April 12, 2019 Homepage Archive

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Archived Homepage For April 12, 2019

Quote Of The Day

“If I quit my job and trained full time, I don’t see it going well. I’d be a stress case and I’d be more injury prone. When I balance the two, I think I have better perspective. … Nothing against full-time runners. I honor what they do, but it seems like they have a lot of Netflix time.”

– Last year’s Boston Marathon runner-up Sarah Sellers talking about why she chooses to work near full-time as an anesthetist while also training to try and make the 2020 Olympics.

Boots on the Ground Friday in Boston

LRC Media Day in Boston: What Did the Pros Say? Who is Ready to Go?Des Linden, Jordan Hasay, Jared Ward, Shadrack Biwott, Sally Kipyego, Geoffery Kirui, Sally Kipyego, and many more shared their insights.
*Toni Reavis recaps Boston Press Day in great detail He may have done a better job than us.
*Sisay Lemma picked up a hamstring problem in his last hard session

LRCBoston Marathon Preview Podcast Recorded Live in Boston : Des Linden Returns to Defend, Desisa Ready for Kirui 1 hour and 10 minutes of listening pleasure at link above or player below.

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2019 Boston Marathon Preview

Non-Boston Weekend Marathoning

Kenya’s Paul Lonyangata Going For A Three Peat At The Paris Marathon The 2:06:10 man faces muli-time global medalist Augustine Choge and Ethiopian sub-2:05 men Asefa Mengistu and Yemane Tsegay. Former world XC champ Gelete Burka (2:20:45) leads the women’s race with Azmera Abreha (2:21:51).
*Paul Lonyangata Will Race Paris Despite Injury His Arm In A Fall Last Week
Defending Champion Malcolm Richards And 2017 Chris Zablocki Ready To Challenge Each Other And The World Record At The Armory Indoor Marathon Richards won last year in an indoor marathon WR of 2:19:01 while Zablocki ran 2:21:47 in 2017. 2:13:40 man Andrew Lemoncello is also racing. Stephanie Pezzullo (2:32 PB) and former Arizona State All-American Chelsey Albertson lead the women’s race.
*LRC Archives:Meet The Most Interesting Man In Running: Chris Zablocki’s Long Road To Los Angeles
Ezekiel Omullo (2:08:55) Back To Defend His Warsaw Marathon Title; Georgina Rono (2:21:39) Leads The Women’s Race
Slew Of Sub-2:10 Men And Sub-2:30 Women Set For The Dongfeng Renault Wuhan Marathon In China

NCAA Stuff *All Weekend NCAA Action

Portland Tribune Profile On DIII Indoor Women’s Pole Vault Champ Olivia McDaniel Also Works Full-Time As A Labor And Delivery Nurse
Texas A&M Hosting Nine Teams At The Texas A&M Invitational Friday And Saturday
Last Week’s NCAA Athletes Of The Week Were Arizona’s Jordan Geist And Stanford’s Mackenzie Little Geist threw 21.28m in the SP to move to #1 this year in the NCAA while Little threw 59.47m in the javelin to better her own NCAA lead.

Non-Boston Distance News

Feyisa Lilesa Finally Gets Prize Money From The Ethiopian Government For His Rio 2016 Olympic Silver Lilesa (who received $17,000) joined Ethiopian president Sahilework Zewude in doing a gesture to show his hands were no longer “shackled.”
Drake Relays Men’s Mile And Women’s 1500 Fields Announced The races include Erik Sowinski, Harun Abda, Heather Kampf and Alexa Efraimson.
MB:Galen Rupp Back In Training After Being Out With Injury/Surgery Rupp had foot surgery last fall to try and help cure his Achilles issues.
Asics Signs Five Year Sponsorship Deal With The LA Marathon
Stanley Kebenei Named USATF Athlete Of The Week For Breaking US 10 Mile Record At Cherry BlossomGreg Meyer‘s 36-year-old mark was one of the oldest American records on the books.

