January 13, 2020 Homepage Archive

Where Your Dreams Become Reality

Archived Homepage For January 13, 2020

Quote Of The Day

“‘I will finally be able to explain myself,’ Diack told Jeune Afrique in his only interview. ‘My state of health is no longer the best,’ he added, complaining that after his arrest in France in 2015 he has been denied access to medical treatment in his former home of Monaco. ‘I’m stuck here,’ he said. ‘The treatment I receive is unfair. I was French for 27 years, I held the highest office and I did a lot for world sport.'”

– Disgraced former IAAF president Lamine Diack speaking ahead of his trial which ~~started~~ was supposed to begin Monday in Paris. Diack faces the prospect of 10 years in French prison for corruption charges involving the Tokyo Olympics, Qatar World Cup and Russian doping cover-ups.

London Marathon Women’s Field Release

World Record Holder Brigid Kosgei Will Return To Defend Her Title At The 2020 London Marathon The London field is always super deep and 2020 will be no exception as Kosgei faces 2018 London champ Vivian Cheruiyot, three-time Berlin champ Gladys Cherono, Roza Dereje (2:18:30), world champion Ruth Chepngetich and world half marathon record holder Joyciline Jepkosgei.

Ultra / Mountain Running News

The Guardian Examines How Some Women Have Been Beating Men In Super Ultra Races And Wondering If It Might Be A Sign Of Genetic Superiority Ross Tucker doubts it unless you are talking maybe about swimming where a woman’s higher fat percentage might help them in super-long swims.
World Marathon Running Association World Cup Is Expanding Its Calendar In 2020 The 2020 season will have nine events with 12 total races.

What’s Happening With The Ex-Members Of The NOP?

Ken Goe: Two-Time Olympic Medalist Galen Rupp Opens Up About Being Coached By Mike Smith Of NAU Smith apparently took some time before agreeing to be his coach. Rupp says he wants a tune-up before the Trials but doesn’t have one picked.
*Previous:Galen Rupp Picks NAU’s Mike Smith As His New Coach Sarah Lorge Butler broke the surprising developments. Smith works at an adidas school and had never even met Rupp before but was highly regarded by Salazar.
*MB: Galen Rupp’s new coach is… NAU coach Mike Smith
*MB: Mo Farah throws Salazar under the bus – “Had I had known.. what Salazar did.. sooner I would have been the first one out”

LRC Mary Cain Is Officially Back On The Track As She Races The Men And Finishes Her First Track Race Since 2016 Cain did something she likely once took for granted, finish a track race. She ran 9:25 for 3,000. Her time was equivalent to a 4:24 1,500 and 16:33 5,000. Her next race is Jan 25 vs. pros and Katelyn Tuohy in the 3k at the Dr. Sander invite.
*MB: Mary Cain running a 3000 tonight at the armory in NYC (1/9)
*MB: It’s official: Mary Cain’s next race is at Dr. Sander Invite vs current high school star Katelyn Tuohy
*MB: Touhy going toe to toe with Pros

LRC Where Are The Former Alberto Salazar-Coached NOP Athletes Headed? Clayton Murphy Returns To College Coach Lee Labadie We reached out to the agents of all of the NOP athletes coached by Alberto Salazar to find out who will be coaching them in this Olympic year and know the answer for Clayton Murphy. Plus might Yomif Kejelcha and Sifan Hassan leave Oregon?
*MB: No comments on Murphy’s return to Akron?

Kenyan Distance News

Geoffrey Kamworor Successfully Defends His Kenyan Police Service XC Championship Title He beat out a competitive field which included Josphat Boit (2nd), Emmanuel Bett (4th), and Philemon Rono (5th).
Tributes Pour In For Kenyan 8:18 Steeplechaser Kennedy Njiru, Who Died In A Car Crash On Tuesday Athletes at the services included former world steeple champ Milcah Chemos, former marathon WR holder Patrick Makau and former world javelin champ Julius Yego.
2:08 Kenyan Marathoner Says “If There Is One Marathoner I Fear It’s Eliud Kipchoge”

Mid-D News

Jakob Ingebrigsten Cancels His Indoor Season Due To Injury Sustained Back At Euro XC Champs (translated) Ingebrigsten’s coach/father said that he injured his glute and was also very tired after last season. Therefore he’s canceled his indoor season and postponed going to his planned high altitude training camp in South Africa.
*MB: Jakob incurred a glute injury in the Euro XCs
Olympic 1,500m Champ Faith Kipyegon Reveals She Changed Coaches To Patrick Sang Last Year In A Bid To Come Back Faster From Her Maternity Leave She might not have won in Doha last year, but she did get silver and ran 3:54.22 after not racing at all in 2018.

