Quote Of The Day
– Excerpt from former Stanford runner Robert Coe‘s book, “JOCK: A Memoir of the Counterculture,” where Coe explains the purpose running serves in his life. LRC’s Jonathan Gault gives it 4.5 out of 5 stars in his review. You can buy Jock and support LetsRun.com and the author in the process here.
- Did you know that Tennessee had to pay out $300,000 for Peyton Manning shoving his balls in the face of a women's trainer? An XC runner supported the trainer in the lawsuit.
- What if you qualified for the Trials, but your wife asked you not to go because of Valentine's Day?
- Reid Coolsaet busts the myth that Kenyans don't get tested out of comp (But Not Really)
- Matt Damon Ran A Half Marathon Last Sunday
- Hot trials... A weather certainty
- My fastest distance runner donated blood today.
- 17 year-old Aussie 8:06
- Kenya open to possibility of not sending athletes to Rio over Zika
LRC Book Review
LRCBook Review: "JOCK: A Memoir Of The Counterculture" By Robert Coe - An Engaging Journey Of Running And Self-Discovery At Stanford In The '60s And '70s
What was it like to be a Stanford runner from 1968 to 1972, during the height of the counterculture? Coe tells you and and nothing is off limits. Coe's stories range from racing Gerry Lindgren and Steve Prefontaine in the legendary 1969 PAC-8 XC Champs to smoking weed with the Stanford football team and Olympic swimmers at his fraternity house. Though his running career was ultimately not successful, this book certainly is. It's getting great reviews on amazon and we agree, giving it 4.5 out of 5 stars. Purchase here.
Post-Weekend NCAA News
- Event-By-Event Top 10 NCAA Marks From The Weekend Not already mentioned on our home page include VA Tech’s Thomas Curtin (7:55.73), Penn State’s Isaiah Harris (1:47.31), Georgetown’s Sabrina Southerland (2:03.10), Michigan’s Shannon Osika (4:34.34).
- Florida And Texas A&M Stay 1-2 In Latest NCAA Men’s Rankings Texas dropped from 3rd to 5th.
- Arkansas Stays Ranked #1 As Top 7 Women’s Teams Remain Unchanged In Updated DI Rankings
Super Bowl L On The Boards
- OFFICIAL Super Bowl XXXXX (50) Discussion Thread
- Lost a lot of respect for Cam Newton
- Anyone else going for a run during the Super bowl?
- How many NFL players can tempo 6 miles at 5:30 pace?
- One more day and the football season is OVER! Thank you God.
- Going to a dry, vegan Super Bowl party…what should I bring?
- Super Bowl Sunday: The day America celebrates football – and brain damage
- Annoying superbowl halftime show framerate? Is it just me or is it choppy?
Weekend Jump News
IAAF Indoor Round-Up:US’s Demi Payne Moves To #3 All-Time In The Pole Vault With 4.88m Elsewhere, US’s Sandi Morris set a 4.80m PR, Greece’s World bronze medalist Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou cleared 4.75m and Italian HJer Gianmarco Tamberi got a 2.33m victory.- Yelena Isinbayeva Will Miss The Indoor Season Due To Achilles Injury She was due to compete at a Russian domestic meet this weekend.
International Track News *Full Karlsruhe Results
Karlsruhe, Germany: Adam Kszczot Runs 1:45.96 To Win 800 Over Pierre-Ambroise BosseAugustine Choge (7:43) beat a good 3K field including Yomif Kejelcha, Caleb Ndiku and Yenew Alamriew. In the jumps, Renaud Lavillenie beat Shawn Barber despite ankle injury and Cuba’s Alexis Copello set a TJ WL (16.99m).- Ethiopian World Indoor Silver Medalist Axumawit Embaye Sets 1,500m WL With 4:08.22 As Top 5 Break 4:09 In the sprints there were WLs for Dafne Schippers and Mike Rodgers in the 60m and US’s Keni Harrison in the 60H.
*MB:Mary Cain 2nd-To-Last Place In Germany In 4:20.73 - Greg Rutherford Breaks British Indoor LJ Record With 8.18m
- Polish Shot Putter Michal Haratyk Has Huge Breakthrough Performance To Win Lodz Perdro’s Cup In A WLing 21.35m He had an upset win over a field that included 2-time Olympic champ Tomasz Majewski.
