April 14, 2020 | LetsRun.com

Yet Another Big Name Kenyan Goes Down

Breaking: MB 2017 London Marathon Champ Daniel Wanjiru Is Popped For Doping The AIU has cited him for a biological passport violation. Add him to the list of Rita Jeptoo, Jemima Sumgong, Emily Chebet, Asbel Kiprop, and Wilson Kipsang,

More Sport Rescheduling And Cancellations

Seb Coe Hoping For A “Belated” August Start To Outdoor Season It’d go from August to October. It would be nice if people getting the “A” standard would get credit for it.
The Athletics Association Wants To Discuss The Qualification System For Tokyo 2020 With World Athletics In a poll, 60% of athletes said they would like results from before the December 1st cutoff to count as Olympic qualifiers.
RRW: Utica Boilermaker 15K Postponed Until September It was scheduled for July 12th.
USATF Junior Olympic Championships Cancelled Due To COVID-19 They were to be held in Florida July 27-August 2.
New Dates Confirmed For 2020 RunCzech Series The spring events through June have been cancelled with the Olomouc Half starting things off August 31st.

Distance News – Podcast w/ Meb Monday Night

Sweden’s European XC Champ Robel Fsiha Fails Doping Test Fsiha failed the test in November in Ethiopia.
Listen To A Live Podcast With Meb Keflezighi Monday At 7PM ET You can submit your questions for Meb by 5PM ET to get a chance to win a prize. *Stream Link
Conseslus Kipruto Disappointed He Won’t Have The Chance To Defend His Olympic Steeplechase Title And Chase The WR In 2020 Kipruto says it’s frustrating as his training was going very well. Now he’s cut it down to just training 3-4 days a week.

General Coronavirus Stuff

Runner’s World Cautions That The Viral Simulations On How Disease Can Spread While Running Was Not A Peer-Reviewed Study The simulations showed that running six feet behind someone could still be dangerous in spreading the coronavirus, but RW says that the simulations which work for air flow might not apply to microbiology.
*MB: ‘Horrifying’ simulation reveals dangers of hobby jogging during the C virus lockdowns
RW: How Running And Fitness Companies Are Responding And Helping During The Coronavirus Pandemic A lot of sport companies including Nike, New Balance, adidas and Under Armour have stepped up to provide financial support or make needed equipment like masks.
Towers From The 2018 Asian Games Athletes’ Village Turned Into Coronavirus Facilities Seven of the ten towers in Jakarta, Indonesia are being used as medical facilities.

Results?

An Actual Result: Sweden’s Simon Pettersson Throws A European-Leading Discus Mark Of 66.93m From a local meet in Vaxjo, Sweden.
*MB: COVID – Sweden not locking down
MB: Austrian Runner Andreas Vojta claims 28:28 road 10k at 174 lbs

LRC Has Two Podcasts This Week *All Here

#2 Guest Dr. Michael Joyner Talks COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Project + Backyard Ultra Controversial Finish + Olympic Qualifying Cancelled + Eugene 2022 + American GOAT Joyner, the guy who predicted the sub-2 hour marathon, is now working on treatments for COVID-19.

#1 The Mike Wardian Podcast At age 45, has Wardian found his unbeatable event – the Backyard Ultra? Rojo seems to think so as Wardian hardly ever needs to sleep. After running 262+ miles over 63 hours without any sleep, Wardian proceeded to go to work. As of 5 pm Wednesday, he’d slept a total of 4:45 since Saturday morning.
*MB: Meet Mike Wardian – The World’s #1 Runner – Is He The “Eliud Kipchoge” Of Backyard Ultras?

Pros And Cons Of Postponement

AP: Suspension Of Olympic Qualification Gets Cool Reception From Athletes Evan Jager: “I understand freezing the world rankings but I feel achieving the Olympic Standard should still be on the table.”
World 1,500m Champ Timothy Cheruiyot Is Disappointed He Won’t Have A Chance To Try To Break Hicham El Guerrouj’s World Record This Year “At the moment, the Olympic dream is gone, moved to 2021 and the dream chance of running at the higher level at full throttle looks bleak.”
Wesley Korir Hoping To Bounce Back From Injury At The Postponed Boston Marathon In September The postponement was good for him as he is optimistic his injury will be healed by then.
Independent.ie: Tokyo Qualification Pause Will Give Irish Hopefuls More Time

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.

