Big News Regarding Oregon’s Most Iconic Track Facility And Miler

LRC Reigning Olympic And World Indoor Champion Matthew Centrowitz Will Skip 2018 Indoor Season, Race In Australia Instead In other Centro related news, we have learned that Like Father, Like Son, the memoir by Matt Centrowitz – Matthew’s father – may be turned into a feature film.
*MB: Breaking: Reigning world indoor champ Matthew Centrowitz will NOT defend his crown – will race in Australia instead One LRCer is disappointed that Americans tend to really get up for Worlds only when it’s in the US.

What’s Going On At Historic Hayward Field?

Ken Goe In The Oregonian: “IAAF Visit To Oregon Ahead Of 2021 World Track Champs Leaves Unanswered Questions” A big issue is the necessary renovations to Hayward Field which were supposed to start in 2016, but haven’t even begun. And now sources say the project will be a “complete teardown” instead of the original plan to preserve the iconic east side of the stadium.

Russian Doping Updates

• Just Another Day In Russia: 36 Athletes Withdraw From Siberian Indoor Championships After Surprise Drug Testers Show Up At The Event Some credit to former world 110H champ Sergey Shubenkov for calling them out on Twitter where he said, “Doping control drove in. … Is that why a couple doze withdrew before the beginning?”
• The Guardian: IOC Accused Of “Backroom Deals” With Russia Ahead Of The 2018 Winter Olympics The film-makers behind the Icarus documentary claim that the IOC is going to allow the 42 Russians currently appealing their Olympic bans to take part as neutral athletes.

Assorted Distance News

• Athletics Kenya Unveil World Half Marathon Squad Two-time defending champ Geoffrey Kamworor and World Record holder Joyceline Jepkosgei lead the teams.
• There Is A Petition In The UK To Have Women Run The Same XC Distance As Men “Actually when you go to longer distances physiologically women have been shown to become more equal to men, rather than the other way around.”
• Seven-Time US Road Champion Aliphine Tuliamuk Joins HOKA NAZ Elite Tuliamuk says she is focus on trying to make the US 2020 Olympic team in the marathon.
  *Q&A With Tuliamuk She talks about being one of 32 siblings.
  *Ben Rosario Talks About Tuliamuk Joining LRC video.
• Nijel Amos To Train In Oregon Ahead Of Commonwealth Games Amos is looking to defend his title after he got a big win over David Rudisha at the 2014 CWG.
• RRW: Comrades Marathon Champion Piet Vorster Is Dead At 66

Houston Marathon/Half *Results

LRC Official Houston Thread

LRC Final Molly Huddle Breaks American Record At 2018 Aramco Houston Half Marathon Huddle went out blazing fast – 66:29 pace at 15k – and held on to get the AR in 67:25. In the process, she beat Jordan Hasay by 73 seconds. Oh yeah, Huddle didn’t win. She was just 7th. Ruti Aga, the 2017 Berlin Marathon runner-up, won in 66:39. Updated with analysis, quotes and videos.
*RRW: Three USA Records For Molly Huddle At Aramco Houston Half Marathon
*Houston Chronicle: After AR In Houston, Molly Huddle Is Looking Forward To Boston And Another Clash With Hasay Huddle: “I think her recent marathon success is going to spark a good rivalry. She’s just at another level of running right now. Rivalries are good for the sport. I think we’re going to be finishing close to each other in Boston.”

LRC Final Jake Robertson (60:01) Crushes Stacked Field Over Final 2 Miles To Win 2018 Houston Half Marathon Kiwi Jake Robertson was dancing after this one was over as he got the biggest win of his career and took some huge scalps, including runner-up Guye Adola. American Sam Chelanga moved to #4 on the US all-time list with a 60:37 and Haron Lagat cracked the top 10 for the US all-time at 61:01.
Updated with analysis, quotes and videos.
*Post-Race Reaction: Jake Robertson Paid His Own Money To Top Up And Fly Business Class To Houston As He Knew He Was Ready To Run Fast

Marathon: LRC Bazu Worku (2:08:30) And Degefa Biruktayir (2:24:51) Win Full Marathons Wilkerson Given (2:15:52) and Sarah Crouch (2:35:22) were the top Americans.
*Houston Chronicle Recap Of Ethiopian Domination

IAAF: Ethiopians Dominate In Houston Once Again We think the Kiwis did incredibly well on a per capita basis.

Reads We Enjoyed

• Former Providence Star David McCarthy Quit Running For 18 Months And Loved Not Being A Runner – But Now He’s Back Trying Again Thanks To Kyle Merber “I had the best 18 months of my life … It was great to wake up knowing I didn’t have to run. I could have more nights out, enjoy hanging with friends and family more and not feel guilty about it because I had a long run the next morning.”
• Villanova Coach Marcus O’Sullivan Remembers When 20,000+ Showed Up In Indianapolis To Watch 1st World Indoors O’Sullivan won his first of 3 World Indoor golds in Indy at the Hoosier Dome.
• RIP: Gene Cole – 1st Olympian To Break 47 And Not Make The Olympic Final – Has Died At Age 89
• Recommended Read: Italy’s World Indoor Champ Gianmarco Tamberi Writes About His Comeback From Injury And The Support He Got From His Friend Mutaz Essa Barshim Tamberi tells the story of Barshim coming to his hotel room and consoling him after a disappointing competition where he couldn’t clear the opening height.