NCAA News

The Number Of NCAA Track Teams Has Increased Dramatically Over The Last Decade From 2009 to 2019 there have been 141 men’s teams and 170 women’s teams added to the NCAA. This makes track the largest growing men’s sport and second behind women’s lacrosse.
The Bowerman: 2020 Men’s Preseason Watch List Two distance runners made the list with Devin Dixon and Oliver Hoare.
The Bowerman: 2020 Women’s Preseason Watch List Half the list is made up of distance runners with Weini Kelati, Katie Izzo, Dani Jones, Alicia Monson and Taylor Werner.
South Carolina’s 400m NCAA Champ Wadeline Jonathas Goes Pro Jonathas was 3rd at USAs and then 4th at Worlds, also running a leg of the US’s gold medal-winning 4 x 400.
2020 NCAA Champs Outdoor Schedule Released

Assorted Pro Distance News

World U20 3,000 Silver Medalist Leonard Bett (28:06) And Betty Chepkemoi (32:14.9) Win Kenyan XC Champs
Jenny Simpson Talks About Her 2020 Resolutions, Winter Training And Being A Night Owl To fight her night owl tendencies, Simpson is instituting a “wind-down routine” in 2020 that will get her to bed at the time she plans.
Arizona Daily Sun: NAZ Elite’s 2019 In Review Shows Why 2020 Could Be A Big Year NAZ has a slew of runners hoping to qualify for Tokyo in the marathon, led by Scott Fauble and his 2:09:09.
Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon Braced For Tokyo Face Off With Sifan Hassan “I normally prefer not to talk about somebody else but it is true that she (Hassan) was on form (last year) … I know we shall meet again this year and let’s wait and see what happens (laughs).”
Carrie Tollefson Does Podcast Interview With OT Qualifier And 2:31 Marathoner Katy Jermann Jermann talks about the OT and running at an elite level while working as a teacher.

End- Of-Year Racing

LRC Steve Spence’s Legendary Sub-5:00 Mile Streak Comes To An End After 43 Years There had been one constant in the world since 1976 Steve Spence broke 5:00 every year in the mile. A last-ditch attempt on December 30th came up short and Spence’s streak is history.
*MB: Steve Spence’s 5:00 mile streak ends at 43 years
*MB: Employee 1.1’s 17-year sub-5 streak is on the line. Can he break 5 today at age 32 with almost zero training?

Belgium’s Bashir Abdi (27:47) And Ethiopia’s Helen Bekele Tola (30:50) Win San Silvestre Vallecana 10k In Madrid Tola beat world marathon champion Ruth Chepngetich by 7 seconds.
Italy’s Eyob Faniel (28:21) And Kenya’s World 5,000 Silver Medalist Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi (15:30) Victorious At The Boclassic Silvesterlauf Faniel got an upset win over world 5,000m leader Telahun Haile Bekele by 7 seconds, becoming the first Italian to win since 1988. Kipkemboi beat world half champ Netsanet Gudeta and tied the CR.
Early Celebration Costs Ugandan Teenager Jacob Kiplimo The Win As He Gets Nipped By Kibiwott Kandie At The San Silvestre De Sao Paulo 15k Kandie ran 42:59 to Kiplimo’s 43:00. Marathon WR holder Brigid Kosgei won the women’s race comfortably in 48:54.
*World Athletics Recap

Another Day, Another Record Goes Down In Valencia – But This Runner Wasn’t Wearing The Vaporflys

Rhonex Kipruto Smashes The 10k World Record With 26:24 In Valencia The world 10,000 bronze medalist took 16 seconds off Joshua Cheptegei‘s record set just six weeks ago. He also set the 5k WR en route with 13:18 (his second 5k was even faster with 13:06, but won’t be record eligible). On the women’s side, Sheila Chepkirui was just 3 seconds off the WR with 29:46. Rosemary Wanjiru and Norah Jeruto were a close 2-3 both timed at 29:51.
*Switzerland’s Julien Wanders Breaks His Own European 10k Record With 27:13 Third Place Finish
*MB: Rhonex Kipruto destroys 10k WR – not in vaporflys!
*MB: Adidas shoes WR!!!!
*MB: Are the new Addidas Adizero Pro better than Vaporfly?
*MB: Julien Wanders new ER record –27:13!!

World XC Champ Hellen Obiri And World U20 XC Silver Medalist Tadese Worku Win Elgoibar XC Race Obiri beat out world U20 XC champ Beatrice Chebet by 6-seconds while Worku dominated the men’s race. USA’s Paul Chelimo finished a distant 4th.
Former NCAA XC Champ Kate Avery Wins Stirling XC Race Avery won by 11-seconds while Welshman Kris Jones won the men’s race. Andrew Butchart failed to recover from a mid-race fall and finished 4th.
*Scotland Men And England Women Win International Team Competitions At Sterling XC

Weekend Indoor Action

Ukraine’s Yuliya Levchenko Opens Season With 2.00m HJ Clearance At The Christmas Cup In Kyiv
Florida State’s Jayla Kirkland Runs 7.17 To Beat Out Briana Williams’ 7.25 At The Clemson Orange And Purple Elite Meet
MB:Matthew Boling Runs 6.68 In Season Opener At Clemson He was second behind Taylor Banks‘ 6.67. Boling also came in second in the LJ with 7.50m. *Meet Results
Jamaica Gleaner: Jeanine Williams Shines At Clemson Indoor Meet Williams won the 60m hurdles in 8.07.
USTFCCCA Collegiate Weekend In Review Alabama junior Tamara Clark ran 36.56 for #5 NCAA all-time in the 300m.
Florida State Men #1 In Pre-Season NCAA Indoor Rankings LSU was second with Southern California third.
Southern California Women #1 In NCAA Indoor Pre-Season Rankings Arkansas and Georgia are ranked 2-3.

General Olympic News

Iran’s Only Female Olympic Medalist Announces She’s Defected The taekwondo bronze medalist criticized the regime’s “hypocrisy, lies and injustice.”
Thomas Bach Praises Iran’s Support For “Principles Of Political Neutrality In Sport” Despite Its Refusal To Allow Its Athletes To Compete Against Israelis Bach said this even though the Iran government is violating the Olympic charter by ordering its athletes ont to face Israelis at sports events.
Official Posters For Tokyo 2020 Revealed
IOC Hits Its Highest Percentage Of Women Members Ever With 37% The percentage will drop slightly next week though when some new male members are added.
IOC Confirm Three Cities Are Interesting In Hosting Future Winter Olympic Games Sapporo, Salt Lake City and Barcelona have all expressed interest.

This Week’s Podcast

LRC Podcast Galen Rupp Won’t Make The Olympic Team?! + Wejo’s Mother-In-Law Podcast Listen and subscribe today to the podcast for staying abreast of professional track and field.

European News

The Rome Diamond League Will Be Moved To Naples For This Year Rome’s Stadio Olimpico will be unavailable as it’s hosting games for the UEFA European championships (soccer).
Karsten Warholm Cleans Up With Three Trophies At The Norwegian Sports Gala He was named sportsman of the year, athletes sportsperson of the year (an award voted on by the athletes) and the sports personality of the year.
World 110H Bronze Medalist Pascal Martinot-Lagarde And Euro Indoor 800m Silver Medalist Renelle Lamote Voted French Athletes Of The Year
European U23 High Jump Champ Maksim Nedasekau And World Javelin 6th Placer Tatsiana Khaladovich Named Belarusian Athletes Of The Year
Yasiel Brayan Sotero Breaks Spanish U20 Discus Record With 64.68m (1.75kg Disc)

World XC In North America?