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

LRC With Olympics Postponed, Sprint Star Noah Lyles Gets A Taste Of Cross-Country Training Perhaps no one has the potential to gain more from the 2020 Olympics than Lyles, but he’s relieved that the Olympics have been moved to 2021 as he’s been forced to dodge dog walkers while trying to train in a local park.
*MB: Sprint star Noah Lyles talks about 2020 Olympic postponement – “Actually seeing it delayed gives me a bit of security.”

Free Book Chapters – Purchase Your Autographed Book From Craig Virgin Now

LRC “Virgin Territory” Chapter 17: Front Runner Inc: When Pro Runners Had To Pretend They Weren’t Pro Hard to believe guys in their 60s now had to pretend they weren’t pro runners.

LRC “Virgin Territory” Book Excerpt, Chapter 1: Playing It Risky – Craig Virgin’s 1980 World Cross-Country Win Read about Craig’s win at World XC. Coming tomorrow chapter 17 from the book.

March April Madness (Get Your Sweet 16 Votes In By Wednesday At Midnight)

LRC American Distance GOAT, Second Round Recap: Pre Goes Down As A Star-Studded Sweet 16 Is Set – Vote Now The gloves are now off as our quest to find the Greatest American Distance Runner of All Time is now down to the Sweet 16 and the matchups are incredible. Who is a bigger American GOAT – Galen Rupp or Meb Keflezighi, Matthew Centrowitz or Jim Ryun, Shalane Flanagan or Lynn Jennings, and Jenny Simpson or Emma Coburn?
*MB: Unreal Sweet 16 American GOAT Matchups: Rupp vs Meb, Centro vs Ryun, Flanagan vs. Jennings and Coburn vs. Simpson.

Vote Now
*Vote In The Women’s Sweet 16!
*Vote In The Men’s Sweet 16!

More On Rescheduling Worlds

Oregon22 CEO Neils De Vos Says New World Championships Dates Will Work Well He said he’s glad World Champs are “going first” before European Champs and the Commonwealth Games.
University Of Oregon Says It’s Adhering To Health Guidelines On The Hayward Field Reconstruction Project Apparently an unidentified subcontractor complained it wasn’t possible to complete his part of the project while following social distancing guidelines.
MVP Track Club President Bruce James Is Happy With Date Of 2022 Worlds Younger Jamaicans who don’t make Worlds will likely do the CGs, which is just how it normally is.
European Athletics Support Dates For Re-Scheduled Eugene World Champs, Which Puts Them A Full Month Before European Champs In Munich
Ken Goe: “Hayward Field Should Provide Track Cans A Visual Feast In 2022”
Alan Abrahmson Doesn’t Think The New Dates For Eugene Worlds Will Help Grow Track And Field In The United States Abrahmson points out that other sports don’t hold their championships in July, but we think it’s a good thing it’s going to have less competition for attention and we don’t see how putting it in August would grow the sport in the US any more than July.
The Sports Examiner: Did World Athletics Give The U.S. Golden Gift With July Dates For 2022 World Champs?

Random Sports Quizzes

Sports Quiz: What Are The Stories Behind These Iconic Photos? There’s a few track ones and they’re pretty easy, but if you’re bored.
The Guardian: Mascots Behaving Badly – When Giant Furry Fans Overstepped The Mark One T&F reference when the 2010 World Champs mascot Berlino gave Jamaica’s Melaine Walker a piggy-back ride after she won the 400H. *Video

Runners Doing Good

LRC Running Helped Prepare Dr. Michael Joyner (The Guy Who Predicted The Sub-2:00 Marathon) To Help Lead The COVID-19 Fight Dr. Michael Joyner is on the leadership team of the National COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Project.

Jump Aboard The LetsRun Time Machine

LRC I Was Bored, So I Went Back And Watched The 1998 NCAA Cross-Country Championships Jonathan Gault hilariously revisits the 1998 NCAA XC meet that had it all – Adam Goucher, Abi Abdirahman, Bernard Lagat and even Billy Mills and Jim Ryun – and was held in an era where ponytails were everywhere, cross-country courses featured covered bridges, and James Madison was good at XC.
*MB: Blast from the past. 1998 NCAA XCountry. Goucher over Abdi. Lagat 7th

Random Coroanvirus News

Simulation Reveals The Dangers Of Jogging With Training Partners During Coronavirus Pandemic Viral particles from another runner could infect you even if they are six feet ahead, but running next to them may be safer.
*MB: ‘Horrifying’ simulation reveals dangers of hobby jogging during the C virus lockdowns
MB: Paris Bans Daytime Jogging!! Running Curfew between 10am – 7pm
Runner’s World Article Says You Should Be Cleaning Your Watch/Phone After Running To Help Slow The Spread Of Coronavirus You don’t have to wash your shoes though.
Former French Minister Says Allowing The Tour De France To Take Place Would Be A “Crime Against Humanity”
Cancelled Marathons In Japan Using Phone Apps To Hold Virtual Marathons

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.

