October 9, 2020 | LetsRun.com

LRC Analysis 8 Takeaways After Cheptegei And Gidey Smash World Records In Valencia Cheptegei went 13:07+ – 13:03+ to set the new 10,000 mark and wipe Kenenisa Bekele from the record books while Gidey, who hadn’t won a 5,000 race in four years, broke Tirunesh Dibaba‘s 5,000 world record.

Yes, Kipchoge Really Lost A Marathon Last Sunday

Eliud Kipchoge Gives Video Interview After London “The first lesson is to know that I am also human and can be beaten. The second is I’m now able to implement what disappointment is.”
Patrick Sang Reacts To Kipchoge’s Loss And Says Weather Cost Kipchoge “We went to the competition prepared, but the weather conditions were a bit too much.”

Be Inspired By Two Great Coaches

Nice Profile Of Caryl Smith Gilbert On How She Has Risen To The Tops Of The NCAA Ranks Her USC team won the NCAA title in 2018.
Great Profile Of Former Grant (Oregon) HS Coach Mark Cotton, Who Recently Turned 90 “He didn’t coach for the elite athlete,” Binder says. “He coached for the 100th kid on the team.”

Don’t Die While Running

How Should You Train If You Get Covid-19? Two weeks of full recovery is recommended with slow return to activity. As with any viral infection, you need to let your body recover.

Sprints / Hurdles News

Wayde van Niekerk Pens Column In South African Press: “It is an honour to be in my position, and I do not take it lightly”. “My role as a national ambassador comes with a responsibility to do my best, to dedicate myself to my sport and to be a role model for my fans.”
Kyron McMaster, Tori Franklin And Natoya Goule Are 3 Of 10 Athletes That Have Had To Relocate To Powdersville, SC To Train During Covid-19 Their former NCAA homes closed their doors to them.
An Investigation Has Started To See If Stop And Search Of British Sprinter Bianca Williams Was Racially Motivated In The UK
The Newly-Formed Running Industry Diversity Coalition – Which Launched This Week – Has Big Plans

The LRC Visitors React To The World Records On Our Message Board

Random Links That Passed Our Vetting Process

Ghost Allegedly Sighted On Willey Range Trail In Crawford Notch State Park In NH
Why We Choke And How To Perform When It Matters Brain science reveals the reasons we choke when we care most about our performance, and strategies to build the confidence we need to avoid it.
During Covid-19, Those Under 40 Are Exercising less, But Senior Citizens Are Exercising More
Canadian Running Magazine’s The Ultimate Carbon-Plated Shoe Guide In reality, the headline is fake news as they don’t review the carbon-plated shoe that Rojo runs in – the Hoka Carbon X.

High School XC

National Scholastic Athletics Foundation To Stage New High School XC “Meet Of Champions” In Terre Haute The meet on November 15 will include a Boys and Girls High School 5k Championship race with the top teams and individuals in the country invited.
*MB: High School XC Nationals are Back!
TullyRunners’ Bill Meylan (The Man Behind The Famous Speed Ratings) Explains Why He Is Disappointed With The Way High School XC Competition Is Being Handled In NY “I’m disappointed for the kids losing another opportunity and motivating goal. … The scientist in me has looked at the available data and believes the safety of the kids would not be effected (sic) by more competitive-allowing protocols currently being practiced the US.”
DyeStat: NXN Team Champions Newbury Park Put Five In The Top Nine Spots To Win At Desert Twilight Festival
*DyeStat: Tatum David Individual Win Leads IMG Academy To Team Victory At Desert Twilight Festival
MileSplit: Florida Prep Amber Schulz Shares Her Story Fighting And Overcoming An Eating Disorder
Ken Goe Profiles Storied Former Oregon High School Track/XC Coach Mark Cotton On His 90th Birthday

Pre-Race Valencia Coverage

LRC Could The Men’s 10,000 And Women’s 5,000m Records Both Fall? NN Valencia WR Day Preview Joshua Cheptegei already broke Kenenisa Bekele‘s 5,000m world record. Now he’s after the 10,000m. A 12:51 man will rabbit. Letesenbet Gidey hasn’t won a 5,000 since 2016 but she wants the WR. The steeple WR holder Beatrice Chepkoech will rabbit. Plus Shadrack Kipchirchir wants sub-27 and dreams of Galen Rupp‘s AR.
*MB: Joshua Cheptegei 10,000m record assault – Official Discussion Thread
*MB: Rojo: Let’s appreciate how historic / special today is. For the 1st time in my life, I’ll be watching a men’s 10,000 WR attempt live. And he was born in the 1970s.

