– Boris Berian talking about how he became an 800-meter star even though he started out as a 400m runner.
MB: Hand her the gold medal(s) now – Caster Semenya complete ridiculous 50.76/1:58.46/4:10 double in span of 50 minutes triple in span of 4:10 The double – during which she had 50 minutes between the 400 and 800 (which was run off of a 61 first lap) – blew us away. Then we found out she was also running the 1,500. 3:20 later, the triple was complete.
Other Saturday Action: LRC Molly Huddle (15:14) Wins Third Straight B.A.A. 5K Title; Dejen Gebremeskel (13:39) Takes Down Ben True (13:41) In Men’s Race Both of the American stars will be running the 5,000 at the Pre Classic.
LRC Chris O’Hare (4:10.2) And Brook Handler (4:49.6) Win 2016 B.A.A. Invitational Miles Kemoy Campbell and Heather Kampf were the runners-up (Kampf for the third straight year).
LRC The Inside Scoop From The Top Pros At The 2016 Boston Marathon – Who’s Scared Of The Heat, Who Loves It And What American Hopes To Break 2:10 You had better read this article about what the top pros have to say about the race as we know that sadly no other news organization is going to interview most of the pros from Africa. Plus Joyce Chepkirui reveals in an exclusive that she feels she would have won the 2016 United Airlines NYC Half Marathon had Molly Huddle not made contact with her.
LRC Catching Up With Olympians Amy Cragg, Desi Linden And Ryan Hall In Boston John Hancock rolled out the red carpet for some of America’s best marathoners, past and present, and we got to talk to three of them today. Cragg and Linden talked about their Trials recovery and Rio buildups while Hall spoke about what life is like with four young girls in the house and coaching his wife Sara as she prepares to run the London Marathon next week.
LRC 2012 Boston Marathon Champion – And Kenyan Member Of Parliament – Wesley Korir Says Kenya Is On Track To Meet May 2 WADA Deadline Korir says the risk/reward ratio for doping needs to be changed in Kenya and has asked WADA for special permission to allow Kenya to criminalize doping (the WADA code says countries can’t impose additional penalties on top of those established by WADA).
Great News: A New Book On Emil Zatopek – QUICKSILVER – The Mercurial Emil Zátopek – Is Coming Out In 3 Months You can listen to Butcher talk about Zatopek on radio here.
Sunday: Ethiopia’s Dubai Winner Tesfaye Abera (2:04:24) And African 10,000 Record Holder Meselech Melkamu (2:21:01) Lead Deep Fields At The Hamburg Marathon Abera faces five fellow sub-2:08 men while Melkamu is up against the defending champ Meseret Hailu (2:21:09) and several other sub-2:30 women.
Rio 2016 Golf Venue Will Have Animal Handlers To Carry Alligators Off The Course They will also be there to chase off capybaras, the world’s largest rodents.
Jenny Simpson And Shannon Rowbury Will Lead American Charge Against Sifan Hassan And Faith Kipyegon In This Year’s Pre Classic 1,500 The deep field also includes Brenda Martinez, world indoor bronze medalist Gudaf Tsegay and former world champ Hellen Obiri.
2016: Track Building Company Mondo Promises The Rio Olympic Stadium Track Will Be Ready For May Test Event Installation has started after being delayed for over a month.
SPIKES On Why The Boston Marathon Is “More Than Just A Race” A look back at some of the defining moments in the race’s 120-year history from the first year’s 24.5-mile race (with a winning time of 2:55) to Alberto Salazar‘s and Dick Beardsley‘s “Duel in the Sun” to Meb‘s historic win in 2014.
LRC “The Scarlet Letter Law” & The “Fair Play Fund”: A Look At Ben True’s & Adam Nelson’s Ideas For A Cleaner Sport Dartmouth alums True and Nelson brainstormed a couple of unique anti-doping solutions while True was training in Athens, Ga. this winter. Should convicted dopers where a special uniform when they return? Should a significant portion of prize money only be paid out years after the fact? We take a look at the proposals and whether Nelson can revitalize the Track and Field Athletes Association (TFAA), an attempt at a T&F union.
