Meet the Coros Worlds Prediction Contest Winners – Ethiopian-American Woman Dominates, Sports Professor Runner-Up
by LetsRun.com
August 4, 2022
For the first time ever, the best in the World congregated in the United States for the World Track and Field Championships.
And the best in the world congregated online to play in the $200,022 Coros LetsRun.com Prediction Contest.
Note: Use code letsrun to get a free accessory with purchase of a GPS from Coros.
Our Overall Winner Hails from the Running Capital of the World – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Mover over Iten. It’s official, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is the running capital of the world.
With Worlds being in the US for the first time it was fitting that the overall winner of the Coros Contest was an immigrant to the US, born and raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Aster Tadesse.
Aster is currently working in education, pursuing her PHd in clinical psychology. No doubt growing up in Ethiopia and having access to Ethiopian news sources gave her insider info in the contest, but the thing that pushed her to the top of the standings was even simpler, the desire to beat her husband in the contest.
“I love following the Ethiopian distance runners and beating my husband in your contest as he thinks he knows track & field,” said Aster.
If you look at Aster’s picks, you’ll see she wasn’t a homer for Ethiopians. She didn’t expect the Ethiopian men to do very well, and that is exactly what happened.
Aster gets a $500 Coros gift certificate for coming out on top, plus a LetsRun.com Supporters Club membership and the famous super soft LetsRun.com shirt.
Runner-Up – Professor of Sport and Games Who Used to Live In Boulder
Alex Wolf-Root
Alex Wolf-Root was our runner-up. He’s 35 and just started working at The Ohio State as a visiting professor after being at CU-Boulder. His specialty is the philosophy of sport and games. He’s written “on a range of issues from doping to college sport to what it even means to ‘play a game,'” and has a paper under review on the crazy “final 3” field event format the Diamond League is now abandoning. Seb Coe should hire him as World Athletics ethicist!
Alex has tons of connections to the sport and ran at Santa Rosa Junior College, UC Davis, and helped produce Brad Hudson’s Little Black Book. Like a lot of us, he credits a great coach for his start in the sport:
I started running in 8th grade track, but my love for the sport blossomed in high school thanks to my amazing coach, Danny Aldridge. While Danny was a great runner in his day – 111th sub-4 American, 2x DII champ, on former AR 4xmile and 4×1,500 teams, etc – he was an even greater coach, the kind of coach who inspires so many young people towards a lifetime of loving running. Some years after me, he coached 2021 NCAA indoor champs prediction winner Eli Rosen-Duran, who later was my coworker at Heart & Sole Sports, Santa Rosa’s local independent run/walk specialty shop that Danny started.
Alex wins a $300 Coros gift certificate, a LetsRun.com Supporters Club membership and the famous super soft LetsRun.com shirt.
Third Placer Has Ties to Coach Gags
Colin Batchelor
Third placer Colin Batchelor is 32 and lives in Bordentown, NJ where he’s a substitute teacher and volunteer track coach. He got his start in track and field thanks to his geometry teacher in Bordentown, where he became the team manager. Then he was the team manager at Seton Hall, and after graduating worked under the famous coach Gags at the then start-up NJ/NY Track Club. Colin is good friends with Rob Novak, the 1:46/3:40 runner who also went to his high school and ran at Seton Hall and NJNYTC.
Colin wins a $200 Coros gift certificate, a LetsRun.com Supporters Club membership and the famous super soft LetsRun.com shirt.
Supporters Club Day 1 Member Brandon Demers Wins Coros Coaches Division
Supporters Club members likely know Brandon Demers. He’s been a SC member since Day 1 and we’ve played a voicemail from him on the podcast and his comments have been featured as well. After coming close before with two top 10 finishes in previous contests, Brandon has made it to the prize-winning level by coming out on top in our Coros Coaches Division.
Brandon with Rojo and Jon at Coogan’s back in the day
Brandon is a high school coach in Southern Maryland. “I love the sport and went into a line of work solely because it allows me to coach, work with kids, and have summers to watch major champs,” he said. With 2 little kids, he said he’s never missed a LetsRun.com podcast. (We agree that listening to a podcast is something you can do while playing with your kids and being present!)
Brandon wins the Coros Pace 2, which is the perfect watch for high schoolers and performance athletes. The lightest GPS watch ever made when it was released, it is a very affordable $199 but packs a punch, and there is an Eliud Kipchoge edition. Plus, Coros has a training hub for coaches.
Thanks to Coros for our great prizes and check out their incredible watches here. Use code letsrun to get a free accessory with purchase of a GPS from Coros.
If you want to see Aster’s winning picks do so here.