Full Press Conference Video
Reuters: Joshua Cheptegei Takes Aim At 10,000m Record In Valencia “Kenenisa’s 10,000m world record is one of the toughest in the books, but my training continues to go well and this gives me real confidence I can set another world record.”
World Athletics Preview

Distance Stuff

World Athletics Looks Back At Their “Top Five World Half-Marathon Championships Legends” “Mr. Half Marathon” Zersenay Tadese tops their list with five world half titles to his name. Geoffrey Kamworor, Paula Radcliffe, Paul Tergat and Tegla Loroupe are the others on their list.
2021 Houston Marathon Cancelled Due To Coronavirus The race was scheduled for early January.
Bowerman Track Club Courtney Frerichs Video – The Extra Year Ep. 1 In this 9-minute video, Frerichs talks about the postponement of Tokyo 2020, training through COVID and the BTC time trials.
Carrie Tollefson Does Podcast Interview With Meb Keflezighi They talk about life during the pandemic and civil unrest, his longevity in the sport and being a dad.
World Half Champs Entry Lists Available

The 2020 Virgin Money London Marathon Leaderboard / Results Men’s Preview Women’s Preview TV & Streaming

LRC Shura Kitata Snaps Eliud Kipchoge’s 10-Race Win Streak To Win 2020 London Marathon With a half mile left, 4 men were still battling it out for the win. With 200 meters to go, it was a 3-way sprint finish. Shockingly, none of those men was Eliud Kipchoge.

LRC Analysis Eliud Kipchoge Lost A Marathon – What Happened? For the first time in over seven years, Eliud Kipchoge was beaten in a marathon. Here’s how it happened.

More London Coverage

Eliud Kipchoge Has A Classy Reaction After His Shocking London Loss “It’s not the end of the world that I can’t win. It’s not suicide for Eliud Kipchoge to be beaten.”
AW: “Storming Sara Hall Reflects On “Redemptive” London Marathon” Hall says she went into “hunt mode” on the final lap. She also mentioned that she’ll be trying to make the US Olympic team in the 10,000m.
The Guardian: “Strangest Ever” London Marathon Is A Virtual Hit With 43,000 Runners
Sara Hall: “I didn’t make our Olympic marathon team, and that was a massive disappointment, but God’s always redeemed it in my career, and this was my moment of redemption.”
RRW: Brigid Kosgei Dominates, Shura Kitata And Hall Surprise At London Marathon
The Telegraph: “World Record Holder Eliud Kipchoge Dethrones As Shura Kitata Sprints To Men’s London Marathon Title”
The Telegraph: “Brigid Kosgei Makes Light Of Appalling Conditions To Retain London Marathon Title”
The Telegraph: “Eliud Kipchoge Reveals Blocked Ear Struggles As He Finishes Surprise Eighth In London”
World Athletics London Recap
BBC London Marathon Play-By-Play
BBC Video: Photos And Videos From The Virtual London Marathon

LRC It’s Here: The 1:59:40 GOAT Shirt Get the premium shirt that signals and celebrates greatness. Order today.

Women In The News

Sonia O’Sullivan Writes About What Life Was Like In The London Marathon Bubble “There has always been talk of the elite athlete living within the bubble of their own sport, and in ways living in a pandemic bubble is no different: just another bubble within the bubble.”
Allie Kieffer Talks About Her Recent 15:40 PR And Her New Coach Liz McColgan The former Olympic silver medalist thinks Kieffer’s best is yet to come.
Shalane Flanagan Reveals Her Favorite Marathon Training Meal Recipe – Thai Quinoa Salad
Two-Time Olympic Trials Qualifier Is Posting Her Baby Bump Photos On Social Media Using Common Running Items As A Comparison Tool
Author Remembers How He Was At A Party Where People Booed Cathy Freeman When She Lit The Olympic Flame 20 Years Ago Not everyone was apparently on board in support of the Aboriginal movement in Australia.
Study Reveals Women Who Have An Exercise Routine Before Menopause May Have A Lower Risk Of Developing Heart Disease And Type 2 Diabetes Later In Life It also reveals even if you start exercising after menopause you are better off as well. So we’re not sure what the point is. Just exercise.

