NCAA XC Is Saturday *11:15 & 12:15 am ET *LRC Previews: WTeam *WIndividual *MTeam *MIndividual *Live NCAA XC Results for DI, DII and DIII

• *MB: Official 2019 NCAA XC Discussion Thread We’ll be doing a live pre-race show starting at 10 am ET.
• Just ran the NCAA course in Terre Haute — a couple observations
• Fiona O’Keeffe out of NCAA
• Worth running for NAU?
• NCAA Banquet Photos Up
• What is the worst team score in men’s NCAA XC history?
• NAU and Mike Smith Training

LRC $200,019 Running Warehouse D1 Cross-Country Prediction Contest Tell us who will win NCAAs and you could win a free pair of Skechers GOrun Ride 8 Hyper (the official shoe of Edward Cheserek) and a Running Warehouse Gift certificate.

LRC Early Votes For Prediction Contest: LRC Nation HEAVILY Back Arkansas, NAU and Edwin Kurgat NAU is getting more than 28 x more votes than Colorado and Edwin Kurgat is gettng more than 11 x as many individual votes as Conner Mantz. Arkansas is getting more than 6 x more votes than Stanford while Alicia Monson narrowly leads Weini Kelati in the women’s individual race.

LRC Mark Wetmore Shares His Thoughts on Alberto Salazar, Mary Cain, and Dr. Jeffrey Brown Wetmore called for a lifetime ban for Brown and revealed how he keeps a healthy environment for his women at Colorado. “Our system is not created by men for men. I try to be polite and stay out of the way.”

LRC Fueled & Strengthened by Past Failures, Taylor Werner & A Senior-Heavy Arkansas Team Are Ready for Their NCAA XC Moment Can Werner, who has finished 104th and 81st at the last two NCAAs, lead Arkansas to their first-ever NCAA xc women’s title?

LRC NAU’s Starting Lineup Revealed; Coach Mike Smith Praises Lumberjacks’ Team-Focused Attitude NAU is so good that coach Mike Smith had a tough choice to make in figuring out what 7 runners should run NCAAs. We exclusively tell you who made the cut here. “They don’t just have four or five very good runners. They seem to have 10,” said Mark Wetmore.

RRW Razorback Women Looking For Rare Three-Season Triple Crown at NCAA Cross Country Championships

NCAA XC Banquet Photos *Full Gallery Here

More On The Tokyo 2020 Marathon Move

• IOC President Thomas Bach Accuses Athletes Of Selfish Motives Over Marathon And Racewalk Debate Bach: “There are one or two voices of athletes who think they would be better prepared for races in heat than the others and wanted to benefit from this …” A counterpoint to this is that the temperature in Sapporo isn’t guaranteed to be cooler than Tokyo.
• IOC’s John Coates Insists That The Men’s Marathon Be Held On The Last Day Of The Olympics There’s been talk about moving the day because of logistical difficulties, but Coates said, “It is to be held on the last day of the Olympics, and the athletes must be put on a plane and returned (to Tokyo) in time for the closing ceremonies.”
• Japan Olympic Trials Winner Shogo Nakamura Says The IOC Needs To Decide On The Marathon Course As Soon As Possible So Athletes Can Prepare For It

General Tokyo 2020 News

• Construction Work On Tokyo 2020 Olympic Stadium Completed The final cost was $1.2 billion.
• Tokyo 2020 Spectators Will Be Allowed To Bring Drinks Into Games Venues Spectators will be allowed to bring one bottled non-alcoholic drink up to 750ml to combat the hot temperatures.
• AP: Tokyo Olympics Getting Some Flak For Failing To Use French In Addition To Japanese And English Article 23 of the Olympic Charter specifies that French and English are the official languages of the games, but so far news conferences and signs have all been in Japanese or English.
• Airbnb Becomes A Leading Olympic Partner Through 2028 Thomas Bach praised the deal saying it would “provide accommodation that will reduce the cost for the Olympic Games organizers” and “minimize the need for (new) construction.”

