Archived Homepage For January 19, 2020
Archived Homepage For January 19, 2020

USA XC And Houston Half And Full Are This Weekend *USA XC Results

LRC Comeback Queen Hitomi Niiya Breaks Japanese Record (66:38), Jemal Yimer Wins (59:25), 14 American Men Go Sub 62, 7 Women Sub 70:00 at Houston Half Marathon Hitomi Niiya’s comeback story is pretty cool and Jemal Yimer believe it or not crossed the line first for the first time ever on a day that saw 14 American men go sub 1:02 and 7 women go sub 1:10 as Jared Ward was 1st American and Sara Hall beat Molly Huddle.

LRC 2020 USATF XC Results: Natosha Rogers And Anthony Rotich Dominate It was a good day for the Army WCAP team as their Kenyan Americans went 1-2-3 in the men’s race.
*USATF Recap
*NAU Freshman Corey Gorgas And High Schooler Brooke Rauber Win USATF XC Junior Titles
*MB: USA XC champs are this weekend – Do you recognize any of these entrants? One will be a natl. champ.

More Road News

Looking Ahead At The International Indoor Season

Women In The News

The Olympic Marathon Trials Are Next Month

Sprint Stuff

London Marathon Women’s Field Released

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 CheronoRoza Dereje (2:18:30), world champion Ruth Chepngetich and world half marathon record holder Joyciline Jepkosgei.

General Olympic News

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.

UKAD Not Cooperating With WADA On Salazar Investigation?

UK Anti-Doping Won’t Release Mo Farah’s Blood And Urine Samples To WADA Inquiry USADA is looking into any athletes who were coached by Alberto Salazar but UKAD head Nicole Sapstead said she would block the release of samples stored for future retesting unless there was “credible evidence” to suggest they contained banned substances. She said they save samples to test “when the science moves along.” *2nd article

We Can’t Wait For April

JG Column Even After Four Blowouts, Why We Still Care About Eliud Kipchoge vs. Kenenisa Bekele in London Jonathan Gault explains why distance fans are fascinated by Bekele vs Kipchoge in London. While we’ve technically seen Kipchoge vs. Bekele four times before, we’ve never actually seen it the way we imagine it in our minds with both in supreme fitness battling it out mano a mano. Plus how does Bekele remind Jonathan of Muhammad Ali and Tiger Woods?
*MB: 
Kenenisa Bekele Added To London Marathon Field The matchup that all the fans wanted – Bekele vs. Kipchoge – is on.

Nike Vaporflys Getting Banned?

Eliud Kipchoge Responds: “It’s the person who is running, and not the shoes.” Kipchoge made the analogy to Formula One and said it’s Lewis Hamilton who does the driving, not Pirelli Tyres. However, we’re not sure Formula One is the best “sport” to compare as just about every aspect of the car has regulations that need to be strictly followed.

Reports Coming Out That World Athletics Is Going To Ban The Nike Vaporfly The issue being discussed is the foam and carbon-fiber sole which acts like a spring; new rules would limit sole thickness and the use of carbon plates. The ban would also apply to Nike’s new running spikes which were worn by Laura Muir to set the British indoor mile record last year (4:18.75). There’s no decision on whether records set before the shoes were banned (like Brigid Kosgei‘s 2:14:04) will be allowed to stand.
*The Times: “Nike’s Record Breaking Running Shoe To Be Banned” (article behind paywall)
*MB: Reports: Vaporfly to be banned

The London Marathon Men’s Field Is Out

Ethiopian Duo Mosinet Geremew And Mule Wasihun Will Return To Challenge Eliud Kipchoge Again At The 2020 London Marathon At last year’s London, Geremew ran the fifth-fastest time in history (2:02:55) to finish just 18 seconds behind Kipchoge. Wasihun was third in 2:03:16. The field also includes last year’s fourth placer Shura KitataTamirat Tola (2:04:06) and another four sub-2:06 men.
*MB: London elite – Bekele is not there

Diack Trial Delayed

Lamine Diack’s Trial Delayed Until June After New Documents Were Submitted To The Paris Court Concerning Testimony That His Son Papa Massata Diack Gave In Senegal World Athletics (the IAAF) is reportedly seeking 41.2m euros (£35.3m) in compensation from the six defendants (Diack, his son and other ex-IAAF officials). Diack asked the court to be allowed to return to Senegal to see his family, but his request was denied (not surprising since Senegal has refused to extradite the younger Diack). *2nd Article

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!!

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

Upcoming Armory Action

This Week’s Podcast *Subscribe Here

LRC Des Linden Gave The LRC Podcast A $50 Tip, She Joins The Podcast To Discuss Why And Her Great Career + Kipsang Suspension, Rupp’s Coaching Change Des Linden gave a $50 tip to the LRC podcast. She explains why. Listen and subscribe today to the podcast.

Distance Stuff

Doping / Corruption News

Ultra / Mountain Running News

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.