Tokyo News

Thomas Bach Says There May Be International Fans At The 2021 Olympics “We are working on the basis there will be international spectators,” said Bach.
Seb Coe Hints Worlds Will Soon Go To Tokyo, Says Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium “… will be a fitting venue for a future World Championships in track and field.”
Seb Coe Is In Tokyo Meeting With Olympic Bigwigs And Says He Supports Athletes’ Right To “Take A Knee” At Olympics

US News Of Note

UVA Men “Stun” NC State And UNC In Mid-Week Invitational Discount Vin Lananna at your own peril. Isn’t he #2 in total number of NCAA XC titles tin terms of active coaches? The NC state women crushed the competition as expected. *Results
Extremely Popular Norton (MA) XC Coach And Teacher Kent Taylor Is Inspiring Many As He Battles Stage IV Brain Cancer *Dyestat Interview With Taylor *GoFundMe

Previous Distance News

October 10: Sifan Hassan, Faith Kipyegon And Yomif Kejelcha Chasing Fast Times At Distance Meeting In Hengelo Hassan is racing the 10,000m against Ethiopia’s Tsehay Gemechu and Kipyegon is taking another shot at the 1,000m world record which she just missed by 0.17 seconds in Monaco. Kejelcha is in the 5,000m against Aussie Stewart McSweyn.
Tyler Day And Julian Kohnen Join HOKA NAZ Elite Day was a six time All-American at NAU and Kohnen was 10th place at the Olympic Marathon Trials.
*MB: TYLER DAY Signs with NAZ Elite
Go Be More Podcast With Will Leer Leer talks about his D3 career, the 2008 Olympic Trials, his proudest moment (his 5k at Mt. SAC), his least proudest moment (a meltdown post-race) and more.
Go Be More Podcast Interview With Toby Tanser, The Founder Of Shoe4Africa
January’s Osaka Half Marathon Canceled Due To COVID

Sprint Stuff

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Chasing Olympic Title, But Also Super Fast Times In 2021 “Yes, I want to stand on the podium for sure but I think also if I can run fast and do it, then yeah. I really want to run 10.6 or even 10.5 and I want to break the 22-second barrier for the 200m and run 21.”
The Song Featuring Sandi Morris And Noah Lyles From The 2019 Zurich DL Wins Swiss Industry Award Morris and Lyles performed the song, “Souvenir,” live along with Swiss pop band Baba Shrimps. Watch here.
Q&A With Carl Lewis: “People Love Speed, That’s Just What It Is.” In this interesting interview Lewis talks about being the highest paid player on the Dallas Cowboys, COVID and the Olympics, his favorite Olympic medal and trying to bench press 300 pounds as a 60-year-old.
GB Sprinter Dina Asher-Smith “Shocked And Hurt” By Gym Social Media Post Celebrating Black History Month They posted a workout titled “12 years a slave” (after the movie) and said, “slavery was hard and so is this.”

Admin News

Good News For USA Athletes: Stephen A. Schwarzman Pledges $8,000,000 To USATF Foundation To Support Elite Athletes The gift will provide 65 athletes with annual awards of $30,000 for the next Olympic cycle.
Vladimir Putin Claims Russian Athletes Are Victims Of “Unsportsmanlike Means” By Rivals Yeah, how dare the rest of the world call out Russia for state sponsored doping.
World Players Association Calls On WADA To Ensure Athletes Currently Serving Recreational Drugs Ban Can Apply For Reduction WADA recently changed rules to decrease punishments for recreational drug use. The new rules go into effect on January 1, 2021.
Caribbean Association Of National Olympic Committees (CANOC) President Brian Lewis Claims Thomas Bach’s Speech At The 2014 Sochi Olympics Broke Rule 50 In that speech Bach talked about world leaders keeping politics out of sports and tolerance which Lewis says was referencing Russia’s anti-gay laws.
Senior Board Member For Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Resigns Due To “Growing Frustration” At “Lack Of Transparency” He is the second member of the Birmingham 2022 board to quit in controversial circumstances in recent months.
Multi-Million Dollar Legal Cases Still Outstanding 10 Years After The Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games

