News From Oregon

• Recommended Read:Register Guard:2012 Olympic Silver Medallist Nijel Amos Is On The Fast Track With OTC Elite Amos had a rough 2015 and 2016, but now with Mark Rowland at OTC has got him back in the right direction. He says he’s feeling good and is even talking about a WR attempt this summer.
• Ken Goe:“Passion Flares Over Size, Scope And Secrecy Of Hayward Field Renovation Plan” The renovations that were supposed to begin in 2016 are expected to begin this summer, but with no plans having been made public, many are nervous about what the new stadium will be like. Goe writes, “They worry about Hayward’s atmosphere disappearing, swallowed up by a glitzy stadium with thousands of empty seats.”
• Andrew Wheating Is Now On Portland Track’s Board Of Directors  Portland Track puts on the Portland Track Festival and Stumptown Twilight meets. Wheating is also involved with a comical track YouTube channel called, “Tracklandia.”
• University Of Portland Getting A Brand New 8 Lane Track In 2019

Women’s Distance News

• Caster Semenya Fails In Attempt To Break Zola Budd’s South African 1,500 Record Semenya ran 4:02.50, just .70 off of Budd’s 4:01.80. Former NCAA champ Dominique Scott-Efurd was a distant second in 4:08.6. In the sprints, Luxolo Adams won the men’s 200 (20.01) and Carina Horn the women’s 100 (11.12).
• Laura Muir’s Coach Says She’s A Victim Of Having To Face “Some Of The Best Distance Runners Of All Time” He also said that “in a matter of weeks” she could go out and break the British 10,000 record if that’s what she wanted.
• Reddit AMA With Olympic Triathlon Champ And Now Marathoner Gwen Jorgensen “Marathon training’s biggest hurdle has been staying injury free. There are more days I wake up and limp than days I wake up and feel good.”
• RW:“Why US Women Marathoners Are Having A Moment” Four of the 10 fastest Americans have run their PRs in the last 14 months. Comparatively, American men only have one new name on the top 10 list in the past five+ years.
• Queen Elizabeth II Named Official Starter Of The 2018 London Marathon
• Laura Muir Excited At The Prospect Of Winning More Medals At A Home Championships At Next Year’s Euro Indoor Champs In Glasgow

Russian Doping Updates

• WADA Says Russia Ignored Four Requests To Inspect Moscow’s Anti-Doping Lab WADA president Craig Reedie says Russia still needs to acknowledge its state-sponsored doping and allow the Moscow lab to be inspected.
• Russian Sports Minister Claims Pyeongchang 2018 Doping Cases Are “Senseless”Pavel Kolobkov said he is “outraged” about the two Russians who failed drug tests at the Winter Games and that hr has “no explanation of how it could have happened at all.”
• BBC:Craig Reedie Says Russian Participation At Major Events Still In Doubt

Pre-World Half News

RRW At Age 43, Bernard Lagat Is Thrilled To Be Representing The USA Once Again At A World Championships Plus Lagat talks about whether he can break Haile Gebrselassie‘s 61:09 world masters record.

LRC Jordan Hasay Has Withdrawn From The 2018 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships – Will She Run The 2018 Boston Marathon? Additionally, Kenya has two big scratches of their own. Neither the US or Kenya entered any alternates before the entry deadline and as a result both countries and will only have three competitors in the women’s team race where three score.
*MB: Confirmed: Jordan Hasay has withdrawn from the 2018 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships – Will she run Boston?

Problems In Kenya

• Russian Athletes Suspect Fraud After “Fake IAAF Officers” Took Doping Samples In Kenya The Russians became suspicious as the “officers” showed their ID cards on a phone. Were these good samaritans just trying to make sure the Russians were clean?
• Recommended Read:Kenya Standard Digital: “Athletes Race From Rags To Riches And Back To Rags” Kenyans use running to escape poverty and gain a fortune, but with no education on how to manage their wealth, many can end up right back where they started.
• Athletics Kenya Cracking Down On Officials Accused Of Molesting Female Athletes They’ve changed the management of training camps, now having them run by schools rather than individuals.