- IAAF Weekend Round-Up:Aries Merritt Wins 60H In Albuquerque In 7.77 Seconds At the Portland House of Track meet, Allyson Felix opened her season with a 60m victory in 7.24 seconds, .01 ahead of English Gardner.
The High School Record Books Take A Beating
Vashti Cunningham Sets High School HJ Record With 6-4.75 Clearance She beat former World silver medalist Chaunte Lowe.- Sophomore Mondo Duplantis Clears 18-.50 (5.50m) To Break The High School National Pole Vault Record*Video
- Brian Heron Runs 400m High School Freshman Record With 47.39 Herron took his record back from Tyrese Cooper, who broke Herron’s original mark last month. *Video
A Star With A Full-Time Job
RRW Despite Working Full Time Job With Canon, Nicole Tully Is The Reigning US 5,000 Champion And Olympic Hopeful The Villanova grad will be looking to turn the tables on Jordan Hasay in Saturday’s Amory Track Invitational.
Drew Hunter’s Training Exposed
LRC Meet The Elementary School PE Teacher Who Is The Mastermind Behind America’s Greatest Prep Distance Runner Tom Schwartz (aka “Tinman” on the message boards) has a training philosophy that is LetsRun.com approved. Will it help Hunter break 4 on Saturday? *Schedule / Results / Streaming
*MB:Get the inside scoop on Drew Hunter’s training – LetsRun’s feature on Tom “Tinman” Schwartz
Administrative News
- 2016 USA Indoor Tickets Now On Sale – USATF Indoor Tickets Start At Just $5
- IOC President Thomas Bach Proud Of Brazil’s Efforts Despite Challenges
- Not Good London 2017 World Championships In Chaos As Two Key Board Members Quit As They Are Disgusted By The Way The Champs Are Being Run By UK Athletics’ Top 2 OfficialsEd Warner and Niels De Vos seem to be pissing a lot of people off. A source says, “It’s hard to ascertain whether the board are taking decisions in the interest of the Championships rather than in the interest of UKA.”
- British Athletes Issued With Key Zika Virus Guidance Before Rio Olympics Infected men can give it to women through semen in the first 28 days.
- BAA Buys Office Building That It Had Been Leasing For $1.2 Million Right By Marathon Start
- Canadian XC Skier Beckie Scott Doesn’t Understand Why Other Sports In Russia Like Skiing Aren’t Also Being Banned WADA didn’t have the authority to look into anything but track, but the doping likely impacts all sports, says the 2002 gold medalist, who initially finished 3rd behind to Russians booted for EPO.
2016 World Indoors Are Next Month
LRCWorld Indoors Is Less Than Seven Weeks Away; Which Americans Have The Standard? A number of Americans have the standard in the 1,500 and 3,000, but only two men (Boris Berian and Donavan Brazier) and three women (Ajee Wilson, Treniere Moser and Charlene Lipsey) have it in the 800.
The 2016 US Olympic Marathon Trials Are This Saturday
LRC Olympic Trials Week Is Here!!!! LetsRun.com Debates The Women’s Race Last week, LRC debated whether Galen Rupp was the favorite in the men’s race. Now we turn our attention to the women’s side. Who’s the favorite? Who gets top 3?
- Recommended Read:The Denver Post: Dathan Ritzenhein, Brianne Nelson And Kara Lubieniecki Are Three Colorado Athletes Chasing Olympic Dreams Ritz talks about finishing 4th in 2012 and and then making it in the 10k: “It was like the odds were against me the whole time and all the way up to the start of the race, when it was pouring rain and 50 degrees and I didn’t have the standard. That day was about overcoming my own demons of missing the team, having surgeries, feeling like I was maybe at the end of my career in running…”
- Shalane Flanagan And Amy Cragg May Use Teamwork At The OT Flanagan: “We’re in a good enough place that if Amy and I felt like it was in our best interest to work together in the race – like if it is time to make a move at some point – I feel like we feel confident in our abilities to do that.”
- Lauren Kleppin Pulls Out Of Olympic Marathon Trials With Injury*Discuss
- Forecast Calling For Temperatures In The High 70s During The Olympic Marathon Trials A lot of pros are doing the last few weeks of their training in warm locations to prepare.
*MB: Hot trials… A weather certainty - Skechers Signs Contract Extension With Meb Keflezighi Through 2023
More From The Weekend
Nick Willis Wins The Street Mile In 4:15 Over Aussies Ryan Gregson (4:17) And Brett Robinson (4:19)Genevieve LaCaze won the women’s race in 4:35.- Jacko Gill Breaks Tom Walsh’s Resident Shot Put Record With 20.83m That’s the best throw ever by a New Zealander in New Zealand.