News From Japan

Japan Running News: Source Says 2021 Tokyo Marathon Being Moved To The Fall The race is currently scheduled for March 7th, but the announcement of the postponement is expected on October 9th.
58.5% Of Responders In A New Japan Survey Want Limited Spectators At Tokyo 2020 An interesting response from the survey was that people are most excited for the marathon, which overtook the usual favorite, swimming.
Japan Deliberates How To Lift Entry Ban On Tourists In Preparation For Tokyo 2020 Japan currently has an entry ban for 159 countries, but they want tourists to come to the Tokyo Games.
A Fifth Tokyo 2020 Staff Member Tests Positive For COVID

London Women

LRC American Sara Hall Runs The Race Of Her Life To Finish 2nd In 2020 London Marathon In 2:22:01 An American hadn’t finished in the top 3 in London since 2006 but Sara Hall ran the race of her life and mowed down everyone in the field save Brigid Kosgei (2:18:58) to finish second in 2:22:01 after outkicking world champ Ruth Chepngetich. US Olympian Molly Seidel was 6th (2:25:13).

Women’s Recap Brigid Kosgei DOMINATES 2020 London Marathon, American Sara Hall Shocks Field To Finish Second Kosgei winning convincingly may not have been a shock but the name of the second-place finisher sure was – Sara Hall.

Road Race News

Monday: Laura Weightman Shooting For Paula Radcliffe’s UK Road 5k Record Today At The “Fast 5k) She’ll face Jessica Hull while Callum Hawkins leads the men’s race against US’s Eric Jenkins.
*Athletics Weekly Preview This will be Callum Hawkins’ first race since February.
World Athletics: Six Historic Road Races Awarded Heritage Plaque Includes the YMCA Turkey Trot in Buffalo, NY (founded in 1896).
Association Of International Marathons And Distance Races (AIMS) Conference Cancelled

NN World Record Day Delivered Free Race Replay Results

Race Recap Joshua Cheptegei (26:11:00) And Letesenbet Gidey (14:06.62) Break Men’s 10,000 And Women’s 5,000 World Records In Valencia It was a special day for distance fans as a 12-year-old women’s world record and a 16-year-old men’s world record fell in Valencia.

Interesting Read: How Long Will It Be Before Cheptegei Rocks The Marathon? Toni Reavis does some research and compares the amount of time that passed between 10,000 PR and marathon PR for former track greats Paul Tergat, Kenenisa Bekele, Haile G and Eliud Kipchoge. It was anywhere from 6 to 14 years.
Toni Reavis: Watching A Kenyan WR Holder Help Pace And Then Embrace An Ethiopian WR Holder Made My Day The fact that Chepkoech rabbited this race was amazing. Her attitude about doing it was even more amazing.
The Telegraph: New world records raise “further questions about legitimacy of shoe technology”
The Guardian: Cheptegei And Gidey Smash World Records Using Controversial Spikes “Both records will inspire controversy,” writes Sean Ingle.
Some Of Kenya’s World Half Team Talk Sh** About Cheptegei’s Chances At World Half “Cheptegei and his colleagues are more of track athletes than road racing. We shall teach him a few tips in road racing. We are ready for him,” said one member. The #1 Kenyan, Kibiwott Kandie, who recently ran 58:38, was more respectful but admitted he wanted to win for Geoffrey Kamworor. “I feel honored and happy to represent my country for the first time.”
Kandie: “I have trained hard.”

