Goes Gaga Over LetsRun.com’s Forum Posters – “LetsRun.com’s web vigilantes are some of the Internet’s most tenacious sleuths. Cheat at your own peril.” We’ve always said the visitors to this site are a) very smart and b) our greatest asset. This feature proves it.
*MB: Congrats. LetsRun.com messageboarders (‘web vigilantes’) get feature in Outside Magazine
*MB: Did Mike Rossi (viral marathon dad) cheat his way into Boston?

5 Recommended Reads

LRC Thanks Its Best Partners In 2015

Meter Magazine: The Perfect Holiday Gift If you’re looking for a holiday gift, what about a subscription to Meter, a running magazine you actually want to read. The founders of Tracksmith (makers of premium performance running apparel) wondered what happened to the inspirational stories of our sport and its heroes and Meter was born. Meter is something you’ll want to read and keep. Get a subscription today.

Week That Was

LRCThe High School Season Ends With A Bang At Foot Lockers, The Dallas Marathon Impresses, Galen Rupp Blitzes A Holiday Half, Bill Walton & Meb, And Ryan Hall's Olympic Chances

The high school season came to a close with a bang at Foot Lockers, Galen Rupp ran a really good half marathon at a holiday fun run, while the rest of the American pros congregated at the Dallas Marathon for the most impressive American starting line of the year. A holiday treat.

From Tragedy To Triumph

LRC Feature The Miracle In The Black Hills: A Coach, A Fallen Teammate And A Season For The Ages In July, Black Hills State’s Gage McSpadden was struck by lightning and tragically killed at the age of 21. The team’s dream of a first-ever NCAA appearance, one that McSpadden had guaranteed, appeared to be shot. No one will ever forget how they responded.

NCAA Photos Galore *D1 Men’s Race (514 Photos) *D1 Women’s Race (486 Photos) *D1 Banquet *D1 Post-Race *DIII Men (257 Photos) *DIII Women (185 Photos)

Distance Odds ‘N’ Ends

International Distance News

2015 In Review

It Always Feels Good Be Honored/Profiled

Famous UK Track Photographer Mark Shearman Talks About His Life Behind The Sporting Lens Japan Times profiles Shearman with nearly 2,000 words on the man who has produced over 1,000 Athletics Weekly cover shots. Shearman has photographed 13 Olympics, starting at Tokyo 1964 and says he’s working through Tokyo 2020.

Nike To Honor Ashton Eaton With Limited-Edition Gold Version Of Nike Lunar Caldra It comes out on December 26. Eaton thinks he can run anything from the 100 to the marathon in the shoe.

5-Time World XC Medalist And Irish Marathon NR Holder Catherina McKiernan Honored With Outstanding Contribution To Women’s Sport Award She ran 2:22:23 in 1997.

Track Corruption = Regime Change In Africa?

LRC Report: Lamine Diack Has Confessed To Seeking 1.5 Million Euros From Russian Athletics Federation; Has Admitted That The IAAF Intentionally Slowed Doping Cases Involving Russian Athletes The IAAF corruption case just got weirder as French newspaper Le Monde reports that Diack told French police he needed the money to fund opposition to Senegal’s then-president, Abdoulaye Wade, during the country’s 2012 elections. *Guardian
*Senegal Govt. Denies Russian Funding Claim
*MB: Diack confesses to soliciting bribes from Russia 

Thursday News Of Note

Important Doping News

Cross-Country News Of Note

Here We Go Again?

Olympic Trials LogoLRC USATF Releases Qualifying Standards For 2016 OIympic Track And Field Trials – Will We Have Yet Another Controversy As A Result? The Olympic Trials standards are out and we’re already worried there may be a huge controversy next summer. USATF’s guidelines only list an “approximate field size” and USATF had told LetsRun.com that the “sport chairs have the option to fill it out to that field size if they wish.” That’s ridiculous. Make it clear now.

International News

Will Rupp Run The Trials?

MB: Galen Rupp solo 1:01:20 half marathon in Portland
*Rupp Says He Hasn’t Made A Decision About The 2016 Olympic Marathon Trials “I’m keeping my options open … I’m not sure what I’ll do.”
*LRC Will Galen Rupp Do The Olympic Marathon Trials?

Sunday Dallas Marathon Duo To Rio Relay Presented by AT&T

relayLRC The Greatest American Starting Line Of 2015 Was In Dallas For The Marathon Relays: Meb, Deena, Ryan Hall, Leo, Centro, Molly And More, Video And Recap What a star-studded field in Dallas. Interviews with Ryan Hall, Abdi, Chelanga, Ward, Puskedra, Leo, Centro, Robby, Ryan Hill, and Deena, Bersagel, and Becky Wade.
More LRC: Leo, Centro, Ryan Hill, And Robby Andrews Talk Mid-D, Pro Sports And World Indoors After Dallas Relays Good news for track fans as all 4 want to do World Indoors.
*Becky Wade TV Profile Her mom says, “If you had asked me the most athletic of my children, Becky would not be at the top of that list.”

Did You Not Get All Your Gifts On Black Friday And Cyber Monday? We Have A Solution For You

LRC Book Review"Two Hours" By Ed Caesar - A Wonderful Book Worthy Of 5 Stars And One We Consider "The Definitive Book On The Modern Elite Marathon"

Looking for a great Christmas present? We have a suggestion. Ed Caesar's new book Two Hours covers everything you would want to know about the marathon, from its roots in ancient Greek lore all the way up to the establishment of big-money major-city marathons in the late 20th century. It includes incredible behind-the-scenes access of Geoffrey Mutai in 2011 when he destroyed the course records in both Boston and New York. 5 out 5 stars.

 Banquet Photos (Click For Gallery)