April 26, 2020 | LetsRun.com

Seb Coe Talks And We Listen

LRC Seb Coe Talks To LetsRun.com About Suspending Olympic Qualification, Whether To Eliminate The “Off Year,” & More We spoke with Coe on Friday and share four highlights. Coe defended World Athletics’ decision to pause Olympic qualifying, called on the US to stage more high-quality professional meets, and explained how Jim Ryun helped him earn his first Olympic gold.

The Penn Relays Aren’t This Weekend But Here Are Two Recommended Reads

Sports Illustrated: Over 125 Years, The Penn Relays Have Endured Everything. That Streak Just Ended. A look back at some of the amazing history behind the meet that has endured through wars and national emergencies.
A Look Back At Usain Bolt’s 2010 Historic Return To The Penn Relays Ten years ago Bolt lead the Jamaican team to victory in the USA vs the World 4 x 100 in a meet record 37.90. Looking back on that day, commentator Ato Boldon said, “The volume got to a point where it ceased to become noise and it was just a deafening roar. That’s not supposed to happen when you have headsets on.”

RIP

Throwback Thursday

LRC I Was Bored, So I Watched The Insane 2007 World Cross-Country Championships In Kenya The 2007 World XC meet was one of the most memorable in history. The UNBEATABLE Kenenisa Bekele was not only beaten – he quit mid-race while in medal position with only 800 meters to go. A truly insane day of racing in the heat of Mombasa, Kenya, that featured future Olympic champions Asbel Kiprop, Mo Farah, Stephen Kiprotich, Taoufik Makhloufi, Vivian Cheruiyot, and Tirunesh Dibaba.
*MB: Throwback Thursday: I Was Bored, So I Watched the Insane 2007 World XC Champs in Kenya

From The LRC Archives LRC 2007 World Cross-Country Championships Recap From Mombasa, Kenya: Controlled Chaos With people climbing into trees to watch, Wejo wrote, “The atmosphere was crazy. A party, a sporting event, a carnival, a once in a lifetime event with tremendous national pride associated with it all rolled into one.”

*TBT#2: I Was Bored, So I Went Back and Watched Ritz, Webb, & Hall Battle at the 2000 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships
*TBT#1: I Was Bored, So I Went Back and Watched the 1998 NCAA Cross Country Championships

Bored Because Of Covid-19? Read This Free Book Excerpt

LRC When Henry Rono Went From 15:40 To A 13:06 World Record In Two Months This excerpt from Richard Amery‘s new book, The Five and Ten Men, about the 10 men who have held the 5 and 10,000 WRs is a fascinating read.

LRC Book Review: “The Five And Ten Men” By Richard Amery Need to brush up on your distance running history? Richard Amery‘s book offers a comprehensive history of the sport from Paavo Nurmi to Kenenisa Bekele, told through the 10 men to hold both the 5,000- and 10,000-meter world records. *Purchase here.

Previous Free Book Excerpts From Craig Virgin – Purchase Your Autographed Book From Craig Virgin Now

RIP Neil Black

Former UK Athletics Performance Director Neil Black Dies At Age 60 A UKA statement said Black died over the weekend, but did not give a cause of death. He stepped down from his role as performance director after Alberto Salazar was banned.
Mo Farah Pays Emotional Tribute To Neil Black “I have lost a good friend! Known him since I was 14 years old. Neil supported me all the way in my career since I was kid!! My heart is broken … I wouldn’t be where I am today without Neil Black … no one knew me like he did!! We lost a great man.”
Dina Asher-Smith, Hannah England And Others Pay Tribute To Neil Black
PA Media: Neil Black, The Physiotherapist Who Rose To The Top Of UK Athletics
MB: Former UK Athletics director Neil Black DEAD at 60

Doping News

Track Agent Robert Wagner Caught On Tape Saying He Could Supply PEDs Gets Backdated 2-Year Drug Ban Wagner was caught on tape by undercover reports, saying he could get them testosterone and HGH for an actor they said was training for a film. Wagner had connections to Justin Gatlin and the scandal led to Gatlin firing his coach Dennis Mitchell, who was also implicated.
*Robert Wagner Free To Work In Athletics Again As His Ban Was Backdated To April 2018 When He Was Provisionally Suspended
*MB Archives: Justin Gatlin embroiled in new doping scandal
iNADO Chief Claims There Are Misconceptions That The Coronavirus Has Opened The Door For Doping He says even if there is less testing, anti-doping agencies do much more than that to combat cheaters.
Opinion Piece: Kenya And Russia Keep On Doping

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.

