October 26, 2019 Homepage Archive

Where Your Dreams Become Reality

Archived Homepage For October 26, 2019

Quote Of The Day

“For me, I came tenth in the world and I’m proud of that, I’m happy with that. I want more. I walked off that track happy. I had an interview with Cathal (Dennehy) and he told me that she (Hassan) ran 3:51 and I couldn’t believe it. If anybody heard the interview, I was like, ‘She what? 3:51?’ I didn’t think it was possible to go out in a championship race and race that all on your own at the front.”

“I met Steve (Vernon) straight away and he was happy. I did have a few choice words to him that I won’t repeat because I don’t want it written down. Ultimately, it was saying, ‘What do I have to do?’ I finished that race and I didn’t see the times. I thought the girls must have run 3:55, 3:56 and it was a fast race. They were miles ahead of me, I should have realized.”

“I can’t make up nine seconds. There’s not nine seconds in me, no matter what I do. What I do cleanly, there’s not nine seconds in me. That’s really hard.”

– Ciara Mageean, the 10th placer at Worlds for Ireland, talking about how she reacted when she learned Sifan Hassan ran 3:51 to win Worlds. Mageean has been drug tested 3 times since Worlds and is happy she has been as she said that “a clean athlete wants to get tested.”

This Weekend’s Action *Television And Streaming For 2019 Frankfurt Marathon

MB:Sifan Hassan is going for the half marathon world record on Sunday in Valencia, can she get it? Yomif Kejelcha is also in the field.
Frankfurt Marathon Is Sunday: Will It See Its 1st Sub-2:20 Women’s Winner? Israel’s Lonah Salpeter (2:19:46) leads the women’s field, which has 4 sub-2:22 women. Tsegaye Mekonnen (2:04:32) leads the men’s field, which includes 8 sub-2:08 guys.
*Mark Kiptoo Wants To Improve His Masters World Record Of 2:07:50
*GB’s Steph Twell Targeting Olympic Qualifying Mark At The Frankfurt Marathon She ran 2:30:11 in her debut last year, but needs to beat the 2:29:30 standard for Tokyo 2020.
Callum Hawkins Back Racing For The First Time Since His Doha Marathon Near Miss He’ll race the Scottish National XC Relays.
Talk About Tactical:Winnie Chebet Wins World Military Games 1,500 In 4:25.22
USATF Preview:Masters Athletes Ready For The Challenging 15K Championship Course In Tulsa
IAAF: Full Road Race Weekend Preview

This Weekend’s XC Action

High School News

Ohio High School XC Runner DQed Because She Didn’t Have A Waiver To Wear A Hijab Ohio has a rule that bans most head coverings and caps, but there is an exception for religious reasons if you get a waiver ahead of time. Officials are saying they are considering changing the rules to not require a waiver.
*MB:High school athlete disqualified at cross-country meet for wearing hijab
MileSplit:“Muslim Runner In Ohio Reflects On The Impact Of Race DQ” The author is making this out to be about religion and “discrimination,” but let’s be real. This is about ridiculous high school uniform rules that need to be wiped from the book. Girls have been DQed from state meets for wearing a hair tie on their wrist. A quick search of our message boards will show you this issue is nothing new:
- MB: Isn’t it time they burned the hs rulebook and started over?
- MB: Another idiotic HS rule
- MB:Pole Vaulter DQ’d for wearing bracelet
- MB:HS 3200m runner DQed for covering up jewelry
- MB: disqualifications for livestrong bands
- MB:High School Uniform Policy
- MB:Disqualification over shorts?
- MB: MD XC kid dq’d for shorts – RAMPAGE!!!
- MB: Who is right? The uniform rule….
- MB: Incongruent Uniform rant
- MB:Alaska High School Swimmer DQ’d for having her uniform be too revealing.
MB:Many Staten Islanders are irate that a Manhattanite will run for them in Foot Locker 5-Borough NYC Challenge

Assorted US Distance News

Recommended Read:Chris Chavez Does An “Exit Interview” With Shalane Flanagan On what she’ll miss most: “I think there’s this wonderful state of bliss and fatigue that is unlike anything when you’re in hard training. It’s almost this serene state that you get – almost zen – where you’re so tired, but it’s a happy tired.”
Carrie Tollefson Does Podcast Interview With Des Linden They talk about whiskey, Des’s desire to move to the trails, and her training for the NYC Marathon.
7 Quick Questions With BTC’s Kate Grace Grace talks about how she got into the sport and her most memorable running experiences.
The Best Moments From The 2019 Bring Back The Mile Tour
Canadian Running Magazine: “Five Times Shalane Flanagan Was Your Running Hero”

More LetsRun.com Content

LRC Who Is The GOAT Of US Women’s Distance Running: Shalane Flanagan Or Deena Kastor? Or Someone Else? Their resumes are very similar – both had significant achievements in track, XC and the marathon – but should Kastor get the edge considering she won 2 marathon majors and her 2:19:36 American record still stands?
*MB: Who had the better career – Deena Kastor or Shalane Flanagan?

Week That Was Leonard Korir Runs 2:07, Unknown Canadian Runs 2:09, Plus Fast Times In Toronto And DelhiLeonard Korir was only 11th in Amsterdam but he now is looking like a strong bet for the US Olympic team + fast times in Toronto and New Delhi.

NOP Update

The Oregonian:NOP Athletes Will Stay Together And Continue Working With Coach Pete Julian This is for the seven athletes who were already coached by him – Donavan Brazier, Konstanze Klosterhalfen, Craig Engels, Jessica Hull, Eric Jenkins, Suguru Osako and Shannon Rowbury. No word yet what the athletes coached by Alberto Salazar (Galen Rupp, Clayton Murphy, Sifan Hassan, Jordan Hasay and Yomif Kejelcha) will do.
*MB: Pete Julian Coached Athletes Will Stick Together in New Training Group – Ken Goe

Nike-Related News

Amby Burfoot For The NY Times: Those Superfast Nike Shoes Are Creating A Problem Biomechanics doctoral candidate Geoffrey Burns is arguing to restrict midsole thickness. “My fear is, if we don’t do this, in a few years we might end up with footwear that we don’t even recognize as shoes.” *Discuss
Recommended Read: The Guardian’s Sean Ingle:“No Record Is Safe With IAAF Poised To Allow Arms Race In Shoes To Run And Run” Ingle’s sources say that the IAAF’s technological committee is going to clear the Nike Next% and even go so far to say any shoe should be legal as long as it gives no “motor assistance.”
NIKE CEO Mark Parker To Step Down; Former Ebay CEO John Donahoe Set To Be His Replacement Parker had been CEO since he took over from Phil Knight in 2006. He says that Nike’s board has spent “many months working on succession planning” and that this wasn’t prompted by Alberto Salazar‘s doping ban.
*MB: Nike ceo resignation
The Oregonian Article On Mark Parker Calling It Quits Includes a rundown of some of the Nike controversies that happened under Parker’s tenure.
MB:2 Questions on Mark Parker: How good a runner was he? +Anyone else think his wording on doping experiments was really weird?
BBC:Mark Parker To Leave Role After Oregon Project Is Closed Down
Video:Paula Radcliffe Says There Is No Evidence NOP Athletes Were Doping And She Was Trying To Defend Them With Her Comments *Discuss
The Telegraph: Paula Radcliffe Defends Her Views: “I have seen no evidence against any of Alberto Salazar’s athletes.” Radcliffe has been catching flak since she made light of the initial announcement on Alberto Salazar’s suspension. People feel she is showing bias as a Nike athlete and since her husband coaches Mo Farah.

An All-Time Great Hangs ‘Em Up

LRC Shalane Flanagan Retires: Is She The US GOAT? + Top 5 Moments In Her Career Flanagan may not have been the greatest track, XC or marathon runner in US history, but if you take all three together – is the she the US women’s distance GOAT? *Discuss:Flanagan Retires

Fellow Pros React To Shalane Flanagan’s Retirement Includes posts from Meb Keflezighi, Kara Goucher, Paula Radcliffe, Emma Coburn and others.
Shalane Flanagan’s Career In Photos
Runner’s World Article On Shalane Flanagan’s Retirement *AP Article
Shalane Flanagan Joins 2019 TCS New York City Marathon Broadcast Team

NOP-Related News

Salazar Told Me He Never Cheated. In His Mind, He’s Telling the Truth This is from John Brant, who wrote two books with Salazar and has a second title of “Why I Still Have Faith In Alberto Salazar.” That being said, Brant writes, “A banned substance is a banned substance, and Alberto was a fool for messing with them at all. He tried to use the letter of the law as a shield, and it’s fitting that USADA chief Travis Tygart employed the letter of the law – evidence of mostly technical infractions – to bring him down.”
Jessica Hull Says Pete Julian’s Group Won’t Rebrand Until 2021 “For the next 12 months we’re just going to be a regular Nike group. In that time period we’re going to rebrand, we’ll have a new name and a new logo that will be ready for 2021.”
Ireland’s 1,500 Finalist Ciara Mageean Hails USADA Probe Into Disgraced Coach Alberto Salazar “I’ve never been (drug) tested so much in my life. But a clean athlete wants to get tested.”
Ciara Mageean – “I’ll Never Get To 3:51 As A Clean Athlete”
Breaking Sonia O’Sullivan’s 24-Year-Old Irish 1,500m Record Of 3:58:85 Is Now One Of Ciara Mageean’s Biggest Goals

