January 31, 2020 Homepage Archive

World Athletics New Shoe Rule – Alphaflys are Banned, Vaporflys Stay

LRC Olympian and Key Vaporfly Researcher Shalaya Kipp Talks to LRC About World Athletics’ New Shoe Regulations Kipp, who worked on the study that gave the Vaporflys their 4% name, is pleased by the new regulations as she thinks within a year or two athletes will have a level playing field. In the meantime, she says some brands need to let their athletes run in the Nike Vaporfly “or they are going to be at a disadvantage.” She also talks about what it was like to realize in 2016 that Nike had a shoe that was so much better than anyone else that she and her fellow researchers nicknamed it “The Magic.” And how she believes the shoes cost Kara Goucher an Olympic spot. Now this is an Emergencypodcast. Listen here.

LRC World Athletics Announces New Shoe Rules; Nike Alphaflys Are Banned But Vaporflys and Next% Are Ok To protect the integrity of competition, World Athletics issued new shoe rules today and the shoes Eliud Kipchoge wore to break a 2-hour marathon have been banned. Effectively immediately, the stack height is limited to 40mm, and as of April 30, 2020, all prototypes will be banned from elite competition. What does it all mean? We break it down for you.
*MB: World Athletics New Shoe Rules Are Out

Rojo Speaks By Wearing Vaporfly Prototypes, Eliud Kipchoge, Galen Rupp, & Shalane Flanagan Are All Guilty of Mechanical Doping in 2016 – Will Anything Be Done About It? What happened in the 2016 Olympic marathons where several athletes including Eliud Kipchoge and American stars Galen Rupp and Shalane Flanagan were given secret shoes, made to look like other shoes on the market, that scientists believe produce 2% gains in performance was “mechanical doping.” Will World Athletics acknowledge this fact and potentially invalidate the 2016 Rio Olympic men’s marathon results?
*MB: Kipchoge, Rupp, & Flanagan Are All Guilty of Mechanical Doping in 2016 – Will Anything Be Done About It?

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

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”

World Indoors Are In DangerPostponed

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

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.

This Week’s Podcast

LRC Pro Track is Back: Brazier and Hoppel Impress, Mary Cain vs Katelyn Tuohy + Rojo’s Rants Get your weekly fix on the running world.
Been gone the last few weeks? 2 of our most famous podcast listeners were guests the 2 previous weeks:
*Boston Marathon champ and American legend Des Linden talked Trials, ultras and more And explains her $50 tip to LetsRun.com
*Foot Locker High School National Champ Josh Methner

Why Name The Team Before the Spring Marathon Season?

MB Athletics Kenya Names Eliud Kipchoge, Lawrence Cherono, Amos Kipruto, Brigid Kosgei, Ruth Chepngetich and Vivian Cheruiyot to its Olympic Marathon Team Yet again a federation making a dumb decision. We see no benefit to naming the team now if you aren’t going to forbid the runners from running a spring marathon. Cheruiyot will be on her 5th Olympic team – a record for Kenya. Pretty impressive since she started in 2000 and missed out on 2004.

Two New Commercials With Usain Bolt

Usain Bolt To Appear In Michelob Ultra Super Bowl Commercial Starring John Cena And Jimmy Fallon You can watch it here.
Usain Bolt Sponsorship Partnership With Car Insurance Company Allianz Direct Their commercial shows a frustrated Bolt stuck in the car with his mom driving super slowly.

International Distance News

March 1:Defending Champions Birhanu Legese (2:02:48) And Ruti Aga (2:18:34) Will Lead Tokyo Marathon Elite Fields Legese will face former Dubai winner Getaneh Molla (2:03:34), two-time Tokyo winner Dickson Chumba (2:04:32) and a slew of other sub-2:05 men. The top pace group will be shooting for a time under 2:03. Aga is up against former Tokyo winners Birhane Dibaba (2:18:46) and three other women with PBs under 2:20. *Japan Running News Article
Recommended Read:Kemoy Campbell Talks About Coming To Peace With Ending His Running Career After He Nearly Died At Last Year’s Millrose Games Campbell says he can’t remember anything from the day of the race last year and that an illness that went untreated because he didn’t have health insurance might have caused his collapse by damaging his heart.
Mizuki Matsuda And Her Coach Receive $46,000 Bonus For Her Sub-2:22 At The Osaka Marathon Asked what she plans to do with the money, she answered, “Save it. That’s what everyone around me is telling me to do. And to watch out for guys coming after my money.”
Boston And Chicago Marathon Champion Lawrence Cherono (2:04:05 PR) Hopes To Use The 2020 Boston Marathon To Convince Athletics Kenya Olympic Selectors

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 Sprint Stuff

Kansas City Chiefs’ Receiver Tyreek Hill Says He Wants To Try To Make The 2020 US Olympic Team Hill has 100/200 PBs of 10.19 and 20.14 from his senior year of high school in 2012. He says he’d have to lose a lot of weight as he’s 195 pounds and weight 175 when he ran in high school.
*MB: Tyreek Hill says he wants to try out for 2020 Olympic team
Apparently Demek Kempt Is Facing Some Criticism In Jamaica For Calling Asafa Powell An “Old Guy” 37-year-old Powell responded by saying, “Age is just a number …I am still feeling very strong, still feeling as fast as I did years ago,” Powell said.
Q&A With GB’s Dina Asher-Smith About Her Winter Training Routine She talks about having to train in the cold, wind and snow. Does she not have access to an indoor track?
World Athletics Podcast Interview With World 400H Champ Karsten Warholm Sounds like they go off on some interesting tangents including talking about skydiving and horse racing.
Video Interview With Shamier Little After 2nd Place Run In NBIGP 300m Little was happy with her run and said she was focused on winning a medal at World Indoors, but that obviously won’t be happening now
Two Scottish Records Went Down Over The Weekend – Alisha Reese With 7.33 In The 60m And Nikki Manson With 1.92m In The HJ

Previous Vaporfly Stuff

Wall St Journal video on Nike Vaporfly controversy has more than 3.5 million views
What the Wall Street Journal video didn’t reveal The video ends with a guy running a mile in the Vaporflys and a mile in the Adios Boosts. What it didn’t reveal was his HR was 5 bpm less in the Vaporflys and his stride frequency was about 3 strides/minute lower in the Vaporfly.
The Telegraph Opinion Piece:“Nike’s Vaporfly Shoes Are Fine – But The Sport’s Integrity Is At Stake If Their Next Version Is Not Banned” Ben Bloom writes, “The Alphafly is a step too far. When five-time Olympian Bernard Lagat posted a photo of him in what appeared to be Alphafly shoes this week, someone asked how much they would cost. One reply summed up what is at stake for the sport: ‘the price is integrity.'”

Vaporfly Related MB Talk: