- MB: London Flash Results: Sisay Lemma (2:04:01) And Joyciline Jepkosgei (2:17:43) Win Lemma beat out Vincent Kipchuma (2:04:28) in 2nd while Jepkosgei won over Degitu Azimeraw (2:17:58) while WR holder Brigid Kosgei was 4th in 2:18:40.
Archived Homepage For October 03, 2021
Archived Homepage For October 03, 2021
London is Sunday
London is Sunday
There are an incredible three 2:02 guys in the field (Mosinet Geremew, Birhanu Legese, Titus Ekiru) and three more 2:03 guys (Evans Chebet, Sisay Lemma, and Kinde Atanaw). One stud is going to win and one isn't even going to finish in the top five.
*MB: Official 2021 London Marathon Discussion Thread
- 2:03:51 marthoner Kinde Atanaw forced to withdraw after testing positive for Covid-19
- Defending champ Shura Kitata says he picked up hamstring injury two weeks before Tokyo that caused him to drop out of Olympics and that it's still a "slight problem"
- Birhanu Legese: "If the weather is good I plan to break the course record"
- Josh Griffiths (2:13 pb) and father Nick (2:47 at age 52) are hoping to break father-son World record The record is 4:59:22.
This year's London marathon is the deepest women's marathon in history with a record 9 sub-2:20 women in the field, but with six women doubling back from Sapporo 8 weeks ago, will they all be up for it?
- Charlotte Purdue Says Running For GB Has Been "Tainted" By Olympic Snub Purdue controversially missed out on a spot for Tokyo 2020 despite having the fastest British time. "If this year has taught me anything it's not to pay attention to selection policies because they don't really mean anything."
- MB: Allie Kieffer out of London Marathon
- Sean Ingle: "London Marathon's 'Electric' Return An Important Step Towards Normality" 40,000 people will run the mass participation race.
- Charlotte Purdue hoping to break Mara Yamauchi's 2:23:12 to move to #2 all-time on British list
- A look at some of the top British contenders in London - Charlotte Purdue and Jonny Mellor
- Athletics Weekly Takes A Look At Some Of The Masters Runners Competing For The World Marathon Majors Age Group World Champs In London
- London Marathon Using Bags Made Of Sugar Cane To Increase Sustainability
- London Marathon Stats Preview
On The Boards
On The Boards
Allen was a special gues on the LetsRun.com Track Talk podcast and we've written up some of the highlights. Listen or read today.
NCAA XC
Alabama's Mercy Chelangat and Flomena Asekoi went 1-2 ahead of NC State's Kelsey Chimiel.
*MB: W NCAA XC: #1 NC State CRUSHES #3 New Mexico, #6 Alabama, #7 Minnesota , #8 Washington
- #19 Furman Win At Notre Dame The beat out #25 Michigan by 21-points while #2 Notre Dame was back in 11th. Florida State's Adriaan Wildschutt won the individual race in 23:06.
- Krissy Gear Leads #10 Arkansas Women To Chile Pepper XC Win; NAIA National Champs Colorado School Of Mines Dominate Men's Race
- USTFCCCA Weekend XC Recap: North Carolina Men Beat Out Villanova By 1-Point At Paul Short Run The women's race came down to a tie breaker with #12 NAU winning over Villanova. Individual wins went to Utah State's Caleb Garnica (23:29) and NAU's Taryn O'Neill.
*MB: Why Can't Mike Smith Coach Women at NAU to Same Level as Men? - #4 Stanford Women Easily Win Sacramento State XC Invy; California Men Beat #3 Stanford By One Point
Relance is a new running shoe company with an actual shoe and kickstarter campaign trying to make a running shoe profitably in France.Florent Beng, the co-founder and former professional basketball player, joined us to talk about the shoe and company.
Random news that passed our vetting process
- Age group star Aidan Puffer commits to NAU The 5ks he ran as a kid are insane - age 11 (17:06) , 13 (15:47), 14 (14:47), 16 (14:24) - with some being WRs. “A lot of the guys were telling me Coach Smith has another dimension to him than other coaches, and I can definitely agree to that,” said Puffer who trained at altitude this summer and is coached by Tinman.
- UK Sports Council's report on guidance for transgender inclusion in domestic sport admits the obvious (if you are willing to be un PC) - Trans women enjoy biological advantages According to Sean Ingle, the long-awaited report argues "there is no magic solution which balances the inclusion of trans women in female sport while guaranteeing competitive fairness and safety." *Full PDF
- Rojas, Warholm and McLaughlin's WRs from Tokyo are all ratified
- 2019 Worlds 6th placer in 5000 Jacob Krop says he didn't make Olympics this year as he was studying for college (KCSE exams) He did get 3rd in the DL finale.
- 36-yr old Wilson Chebet of Kenya hoping for top 3 finish in Boston
- Rodgers Kwemoi excited to make half marathon debut in Valencia
This Week's Podcast
We break down the running world and are joined by Zach Litoff, a LetsRun.com visitor (who is an 8:42 steepler, NCAA star) who had the cool experience of sitting next to Molly Seidel on her way back from the Olympics.