LRCWorld XC In Canada?! Victoria, BC Hoping To Host 2023 World Cross-Country Championships After Hosting 2020 Pan Am XC Cup This February Victoria is hosting the 2023 Pan AM XC Cup and the 2023 Can Am XC Race (a race open to the public) this February with the goal of hosting the 2023 Worlds.

Recent Distance Results

Mogos Tuemay And Fotyen Tesfay Claim Ethiopian Double Victory At The Campaccio XC Meet In Italy Tuemay won by 10 seconds over world steeple silver medalist Lemecha Girma while Tesfay just beat out world 5,000m silver medalist Margaret Kipkemboi Chelimo as they were both given the same time.
Ethiopia’s Medina Deme Armino Rallies In The Last 500m To Win The Xiamen Marathon In 2:26:12 Over Her Compatriot Mesera Hussen (2:26:28)Birhan Nebebew won the men’s race in 2:08:16.

Sprints And Jumps

Good Read: GB’s 2019 European 400m Leader Laviai Nielsen Says Parkrun Helped Her Bounce Back From The Depression She Felt After Not Making The World Final In Doha “It was nice to remind myself that running could be enjoyable because after Doha I needed that.”
Four-Time British Champion Morgan Lake Used To Hate The High Jump Lake used to only do the HJ because it was part of the heptathlon, but now it’s her main event, although she’s sometimes still tempted to go back to the heptathlon.
The Nassau Guardian Chooses Sprinters Shaunae Miller-Uibo And Steven Gardiner As Their Athletes Of The Decade Miller-Uibo is the reigning Olympic 400m champ and also has two silvers and a bronze from World Championships. Gardiner won Doha 400m gold as well as silver in 2017 and a 4 x 400 bronze at Rio 2016.
Jamaican World 4 X 100 World Champ Jonielle Smith Back In Training After Car Crash In Florida Last Weekend
February 11:Seven Polish Stars Set For Orleen Cup Indoor Meet Includes Euro indoor 60m champ Ewa Swoboda and world PV bronze medalists Piotr Lisek.

Better Running Shoes

LRCThe 10 Most Popular Running Shoes On LetsRun.com Before we do our final call of shoe reviews in 2019, we decided to take a look at what shoes are the most popluar on LetsRun. Four shoe lines dominant, the Nike Pegasus, the Brooks Ghost, the HOKA Clifton and the Saucony Kinvara. These four might be a great place to start when looking for a new pair of shoes.

Upcoming Indoor Action

Say It Ain’t So

LRCFormer Marathon World Record Holder Wilson Kipsang Suspended for Whereabouts Failures & Tampering Violations

If the charges hold, he will be the most prominent men’s marathoner to break anti-doping rules. *Discuss

Indoor Season Will Be In Full Swing Soon

February 8:Deep American Fields Set For Camel City Elite Meet With Edward Cheserek, Paul Chelimo, Jenny Simpson, Craig Engels, Clayton Murphy And Raevyn Rogers Cheserek and Murphy are both in the mile, with Cheserek considering doubling in the 3,000 where he’d face Chelimo. Rogers will be up against Athing Mu in the 800m; Engels is also running the 800.
January 25:Donavan Brazier In The 600, Clayton Murphy Vs. Nick Willis In The Mile At Boston New Balance Indoor GP World champ Nia Ali vs. Olympic champ Brianna McNeal in the 60m hurdles.
February 8:Allyson Felix Vs. English Gardner, Deajah Stevens And US 100m Champ Teahna Daniels Announced For Millrose 60m
February 2:France’s Decathlon WR Holder Kevin Mayer And 110H World Bronze Medalist Pascal Martinot-Lagarde Announced For Paris Indoor Meet They will go head-to-head in the 60H, also facing GB’s Andrew Pozzi.
February 21:Venezuela’s World Triple Jump Champion Yulimar Rojas Announced For Madrid Indoor Meet