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

Looking Back At Some Great T&F Performances

European Athletics: On This Day 17-Years Ago Paula Radcliffe Clocked Her 2:15:25 Marathon WR In London Includes some interesting quotes from Radcliffe and Steve Cram about commentating the race with Brendan Foster.
USTFCCCA Remembers When Maggie Ewen Shattered The 10-Year-Old Collegiate Hammer Record And Then Broke It Again The Next Year Her record is now 74.53m.
European Athletics: “Remember When Czech Javelin Thrower Jan Zelezny Threw 95.54m In 1993, Adding Over 4 Meters To The Previous WR”

British News

Paula Radcliffe Pays Heartfelt Tribute To Her Father, Who Passed Away On Wednesday She posted, “Yesterday I lost the best dad anyone could ever wish for. The kindest, wisest, most patient and brave man who leaves behind so many people who loved him so much and whose lives he enriched.”
Eilidh Doyle’s Mailman Brother Delivers Her Upgraded 2013 World 4 X 400 Silver Medal “My brother Jamie is the postman where we live now so it was a nice surprise when he came to the door with a package and said: ‘I think this one might be a medal.'”
GB Ultra-Runner Ben Smith Still Training For US 50 State Capital Challenge The plan is a 104-day, 114,000-mile run-and-cycle around all 50 US state capitals.
Former GB Olympian Iwan Thomas Hopes The UK Will Have Two Gold Medals In Dina Asher-Smith And Katarina Johnson-Thompson They’re the current world champions so on paper are the favorites right now, but the Games are over a year away.
British Championships Moved To August 8-9 Due To Coronavirus They were originally scheduled for June 20-21.

Tokyo / IOC News

Tokyo 2020 CEO Hints Games Could Be In Doubt In 2021 Toshiro Muto: “I don’t think anyone would be able to say if it is going to be possible to get it under control by next July or not. We’re certainly are not in a position to give you a clear answer.”
Many Doping Cheats Banned From The 2020 Olympics Will Be Free To Compete At The Games In 2021 This seems like common sense to us, but for anyone who needs an explanation, a WADA spokesperson said, “There is no provision in the Code for Anti-Doping Organisations to cherry-pick periods of time in which the athlete would have more or fewer events to compete in.”
Olympic Flame Taken Off Display And Tokyo 2020 Staff Working From Home As Japan Declares State Of Emergency Over Coronavirus
Thomas Bach’s Planned Visit To Japan Next Month Cancelled Due To Coroanvirus Travel Restrictions
IOC President Thomas Bach Calls For People To Stay Strong And Active And Celebrate A “Festival Of Resilience” At The Tokyo Games Next Year

Sport History

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Francie Larrieu Smith’s 10,000m American Record Earns Her USATF Throwback Athlete Of The Week Honors Larrieu Smith made it through to the round of 32 in our American Distance GOAT bracket. She’s up against Joan Benoit Samuelson. Vote here.
AP: 40 Years Later, Edwin Moses Still Says The Decision To Boycott The 1980 Moscow Olympics Was “Horrible” Publicly, President Jimmy Carter said it was “one of my most difficult decisions,” but reportedly, in private conversation with an Olympic wrestler he apologized and called it a “bad decision.”
European Athletics Looks Back At Some Running History, When Greece’s Spiridon Louis Won Olympic Marathon Gold At The First Modern Games In 1896 Louis ran 2:58:50 to become Europe’s first Olympic track and field champion.
European Athletics Highlights “Eight Outstanding Sibling Acts” Includes the Ingebrigsten and Borlee brothers.
A Look Back At Linford Christie’s Career The Brit won Olympic 100m gold at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics with 9.96 seconds.
Paula Radcliffe’s Legacy Lies On As London Marathon Celebrates 39th Anniversary
Top Highlights From The History Of The London Marathon

A Must Read If You Care About Doping Or Justice

LRC The Amazing Story Of How Jarrion Lawson Cleared His Name: He Showed That The Head Of A WADA Lab Provided False Testimony Against Him Jarrion Lawson is free to compete once again after his legal team was able to show that Christiane Ayotte, the head of the WADA-accredited doping control lab at the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique in Laval, Quebec, lied while testifying during his case.
*MB: The amazing story of how Jarrion Lawson cleared himself: He showed the head of a WADA lab provided false testimony against him.

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.