- Germany’s 18-Year-Old Konstanze Klosterhalfen Set A 1,500m European Jr. Record With 4:08.38 In Karlsruhe
- Ciara Mageean Broke Irish 1,500m Record With 4:08.66 In Karlsruhe, Germany
- Bernard Kipkemoi And Caroline Chepkoech Win Mau Egerton XC Race In Kenya
- Turkish Teams Dominate At European Club XC Champs
Drew Hunter Does It *Results*LRC Photo Gallery*Race Video
LRC3:58.25! Drew Hunter Becomes Second Sub-4:00 High Schooler In The Mile Indoors Thanks To 57-Second Final 400
Move over, Alan Webb. Drew Hunter is the fastest indoor high school miler in the US ever. In other action, Marielle Hall blasted the final lap to win the 3k over Sheila Reid in 8:54 as Jordan Hasay and Nicole Tully in 6th and 7th didn’t break 9:00, Ajee Wilson won the 800 in a close 2:02.15 over Laura Roesler and Lynsey Sharp, and Robby Andrewswon the 800 in 1:48.43. Gabriela Stafford won the women’s mile in 4:29.07, beating out NJ-NY’s Erin Donohue (4:29.67).
- Alan Webb Gives His Thoughts On Drew Hunter’s Quest In Washington Post Good read.
- Did You Know Drew Hunter Wasn’t The Fastest Teenager In The Race? 19-year-old Aussie Morgan McDonald was 4th in 3:57.83
- Jamaican 4 X 200 Sets A NR Jamaica also had a distance win from Kemoy Campbell in the 3,000 (7:55).
- The Drew Hunter Cam:Separate Race Video Focusing On Drew Hunter’s 3:58
- LRCMeet The Elementary School PE Teacher Who Is The Mastermind Behind America’s Greatest Prep Distance Runner
- MB: Andrew MF Hunter!!!! 3:58.25!!
- MB:How many other people think Hunter should consider going pro in June and stick with Tinman?
- MB:Does Hunter deserve to be in the A-heat Wanamaker after today’s performance?
News From Kenya
Kenya’s First World Champ Sally Barsosio Angered By Wang Junxia Doping Reports Barsosio: “What? I suspected her strength was not natural. … I always tried but I could not beat her even when I thought I had prepared so well.”- Confusion And Cheats Mar Discovery Kenya Eldoret Half Course cutters, wrong turns, missing lead bike, questionable results – it was a mess.
- Defending Champ Faith Kipyegon Switches Allegiances From Central Rift Team To Kenyan Police Team Ahead Of Saturday’s National XC Championships
Portland House Of Track – *Portland HP Results
Portland: Centro Huge 7:40 PR At 3k, Wheating Wins 800, Allyson Felix Wins 60 Full results.
*MB: Centro And Mead Go 7:40!! Centro’s previous PR was 7:46. *Centro Post-Race Interview
*MB: Wheating Takes 800 In 1:48 Eric Jenkins turned the table on Paul Chelimo in the 1,500, 3:42.32 to 3:42.49. Ben Blankenship was 3rd. Treniere Moser 2:02.75 won the 800.
Will The Chinese Records Be Wiped From The Books?
LRC A Look At The Women’s World Records When We Remove The Chinese Records And Wang Junxia’s Amazing Six Days From The Books Youngsters need to see what Wang did over 6 days in 1993. Amazing.
Sonia O’Sullivan Still Screwed “It won’t make a difference now. It probably would have back then. … As a double world champion, as a world record holder, which I also would have been because I would have had the world record in 1994 for the 3,000 metres and I would have had it for eight years, your profile and status would have been huge.”
LRC Archives: Sonia O’Sullivan Shares Her Training Log With LetsRun.com – How Did The Villanova Grad Win The World Cross-Country Title (Twice) In 1998?
The Chinese Women Officially Dirty?
Letter From 1995 Surfaces With WangJunxia And Other Chinese Runners Confessing To Doping The letter has not been authenticated yet. The next year Wang won Olympic gold, but if authenticated, it would prove what 91.9% of you thought two years ago – Wang Junxia was dirty. Wang denied she doped in 2004.
*Discuss
*Sonia O’Sullivan Says Being Upgraded To Two Gold Medals 20+ Years Later Wouldn’t mean Much To Her She was 4th in the 3k (behind 3 Chinese athletes) and 2nd in the 1,500 (behind 1 Chinese athlete).
*IAAF Says They’ll Investigate The Authenticity Of The Chinese Doping Confession Letter
Speedy Mid-Week Action In Dusseldorf *Full Results
Five World-Leading Marks Set In Dusseldorf: Augustine Choge Runs 7:39.23 To Beat Stacked Field In 3,000 Choge won over Caleb Ndiku (2nd – 7:39.82), Yenew Alamriew (3rd) as well as many other top African stars. Elijah Manangoi won the 1,500 (3:39.77) as Adam Kszczot ran 1:46.00 to win the 800 over Pierre-Ambroise Bosse and Eric Sowinski. Habitam Alemu won the women’s 800 (2:01.99). *Meet Videos
Father Time Stays Undefeated
LRCTeg Retires: We Remember The Six Greatest Moments In His Career & Show Some Awesome Old School Video While Tegenkamp may not have been the best of his generation, he helped usher American distance running into a new stratosphere and he’s the only American in US history ranked in the top 100 of the both the 1,500 and marathon. We rank his six most impressive accomplishments.
Fears Over Zika Virus Continue To Grow
We Doubt It Would Come To This:Kip Keino Says Kenya Could Not Send Athletes To Rio Due To Zika Virus Keino: “Obviously, we are not going to risk taking Kenyans there if this Zika virus reaches epidemic levels.”
*MB:Kenya open to possibility of not sending athletes to Rio over Zika- USOC Denies Telling Athletes To Consider Skipping Rio 2016 Over Zika Virus Apparently the USOC said athletes shouldn’t go “if they don’t feel comfortable going.”
US Distance News
Good Read:Meb Keflezighi Wants To Make One More Olympic Team So His Daughters Will Be Old Enough To Have The Memory On Galen Rupp competing, Meb said, “There’s probably one less spot to compete for.”- +1: ROLL Recovery Offering To Pay Athlete Entry Fees For The Marathon Trials Yes, you read that right. USATF charges athletes a $30 entry fee to enter the Trials.
*MB:Roll Recovery to pay entry fee to US Olympic Trials Marathon - Matt Centrowitz Says He Needs To “Tone Down” His Performances / Celebrations So He Doesn’t Motivate Nick Willis Willis sent Centro a tweet after one of his recent races saying it fired him up and motivated him to get in his second run of the day.
- Short Video Interview With Jared Ward Ward actually did his masters thesis on “optimal pace strategy in a marathon.”
- Akron’s Clayton Murphy Joins Sub-4:00 Club With Big 3:57 PR Murphy is the 2015 USAs 800m 4th placer who went to Beijing last year when Nick Symmonds withdrew.
- After Success Of House Of Track Series, There Are Rumors And Hopes That Portland Will Get A Permanent Indoor Facility
- MB:Did you know Kylo Ren can run a 4:35 mile?
US Weekend Distance Action *US XC: Results / Video*All Collegiate Results
Mattie Suver And Craig Lutz Win USA XC Champs In Bend, OregonThey each won their first national title by 7 seconds. *Discuss- Meyo Invitational:Molly Seidel Runs 8:57 To Break Molly Huddle’s Notre Dame 3,000m Record In the women’s mile, Nicole Sifuentes ran 4:30.50, beating out Leah O’Connor (4:32.76).
- In Germany:*Mary Cain 2nd-To-Last Place In Germany In 4:20.73 Not a good result for the former prep phenom. *Full Results
- MB:GEORGETOWN HOYAS: 4 UNDER 3:59 IN THE MILEAhmed Bile lead the way in 3:57.84.
*Full Results From BU Scarlet And White Invy
Road / XC Results
Japan: Eritrea’s Goitom Kifle (60:49) And Bahrain’s Eunice Kirwa (68:06) Win Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon In Japan Kifle won a close race with Dominic Nyariro, by a second as the top 36 were sub-63:00.- Uganda: World Jr. Mountain Champ Philip Kipyeko Wins Ugandan XC Champs As 2-Time Commonwealth Champ Moses Kipsiro Finishes Back In 6th Fellow WMR champ Stella Chesang won the women’s race.
