September 13, 2020 Homepage Archive

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Archived Homepage For September 13, 2020

Quote Of The Day

“Next month’s World Athletics Half Marathon Championships will take place without Team USA, because USA Track & Field chose to deny athletes who rightfully qualified their chance to compete in their event’s biggest stage, and did so in the quietest way possible. If only this was a first. …”

“USATF has defaulted on both responsibilities this summer. They cancelled the Outdoor National Championships – something many European countries held later in the summer – and now they are choosing not to field a national team squad in a global championship. They mouthed something about safety, but given the return of sports – and, in some cases, fans – in the US and around the world, “safety” comes off looking like a cover for indecisiveness, generic unconcern or institutional risk aversion.”

“Yes, there are risks. There are always risks. Twice now in 2020 USATF has decided that fulfilling their basic charter-defined missions is not worth the risks most other sports have mitigated or overcame.”

“Perhaps at some point athletes will start thinking that their athletic careers, their athletics ambitions, are not worth the risks of putting those careers and ambitions in the hands of the national governing body.”

– Excerpt from a column on NALathletics.com entitled “USATF brushes off athletes, punts on Team USA for World Half-Marathon Championship” about USATF’s decision to not send a team to the 2020 World Half Marathon Championships.

MB: Unreal: Max Siegel raises the white flag yet again. US WILL NOT send team to World Half

ISTAF Berlin *Results

Karsten Warholm Breaks Edwin Moses’ 40-Year-Old ISTAF Meet – Not World – Record In Berlin In other action, Laura Muir ran a world lead (3:57.40) and Jessica Hull (4:00.42) set a Aussie national record in the women’s 1,500 as Shannon Rowbury ran 4:02. In the women’s steeple, world record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech (9:10.07) was beaten by Hyvin Kiyeng (9:06.14.). A pretty good meet in Berlin with fans. *Discussion

Tokyo 2020 News

Reuters:Japan Lines Up Half Billion Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccine Japan is signing multiple deals for vaccines because some of them could fail clinical trials or require more than one. This article says a vaccine could be produced between the end of this year and March.
Tokyo 2020 Advisor Claims Heat May Be A “Nightmare” For Next Year’s Games University of Tokyo professor Makoto Yokohari says “When it comes to heat stress or heat stroke, the problem is not only the temperature but also the humidity as well. When you can combine these two … Tokyo is the worst in history.”
Tokyo 2020 Face Sponsor Crisis With Contracts Expiring At End Of Year Some sponsors are not interested in renewing their contracts and some have said they expect the negotiations between Tokyo 2020 and sponsors to be “very difficult.”
Japan To Consider Allowing 20,000 Spectators Into Sporting Events This would be an increase from the current 5,000 spectator limit.

Caster Semenya Loses Her Appeal

MB: Caster Semenya Loses Her Appeal She won’t be able to compete in women’s 800 in Tokyo w/o suppressing testosterone.

The Telegraph: Caster Semenya Loses Latest Round Of Legal Battle Against Rules To Limit Female Athletes’ Testosterone Levels Semenya said: “I am very disappointed by this ruling, but refuse to let World Athletics drug me or stop me from being who I am.”
World Athletics Statement On Semenya Decision “For the last five years World Athletics has fought for and defended equal rights and opportunities for all women and girls in our sport today and in the future. We therefore welcome today’s decision …”
The Swiss Federal Tribunal Said, “Fairness in sport is a legitimate concern and forms a central principle of sporting competition. It is one of the pillars on which competition is based.”

We Worked On Labor Day – Did You?

LRC Track Is Back, Baby! Molly Huddle And Eric Jenkins Win At LRC’s First Track Meet In 7 Months On Labor Day, there was no day off for LetsRun.com staffer Jonathan Gault as he attended his first track meet during the Covid-19 era. Molly Huddle and Eric Jenkins shined the brightest at the Forward Spine & Sport Labor Day Showdown with Jenkins declaring he’s confident heading into 2021. “I’m 100% and I’m very confident of where I’ll be able to end up,” Jenkins said.