News From Europe

UK Athletics Relays Guru Quits After Being Overlooked For Head Coaching Job – Dealing Blow To Britain’s Tokyo 2021 Preparations Stephen Maguire had incredible results but was reportedly upset he was snubbed for his former assistant Christian Malcolm.
ON Makes 4.5-Minute Animated Film About Two Ultra Runners Doing 42 Hours In Mountains; Film Already Has Amassed 400,000+ YouTube Views Part of the journey included a summit of Mont Blanc. Watch here.
Housemates And Training Mates Laura Muir & Jemma Reekie Are Both Nominated For Scottish Athletics’ Performer Of The Year Award
Karsten Warholm Is Still Racing; He Ran And Won A 400 On Monday In 45.56

London Leftovers

Recommended Read: World Athletics Profile: Inspired And Advised By Legends, Shura Kitata’s Rise Continues With London Marathon Triumph Read how Kitata’s coach hid his posit
ive COVID test from him so he wasn’t emotionally affected before London, what advice Kitata got from Kenenisa Bekele and how Kitata explains why “[Kipchoge] is always the king to us, even when he is beaten.”BBC: New British Marathon Champion Natasha Cockram Now Targeting Tokyo Games After 13th Place (2:33:19) In London Cockram shares some interesting insights from the athlete “bubble” where everyone wore a “bump-around” device which would beep incessantly if you got too close to someone else.
After 2:09:49 In London Stephen Scullion Is The Fastest Irishman Of All Time On A Record-Eligible Course, But He Doesn’t Have The Irish Record John Treacy ran 2:09:15 in Boston in 1988 and that is currently the record even though Boston isn’t record-eligible. Apparently Athletics Ireland is going to review the issue in the “near future.”
People: Prince Harry Makes Surprise Visit To Couple Running The London Marathon In L.A.

Our Thoughts/Prayers Go Out To Goucher And Her Family

CNN Video Interview: Kara Goucher Critical Of President Trump Tweet About Coronavirus Goucher was critical of his tweet about not letting COVID “dominate your life” as her grandfather passed away yesterday from coronavirus.
*MB: Kara Goucher On CNN
InsideTheGames: World Athletics Championship Silver Medalist Criticizes Trump For Downplaying Coronavirus “Today my 95 (96 next week) year old grandpa was diagnosed with COVID … His life is worthy. Please, please wear a mask.”

The Slippery Slope To The End Of College Track And Field May Start On Friday When The UMinn Trustees Vote

Guest Op-Ed College Track And Field (And Women’s Sports) Is Under Attack At The University Of Minnesota NCAA track and field and women’s sport’s future may be decided on Friday in Minnesota. If the men’s track, gymnastics and tennis teams are cut, then Minnesota will need to ax 77 women’s participants to be in compliance with Title IX. That would mark a total reduction of women’s opportunities by more than 29% in less than five years.

Monday / More Weekend Results

Eric Jenkins (13:52) And GB’s Laura Weightman (15:10) Win At The “Fast 5k” In The UK On Monday Jenkins beat out Andrew Clarke by 5 seconds while Weightman dominated Jess Hull by 40.
Oklahoma State Wins Ninth Consecutive Men’s Title At Cowboy Jamboree They beat out Iowa State by 9 points while the Iowa State women won with 29 points ahead of OSU’s 48. Iowa State had both individual winners in Wesley Kiptoo (23:34.5) and Callie Logue (20:38.6).
Ole Miss Men, Notre Dame Women Win Live At The Lou Classic Ole Miss dominated the men’s side while Notre Dame beat out Ole Miss women by 7 points. *Results
FSU Women; Georgia Men Claim Team Titles At FSU Invite
Rojo On The MB: Monday NCAA XC Musings: Is Iowa State’s Wesley Kiptoo going to be the next NCAA star?
France’s Sasha Zhoya Speeds To A World U20 110H Lead With 13.27 In Madrid *Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal Runs Norwegian NR And World Road 5k Lead With 15:04 Win In Norway
MB: HSer Aidan Puffer Runs 14:25 In NJ
AW Weekly Round-Up

Kip Keino Classic – Altitude 5,000m WR Goes Down! *Results

Nicolas Kimeli Runs Kenyan All-Comers’ Record; World Champions Timothy Cheruiyot, Hellen Obiri And Beatrice Chepkoech Take Victories At Kip Keino Classic Kimeli ran 13:08.32 (the fastest time ever at altitude) to win the 5,000m over Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi (13:08.91). Cheruiyot held off Kumari Taki to win the 1,500m in 3:34.53 to 3:35.00 while Obiri won a close race over world 10,000m bronze medalist Agnes Tirop in the 5,000m 15:06.36 to 15:06.71. Chepkoech won the steeple in 9:29.05 and Abraham Kibiwot took the men’s race in 8:17.60.