The 2018 BMW Berlin Marathon *Berlin Results

LRC Meet “Drinks Guy,” The Fist-Pumping German Who Gave Eliud Kipchoge His Drinks During His World Record Marathon We tracked down “Drinks Guy,” the fist-pumping German who gave Eliud Kipchoge his drinks in Berlin. He’s Claus-Henning Schulke, a 52-year-old amateur triathlete from Berlin.

LRC Final The Greatest Ever – 2:01:39 – Eliud Kipchoge Crushes World Record To Win 2018 Berlin Marathon The greatest marathoner in history has run the greatest marathon in history, 2:01:39, and taken 78 seconds off the WR, marking the biggest improvement in the WR in 51 years, thanks to a 60:33 second half.

Kenya’s Gladys Cherono Wins A Third Berlin Marathon Title She ran 2:18:11 to become the fourth-fastest woman in history and break the 13-year-old course record by a minute. Ethiopia’s Ruti Aga (2:18:34) and Tirunesh Dibaba (2:18:55) were a close 2-3.

• Ross Tucker: Was 2:01:39 Really A Big Breakthrough Or Was It Just The Shoes? Tucker, who predicted after Monza that Kipchoge could run 2:01:40, wonders if the jump from 2:02:57 to 2:01:40 is simply the result of the Nike 4% shoes which (despite the name) the NY Times found is worth 1%.
• IAAF: Eliud Kipchoge Breaks Marathon WR With Stunning 2:01:39 In Berlin
• MB: Fernando Cabada– 2:15 today in Berlin
• MB Pre-Race: Huge NY Times Profile on Eliud Kipchoge: “Eliud Kipchoge Is the Greatest Marathoner, Ever”

Berlin On The Boards

• MB: Official 2018 Berlin Marathon Live Thread
  
• MB: ELIUD KIPCHOGE 🐐 2:01:40 !!!
  
• MB: The downside of Kipchoge breaking the world record is all the obnoxious Nike Vaporfly marketing that will follow
  
• MB: Is Berlin the fastest marathon course out there? Could Kipchoge have run faster today on a different record eligible course?
  
• MB: Just ran Berlin, 10 minutes slower than PR. Please help with a post-mortem 

Seriously Now? What? WADA Recommends RUSADA Be Reinstated

• WADA Recommends Reinstatement Of Russian Anti-Doping Agency WADA’s independent compliance review committee has recommended WADA should reinstate RUSADA when they meet on September 20. This despite Russia not having met the reinstatement criteria by allowing access to the Moscow lab.
• Russia’s Life Reads Like A Spy Movie: Swiss Prosecutors Investigating Two Russian Agents Over Cyber Attack On WADA The same two Russians were detained earlier this year for another planned attack on a lab in the Netherlands. The lab was investigating the poisoning of a Russian double agent, Sergei Skripal.
• BBC: WADA Suggested Compromise To Bring End To RUSADA Ban BBC obtained copies of the letters between WADA and the Russian sports minister. Also includes statement from WADA head Craig Reedie responding to the criticism.
• InsideTheGames: RUSADA Set To Be Reinstated At WADA Executive Committee Meeting Apparently WADA softened the reinstatement criteria to end the stalemate with Russia. Russia has promised to eventually let inspectors into the Moscow lab and they didn’t publicly accept the McLaren Report, but wrote a letter that “sufficiently acknowledged issues.” *Reuters Article

Pre-Race Berlin News

LRC There’s A Remote Chance All 4 Marathon And Half Marathon World Records Could Fall On Sunday We’ve got a podcast previewing Berlin and Copenhagen and have a chart looking more at the Copenhagen fields and the random Kenyan talent emerging in the half marathon.

LRC LetsRun.com Track Talk: Berlin Marathon And Copenhagen Half Marathon Preview Podcast

LRC Tirunesh Dibaba Plans To Chase World Record At 2018 BMW Berlin Marathon And the plan is to do it the optimal way – with a negative split.

LRC Women’s Preview: Tirunesh Dibaba Plots Return To Winning Ways Against 3 More Sub-2:20 Women After a DNF in London, Dibaba is looking to return to the winner’s circle in Berlin, not Chicago where she won last fall.

LRC Eliud Kipchoge Is Chasing The World Record In Berlin (Again). Whether He Gets It Or Not Is Out Of His Control The last 6 men’s WRs have all been set in Berlin. Can the greatest marathoner ever make it #7?
*MB: Will Eliud Kipchoge get the World Record at this weekend’s 2018 BMW Berlin Marathon?

• Wilson Kipsang Says He Wants To Run Near His PR And Go Through Halfway In 61:30 In Berlin Another name of note in the field is half marathon WR holder Zersenay Tadese, who will be taking yet another crack at the full marathon and try to improve his 2:10:41 PR.
• ESPN: Record Chasing Tirunesh Dibaba And Gladys Cherono Headline Berlin Women’s Race Dibaba: “I improved my training in preparation for Berlin and did more volume. I am very well prepared and want to beat my best time on Sunday.”
• Eliud Kipchoge Emphasizes He’s Going For His PR (Not Necessarily The WR) In Berlin “I am not thinking about the world record. My eyes are on a personal best.” On the surface, it sounds a bit silly considering there are only 8 seconds between Kipchoge’s best and the WR.
  *MB: Kipchoge says he goes for a PB. Why doesn’t he say WR?

African Marathoner News

• Former Marathon World Record Holder Patrick Makau Retires From The Sport The 2:03:38 man says he’s hanging them up after dealing with a persistent patellar tendon injury. He says he plans on staying involved in the sport as a coach.
• Former Olympic And World Champion Stephen Kiprotich Still Hoping To Lower His PR Before He Retires And Wants To Run 2:05 At The Toronto Waterfront Marathon Next Month “I have the two medals but also I want to run a faster time than 2:05. Most of the people they look at my times and they ask me how did you win these two medals in poor times? So it is my hope to run a good time before I retire.”
• World Record Holder Dennis Kimetto Competing In The Shanghai Marathon In November Kimetto has been DNFs in all his recent marathons and hasn’t finished one since London 2016. But he once again claims he is over his injury issues and thinks he can run 2:06 in Shanghai. We’ll believe it when we see it.

Nike Ad Controversy Message Board Discussion

• MB: Nike doubles down on controversial Just Do It ads – 1st Colin Kaepernick, now they’ve released one featuring Caster Semenya
• InsideTheGames: Caster Semenya Addresses IAAF Testosterone Controversy In New Nike Advert The ad features a voice over from Semenya speaking to her critics.
• MB: Oh No They Didn’t? Kaepernick the face of New Nike Just Do It Ad Campaign?
• Ha ha ha … Nike sales SURGE!!!!!!
• Bill Burr on Nike 😂😂😂
• State of Tennessee (USA) budget office to reconsider Nike contracts in wake of C Kaepernick (ex-NFL) promotional campaign
• Nike stock gains back all losses after controversial Kaepernick ad
• Brave university College of the Ozarks (MO) removes Nike(tm) swooshes(tm) from jerseys, in protest of their new ad campaign
• NIKE- Kaepernick, Serena, Lebron Ad: BEST Commerical Ever
• Calling all supporters

Weekend Road Action *5th Avenue Mile Results *Great North Run Results

RRW & LRC Jenny Simpson Gets Her Sixth Straight Fifth Avenue Mile Title, Jake Wightman Gets His First  Simpson capped her season with another 5th Avenue win over the in form Colleen Quigley. Wightman held off veteran Nick Willis.
LRC Post-Race Videos With Simpson, Wightman, Quigley, Willis, Eriva Avila, Neil Gourley, Ben True
*Official 5th Avenue Mile Thread

RRW: World Under-20 Champion Rhonex Kipruto Scares The Road 10k World Record With A 26:46 Solo Effort At The Birell Grand Prix Kipruto now sits second on the all-time list, only behind Leonard Patrick Komon‘s 26:44. Caroline Kipkirui ran the #5 all-time best 10k to win the women’s race in 30:19 ahead of Fancy Chemutai (30:22) and Diana Chemtai Kipyokei (30:23). *IAAF Recap
*MB: Rhonex Kipruto runs 26:46 for 10K on the roads in Prague — #2 all-time

Mo Farah Wins Great North Run For A Record 5th Consecutive Time Farah ran away from Jake Robertson over the last two miles to win in 59:26 (4 seconds short of his PR) to Robertson’s 59:57. Vivian Cheruiyot won the women’s race in 67:43 over Brigid Kosgei (67:52) and WR holder Joyciline Jepkosgei (68.:10). *Discuss

• Ethiopia’s Abebe Negewo Breaks Course Record To Win Minsk Half Marathon In 62:39 Kenya’s Sheila Jerotich won the women’s race in 72:05.
• Josh Kerr (4:10.5) And Amanda Eccleston (4:47.0) Win Minnesota Mile Kerr beat out Daniel Herrera (4:11.1) while Eccleston outkicked Kellyn Taylor (4:47.4).

All-Time Great Sprint News

• Michael Johnson Recovering At Home After Suffering “Mini-Stroke” It occurred last week and Johnson says he has been cleared of any ongoing heart problems. *MB: Michael Johnson Recovering After Stroke
• Usain Bolt Takes Break From Aussie Soccer For A Previously Planned Overseas Commitment Bolt will be gone from the 9th through the 16thh in what was a pre-agreed upon break.

Rest In Peace

• 1998 World Half Marathon Champion Paul Koech Dies At Age 49 Koech had many other top international finishes as well as fast PRs with the 7th best 10,000m of all time at 26:36.26.
• Kimbia Athletics’ Tribute To Paul Koech – “An Honest Hero”
• Diane Leather, The First Woman To Run A Sub-Five Minute Mile, Dies At Age 85 She ran 4:59.6 in 1954, three weeks after Bannister ran his first sub-four.

Doping: Asbel Kiprop Situation Gets Crazier And Sadder

Asbel Kiprop Publishes Video Of Him Making Out With His Pacemaker’s Wife As He Thinks The Pacemaker Set Him Up For EPO Bust 2008 Olympic champ Asbel Kiprop has published a salacious video of him making out with his pacemaker’s wife. Those in the know think Kiprop did so in retaliation for the pacemaker setting him up for the EPO bust out of anger for the affair. The woman has sadly tried to commit suicide.

• First WADA Approved Lab In East Africa Is Set To Open In Nairobi This will be big for African testing as samples will no longer need to be transported to Europe or South Africa. This will allow for more blood tests which previously were extremely difficult.
• Athletics Integrity Unit Confirms Kipyegon Bett’s EPO Positive Not surprisingly, GB 800m runner Kyle Langford (the runner Bett beat out for world bronze by just .04) hasn’t reacted too happilly on Twitter.
• Sandi Morris About Demi Payne On Twitter: “Well, I KNEW – but now it’s no longer just a suspicion.” She and Katie Nageotte had a brief exchange where they lament losing NCAA titles/records and a world team place to Payne.