Running Can Be Dangerous

Crazy Survival Story: College Runner Spends The Night Hiding In A Tree To Escape A Charging Bear Rachel Smith estimates she was chased by the mama bear for 5 miles through the upstate NY wilderness before finding a small tree to climb which the bear was too big to get up.
We Wish Him A Speedy Recovery:Former Comrades Marathons Champion Nick Bester Recovering After Being Attacked While Running On Trail In South Africa Three men snuck up on him, beat him with rocks, stole his clothes and tied his hands together. He suffered multiple broken bones and cuts all over his body. The picture of Bester’s injuries is genuinely disturbing.

British Champs *Results

Daniel Rowden Upsets Jake Wightman To Win British 800m Title In 1:45.94 It was the fastest winning time at the British Championships since 1992. 18-year-old Keely Hodgkinson won the women’s race in 2:03.24.
Hannah Williams Succeeds Sister Jodie To Take UK 200m Crown In 23.83
Holly Bradshaw Dedicates UK Pole Vault Gold To Her Late Grandfather Who Passed Away Just A Few Hours Before She Competed
Marc Scott (5,000m – 13:32.98) And Laura Weightman (1,500m – 4:09.76) Win British Titles Morgan Lake claimed her fifth successive HJ title on countback (1.80m) and Holly Bradshaw won her eighth PV title with 4.35m.
Athletics Weekly:Harry Aikines-Aryeetey Strikes British Championships 100m Gold At Last 32-year-old Aikines-Aryeetey ran 10.35 to finally win gold in his 12th appearance at British Champs. “I have won and I am British champion, for the first time after all these years. It bodes well for next year. I am very stubborn, I am not going away.”
Imani-Lara Lansiquot Claims Her First British Title With 11.26 In The Women’s 100m Jessica Judd took the 5,000m in 15:37.52, Jazmin Sawyers the LJ in 6.69m, and Cindy Ofili defended her 100H title just beating out 17-year-old Lucy-Jane Matthews by .04.
AW: Harry Coppel Wins British Champs Pole Vault With National Record Of 5.85m

NN Valencia World Record Day Is October 7

LRC Emergency Podcast On Joshua Cheptegei World Record Attempt With His Agent Jurrie van der Velden This is the type of bonus content normally available to LRC Supporters Club members. If you’re not a member yet, join by Labor Day and get a free 1:59:40 GOAT shirt. Click here to join.
*Video (Supporter’s Club Only): Zoom w/ Joshua Cheptegei’s Agent Jurrie van der Velden on 10,000m World Record Attempt Valencia

LRC Joshua Cheptegei Will Make 10,000m World Record Attempt In Valencia On October 7 Can he do it? We analyze his chances for you in GREAT detail.
*MB: Cheptegei to attack 10000m W.R in Valencia (Spain) 7th of October.
*MB: CHEPTEGEI – SUB 26MIN 10K

Previous British Champs News

Jake Wightman Defends Big Names For Skipping British Champs “Everyone has got their own plans and there have been so few races this year. If you have committed to one and you want to try and run a fast time then that is what you have to do.”
BBC:Five Events To Watch At British Athletics Championships Jake Wightman is in the 800m against Daniel Rowden (1:44.74 this year); unfortunately teenage stud Max Burgin pulled out with injury.
Jake Wightman’s Father Geoff Is Doing The Stadium Commentary For The Closed Doors British Champs Jake Wightman said, “Dad’s always played it straight down the line when I’m running. He doesn’t give me any special treatment. If it did, it would be a bit embarrassing.”
Harry Coppel Sets New British Pole Vault Record Of 5.85m At British Champs
British Racewalker Tom Bosworth Rules Out Competing This Season After Long-Lasting Effects Of Coronavirus He said he was in the “form of his life” before COVID, but now “even gardening” was making him out of breath.
Jake Wightman Looking Forward To “Testing Himself Over 800m” At British Champs

LRC Normal Weekly Podcast

LRC Podcast: Guest Peter Walsh Talks Coogan’s Closing And Its Multimillion Facebook Ad + King Ches’s Pro Career + Kosgei, Hassan, Farah In Brussels