Admin / Olympic News

Seb Coe Cleared After Investigation Into Whether He Mislead GB Member Of Parliament About When He Learned Of Russian Doping Allegations Coe had received and email from David Bedford with the Liliya Shobukhova cover-up story months before he says he knew, but the IAAF investigation accepted his explanation that he forwarded the email to the ethics board without reading it. *2nd Article
Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Marathon Course To Follow The Same Route As Olympic Race Apparently it usually doesn’t as the article says “for the first time in recent history.”
Svein Arne Hansen Set To Be Re-Elected As European Athletics President This Weekend He’s running unopposed.
Paris 2024 Dismiss Call From City Councillor For Referendum On Whether To Cancel Hosting The Olympic Games Apparently a survey found that 62% of voters were in favor of canceling, but officials argued it was a very unofficial online survey where someone could answer unlimited times.
IAAF:Japan’s 2008 Olympic Medal Winning 4 X 100 Relay Squad Named National Ambassadors For 2019 World Relays In Yokohama
Japan Olympic Minister Forced To Resign After Controversial Comments On 2011 Earthquake And Tsunami Apparently he said a politician in a certain region was “more important than the [region’s] recovery]” while speaking at a fundraising party.

International Marathon Results

Rotterdam:Marius Kipserem (2:04:11 CR) And Ashete Bekere (2:22:55) Win Rotterdam Marathon US’s Aliphine Tuliamuk was third in 2:26:48. *Top 10 Results
*MB:Hope for Americans? Belgium’s Koen Nart, who didn’t break 2:10 in his 1st 6 marathons, just ran 2:07 in Rotterdam
Milano: Kenyans Titus Ekiru (2:04:46) And Vivian Jerono Kiplagat (2:22:25) Shatter Italian All-Comers Records To Win The Milano Marathon
Daegu: Felix Kipchirchir Clocks 2:05:33 To Smash The Daegu Course Record Pamela Rotich won the women’s race in 2:28:10.
Vienna: Vincent Kipchumba (2:06:56) And Nancy Kiprop (2:22:12) Win Vienna City Marathon Kipchumba beat out Switzerland’s Tadesse Abraham (2:07:24) while Kiprop broke the course record to win by over three minutes.
Hannover: Debutante Silas Mwetich (2:09:37) And Racheal Mutgaa (2:26:15) Win At The Hannover Marathon

Week That Was

LRCWTW: 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”

Tweets By letsrundotcom

A Major Bust in Kenya?

LRCKenyan 5000m Runner Cyrus Rutto Suspended For ABP Violation — What Does It Mean For the Sport, and For His Coach Patrick Sang? The 13:03 runner, who is coached by Patrick Sang, has been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit. Up until this year, no East African had ever been hit with an ABP violation but he’s #2 on the year. *MB: Another Kenyan Charged With Doping

Boston Is Monday

LRC EditorialBoston: ~~The People’s ‘Olympics’~~ The Elitist Marathon Did you know that for the first time in history Boston has banned the amateur runners from competing with the pros? When the gun goes off in Hopkinton at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, a select few “elite” men will begin their 26.2-mile journey to Boylston Street. Everyone else in the mass race will just stand there for two minutes. Pretty sad for a race known as the “People’s Olympics.”
*MB: Boston Separates Elite Men’s Start from Wave 1 Corral 1 by two minutes

News From The UK

Steve Cram Is The Leading Candidate To Be The New UK Athletics Chairman, But Would Need To Quit His BBC Commentary Job Former UK Athletics chairman Ed Warner feels it would be a clear conflict of interest. “It would be like he was marking his own homework, commentating on the team he chairs.”
GB Parliamentary Chair Stands By Original Seb Coe ConclusionDamian Collins said, “Lord Coe either knew more than he suggested he did when he gave evidence to the committee, or he knew enough about the Liliya Shobukova case to have asked more questions about it within the IAAF at the time.”
Former UKA Head Ed Warner Talks About Cheating In The Sport And How It’s “Inevitable” Warner says to combat doping you have to “look at it through the eyes of the cheat” and that the “consequences” are key.
July 20:Stellar Quartet Will Face Off In The Anniversary Games Women’s 100m The field includes Jamaica’s double Olympic champ Elaine Thompson, two time World champ Dafne Shippers, GB’s double euro champ Dina Asher-Smith and double world medalist Marie-Josee Ta Lou.

New Facility News

Ground Broken On New Boston Indoor Facility New Balance’s “The Track” will be a multi-sport athletic complex (including a banked 200m track) and concert venue. It will also be a training facility for the Mark Coogan coached NB Boston team.
The Oregonian:Big Spenders Will Get First Choice For Seat Locations In The New Hayward Field Top priority for seat choice will go to donors who have contributed $50,000 or more to the reconstruction.
Mondo Presents New “Air Cell Technology” Track Surface The new surface will incorporate air-filled cavities in the bottom layer which will supposedly make the track even faster.

