January 29, 2020 | LetsRun.com

World Indoors Postponed

Nanjing, China World Indoor Championships Postponed Until March 2021 The World Athletics statement read, “We know that China is doing all it can to contain the new Coronavirus …[but] the advice from our medical team, who are in contact with the World Health Organisation, is that the spread of the Coronavirus both within China and outside the country is still at a concerning level.”
*MB: 2020 World Indoors in China is POSTPONED until 2021 due to Coronavirus

World Athletics Shoe Announcement Coming Friday?

The Guardian Reports That Nike Vaporflys Will Escape Ban, But Rules On Running Shoes Will Get Stricter They say that World Athletics will announce its decision on Friday and that they are suspending any new shoe technology until after the Tokyo Games. Apparently the AlphaFly (which Kipghoge wore when he broke 2 hours) hasn’t been submitted to World Athletics for inspection yet. *Discuss
Daily Mail Reports That The Nike Vaporflys Are Set To Be Banned By World Athletics After A Study That Will Prove They Enhance Performance To Unacceptable Levels Their sub-headline says “some variations” will be banned, but claims that the Next% Brigid Kosgei wore to break the WR is among them. *MB Thread
Kara Goucher Talked To Forbes About The Possibility She Missed Making The 2016 Olympics Due To The Nike Vaporfly “I felt like something I had worked so hard for had been stolen from me, similar to how I felt when I learned people ahead of me were doping.”
*MB: Goucher: I didn’t go to Rio because Shalane and Amy wore VFs (which is the same as EPO)
Recent Reuters Article With Quote From World Athletics On Nike Shoes “It is not our job to determine the shoe running market for everybody. If people want to run a marathon in Vaporflys or any other shoe, it’s not our job to stop them. But if you want a ratified record, then you are classified as elite and have to abide by the rules.” *2nd article
MB: Official CHEATERFLY body count thread – List of pros injured by Nike Vaporflys
MB: Nike and Vaporfly are why I’m quitting Competitive Running for Spartan Races
MB: ALPHAFLY AT TRIALS – letsrun please get a definitive statement from USATF
MB: Helmut Winter: Stats reveal elite marathon times have dropped 1:45 for men, 3:00 for women in last 2 years possibly due to VF
MB: Can the owners of this site finally stop crying about/doing free advertisment for the Vaporfly all day long?

NCAA / HS Indoor News

NAU’s Tyler Day And Texas’ Julien Alfred Are NCAA Athletes Of The Week Day ran 13:16.95 (#3 on the all-time collegiate list) while Alfred ran 7.10 in the 60m (#7 on the all-time collegiate list).
Top Men’s NCAA Rankings Stay The Same With Florida State, Southern California And Texas 1-4
Southern California Women Stay Ranked #1; Georgia Moves Up To 2nd And Arkansas Down To 3rd In Latest NCAA Rankings Texas is ranked #4.
Event-By-Event Top-10 NCAA Marks From Last Week
Leah Pasqualetti Clears 4.27m (14-0) To Move To #3 In NY High School All-Time List

**Pro Track Is Back *NBIGP Results**

NBIGP LRC Donavan Brazier Dominates, Bryce Hoppel Starts A New Win Streak, & More Thoughts From The 2020 NBIGP Jessica Hull won a tight 1,500. Pro track and field is back.
*NBIGP Live Thread
*Post-Race Interviews

World Athletics Boston Recap: Nia Ali Wins 60H In 7.94; Harvard Grad Gabby Thomas Wins 300m In 36.52
Demek Kemp Cruises Past Asafa Powell In Boston 60m Kemp won in 6.50; Powell was 5th in 6.71.
Jake Wightman Breaks GB 1,000m Record In Boston With 2:18.51 (2nd Behind Bryce Hoppel) He broke the previous record of 2:17.86 which had stood 28 years.
Ciara Mageean Sets New Irish 1,500m Indoor Record In Boston With 4:06.42 (3rd place)

