November 11, 2018 | LetsRun.com

Sunday Road Action

Ruth Chepngetich Drops A Four-Minute PR To Win The Istanbul Marathon In 2:18:35 She went through halfway in a super-quick 68:22 and held on enough to win comfortably with a new CR. Felix Kimutai won the men’s race in a CR (2:09:57). *Discuss
Mohamed Reda El Aaraby (2:10:41) And Medina Deme Armino (2:29:31) Win Beirut Marathon Former Boston Marathon champ Wesley Korir was only 7th in 2:14:18.

Olympic Champion News

Good Read: Extensive Q&A With 1968 Olympic 5,000m Champion Mohammed Gammoudi Even if you’d get an “F” in track history, if you ran in high school then you probably remember Gammoudi from watching the Steve Prefontaine movies (Gammoudi was 2nd at the 1972 Munich Games).
Alberto Salazar Acknowledges Break With Matt Centrowitz He didn’t offer much comment, saying, “He has let us know he is not running with the Oregon Project … It’s been an honor having Matthew in the Oregon Project. We wish him success going forward.”
Two-Time Olympic Champion Ed Moses Says He Was Told To “Shut Up” At WADA Meeting Moses says it was at a WADA foundation board meeting where various individuals told him not to speak. WADA claims he did speak and no one told him to “shut up.”

Kenyan Marathon News

Mary Keitany Wants To Try To Break Paula Radcliffe’s World Record Next Year “I’m confident with the right conditions and with my current form, I can break the world record or improve on my personal best time.”
Mary Keitany Is Debating Whether She Wants To Run 2019 Worlds In Doha Or Defend Here NYC Title Next Year Worlds are in October, so she will have to choose between the two.
Mary Keitany Talks About Her Pacing Strategy In NYC She said “the only problem” was the 15:19 she ran from 25k to 30k was too fast.
An Brief Analysis Of Eliud Kipchoge’s Running Form From His 2:01:39 World Record In Berlin “Kipchoge doesn’t do anything special with his technique. It’s exceptionally clean, simple, and epitomizes the form of the vast majority of world class runners.”

International Distance News

January 25: Olympic Silver Medalist Feyisa Lilesa Targeting A Winning Return At The Dubai Marathon After two years in in exile, Lilesa is back training in Ethiopia following the election of a new reformist government.
*Reuters: Two Years After Protesting Ethiopian Government At The Olympics, Feyisa Lilesa Returns Home Lilesa has spent the last two years in exile after he protested against government violence at the Rio Games.
*Runner’s World: Feyisa Lilesa Returns From Self-Imposed Exile
Japanese Health Groups Call For The Tokyo Olympic Marathon To Start At 5:30AM Instead Of 7AM To “Avoid Deaths” People are concerned about the intense Tokyo heat with temperatures likely to be in the low to high 80s during the race.
European XC Championships Will Return To Ireland In 2020 They will be held in Fingal. They were previously in Dublin in 2009.

Non-LRC NYC Coverage

Bernard Lagat Says His First Marathon Won’t Be His Last Lagat says the hills in NYC killed him as he’s used to the track and flat road races, but he wants to run faster his next time out.
Shalane Flanagan Hints That Its Time To Retire “I’ve had a lot of fun with my own running … I do feel like it’s more getting towards the time to serve others.”
NY Times: A Year After Her Breakthrough, Shalane Flanagan Runs On Flanagan: “You just put your head down, keep working and fight for that podium spot.”
NY Times: Lelisa Desisa Wins NYC Marathon In The Last Miles
MB: NY Times disrespected Mary Keitany today with its marathon headline. Was it also racist?
USATF: A Determined Flanagan Perseveres For Podium Finish At TCS NYC Marathon
IAAF NYC Recap

2018 NYC On The Message Board

NCAA XC Regionals Are This Weekend *All Results

MB: Official 2018 NCAA D1 XC Regional Discussion Thread – Who Is Going To The Big Dance? Follow this thread all day long on Friday as we should have the field within minutes of the final region going final.

LRC Here Is Your Projected 2018 NCAA Men’s Cross-Country Field The Bradley Braves are dancing for the first time ever. The field will also include Purdue and Wyoming, both of whom last made NCAAs in 1986, but not pre-season #6 Alabama.

LRC Here Is Your Projected 2018 NCAA Women’s Cross-Country Field The field will include first-time NCAA participants Oregon State and Southern Utah but not pre-season #10 Utah State or #11 Providence.

Catching Up On Japanese Distance News

After Quitting The Sport For Several Years, Hitomi Niiya Makes Great Comeback To Break Stage Course Record At The East Japan Women’s Ekiden Niiya’s claim to fame was leading the 2013 World Champs 10,000 the entire way before getting blown away on the final lap and getting 5th. She retired from the sport afterwards, but now is back trying to make Tokyo 2020.
Yuki Kawauchi Wins Low Key Nasu Shiobara Half Marathon (65:03)
Aoyama Gakuin University Runs Down Tokai University To Win National University Men’s Ekiden
Japan Running News’ Weekend Ekiden Preview
November 25: Field Of 22 Teams Set For National Corporate Women’s Ekiden Championships
December 9: Ethiopia’s Workneh Debele (2:19:53 PR) Leads The Saitama International Marathon Elite Women’s Field
Next Weekend: Japan Running News’ Kobe Marathon Preview

The Half Marathon WR Holder Shares His Training With LRC

LRC Q&A: Half Marathon WR Holder Abraham Kiptum Reveals His Workouts Before Running 58:18 The new half marathon record holder shares his workouts exclusively with the LetsRun.com nation.

GB News

45-Year-Old Jo Pavey Wants To Make History As The First British Runner To Compete At Six Olympic Games Pavey had assumed she would be retiring after having her first child years ago, but found that “being a mum fitted really well with being a runner.”
Laura Muir Says Athletes Feel “Let Down” By WADA Decision To Reinstate Russia Muir also talks about XC one day coming back to the Olympics and working as a voluntary vet.
Dina Asher -Smith Named The Sunday Times’ Sportswoman Of The Year Asher-Smith became the first British woman to win triple gold at the European Champs.
Kelly Holmes Hails Laura Muir As “Future Olympic Champion” Holmes presented Muir her award as she was named Scottish athlete of the year.
BBC: GB Pro Athletes Open Up About The Abuse They Receive On Social Media

More Road News

Martin Hehir Breaks Course Record To Win Pittsburgh 10 Miler In 46:48 Over Stephen Sambu (46:55) Kenya’s Monicah Ngige dominated the women’s race in 52:06.
IAAF Weekend Road Recap: Hirut Tibedu (2:25:10) And Michael Njenga Kunyuga (2:10:37) Win Hangzhou Marathon Elsewhere, Ethiopia’s Abrha Milaw (2:07:26) and Nurit Shimels (2:31:54) won the Des Alpes Maritimes Marathon and Robert Chemonges (2:09:05) and Abeba Tekulu Gebremeskel (2:30:13) won the Porto Marathon in Portugal.
December 7: Recent Half Marathon WR Setter Abraham Kiptum And Former NYC Champ Stanley Biwott Lead Field For Abu Dhabi Marathon

Abbott Dash To The Finish Line USATF 5k Champs *Post-Race Interviews

Breaking: LRC Matthew Centrowitz Has Left The Nike Oregon Project After running the 5k this morning, Centro revealed exclusively to LRC that he has left the NOP. Now both its Olympic gold medalists, Centrowitz and Farah, have left the program. *Discuss

LRC Final Paul Chelimo Wins USATF 5k Champs In Sprint Over Kipchirchir, Emily Sisson Cruises We also caught up with marathoners Dathan Ritzenhein and Amy Cragg, who were bouncing back from injury. *Discuss
MB:
*Ritz talk lack of sub 2:10 US guys, Des Linden’s comments on him
*Guys who race better than they train: #1 Example: Paul Chelimo: “he’s a monster”

LRC Paul Chelimo Leaves Army WCAP Team, Signs With Total Sports & Nike Army athletes aren’t allowed to have endorsement contracts, so considering Chelimo is now one of the top runners in the world, this is not a huge surprise. *Discuss

Sunday Distance Action

Sunday: Ethiopians Getane Molla And Senbere Teferi Return To Defend Their Titles At The Cross De Atapuerca XC Races In Spain The men’s race also has world 5,000 champ Muktar Edris and world XC bronze medalist Abadi Hadis.
IAAF Weekend Road Preview: Marius Kimutai (2:05:47) And Defending Champ Ruth Chepngetich (2:22:36) The Favorites At The Istanbul Marathon Kimutai faces Getu Feleke(2:04:50) while the women’s race also has Margaret Agai (2:23:28). Kenyans and Ethiopians also top the fields at the Hefei Marathon in China and the Guadalajara Marathon in Mexico.

After Stepping Away From Politics, Former Boston Champ Wesley Korir Relishing Marathon Return In Beirut With his wife recently giving birth to their fourth child, Korir is out of the political game and is focusing on running again, hoping to go sub-2:10 on Sunday (a time he hasn’t hit since 2014).

More NYC Marathon

LRC 1-Hour New York City Marathon Recap Podcast: How Great Was Keitany? What About The American Women? American Men? Is Huddle The Favorite For The Olympic Trials? We break all of this down and much more, including “Was Bernard Lagat’s debut a success?” and “Scott Fauble knows he’s good, but is he telling the truth?”

WTW Were The American Men Any Good In New York? Keitany Vs. Radcliffe Vs. Ndereba For GOAT In our weekly recap, we take another look at the amazing Mary Keitany in New York and where that puts her in the all-time ranks along with Paula Radcliffe and Catherine Ndereba. Plus 4 American men were in the top 10 in New York. How good was that? And was this year’s NYC Marathon actually Geoffrey Kamworor‘s best marathon even though it was his worst finish?

The Best Of 2018

Eliud Kipchoge And Gladys Cherono Named AIMS Best Marathoners Of 2018 Kipchoge went undefeated again in 2018 with wins in London and obviously his 2:01:39 WR. Cherono won Berlin (2:18:11) and was 4th in London.
Christian Coleman And Noah Lyles Among The Nominees For IAAF Athletes Of The Year Here the IAAF takes a closer look at the 2018 for the top sprinters and hurdlers.
IAAF World Athlete Of The Year Nominees – Jumps Mondo Duplantis improved his own U20 record, winning Euro Champs with 6.05m while Russia’s Mariya Lasiskene won 25 of 26 HJ competitions and jumped over 2.00m 16 times.
A Closer Look At The Distance Nominees For The IAAF World Athlete Of The Year Includes two WR setters in Eliud Kipchoge and Beatrice Chepkoech.
IAAF World Athlete Of The Year Nominees – Throws And Multi-Events Decathlon WR holder Kevin Mayer tops the list.
Janieve Russell Named Jamaican Female Athlete Of The Year Russell won the 400H at the Commonwealth Games, thee World Cup and Continental Cup.
Euro 400H Champ Lea Sprunger And 200m National Record Holder Alex Wilson Named Swiss Athletes Of The Year
Jamaican Discus Thrower Fedrick Dacres And Bahamas Sprinter Shaunae Miller-Uibo Named NACAC Athletes Of The Year

2018 TCS New York City Marathon (Full Coverage Here) Results Post-Race Interviews

LRC Final A Run For The Ages: Mary Keitany Blasts 66:58 2nd Half To Win Fourth New York City Marathon Crown Mary Keitany earned her fourth NY win by running the second half 27 seconds faster than the American record for the half marathon. 4 American women finished in the top 10 as Shalane Flanagan (2:26:22) and Molly Huddle (2:26:44) ran the second- and third-fastest times ever by Americans in New York.

LRC Final Lelisa Desisa Holds Off Shura Kitata For NY Crown #1 Desisa dropped Kamworor on mile 26 and then held off a fast-closing Kitata. 4 Americans in the top 10, led by Jared Ward.

LRC Jared Ward Is Back, Overcomes Injury Struggles To Finish As Top American At 2018 NYC Marathon

*Men’s Preview *Women’s Preview

50 Years Ago – Bob Beamon Shocked The World

LRC Feature A Leap For The Ages: Bob Beamon’s 29-Foot Long Jump Turns 50 A half century later, there’s still only one way to describe the men’s long jump at the 1968 Olympics: Beamonesque. We take an in-depth look at one of the greatest singular accomplishments in sports history. Beamon improved the WR by 6.59% – that’s the equivalent of someone in 2018 lowering the marathon WR to 1:53:28 or the 100-meter record to 8.95.
*MB: 50 years ago, Bob Beamon made history. Where does his performance rank on list of greatest singular sports performances?

LRC Why Is The Long Jump World Record So Hard To Break? Mike Powell‘s WR has stood for 27 years and the #2 mark from Bob Beamon celebrates its 50th anniversary today. What explains their longevity? Are the best athletes in the NFL? Are the runways too soft? Is there a mental block?