More Weight Stories / Cain News

LRC Tara Welling Shares Her Experiences Regarding Weight As A Member Of The Nike Oregon Project Welling says she had both positive and negative experiences with Alberto Salazar and reveals he wouldn’t let her race at times unless she gained weight. “At the time, I felt that Alberto had my best interests as an athlete in mind and I had no reason not to trust him. It was confusing and I found it mentally difficult when I had to lose weight and look like other runners when I was not them. It was a constant comparison battle.”

• Recommended Read 3-Time Olympian, 5-Time NCAA Champ Jen Rhines Shares Her Positives Stories Regarding Weight And Her Menstrual Cycle During Her Remarkable Career Rhines reveals she never missed a period during her 20+ year career. *Discuss
• Recommended Read 3-Time Olympic Gold Medalist Tianna Bartoletta Calls Out Nike – Her Main Sponsor – For Pointing Out That Mary Cain Tried To Rejoin The NOP This Year  “That line … Let me just come right out and say it, was fucked up to include. Because THAT line was essentially an attempt to cast doubt on and discredit Mary’s story. … This is what the cycle of abuse looks like.”
• MB: Lauren Fleshman NY Times: “I Changed My Body for My Sport. No Girl Should.”
• MB: Unnamed NOP pro on Mary Cain- “she’s such a wuss.”
• WSJ: More Female Athletes Talk About A Taboo: Their Periods They note that two years ago Shalane Flanagan tweeted that she had never missed a menstrual cycle. Note: Article behind paywall.

International Road / XC Results

• Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey Breaks World Best With 44:20 At The Zevenheuvelenloop 15k In The Netherlands She broke the previous record of 45:37 by Joyciline Jepkosgei during the 2017 Prague Half. Uganda’s Stephen Kissa won the men’s race in 41:49 (#7 all-time). *Discuss
• Kenya’s Paul Lonyangata (2:08:11) And Ethiopi”s Yebrgual Melese (2:23:19) Win Shanghai Marathon
• Ethiopia’s Felix Kipkoech (60:12) And Kenya’s Nancy Jelagat (68:24) Win Boulogne-Billancourt Christian Grangier Half Marathon In France
• Uganda’s Geoffrey Kusuro (2:08:46) And Japan’s Haruka Yamaguchi (2:27:39) Set Course Records To Win The Kobe Marathon
• Uganda’s Maxwell Rotich And Portugal’s Mariana Machado Win World Athletics XC Permit Meet In Soria, Spain Machado got an upset victory over Bahrain’s Rose Chelimo as they were both clocked at the same time (27:49 for the 8k race).
• Joseph Razini Lemeteki (61:23) Wins Ageo City Half Marathon In Japan
• Mazda Wins Fifth-Straight Chugoku Corporate Ekiden

Assorted Distance News

• Podcast Interview With Retired Mid-D Runner Phoebe Wright On Her Time Running For Nike And Some Of The Recent Hot Topics In The Sport Wright: “When you’re in a powerless position and the rest of your career is totally dependent on what you do, you aren’t going to burn bridges. You don’t have many bridges to walk across.”
• Short Video Interview With Molly Huddle About The Olympic Marathon Trials Course In Atlanta Huddle talks about what kind of runner she thinks will excel on the course and how she may adjust her training.
  *LRC Archive: LetsRun.com Previews The 2020 US Olympic Marathon Trials Course – Where Cross-Country Meets The Marathon
• From Last Week: Kenya’s John Kipkorir Komen (2:16:34) And Greece’s Eleftheria Petroulaki (2:39:00) Win Athens Marathon
• Nutritionist And Physiologist Krista Austin: “One thing I will not do is bash Alberto Salazar because there’s a system that failed him just as much as a system that has failed Mary Cain.” Austin worked with Amy Yoder Begley whens she ran for NOP to help her lower her weight.
  *MB: The system failed Alberto Salazar