More Weekend Track Results BU Terrier All Weekend NCAA Coverage

World Athletics Weekend Indoor Round-Up: Keni Harrison Wins 60H At Martin Luther King Invy In Albuquerque With 7.81 In Houston, Jenn Suhr cleared 4.75m in the PV.
NAU’s Tyler Day Runs New American Collegiate Record With 13:16.95 At BU Terrier Classic Day was second behind Paul Tanui, who won in 13:15.72; Eric Jenkins was 3rd (13:22.32).
*MB: Tyler MF Day 13:16.95 — takes down Galen Rupp’s American Collegiate Indoor Record
2020 BU Terrier Classic Results Besides the men’s 5,000m, some other highlights included Craig Engels winning the mile in 3:56.85, Raevyn Rogers in the 1,000m (2:39.00), Laura Galvan in the women’s mile (4:31.89) and Julie-Anne Staehli in the 3,000m (8:47.97).
USTFCCCA NCAA Weekend In ReviewKansas’ Gleb Dudarev threw #5 all-time in the weight throw with 24.38m.
Texas A&M Beat Out Baylor To Sweep Titles At Aggie Invitational
Briana Williams Wins 60m (7.15) At Queens/Grace Jackson Meet In Kingston Oshane Bailey won the men’s race in 6.65; MVP’s Nesta Carter was 6th (6.75).
Valerie Adams Secures Olympic Qualifier In First Competition In Almost 18 Months She threw 18.65m in her first competition since giving birth to her second child last March. Tom Walsh won the men’s event with 21.10m.

LetsSprint.com

Briana Williams Says She Doesn’t Feel Burdened By Expectations “To me it isn’t pressure, I’m young but I have the mind of a professional, and I know others are expecting me to be at the top this year since I’m a fresh new pro. But I always remind myself to just go out there, have fun and do my best.”
February 15: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce And World Indoor 60m Champ Murielle Ahoure Going Head-To-Head At The Muller Indoor GP In Glasgow
South African Relay Coach Wants Under 37.60 And A Medal For The Men’s 4 X 100 At Tokyo 2020 They ran 37.73 seconds for 5th in Doha, after setting an African record of 37.65 in the heats.
Matthew Boling Named High School Athlete Of The Year (All Sports) At Houston Sports Award
17-Year-Old Malaysian Sprinter Gets 4-Year Doping Ban For Steroid Use

Random Other News

Former Premier League General Secretary Nic Coward Appointed Interim UK Athletics Chief Executive Originally, Zara Hyde Peters was given the permanent role but decided not to take it up when allegations about her husband came out in November.
Hong Kong Marathon Cancelled In Wake Of Coronavirus (Potentially Lethal Virus) Outbreak
NBC Renews Snapchat Partnership For Tokyo 2020

Japanese Distance News

Former Japanese Marathon National Record Holder Yuta Shitara Wants To Run 2:04 At The Tokyo Marathon March 1st But he doesn’t just want to run 2:04. The 2:06:11 man says hif he doesn’t run 2:04, he won’t “deserve to run in the Tokyo Olympics” and went as far as to say that if he runs 2:05, he’d “probably turn it (the Olympics) down.”
Sunday: Haftamnesh Tesfay Leads A Quartet Of Sub-2:22 Women While The Japanese Battle It Out For An Olympic Spot At The Women’s Osaka Marathon *Japan Running News Preview: A Sub-2:22:22 Will Earn The Japanese Women An Olympic Spot

Vaporfly News

Interesting Read Helmut Winter: Stats Reveal Elite Marathon Times Have Dropped 1:45 For Men, 3:00 For Women In Last 2 Years, Possibly Due To VF