Sprint Stuff From North America

• Lolo Jones Left Off Winter Olympic Bobsled Team The US only qualified two sleds for the 2018 Games (as opposed to three in 2014), which made it that much harder to make the team.
• After Surgery, Transplant, Aries Merritt Feels The Best He Has In 5 Years
• Andre De Grasse And Decathlete Damian Warner Lead Canadian Squad For 2018 Commonwealth Games
• Former Oregon Sprinter Marcus Chambers Signs With Nike
• Canadian 400H Olympian And NCAA Champion Sage Watson Signs With Nike

Can An American Win In Boston In 2018?

LRC 2018 Boston Marathon Analysis: Galen Rupp Faces A Tougher Task Than In 2017 But The US Women Have Their Best Shot At Victory In Decades The elite fields for 2018 Boston are set. What are the odds that an American man or woman wins? We break it down for you.

African Distance Dominance

• Two-Time World XC Champ Geoffrey Kamworor Wins Kenya Police Service XC Meet
• January 26: Three-Time Winner Aselefech Mergia (2:19:31) And Former World Champ Mare Dibaba (2:19:52) Announced For The 2018 Dubai Marathon

USATF Championship News

USATF Outdoor Championships Return To Drake University In Des Moines, Iowa In 2018 Drake Stadium has previously hosted the USATF Outdoor Championships twice, in 2010 and 2013.

Four Cities Declare Intent To Bid For 2020 US Olympic Marathon Trials The 2020 Trials could be coming to a new city with bids from Atlanta, Georgia; Austin, Texas; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Orlando, Florida. Bidding is open until March with a final decision coming this spring.
*MB: 2020 US Olympic Marathon Trials bidders – Atlanta, Austin, Chattanooga, Orlando – Who you got?

Field Event News

• Why Every Football Lineman Should Also Throw Shot Put One football scouting service says, “the ability to throw the shot put is a great indicator of short area power and footwork. Typically shot put ability transfers over well to the football field, particularly for linemen and linebackers.”
• Olympic Champ Ekaterini Stefanidi Explains Why She Loves The Pole Vault Stefanidi started her track career off trying multiple events but was inspired by the first women’s pole vault at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
• IAAF 60-Second Video Interview With Christian Taylor Taylor says his favorite event to watch is the javelin.
• Podcast Q&A With Two-Time Finnish National Decathlon Champion And William & Mary Coach Tommy Barrineau
• IAAF “Story Behind The Picture” Piece With German World Javelin Champ Johannes Vetter Shares Vetter talks about winning world gold and the celebrations that ensued.
• IAAF “High And Low” Series Interview With Estonia’s Former European Indoor Long Jump Champ Ksenija Balta Balta reflects on the lowest point (injury) and highest point (6th place in Rio) of her career.

Assorted Distance News

• Surprise NYC Marathon 5th Placer Allie Kieffer Signs With Oiselle It’s been a nice comeback for Kieffer, who briefly retired from the sport back in 2013.
  *MB: Allie Kieffer Signs with Oiselle
• Luke Puskedra Now Running With The OTC And Being Coached By Mark Rowland Puskedra joined them back in mid-October and says the training is “so much different than anything I’ve done.”
• California Woman Molly Friel Qualifies for Olympic Marathon Trials at Age 50 Friel ran 2:43:57 at CIM to become the second-oldest women ever to qualify for the Trials.
• 2:26 Chinese Olympic Marathoner Wang Jiali Gets 8-Year Drug Ban For Second Doping Offense She failed an out-of-competition test for EPO after getting a two-year ban in 2013 for biological passport abnormalities.  She was also fined $6,000 and her coach got a lifetime ban, but we don’t understand why she herself wasn’t banned for life.

Distance: Millrose Is Next Month

• February 3: Nick Willis, Defending Champ Eric Jenkins, Robby Andrews And Brenda Martinez And Sara Vaughn Highlight NYRR Wanamaker Mile Fields At Millrose Games The men’s race also has Ben Blankenship, Kyle Merber, Chris O’Hare and Josh Kerr while the women’s features Alexa Efraimson, Ireland’s Ciara Mageean and Canada’s Nicole Sifuentes.
• Cam Levins Signs With Hoka One One Levins will run his first race for Hoka at the Houston Half.
  *MB: CAM LEVINS TO HOKA?!?!
  *MB: Sorry to say this, but sorry, Cam Levins is DONE. Sorry.
• Laura Muir Has Known For Years That She Was Going To Skip The 2018 Commonwealth Games Muir is in her last year of veterinary school with exams in May and placement through April.

The World’s Biggest XC Fan

LRC Meet Mr. Cross-Country, The Sport’s Biggest Fan Cross-country’s biggest fan, Michael Mahon, resides in Massachusetts, where for the past 33 years he has traveled to over 1,747 career meets, bag of cans in tow. And he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
*Michael Mahon – Mr. Cross-Country – Share Your Favorite Story Here