Training Tips/Advice

GQ: Are Treadmill Workouts Really As Effective As Running Outside? Also did you know one of the 1st treadmills was designed to torture British prisoners who were forced to exercise on it all day long.
Are You Overstriding? Maybe Hurdle Drills Will Help You Out

Marathon News

Column: Eliud Kipchoge Is The Latest God In A Kenyan Culture That Worships Its Sports Heroes – Eliud Kipchoge, Kenya’s Shining Icon “Kipchoge has secured his place in history at a time when Kenyans are reeling from debilitating economic hardships. Many companies are restructuring and everywhere there are mass layoffs. Unemployment is at an all-time high and the mood on the Kenyan street has never been more grim.”
Shock Winner Of Canadian Olympic Trials Trevor Hofbauer Appears On Citius Podcast – “Keep Showing Up”

LetsRun’s Weekly Podcast

LRCHow Great Was Shalane Flanagan? Leonard Korir 2:07:56, Mark Parker Exits, IAAF Athletes Of Year, Trevor Hofbauer, Zion Williamson Shalane Flanagan retired, Leonard Korir ran fast, Mark Parker stepped down and the nominees for athlete of the year are here and we’ve got a jam packed show.

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Is Shalane Flanagan the GOAT?

Sprint Stuff

Brazilian Sprinters Dominate On Day Three Of Military World Games Aldemir Junior won the 200m in 20.31 and Brazil took both 4 x 100m relays.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Dina Asher-Smith, Salwa Eid Naser Makes BBC’s Top 100 Women In 2019 List
The Gleaner: Do Elaine Thompson And Yohan Blake Need To Make A Move After Disappointing 2019 Worlds? In Doha, Thompson was 4th in the 100m and Blake was 5th. Neither made the final in the 200m.

IAAF / IOC News

Tokyo Considering Starting The 2020 Olympic Marathon At 3AM To Counter IOC Plan To Move Race To Sapporo The IOC announced the marathon and race walking events would be moved north to Sapporo to combat the heat, but local officials were completely unaware of (and mostly against) that plan.
IAAF Relaxing Some Logo Restrictions For Athlete Kits Their new regulations will allow more logos and a greater size.
*Athletics Weekly Article
Nigerian Sports Minister Approves Overpayment Refund To The IAAF Two years ago the IAAF accidentally sent the Nigerian federation $150,000 instead of $15,000. The money somehow disappeared and it’s taken this long for them to give it back, although it’s not clear if they are repaying the full amount.

Some Recent Results

World Champions Salwa Eid Naser (400m) And Mariya Laskitskene (HJ) Highlight At The Military World Games In China Naser won in a championship record 50.15 while Laskiskene cleared 2.01m. Distance winners included Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi (9:19.24 in the steeple) and Morocco’s Mohamed Reda El Aaraby (28:44.25) over Germany’s Amanal Petros (28:44.30).
A Missed Result From The Weekend:Emmanuel Bor (27:41) And Sheila Chelangat (31:25) Win Shanghai 10k
Uganda’s World Champs 800m 4th Placer Winnie Nanyondo Wins 1,500m In 4:08.91 At The Denka Athletics Challenge Cup In Japan
Japan Running News Recap Of The Takashimadaira Road Race The best performance was probably Peter Korir Kipkirui‘s 28:33 CR in the 10k.
Sekisui Kagaku Wins Princess Ekiden In Japan

Non-Distance News

Allyson Felix Wants “To Go Out Really Strong” At Her Last Olympic Games At Tokyo 2020 Felix talks a lot about the joys and struggles of motherhood and training as a pro while caring for a baby.
Veronica Campbell-Brown Wants To Join The “Super Mom” Clan After having a baby 9 months ago, Campbell-Brown wants to make a comeback for Tokyo 2020.
Ashton Eaton: Advice To My Younger Self Eaton says he wishes he didn’t have such “tunnel vision” when he was competing and experienced things like hanging out in the Olympic village at London 2012.
Audio Interview With New Zealand Shot Putter Tom Walsh About The Changes Coming To The Diamond League Walsh seems overall very positive about the changes.