MB: Can the owners of this site finally stop crying about/doing free advertisement for the Vaporfly all day long?
Unfit Journalist Puts On Vaporflys, Knocks 2.5 Minutes Off A 42-Minute Run
Paula Radcliffe On Vaporflys: “I’m kind of sitting on the fence a little bit with how much the shoes on their own are distorting the competition.” Go to the last 35 seconds of the interview from Radcliffe, who is doing the commentary in Dubai.
From Paul Tergat’s Filas To Eliud Kipchoge’s Alphaflys, AW Shoe Guru Looks At History Of Carbon Fiber-Plated Shoes Tergat set his marathon WR in shoes that had a fiber plate.
Wall Street Journal Produces 8-Minute Video On Vaporfly Controversy

Women’s News Of Note

Foot Locker Champ Zofia Dudek Has Long-Term Vision For Track She wants to be competing in the middle of the summer – at World Juniors in Kenya – but is feeling good after taking 2 weeks off following XC.
Saitama International Marathon To Be Discontinued The women’s elite race which was only 5 years old featured a $6.4 million budget but only 1 elite Japanese woman ran it last year as the pros didn’t like it as it was so hilly. Amateurs, however, love it and it may be brought back in 2021 as it’s one of Japan’s biggest races with 20,000 runners.
What’s A Week Of Training Like With Team Boss (Joe Bosshard’s Group)? Aisha Praught-Leer Shares A Week Of Her Training The hard days are hard and include weights and the easy days are easy.
How Katie Izzo Has Gone From Breaking Her Tibia And Fibula In 2016 To A 15:13 Indoor 5,000 For Arkansas Her PR for Cal Poly was 16:08.
Olivia Baker Talks About Her Bittersweet 2019 Campaign Her first year as a pro saw her finish 4th at USAs but she didn’t have the 2:00.60 standard which would have gotten her to Doha as Ajee won the DL. The Stanford grad now trains in Austin, TX where she has a running book club with Keturah Orji.
After Making The 800m Final In Doha, Ce’Aira Brown Is Considering Doubling Up In The 800 And 1,500 At The 2020 Trials “I’m with the 1,500 girls on strength days and the 800 girls on speed days.”

Better Running Shoes

LRC The 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.

Nike Is Done Investigating Itself

Nike’s Investigation of the Oregon Project’s Treatment of Women is Complete The report will not be released to the public but Erin Strout reports Nike will be increasing its number of female coaches, investing into scientific research on the impact that elite training has on girls/women, hiring a VP to have “strategic oversight” of Nike’s female athletes and more.
*MB: Nike’s NOP investigation is complete – Cain declined to participate but calls them “weak and cowardly”

February 8th Will Be A Good Day For Indoor Action

NXN Champ Nico Young Going After The American Junior 3000m Record In The Pro Race At Millrose Chris Derrick has the record at 7:56.31 (Drew Hunter has the HS record at 7:59.33).
NYRR Gives A Rundown Of The Top Men And Women Competing At This Year’s Millrose Games Highlights will include the men’s and women’s 800 where Donavan Brazier faces Bryce Hoppel, Michael Saruin, Isaiah Harris and Ajee Wilson faces Laura Muir.
Strong Pole Vaults Set For Perche Elite Tour De Rouen With Sam Kendricks Vs Renaud Lavillenie And Euro Silver And Bronze Medalists Nikoleta Kiriakopoulou Vs Holly Bradshaw
Trio Of 60H Medalists Will Face-Off At The Orlen Copernicus Cup In Poland With GB’s Andrew Pozzi, Serbia’s Milan Trajkovic And US’s Jarret Eaton

RIP: Kobe Bryant Dies In Helicopter Crash

MB: RIP Kobe Bryant: Bryant killed in helicopter crash in CA
IOC President Thomas Bach Leads Tribute To Double Olympic Gold Medalist Kobe Bryant Bryant was part of the US team that won Olympic gold medals at Beijing 2008 and London 2012. Bach said, “After retiring from the game he loved so much, he continued to support the Olympic Movement and was an inspiration for the Olympic Games LA 2028.”
Usain Bolt And Yohan Blake Among Track Stars To Pay Tribute To Kobe Bryant Americans Will Claye, Lolo Jones and Wallace Spearmon were also among those to make posts on social media.
MB: Pat Porter or Kobe Bryant? Which Death Impacted You Most?
MB: No disrespect to Kobe Bryant but 9 people lost their lives but hardly a word about them in the media

Road / XC Action

Steeplechase Specialists Leonard Kipkemoi Bett (Kenya) And Winfred Mutile Yavi (Bahrain) Win At The Cinque Mulini XC Race In Italy Kipkemoi beat out world U20 XC silver medalist Tadese Worku by just a second.
Mizuki Matsuda Wins Osaka Women’s Marathon With 2:21:47 Matsuda was 4th at the Japanese Olympic Trials, but ran fast enough here to have a shot to replace the 3rd placer from those trials (as long as no one runs faster than here at Nagoya in March). Second place was Bahrain’s Mimi Belete in 2:22:40. *World Athletics Recap
50K Treadmill World Record Broken By Ultra Runner Mario Mendoza He ran 2:59:03 to break Michael Wardian‘s 2015 record by 46 seconds. He did it in a high school gymnasium in Oregon with students cheering and Max King there as MC to hype the crowd.
Athletics Weekly Recap Weekend GB XC Action Callum Johnson and Jess Judd won Northern England XC Champs while Adam Hickey and Jess Gibbon won South England XC.
USATF Recap Of 2020 50k Racewalk Olympic Trials
*MB: Trans Man to Compete in Olympic Trials

High Jump News

GB HJer Morgan Lake Is “Looking To Find The Joy In The Sport Again” Ahead Of Tokyo 2020 Lake explains how she’s moved back in with her parents after 4 years away and is having her father coach her. She says, “When I’m happier I jump better.”
2-Time NCAA High Jump Champ JaCorian Duffield Retires At Age 27 Duffield, who won NCAA titles indoor and outdoor in 2015, says he’s retiring after a string of injuries, but is “at peace” with the decision. He has a job lined up doing contracting and purchasing at an Air Force Base outside Denver.

2020 Dubai Marathon Full Race Replay Tracking / Results

LRC Worknesh Degefa (2:19:38) Dominates; 11 Men Run 2:06 As Dubai Marathon Comes Down To Mad Dash Over Final Kilometer The post-Vaporfly marathon madness continued in Dubai. Four marathons in history have seen 11 men break 2:08; three have taken place in the last four months.
*MB: Official 2020 Dubai Marathon Discussion Thread
*World Athletics Recap

Random Olympic-Related News

NCAA To Allow Elite Olympic Athletes To Receive Compensation For Training And Travel Expenses This would allow them to accept money also for travel for their parents and coaches.
Japan On Track To Hit 30 Gold Medal Target For Tokyo Olympics This would put them 4th behind the USA’s projected 47 golds, China’s 43 and Russia’s 25, but would be way more than the 12 golds they won in Rio. On the flip side, GB are projected to win 25 medals (all colors) less than they did in Rio.
Japan’s Olympic Ceremonies Uniforms Unveiled
Late Night Train Services Planned For Tokyo 2020

Parenting News

Baby Bolt Coming Soon!!! Usain Bolt’s GF Is Pregnant
Former GB Marathoner Turned Coach Jo Wilkinson Tells Parents How To Coach Their Own Kids – Don’t “I’ve realised when it comes to my son’s running, my job is to be his mum and let his coach do the coaching.”

Men In The News

Famed Australian Agent And Broadcaster Maurie Plant Has Died At 66, Tributes Pour In He played a big role in the careers of Sally Pearson, Catherine Freeman, Steve Hooker and others and was loved by many. *Len Johnson *Athletics Weekly
2020 Paralympic Star? Q&A With Michael Roeger, WHo Became The 1st One-Armed Person To Break 2:20 In The Marathon He actually was hoping to run 2:16 but ran 2:19:33.
Recommended Read: RW: Lyme Disease Almost Ended Robby Andrews’ Career. Here’s What Finally Cured Him Spoiler alert: It wasn’t just traditional medicine. *Discuss
GB Marathoner Callum Hawkins Is Using A Garden Shed To Train For The Heat At Tokyo 2020 Hawkins has been running on a treadmill in his shed with heaters to simulate the hot conditions he’ll face this summer. Talking about being 4th place at the last two World Championships, Hawkins said, “I try not to let it get me down and try not to let it discourage me, but I think I am a little bit disappointed and won’t ever quite get over it unless I win a medal at Tokyo.” *Video

World Indoors Are In Danger Postponed

Coronavirus Threatens World Indoor Championships In Nanjing, China World Athletics confirmed that it is in close discussions with the World Health Organization and is monitoring the situation “carefully.”
*MB: Olympic soccer qualifying tournament for Feb moved out of Nanjing, China. Will World Indoors be next? What’s a good alternative?
*MB: Coronavirus is going to kill AT LEAST 3% of all of us.
Asian Indoor Championships Cancelled Amid Coronavirus Outbreak They were scheduled to take place February 12-13. World Indoors are March 13-15.
Health Minister Might Barr Jamaican Athletes From Going To World Indoors In Nanjing
Coronavirus Outbreak Forces Cancellation Of Opening Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Test Event
Bird’s Nest Stadium Among Public Buildings Closing In China Because Of Coronavirus

Dr. Sander Invite ***Results *Dr. Sander Post-Race Interviews**

LRC Mary Cain And Katelyn Tuohy Struggle In 3,000, Cain Reflects On Her Biggest Regret At NOP Mary Cain and Katelyn Tuohy struggled on the track. Then Cain offered advice to Tuohy and got emotional when talking about her biggest regret with the NOP. *Discuss Cain And Tuohy
RRW: Dr. Sander Distance Recap: Early World Leader For Nikki Hiltz, Ajee Wilson, Isaiah Harris, Jordan Gusman Win

Pre-Race In Boston
LRC Profile Trayvon Bromell Is Back; Hoping That This Comeback Will Be His Last

LRC In Response To Diamond League Changes, Emma Coburn Will Not Run ANY DL Steeples In 2020 Coburn does not like the steeple being excluded from the DL final and will skip the entire DL circuit. Plus Donavan Brazier wants to race David Rudisha. *Discuss Here

Edward Cheserek Update

MB: Breaking: King Ches to Compete for Kenya Ches will go for a World Indoor qualifier this weekend and says he’ll compete for Kenya if he makes the World Indoor and/or Olympic team.

Looking Ahead At The 2020 Track Season

World Athletics: Ten Cities Across Four Continents To Host Gold Meetings In 2020 Continental Tour It starts with Nairobi on May 2nd, which will be the first African host city.
European Athletics: Eight Anticipated Highlights Of The Indoor Permit Meeting Series

We Reveal The $ecrets Of The Sport

LRC How To Turn Pro In Track & Field, Part III: Case Studies Of Grant Fisher And Morgan McDonald What does the timeline look like for a top NCAA star as a senior? We walk you through how Morgan McDonald and Grant Fisher reached decisions on their professional futures in the final part of our series on how to turn professional in track & field.

Previous: Part II: Signing The Shoe Contract So you’ve hired an agent. Now it’s time to secure a shoe deal. Do you go for the biggest offer, or the one that lets you work with your preferred coach? Do you chase bonuses or go with a smaller, more secure contract? And what about that reduction clause thing? We explain it all in Part II.

Part I: Finding An Agent What happens between an athlete’s final NCAA race and their professional debut? From finding an agent to signing a contract, our three-part series tells you everything you need to know.
*MB: LRC Investigates: How To Turn Pro In Track & Field