America's best miler will race America's best long-distance runner at 3,000 meters in one of the crown jewels of the 2025 indoor season.
Get Pumped For Millrose
LRC Podcast
Double Olympic medalist and American record holder at 3000, 5000, 10,000m Grant Fisher joins us to announce he's running the Millrose Games 3000 vs Olympic gold medallist Cole Hocker and then to discuss his 2024 campaign and plans for the future.
On The Boards
On The Boards
Week That Was
The last super busy weekend of the year was full of action from all over the globe and we break it down for you.
Distance News
- Steeplechasing Is A Family Affair For Kenya's World U20 Champ Edmund Serem Serem's brother, Amos, won the title in 2021 after they were both strongly encouraged and supported by their father who actually chose the steeple as their event. The older brother has the faster PB for now (8:02 vs 8:15). Edmund: "Every time my brother and I are in the same race, he usually performs very well. I don't know if it is because he doesn't want me to beat him or because he feels stronger when I am around him, but I still look forward to racing against him.”
- Grand Slam Track Signs Multi-Time Global Medalist Hagos Gebrhiwet Gebrhiwet was 5th in the 5000m in Paris. Sprinters Alexi Holmes, Oblique Seville and Sasha Zhoya were also announced as the latest GST signees.
- The Women's Marathon WR Is Now Officially Sub-2:10: World Athletics Ratifies Ruth Chepngetich's 2:09:56 They also ratified WRs for Beatrice Chebet (10,000m, 28:54) and Mondo Duplantis (PV, 6.25m).
Field Event News
- Jamaica's Olympic Discus Champ Roje Stona Is Trying Out For The NFL Stona previously participated in Arkansas' pro day and minicamps with the New Orelans Saints and Green Bay Packers and scouts said he had the skill set to try out as a defensive end and tight end.
- Even Mondo Duplantis Isn't Trying To Save The Field Events “If I had to be brutally honest, I think of myself as a pole vaulter first over being a field eventer. The pole vault is a bit different from everything else. Of course, I want the field events to get the respect and the attention that I think they deserve, but I can’t help but make pole vault the priority. I just want to keep trying to put it in the limelight... "
- Olympic Pole Vault Champ Nina Kennedy Shares Awkward Conversation She Had On A Plane Someone misheard her and thought she went to the Olympics for "pole dancing."
Sprint Stuff
- Jamaica's 9.81 Man Oblique Seville Thinks He Can Crack Into The Top 5 All-Time List The current #5 is Justin Gatlin at 9.74.
- Usain Bolt On Gout Gout: "He looks like young me."
- The Guardian Asks "What's Next?" For Gout Gout His next race will be the Queensland state titles in March.
- 15-Year-Old Divine Iheme Runs 6.76 For 60m He dropped his PB from 6.94 to 6.76, moving closer to Mark Lewis-Francis' under-18 British Record of 6.69.
Some More Year-End Awards
- Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Masai Russell And Quincy Hall Win USATF Wing Awards For Paris Olympic Performances McLaughlin-Levrone was named the most dominant American track and field athlete of the Games, Masai Russell got the Breakthrough Performer award and Quincy Hall the Most Inspirational Performance honor.
- Norwegian Decathlete Sander Skotheim Wins World Athletics Fair Play Award For 2024 Skotheim's "fair play moment" was from the Paris Olympics where he continued the competition despite being out of the contention for a medal when he no-heighted the pole vault.
*MB: Why is it ok to skip remaining events in Decathlon if one event goes badly and you won't medal?
Distance News
Blanks previously had a NIL deal with New Balance.
- Tsegay Weldlibanos (2:07:35) And Calli Hauger-Thackery (2:24:28) Shatter CIM Course Records CJ Albertson was runner-up in 2:10:06. *Results
*MB: CJ Albertson 2:10:06 at CIM - what’s holding him back - Keely Hodgkinson Nominated For BBC Sports Personality Of The Year Hodgkinson is one of the favorites to win the award (there are six nominees) and if she does, she'll be the first track athlete to win it since Mo Farah in 2017.
Madness at BU
Strand (7:30.15) and Wolfe (7:30.23) are now #4 and #6 on the all-time US list (including outdoor times) as the top four finishers all broke the NCAA record. *Race finish
Blanks ran under the World Championship standard in what may have been his final race for Harvard as Lemngole (14:52.57) just held off Hilda Olemomoi (14:52.84) and just got under Parker Valby's old indoor collegiate record of 14:52.79.
- ETHAN MF STRAND and PARKER MF WOLFE
- Blanks 12:59.89
- Jesus christ Bosley! Ruined race for graham
- OFFICIAL 2024 BU Dec. Indoor THREAD (Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener) \
- Have ya seen Yaseen? 3K: 7:34 & 5k: 13:22 Double.
- Graham Blanks REVEALS the KILLER workout that let him know he was ready to repeat as NCAA XC champ
- Are Wolfe and Strand the new Teare/Hocker of the NCAA?
Euro XC Champs
Ingebrigtsen broke away from the pack with less than a kilometer to go and won comfortably by 8 seconds over Italy's Yemaneberhan Crippa. Spain won the team title with just 18 points.
Battocletti came in 11 seconds ahead of Germany's Konstanze Klosterhalfen to become the first woman to win European XC titles at the U20, U23 and senior level. Battocletti also lead Italy to their first women's team title.
NXN
Hedengren broke Tuohy’s previous course record of 16:37.8 and came in well ahead of Victoria Garces (17:13.4) and Elizabeth Leachman (17:13.7). Last year's winner Addy Ritzenhein was 5th (17:15.3). Denver won the team competition after finishing 3rd last year.
Niwot won with 70 points over American Fork (96), the second lowest score in meet history. Vause won in 15:28, two seconds ahead of TJ Hansen.
More Weekend Distance Action
- Japan's Jumpei Yamaguchi And France's Floriane Hot Win Gold At IAU 100k World Championships Hot defended her title from the last edition in 2022, while Yamaguchi improved on his previous 2nd place finish. Yamaguchi won in 6:12:17 (5:59 pace) while hot finished in 7:08:43 (6:54 pace).
- Tyler Daillak, Cassidy Armstrong Win Foot Locker West Titles
- Kenya’s Samwel Chebolei Masai And Uganda's Loice Chekwemoi Win At Great Chepsaita XC Meet In Eldore
- Miu Saito Moves Up To #8 On Japan All-Time Steeple List With 9:45.62 At Edion Distance Challenge She won the race by almost 35 seconds.
Kalakaua Merrie Mile in Hawaii
For the 1st time, an entrant in the women's division won the overall race where the biological females started 32-seconds ahead of the men but Hiltz downplayed the fact they made history. "Fun fact. I actually don't identify as a woman. I'm nonbinary... so a woman still hasn't won this race," said Hiltz.
It's Outdoor Track Season in Australia
Gout Gout is now #2 all-time on the World U18 list behind Erriyon Knighton's 19.84.
Podcasts
We made the Friday 15 available to everyone as part of our Cyber Week sale. (And PSA Grand Slam Tickets are now on sale).
- LRC Triathlete Morgan Pearson Targeting 1 Hour Mark at Houston Marathon Our main pod earlier in the week.
More Pre-Euro XC News
- Former Hockey Player Making Her Debut For Team GB At Euro XC Champs She only switched to running in 2023 because of injuries she sustained playing hockey and has now run 15:19 for 5000m and won the British XC Champs.
*MB: Former British hockey player makes GB debut in Turkey just one year after switching sport - Irish XC Champ Keelan Kilrehill Hoping To Lead The Team To Their First Medal Finish In 24-Years Kilrehill: “Last year we came fourth and we thought at one stage we’d actually got bronze but, yeah, we’ve a similar team again if not better this year so I don’t see why we can’t challenge. I was looking at the entries there. It is going to be tough – there’s four or five other very good teams, but I think we’re as good as any of them so hopefully we can squeeze into the top three."
- Cathal Dennehy: Rising Stars Carry Medal Hopes For Youthful Irish Team At Euro XC Champs 2023 Euro XC U20 bronze medalist Nick Griggs leads the Irish medal hopes in the U23 race.
Blanks = NCAA XC x 2
Just before Blanks chases a 5,000m pb and collegiate record in what is likely his final NCAA race at Boston University on Saturday, he told LetsRun about the key session of his 2024 XC season -- one he described as "probably the best workout I've had so far in my career."
Links We Found Interesting
- Video interview with new Aussie marathon record holder Andy Buchanan who "felt the magic" of the Valencia course What's crazy is that while he broke the Aussie record by more than a minute (2:07:31 to 2:06:22), he was in the third and final pace group in Valencia.
- How has Kenneth Rooks' life (and James Corrigan's) changed since winning Olympic silver? Find out here “I get to talk to a lot more people now. More people like to hear my story because they’ve been inspired,” says Rooks.
- Want to Live Longer? You Better Start Moving—All Day Long. In Outside, Alex Hutchinson writes about an interesting new study.
*MB: Study: Want to live longer? Move or die. The amount of exercise you get is more important than your age or even a cancer diagnosis - 4 years ago, she was a hobby jogger, now she's the Canadian XC runner-up
- Nike Pegas surpasses Hoka Clifton as Strava's #1 daily trainer for 2024 What do you think of these shoes? Reveiw them at our shoe review site - BetterRunningShoes.com.
- Are you an annoying Strava user?If you only post your best workouts or hide your rest intervals, you may fit the definition.
- Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Mondo Duplantis will return to the site of their WRs - Silesia DL - in 2025 They both set WRs in Poland last year. The meet is in August (earlier we said April).
- The ‘Road to Tokyo 25’ online tool has launched They are hoping to get 50% from ranking and 50% from standard.
- 16-year-old sensation Gout Gout looking to break Australian under-18 100m record of 10.27 in Brisbane this weekend.
This Weekends Pro Action - Euro XC is Sunday in Turkey
- European Athletics Euro XC Preview: Ingebrigtsen hopes to cap 'glorious' year with another win The year would have been even more glorious if he'd won 1500m gold.
- Olympic silver medallist Nadia Battocletti of Italy is hoping to be 1st woman to ever win U20, U23 and Sr European XC titles Battocletti, who is the ddaughter of a man who served a doping suspension, has had an unreal 2024 as she won Olympic 10,000 silver and her odds of winning just wet way up at the winner of the last 3 champs Karoline Grøvdal has pulled out.
- Euro XC: Euro Cross 2024: who, what and when guide
- California International Marathon is this weekend and CJ Albertson (2:08:17 pb) & Calli Hauger-Thackery (2:21:04 pb) headline - Will the 2:10:27 and 2:26:02 CRs fall? Running both Chicago and NY was not nearly enough for CJ.
- Watch the 30th Euro Cross on the BBC
- David Stone: “I want Euro Cross to be the start of greater things to come”
Reminder, Life Doesn't End at 60
- And the new women's age 60 mile record is..... 5:27 Congrats to ireland's Anne Gilshinan.
- Meet 63-year-old Stuart Galloway who has broken 3 in a marathon for five straight decades And his next marathon is planned for 2030.
Big Changes at HOKA NAZ Elite
Almost 11 years after founding NAZ Elite, Rosario is leaving for a new venture. A number of athletes are also leaving the team, including Aliphine Tuliamuk, Krissy Gear, and Kellyn Taylor.
- RW: Major Changes Coming to Northern Arizona Elite "It’s basically everybody that’s old [is not being renewed] if we want to put it bluntly,” Taylor said. “It’s literally, there’s nobody older than 28 on the team now."
- Ben Rosario Resigns as Executive Director, Veteran Marathoners Reportedly Won’t Get New Contracts in 2025
- Ben Rosario's public farewell statement
- MB: NAZ Elite - Major Changes Coming in 2025
Interesting Administrative News
- NY Times: Did you know a defecting Chinese doctor told WADA Chinese swimmers were doping with TMZ and then 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive but weren't banned
- Seb Coe does not see Grand Slam Track as a threat to World Athletics , hopes it succeeds - “We should be comforted that we have created a landscape where people think it’s worth investing in our sport,”
- World Athletics changes race walk distances from 20k to half-marathon and 35k to full marathon
- Botswana athletics administration is in chaos
Non-Distance News
- Italy's 2020 Co-Olympic HJ Champ Gianmarco Tamberi Admits He Doesn't Actually Love The Sport “I played basketball until I was 17, if I had continued I would have been less proud but happier, because it’s not so nice to jump a bar. I had to make that choice but I don’t love what I do. ...In 2009, I found myself at the crossroads of whether to continue my journey as a basketball player, the sport I loved with all my heart, or choose the high jump, the discipline I was probably born for."
- Forbes 30 Under 30 List Features Four Track And Field Athletes Gabby Thomas, Mondo Duplantis, Tara Davis-Woodhall and her Paralympian husband Hunter Woodhall made the list.
- The Guardian: "He's 16 And Hyped As Usain Bolt's Successor - But Australia's Gout Gout Is Keeping His Feet On The Ground" Who is hyping this kid as the "next Bolt?" His 100m PB is only 10.29 and he didn't even win world juniors (he was 2nd in the 200m).
- The Guardian's Sean Ingle Says With World Indoor, Euro And Olympic Titles And 3 WRs, Mondo Duplantis Is His Athelte Of The Year
Distance News
- Sarah Wanjiru Sets Japanese Collegiate 5000m Record With 15:00.68 At Nittai University Meet 18 men went sub-28 in the 10,000m (Philemon Kiplagat won in 27:36).
- MB: Slow Ethiopian Runner (35:09 10k PB) Popped For Doping
- Kenyans Sweep Titles At Kumamoto Kosa Road Race Anthony Maina (46:07, 10 mile), Vincent Yegon (28:05, 10k) and Agnes Ngetich (14:48, 5k) were the winners.
- Yuya Kobayashi Breaks Hofu Yomiuri Marathon CR With 2:24:59; Riki Nakanishi Wins Men's Race In 2:09:07
- There Was Controversy Over Whether To Even Hold The Valencia Marathon After The Deadly Floods
*MB: With the floods in Valencia is the marathon in doubt? - Athletics Weekly Shares Their Christmas Gift Ideas For Runners
Olympic/Admin News
- Australian Man Who Tried To Disrupt The Men's Olympic 100m Fined $8,440 He wasn't successful in making it to the track, but the he was the reason the start was delayed. He's apparently done this at sporting events across the world. Maybe it's time to put him in jail?
- Vladimir Putin Cancels Plans For "Friendship Games" When Russia was banned from the Olympics they announced they would relaunch the "Friendship Games" which were first held in 1984 by the Soviet Union when they boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics.
- South Africa Will Formally Launch Its 2036 Olympic In February They would be the first African country to host the Olympics.
- Alan Abrahamson Breaks Down Conflict Between IOC And World Olympians Association: "IOC Empire Threatens World Olympians With Death Star"
- Reuters: IOC Prepares For A New President After A High At The Paris Games The election will be in March 2025. Fingers crossed it's Seb Coe.
- WADA Presidential Election Will Be This May
- Sri Lanka's Olympic Committee In Danger Of IOC Ban Due To Ethics Violations
RIP To Two Olympic Throwers
- Germany's 1996 Olympic Discus Champ Wyludda Dies At Age 55 She also won two world silver medals and is still #2 on the world all-time list.
- Two-Time British Olympic Hammer Thrower And BBC Commentator Paul Dickenson Passes At 74
NCAA News
- Bowerman Award Presentation Will Be December 19 The 2024 finalists are Parker Valby, Maia Ramsden and Jaida Ross for the women and Christopher Morales Williams, Caleb Dean and Leo Neugebauer for the men.
- MB: BU Season Opener Accepted Entries
- MB: UCLA women's XC/track team banned from recruiting for two weeks (until December 7th)
European XC Champs Is This Weekend In Turkey
- AW Euro XC Champs Preview: Jakob Ingebrigtsen And Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal Could Win Double Gold For Norway The three-time winner Grøvdal will be up against Italy’s Olympic silver medalist Nadia Battocletti. *European Athletics Preview
*MB: European XC Champs Sunday - Netherlands' Niels Laros And GB's Defending Champion Innes FitzGerald The Favorites In The Euro XC Champs U20 Race Laros says he's looking for redemption after getting outkicked for the win last year.
- European XC Champs U23 Preview: GB's Will Barnicoat Looking For Back-To-Back Titles In the women's race, Finland's Ilona Mononen was the distant runner-up in 2023, but might be the favorite to win this year.
- Preview: France Seeking Euro XC Mixed Relay Defense Euro XC Champs are this weekend in Turkey.
Week That Was
Our weekly recap is back with a vengeance. In it, we rave about how much better Africa is at the marathon than the mighty USA, wonder if it's bad that AOY awards are now nothing more than popularity contests and rave about 40+ runners.
- Discussion: Sara Hall breaks American Masters Record
- Who is Biya Simbassa? 2:06:53 for #4 American all-time in Valencia
- Edward MF Cheserek- 2:05:24
- A 13:42, 28:26 Australian just ran a 2:06:22 marathon
Valencia Marathon
The 2023 world half marathon champ missed Kelvin Kiptum's debut record by just 12 seconds. Ethiopia's Megertu Alemu, who was 2nd in London last year and 3rd in Chicago (4th in London this year), won the women's race. Kenenisa Bekele was with the leaders through halfway and in the top 10 at 30k but ended up a DNF.
- Biya Simbassa 2:06:53 for #4 American all-time in Valencia
- Official 2024 Valencia Marathon Live Discussion Thread
- Sabastian Sawe 2:02:05 Marathon Debut! Next Kelvin Kiptum? Two Hour Marathoner? Sawe is now the #5 man in history and the 2024 world leader. The times were quick as two guys broke 2:03, 10 broke 2:05 and 30 broke 2:10. Megertu Alemu won the women's race in 2:16:49 as three broke 2:19
- Edward MF Cheserek- 2:05:24 If Cheserek were American, he'd be the American record holder at 13.1 and 26.2.
- Edward Cheserek Is Working On His US Citizenship, But It May Take 5+ Years
- shoe companies have ruined running
Fukuoka Marathon
From Brett Larner: "Yuya Yoshida's story is really the kind you love to read. A guy who never got to run the big races at Aoyama Gakuin University until his very last chance his senior year, when he dropped a course record at the 2020 Hakone Ekiden in what he was thinking of as his last race."
Athletes Of The Year
Hassan and Tebogo won the overall award after a fan vote while the category winners were Tebogo and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone for track, Hassan and Tamirat Tola for "out of stadium," and Mondo Duplantis and Yaroslava Mahuchikh for field events. Nike co-founder Phil Knight won the President's Award for "exceptional service to athletics." We were happy to see them going back to an overall man and woman winner after the "everyone wins" mess last year, but basing it solely on a popularity contest fan vote is ridiculous.
High School XC
- Jesuit Boys Claim 10th State Title And Win Merge; Trabuco Hills Girls Edge Buchanan At California State Meet Sadie Engelhardt won her third D2 state title.
- Elizabeth Leachman And Keegan Smith Win Foot Locker South
- Juan Gonzalez, Victoria Garces Both Remain Undefeated Through Foot Locker Midwest
- Jack Graffeo, Virginia Kraus Win Championship Races At Foot Locker Northeast
Graham Blanks Podcast
Hear from the repeat NCAA XC champ.
End-Of-Year Awards
- Photo Of Sifan Hassan And Tigist Assefa Colliding During The Woman's Marathon At The Paris Olympics Wins WA Photo Of The Year Award The photographer Michael Steele has been a sports photographer since 1986 and worked for Getty Images since 1999.
- USATF Wins World Athletics Member Federation Award The award "recognizes a Member Federation that has distinguished itself in its accomplishments throughout the year and, as a result, positively contributed to the growth and profile of the sport. " *USATF article
- USATF Chief Operating Office Renee Washington Wins World Athletics Woman Of The Year Award They say Washington won the award in part for her promotion of gender equality including expanded maternity support for athletes. *USATF article
- Keely Hodgkinson's Coach, Trevor Painter, Wins World Athletics 2024 Coaching Award He and his wife, Jenny Meadows, also coach Olympic 1500m bronze medalist Georgia Bell and 4x400 bronze medalist Lewis Davey.
The Ingebrigtsen Saga Turns More Sad
Reports allege that Gjert hit and kicked Jakob, that the abuse one time lasted 15-30 minutes and that Gjert said he'd beat him "to death." *Times of London article
*MB: Gjert Ingebrigtsen will stand trial in 2025 after indictment reveals he hit Jakob in the head
Manchester Road Race
Kelati is the first woman to win 4 in a row.
- After a remarkable 62 years of capturing images of athletes, AW’s long-time photographer Mark Shearman retires And legends like Paula Radliffe and Seb Coe pay their respects.
Upcoming Action
- Valencia is Sunday - Kenenisa Bekele and Alemu Megertu lead Valencia line-ups
- Preview: Sadie Engelhardt, Epic Team Matchups On Tap At California State Meet Talk about it on our messageboard.
*MB: 2024 California HS XC CIF - It's a big weekend for racing in Japan where the Fukuoka Marathon leads the way The Japanese field in Fukuoka is the best its been in years and the Chinese NR is there to battle as well. Plus, on the track, might steeplechase NR holder Ryuji Miura break the 5000 NR of 13:08.40 NR?
- Final entries for the 30th edition of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, Türkiye on 8 December have been published.
- Lelisa Desisa will try to rediscover his mojo in Dubai on January 12th The 2013 Dubai champ also has won NYC (once) and Boston (twice) but hasn't broken 2:10 since 2019.
Cool Story From NCAA XC
The story of what happened to Habtom Samuel's shoe shows the best of the running community.
Podcast
LRC Podcast NCAA Recap + World Treadmill Champs?, Grand Slam & Ultimate Athletics champs updates
A Final Look at NCAA XC
But before we switch over to indoor track, we had a few final thoughts to share about the 2024 NCAA XC championships, including explaining why track is not the same as cross country, revealing the top-20 finisher who called his shot on the LetsRun messageboard, letting you know about two runners who did something on Saturday that hasn’t been done since Matthew Centrowitz, before we give you a way-too-early look ahead to 2025 NCAAs.
Happy Thanks Giving - Be Thankful For Your Health
- Jerry Lawson, former American marathon record holder, grateful to be able to run again after he was almost paralyzed by Gullain-Barre Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder Lawson, who used to train like an ANIMAL and run 800 miles in a month in the midst of the Florida summer was unable to walk for part of the year but is now back running.
- Boston Athletic Association to go back and pay EVERYONE who lost out on prize money to dopers all the way back to 1986 We are as anti-doping as anyone but going back 38 years is overkill. There's a state of limitations for most things in life. If you are going to do that, then you might as well also bump it up factoring in for inflation.
- Valencia Marathon is Sunday: Preview, schedule and how to watch live on Olympics.com
- Preview: Elizabeth Leachman Begins National Title Defense At Foot Locker South
- XC Runners and coaches recall how they survived Hurricane Helene in Asheville, NC
- Timothy Cheruiyot says 2025 will be his last in the 1500 and then he's moving up to 5k, 10k and then the marathon
Non-Distance News / Ryan Crouser Continues To Be Treated Like A Piece of Trash and He's Fighting Back
- “Ryan Crouser is planning on launching an ‘American Shot Put League’, with a soft launch in 2025 & a full rollout in 2026.” The fact that the shot isn't going to be in the Ultimate Championships is a joke.
- Former BBC Olympics athletics commentator Paul Dickenson has died at the age of 74 The former Olympic hammer thrower commentated on every Summer and Winter Olympic Games between 1992 and 2014.
- Noah Lyles gets features in UK's The Guardian -- ‘America has a winner’s mentality. That’s the good and the bad’ |
Distance News
- Olympic Trials Winner Fiona O’Keeffe Is On The Road To Recovery From A Femoral Stress Fracture O'Keeffe dropped out of the Olympic marathon, but said said that her pre-Paris MRI didn't reveal the stress fracture and it only came up once back in the US on a better machine. “It’s good we have a clear answer. It made me feel like I wasn’t being crazy or a wimp in Paris, but it’s also frustrating because this would’ve been good to know before the Olympics, before I got on that start line."
*MB: Fiona O’Keeffe confirms femoral stress fracture - The Telegraph Mocks World Athletics' Idea For A World Treadmill Championship With Suggestions For Other Ridiculous Championships LRC's Employee 1.1 unironically loves their idea for a world championship bleep test (known as the pacer test in the US). It was always one of his favorite days in high school gym class.
- Gulveer Singh Breaks Indian NR To Win Hachioji Long Distance 10,000m With 39 Going Sub-28 Singh won in 27:14.88.
- Athletics Weekly Talks To GB's Scout Adkin About The Work She Put In To Become The Mountain Running World Cup Champion Last Month The series took place over four months (12 races in seven countries) and Adkin was in second place going into the final race in Italy where she finished 3rd to put give her the overall series win by 1 point over Kenya's Joyce Muthoni Njeru.
- Japan Post Holds Off Sekisui Kagaku To Win Queens Ekiden National Title
Grand Slam Track
- Michael Johnson: "I think I can save track, but not track and field." Johnson makes the fair point that track and field is really multiple sports in one and that doesn't make sense for modern audiences. "There’s no similarity at all between pole vaulters and sprinters or shot putters and triple jumpers."
- Michael Johnson Denies Reports That UK Athletics Rejected Hosting A Grand Slam Track Meet "UK Athletics didn't decline to have a Grand Slam Track event. We engaged with 10 interested cities around the globe and we decided for year one that we wanted to focus our energy on the US."
Euro XC Champs Are December 8 In Turkey
- Who Are The Top Names Competing At Euro XC Champs In Turkey On December 8? Jakob Ingebrigtsen leads the entries along with his countrywoman Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal who is going for her 4th straight title. Other notables include Olympic silver medalist Nadia Battocletti, 19-year-old Niels Laros and Italy's Yemaneberhan Crippa.
- Athletics Weekly: Strong British Team Selected For Euro XC
- Hosts Turkey Announced Team For Antalya 2024 Includes Yasemin Can who won four successive Euro XC titles from 2016 to 2019.
- Strong Mixed Relay Team Highlights Spanish Squad For Euro XC The relay includes reigning Euro indoor 800m champ Adrian Ben.
Noah Lyles Speaks to LRC
The Tyreek Hill race may be coming together. Lyles has interesting comments on Grand Slam Track, the 100 vs the 200 and whether the sport of track and field wants to change. *Podcast here
No, This isn't April Fools
They are apparently close to signing a partnership with a technology company to "develop the virtual running scene" and Seb Coe says, "...Ultimately, why not? We have to embrace and we have got to take our sport to where people are. ...Whether it is through virtual, whether it is through Esports, whether it is through treadmill, these are all the things that we want to really explore."
Sprint Stuff
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- Gabby Thomas Signs With Grand Slam Track She says she's glad to have a set schedule of four meets in place rather than "choosing which meets to go to on a whim."
- Noah Lyles Calls YouTuber IShowSpeeds Comments About Making The 2028 Olympics "Cute" Unclear if the YouTuber was serious when he said it, but Lyles suggested he come train with him.
- Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Explains The Symbolism Behind Her Butterfly Tattoo
End Of The Year Awards
- Keely Hodgkinson The Favorite To Win BBC Sports Personality Of The Year Award Apparently the other top contender is a darts player so it'd be kind of a joke if she lost.
- Check Out The 11 Photos That Were Shortlisted For World Athletics Photograph Of The Year There were not one, not two, but three pictures of Mondo Duplantis. One of them made it to the final list of three.
- Olympic 400m 4th Placer Rhasidat Adeleke Named Irish Athlete Of The Year Ciara Mageean was middle distance athlete of the year and Fionnuala McCormack endurance athlete of the year after placing 28th in the Paris marathon in what was her fifth Olympic Games.
Pro Distance Results
- Burundi’s Rodrigue Kwizera And Italy's Nadia Battocletti Win Alcobendas, Spain XC Race The Olympic 10,000m silver medalist Battocletti beat Germany’s 2022 European 5000m champion Konstanze Klosterhalfen by 1:13 while Kwizera got his third consecutive win here, 12 seconds ahead of Uganda's Martin Kiprotich.
- Olympic 1500m 6th Placer Niels Laros Steps Up In Distance And Wins Tilburg 10k XC Race Sweden’s Sarah Lahti won the women's race.
- Christian Allen (36:40) And Lauren Gregory (41:45) Win USATF 10k Trail Championships Allie Ostrander was runner-up in 43:18 and Olympic steeplechaser Marissa Howard was third in 44:20.
- Kenya’s World XC U20 Bronze Medalist Matthew Kipkoech Kipruto And Uganda's Belinda Chemutai Win Carhaix-Plouger, France XC Race
- Tomer Tarragano And Kate Axford Win GB's Euro XC Champs Trials In Liverpool
NCAA Women
BYU won its second title in the Diljeet Taylor era as Alabama's Doris Lemngole moved up one spot from last year to win the crown.
NCAA Men
Graham Blanks joined the Gerry Lindgren, Steve Prefontaine and Conner Mantz club of repeat American winners as the year of Ed Eyestone continued with a BYU victory.
NCAA Talk
- The Offficial 2024 NCAA D1 XC Championship Thread
- When BYU starts recruiting Africans, its over for everyone else
- NCAA XC 2024 is ruined
- Why is BYU so dominant?
- NAU women are the biggest failures of all time
- James Corrigan did NOT finish in BYU's top 5
- Dave Smith is a bad coach
- USA USA USA! AMERICAN BORN TEAMS WIN NCAA XC 2024
- Who is that Furman guy?
NXN Regionals
Hedengren ran 15:50 to dominate by 41 seconds over Ritzenhein. Herriman boys, Vista Nation girls won the team titles. *Results
*MB: BYU signee Jane Hedengren runs HS record 15:50 XC 5K
- NXR South: Carroll Boys, Flower Mound Girls Continue To Reign Lilly Beshears beat out Olympic Trials qualifier Elizabeth Leachman by 11 seconds. *Results
- NXR New York: Top Ranked Monroe-Woodbury Boys, Bethlehem Girls Earn Their Way Back To NXN *Results
- NXR Northeast: CBA Boys, Union Catholic Girls Dominate *Results
- NXR Southeast: Miami Havana Boys Maintain Supremacy, Raleigh Catholic Girls Squeak By With 7-Point Victory *Results
- List Of NXN Qualifiers By Region (Teams/Individuals)
D2/D3 Champs
- Colorado School Of Mines Men, Adams State Women Win DII National XC Titles The men's competition was super close Wingate finished just 3 points back. William Amponsah and Lauren Kiley were the individual winners. *Results
- UW-La Crosse Men Dominate, MIT Women Complete Comeback To Claim NCAA D3 XC Titles MIT beat Chicago by just 10 points. Christian Patzka, Faith Duncan were the individual winners. *Results
Change is Coming
This is the 3 day end of the season meet World Athletics is hosing in 2026. $10 Million in Prize money for 1 meet with $150k for each winner. The single sex 4x1 and 4x4 are dropped as well.
Paywalls Lifted
Last year, nine Kenyan men and a record seven Kenyan women earned All-American honors at the NCAA XC champs. The total could be even higher at this year's meet. We explain the reason behind the trend and wonder if there should be an age limit. Is it fair to have a 28-year-old freshman join the team who has a PR faster than the American record?
NCAA track and field/XC is about to be radically changed. Roster caps are coming -- are you ready for a max of 10 people on a men's SEC roster? But the opportunity to give out way more scholarships is also coming. Will the net change be great or catastrophic, leading to the "the slow death of men's track & field" as one SEC coach worries.
The Latest Distance News
- Emily Venters and Edwin Kurgat win Cross Champs in Austin Venters, who was a 2-time NCAA xc AA for Utah, CRUSHED the women's field by more than 23 seconds. Kurgat, the 2019 NCAA xc champ and 7th placer in the Paris Olympic 5k, came from behind and won the men's race by 5 seconds. *Results
- Japanese 10,000 NR attempt is supposedly in the works at Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance event It seems unlikely to happen as current NR holder Kazuya Shiojiri ( 27:09.80) has pulled out and the fasetst Japanese PB in the field is 27:26.
- Dominic Lobalu reflects on his incredible journey. From refugee to European champ and Olympic 4th placer
- Toni Reavis: Recalibrating Excellence: How can we use 2:10 now as a measure of excellence on the men’s side anymore?
- Meet the last freshman women to win NCAAs - Suzie Tuffey Tuffey didn't even run xc in HS but won it all in 1985.
Former 3rd placer at Foot Lockers Ryan Craven, who infamously pissed off the Wisconsin Badger faithful 13 years ago when he wrote an article comparing the coaching styles of Mick Byrne and Jerry Schumacher, returns to writing to apologize for any offense he caused as he gets ready to return to Wisconsin. Nowadays he's trying to make a more positive impact on the track community by developing an XC video game that we all can be proud of.
More LInks That Passed Our Human Vetting Process
- MB: Narve Nordas resigns from Norway's European xc team due to "corrupt selection committee" which picked Filip over his training partner Per Svela
- Ciara Mageean opens up on the heartbreak of missing Paris Olympics just months after winning European gold - 'I felt like I was drowning.’ ‘I’ll be honest; I didn’t know how I felt. I just felt numb. It wasn’t even sadness, it was just emptiness. I didn’t know how to feel. ‘For the people that are going through that, you just need to take another step forward and reach out for the help when you need it, because in those moments I felt like I was drowning.’
- Flotrack films one of Graham Blanks' final pre-NCAA xc workouts
- Double Olympic triathlon champ Alistair Brownlee retires at age 36
- Cape Town Marathon has passed all of the major marathon tests - may soon become a major What. A. Joke.
- Coe says he'll pay all Olympic medallists if he becomes IOC president
- Julien Alfred: "When I'm on the track, I don't talk. I don't have any friends." The Telegrah's Julien Alfred interview is sub-titled "The fastest woman on the planet – discovered by a librarian."
Distance News
- Runner's World Catches Up With Shelby Houlihan As She Prepares For The End Of Her Drug Ban On January 13, 2025 She has hired Paul Doyle as her agent and is looking for a sponsor and training group to join. BTC would have her back, but she would have to be sponsored by Nike. Houlihan also talks about the anxiety she's feeling about how fans and her competitors will react to her returning to racing.
- MB: Jenny Simpson Completes 7 Marathons In 7 Days On 7 Continents Challenge It started with a 3:31 for a marathon in Antarctica and ended with a 5:15:51 marathon in Miami.
Grand Slam Track
- Elise Cranny Announced For Grand Slam Track In The 3000m/5000m Outside talks to Cranny about GST and leaving BTC and moving back to Colorado. Cranny says, "Something I’ve really wanted the last couple of years was to race a bit more" so she's "super excited" about GST.
- LRC GRAND SLAM TRACK™ Announces Signings of Nozomi Tanaka, Elise Cranny, Daryll Neita, Mary Moraa, and Salwa Eid Naser Tanaka races almost more than anyone so it's only fitting she's in this.
- World 800m Champ Mary Moraa Signs With Grand Slam Track We're curious to see what she'll run for a 1500m as she used to be a 400m runner before moving up to the 800m and doesn't even have an official 1500m PR.
- Olympic Discus Champ Valarie Allman Wants More Love For The Field Events At Grand Slam Track And Other New Meets However, she made the point herself for why field events aren't at these meets when she said, "Field eventers, they're out there for an hour on the competition field." For many, that's just not as entertaining to watch as a race.
- GB Sprinter Daryll Neita Joins Grand Slam Track The Olympic 4x100 silver medalist is the first British woman announced for the league.
Outside NCAA XC Coverage
- DyeStat Preview: 5 Men's Storylines To Watch For At NCAA XC Champs Can 22-year-old Graham Blanks become the youngest American to win back-to-back NCAA XC titles since Steve Prefontaine? (Pre won his second title at 20 in 1971 and a third title in 1973).
- DyeStat Preview: 5 Women's Storylines To Watch For At NCAA XC Champs Can BYU become the first school to sweep the men's and women's titles or could the Oregon women spoil it for them and win their first title since 2016?
- BYU Coach Ed Eyestone Ahead Of NCAAs: "We like our chances." "We realize that we've beaten Oklahoma State once before. We realize we've got a very big task ahead in trying to beat them, trying to beat Arkansas, trying to beat Iowa State and anybody else that is toeing the line.
- USTFCCCA Preview: Five Things To Watch On Men’s Side At NCAA DI Championships
- USTFCCCA Preview: Wide Open Women’s Races Headline NCAA DI Championship
This Week's Pod
You've got to hear the crazy story when Abdi Nageeye at the Pre Classic decided he was done with the track and wanted to get out of town and the cops ended up coming to Mo Farah's house.
Distance News
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- Mo Farah Chases Down Thieves After His Phone Is Stolen Farah reportedly left his phone on the side of a private road leading to his house while he went for a jog with his wife. Two men in a white van pulled up and took the phone, but Farah chased the van down and they gave it back "without any further incident."
*MB: Mo Farah chases down thieves FTW - NY Times Piece On The Recent Violence Against Women Runners In Kenya Some horrific stories involving women runners who were killed by their partner over some kind of financial dispute, as well as reports of widespread sexual assault and exploitation of young women runners by male coaches.
*MB: ESSENTIAL READING: New York Times Kenya Athlete killings: "‘It’s no longer safe for any athlete’" - Kenya's 2000 Olympic Marathon Silver Medalist Eric Wainaina Involved In A Drunken Assault In Japan Wainaina was accused of assaulting a teenage girl and employee at a train station. When questioned about it, Wainaina said, “It is true that I assaulted someone. There are times when I am drunk and don’t remember.”
- MB: Russian Tatyana Tomashova Won't Appeal Her 10-Year Doping Ban, Moving Shannon Rowbury Closer To Officially Receiving Her 2012 1500m Bronze Medal Rowbury initially finished 6th, but there have been 5 doping DQ's, the latest being Tomashova which was announced a couple of months ago. Here is a video of Rowbury reacting to that news.
Upcoming Distance Action
The deep field also has Tokyo Marathon champion Birhanu Legese, 2021 Berlin Marathon winner Guye Adola, and Paris Olympic fifth-place finisher Deresa Geleta. 2:14:58 woman Amane Beriso leads the women's race against three other sub-2:19 women as well as Sara Hall.
- Jakob Ingebrigtsen Announced For Norway's Team For Euro XC Champs On December 8 Ingebrigtsen missed last year due to injury, but ran and won in 2021 and 2022. Three-time winner Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal leadsNorway's women's team.
- CJ Albertson And GB Olympian Calli Hauger-Thackery Lead Fields For Next Month's CIM Marathon
Olympic News
- Seb Coe Says If He Becomes IOC President He Wants To Pay All Olympic Medalists (All Sports) Prize Money With thousands of Olympic medals up for grabs, that would get very expensive.
- IOC Does Three Day Visit To LA For 2028 Games Inspection Some sports (like cricket) don't have a suitable venue yet and could be hosted out of state. Canoe slalom is already scheduled to take place in Oklahoma.
- Hungary Olympic Committee President Talks About Their Potential 2036 Olympic Bid
Pre-NCAA Champs Rankings
- Final Coaches' Poll Before NCAA Champs Has BYU Men Ranked #1 Ahead Of OSU Arkansas and Iowa State are ranked 3-4.
- NCAA Coaches' Poll Puts BYU Women Ranked #1 Ahead Of Oregon NAU and West Virginia both moved a spot up to be ranked 3-4.
- Stats On The NCAA XC Champs Field The field includes runners from 33 countries and 47 of the 50 US states.
International XC Results
- Double Olympic Champ Beatrice Chebet Wins World Athletics XC Race In Seville Chebet dominated by 27 seconds while in the men's race, Spain’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo was the upset winner, taking down Burundi’s Rodrigue Kwizera and Olympic 10,000m silver medalist Berihu Aregawi. It came down to the wire with Ndikumwenayo and Kwizera getting the same time and Aregawi 3 seconds back.
- Teenagers Matthew Kipruto (Kenya) And Yenenesh Shimket (Ethiopia) Win Cinque Mulini XC In Italy There was talk of Olympic silver medalist Nadia Battocletti breaking Italy's 34-year winner draught, but she was 3rd, 14 seconds behind Shimket.
- France's Jimmy Gressier Wins On Home Soil At Allonnes XC Race This was the race to decide France's team for European XC Champs next month. Kenya’s Grace Nawowuna won the women's race.
End Of Year Awards
A strong case could have been made for Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone over Thomas, but hard to argue with Quincy Wilson as youth athlete of the year.
- Finalists Announced For 2024 World Athletics Photograph Of The Year Maybe it's our distance bias, but the photo of Sifan Hassan and Tigist Assefa duking it out at the end of the Olympic marathon should be the easy winner.
More Distance Results
(link updated) He broke the previous record of 41:05 which was set by Joshua Cheptegei at this same course in 2018 and then tied by Kiplimo here last year.
*MB: Jacob MF Kiplimo!
- France’s Etienne Daguinos Sets European 10k Record With 27:04 In Lille He broke the previous record by Jimmy Gressier by 3 seconds. World 1500m bronze medalist Narve Gilje Nordas was 5th in a Norwegian record of 27:31. Kenya's Christine Chesiro won the women's race in 29:56. *Results
*MB: Etienne Daguinos, 24, France, destroys the Africans with 27:04/10km
- From Last Weekend: Courtney Olsen Breaks Women's 50 Mile Record At The Tunnel Hill 50 Mile In Illinois She ran 5:31:56 (6:38 pace) to take more than 8 minutes off the previous record from 1991.
- 19-Yr-Old Kazura Munakata Breaks Japan U20 Record To Win Ageo City Half Marathon In 61:38
It's Almost Time For The Big Dance - NCAA Regionals
There was wildness in the Great Lakes where a runner celebrated before the line and cost the Michigan State men a spot at NCAAs. There was chaos in the Mid-Atlantic, where three men’s teams finished within a point of each other and Navy was the odd team out. Plus the Colorado women missed out for the first time since 2008.
SC Friday 15 Podcast: Cornell just misses, Guy letting up at line early costs Mich State + Shelby Houlihan is back training - is she guilty? Max Siegel wants a shorter Trials & Grand Slam Track cities and dates are unveiled You need to be an SC member to get our Friday podcast.
- Official 2024 NCAA D1 Regionals thread -- Who is going to the Big Dance?
- Purdue runner celebrates early, loses Great Lakes regional title at the line
- BYU SMASHING NAU Colorado Devastated
- I’m a Top 20 NCAA XC finisher. I graduated and now interviewing for Big 4. Should I talk about my Elite running on interview?
- Ellie Shea to NC State?
- Duke only races 2 women at regionals?? 1 DNF's.
- What happened to Connor Burns?
- CONFIRMED NCAA Men’s field
Weekend Debate: Michigan's Finest
We started talking about whether Grant Fisher is talented and segued into a debate on whose career you'd rather have: Fisher or Brazier? *Full pod here
Future Olympian?
XC Previews
- Two-Time World XC Champ And Double Olympic Gold Medalist Beatrice Chebet Highlights Seville XC Race On Sunday She faces world U20 5000m 4th placer Mercy Chepkemoi. Olympic 10,000m silver medallist Berihu Aregawi leads the men's race against Burundi’s Rodrigue Kwizera who is undefeated this XC season.
- Allonnes, France XC Preview: 2022 World Mountain Running Champ Samuel Kibet And World XC 4th Placer Grace Loibach Nawowuna Defend Titles Kibet faces France's sub-13/sub-27 man Jimmy Gressier while the women's race also has 2022 world steeple champ Norah Jeruto and 2013 Euro XC champ Sophie Duarte.
- Olympic 10,000m Silver Medalist Nadia Battocletti Will Try To End Italian Winning Draught At Cinque Mulini XC Race In Italy It has been 34-years since an Italian has won. Seeing as how most of the top women's contenders this year are Italians, that draught will probably end. World U20 5000m champion Andrew Kiptoo leads the men's race.
- Northwest Nike Cross Regional Is Saturday
*Live Results
Jonathan Gault pays tribute to two legends
Simpson and Centrowitz, who both 1st medalled in 2011 and retired in 2024, leave the sport as two of the faces on the Mt. Rushmore of American 1500m running after piling up a combined eight medals at global championships. And despite not ever finishing in the top 3 on the yearly 1500 list (Simpson's best was 4th, Centro's 9th), they will be remembered as two of the better milers of their generation.
Tim Rowberry Interview Highlights
Rowberry began as a pacer and errand boy at the Nike Oregon Project but has since coached Hassan to six medals across the last two Olympics. He dives into their relationship and why he's looking to expand his training group -- and land a coaching contract from a shoe brand.
The Latest Distance Links
- World Athletics catches up with Jessica Hull, who explains how her unreal 2024 was possible Hull is now the 5th fastest woman in history and an Olympic silver medallist.
*MB: Jessica Hull explains how she broke out in 2024: The move home was key - MB: Kelvin Kiptum’s parents are really struggling less than a year after his death: "We have no toilet, we have nothing."
- 'A fairytale night' – One year ago Mary Moraa had a public engagement, but her marriage hasn't happened
- Six of the best (non-Nike) carbon plated races shoes of 2024 Isn't it ridiculous to not review a Nike since they invented the category?
Administrative News
- MB Grand Slam Track announces its final location for 2025 - Philadelphia's Franklin Field The league may need a name change as how can a sport have 4 slams in less than 3 months?
- MB: USATF wants to shorten the Trials in 2028 & hold them in Los Angeles We've long thought USATF doesn't care about the little guy or gal for whom making the Trials is everything and if they shorten the Trials be reducing the field, we'll have proof.
- MB Enhanced Games signs up former head of N. American Marketing and former Team USA Chef de Mission as key employees We guess they probably never really cared about PEDs in the first place.
- MB Canada is investigating WADA to see if drug testing people violates its privacy laws
These Guys Aren't Resting On Their Laurels at 68, 71, or 88
- Seb Coe reiterates the IOC MUST protect women's sport “I think the International Olympic Committee needs a very, very clear policy in this space,” Coe told BBC sports editor Dan Roan. “And the protection of the female category, for me, is absolutely non-negotiable."
- Q&A with super NCAA coach Vin Lananna He won at Dartmouth, then Stanford, then Oregon, and now UVA.
- 88-yr-old explains how he just finished his 12th straight Athens Marathon: "I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, and I eat a balanced diet"
More Distance News
- Robots are now running parts of marathons in China Will human pacesetters soon be a thing of the past? *More
- New Year Ekiden Field is Set in Japan Did you know that the big pro men's Ekiden is the only major ekiden that doesn't have auto qualifying spots from the previous year? Everyone has to requalify which makes it a bloodbath in the East Japan (Tokyo) region.
- Sutume Kebede is happy On gave her a ton of $$ to challenge Ruth Chepngetich in Chicago
Sprint/Field News
- Dallas Long, the 1964 Olympic shot put champion and multiple world record-breaker, has died at the age of 84
- Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone initially said she wanted to sign with Under Armour but her mom told her to go with New Balance With her talent, it wouldn't matter what shoes she was wearing and she'd had ties to NB and been treated well by them since she was 14.
- Botswana's Letsile Tebogo criticizes Netflix series SPRINT for American bias - "This is an American show" Tebogo, who has won the same amount of Olympic gold medals as Noah Lyles, doesn't appear until the 22-minute mark of the final episode. LetsRun.com's Wejo appears before that when Christian Coleman walks off and refuses to answer one of his questions before Millrose.
Dreams become reality
Rowberry was the guest on this week's podcast and joined the show at the 66:11 mark. Prior to that the crew spent a lot of time discussing Grant Fisher's talent, Donavan Brazier, Grand Slam Track and a whole lot more.
Distance News
- UK Athletics Hopes Keely Hodgkinson’s Star Power Can Make The London Diamond League The "Silverstone Of Athletics" UKA chief Jack Buckner thinks Hodgkinson can "transcend" the sport and says she was "off the chart" in fan engagement analysis during the Paris Games. Financially, they are hoping to break even by 2026 after posting a $1.2 million loss for 2024 and want the London DL to be as big as the UK's famous Formula One race at Silverstone.
- "World's Sexiest Athlete" Alica Schmidt Says She's Moving From The 400m To The 800m In 2025 After the Paris Olympics she ran 2:05.22 for 800m in August and 1:24.88 for 600m in September.
- Samson Kandie's Wife And Two Others Charged In His Murder The 2001 world champs marathoner (2:08 PB) died after being attacked and beaten in his home in early October.
Sprint Stuff
- ”SPRINT" Season 2 Is Out Today On Netflix
- In 2nd season of SPRINT, it's clear Noah Lyles respects Coleman but as Lyles says, "I wouldn't say we are friends"
- Weird: Government Official Prevents Letsile Tebogo From Talking To Journalists At Botswana Presidential Inauguration Tebogo's social media accounts were also recently deactivated and then reactivated again.
- Usain Bolt Talks About Doping In T&F: "Some people just don’t want to put the work in so it’s tough and sometimes the mental area that really drives you to go ‘let me try this’ instead of doing the work.”
Hosting News
- UK Athletics Turned Down Chance To Host A Meet For Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track UKA head Jack Buckner said they had financial concerns: "Three days of just track athletics is a lot of tickets to sell in the London Stadium and the cost base comes pretty high there."
- Athletics Illustrated: "Kenyan Government Defunds Drug Testing, Favors Funding World Athletics Championships" Christopher Kelsall writes, "If the government refuses to fund anti-doping, especially considering its major doping issue, Kenya and Athletics Kenya should not be winning a bid to host a future World Athletics Championships."
- Queensland Government Outraged By "Blowout" Budget For 2032 Brisbane Olympics
Olympic Gender Controversy Isn't Going Away
- The Telegraph: "Donald Trump And Olympics On Collision Course Over Transgender Ban Vow" Trump has vowed to "keep men out of women's sports" by banning it. However, the games are in LA in 2028 and the IOC is spineless and has refused to take a stance, kicking the decision down to individual sport federations.
- Female Sport Consortium Urges IOC To Re-Establish Sex Verification The IOC abandoned female sex verification back in 1999.
- MB: Shocking! Leaked French report confirms Imane Khelif (Algerian boxer) is XY with internal testicles
- Donald Trump Used Video Of Imane Khelif Boxer Controversy In One Of His Last Campaign Videos The video showed Khelif winning gold while the narrator says the line, "Men could beat up women and win medals."
- President Of The International Boxing Association (IBA) Demands IOC President Thomas Bach Apologize For Letting Imane Khelif Compete Against Women Umar Kremlev said, "The IOC has broken all sporting rules by pitting a man against a woman. Tests have once again confirmed that Imane Khelif is in fact a man."
- Alan Abrahamson: "UN Expert On Violence Against Women And Girls Takes Shot At IOC Over Women's Boxing"
- Imane Khelif Is Taking Legal Action Over Leaked Medical Documents
- Video From The Summer: Thomas Bach Says "There Was Never Any Doubt" About Khelif Being A Woman Bach seemed to argue that being "raised as a woman" and having a passport that says you're a woman is enough to compete against women, regardless of XX vs XY.
Paralympic News
- US Paralympics Track And Field Program Joins USATF We're not sure this is a good idea considering how hard a time USATF already has managing what's currently on their plate.
- Spanish Paralympic Marathoner Elena Congost Awarded A Special Scholarship From The Spanish Paralympic Committee After Paris DQ Congost was controversially DQ'd from the Paris paralympic marathon when she dropped the strap connecting her to her guide to try and help him when he was falling. She lost her bronze medal, but will get $2,170 a month with her guide getting the same and her coach getting $900/month.
- World Para Athletics Rejects Spanish Paralympic Committee's Request For An Exceptional Bronze Medal For Elena Congost Congost is now pursuing legal action.
*MB: What a joke: Visually impaired runners loses Paralympic marathon medal after trying to help her guide who cramped up (video)
More Recent Results
- Denmark’s Joel Ibler Lillesø And Finland’s Ilona Mononen Win Nordic XC Championships Three-time world orienteering champion Kasper Fossar was 2nd, finishing three seconds behind Lillesø.
- Japan HSer Yamato Hamaguchi Runs 13:31.62 At Nittai University Time Trials It's the 4th-fastest time ever by a Japanese-born high schooler.
- Saitama Wins Final East Japan Women's Ekiden With Dramatic Anchor Stage Turnaround
- Course Records Fell At The USATF Fall Trail Half-Marathon Championships In Utah Christian Allen (1:19:02) and Allie McLaughlin (1:34:34) were the winners.
- Koku Gakuin Wins National University Ekiden for First Time in Anchor Stage Turnaround
Grand Slam Track Goes To Miami And Jamaica
The Jamaican meet will be held on April 4th, 5th and 6th and the Miami meet on May 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Los Angeles was previously revealed as a host city and there will be two more cities announced later this week
World Athletics News
- Finalists Announced For World Athletics 2024 Men's Rising Star Award The Netherlands' Olympic 1500m 6th placer Niels Laros is among the three finalists.
- Finalists Announced For World Athletics 2024 Women's Rising Star Award List includes Ethiopia's world U20 steeple champ (and Olympic 5th placer) Sembo Almayew.
- World Athletics Gives A Brief 2024 Recap For Each Of The World Athlete Of The Year Finalists
- Qualification System Published For 2025 World Relay Championships The top 16 teams from Paris qualify and as hosts, China automatically gets an entry for each event. The rest of the field will be determined by world lists during the qualification period.
- Full Qualification System Announced For 2025 World Indoor Championships In Nanjing, China There is also a "road to" tracking tool.
Weekend Distance Action
- RRW: Yemane Haileselassie (61:46) And Fentaye Belayneh (70:26) Win Chilly Boston Half-Marathon Belayneh won in a close sprint finish where the first three women were separated by just one second while Haileselassie won by 15 seconds. Canadian Olympic 1500m runner Kieran Lumb finished 3rd in his half-marathon debut (62:03). *Results
- Irish 19-Year-Old Nick Griggs Breaks Parkrun World Record With 13:44 He took one second off the time GB Olympian Andy Butchart ran last year.
*The Telegraph: No Mention Of Record From Parkrun Official Sources Because They Refuse To Keep Records Anymore - 18-Year-Old Jess Bailey Runs 15:25 To Break British Under-20 5k Record In Barrowford She took 7 seconds off Innes FitzGerald's mark from earlier this year. She finished 2nd behind Hannah Nuttall (15:19) while Belgium's Robin Hendrix (13:35) won the men's race.
