WTW: Gender Equality in Saudi Arabia? + Huge Upsets at Kenyan XC Champs + Euro, Foot Locker & US Club XC Champs Held

The Week That Was in Running, December 5 – 11, 2022

By Robert Johnson
December 14, 2022

Each week, we try to make the sport more fun to follow by putting the prior week’s action in perspective for you. Too busy to read this every week? Stay up to date via podcast as each week we record the LetsRun.com Track Talk podcast.

Past editions of our Week That Was weekly recap can be found here. Got a tip, question or comment? Please call us at 844-LETSRUN (538-7786), email us, or post in our forum.  

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Kenya Picks Its World XC Team – NO ONE Would Have Picked the Individual Winners a Year Ago

The Kenyan trials for the 2023 World Cross Country Championships were held last weekend. Holding the Trials 10 weeks out from World XC violates one of Rojo’s golden rules on Worlds team selection — select your team by holding a trials race (no byes for anyone) and hold your trials race at the latest possible date.

That being said, in this case, I’m fine with the trials being held so early as apparently they did it to make sure the runners actually get the right visas to get into Australia.

Anyways, check out the top six men across the line (six men run World XC per country) in Kenya. 

Senior Men (10 km)
 1. Sabastian Sawe – 28:22.5 – 27-year-old has had breakout 2022. Prior to this year, he had almost no results listed. Now he’s run 27:09 on the track (26:54 roads), 58:02 (point to point) and has broken 60:00 three times, and almost broke the one-hour run WR.
 2. Daniel Ebenyo Simiu – 28:28.0 – 12:55 last year. 12:54 this year. 27:11 track pb (26:58 roads). 27 years old.
 3. Kibiwott Kandie – 28:30.3 – Former half marathon WR holder (57:32). 26 years old.
 4. Emmanuel Kiprop – 28:31.8 – 23-year-old ran 13:08 this year. 27:24 road pb.
 5. Nicholas Kipkorir Kimeli 28:34.2 – 2022 world leader in 5000 this year thanks to his 12:46 5000 in Rome.
 6. Geoffrey Kamworor –  28:34.6 – 2-time World XC champ (2015, 2017), 3-time World Half champ (2014, 2016, 2018). 30 years old.

That’s a really great team. Yes, it could have been better — neither Kenya’s 5,000 nor 10,000 silver medallists from Eugene are on it (Jacob Krop and Stanley Mburu) — but it’s getting me pumped for maybe my favorite event on the calendar, World XC. It will be interesting to see what Ethiopia produces to challenge them.

I sure hope to learn the story of the race winner Sabastian Sawe, who trains with London/Chicago/NYC Marathon champs Amos Kipruto, Benson Kipruto, and Evans Chebet as part of coach Claudio Berardelli‘s 2 Running Club in Kapsabet. When I wrote that prior to this year, the various databases had almost zero result for Sawe, I meant it. The only results on his Tilastopaja profile before this year are a 3:51 1500 in 2018, three 5000s in 2019 at altitude with none being faster than 13:42, and a 14:30 5,000 in 2020. Now he’s one of the best pros in the world? Crazy.

What may be even crazier is prior to last week when he won a tune-up race in Kenya, he’d never run a cross country race in his life. After winning the final regular season race of the Athletics Kenya Cross Country series, he told the Kenyan News Agency, “I’ve never run in a cross-country race, but I am proud of how I fared. My goal is to do well in the trials to make it in the team going to the World Cross Country Championships,” he remarked. Mission accomplished.

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Kamworor, who is on the comeback trial from a stress fracture that kept him out for two months, also had an eye-catching quote after making the team, saying to World Athletics, “Making the team is really great for me after only three months of training. We still have a good length of time to train ahead of the World Cross Country Championships, and I believe I will be in perfect form when the time comes.”

One last thing about the men’s Kenyan trials. Prior to the race, it was stated in the Kenyan press that 2017 world 1500 champ Elijah Manangoi, who only ran 3:37 this year in his return after his whereabouts ban, was looking forward to the race and a return to international competition. Manangoi ran on Kenya’s mixed-gender relay team in 2019 (winning bronze). The results I saw were only for the 10k race and only 15 deep so we don’t know how he did. The 10th place finisher in the 10k did catch my eye — Asbel Kiprop. (It’s not clear if it’s the same Asbel Kiprop). It’s not the same Asbel Kiprop.

MB: My belief: Any US long-distance pros that don’t go to 2023 World XC in Australia should have their pro cards stripped 
MB: Asbel Kiprop’s comeback picking up steam? 10th at Kenyan xc Trials? Or is it a different guy with the same name? 

More: Coach Patrick Sang happy and confident after Geoffrey Kamworor made the team to the World Cross Country Championships

Unknown Teenager Wins Kenyan Women’s Trials

The winner of the women’s race at the Kenyan trials was an even bigger surprise than in the men’s race. The men’s winner was at least a red-hot pro. The women’s winner was unheralded Grace Loibach, who just turned 19 on November 20. She came into the race with only one other result this year — an 11th-place showing in 17:26.34 at the Kenyan World U20 trials on July 1. Now she’s the senior Kenyan champ?