The Championship Is Here – Voting Ends Sunday

LRC Jim Ryun & Deena Kastor Voted As The Greatest Men’s And Women’s American Distance Runners Of All Time LetsRun nation has spoken and voted Jim Ryun and Deena Kastor as the greatest men’s and women’s American distance runners of all time. Ryun took down Frank Shorter in the men’s final while Deena Kastor came from behind to knock off Jenny Simpson in the women’s final.

LRC Who Is The Greatest American Distance Runner Ever: Jim Ryun Or Deena Kastor? And then there were two. You’ve named Deena Kastor and Jim Ryun as the greatest women’s and men’s distance runners in US history, but of the two, who had the better career?
*MB: The Final Is Here: Deena Kastor or Jim Ryun – Who is the American GOAT?

Face Mask News

Washington City Paper: Do Runners Need To Wear Face Masks? Apparently people in more populated areas have been getting very angry about runners going by them without face masks. Dr. William Schaffner, the medical director for the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, says the chances of catching coronavirus from a runner going by on the street are “very, very low” but runners should probably still wear masks if they’re running by a lot of people, even for symbolic reasons.
Organizers For A Japanese Marathon Produce Masks From Bib Numbers
Japanese Comedian Blasts “Dumbass Runners” Who Run Without Masks

Track And The NFL

Video: Ato Boldon Details Track Vs. NFL Speed Myth “There is no formula for converting a 40 (yard) to 100m. … There’s a difference between football speed and track and field speed.”
MileSplit: The Track Resumes Of First Round NFL Draft Choices Joe Burrow, the top pick in the NFL draft ran 13.32 for 100m and 25.94 for 200m as a sophomore.

Isn’t This Excessive For A Non-Profit?

Rich Perelman: Was It Even Max Siegel’s Idea To Extend With Nike or Did Two Ex-Nike Execs, Who Eventually Were Paid $23.75 Million, Come Up With It? Plus Perelman wonders if Siegel’s $3 million in deferred compensation was only agreed to after Vin Lananna was suspended. *Discuss

USATF Defends Itself To Washington Post For Paying Max Siegel $4.2 Million $1.2 million in 2018 and $3 million over the next four years. USATF does admit they didn’t want to put down $4.2 million on the tax form but the accountant made them.
*Discuss

MB: After delay, USATF reveals Max Siegel made $1.2 million in salary plus $3 million in deferred compensation Sarah Lorge Butler has the details.

Mo Farah News

Mo Farah Talks About His Training Durig COIVD-19; Says He Doesn’t Mind Running On The Treadmill “I’m one of these people, I’m weird. … I love the treadmill.”
Mo Farah Thinks Tokyo Delay Could Boost His Medal Chances “It is probably, in my honest opinion, not a bad thing for me because it gives you a bit more time to train for it, to do more races, because I would have gone from the marathon and then the following year straight to the track.”
Mo Farah Gives Props To 99-Year-Old Veteran Who Raised More Than $30 Million For The National Health Service (NHS) Charity Tom Moore initially targeted $1,000 by walking 100 laps in his garden.

Event Cancellation/Rescheduling Stuff

Athletic.net Launches App To Host Virtual Track Meets Athletes will be able to submit times with video for short events or GPS data for longer distances.
New Balance Nationals Outdoor Moved To July 16-19 They were originally scheduled for June 18-21. They are allowing athletes to use marks from indoors or 2019 outdoors to qualify.
World Athletics Forms Outbreak Prevention Taskforce For Endurance Events The task force will provide guidelines for endurance events during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Russian Track And Field Federation Postpones All Meets In May

Top Tips From The Pros

LRC HOKA ONE ONE Pro Runners Give Their Best Advice To High Schoolers Want some simple training advice?

