April 8, 2020 | LetsRun.com

March April Madness

LRC Who Is The Greatest American Distance Runner Of All Time? Vote Now Who is the American Distance GOAT? You tell us as voting in our 64-person tournament has begun after Alan Webb destroyed Jim Walmsley and Chris Solinsky in the play-in game. Some of the 1st round matchups are fantastic and include Billy Mills vs. Alberto Salazar, Dave Wottle vs. Donavan Brazier, Khalid Khannouchi vs. Ryan Hall, Shelby Houlihan vs. Jordan Hasay and Bob Kennedy vs. Steve Prefontaine.

Vote Now: Lagat Region, Round Of 64
*Shorter Region, Round Of 64
*Kastor Region, Round Of 64
*Benoit Region, Round Of 64

Quarantine Race Results

Washington Post: “Michael Wardian Set Out For A Virtual Ultra Marathon. He Kept Running For 2½ Days.” It was part of the Quarantine Backyard Ultra and unfortunately for all involved, Wardian ended up winning the race ended with a controversial DQ.
*MB: Coolest or weakest thing ever? Quarantine Backyard Ultra ends with controversial DQ after 250+ miles
*MB: 2020 Quarantine Backyard Ultra Race! Official Race Discussion Thread.
High Schooler Matt Strangio Runs 4:03.57 1,600m Time Trial Strangio’s senior track season is cancelled, but he still is chasing sub-4. He ran in this in breezy conditions, solo for the second half.
*MB: HSer Matt Strangio runs 1600 in 4:03.57 in CA
MB: Farah bombs 6 mile tempo on IG live?
MB: Isaiah Harris time trialed 5,000m PR…. 15:02.

Pole Vault Stuff

France’s Former Olympic PV Champ Renaud Lavillenie Claims “International Home Containment” Title Lavillenie has a pole vault setup in his backyard and used it to clear 5.61m on Saturday. *Video
Mondo Duplantis Auctioning Off His World Record Bib From Torun To Raise Money To Help Fight The Coronavirus Pandemic The current bid is about $1,500.

Tokyo News

Japan Businessman Admits To Giving Gifts For Successful Tokyo Olympic Bid Haruyuki Takahasi admits to giving gifts (including digital cameras and Seiko watches) to lobby IOC officials including Lamine Diack. Takahasi was paid $8.2 million by the Tokyo bid committee to “wine and dine” people who could help Tokyo win the Olympics.
Tokyo Olympics Expects To Secure Athletes Villages And All Competition Venues For 2021 Games The athletes village was scheduled to be sold off in autumn, but organizers are hoping to re-secure it and all 41 competition venues again for 2021.
IOC Confirm Revised Qualification Deadline For Tokyo 2020 Games The qualification period will end June 29, 2021.
Tokyo Government Considering Use Of Olympic Facilities To House People With Coronavirus Symptoms
Daily Rise In Tokyo Coronavirus Cases Passes 100 For First Time
IOC Considering Postponement Of Athletes’ Commission Elections After Tokyo 2020 Delayed To 2021 The current members’ terms would have expired at this year’s Olympics.

This Week’s Podcast

We Guarantee You’re Entertained
LRC 800m Star, YouTuber, & RunGum CEO Nick Symmonds + Balcony And Backyard Marathons Ranked Listen to the best track and field running podcast on the planet.

More General Coronavirus In Sport News

2022 Set To Be A Busy Summer With The World Championships, Commonwealth Games And European Championships All On The Schedule Seb Coe: “All three [events] are probably going to have to give a bit, and they’re probably going to take a bit. Ultimately, the number one objective is ‘how do we do this for the athletes?'”
Three Championships In 6-Weeks Gives Athletes A Chance At A Gold Medal Hatrick Seb Coe said they want to arrange the schedule so tripling is an option, at least for non-distance athletes.
Former UKA Head Ed Warner Thinks UKA Should “Gift” The Anniversary Games To Tokyo To Solve London Stadium Clash With West Ham Soccer Club West Ham doesn’t want to let UKA use the London Stadium for the Anniversary Games in July as their soccer season will be pushed back. This bickering all might be irrelevant anyway if the coronavirus pandemic continues into the summer.
The Guardian: “From Marble Racing To Balcony Marathons, The ‘Sports’ Filling The Void”
Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates Taking Voluntary 20% Pay Cut In Response To Pandemic Even after the pay cut, he’ll still get paid $287,000+ for 2020.

Tokyo Olympics News

RRW: Olympic Marathons To Remain In Sapporo
Political Rival Of Japanese Prime Minister Casts Doubts On New Dates For Tokyo Games Shigeru Ishiba is leading polls to be Japan’s next Prime Minister and fears the coronavirus could still be too out of control to hold the Olympics even next year.
Olympic Flame For Postponed Tokyo 2020 Goes On Display In Fukushima The flame will be on display until it moves to Tokyo at the end of the month, but visitors are required to wear a mask.

The Sporting Calendar Is A Mess

RRW: September Could Be Blockbuster Month For Athletics & Road Running The calendar is going to be super-crowded to say the least.
More USATF Events From May Through July Have Been Cancelled This includes Oxy, US U20 Champs, the Thorpe Cup and World Masters Champs.
BBC: After Coronavirus Sport Set For Hectic Year Approaching 2021

Update On LRC Coronavirus Patient’s Condition

LRC Update: LetsRun.com Visitor With COVID-19 Continues To Recover Good news as “justthefacts” condition continued to improve over the weekend and his fever is gone.

LRC What’s It Like For A Runner To Have COVID-19? A Long-Time LetsRun.com Visitor Shares His Story Of Being Infected With The Coronavirus A long-term visitor to LetsRun.com wants to share his story of what it is like to have the coronavirus. He also wants a LetsRun.com singlet when he gets better.
Discussion: I tested Positive for COVID here is my story

Athletics Calendar Revamp

LRC 3 Thoughts On The World Athletics Championships In Eugene Being Rescheduled To July 15-24, 2022 The first track World Championships in the US will be the earliest Worlds in history. What does it all mean?

LRC World Athletics Says Forget About Qualifying for Olympics Until December and Some Athletes Aren’t Happy “This takes away the last bit of hope of making 2020 a productive, meaningful year in our career” said 2017 steeplechase world champion Emma Coburn. But others, including Olympic pole vault champ Katerina Stefanidi, support the move.

Delayed World Track And Field Championships Set For July 15-24, 2022 Eugene 2021 has been postponed so it doesn’t clash with the Olympics and it was moved up to July from August so it didn’t clash with Euro Champs and the Commonwealth Games.
World Athletics Suspends All Olympic Qualification Until December 1 They are trying to make it fair for different countries which will open up later than others, but we think an ‘A’ standard should count no matter when it happens.
*MB: Overreaction or justified? World Athletics pauses all Olympic qualification until December 1
TrackTown USA’s Organizing Committee Is Back At Work On Postponed Olympic Trials New dates have not been set, but the assumption is they will be scheduled for late June again.
TCS World 10k Bengaluru 2020 Rescheduled From May 17th To September 13th

US Distance News

Aliphine Tuliamuk Opens Up About How She’s Been Impacted Personally By The Coronavirus Pandemic Besides the Olympics being cancelled, Tuliamuk was planning on starting a family at the end of this year, but with the Olympics being postponed, she and her significant other (who is a healthcare worker), have decided to put off having a child.
Craig Engels Says Post-Race Interviews After The Alberto Salazar Doping Ban Were More Interesting: “It was kind of fun and something new. It brought out a lot of people’s true colors.” Article also includes quotes from Engels and Pete Julian about Engels’ positive personality and beating Matt Centrowitz at USAs last year.
Molly Seidel: “I think I’m too dumb to quit. With all the times that I’ve been knocked down, maybe I’m just too stupid to know that it’s my time to give up.” Seidel admits that when she started, she thought she’d actually end up DNFing the Olympic Marathon Trials.

Random Stuff

Lolo Jones Puts On Two Shirts And Drinks Wine To Dominate Tom Holland’s Handstand Challenge
AP: Runners Still Finding Release On The Road During Coronavirus With gyms and races closed, many people are running together in virtual training groups. A sports cardiologist said anyone running with others should double the recommended six feet of social distancing because of the increase in the amount of air they’re breathing in and out.
RRW: Backyard Marathon Raises $28,000 for Charity Former UK javelin star and now soccer player James Campbell ran a 5:50:33 marathon in his 6-meter backyard.
Britney Spears Says She Was Joking About Running 100m Dash Faster Than Usain Bolt In a since-deleted post, Spears claimed she ran 100m in 5.97 seconds, but has since clarified that she “was joking.”
BAA Donates $100,000 To Boston Resiliency Fund And Contributes Medical Supplies, Food To Local Agencies

With No Current Races, Take This Time To Look Back

NY Times: When The Tokyo Olympics Went Missing Interesting history lesson on how Tokyo was actually supposed to host the 1940 Olympics, but gave them up because of Japan’s war with China. The Olympics were eventually cancelled altogether because of WWII.
MB: Blast from the past. 1998 NCAA XCountry. Goucher over Abdi. Lagat 7th.
A Look Back At When Roger Bannister Ran The First Sub-4 Minute Mile
9.58 – When Usain Bolt Became the Fastest Man In History
World Athletics Watch Parties: Today’s Race Is The 400m Final From The Doha 2019 World Champs
USTFCCCA Looks Back To 1994 When Arkansas’ Erick Walder Jumped 8.74m To Break Carl Lewis’ Collegiate LJ Record
USATF Throwback Athlete Of The Week Honors: Louise Ritter Breaks The Women’s American High Jump Record In 1980 With 1.94m
European Athletics: Remember When … Athens Staged The 2004 Olympic Games
European Athletics Looks Back On When Barcelona Hosted The 1992 Olympics

Kenya Isn’t Sleeping On The Coronavirus

Kenya’s Former Marathon WR Holder Wilson Kipsang Arrested For Drinking In Iten While Breaking Coronavirus Curfew Law A group of nearly 20 people was found drinking in a popular club at 9PM, breaking the 7PM curfew that is currently in effect due to the coronavirus pandemic. Police said the group resisted arrest, forcing them to call for reinforcement.
*MB: Wilson Kipsang ARRESTED for breaking COVID19 curfew
Bahamas Distance Runner O’Neil Williams Detained In Kenya For Breaking Coronavirus Social Distancing Regulations He was only running with one training partner, but Kenya has regulations in place that say you can only run alone.
12 Athletes Arrested In Kenya For Breaking Coronavirus Rules By Training Together As A Group
Former 1,500m World Champ Elijah Manangoi Urges Fellow Kenyan Runners Not To Give Up And To Keep Training “I have opted to look at the cancellation and postponement in sports activities with hope so as not to get depressed further. That is what is helping me continue with training.”
Daily Nation Checks In With How How US-Based Kenyan Runners Are Adjusting To The Virus Shutdown Includes some quotes from Betsy Saina, Michael Saruni and Emmanuel Korir.

Running Industry News

The Boston Marathon Is Offering Refunds For The First Time Many cancelled events aren’t offering refunds or deferred entries, but the BAA is letting you defer your entry to the new September 14th date or get a refund.
New Balance To Start Producing Face Masks To Help Prevent Spread Of Coronavirus New Balance also announced they gave $2 million in grants to help support local, regional and global communities dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Under Armour Manufacturing Face Masks For Hospital Workers Amid Coronavirus Pandemic They plan to manufacture and distribute more than 500,000 fabric face masks.
MB: Grandmas Marathon registrants go home DEVASTATED!!

Eliud Kipchoge Gets Some Big GQ Coverage

GQ Goes To Kenya To Catch Up And Do A Cool Photo Shoot With Eliud Kipchoge Knox Robinson tries to find the secrets to Kipchoge’s sub-2 and find there are no secrets other than dedication and consistency.
*MB: KIPCHOGE SHOWS OFF SOME SERIOUS DRIP FOR GQ

Eliud Kipchoge Believes Delayed Olympics Could Actually Help Him Defend His Title Asked if the Olympics could be the 35-year-old’s last race, Kipchoge said it was too early to say and that he was just focusing on keeping his family safe during the current pandemic.

Sport Rescheduling

Fixing The 2021 Sporting Calendar Will Be Like A “Huge Jigsaw Puzzle” Says Thomas Bach “If you take out one piece, the whole puzzle is destroyed. Everything has to come together.”
Grandma’s Marathon Cancelled For The First Time In Its 44-Year History Organizers cite predictions that the coronavirus will peak in June. They are not offering refunds for the $110-$135 entry fee or deferred entry for next year’s race.
Athletics Weekly Looks At The Ever Changing World Athletics Calendar So many events from March through July have been postponed or cancelled.

Mike Smith Lifts The Veil On Galen Rupp’s Training

LRC Mike Smith Q&A Part II: On Choosing To Coach Galen Rupp, “Defending The Process,” & Rupp’s Human Side Smith said that he was careful not to let preconceived notions cloud his judgment when deciding whether to work with Rupp. “The second we abandon our critical thinking or our process with this stuff … I worry about that.”
*MB: Mike Smith Part II: Smith explains why he agreed to work with Galen Rupp

LRC Mike Smith Q&A, Part I: On Galen Rupp’s Commitment, Restructuring His Training & That 24 X 400 Workout
*MB: Mike Smith lifts the veil on Galen Rupp’s training and talks about what makes him great

Kenyan Doping News

Asbel Kiprop Still Claiming He’s Going To Clear His Name; Says His Doping Ban Ruined His Marriage And Drove Him To Alcoholism “I think AIU saw me as a stumbling block to what they wanted to achieve and someone wanted to find a way to bring me down.”
Kenyan Marathon Vincent Yator Gets 4-Year Doping Ban Yator’s failed test came at the Gold Coast Marathon last year where he ran 2:09:59.

NCAA Coronavirus News

AP: College Athletics Directors Bracing For Financial Crisis With the cancelling of March Madness and other winter/spring sports, plus the possibility of disruption to the start of football season, ADs are expecting a major loss in revenue. Cancelling March Madness alone cost the NCAA $375 million.
*DyeStat: College Athletic Departments Face Prospect Of ‘Ice Age’ If Football Season Is Severely Impacted By Pandemic
NCAA Division 1 Council Votes To Provide Scholarship Relief, Extend Eligibility For Spring Student-Athletes They also voted not to extend any relief for winter sport athletes who had completed all or part of their regular seasons, but had national championships canceled.
Ken Goe: “Granting Athletes In Spring Sports Another Season of Eligibility Creates Other Problems” The NCAA ruling leaves what to do with scholarships up to individual schools, which means some athletes could have their scholarships stay at the same level while others will have them reduced or even eliminated.
UO Cocah Robert Johnson Is Social Distancing And Thinking About What’s Next He has questions about how the NCAA’s ruling is going to be applied specifically in the PAC-12. He says that Hayward Field would have been ready for this year’s PAC-12 Champs if they had happened.
Ken Goe: If The Coronavirus Forces Colleges To Cut Athletic Programs, What Happens To Track? Goe writes, “It’s possible many athletic directors soon will have to take a meat cleaver to their athletic budgets. … Non-revenue sports such as track and field are money drains.”

A Race Has Been Added To the Calendar And It’s This Saturday – You Can Run It At Home On Your Treadmill If Need Be

LRC Looking For A Race? A Sporting Event To Follow? The Quarantine Backyard Ultra Is Saturday Good news, runners and sports fans. You can compete in this race virtually from home (or watch it from home), and as long as you can run 4.167 miles in an hour, you have a shot at victory. And it’s free to enter.
*MB: 2020 Quarantine Backyard Ultra Race! Official Race Discussion Thread

Anti-Doping News

Athletics Integrity Unit Acknowledges That Its Anti-Doping Program Will Be “Severely Disrupted” Due To Coronavirus They say they will still conduct “priority testing missions in those places where it is feasible and safe to do so.”
CAS Hearings In Russia’s Case Against WADA Could Begin In July; Could Be Delayed By Coronavirus Russia is appealing the sanctions imposed by WADA as punishment for the manipulation of the Moscow Laboratory data.
UKAD Head Nicole Sapstead Warns Athletes They Aren’t Off Anti-Doping’s Radar Despite Reduced Testing She said it would be “naive” for athletes and coaches to think they would leave no trace of their activity.
Anti-Doping Association Of Kenya Director Says “Gaps” In Testing Might Be Addressed Through Additional Targeted Testing When The Sporting World Returns To Normal

GB News

UK Athletics Calling On West Ham Soccer Team To Waive Tenancy Rights For London Stadium So It Can Stage The Anniversary Games This Summer Cancellations due to coronavirus have completely messed up the sporting schedule, pushing the soccer season later into the summer. The way the contract is written, soccer would get precedence over track and field.
Meet The New UK Athletics Chief Executive, Joanna Coates It’ll be a bit of a trial by fire for Coates as six days after she took over, the Olympics were postponed and she’s already dealing with a number of other problems and controversies at UKA. *Independent: New UKA Chief Joanna Coates Has Ambitions Beyond Increasing Medal Count
Wimbledon 2020 Cancelled Due To Coronavirus Pandemic

US Distance News

Donn Cabral Says Pushing Back The Tokyo Games A Year “Is Really Tough” Cabral said he was finally in a good place after a couple of “subpar” years and was looking forward to trying to make his third Olympics. He admits that if it was pushed back to 2022 he “would have gone for it.”
Colleen Quigley: “I Was Devastated When COVID-19 Postponed The Olympics – But Now I See It As An Opportunity” Quigley says she the day the Olympics were postponed she comforted herself by having pizza, wine and ice cream with her boyfriend, but now she’s looking at the positive of having another year to get ready for Tokyo.
Q&A With US Ultrarunner Joseph Gray Gray says his favorite competition memory came when he was nearing the finish line on his way to winning his second World Mountain Running title.

LRC Tokyo Postponement Coverage

LRC 6 Big Questions In The Wake Of IOC’s Decision To Postpone Olympics To 2021 What happens to Eugene 2021? What happens to people with Olympic qualifiers from 2019? Which athletes gain from the postponement and which ones are hurt by it? And a proposal for what to do with the 2020 US Champs.
*MB: Olympics are officially delayed for up to one year