The Latest From London

LRC Half Marathon WR Holder Abraham Kiptum Suspended For ABP Violation Two Days Before London Marathon Kiptum came out of nowhere to break the HM WR in October. We spoke to his agent Juan Pineda, who says he (Pineda) didn’t find out about the violation until Friday. Kiptum claims he doesn’t know why his passport was flagged.
*MB: Half Marathon WR holder Abraham Kiptum busted by Bio Passport!!!!!!!!

LRC Eliud Kipchoge Has Conquered The Marathon World. Now What? Kipchoge, his agent and coach talk about what’s left for Kipchoge to pursue now that he’s run 2:01:39. Could another sub2 attempt be in the works?

LRC Seeking Fast Times, Emily Sisson & Molly Huddle Arrive At London Marathon As Equals Jonathan Gault shares the inside scoop on the two American hopefuls in London.
*MB: Molly Huddle is “pretty sure” she’s ready for London, but Huddle knows Sisson is “really ready for it.”

• Zane Robertson And Taoufik Makhloufi Both Say They’ve Had Stuff Stolen At Haile’s Hotel
• Farah’s Coach Thinks It’s A “Good Thing” Farah Went Public “It had been really bothering Mo and no one was taking him seriously,” Lough said. “And actually I think it is a good thing that he got it off his chest. Genuinely, there is no way this is going to affect his race.”

LRC What Are The Best Ultra Marathons In The World? We Have No Idea Comrades? Western States? UTMB? That 3,100-mile race around the block in NYC? We really don’t have a clue. It’s time LetsRun.com got up to speed on the ultra marathoning and HOKA is sponsoring our five-week quest and has given us no instructions. We want your input. We’re going to give away 10 pairs of HOKA shoes to the LRC visitors who help us most in this quest. (sponsored content by HOKA ONE ONE)
*MB: What are the best ultras in the world?

Random But Interesting Meet The 13-Year-Old Girl Who Set The Marathon WR In 1967 And Then Was Forgotten About Two weeks after Katherine Switzer‘s famous Boston run, Maurren Manco smoked Switzer by more than an hour and ran 3:15:22. The reaction? Almost universally negative.

Pre-Drake News

• P: Keni Harrison Looking For Her 4th Drake Relays 100H Title She’ll face seven Olympians, including Olympic silver medalist Nia Ali.
• Des Moines Register: Olympic 110H Champ Omar McLeod Hoping To Make A Triumphant Return At The Drake Relays McLeod says top hurdlers don’t dodge each other: “With hurdles, there’s no hiding from nobody, to be honest. We thrive off the competition. It keeps us sharper.”
• Des Moines Register Article On Brogan Austin’s Roommate, Who Won The Drake Relays Half Marathon Zach Baker talks about the struggle with working a 50-60 hours/week job and losing motivation for running.
• DyeStat Thursday Drake Recap
• DyeStat Preview: 10 Elite Storylines To Follow At The 2019 Drake Relays Ryan Crouser, Keni Harrison, Omar McLeod vs. Devon Allen, Sam Kendricks and Sandi Morris vs. Jenn Suhur are some of the pros who should highlight this weekend.
• Des Moines Register: Junior College Freshman Kenny Bednarek Racing Against The Pros At The Drake Relays 10.42/20.43/45.93 man will finally get some competition after not losing any races all of last year and this (according to TFRRS and Tilastopaja).

Non-London And Non-Penn Drake Distance News Of Note

• Caster Semenya Beats Dominique Scott To Win South African 5,000 Title In 16:05.97
• Interesting Read: Israeli Star Lonah Chemtai Salpeter Writes About The Search For Gender Equity In Running And Growing Up In Kenya Without Electricity

Previous Haile Vs. Farah News

LRC Haile Gebrselassie Fires Back At Mo Farah, Accuses Him Of “Disgraceful Conduct,” Says Sir Mo Was Reported For Attacking A “Married Athlete” In Hotel Gym We were expecting a titanic clash between distance legends in London – just not these two. Haile G also said Mo Farah refused to pay his $3,000 room bill and that Farah avoided a criminal charge for the alleged attack only after Gebrselassie’s intervention.

• Sean Ingle Reveals The Assault On The Married Athlete Was Physical, Not Sexual, In Nature And Haile G says he did so much for Farah that Haile was even afraid to return to his own hotel as he was afraid of an employee uprising. “He should know five workers from our hotel were in prison for three weeks – only for Mo Farah.”
• Mo Responds To Haile With Statement: It reads in part, “Mo disputes all of these claims which are an effort to distract from the situation, where members of his hotel staff used a room key and stole money and items from Mo Farah’s room.”
• LRC Mo Farah Really Wants You To Know He Was Burglarized At Haile Gebrselassie’s Hotel Farah lost a sentimental watch, two phones and over $3,200 in cash and was upset with Gebrselassie for not doing anything or responding to his many text messages.

More Coverage From London

• Mo Farah May Come Out Of Track Retirement For Tokyo 2020 Based on Farah’s quotes, he could return to the track or even run the marathon at 2019 Doha Worlds.
• Eliud Kipchoge: “Mo can beat me, others can beat me, but the best thing is that if you can accept the results, that’s the only way to enjoy the sport.”
• Good Read: Hear The Story Of GB’s Johnboy Smith, Who Turned To Wheelchair Racing After Suffering A Gunshot Wound When He Was 16 Smith is hoping to better his 11th place finish from London last year.

Guest LRC Editorial

LRC Want An Intelligent, Nuanced Read On Caster Semenya Before IAAF Ruling? Amby Burfoot: The Whole World Is Watching: Caster Semenya Vs. IAAF In this in-depth piece, Burfoot argues that intersex pro athletes like Semenya should only be allowed to compete in the female category if their testosterone is below a certain level.
*MB: What’s at stake in Semenya vs. IAAF — Amby Burfoot breaks down the monumental looming CAS decision 

NCAA News

• Recommended Read #1: DyeStat Profile On Notre Dame’s Men’s DMR, Who Are Going For The Team’s First Men’s Penn Relays Title In 76 Years The article tells the brief story of the four men who, from “blue chip recruit” to “former team manager,” will try to win the Fighting Irish’s first Penn wheel since 1943.
• RR #2: Michigan’s Erin Finn Approaching Her Senior Year With A Scientific Focus The epidemiology major says, “Having academic goals really helps me to be more of a scientist in running. I don’t have this emotional connection where I am stubbornly doing things. Instead, I’m being smart about how I approach things, changing one variable at a time and seeing how my body responds.”
• The State Of Arizona Pays $999,999 To Settle Lawsuit By Former University Of Arizona Track Athlete The state settled the lawsuit with former athlete Baillie Gibson, who was assaulted by former Arizona throws coach Craig Carter. Carter admitted to grabbing Gibson by the throat and holding a box cutter to her throat.
• Men’s NCAA Division I XC Champs Could Move From 10k To 8k The DI Track and Field and Cross Country Sport Committee is recommending a proposal to move Regionals and NCAAs from 10k to 8k. Many coaches, including Oklahoma’s Dave Smith, are reportedly organizing against the proposal.
  *MB: Men’s D1 XC Nationals may get moved from 10k to 8k