More Boston News

NY Times:“Sarah Sellers and the Craziest Schedule in Running” Last year’s Boston runner-up does elite training while working 30-hours a week at the hospital as a anesthetist, sometimes getting up at 4AM to run before work.
Cheater’s Beware:NY Times Profiles Marathon Detective Derek Murphy Of MarathonInvestigation.com Murphy has a policy that if cheaters admit they cheated and apologize he won’t print their story on his website. It’s only the Mike Rossi‘s of the world who deny even in the face of all the evidence) that get named on his site.
Man whose wife was stabbed to death in DC while training for Boston is running it in her memory He had proposed just 6 days before her senseless murder.
Daily Nation:Geoffrey Kirui Leads Kenyan Quest For Glory On Boston City Streets Last year’s runner-up Kirui is self-coached and says he got “special prayers” from his pastor which he believes will help him on the course on Monday.
Boston.com:“Wet Conditions Look Locked In For Monday” Highs in the 50s and rain all-day are what the meteorologists predict for Boston.
WBUR.org:6 Storylines to Watch In Boston It’s worth noting that this year’s race is the first Boston run on the actual anniversary of the 2013 Boston bombing.

Non-Distance News

Christian Coleman Wants To Run The 100/200 Double At Worlds And The OlympicsNoah Lyles, on the other hand, plans to focus on just the 200, but his coach says “all options will stay on the table.”
Ato Boldon Expects Jamaica To Break The World Junior 4 X 100 Record This Year Boldon coaches one of the star Jamaican sprinters, double world U20 champ Briana Williams.
June 20: Olympic 400m Champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo Will Race The 300m At The Ostrava Golden Spike Meet Miller-Uibo equaled the 300m world indoor best last year with 35.45. That’s the #2 all-time only behind the outdoor world best of 35.30.
IAAF Inside Athletics:Ato Boldon Video Interview With Dawn Harper Nelson The former Olympic champ retired last year after revealing she was pregnant with her first child.
Mutaz Essa Barshim And Hurdler Abderrahman Samba Donate Kit To IAAF Heritage Collection Opening In Doha Next Week Barshim donated the vest he wore when winning HJ bronze at the 2012 Games.

Super-Fast 3,200s At Arcadia Invitational *Results

Nico Young Closes In 59 Seconds To Set Meet Record 8:40.00 And Just Outkick Cole Sprout (8:40.73) At The Arcadia Invitational 3,200m Young’s time is the third-fastest 3,200 in HS history and converts to the 8th fastest 2-mile. The top 14 finishers broke the 9-minute barrier.
*MB: Nico MF Young wins Arcadia 3200 in New MR 8:40.00!
Katelynne Hart Wins Girls Arcadia 3,200m In 9:59.57 She won by over 12 seconds, although she was almost 8 seconds slower than her winning time last year.
Chloe Cunliffe Sets Pole Vault Outdoor National Record With 4.47m (14-8) At Arcadia Invitational Cunliffe is the younger sister of former Oregon sprinter and NCAA 60m record holder Hannah Cunliffe.
MileSplit:The National Performances Worth Remembering At Arcadia

USATF: What To Watch, When And Where In April

Tokyo 2020 News

German Athletes Group Fighting IOC For Increased Representation And A Bigger Share Of Olympic Revenue Even if the IOC doesn’t share more money with athletes (which they probably should), they need to revise the ridiculous advertising restrictions of Rule 40 (which has apparently already been scaled back in Germany).
*MB Archives:RULE 40, is it BS?
*MB Archives:Coburn skirts Rule 40
SEGA Announces A Mario And Sonic At The Tokyo Olympics Video Game Coming Out This Year
Future Of Olympic Boxing Still In Doubt After IOC Postpone Decision On Tokyo Inclusion Boxing has been contested at every Summer Olympic Games since 1904 except for Stockholm 1912 because of a Swedish law banning the sport.
Tokyo 2020 Warn That They Are Struggling With A Lack Of Buses And Drivers For The Olympics They believe they need 2,000 buses a day with at least twice as many drivers.
Tokyo 2020 Unveil Mascot Images Representing Olympic And Paralympic Sports
Tokyo 2020 Hold Welcoming Ceremony As Olympic And Paralympic Flags Return To Tokyo After Tour Of The Country

Boston Race Previews

LRC2019 Boston Marathon US Men’s Preview: Ward, Fauble, Ritz, & Biwott Battle for Top American Honors Who will be the top American in Boston in 2019?