*MB: Fair sport: Ben True and Adam Nelson have some very interesting ideas on doping – We share them with you here
AW Profile On UK’s World Youth Finalist Joel Leon Benitez, Who Used His Background In Gymnastics To Become A Top Pole Vaulter He grew up traveling the world watching his parents. who were professional acrobats.
LRC Surprise Of The Weekend: Edward Cheserek Outkicked By Washington’s Colby Gilbert In 5,000m At Pepsi Team Invite In Eugene King Ches had no response. Video of finish.
Kenya’s Marius Kipserem Gets An Upset Victory At Rotterdam Marathon, Taking 3 Minutes Off His PR To Win In 2:06:22 Ethiopia’s Solomon Deksisa was a close second in 2:06:22 while Letebrhan Haylay Gebreslasea won the women’s race in 2:26:04.No One To Face Criminal Charges In Russian Doping Scandal, Says Sports Minister “The general prosecutor’s office carefully examined the report in question and did not find a single legally supported fact to open any kind of case.”
Paula Radcliffe Gives Double Olympic Champ Kelly Holmes Some Marathon Tips Holmes, the 800 and 1,500 champ in 2004, will be making her debut in London.Caster Semenya Wins Again In S. Africa But Is Disappointed With Her 53.17 Time She won easily but has already run 51.47 this year. We’ll find out more next week when she races the 800 at the SA Champs.LRC Twitter Fight With Racial Overtones Breaks Out Between USATF Athletes Advisory Committee (AAC) Chair Dwight Phillips And Lauren Fleshman And Nick Symmonds It’s official. Twitter is not the place to try to carry on a constructive dialogue.
*Merhawi Keflezighi Weighs In: “A Call for Respectful And Productive Discourse” “Aggressive and assertive approaches are sometimes necessary, but l do think it is important to resolve all matters, respectfully. … Personally, I would be more critical of the athletes that aren’t advocating for their rights at all.”
Video: Syracuse Half Marathoners Run Through Hail And Whiteout Conditions
Germany’s “Blade Jumper” Markus Rehm Unlikely To Win Battle For Olympic Inclusion Rehm needs to scientifically prove that he doesn’t get an advantage from his prosthetic blade (which he very likely does), but the IAAF hasn’t laid out the criteria and the German federation has already said they aren’t selecting him.
We’re USATF And We Do What We Want: Dennis Mitchell Will Remain US Relay Coach For Rio Despite New Rule Excluding Coaches Of Athletes Up For Relay Pool Selection Mitchell is a convicted doper, does not have a good track record coaching the US relays, and coaches Justin Gatlin, yet for some reason the USATF national office – which claims to want to avoid controversy – is grandfathering him in as Rio relay coach since he was selected before the rule was made.
May 8: Justin Gatlin And Top Japanese Sprinters Yoshihide Kiryu And Abdul Hakim Sani Brown Will Duke It Out Over 100m At The Golden Grand Prix
LRC The Idiot’s Guide To The 2016 Boston Marathon Share with your friends and family (or secretly read it yourself). Help take Boston to the masses. Boston for the casual fan.
LRC 2016 Boston Marathon Men’s Preview: Can Lelisa Desisa Win Title #3 In The Unofficial Ethiopian Olympic Selection Race? With six guys who have run under 2:05 (more than London), this field is impressively deep. Desisa is a slight favorite but ’15 runner-up/Worlds silver medalist Yemane Tsegay, ’15 3rd placer Wilson Chebet and Chicago runner-up Sammy Kitwara (2:04:28 PR) are among the many guys looking to take him down. What role, if any, will the meldonium ban play?
LRC 2016 Boston Marathon Women’s Preview: Which Woman Will Separate Herself In A Wide-Open Field? Defending champ Caroline Rotich is back, and she’ll battle a deep field that is devoid of any studs. Dubai champ Tirfi Tsegaye (LRC World #1 in ’14), Amsterdam/Honolulu champ Joyce Chepkirui and Buzunesh Deba (who finished 2nd behind doper Rita Jeptoo in ’14) plus several others will look to wrest the crown from Rotich. Neely Spence Gracey (debut) and Sarah Crouch are the lone U.S. pros.
*The Boston Globe With Yet Another Story On Marathon Cheats And Some Quotes From LRC’s Rojo Rojo explained why he offered Mike Rossi $100,000 if he could replicate the 3:11 marathon time he used to qualify for Boston.
LRC Boston Marathon Bingo Is Here – Free LRC T-Shirts To The First 10 People Who Get A Boston Bingo
LRC Help Us Come Up With A Boston Marathon Drinking Game
CAS Rules That Russian Doper Tatyana Andrianova Can Keep Her 2005 World 800 Bronze After Testing Positive For Steroids In A Sample Re-Analysis The IAAF misinterpreted the recent statute of limitations rule change as it is 10 years moving forward, but still only 8 years for previous tests. This means that potentially 28 dopers caught in 2005 re-tests will now go free.LRC WTW: Dennis Mitchell And USATF, Shaq Goes 1:44.99, Nick Symmonds 2.0?, Hurdle Stars Keni Harrison And Devon Allen, Meet The Lyles Brothers, And The Indoor Marathon We recap the week that was from the track, the boardroom, the bedroom, and even the indoor marathon.
RRW Flashback: Paula Radcliffe Sets Marathon WR 13 Years Ago Yesterday It was over a decade ago that Radcliffe ran her still standing WR of 2:15:25. At the time, Chicago race director Carey Pinkowski put it well saying, “She’s like Neil Armstrong.”
Japan’s Athens Olympic Marathon Champion Mizuki Noguchi Retires From Competition The 2:19:12 NR holder ran 2:33:54 in her last race, missing a chance for selection for Rio.
Meet Starts Tomorrow: David Rudisha Will Clash With World 400H Champ Nicholas Bett And National Champ Alphas Kishoyian (44.75) Over 400m
Saturday: Ben True (3-Time Winner) And Molly Huddle (2-Time Winner) Will Defend Their Titles At The BAA 5K True will face Olympic silver medalist Dejen Gebremeskel, Stephen Sambu and Diego Estrada while Huddle is up against Kim Smith and Buze Diriba (14:50 PR). Also Saturday, Chris O’Hare, Trevor Dunbar, Dawit Seyaum (2nd at World Indoors) and Heather Kampf lead the way in the BAA Mile.
Kenyan President Says He Will Personally Ensure That The Anti-Doping Legislation Is Passed By The Latest WADA Deadline Uhuru Kenyatta: “We know there are people who are looking for excuses to ensure that Kenya does not participate in the Olympics. We will not give them that excuse.” Yes, it is all a conspiracy and nothing to do with Kenya’s lack of testing or the more than 40 banned athletes since 2012. *AP Article
World Half Champ Peres Jepchirchir Headlines Field For The Ottawa 10K On Saturday Jepchirchir, apparently a distant relative of Kip Keino, says this race is where she learned not to take fluids in races 10K or shorter as it cost her time last year and she lost to Gladys Cherono.
Keni Harrison Opens Season With A Stellar 12.36 100H To Put Herself 9th On The World All-Time List Her time was also a record for the fastest-ever season opener. *Discuss
Men’s (2:21:56) And Women’s (2:44:44) World Records Set During Inaugural Armory NYC Indoor Marathon Malcolm Richards and Allie Kieffer are the record holders. *Discuss
LRC Exclusive One Week, Three Workouts: Behind The Scenes With Renato Canova, Florence Kiplagat, Thomas Longosiwa And Jairus Birech We have another exclusive update for you from Kenya and are worried that since we aren’t charging you to read this we might be charged with theft, as the intellectual property of one of the world’s greatest coaches is being given away for free. Oh well. His loss, your gain. Our man on the ground in Kenya, Andy Arnold, goes behind the scenes and gives you the rep-by-rep splits of three of the world’s top distance runners as they prepare for Rio. Plus Birech makes an Olympic prediction that Evan Jager fans will want to read.