Here what the top ladies at the deepest marathon EVER had to say at Thursday's press event, including what reigning NYC champ Joyciline Jepkosgei said about why she's not defending her title in NY.
- RRW: Juicy Time Bonuses Could Spur Fast Times at Virgin Money London Marathon A world record would result in a $300,000 payment. A sub-2:04 is worth $75,000 for anyone who does it.
- BBC May Lose London Marathon TV Rights For First Time In 40-Years As Organizers Consider Other Options Sunday's race is the last covered by the contract that was signed in 2018, but the BBC are still the favorites to keep the rights.
*The Telegraph: BBC Urged By British Athletes And MPs To Not End 40-Year London Marathon Coverage - Race Director Hugh Brasher Expects "The Most Memorable London Marathon Ever"
- Weather Forecast For London Marathon - 50s To 60, Rain Showers
Help Improve the Running World
Trent Stellingwerff is leading a study into better diagnosing relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S). The survey is available to all runners, age 16 and above, male and female and takes 20-30 minutes. If you'd like the survey in another language than English click here.
Sprints / Jumps
- Sports management firm that no longer works with Kenyan sprint star Ferdinand Omanyala - DBA Africa - says its important to"protect our brand and the professional image we proudly share with the sporting world" Omanyala has a different story and says he stopped working with them as they weren't registered with World Athletics.
*PR/Law firm that used to work with Omanyala also no longer works with him
*MB: Kenyan 9.77 sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala cancelled? Kenyan sprint star Ferdinand Omanyala doesn't have any big sponsors of note - Track Stars Tara Davis And Hunter Woodhall Get Engaged Olympic LJer Davis and Paralympian Woodhall have a YouTube channel together and posted a video about the proposal.
- Former Olympic LJ Champ Greg Rutherford Named To GB Bobsled Squad Rutherford says that his "transferable" skills made him the right fit for the sport: "I'm lucky that I'm able to run fast and produce power - that's the ultimate combination for the bobsleigh."
- South African Sprinter Carina Horn Eligible To Compete Again After Being Suspended For 2-Years The AIU accepted her claim that her positive test came from a contaminated supplement.
- Tokyo Silver Medalist And DSD Runner Christine Mboma Talks About Being Banned From The 400m And Switching To The 200m "We were not even sure if we could really do well in the 200m, but we had no choice. It was a very bad experience."
Jamaican Sprint Stuff
- Good Read: Hansle Parchment Gambled With A Last Minute Change To His Start Which Let Him Win 110H Gold In The Olympic Final Article also talks about Parchment's viral story of how he made it to his semi-final race in time thanks to a Japanese good Samaritan who gave him money for a private taxi.
- Jamaican Coach Stephen Francis Considering Coaching A Top International Female Nike Sprinter Could it be Sha'Carri Richardson?
- Interview With Usain Bolt About Releasing His First Reggae Album - "I wanted to show people that I can do music, too." Asked if he'd be singing in future albums Bolt said, “I’m happy to add some drops and appear in the music videos, but I don’t think my voice is that good for singing, so I don’t plan to pick up the microphone unless it’s absolutely necessary."
- Olympic 100m Bronze Medalist Shericka Jackson Benefited From Olympic Delay As She Had Two Stress Fractures At The End Of 2019 She also benefited from dropping down to the 100m as she's focused on the 400m in the past.
More Distance News
- Stanford All-American Ella Donaghu Joins Pete Julian's Portland-Based Group Donaghu was 3rd in the NCAA 1500m this past June.
- World Half Silver Medalist And 2:08 Man Albert Korir Has Been Running At Least 110 Miles A Week Preparing To Hunt Glory At The NYC Marathon
- MB: GQ Interview with Eliud Kipchoge - He claims to only get 6 hour of sleep a night!?
- Boston Marathon To Honor Two-Time Winner Ellison "Tarzan" Brown The late Brown won Boston in 1936 and 1939.
- Laura Muir Says She Has "Unfinished Business" With The Commonwealth Games And Wants To Win A Medal For Scotland At Birmingham 2022
Running Legends In The News
- Steve Prefontaine Bib Number From 1970 NCAA XC Champs Sells For $26,734.80 It was Pre's first NCAA title.
- Roger Bannister Honored With Memorial Stone In Westminster Abbey Sth estone reads, "Roger Bannister - Pioneering Neurologist, World Champion Runner."
- Kip Keino's Son Unveils Book With Collection Of Signatures From Legendary Athletes The book has 160 signatures including Kip Keino, Moses Tanui, Eliud Kipchoge and Naftali Temu, the last Kenyan man to win the Olympic 10,000m.
Other News
- Good News: The Vienna City Marathon Had Over 18,000 Runners With No Coronavirus Cases Connected To The Event
- Tokyo 2020 Chief Executive Says The Official Total Cost Of The Games Will Be Revealed Early Next Year Tokyo 2020 is said to be the most expensive Games ever with the budget rising to $15.4 billion.
