Weekend Half-Marathon Action

• Bernard Ngeno Wins Close Race In 59:56 As Ruth Chepngetich Smashes Her Own CR With 65:30 At The Istanbul Half Ngeno came out on top in a three way battle to just beat out Abayneh Degu (59:58) and Hillary Kipchumba (60:01).
• Prague Half: Caroline Chepkoech Kipkirui Wins Prague Half In 65:44 As Amy Cragg Only Run 73:26 Mercy Cherono‘s little sister ran even faster last year when she won in 65:07 (#6 all-time). Bernard Kemali won the men’s race by 1 second in 59:07. *IAAF Recap
  *Pre-Race: Amy Cragg Racing Prague Half On Saturday – Views Race As Stepping Stone To 2020 Success
• Berlin Half: Sifan Hassan’s World Record Attempt Comes UP Real Short As She Runs 65:45 In Berlin The world record is 64:51. *European Athletics Recap
• Kipkemoi Kiprono (61:47) And Tigist Teshome (70:08) Win Madrid Half-Marathon

Distance News

• As Of Monday, Yuki Kawauchi Is Now A Full-Time Pro Runner Kawauchi hopes to increase his mileage as a pro and also hopes to be a rare pro that a) runs fast and b) interacts with fans and sponsors. It looks like he’s signed with Asics.
  *MB: Yuki Kawauchi has quit his job and started as a pro runner and opened a twitter account. Thinks he has less pressure as pro
• Kellyn Taylor, USA’s 7th-Fastest Marathoner Ever (2:24:29), Will Run Prague Marathon On May 5th Move over, Boston and London. Kellyn Taylor‘s next marathon will be in Prague on may 5th.
• Laura Muir Says She No Longer Fears Expectations To Win Races “Glasgow was a great confidence booster. … A few years ago, I’d have struggled with the attention and the expectation to be at the front and win races. Now I don’t see it as pressure. I want to deliver.”
• 2-Time FL Champ Claudia Lane Writes Long Essay On What It’s Been Like To Not Be Running “Yes, my body type has changed since I was a sophomore and yes, injury is a part of the sport. No, I will not keep my ears open for people who attempt to filter negative messages to me because I know now I am strong in my own right.”
• The Economist Takes A Look At The Demise Of The 5,000 And 10,000 And The Rise Of The Marathon “The marathon has vanquished other long-distance running events.”
• Joshua Cheptegei Named Ugandan Sportsman Of The Year
• Good Read: Steve Jones Is Excited For Future Of Welsh Marathon Running And Thinks Dewi Griffiths Can Go Sub-2:07 After Hosting Him At Altitude Camp The opening line of the article is a classic: “Wales’ current crop of marathon runners may not be fuelled on a diet of coke and meat pies that took Steve Jones to the world record.”
• Interesting Study From UK: Super-Fit Masters Runners Do No Better At Balance Tests Than Sedentary Older People?
  *MB: How long can you stand on one leg with eyes close without falling? Most 20 yr olds can do 30 seconds, 70 year olds only 4-5

Australian Champs Have Been Going On All Week

• Australia’s #1 Sprinter, 21-Year-Old Rohan Browning (10.08 PR), Wants To Win His 1st National Titles This Weekend In 100 And 200
• Australian Champs Rocked By Revelation That Greg Smith, aka The Coach Of “Next Cathy Freeman,” Has Been Suspended For A Year “The Herald understands the suspension came about as a result of an investigation into Smith by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority.”

Week That Was

LRC WTW: 7 Final Thoughts About World XC + Emily Sisson Delivers Is Burundi on its way to being the newest East African distance power? How in the world did the US men lose to Tanzania? Plus Dom Scott went for it big time (and blew up big time) and a look back at Eliud Kipchoge‘s four runs at World XC.

News From Oregon

• Ken Goe Says There Was An “Elephant In The Room” At The TrackTown Tuesday Meeting Goe says it was unfortunate that Lauren Fleshman, a USATF board member, didn’t address the situation with Vin Lananna. Goe laments how Fleshman used to be very outspoken about USATF, but “now that she is part of the power structure, her voice has been silenced.”
• Despite Winter Snow Storms, Hayward Field Construction Remains On Schedule UO Spokesperson Molly Blancett: “When it’s complete, it’ll be the finest track and field in the world.”
• Register-Guard: “Eugene And Lane County Planning Now For Influx Of Visitors During 2021 IAAF World Championships” Eugene is expected to get 50,000 daily visitors during Worlds.
  *KVAL.com: “With Eye Set On 2021, Eugene Prepares For The World Stage”

Boston Is In Less Than Two Weeks

• Sara Hall Says She Feels Like She’s “In The Best Cardiovascular Shape” Of Her Life As She Prepares To Make Her Boston Marathon Debut Hall never thought she’d still be running professionally at 36 as her dream was “to do development work in Africa [living] in a mud hut.” But she says she’s enjoying it more than ever and set PRs in the full and half last year.
• Two-Time World Marathon Champ Edna Kiplagat Looking To Reclaim Her Boston Marathon Title Kiplagat won Boston in 2017, but lost last year to Des Linden.
• RW Looks Back At Five Of The Worst Weather Days In Boston Marathon History
• Brooks Puts Out A Boston Shoe With A Map Of Boston’s Public Transit Line (“The T”)
• AP: No Known Threats To The Boston Marathon, But Police Still Urge Caution Six years on from the Boston bombing, some security measures used include surveillance cameras, helicopters and “plainclothes officers” mingling in the crowds.

Sprint Stuff

• After Ending His 2018 Outdoor Season Early With Injury, Andre De Grasse Was Back In Action At Last Weekend’s Florida Relays De Grasse anchored Canada to wins in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200. Their 38.34 was a 4 x 100 world lead and beat the USA team with Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay, who were only 4th in 39.07.
• Jamaican Journalist Argues That The False Start Rules Should Be Less Harsh For Young Athletes Among the reasons they’d like to see this is that the noise in the stadium during Jamaican Boys & Girls Champs is so loud that kids have a hard time hearing the starter’s instructions.
• Video: Usain Bolt Briefly Comes Out Of Retirement To Race A Motorcycle Taxi In Lima Spoiler alert: Bolt won.
• Aries Merritt Donates The Spikes He Wore Setting The World Record To The IAAF Heritage Exhibition In Doha Merritt wore the spikes at the 2012 Brussels Diamond League when he ran 12.80 seconds.
• RIP: Olympic Hurdler And Former UNC Coach Charles Foster Passes Away At 65

Doping News

LRC Abbott World Marathon Majors And Athletics Integrity Unit Announce Expanded Out-Of-Competition Testing And Investigation Program The WMMs are putting their money into keeping the sport clean. Others like agents and sponsors need to start joining them. *IAAF Statement
*Discussion: Good Idea/Bad Idea: What if marathons/races required agents to pay back the percent of money they earned from dirty athletes?

• IAAF Clears Four More Russians To Compete As Neutral Athletes Includes Russian national junior indoor 3,000m champ Lilia Mendaeva. Overall this season, 69 Russians have been approved, 15 have been refused and 162 applications have yet to be processed.

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