Peter Farrell – The Only Paid Women’s Coach Ever At Princeton University – Is Retiring After 39 Years Bill Farrell (no relation) started the team as a volunteer.
Berlin Marathon Champion Gladys Cherono Withdraws From The London Marathon With A Hip Injury Cherono also pulled out of the World Half Champs last month where she was supposed to defend her title.
Larry Eder Questions USATF’s Decision To Keep Dennis Mitchell On As Relay Coach Despite His Doping Past And Current Rule Changes “It makes USATF look like they will do anything to win a medal. It also makes USATF seem like they are above any rules, unless those rules work for them.”
Some Big-Name Athletes Get Beaten By Young Upstarts At Low-Key Meet In Djibouti Ayanleh Souleiman won the 1,000 easily in 2:21.65, but 1:42 man Abubaker Kaki was only 3rd in the 1,500 as World Junior silver medalist Abdi Waiss Mouhyadin won in 3:36.67. 2011 world 10,000m champion Ibrahim Jeilan was 5th in the 5,000, which was won by SF Mohammed (13:43).
May 6th: Allyson Felix And Dafne Schippers Will Go Head-To-Head Over 100m In Opening Diamond League Meet In Doha Field will also have Veronica Campbell-Brown, Tori Bowie and Murielle Ahoure. David Oliver vs. Aries Merritt in the 110H.
First Impressions Q&A With South Africa’s World 400m Champ Wayde van Niekerk He shares some interesting stories like how as kids he and his brother tried to wash their dog in the washing machine.
LRC Doping Scandal Comes To LRC $200,015 Running Warehouse World Indoors Prediction Contest Doping has tainted our contest but you still can meet the interesting winners who make up LRC and win our contests.
One Ethiopian runner is dead, another is in critical condition after a truck plowed them over on a training run on Saturday. Help them now. *Donate here.
USTFCCCA Mt. SAC PreviewJudge Hears USOC Motion To Toss Out Nick Symmonds’/Run Gum’s Lawsuit The judge is expected to decide in the next 2 weeks whether the suit moves forward or not.
Greg Rutherford Rips Carl Lewis For Being A Bitter Ex-Athlete After Lewis’ Recent Criticisms Of The Sport, The LJ And Rutherford Himself “I don’t need validation from Carl Lewis and I don’t compete to please ex-athletes.”
We give you the latest on the meldonium doping scandal. Find out how today’s development may be good news for Abebe Aregawi but bad news for Maria Sharapova.
*MB: Meldonium Amnesty
LRC What’s It Like Being The Husband Of A Potential American Marathon Star? We Talk To Dillon Gracey Before Neely Spence Gracey’s Debut In Boston Dillon Gracey tied for 3rd in our $20,016 LRC Running Warehouse USA Indoor Prediction Contest. We used that as an excuse to talk about Neely’s debut in Boston and being the husband of an American star.
Neely Spence Gracey Ready For Boston “Training has been great and she’s healthy and ready to go.” From the interview above.
LRC Two Aspiring Coaches Triumphed In Our Running Warehouse USA Indoors Prediction Contest We give props to two of the guys who finished ahead of Dillon in the LRC Running Warehouse Prediction Contest.
The Steeple Speculation Can End? Jenny Simpson Says She Only Has Plans To Race The 1,500 Simpson gets questions every year as she occasionally incorporates steeple work into her training. She dismissed the rumors, but added that she always trains for multiple events so she can make last minute decisions come USAs.
MB: Sara Hall Is Running The London Marathon In Two WeeksTrailer For New Roger Bannister Documentary: “Bannister: Everest On The Track” It’s available tomorrow on iTunes and Amazon.
Rio 2016 Marathon Test Event Run In “Boiling Hot” Conditions It was already 86 degrees at the 6:30AM start and seven of the 16 starters DNFed with the winner running 2:31.