LRC Men’s PreviewFrom #16 To #1 – Counting Down The 2019 Boston Marathon Men’s Contenders We’ve broken down the potential winners of the 2019 Boston Marathon into five categories: Basically No Shot (#14-16), Outside Shots (#9-13), The Wild Card (#8), Genuine Contenders (#4-7), and Three Total Studs (#3-2-1). Sorry, Yuki Kawauchi and Dathan Ritzenhein fans, but we’ve determined they have “basically no shot” of winning.

LRC Women’s Preview 2019 Boston Marathon Women’s Preview: Americans Des Linden & Jordan Hasay Take On A Field Led By 2:17 Woman Worknesh Degefa For the first time in 33 years, the defending Boston marathon women’s champion is an American, Des Linden. That the good news. For the bad news, read the article.

TrackFlix

Short Film On Eliud Kipchoge Premiering Saturday You can watch the film for free here at 2PM ET on Saturday.
Trailer For New Documentary On US Hurdler Johnny Dutch The documentary will follow Dutch as he pursues his Olympic dream as well as his goal of being a filmmaker.

More Drug Busts

Kenya’s Cyrus Rutto Gets Doping Suspension Based On Evidence From The Biological Passport Rutto was 13th in the 5,000 at 2017 Worlds.
*MB: Another Kenyan Charged With Doping
Strange Story:French 2:26 Marathoner Clemence Calvin Suspended For “Obstructing A Doping Test” In Morocco Calvin denies any wrongdoing and claims the testers were violent and pretended to be police officers, never identifying themselves as testers.

Previous Boston Coverage

LRC The Experiment: Dathan Ritzenhein Looks To Conquer Boston Marathon With 8-Week Buildup The 36-year-old hasn’t finished a marathon in nearly 4 years but he’s still dreaming of crossing the finish line first. “I thought I was fit enough to win last year,” Ritzenhein says. “It won’t be a failure if I don’t win, but I’m going to go in with that (the win) in mind.”
*MB: At age 36, Ritz wants to win the Boston Marathon next Monday

Good Read: Boston Globe:Winning Boston 2018 Was “Life-Changing” For Des Linden Linden says finally winning Boston was a “huge weight off” and frees her up to “take bigger chances and be picky with races.”
After Losing A Year To Injury, Jordan Hasay Is Happy To Return To Boston Fit And Healthy Hasay had done a ton of extra PT work which she says has led to her being more flexible with better form. She’s not the fittest she’s ever been, but feels she’s as fit as she was before her first Boston (where she was 3rd in 2:23).
MLive.com:Dathan Ritzenhein Betting Low Key Consistency Works For Boston Talking about injuries Ritz said, “Every little ache and pain goes through your mind because last year about this time I thought all the training was done. I don’t think that’s unique to me. You get to that last taper part and just want to get to the starting line.”
Wind And Rain On The Forecast Again For Boston It’s supposed to be warmer than last year though, with forecasts predicting between 44 and 55 degrees.
RW:9 Celebrities Running The Boston Marathon Former Olympic gymnast gold medalist Shawn Johnson East and her husband, NFL player Andrew East are running it together.
The Boston Marathon Adding Three New Para Athlete Divisions In 2020

Spring Is Here: Carlsbad 5,000 & Cherry Blossom 10 Miler *CB Results

Edward Cheserek Matches World Record En Route To Carlsbad 5,000 Victory; Sharon Lodeki Wins Women’s Race In Her Professional Debut Cheserek ran 13:29, tying the road WR (the IAAF only started recognizing the 5,000 road record in 2017). In the women’s race, Cheserek’s girlfriend and NCAA 10,000 champ Lokedi made her pro debut with a 15:48 victory.
Jemal Yimer Defends His Title (45:36) As Stanley Kebenei (46:00) Breaks Greg Meyer’s 36-Year-Old American 10-Mile Record At Cherry Blossom 10 Miler Yimer was challenged by Kenya’s Josphat Tanui, but beat him out by 2 seconds while Kebenei finished 4th. Kenya’s Rosemary Wanjiru won the women’s race with a CR 50:41. Emma Bates was the top American in 6th place (52:18).
*MB: Emma Bates 52:17

Some More Reporting From World XC

LRC Team LetsRun Aarhus Report: Read About Kelsey Bruce & Matt Crowe’s World XC Experience When I woke up last Monday morning, I had never heard of Kelsey Bruce or Matt Crowe. Five days later, I was cheering them on at the World Cross-Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark.