Kenyans On The Roads

• So Much For The Greatest Marathon Field Ever:Eliud Kipchoge And Wilson Kipsang Turn Down Their Spots On Kenya’s World Marathon Squad According to the Daily Nation, the Kenyan team will now have London winner Daniel Wanjiru, Boston champ Geoffrey Kirui and Paris winner Paul Lonyangata while the women’s squad has Edna Kiplagat, World silver medalist Helah Kiprop and Paris winner Purity Rionoripo.
• Kenya’s World XC Champ Irene Cheptai (31:51) And Alex Korio Win TCS World 10K Bengaluru New Zealand’s Zane Robertson pushed the pace early on, but struggled and finished back in 7th.
• Fancy Chemutai (67:58) And Geoffrey Yegon (60:19) Make It A Kenyan Double Victory At Gothenburg Half Marathon
• Kenyans Wilfred Kimitei (60:54) And Yvonne Jelagat (68:19) Break Down Course Records At The Mattoni Karlovy Vary Half-Marathon
• Silas Muturi (2:30:23) And Esther Macharia (2:53:31) Win Bangkok Midnight Marathon The times were 18 and 23 minutes slower than their PBs which was down to the super hot and humid conditions (84 with 90% humidity).

More Weekend Track Action

• Jamaica: Elaine Thompson Impresses At Jamaica Invitational Tying The 200m World Lead And Breaking The MR With 22.09Ande DeGrasse lead the men’s race from gun to tape to win in 20.14 over LaShawn Merritt while Yohan Blake showed he’s a contender this year by winning the 100m in 9.93. British Virgin Islands’ Kyron McMaster was the upset winner in the 400H in a WL/MR of 47.80; Aleec Harris won the 110H over Devon Allen. *Results
• MB: Asbel Kiprop runs steeple 1 week before Pre Classic We can’t find the result, but here is the evidence. Or is it photo shopped?
• MB: Casey Clinger Runs 8:57 At Altitude To Win Utah State Championships
• MB:Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen Runs National 20-And-Under Record Of 14:51
• Japan: Justin Gatlin Struggles To Victory in 10.28 At Kawasaki Golden Grand Prix Distance action saw Olympic silver medalist Paul Tanui win the 3000 (7:52), former Olympic bronze medalist Timothy Kitum the 800 (1:47.03), Jarius Birech the steeple (8:19) and Nelly Jepkosgei the 1500 (4:06.86). *Full Results
  *MB:Golden Grand Prix Kawasaki – Live Discussion

It Was A Great Night For The NOP On The Track But A Horrible Morning Off The Track

NY Times Publishes 2,400-Word Expose On The Nike Oregon Project: “This Doesn’t Sound Legal” – Ritz Testifies Under Oath The Times has secured access to the 269-page report that the USADA has written about the NOP. Dathan Ritzenhein testified under oath that he felt compelled to take an L-Carnitine injection that he thought didn’t “sound legal” as Nike was reducing his payments. Ritz also said Alberto Salazar had him take thyroid medication to rev up his endocrine system for a race “instead just whatever was best for my health.” The report also indicates Tara Welling lied to investigators about ever being a patient of Dr. Brown and that Dr. Brown sent investigators altered medical records. When pressed about what sort of treatment she received from Dr. Brown, Welling cried and said, “I don’t know if Alberto did something to me.”
*MB: NY Times Article on Nike Oregon Project implicates Ritz and Farah
*Ken Goe’s Quick Takes From The Latest Story Alleging Doping Within Alberto Salazar’s NOP

More Links That We Found Interesting

• Pat Tiernan Is Glad He Went To World XC As He Says He Learned A Lot And Is Glad To Be Training Alone Under Marcus O’Sullivan At Villanova Even though he’s run 27:29, he only runs 70-80 mpw. “The focus has been on strength and conditioning recently. We’ve come a long way in that in the last 18 months and to be able to close (in sub-60), something I’ve never been able to do, I’m really happy with how I’m going.”
• You Know Those Studies Saying Some People Don’t Respond To Exercise? It Looks Like They Aren’t True As The Latest Studies Show Pretty Much Everyone’s Aerobic Fitness Will Improve If They Work Hard Enough It’s still up in the air, though, if that work will help their “glucose and insulin response.”
• Do You Get Nervous Before Your First Race Of The Year? Don’t Worry, So Does Usain Bolt “I always get nervous before my first race,” he says. “Every year I worry, ‘am I still fast?'”
• What Is THe Cause For The Recent Decline In Irish Athletics?Between 2000 and 2012, they consistently had 8-12 world class athletes. Now they have 3.
• Dick Pound Says Russia Was Giving WADA The Middle Finger By Appointing Yelena Isinbayeva As Anti-Doping Head – WADA Says She’ll Be Canned By May 31st

RIP

1956 Olympic 10,000 Bronze Medalist And Houston Coaching Legend Al Lawrence Has Died
*MB: RIP Al Lawrence — 1956 Bronze Medalist 

Toni Reavis Remembers The Great Grete Waitz 6 Years After Her Passing

This Saturday’s Action

• Some Great Sprint Showdowns Set For The Jamaica International InvitationalAsafa Powell vs. Yohan Blake in the 100, Andre De Grasse vs. LaShawn Merritt over 200, double Olympic champ Elaine Thompson is in the 200, Allyson Felix in the 100, Devon Allen in the 110H and Olympic TJ champ Caterine Ibarguen and US HJer Brigetta Barrett highlight the jumps.
• Four Sub-61 Men Lead Field For The Mattoni Karlovy Vary Half Marathon In The Czech Republic Sub-60 man Gilbert Masai is the fastest in a field that includes 2:05 marathoner Mark Korir. Mercy Kibarus (68:18 and 2:26:52 PRs) leads the women’s race.
• Bangkok Midnight Marathon Preview Kenya’s Estehr Machariai (2:30:50) and Uktraine’s Igor Olefirenko (2:12:04) lead fields. *Free Live Stream 1PM ET
• June 27: Poland’s World Hammer Champions Anita Wlodarczyk And Pawel Fajdek Highlight IAAF Hammer Challenge At Ostrava Golden Spike World hammer champions of Poland will return to the Golden Spike meeting, part of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge, in Ostrava on 27 June in an attempt to break the meeting records.

Doping Updates

• Doping Decision On 400 Hurdler Kaliese Spencer To Be Made Before Jamaican National Champs Spencer is accused of evading a drug test and faces up to a 4-year ban.
• Kenyan Article Shares Out-Of-Competition Testing Numbers On Kenyan Athletes The article isn’t well written and we doubt its accuracy, but it states “the IAAF has 57 athletes under investigation for related doping offences.”
  *MB: 57 Kenyans on doping watch list?
• Maria Sharapova Denied Wild-Card Invite To French Open The French Tennis Federation president said, “If there can be a wild card for the return from injuries, there cannot be a wild card for the return from doping.”
  *Independent.ie: “Maria Sharapova Snaps Back With Defiant Tweet After Her French Open Snub”
• WADA Vice President Rejects IOC Proposal That WADA Athlete Committee Members Should Be Elected Rather Than Appointed
• International Paralympic Committee To Provide Update On Russian Reinstatement Process Next Week Russian paralympic athletes have been suspended from all events since before Rio.
• WADA Discussing Update On Russia’s Reinstatement Efforts At Board Meeting Today

A Friendly Debate – A Noted Sub-2 Optimist And Pessimist Share Their Thoughts On What Eliud Kipchoge’s 2:00:25 Means

LRC Was Eliud Kipchoge’s 2:00:25 A Monumental Step Forward In Marathoning? No, It Was Not – We Still Are 20+ Years Away From A Legitimate Sub-2 Marathon LetsRun.com co-founder Robert Johnson said four years ago that are nowhere close to a sub-2 in a legitimate race and he’s not backing down.

LRC Guest Column By Dr. Michael Joyner: Kipchoge’s Run & What Might (Or Might Not) Happen Next What does the man who famously predicted way back in 1991 that a human could run a marathon in 1:57:58 think of Eliud Kipchoge’s 2:00:25 run? Find out here.

MB: Dr. Michael Joyner and LetsRun’s Robert Johnson share their thoughts on what Eliud Kipchoge’s 2:00:25 means.

Sprint Stuff

• Usain Bolt Donates His World Record Spikes To Raise Money For Charity Bolt gave up the spikes he wore when he broke the 100m WR in 2009 to be auctioned off to raise money for a charity which provides equipment and medical services for Jamaican hospital pediatric wards.
• Good Read/Watch:Article And 22-Minute Documentary On Jamaica’s Boys’ And Girls’ Champs The documentary follows several sprinters before and through the biggest high school meet in the world.
• Olympic Hurdler Queen Harrison Stars In TV Show “Say Yes To The Dress” Harrison is engaged to three-time Olympic medalist Will Claye, who proposed in the stands after winning TJ silver in Rio. *USATF Article
• Multi News: Good Listen: Podcast Q&A With Former World Decathlon Champion Trey Hardee In a three-hour interview, Hardee opens up about his career, training and life as an athlete/father.
• NCAA Athletes Of The Week Are Sprinters Christian Coleman And Deajah Stevens Coleman is the first collegian (8th man in history) to go sub-10 and sub-20 in the 100/200 on the same day while Stevens put herself #2 on the NCAA all-time 200 list with a 22.09.