Dick Pound Says Those Running For High Sporting Office Don’t Get Elected “If They Make Waves, Or Turn Over Too Many Rocks” Pound’s crusade against dopers and corruption has made him unpopular with some, but those that appreciate honest sport celebrate him.LRC Ayele Abshero And Tsegaye Kebede Targeting Olympic Berths In Rotterdam Watch it live for free on LetsRun.com at 10 a.m. local (4 a.m. ET/1 a.m. Pacific).
*Watch Vienna Live At 4am ET As Well
Meet NCAA DIII 10,000 Record Holder Ian LaMere, Who Is On Fire In 2015-16 LaMere, who is working a full-time job this spring (co-op), won the DIII XC meet by a record 39 seconds and then ran a DIII record of 28:38 at Stanford (14:32-14:06) – winning by 17 seconds. Next up, a crack at the DIII 5,000 record o f 13:50.
*MB: Ian LaMere New DIII 10k Record
*MB: Where does D3 champ Ian LaMere finish in the D1 race?
Athletics Weekly Catches Up With Super Coach Dan Pfaff A great read as Pfaff implies Greg Rutherford is a “genius,” talks about doping and sweeping the LJ podium in Rio.
Spikes Looks At The Friendship And Careers Of Chris Giesting And Patrick Feeney The HS rivals were teammates at Notre Dame and now are roommates after college, both running on the gold medal-winning 4 x 400 team at World Indoors.
Kiwi Rod Dixon – The Most Versatile Runner Of The 20th Century, Who Will Be In NY For The Next Few Weeks – Is Now On A Mission To Stop Childhood Obesity Dixon says he was challenged by Sir Edmund Hilary to be more than just a runner.
This Year’s Weirdest London Marathon World Record Attempts How about running the entire 26.2 dressed as a dinosaur?
WTW German Fernandez Does The 10k, Meet The Breakthrough Athlete Of The Year: Violah Jepchumba, Plus Martin Lel’s Brother, NCAA Leaders Galore, Leo Manzano Struggles But Says All Is Well, Pregnancy Photos And More Martin Lel‘s brother is making a name for himself, so is Violah Jepchumba and Stephanie Bruce. Plus German Fernandez does the 10k, the college track season heats up and more.
Irish 800 Runner Mark English Is Now Being Coached By Steve Magness English missed World Indoors with a stress reaction, but is back running on the alter-G.
Meldonium Suspected As The Reason For A Bunch Of Russian Athletes Withdrawing From Competition The entire under-18 Russian hockey team was replaced by younger players the day before they were set to fly to the US for the World Championships.Scary Stuff Tim Noakes, Author Of Classic Book Lore Of Running, Is On Trial In South Africa For Tweeting Low-Carb, High-Fat Advice To The Mother Of An Infant Noakes’s views on diet have become very controversial after he wrote a top-selling book, The Real Meal Revolution, and he could now lose his medical license.
Australian Olympic Trials Recap: Luke Mathews Runs 1:46.20 To Win 800 Title Over Alex Rowe (1:47.31) In other distance action, 1,500 wins went to Ryan Gregson (3:37) and Heidi See (4:14.17) while Madeline Hills ran 9:38 in the steeple to beat Genevieve LaCaze (9:49) and James Nipperess won the men’s in 8:42. Non-distance victories included Fabrice Lapierre in the LJ (8.27m) and Michelle Jenneke (12.93) in the 100H. *Results
LRC Geoffrey Mutai Pulls Out Of 2016 Boston As He Doesn’t Hit His “Training Goals” – 2:20 Marathoner Amane Beriso Added To Women’s Field Mutai has struggled since winning NYC in 2013.
Good Read: Jared Ward Has Used Small Incremental Gains Each Year To Improve From Decent College Runner To Olympian Ward runs 120 miles a week (in 6 days) and says believes was built for the marathon. After the Trials, he celebrated with a Mexican cruise and now says he is approaching his Rio buildup just like every other race.
Arkansas Comes Out On Top In Updated Women’s DI Rankings There was a ton of shuffling with Southern California moving up to 2nd, LSU down to 3rd and Oregon down to 6th.
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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