Interesting / Bizarre Distance News

New Zealand Olympian Robbie Johnston DQed After Winning NZ Masters XC Race For Spitting In An “Offensive Manner” During The Race Johnston said he received no warning and was the only person to be DQed even though others received warnings. He said, “I thought it was a bit of overkill to be fair – to be making an example of someone.”
*MB: Olympian DQd after winning NZ XC race for spitting in an ‘offensive manner’ during the race
Norway’s Sondre Nordstad Moen Will Miss The Brussels DL One-Hour Race Because Of New World Athletics Shoe Regulations Moen says he had to pull out because of the pain he gets when wearing shoes that fall under the World Athletics track shoe regulations (maximum sole height of 25mm). Moen: “In simple terms, I need more support and cushioning if I’m to race more than a few kilometers on the track as I have had a history of foot injuries.”
World Athletics:Looking Back At The 11 Men Who Have Held The One-Hour World Record The first record dates back to 1904.
Virtual London Marathon Sells Out 45,000 runners signed up to run the race virtually on October 4.

Saturday Results

MB: 16-Yr Old Rheinhard Harrison comes up well short of 4 – Runs 4:08.65 He’s run 4:01, 4:02 and now 4:08 in recent weeks.
MB:Sir Mo wins Antrim Coast Half Marathon but falls well short o f British Record With 60:27, Lily Partridge wins women’s race in 71:36 Marc Scott ran 60:39 in his debut to finish 2nd and move to No.3 on the UK all-time rankings. Ben Connor was 3rd in 60:55 (#4 all-time UK).
*MB:What does Farah have to do at the Antrim HM to prove he’s back?
MB:60-Year old Tommy Hughes runs 71:09 to obliterate 60+ half record. A message board poster notes his time is only 35 seconds per mile off the mile age group record and would be the equivalent of a pro man running a half in 55 minutes.
2:11:50 And 2:17:01 Win Chaski Challenge Virtual Marathon Relay
*Pre-Race: Chaski Challenge Virtual Marathon Relay This international team event has eight Olympians with a ton of sub-2:10 and sub-2:33 runners, including Jared Ward and Des Linden.
*AP Article: Go, Avatar, Go: Icons Track Virtual Team Marathon Progress

Book Review

LRC “From Coal Mine To Finish Line” By James McLatchie McLatchie, one of eight siblings who grew up in a one-room house in Scotland, has lived a very interesting life and spent a lifetime in running, from winning age-group titles as a boy in Scotland, to beating Jim Ryun in the mile, to coaching Olympians. Most recently, at age 77, he and his wife coached a team to the NXN high school national title in the US. That being said, the book isn’t our favorite but maybe worth a purchase for high school coaches as he shares his entire final month of training prior to NXN. *Purchase Here

How Many More Programs Will Covid Cut?

MB: Minnesota Cuts NCAA Men’s Track And Field Program Minnesota has a $123 million athletic budget and a brand new track and field facility but Covid-19 has cost them dearly and they are cutting men’s track, tennis and gymnastics.

More NCAA News:

Ken Goe: Coronavirus Pandemic Is Forcing College Track And Cross-Country Coaches To Rethink Everything Goe asked some coaches what they thought about the proposed late winter/early spring XC season. Oregon’s Robert Johnson was against it, saying, “Too important a year (with the Olympics) for that in the big picture.”
Hurricane Laura Takes Toll On McNeese State University Athletics Facilities The Category 4 storm had winds as high as 150 miles per hour and did massive damage to many buildings on the campus.

Ryan Hall Runs His First Ultra + Other Results

Ryan Hall Has Run Six Times In 2020; One Of Them Was His First Ultramarathon Hall ran the 43-mile Grand Traverse Mountain Run in Colorado in 12 hours, 47 minutes.
Italy’s Yemaneberhan Crippa Runs European-Leading 3:52.08 Mile; Just Misses NR By .12 Elsewhere, Belarus’ Nastassia Mironchyk-Ivanova won the LJ with 6.94m.
World LJ Champ Malaika Mihambo Flies To World-Leading 7.03m In Germany Johannes Vetter won the javelin with 86.17m.
Laura Muir Ran 3:58.24 To Win The 1,500m In Chorzow, Poland
*World Athletics Recap: Ryan Crouser Wins SP In 22.70m; Daniel Stahl Wins 13th Straight Victory In Discus (67.28m)
AW Weekly Round-Up

Assorted Distance News

Mo Farah Is Asking For Pacing Help As He Tries To Break His Own 59:32 British Half Marathon Record This Weekend Kind of strange that this isn’t something that was organized further in advance.
We Haven’t Heard This Excuse Before:2:08 Kenyan Marathoner Philip Kangogo Gets 2-Year Drug Ban; Blames Mother’s Dietary Advice Kangogo says he may have accidentally ingested a banned dietary supplement from herbs he had been taking on the advice of his mother.
*MB: Banned Kenyan marathoner blames mum’s dietary advice
2020 USATF 100k Road Championships And 25k Championships Cancelled
Parkrun Set To Return To England In October After Six-Month Hiatus

Tokyo 2020 News

IOC Vice President John Coates Says Olympics Will Go Ahead Next Year With Or Without COVID-19 “The Games were going to be, their theme, the ‘Reconstruction Games’ after the devastation of the tsunami. Now very much these will be the Games that conquered COVID, the light at the end of the tunnel.”
*MB: IOC VP: Covid or no Covid Tokyo 2021 will proceed.
Japan’s Olympic Minister Seiko Hashimoto Says Tokyo 2020 Should Be Held Next Year “At Any Cost”
Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee Reports Fourth COVID-19 Positive Among Staff

Brussels DL Results TV/Streaming Information

LRC 2020 Memorial Van Damme Recap: Mo Farah Breaks One-Hour World Record, Mondo Duplantis Clears 6.00m Again Mo Farah had accomplished a lot in his career but before tonight he’d never held a track world record.

LRC Sifan Hassan Breaks One-Hour Run World Record At 2020 Memorial Van Damme The battle between the WR holder in the mile and marathon ended up being pretty entertaining even if the pace they were running was modest compared to their own lofty standards.

RRW:One-Hour World Records Fall at Brussels Diamond League Sifan Hassan: “I didn’t felt good before the start of the race; I even puked. After thirty minutes of racing, I finally felt better. …When there were only two minutes left on the clock, the fun began.”
The Telegraph: Mo Farah breaks one-hour world record set by Haile Gebrselassie
World Athletics Recap

Brussels DL Talk On The Message Board

WADA Vs. USA Drama

Reuters:US Threat To Pull WADA Funding Could Leave Americans Out Of Olympics Several governments have urged WADA to introduce legislation that would find the US non-compliant with the WADA code, which would keep US athletes out of international competition. It sounds like they couldn’t do this under current rules, though.
WADA President Witold Banka Reacts To US Funding Threat; Says WADA Is “Not For Sale” Banka hit back at the US and said he wouldn’t let WADA get sucked into “political attacks and games.”

Bolt And Covid

Opinion Piece From The Jamaican Observer: “Usain Bolt Should Have Known Better” This writer criticizes Bolt as being “reckless and dangerous” for having a big birthday party ignoring coronavirus regulations.
Kevin Hart Slams NBC For Mistaking Him For Usain Bolt NBC says a technical error put Hart’s picture instead of Bolt’s on a story about Bolt having coronavirus. Hart joked, “I must of (sic) gotten really fast & tall overnight.”

Olympic News

Miscellaneous News

European Athletics Cancels 2020 SPAR European Cross-Country Championships Due To COVID-19 The championships were due to take place in Dublin, Ireland in December.
Preparations Continue For Kip Keino Classic, Africa’s First Major Athletics Event Since The Pandemic Outbreak
UK Athletics Under Investigation For Corporate Manslaughter After Death Of Paralympian Discus Thrower UAE’s Abdullah Hayayei died in 2017 when a throwing cage collapsed at a facility in London.
RIP Former US 400m Olympian Sheila R. Ingram, 63 She finished in 6th place in the 400m at the 1976 Olympics.

This Weekend’s Action

AW Attrim Coast Half Marathon Preview: Mo Farah Trying To Break His Own British Record On Saturday Farah has the current record at 59:32, though he’s run 59:07 on a non-record eligible course. BTC’s Marc Scott is also racing while the women’s line-up includes Brits Jo Pavey, Lily Partridge and Gemma Steel.
Current HJ World Leader Belarus’ Maksim Nedasekau Looking To Extend His Winning Streak And World Lead In Slovakia On Friday Christian Taylor is in the TJ.
Sunday: Karsten Warholm, Mondo Duplantis And World LJ Champ Malaika Mihambo Added To ISTAF Berlin Meet

2020 Ostrava Golden Spike *Results

LRC 2020 Ostrava Golden Spike Recap: Jacob Kiplimo Comes From Behind To Stun Selemon Barega In Thrilling 5,000 As Both Men Break 12:50 No world records fell today in Ostrava but there was plenty of great action with a ton of BIG names picking up wins as the likes of Laura Muir, Faith Kipyegon, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Ryan Crouser, Karsten Warholm, Christian Taylor and Sifan Hassan all vanquished the competition.

Some More Recent Results

Johannes Vetter Produces The Second-Longest Javelin In History With 97.78m In Poland Vetter came within a meter of the 26-year-old WR.
Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich (1:44.24), Jemma Reekie (4:02.20), Laura Muir (2:00.16) And Soufiane El Bakkali, (3:34.51) Win Quick Distance Races In Marseille, France Olympic silver medalist Orlando Ortega won the 110H with 13.15.
World Athletics Weekend Round-Up:TJ World Champ Yulimar Rojas Jumps World Leading 14.71m Some distance wins went to Spain’s Esther Guerrero (4:05.45), Spain’s Saul Ordonez (1:45.71) and France’s Quentin Tison (3:36.85). Cynthia Bolingo ran a 300m Belgium record of 36.54.

Upcoming Action

September 17:Laura Muir, Mondo Duplantis And Elaine Thompson-Herah Among Big Names Announced For Rome DL
MB:Jakob runs 3k in Rome(18.Sep) ?!
September 14:Olympic Champ Ryan Crouser Vs. World Champ Joe Kovacs Set For Zagreb Shot Put
September 25:Double Olympic Sprint Champion Elaine Thompson-Herah And Two-Time World 200m Champ Dafne Schippers Will Go Head-To-Head Over 100m At Doha DL They will also face world medalist Marie-Josee Ta Lou.

Prague 21.1 KM

RRW:“Women-Only” WR Of 65:34 For Peres Jepchirchir At Prague 21.1 KM; Kibiwott Kandie Wins Men’s Race In 58:37 Kandie’s time makes him the fifth fastest man in history. Jepchirchir is actually #7 all-time with her 65:06 PR, but her 65:34 “women only” record would be good for 14th on the list. *World Athletics Recap
*MB: Official Prague 21.1 KM Discussion Thread – Women’s Only Half Marathon WR Attempt
*MB: adidas strikes back at Nike. Peres Jepchirchir wears adidas super shoe and sets women’s-only half marathon WR

Horrible NCAA News – William & Mary Cuts It Men’s Track Program

MB: W&M Cuts Men’s Track & Field – WARNING All NCAA Track/XC Programs Now At Risk So a team that has made the NCAA Men’s XC meet 26 times has cut its track program.

British Athletics Hires New Head Coach

Former GB Sprinter Christian Malcolm Named British Athletics Head Coach The former World and European medalist has been the head of performance at Athletics Australia since January 2019 and used to be the technical lead for British Athletics’ sprint relays.
Athletics Weekly: “Why ‘Flash’ Is The Athletes’ Choice As UKA Head Coach”
AP: Malcolm Is The First Black Head Coach Of British Athletics
The Telegraph: “Christian Malcolm’s Appointment Is A Risk With A Clear Message: This Is About British Athletics’ Future, Not Past” Malcolm was chosen over a couple more experienced candidates and one senior figure said, “Malcolm hasn’t had long enough to prove himself up to the task.”
BBC: “Christian Malcolm Appointment ‘Huge’ For British Athletics”
The Telegraph: “Christian Malcolm ‘Can Be UK Athletics’ Pep Guardiola'”

Mondo Duplantis Clears The Best Outdoor PV In 26 Years With 6.07m In Lausanne Duplantis had a duel with Sam Kendricks as both men were perfect through 6.02m, but Kendricks couldn’t get over 6.07m. Duplantis took one attempt at 6.15m, but it was getting too dark and unsafe. Sweden’s Angelica Bengtsson’s won the women’s vault in 4.72m.