And The Amateurs: Great Read: 7,000+ Words On Life And How To Run A 2:29 Marathon At Age 44 Wired‘s Nicholas Thompson didn’t break 3:00 until age 29. Now at 44, he’s a sub-2:30 guy. “To Run My Best Marathon at Age 44, I Had to Outrun My Past.”
*MB: Nick Thompson: 7,000+ Words on Life and How To Run A 2:29 Marathon at Age 44

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

Odd Ways To Train Through Lockdown

Embed from Getty Images

Funny Video: Katarina Johnson-Thompson Competes In Home Heptathlon Against Her Dogs Even includes official commentating and slow-mo replays.
Russian Man Runs Around His Bed For More Than 10 Hours In An Effort To Replicate Completing A 100km Ultramarathon Dmitry Yakukhny was supposed to run a 250km ultra in the Sahara Desert this month, so did this instead.
European Athletics Catches Up With Greece Pole Vaulter Emmanouil Karalis Karalis put out a joke video pole vaulting into his bed. He says he’s jealous of Mondo Duplantis and Renaud Lavillenie who have pole vault setups in their backyard.

This Week’s Podcast

LRC Greatest American Distance Runner Final Four, Alicia Monson Joins Us After Turning Pro, LRC Visitor Of The Week Listen to the best track and field running podcast on the planet.

More Cancellations, But There Will Be At Least One Meet In June

Diamond League Postpones Two More Meets In June (Pre Classic And Paris) Due To Coronavirus The Oslo Bislett Games is being changed to an alternative format called the “Impossible Games.” The event will have athletes take part in a “one-off showpiece event” following social distancing rules. It will include a WR attempt from 400H world champ Karsten Warholm and a PV showdown between Mondo Duplantis and Renaud Lavillenie.
*Ken Goe: No New Date Has Been Set For The Postponed Pre Classic
*Norway’s World 400H Champ karsten Warholm Targetting The 300m Hurdles World Best In Oslo Warholm will run a solo race targeting the 34.48 world best mark (he’s already run 34.26 indoors).
*Seb Coe On The Impossible Games: “This is really positive news for athletes and fans and promises, even in this early stage, to be another great night of athletics from the Bislett stadium.”
European Athletics Championships Cancelled Because Of Coronavirus Th event was scheduled for August 25-30 in Paris. *Euro Champs Will Not Be Rescheduled Due To The Crowded 2021 Calendar
Seb Coe Says He Would Relish The Chance To Target The 2022 Treble (Worlds, Euros And CWG) If He Was Still Competing “Training was what I did to compete. Competition was what I woke up in the morning for.”

No One Is Winning Road Races, But LRCers Are Still Winning

LRC Meet The Winners Of The Running Warehouse / HOKA ONE ONE Marathon Trials Prediction Contest Meet the winners, including a guy who shared a locker with the late Sammy Wanjiru. We’re also still looking for visitor “Old is as old does.”

Coronavirus Comes For Berlin

MB: The 2020 Berlin Marathon Won’t Happen As Planned In September As Germany Extends Ban On Large Events Through October The German government has banned all events of more than 5,000 people through October 24th. It’s not been officially stated whether the marathon will be outright cancelled, postponed or move to an elite only race. *Discuss

The Chicago Marathon Is Allowing Runners To Cancel Their 2020 Race Entries Runners who do choose to cancel will have guaranteed entry into the 2021 race, but they don’t get a refund and have to pay again in 2021.

Olympic News

US Olympic And Paralympic Committee Bracing For Cuts; Says Tokyo Olympic Cancellation Would Be “Devastating” The USOPC is facing cuts up to 20%. Talking about the Tokyo Games being cancelled altogether, a letter from the CEO said, “We would survive such a scenario, but the impact would be severe.”
IOC And Japan Clash Over Who Pays For Additional Costs For Postponing Tokyo 2020 The IOC has been forced to backtrack after “irritating the Japanese government” by saying the prime minister had agreed to cover the additional costs.
Tokyo 2020 Staff Member Tests Positive For Coronavirus The man in his thirties has been placed in in quarantine.