Kenya’s women’s team isn’t nearly as strong as the men’s. I’m sure hoping the US sends its A team. Couldn’t a team of Elise Cranny, Karissa Schweizer, Alicia Monson, and Weini Kelati give the following team a run for their money?

 1. Grace LOIBACH, 32:32.3 – See above.
 2. Edina JEBITOK, 32:37.1 – 21-year-old ran 4:02 and 8:42 this year, 7th in Pre 2 mile in 9:19.01.
 3. Irene CHEPTAI, 32:53.1 – 2017 World XC champ. Commonwealth Games silver medallist in 10,000. 6th in Tokyo Olympic 10,000. 14:43/30:44 track pbs. 30:16 road pb. 30 years old.
 4. Agnes JEBET, 32:59.2 – 22-year-old ran 15:07 at altitude (Nairobi) last year.
 5. Viola CHEPNGENO, 33:13.2 – 24-year-old ran 66:48 half this year. Also won BAA Half in November.
 6. Emily CHEBET, 33:16.7 – 2010 and 2013 World XC champ is 36 now. Served 4-year drug ban from 2015 to 2019.

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Take a look at the following photo tweeted out by Athletics Kenya. The course was a real XC course.

2022 Kenyan XC champs. Photo via @athletics_kenya

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Saudi Arabia Holds New Race, Pays Out Equal Prize Money to Men & Women, & Pays Out a TON

Last week with little fanfare, there was a new pro race on the calendar and it featured the largest first-place purse of any non-marathon road race of the year. The first Jeddah International Half Marathon was held in Saudi Arabia and it featured $200,000 in total prize money. Perhaps a little surprising given that the race was held in male-dominated Saudi Arabia, it featured equal money for the men’s and women’s races, with $50,000 going to each of the winners. And no, the female pros didn’t have to cover their bodies. While promotional pieces for the race featured covered women, women were allowed to race in shorts.

The men’s race featured yet another totally unexpected winner for Kenya. The winner in dominant fashion — by a full minute in 59:50 — was Erik Kiplagat Sang. Prior to this year, the 22-year-old only had one result listed on any database we have access to: a 3:46.8 1500 last year. His only other result this year? A 60:56 half marathon win in May.

The runner-up was 2:07 marathoner Samwel Nyamae of Kenya. Some big names were third and fourth as 2:03 marathoner (2019 Valencia champ) Kinde Atanaw was third in 61:04 with two-time world 5,000 champ Muktar Edris fourth in 61:27.

In the women’s race, the big winner was 24-year-old Kenyan Irene Kimais (66:03 pb). Kimais won her third half marathon of the year on her third continent in 66:47. She also won in Rome in March (66:03) and Buenos Aires in August (67:59). Ethiopia’s Alemu Megertu, who has run 2:18 for the marathon twice this year (1st Seville, 3rd London), was second in 67:18 with Ruth Chepngetich finishing third in 67:53 in her first race since her 2:14:18 clocking in Chicago in October.

All told, the race was a success. “Everything was perfectly organized; the traffic, the starting and ending points, the route, everything was really good,” said Saudi Sports for All Federation president Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal, according to Arab News.  “What we aim [for] is to promote an active lifestyle and create a competitive spirit among participants. This is what we have observed today in the Jeddah Half Marathon and I am extremely glad to see such a number of 3,500 runners of all ages and from all over the world.” 

2nd place finish 🥈 in 1:07:18 (21,1km) after a great fight for Megertu Alemu 🇪🇹 in warm and humid conditions this morning in @JeddahMarathon 🇸🇦

📸 @ATHLE_ch @EliteRunningT #Jeddah #SaudiArabia #Half #Marathon #Running #Runners #Ethiopia #eliterunningteam pic.twitter.com/1ExI9WDWZn

— Elite Running Team (@EliteRunningT) December 10, 2022

Jeddah sees an enthusiastic turnout for the Sports for All Federation’s Half-Marathon https://t.co/lJQpMGpkko pic.twitter.com/fAVmv11k2F

— Asdafnews (@asdafnews) December 11, 2022

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Norwegians Rock European XC

The Kenyan trials were far from the only major cross country meet last weekend. The SPAR European Cross Country Championships were also held in Turin and the big winners were Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Karoline Grøvdal of Norway. Ingebrigtsen became just the third man to repeat as champion but in reality he’s won six straight European titles as he won four junior titles in a row before his two senior titles.

At 22, Jakob Ingebrigtsen has NINE European senior titles to his name across all surfaces! 🙌

European Champs
2018 🥇🥇
2022 🥇🥇

European Indoors
2019 🥇🥈
2021 🥇🥇

European Cross
2021 🥇
2022 🥇

Just how many will he win in total? 🤯#Piemonte2022 pic.twitter.com/eOxgL61dCL

— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) December 11, 2022

Ingebrigtsen wasn’t the only person to repeat as NCAA XC champ Charles Hicks of Great Britain repeated in the U23 race, a race that Ingebrigtsen, who just turned 22, could have run himself. For the record, Hicks ran 23:40 for the 7.662km U23 course, which comes out to 30:53 10k pace. Ingebrigtsen’s time in the senior race, which was 2km longer (9.672km), was 29:33, which is 30:33 10k pace.

