Malcolm Gladwell Speaks

LRC Malcolm Gladwell Opens Up On His Love Of Running, Saving Track And Field, Nike, Alberto, Galen, Super Shoes, Doping And More In a wide-ranging conversation, Gladwell, who describes himself as a “serious mediocre” runner, doesn’t hold anything back and shares some strong opinions about doping, super shoes, Nike, and those in charge of the sport. A must listen/read.

More Marathon Project Coverage

• Jared Ward Wants To Run 2:08 At The Marathon Project He says the fast pace at the start of the London Marathon (where he ran 2:12) told him he could run 2:08 with the right training.
• RRW: The Marathon Project Gives Elite Athletes A Lifeline During The Pandemic 54 men and 44 women will line up on the 6.86km looped course in Chandler, AZ.
• CBC: The Marathon Project Could Yield National Records, Tons Of PRs Sara Hall has said the course is “very, very fast.”
• Canadian Running: Five Reasons Why The Marathon Project Will Be The Race Of The Year We laughed at their first reason: “It’s one of the only races of the year.”
• Could The Canadian National Record Go Down At The Marathon Project? Cam Levins is in the race and holds the current record at 2:09:25.
• Pre-Race Podcasts: *Cam Levins *Rory Linkletter *Natasha Wodak *Ben Preisner

GB Distance History

• Good Read: AW: Eric Shirley’s Rise From Rags To Running Royalty The 1956 and 1960 Olympic steeplechaser is still putting up results today as a 91-year-old.
  *MB: Great Story about English Olympic Steeplechaser Eric Shirley
• AW: In Praise Of The European Cross Country Championships They take a look back at some highlights from past championships including Mo Farah and Paula Radcliffe.
• Athletics Weekly Looks Back At Kelly Holmes’ “Dream Double” Gold At The 2004 Olympics

(Former) Collegiate News

• South Carolina’s 2019 NCAA 400H Champ Quincy Hall Turns Pro Hall is giving up his final season of eligibility, but will continue to train with the South Carolina team for the 2021 season.
• Former Stanford Track Captain LaShawndra Pace Is Now A Global Health Policy Expert And Part Of Joe Biden’s COVID-19 Task Force Pace was captain in 1999 and specialized in the 800 (2:09.22 PR) but competed from 400m up to 1500m.
• Huntington University Coach Nicholas Johnson Arrested On Multiple Charges Of Child Seduction And Kidnaping Johnson was entering his third season in 2020 as the head men’s and women’s cross XC coach at the NAIA school.
  *MB: Huntington Uni drama
• Group Of Athletes From Historically Black Colleges And Universities Have Filed A Lawsuit Against The NCAA For Its Academic Standard Requirements One of the athletes said, “All schools are not created equal. So how you going to hold every school to the same standard …”

Tokyo 2020 News

• Tokyo Governor Says There Are “No Circumstances” Under Which The Olympic Will Be Cancelled “Citizens of the world are seeing the Tokyo Games as a symbol that humanity will have defeated the coronavirus, that will lead to the Beijing Winter Games and then the Paris Games after that.”
• New Survey Says A Third Of Japanese Residents Want Tokyo 2020 Scrapped Due To Fear Of Foreigners Causing COVID Spike
• Social Distancing And Online Streaming Part Of The Plans For Postponed Tokyo 2020 Torch Relay

USATF News

• Rundown Of How The Voting Went At The USATF Annual Meeting For better or worse, it looks like the USATF voting members have called USOPC’s bluff as the more controversial amendments USOPC was trying to force on USATF by threatening decertification, did not pass.
  *MB Archive: Becca Peter is here to answer your questions on USATF Annual Meeting and why you should vote no on giving the Board more power
• RRW: World Athletics Gave Member Federations Flexibility On New Shoe Rules Which Created Some Confusion For USATF Athletes Just another example how the new shoes and the illogical rules surrounding them are a disaster. By applying rules inconsistently (allowing shoes on the road, but not the track) and allowing federations to apply the rules at their own discretion, World Athletics has created a situation where a track mark could count as a national record, but not count be legal as an Olympic qualifying mark.

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Links Maybe Worth A Read

• Many Kenyans Are Outraged After Eliud Kipchoge Is Referred To As “Fitness Influencer” He was nominated as a fitness influence for the upcoming Africa Digital Influencer Awards.
• James Li Unretires And Takes New Job As Marathon Coach For E-House Marathon Club In Shanghai
• MB: Interesting column by A. Abrahamson. Does anyone in the US realize the world that may not want to listen to our protests?
• Athletics Weekly Takes A Look Back At Coe Vs. Ovett In 1980

Have You Purchased Your LetsRun T-Shirt Yet?

LRC The Softest T-Shirt You’ll Ever Wear Is Here For the first time in history,  you can now sport the iconic look of the original LetsRun.com singlet or get one of our 1:59:40 or 1:59:40* t-shirts.