More On Weight Issues And “Fat Shaming” In Women’s Running

• NY Times: Amy Yoder Begley Also Says Alberto Salazar Ridiculed Her Body For Years Begley recounts how Salazar not only criticized her body (even when she was in the 112 to 116 pound range), but made fun of her laugh, tried to keep her from being friends with her teammates and attempted to make her and Kara Goucher enemies.
  *MB: Amy Yoder-Begley tells NY Times Alberto Salazar asked her to sign a contract saying she would not befriend her NOP teammates
• The Telegraph: British Female Athletes Reveal Culture Of Fat Shaming Some athletes say they felt “bullied” about their weight by the head British coach, Charles van Commenee, in the run-up to the London 2012 Olympics.
• Exercise Scientists, Including Ross Tucker, Talk About The Facts And Misconceptions Surrounding Body Weight And Elite Sport Performance Exercise physiologist and strength coach Richard Blagrove: “Putting someone on a scale every week doesn’t always tell a coach much. If your metabolic rate slows down, your body will overcompensate, meaning you aren’t losing much weight after all.”
• The Guardian’s Sean Ingle: “High Time That Nike And The IAAF Did The Right Thing By Athletes” Ingle writes, “The stars of track and field need a powerful and independent union to protect them from abuse from the sportswear giant and the mismanagement of the governing body.”

Salazar News

Sports Illustrated Writes 4,000+ Words On Cain’s Allegations On Salazar: Inside The Toxic Culture Of The Nike Oregon Project “Cult” Chris Chavez‘s article includes Salazar’s full statement in response to Cain’s allegations plus quotes from Julian, Ritz, Cain, her father and others.
*MB: Mary Cain, her father, Ritz, Julian and others talk in-depth with Sports Illustrated includes Salazar’s full statement 

Salazar Apologizes/Defends Himself To Ken Goe “On occasion, I may have made comments that were callous or insensitive over the course of years of helping my athletes through hard training. If any athlete was hurt by any comments that I have made, such an effect was entirely unintended, and I am sorry. I do dispute, however, the notion that any athlete suffered any abuse or gender discrimination while running for the Oregon Project.”
*MB: BREAKING – Kara Goucher attacks Ken Goe on Twitter. Denies him interview request 

LRC Commentary Don’t Believe The Spin, Nike’s Treatment Of Mary Cain Is Very Much In Line With Its #1 Core Value: Win At All Costs Since its inception, Nike’s #1 message has been win at all costs. Not a surprise since Nike was named after the winged Greek goddess of victory. But winning often doesn’t come easy, so sometimes people take drugs or purge themselves to get to the top.

• CAS Says Alberto Salazar’s Appeal Will Be Held In March At The Earliest Doctor Jeffrey Brown has also appealed his ban. They both “requested additional time to file their written submissions and evidence.”
• Kara Goucher After Mary Cain’s Story: “[A coach] shouldn’t be talking to you about your relationship, or your weight, or your body, or the size of your butt. That’s not a place a coach should be.”

The US Olympic Marathon Trials Will Be Here Before You Know It (Feb. 29th)

LRC  The Road To Sapporo: Assessing The Women’s Field At The 2020 US Olympic Marathon Trials From Jordan Hasay (50%) to Stephanie Bruce (5%), we break down the odds for the contenders at the 2020 US Olympic Trials.

LRC  The Road To Sapporo: Where The US Men’s Marathoners Stand 3+ Months Out From The Olympic Trials Jonathan Gault breaks down the Americans’ chances of making the 2020 Olympic marathon team – from Galen Rupp (90%) to Dathan Ritzenhein (5%) and Benard Lagat (5%).

MB: Who are the favorites for the 2020 US Olympic Marathon Trials? We tell you here.

More Athlete Blowback To Diamond League Cuts

• Triple Jump World Record Holder Jonathan Edward Critical Of Diamond League Event Cuts Edwards tweeted, “There are so many things wrong with World Athletics decision re Diamond League events but what Usain Bolt showed athletics is that it’s not about events but personalities and to exclude and alienate one of the sport’s true stars (Christian Taylor) is beyond comprehension.”
• GB Distance Runner Andy Butchart Considering Boycotting The DL After IAAF Cut The 5,000m “I will try to not run as many Diamond Leagues and boycott and do other things. Because the IAAF right now is just a bit iffy.”
• Tianna Bartoletta Blogs About DL Cuts: “Diamonds Aren’t Forever” Bartoletta rips the IAAF and questions the research and justifications for the events they chose to cut.
• Scottish Sprinter Beth Dobbin Is Concerned For “Future Of The Sport” After Diamond League Cuts She is angry the 200m won’t be included in the DL and seems to be worried this could be a stepping stone to events being cut from the Olympics.