Upcoming Road Action

January 19:Past Winners And Top Americans Will Lead Elite Fields For The Houston Marathon And Half Marathon In the men’s half, Americans Shadrack Biwott, Jared Ward, Sam Chelanga, Diego Estrada and Matt Llano face Ethiopian record holder Jemal Yimer (58:33), defending champ Shura Kitata (59:16) and Jake Robertson (59:58). Jordan Hasay, Molly Huddle, Sara Hall and Aliphine Tuliamuk lead the American women against #8 all-time Caroline Kipkirui (65:07). In the marathon, Asian record holder Hassan El Abbassi (2:04:43) leads the men’s field while Biruktayit Degefa (2:22:40) will try to defend her women’s title.
Sunday:World 10,000 Bronze Medalist Rhonex Kipruto Lining Up Against European Half Marathon Record Holder Julien Wanders At The Valencia 10k Kipruto said after this he’ll turn his attention to training to make the Kenyan Olympic team in the 10,000.

Upcoming Indoor Action

February 8:Nick Willis, Chris O’Hare, Eric Jenkins And Filip Ingebrigsten Headline Fields For NYRR Wanamaker Mile At The Millrose Games Field also includes Ben Blankenship, Johnny Gregorek, Charlie Grice and Josh Kerr.
January 31:Steeplechase WR Holder Beatrice Chepkoech Vs. Winny Chebet And Axuamwit Embaya Set For The Karlsruhe Indoor Meeting In Germany
Olympians And NCAA Champions Will Star In Stacked 3,000s At The Millrose Games The men’s race has Olympic silver medalist Paul Tanui, NCAA champ Edwin Kurgat, Justyn Knight, Joe Klecker and Hassan Mead. NCAA champ Weini Kelati, Alicia Monson, Allie Ostrander and Katie Mackey lead the women’s field.
February 11:Poland’s European Champ Adam Kszczot Vs. Sweden’s Runner-Up Andreas Kramer In The 800 At The Stockholm Indoor Sparet GP
February 11:Top Polish Athletes Confirmed For Orlen Cup Indoor Meet Fields will include some top throwers and Euro indoor PV champ Pawel Wojciechowski and PV world bronze medalist Piotr Lisek.

LetsRun.com Podcast *Subscribe Here

LRC2020 Tokyo Predictions Podcast + Best Of LetsRun.com 2019 Who is more likely to get gold? Kenenisa Bekele or Evan Jager, Shelby Houlihan or Matthew Centrowitz, Ajee’ Wilson or Donavan Brazier? What about Bryce Hoppel or Clayton Murphy, Mo Farah or Muktar Edris? Who gets more medals? Jerry Schumacher‘s Bowerman Track Club or Pete Julian‘s unnamed group? Plus of course Alberto Salazar and Mary Cain talk.

The Decade Has Ended

LRC LetsRun.com’s Decade Awards: Alberto Salazar Is Our Person Of The Decade + Best Runner, Best Upset, Doping Excuse Of The Decade, & More! In a decade marked by controversy, it’s fitting that Alberto Salazar is our Person of the Decade as controversy clung to Salazar like a paper clip to a magnet. Plus who wins our world and US athlete of the decade honors?

LRCUS And World Runners Of The Decade: Jenny Simpson, Matthew Centrowitz, Caster Semenya And Eliud Kipchoge

LRC 2019 LetsRun.com World And American Rankings: Donavan Brazier And Ajee’ Wilson Are World #1s The 6th annual world and US distance rankings are here and for the first time ever two Americans are #1 in the world in their events.

Rojo Speaks: The 2010s Are History: It Was Both The Best And Worst Of Times For Track And Field Fans What a crazy decade. From Chris Solinsky‘s 26:59 at the start of the decade to Brigid Kosgei‘s 2:14:04 at the end, there were plenty of high highs but the lows were also big as well as Olympic champs at 800, 1,500, steeple and the marathon were all banned from the sport. What does it all mean? LetsRun.com co-founder Robert Johnson looks for meaning and tries to figure it all out by taking you back in a time machine to January 1, 2010.

LetsRun.com Founders Named as Two of “The 50 Most Influential People in Running”