2020 Diamond League News

IAAF Finalizes Diamond League Schedule With 14 Meets And 1 Final For 2020 This means that none of the current meets were cut and they’ve added a meet in China (city TBD) as part of their sponsorship agreement with Wanda Group. The IAAF also announced they’re launching a second-tier World Athletics Continental Tour series with events that are cut from the DL.
Gateshead To Replace Birmingham For 2020 Diamond League Gateshead is stepping in as the Birmingham stadium is being redeveloped for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Are The Diamond League Changes A “Major Headache” For Athletics Kenya The article talks about conflicts between DL meets and national trials, but that’s no different than it is for any other country.

A Look Back At A Decade of Greatness In Track And Field

LRC Malcolm Gladwell’s Decade Records: Here Are The Top 10 Women’s Track & Field Performers Of The 2010s In Every Event Two years ago, best selling author/ running geek Malcolm Gladwell proposed an idea: decade records. We’ve taken him up on his offer and the results are pretty interesting.

LRC Malcolm Gladwell’s Decade Records: Here Are The Top 10 Men’s Track & Field Performers Of The 2010s In Every Event Some interesting results for sure. Did you know all the 10 fastest 1,500 men ran their decade PR in Monaco? Or that Galen Rupp had the 3rd-fastest 10,000 of the decade?

Discuss:MB: The 2010-2019 Malcolm Gladwell Decade Records: Here Are The Top 10 Men’s & Women’s Track & Field Performers of the 2010s.

Next Weekend

November 2:Olympians And Past Champions To Headline 2019 USATF 5k Championships At The Dash To The Finish Line 5k Men’s race has Shadrack Kipchirchir, Matt Centrowitz, Ben Blankenship, Donn Cabral, Stanley Kebenei and Eric Jenkins. Women’s race includes Emily Sisson, Shannon Rowbury, Emily Infeld.

Olympic News

IOC Say Decision To Move Tokyo 2020 Marathon And Race Walks Is Final Despite Local Opposition IOC official John Coates: “We didn’t want Tokyo to be remembered for similar images as you will have seen in Doha in the marathon and in the race-walking events.”
*Reuters Article Coates: “We are aware of the disappointment of the people of Tokyo. But since we always keep the health of the athletes first in our minds, we have made our decision.”
Usain Bolt To Star In Inauguration Event For Tokyo 2020 Olympic Stadium In December No specifics, but teh Japan Sport Council said Bolt will take part in “a new type of race that has never existed before.”
Kenyan Athletes Will Train In Kurume City Ahead Of Tokyo 2020 Kurume City is located in Kyushu, the most southerly island in Japan, about a six hour train ride from Tokyo.
French Public Approve Paris 2024 Emblem Despite Social Media Ridicule The logo was made fun of on social media for its likeness to the dating app, Tinder.
*No Eiffel Tower In New Logo
Tokyo 2020 Reveal Details Of Olympic Flame Arrival Ceremony

Doping News

The Telegraph: Russia Bracing Itself For Tokyo 2020 Ban As Fresh Doping Investigation Nears Its Conclusion WADA formally warned Russia that it is “robustly” investigating “inconsistencies” in data handed over from the Moscow laboratory. RUSADA head Yuri Ganus said he expects Russia to be banned from Tokyo 2020 and the 2022 Winter Games.
*AFP Article Ganus has accused the Russian media of attempting to discredit him and inventing a Western conspiracy against Moscow.
NY Times: Russia Doping Decision Faces Delay After WADA Postpones Meeting Apparently Russia’s response to WADA investigators’ questions were so voluminous it overwhelmed the investigators.
US House Of Representatives Passes Bill Criminalizing Doping In Sports It should be criminal as it amounts to fraud/theft. The Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act still needs to be passed by the Senate.
MB:17-Year-Old Kenyan 800m Runner Angela Ndungwa Munguti Banned For Doping
MB:Canadian Sub-Elite Runner (Won Toronto Marathon In 2:33) David Freake Busted For EPO And Other Drugs Freake also lied to the press claiming he had been banned for oral nasal decongestants and hadn’t taken anything he knew was banned.
Russian Track Federation Fires Three Race Walk Coaches Who Had Athletes Get Doping Bans
Track Athletes Still The Most Drug Tested In Russia 791 Russian track athletes were tested between January and September. Weightlifting was second with 231 athletes tested.