WTW: The Year Ends & We Put Grant Fisher’s AMAZING 2022 In Perspective + Much More
The Week That Was in Running
By Robert Johnson
January 4, 2023
Each week, we try to make the sport more fun to follow by putting the prior week’s action in perspective for you. 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.
This week’s column actually looks back at two weeks as we didn’t publish right after Christmas.
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Prisca Chesang Makes Herself Known / Joshua Cheptegei Ends His Year Well
At the NN San Silvestre Vallecana 10K in Madrid on December 31, 5,000/10,000 world record holder Joshua Cheptegei ended his year with a 27:09 win over Mohamed Katir‘s 27:19 but the big story was the breakout performance by 19-year-old Prisca Chesang of Uganda in the women’s race. Chesang, who was the world junior 5,000 bronze medallist in each of the last two years (and an Olympian in 2021), came into the race with a 32:42 pb but ran 30:19 to get the win, destroying XY athlete Francine Niyonsaba (30:58) in the process. Steeplechase world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech was third in 31:06. The race was Niyonsaba’s first defeat in over a year.
The race is downhill (55m) but given it’s held at a modest altitude (660m) the times are pretty close to what you’d run at a normal race.
Seeing Cheptegei’s name in the results reminded me of a major question I’d like to see answered in 2023:
What the hell happened to Joshua Cheptegei in the Worlds 5,000 final in Eugene?
After winning the 10,000, the 5,000 world record holder and Olympic 5,000 champ was just 9th in the Eugene 5,000 final. That’s a pretty shocking result.
After his win in Madrid, Cheptegei stated that he will try to defend his World XC title in Australia.
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Letesenbet Gidey Wins Ethiopian XC Champs, Will Run World XC
Three weeks ago in the WTW, I wrote about one of the most competitive footraces on Earth: the Kenyan cross country championships, where Kenya picked its team for next month’s World Cross Country Championships in Australia. On New Year’s Day, Ethiopia held its trials as part of the famed Jan Meda Cross Country meet and, just as in Kenya, the fields were packed with talent.
The big story on the day was 5k/10k/half marathon world record holder Letesenbet Gidey winning the women’s race just four weeks after running 2:16 at the Valencia Marathon. Gidey ran 35:22 to win by 19 seconds in the women’s “10k” race with 66:37 half marathoner Gete Alemayehu taking second. Mekides Abebe, the bronze medalist in the steeple at Worlds last year, was third in 35:47.
After the race Gidey confirmed she will be running World XC in Bathurst on February 18. Gidey will be aiming for her first senior World XC title after winning the junior race in 2015 and 2017 and taking bronze in the senior race in 2019.
The men’s race was also loaded as 12:50 5k man Berihu Aregawi won in 30:45, nine seconds up on 2021 World U20 3k champ Tadese Worku. The race was so deep that Telahun Bekele (12:52 pb, 2022 Oslo DL 5k winner) and Selemon Barega (2021 Olympic 10k champ, 2022 World Indoor 3k champ) didn’t even finish in the top six (Barega was 7th).
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Tigist Assefa Returns To Action With a Win
The Bahrain Night Half Marathon was held on December 23, and it was significant as Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa, the former 1:59 800 Olympian, returned to racing for the first time since her shock 2:15:37 win at the Berlin Marathon. Assefa showed that she’s not a one-hit wonder as she picked up the large $30,000 first place check in 67:40. Kenyan XC champ Sabastian Sawe won the men’s race in 58:48 over 12:54 5000 man Daniel Ebenyo (59:04) and Yomif Kejelcha (59:25).
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At the São Silvestre Road Race in São Paulo on December 31, Andrew Rotich Kwemoi, a 22-year-old with a 59:37 half pb, became the first Ugandan to win as he ran 44:43 for 15k. Kenya’s Catherine Reline Amanang’Ole, 21, won the women’s race in 49:39.
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Jakob Ingebrigtsen Gets Sick
One person who didn’t end their year on a high note was Olympic 1500 and world 5000 champ Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Ingebrigtsen was supposed to go for Berihu Aregawi‘s lofty 12:49 road 5k world record at the Cursa dels Nassos in Barcelona on December 31 but had to pull out of the race due to illness. In his absence, Adisu Girma, a 23-year-old Ethiopian, won the men’s race in 13:25 in his 5k debut. 13:25 isn’t a bad time at all for a guy who was 4th in the 800 at World Juniors in 2018 and has pbs of 1:46.36 and 3:35.81.
