February 10, 2016 | LetsRun.com

The Week That Was

LRC WTW: Time To Panic For Mary Cain? Doping In The Super Bowl, No Medal No Problem, Kenyan Rap Videos, Clayton Murphy Breaks 4 (By A Lot), Meet Randall Cunningham’s Daughter, And A US Marathoner Saves A Life What a week. So much to break down, including two amazing teen performances and one bad one. All of that and more, including our Performance of the Year by Adriana Nelson.

More Trials News

RR: Good Register Guard Profile On Luke Puskedra, Who Talks About How Close He Was To Quitting The Sport A Year Ago Now Puskedra has his Nike contract back and is one of the favorites (outside the “big 3”) to make the team.
RR: Meet 38-Year-Old Dawn Grunnagle, The Former Oregon Project Member Who Quit The Sport For 10 Years And Now Is In The OT She just made it in the half, getting in 4 seconds under the standard.
Toni Reavis Thinks The Heat Will Be A Big Factor In LA The heat could help an underdog like it did for Wesley Korir at Boston 2012. Reavis analyzes which athletes should do well in the heat and who may struggle.
Kara Goucher’s Coach Heather Burroughs Says She Is Ready After Logging Consistent 100- To 115-Mile Weeks Apparently it’s less volume than she did with Jerry Schumacher, but more than with Alberto Salazar.
Jared Ward Pre-Trials Video And Interview Ward talks about winning US champs last year and shares his in-race fueling routine.
Detailed Look At The Olympic Marathon Trials Course
The Daily Relay Staff Makes Their Women’s OT Picks All picked Flanagan, none picked Goucher.
Runners World Polls Panel Of Experts For Their Olympic Trials Top 10 Linden, Flanagan, Cragg; Rupp, Ritz and Meb.

Is London 2017 In Trouble?

The Telegraph: London 2017 World Championships Thrown Into Turmoil As Managing Director Sally Bolton Quits She quit “following a bloody boardroom battle that had already claimed two other directors.”
Apparently They Quit Before They Were Forced Out After A Failed Power Battle With UKA Chairman Ed Warner They reportedly unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow Warner and assume control.
The Guardian: The Depleted London 2017 Board Warns Of Risk To Delivery Of World Championships Some feel there is conflict of interest since UKA chairman Ed Warner is also chairman of the 2017 board and that has led to some sponsorship issues/delays.

Some Interesting Doping News

MB: Canadian Marathoner Reid Coolsaet Reveals That Kenyans (And Those Training In Kenya) Get Advanced Notice For Out-Of-Competition Drug Tests And Drive To A Separate Site To Take Them Add Athletics Kenya to the list with the NFL and NBA for organizations where drug testing is a joke.
Suzy Favor Hamilton Calls Out Regina Jacobs For Doping In a very random and bizarre blog post, SFH ends with, “Hey Regina, since I aired all my dirty laundry, want to do the same and toss a few US championships my way?”
Better Late Than Never: Spain’s Sports Council Strips Doper Marta Dominguez Of Her Status As A Spanish Athlete
Cheating Is Everywhere: Lifetime Bans For Doped Racing Horses In Ireland We hope this ban extends to their “entourage” (owner, trainer, jockey) as well.

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

Drew Hunter And Armory Track Invite Photo Gallery

2016 World Indoors Are Next Month

LRC World 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 Saturday

Breaking: American record holder Deena Kastor just pulled out of 2016 US Olympic Marathon Trials

LRC Meet The Most Interesting Man In Running: Chris Zablocki’s Long Road To Los Angeles In his final high school race, he ran 11:07 for 3,200. As a college freshman, he was the worst guy on the team. But Chris Zablocki never gave up and on Saturday in LA, the Yuki Kawauchi of American distance running (13 marathons in 12 months) will be looking to take some serious scalps.
*MB: LetsRun, Meet The Most Interesting Man in Running – Chris Zablocki

LRC LetsRun.com Running Warehouse $200,016 Marathon Trials Prediction Contest (link fixed) Take a moment to stop reading all the interesting things on LRC to give us your picks for the men’s and women’s Olympic Marathon Trials. We’ll tally them up and thanks to Running Warehouse, Asics & the Asics Aggies, and Olympic contender and Running Warehouse Marketing Manager Scott Bauhs give the winners some great prizes. Contest now open. *Discuss Here

LRC 2016 Men’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials Preview: Meet The 20 Men Who Have A Shot At Going To The Olympics If Any Of The “Big 3” Falter Meb, Ritz and Rupp will get plenty of attention this week, so we wanted to start our previews by focusing on the men who have a shot at the Olympic team if any of the Big 3 falter. In 2012, we only had a list of 6 outside of the eventual top 4. This year, the list is 20 deep.
*MB: These guys have a chance – Meet the 20 Trials qualifiers who have a shot at Rio if anyone in the Big 3 falters

Distance Odds ‘n’ Ends

Steve Magness Shares Some Training Advice: “A Case For Running By Feel – Ditching Your GPS Because Of Ecological Psychology” Running “by feel” is something LRC’s Rojo (from mentor JK) constantly preached to athletes while coaching at Cornell and is largely what Wejo credits his huge post-collegiate improvements.
Recently Engaged? Want To Watch The Olympic Trials? Run The LA Marathon Apparently in honor of Valentines Day, LA is offering couples running or spectating the chance to get married or renew their vows on the course.
2:22 Marathoning Dad And His 11-Month-Old Daughter Smash Stroller Half Marathon WR Calum Neff ran 71:27, breaking the old mark by more than 2 minutes.
*MB: Calem Neff needs to be mentioned in the next Week the Was
Is This The Future Of Running Shoes? Custom 3D Printed Shoes Designed Individually For Each Person’s Foot

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.

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 Andrews won 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
LRC Meet 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?

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

Father Time Stays Undefeated

LRC Teg 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.

European News – RIP To A London Marathon Legend

RIP London Marathon Co-Founder John Disley, 87 Disley designed the London Marathon course and as an athlete won steeple bronze at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. *BBC Tribute
Paris 2024 Unveil Eiffel Tower Inspired Olympic Logo
Jessica Ennis’ Coach Wants GB’s 2016 Training Camp Moved Out Of Brazil Due To Zika Fears

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 have been 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

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?

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

LRC What’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?