- 2021 Diamond League Review - Part One *Part 2
- November 7th Shimonoseki Kaikyo Marathon To Go Ahead As States Of Emergency In Japan To Be Lifted Runners will receive their own home COVID test they need to use 24-hours before the race.
- Auckland Marathon Postponed Until January Due To COVID-19
More Recent Results
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- Edward Cheserek (28:26) And Nell Rojas (31:52) Win Cooper River Bridge Run 10k Cheserek beat out Leonard Korir (28:33) and Biya Simbassa (28:39). *Result
- Rheinhardt Harrison Wins Katie Caples XC Invy, Breaking 11-Year-Old Course Record With 15:12
- Japan Weekend Track Roundup Joseph Lemeteki Razini took two seconds off the Japanese 10,000m collegiate record with 27:25.65.
- Eritrea's Samuel Russom And Kenya’s Sylvia Medugu Win TCS Lidingoloppet 30k XC Race In Sweden
- AW Extensive Weekly Round-Up
NCAA Rankings Updates
- No Changes To Top-3 Teams As NAU Men Remain #1 In NCAA Coaches' Poll Notre Dame, Stanford stayed 2-3 while OSU moved up to #4. *Regional Rankings
- BYU And NC State Women Still Tied At #1 In Latest NCAA Coaches' Poll New Mexico remains #3 and Stanford jumped up to #4. *Regional Rankings
- BYU's Conner Mantz And Iowa State's Cailie Logue Named NCAA Athletes Of The Week After Their Roy Griak Wins
Week That Was
In this week's recap, we praise the guys and gals that went for it in Berlin, gives Kenenisa Bekele some unsolicited career advice and urge him to go for the course record in NYC, and criticize Nike for their illogical decision to cancel NXN nationals but go all out on regionals.
NCAA XC Previews (Men)
The NCAA men's xc is ABSOLUTELY LOADED this year, but NAU, which has won four of the last five NCAA titles, is our #1. However, Notre Dame returns six All-Americans, Oklahoma State and Stanford have improved, and BYU is looking for redemption. Another NAU title won't be easy.
NCAA XC Previews (Women)
Are you ready for BYU vs NC State II? BYU and NC State were neck-and-neck through 5k in March and both bring back their entire top seven from NCAAs. Get ready for another showdown in Tallahassee in November.
Berlin Marathon
It was a survival contest the final half-marathon in Berlin, as the crazy fast pace (60:48 at half way) and warm conditions took its toll on the entire field. Guye Adola emerged as the winner, Bekele in 3rd. Gotytom Gebreslase was impressive in her debut.
- Bekele Still Talking About The WR And Even Breaking Two Hours After 3rd Place Finish In Berlin "My plan is not only to break the world record before I retire. Everybody is talking about sub-two hours, so why not?"
- Discussion: 2021 BMW Berlin Marathon Live Thread
- The End of Bekele?
- What time does Bekele have to run at Berlin for you not to think he’s a failure?
- Shalane Flanagan 2:38:32 17th Place in Berlin 1st America in the women's race
- Why was Berlin so slow this year?
More Weekend Distance Results
- Marc Scott (28:03) And Eilish McColgan (30:52) Win Great Manchester Run 10k McColgan's time moved her to #3 on the UK all-time list.
- Random But Cool: Jacob Kiplimo Wins Ugandan Mountain Running Championships He said he was using the race as a "lunching pad to achieve [his] set goals."
- Aisling Cuffe Wins Freihofer's Run For Women In 16:34 The winning time was the slowest since the race's focus shifted from the 10k to the 5k in 1989.
- Kenya’s Joyce Muthoni Njeru And Eritrea’s Petro Mamu Win Trofeo Ciolo Mountain Race In Italy
Your latest American stars share their insights.
American Record Holders
American Record Holders
Keira D'Amato, the new American record holder in the marathon, was joined by Deena Kastor, who held the record for 15 years.
Sisson was the guest on the LetsRun.com Track Talk podcast after she became the first American to go sub 67 in the half marathon on a record-eligible course. Podcast highlights above. Full pod here.
Woody Kincaid joined us after he broke the American record indoors at 5000. He talks above why he left the Bowerman Track Club. Podcast highlights and link to full podcast here.
Coogan's New Balance Boston team had 3 Olympians in 2021 and 2022 could be the biggest year yet for the program with 2 new additions and the TRACK at New Balance coming on March 1st.
Danny Mackey has taken the Brooks Beasts from an unproven club to the Olympic podium in its first decade.
Dathan Ritzenhein is the first of the top pro coaches to sit down and talk about his club heading into the 2022 campaign.
Best of Jon Gault
Best of Jon Gault
Take Your Love of LetsRun to the Next Level
Take Your Love of LetsRun to the Next Level
LetsRun Classics
LetsRun Classics
‒excerpt from UK SportsCouncil report on "Guidance for Transgender Inclusion in Domestic Sport" which points out what everyone with common sense should know - trans-women retain permanent advantages in sport from being born biologically male and it's impossible to perfectly balance fairness and inclusivity. *Full PDF