Ethiopia’s Ejgayehu Taye, who set the women’s WR of 14:19 last year, came up two seconds short of that mark in the women’s race where Konstanze Klosterhalfen was a well-beaten second (14:52) and Karoline Grøvdal third (15:06) — reversing the finish from Euro XC three weeks earlier.
*Ejgayehu Taye Misses 5k World Record By 2 Seconds As She Wins Barcelona New Years Race In 14:21*Race Video
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Grant Fisher Had An AMAZING 2022, But…..
Seeing the names Berihu Aregawi and Ejgayehu Taye reminded me of American Grant Fisher. Why? Because all three of those athletes are on the shortlist of “Best distance runners on planet Earth who have never won a medal at a global outdoor championship.”
Grant Fisher had an am amazing 2022 — certainly one of the greatest seasons in US distance running history.
He set American records indoors in the 5,000 (12:53.73) and outdoors in the 3,000 (7:28.49), 5,000 (12:46.96), and 10,000 (26:33.84). He also set the meet record at USAs by winning the 5,000 in 13:03.86. Truly incredible.
Grant Fisher set a TON of ARs this year
Fisher’s season had two big blemishes. He somehow lost the US 10,000 title to Joe Klecker in May and he failed to medal at Worlds. That said, “failing to medal at Worlds” is a label that is often unfairly placed on runners by fans and media members. The reality is, it’s extremely hard to finish in the top three at Worlds.
If every human on the planet lines up on the same start line and runs their best possible race, do I think that Grant Fisher is one of the three best runners in the 5,000 or 10,000? No, I do not. In the 10,000, I’d put Joshua Cheptegei, Selemon Barega, and Jacob Kiplimo ahead of him and at 5,000, I’d put Cheptegei, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, and Jacob Krop ahead of him without much hesitation.
That being said, I really hope Fisher medals at some point in his career or he may look back on Eugene with regret.
The reality is, not everyone brings their A+ game to Worlds. In the 5,000 in Eugene, Fisher beat A LOT of really great people including Olympic champions Cheptegei and Barega. At 12:46.96, Fisher is the 12th-fastest person in history at 5000. But many of the faster athletes are retired or no longer racing on the track. Check this stat out.
There are only five men still racing on the track that have run faster than Fisher for 5,000. All five of them were in the Eugene 5,000 final and Fisher beat four of the five. But Fisher didn’t medal as after stumbling on the final turn, he lost to both Oscar Chelimo (13:06 pb then, 13:00 now) and Luis Grijalva (13:10 pb then, 13:02 now).
| The 5 Humans Who Are Still Active On The Track That Are Faster Than Grant Fisher at 5,000 / 2022 Worlds Results | ||||
| 1 | 12:35.36 | Joshua Cheptegei | UGA | 9th place |
| 2 | 12:43.02 | Selemon Barega | ETH | 12th place |
| 3 | 12:45.71 | Jacob Krop | KEN | 2nd place |
| 4 | 12:46.33 | Nicholas Kipkorir | KEN | 7th place |
| 5 | 12:46.79 | Yomif Kejelcha | ETH | 8th place |
Note: Hagos Gebrhiwet (12:45.82 pb) is also faster than Fisher but didn’t race at all in 2022.
The good news for Fisher is there is he’s only 25 and there are global outdoor championships in each of the next three years. And the odds are in Fisher’s favor.
There are 25 men who have broken 12:50 for 5000. 20 of the 25 have won at least one global outdoor medal.
The 5 Sub-12:50 Guys Without Medals
Nicholas Kipkorir 12:46.33
Grant Fisher 12:46.96
Isaac Songok 12:48.66
Yenew Alamirew 12:48.77
John Kipkoech 12:49.50
In the 10,000, Fisher is the 7th-fastest man in history. Two of the men faster than him never medalled at a global outdoor championships (Nicholas Kemboi 26:30.03 and Abebe Dinkesa 26:30.74).
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Japan’s Ekiden Season Ends With a Bang
The end of the year/beginning of the year is always huge in Japan as the high schoolers, pros, and collegians all run their biggest ekidens of the season. If you want to stay on top of the Japanese road scene, you have to go to Brett Larner‘s Japan Running News website but here’s a few things that caught my eye.
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The big story in the biggest ekiden of them all — the two-day Hakone Ekiden — was that Komazawa University won for the eighth time. Combined with their win at the Izumo Ekiden in October and the National University Ekiden in November, they became just the fifth Japanese team to win the triple crown. How did coach Hiroaki Oyagi celebrate? By retiring as the head coach. 2:06:51 marathoner Atsushi Fujita is his replacement.
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Komazawa got the win even though they didn’t run arguably the biggest Japanese talent in collegiate running: national U20 record holder Keita Sato who has a 13:22.91 pb at age 18. Sato wasn’t the only huge talent not to compete in the collegiate championships. In the Mount Fuji Women’s Ekiden, Takushoku University’s Seira Fuwa, who is Japan’s collegiate record holder for the women’s 10,000m at 30:45.21, also didn’t run.
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The TV ratings for Hakone were Super Bowlesque once again, peaking at 35% (the Super Bowl’s average share last year was 36.9%). Brett Larner reports that crowds returned this year in full force, but with one major caveat. “People were asked not to cheer out loud as a corona precaution and mostly complied, leaving the packed streets oddly quiet given the numbers of people.”
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Kenya’s Vincent Yegon, the Tokyo Kokusai runner who was named the first non-Japanese MVP of Hakone in 2021, captured the MVP honors yet again this year thanks to his dominant run on the 20.9 km fourth leg, which he covered in 60:00, smashing Yuya Yoshida‘s old record by 30 seconds. Yegon, who has pbs of 13:15/27:24/61:18, is now the course record holder on legs 2-3-4. Yoshida ran 60:30 in 2020, the same year he ran 2:07:05 in the marathon.
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I’m always amazed by the elevation changes at Hakone for the 5th and 6th legs. The 5th leg is way uphill (starts at 37m, climbs to 874m, then descends to 728m at finish), while the 6th is way downhill (starts at 728m, climbs to 874m, then descends to 37m at finish). Those are net climbs/descent of 2,444 feet each.
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The winner of the women’s collegiate ekiden was Meijo University, who absolutely dominated by winning five of the seven legs. Meijo clocked 2:21:56 for 43.4km distance with Osaka Gakuin University way back in 2:25:07. Meijo’s Nanaka Yonezawa had the only course record with her 10:03 third stage 3.3 km run.
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Did you see the winning time for the boys’ high school ekiden, which is the full marathon distance but run by seven people? Kurakshiki HS won in a record time of 2:01:10, just one second off of Eliud Kipchoge‘s marathon WR, but since the course isn’t totally flat, I’m giving the edge to Kurakshiki. Now that would be a fun race to see. Kipchoge hammering for the WR while a bunch of HS relay runners surge back and forth.
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Molly Seidel Returns To The Track
After an unbelievable 2021, 2022 was certainly a down year for Olympic bronze medallist Molly Seidel as she didn’t finish a marathon and only raced three times on the road all year.
I’m pleased to report that Seidel is healthy enough to have returned to the track on December 23 as she once again ran in the GrindFest in Milwaukee. The unusual event, which is run on the 443m flat track at the Pettit National Ice Center, is a progression run where the pace increases every three laps, finishing with a three-lap race at the end once runners can’t pick it up anymore.
Seidel made it 31 laps (13,733 meters) in 50:23. In 2017, she ran 40 laps in 64:06 but that doesn’t mean Seidel is in worse shape as one of the race organizers Thomas Breitbach wrote that “Olympic bronze medalist Molly Seidel took home the women’s title, getting in nearly 9 miles of work before tapping out to make sure she wouldn’t be too late to her family dinner.”
More: thegrindfest.com,
Speaking of unusual events, I love the handicap mile races that are run in Tasmania every year. This year, world-class milers Olli Hoare and Stewy McSweyn ran two in a span of three days — one in Devonport on December 29, and another in Burnie on December 31. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read here:
World Athletics Recap: Oliver Hoare And Stewart McSweyn Split Wins At Handicapped Grass Mile Races In Tasmania
*MB: Olli Hoare edges Stewy McSweyn in mile race on grass Down Under in Tasmania
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Recommended Reads
Jonathan Gault wrote some nice pieces over the last few weeks.
- How Valencia Became the “Ciudad del Running” In a decade, Valencia has gone from afterthought to host of some of the world’s fastest races. How did the third-largest city in Spain emerge as a global capital of running? Jonathan Gault journeyed to Spain’s Mediterranean coast to find out how.
- How Did THAT Happen? Remembering the Strangest Moments in Running in 2022 From “Poopgate” to the Abbott World Marathon Majors screwing over Eliud Kipchoge to Devon Allen‘s DQ to Max Siegel‘s salary, 2022 was a wild year on and off the track.
- The Best Track & Field Moments of 2022 2022 was a year that saw Grant Fisher break out, Sydney McLaughlin explode, and Eliud Kipchoge break the WR (again). Here’s what else stood out according to Jonathan Gault. *MB: Here are Jonathan Gault’s Best track and field moments of 2022 – What say you?
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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