After Euros, Ingebrigtsen, who was 12th in the World XC U20 race at 8k in 2019, said that he won’t be going to World XC in 2023 where he’d have to run the 10k. Instead, he’s now going to get a big base in and race indoors if all goes according to plan.

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The 2022 Foot Locker Championships Were Held Last Weekend – The Meet Should Be Disbanded Unless This Happens

The 2022 Foot Locker, I mean Eastbay, I mean Champs Sports Cross Country Championships were held last weekend. The name for the individual high school XC championships has changed each of the last two years and we’ve been told it will change again in 2023 as a totally new sponsor will be brought in (Foot Locker/Eastbay/Champs Sports all are part of the same company).

I’ve always been a big Foot Locker guy. When I was a teen, it was the only HS national championship and a huge deal. When Nike started its own XC championship in 2004, initially that was a team-only affair so Foot Locker still thrived. Now that Nike has team and individuals and given that many of the top boys’ individuals in recent years have been on the top team, Newbury Park, Foot Locker has lost a significant amount of prestige. This was the first year I must admit I barely cared about Foot Locker.

Here’s an idea I proposed to this week’s edition of LetsRun.com Track Talk podcast. If Foot Locker wants to stay important, it has to regain its historical title of crowning the best HS XC runner in America.  If it’s only crowning the third-best runner in America, it’s not nearly as important. It’s the equivalent of the Rose Bowl in the era of the College Football Playoff. Here’s how the new management/sponsor can do it.

Go back to having eight individuals qualify per region (it’s now 10 but used to be eight) and then use eight at-large spots for the top eight finishers at NXN who aren’t already qualified. Then it will be the biggest HS meet of the year for running fans like myself who really don’t care who is the HS national champion as a team. Foot Locker will once again be important as every year we know it will answer the question, “Who is the best HS cross country runner in America?”

In terms of the race, this year, the times were super fast as Karrie Baloga of Cornwall, N.Y., (who didn’t run NXN) moved up from last year’s 4th place finish and won the girls’ race in 16:49.2 — the second-fastest winning time since 1994. On the boys’ side, Indiana’s Kole Mathison, who was 4th at NXN this year and 5th at Foot Locker last year, won in 14:56.6, the fastest winning time since Drew Hunter‘s 14:55 in 2015. Both Baloga and Mathison are headed to CU — that’s Colorado, not Cornell — next year.

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USATF News Of Note

2018 Foot Locker champ Cole Hocker also won an XC race last week. He won the USATF Club Champs 10k in 26:28. Well clearly with a winning time like that, the race wasn’t actually 10k, but don’t tell that to USATF, who wrote the following in its press release: Cole Hocker (Oregon Track Club A) took the individual title in the Open Men’s 10km, taking a decisive win in 26:28 over Tom Anderson’s (Club Northwest A) 26:33.

The course had to be altered (and shortened) at the last minute after trees fell on the original course.

The BAA’s Bethany Hasz won the women’s “6k” in 17:54.

In terms of the team races, Hansons-Brooks ODP won both races. Kudos to them for running both the FitnessBank Cross Champs on December 1 and this race.

Here’s how their runners did in each race. On the women’s side, no women finished in the same place on the team as they did the week before but the men’s results were pretty stable.

MB: USATF club XC debacle

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In other USATF news, it was reported yesterday by Sarah Lorge Butler that the USATF Board of Directors unanimously recommended that Chattanooga be the host of the 2024 US Olympic Marathon Trials. That recommendation was overruled as the Trials were awarded to Orlando. USATF of course won’t provide an explanation. Shocker.

MB: USATF CORRUPT, ignored recommendation for 2024 Trials location. 

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Tweet of The Week

So much potential. 3 years out of the sport for either stupidity or worse cheating and trying to cover it up. https://t.co/9SSbm7OsCt

— Michael Johnson (@MJGold) December 13, 2022

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Recommended Reads

•  Toni Reavis Writes On “The Emasculated Marathon”Reavis laments that due to improvements in science, training and mostly shoe tech, the marathon has become “just another distance race” rather than the formidable endurance challenge it once was.
• Eliud Kipchoge says STACKED Boston Marathon will be his “hardest race ever” Kipchoge also said he “can’t wait” to run his first hilly marathon but that he won’t change his training to get ready for the hills.
• Matthew Centrowitz, Now Self-Coached, Returns to Racing at Saturday’s Merrie Mile in Hawaii

For recommended reads from other weeks, go here.

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Quotes Of The Day And Last Week’s Home Pages

To see the quotes of the day from last week or last week’s home page or any home page, go to our archive page.

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Got a tip, question or comment? Please call us at 844-LETSRUN (538-7786), email us or post in our forum.