- UK: University Of Birmingham Sweeps BUCS XC Champs
- Japan: Ethiopia’s Melaku Abera Wins Beppu Oita Mainichi Marathon In Japan With A 2:09:27 Debut Elsewhere in Japan, Yuka Akutsu won the Ehime Marathon in a CR 2:35:31.
Week That Was
LRCWeek That Was: A Must-Read On Ryan Hall, The Syracuse Men And Allie Ostrander Keep On Rolling, Kim Conley Is A Beast, Is Morgan Uceny On Her Way Back, Boris Berian Is No Fluke, Mike Rossi, And Updates From Kenya
We span the globe of the world of running and have quite a few gems in this week's Week That Was, if we must say so ourselves.
Interesting Reads
Toni Reavis Compares Seb Coe To Hillary Clinton In That Both Are The Ultimate Insiders “Until a true outsider is brought in with the proper cleanser, the dirt will only find different corners in which to collect.”- A Look at Seb Coe’s Day Job He’s the head of the sports division of Chime Communications. Many of you may not know but the head of the IAAF is technically a volunteer gig.
- Japanese State TV: Research Shows Japanese Athletes Don’t Dope Because They Have Samurai Spirit “Giving everything you have is more important than winning or losing,” said one athlete. Something similar to “bushido” impacts their views.
- Two More Russian Weightlifters Banned – Russia Will Lose At Least One, Probably Two Olympic Spots As A Result
- Nostalgic?World Half Champs Are 50 Days Away – Watch A Highlight Video From The 1st World Half (Also In The UK) From 1992
- Bring Back The Mile – Has It Ever Gone Away? A Column By Len Johnson
Italian HJ Record Goes Down
Gianmarco Tamberi And Marco Fassinotti Both Set An Italian HJ Indoor Record With World-Leading 2.35m Clearances In Slovakia on Thursday Tamberi got the win with his first attempt clearance. *Video
US Olympic Trials Marathon News
- Shalane Flanagan Reveals She Had A Stress Reaction After Worlds And Only Started Training 10 Weeks Before Trials She and Amy Cragg talk about having done all their training together, but it hasn’t gone smoothly for Flanagan, who’s had Achilles and back issues.
- US Ultrarunner Of The Year David Laney Admits He Dreams He’ll Win The Olympic Trials Marathon Despite His 2:17 PR Hoping for a 2:16, he knows his dream is unrealistic.
The 2016 US Marathon Trials Are This Weekend – Who Is The Favorite?
LRC LetsRun.com Debates: Is Galen Rupp The Favorite For The 2016 US Olympic Marathon Trials? Who’s Most Likely To Make The Team? Is Galen Rupp the favorite at the Trials in his debut marathon? We debate that as we start breaking down the Trials.
- Recommended Read:Kara Goucher Says She Almost Called It Quits After She Ran Her Slowest Marathon Ever At NYC 2014 She asked her coaches to to tell her if she was “fooling herself” and was “done.”Now she says she’s the fittest she’s been in years.
- RR #2:Good Read: Did You Forget About 2012 OT 5th Placer Brett Gotcher? He’s Still Here Gotcher ran a 2:10:36 debut, but hasn’t ran faster since. He’s battled through 3-years of injuries since 2012, but now feels like he “can run 2:09 flat or just under”.
*MB:Brett Gotcher = Marathon Trials Dark Horse - Q&A:Luke Puskedra Has Respect For His Elders “You know, before Chicago – and even now – there are guys that I just don’t feel like I’m in their league. Dathan, Meb, Abdi. They are solid, they have experience, they’ve done it before. They have wisdom.”
- Short Video Interview With Dathan Ritzenhein Ritz says he hasn’t seen the LA course, but has been studying it from afar.
Sprint Q&A: Jeremy Wariner
LRCWhat’s Jeremy Wariner Doing Working At Jimmy John’s? 7 Questions With The Olympic Legend Wariner posted online that he was now a general manager at a Jimmy John’s sandwich restaurant. We wondered if it could be that one of the greatest 400m sprinters of all time was retiring, so we reached out to see what was up.
*MB: Is Jeremy Wariner’s investment in Jimmy John’s smart?
LetsRun.com Founders Named as Two of “The 50 Most Influential People in Running”
Runners World Honors You and the Brojos
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American Strong: The Untold Story of How American Teamwork Helped Meb Keflezighi Win Boston
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A Real Running Hero:
The Flo Groberg Story
Flo Has Now Won the Medal of Honor