- DyeStat: Marissa Ferebee Joins National Conversation With Record Breaking Victory At NXR Heartland She crushed the CR by 19-seconds with 16:25. Juan Gonzales won the boys' race (14:34) and the Wayzata girls and Spring Hill boys took the team titles. Spring Hill is the first team from Kansas to qualify for Nike Cross Nationals in 17 years.
Coke Hocker News
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- Fred Kerley Challenges Cole Hocker To A 1v1 600m Showdown Hocker said in a recent interview that he would beat Kerley over 600m, so Kerley challenged him saying, "Pick the city no cold place . No track either we taking it old school I want the street."
- MB: Cole Hocker reveals that he wanted gold in the 1500 AND 5k at the Paris Olympics
International XC Results
- Uganda’s Keneth Kiprop Defends Title, Charity Cherop Holds Off Late Challenge At Cardiff XC Race World U20 5000m bronze medalist Kiprop outsprinted Kenya’s Vincent Mutai by 2-seconds while world U20 5000 bronze medalist Cherop finished 1 second ahead of Sheila Jebet.
*Athletics Weekly Recap: GB's Innes FitzGerald Dominated The Women's U20 Race - Burundi’s Rodrigue Kwizera And Kenya’s Mercy Chepkemoi Win Soria, Spain XC Race Kwizera, who has been cleaning up on this season's World Athletics' XC tour, won for the third time.
Noah Lyles Wins $100k YouTube Match Race
- MB: Noah Lyles races YouTuber Ishowspeed over 50m for 100k, barely wins The race was put on by famous YouTuber Mr. Beast. *USA Today article *Video
- Noah Lyles And Tyreek Hill Talking Crap Online After Lyles' YouTube Race Hill responded to video of Lyles' race against YouTuber IShowSpeed saying "And Track athletes think he gone beat me" and Lyles responded to that with, "Awww, feeling left out. I’ll dance across the line on you too."
- Paralympic Champion Hunter Woodhall Says It's A Shame Noah Lyles Makes More Winning A YouTube Race Than Worlds Or The Olympics Woodhall asked YouTuber IShowSpeed to please race him for $100k
Olympic/Admin News
- Interesting Q&A With Seb Coe On Running For IOC President Coe is asked about a number of issues including his age (if he's told old for the job), challenges facing the Olympic movement, Russia's ban and doping. We think it's a joke the interviewer called Coe's transgender position (that men shouldn't compete against women) "controversial" when that's what the vast majority of people believe.
- Grand Slam Track Names Billionaire Robert F. Smith To Board Of Directors Smith is the chairman and founder of Vista Equity and is worth almost 11 billion dollars.
- Kenyan Government Backs Bid For 2029 World Championships They would be the first African country to host the event.
- South Korea Expected To Bid For 2036 Olympics Except it's not clear which city or cities would actually host.
Two Recommended Reads from the UK
- How Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows coached Keely Hodgkinson to glory The Times has a lengthy piece on what makes the coaches of Keely H so good. Of course, the article did fail to mention they got a huge break the Athing Mu wasn't in shape this year.
- Tim Hutchings: We’re living through a privileged time as track fans Hutchings says track fans should be super thankful for how much amazing track and field we can watch on tv right now, but only wish Matthew Hudson-Smith and Josh Kerr had won gold. His performance to the year? Jakob's 3000m WR.
And A Good Read From The USA
Toni Reavis pens thoughtful colum on election: "Tired of Democracy" Toni says most of America's current issues stem from the destruction of the middle class and reminds people we can't just take democracy for granted, "Democracy and distance running aren’t all that dissimilar. Both require consistent attention to thrive."
World Athletics Related News
- New trial ordered for Papa Diack The son of the former head of World Athletics, who took millions to cover up doping positives, had part of his conviction partially annulled. Pragmatically speaking, we're not sure it matters much as he's refused to be expedited to France to serve his prison sentence anyway.
*Diack to be tried again, World Athletics is seeking €41.2 million - World Athletics signs Honda as a sponsor - Honda will provide electric cars for 2025 Worlds Meawnhile, did you know one roundtrip business class ticket from London to Japan produces more than 3 times the amount of emissions a car does for an entire year?
Links That Passed Our Human Vetting Process
- Houston wants to honor legendary coach Tom Tellez by building a statue and garden for him but they need your $$ They need $100k to do it so help Carl Lewis honor his old coach.
- Former world jr 1500 champ Reynold Cheruiyot says he'll race fewer DLs in 2025 after flaming out in semis of Olympics “This year, I was featured in five Diamond Leagues. For 2025, I have to minimize my appearances to put more focus on the World Championship preparations,” he explained to The Star.
- Double Olympic champ Beatrice Chebet will run Seville xc meet next weekend
- Sports Cabinet Secretary in Kenya denies claims the Anti Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) is financially crippled and unable to undertake its activities.
Field Event News
- Meet the 86-year old woman who has set age-group WRs in the shot (9.42m), discus (22.42m), weight (11.97m) and javelin
- Henrietta Paxton, former 4.35m pole vaulted, slipped while lifting weights and is now paralyzed from the waist down The mom of 2 however is now vowing to be a Paralympic star in wheelchair basketball and rugby.
Jakob's Income Skyrocketed in 2023
The Norwegian tax records for 2023 are now public and we share the scoop.
*MB: Jakob Ingebrigtsen got PAID in 2023 - Income more than doubled to $2.3 million.
More Nike-Related News
More Distance News
- Fukuoka International Marathon Elite Field Released - 2:05:59 man Kenya Sonota leads way It's the first of this winter season's big selection races for the home soil team for next year's Tokyo World Championships
- 19-yr-old sensation Niels Laros running Cardiff Cross Challenge on Saturday Laros is getting ready to go for U20 gold at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships on Dec. 8.
- Marise Chamberlain, New Zealand’s only female Olympic Games medallist in a track event, has died at age 88 Chamberlain - an 800m bronze medallist at the 1964 Olympic Games - died “quietly and peacefully” in Christchurch on Tuesday, her daughter, Louise Stalker confirmed.
- A record 55,646 runners finished Sunday's New York City Marathon, breaking the 54,280 that ran Berlin
- Abdi Nageeye moved to Kenya at age 21 to train to be the best after reading about a ping pong player that reached greatness after moving to China to train
- Q&A with Clara Evans-Graham who set a 69:00 Welsh half-marathon record in Valencia last month
Field Event/ Other News
- Thea LaFond-Gadson receives Dominica’s highest honourThe TJer and Maryland resident was Dominica's 1st Olympic gold medallist. She officially received her nation’s highest honour, the Dominica Honour Award, for her historic achievement at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.
- Neeraj Chopra’s coach Dr Klaus Bartonietz retires Chopra penned a heartfelt thanks to the coach who came on board in 2019 and guided him to Olympic and world titles.
- U.S. running tourism company using disguised Russian plane, that is supposed to be banned by US sanctions, for 24 hour Antarctic race
- Pete Watson hoping to turn Boston College into a power: "This isn’t a program that is content with being average."
Sprint Stuff
- Gabby Thomas To Be In 2025 SI Swimsuit Issue She shared some behind the scenes looks from the shoot in Florida.
- Gout Gout's Manager Says Gout Will Spend Two Or Three Weeks In Florida Training With Noah Lyles' Group Under Lance Brauman
- Yohan Blake Criticizes The Invite-Only Nature Of Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track League Blake: "I think it’s a good thing but it only speaks to a few people…how many people can get there? You know, they are choosing who they want and I don’t feel like it should be like that, I feel like everyone should have a chance to compete for that."
- After Serving As Grand Marshall For NYC Marathon, Gabby Thomas Floats The Idea Of Running A Marathon
World Marathon Majors Soon Will Be Dead....... Unless
Expanding the number of world marathon majors to nine is an absurd idea unless the majors make one simple change that will instantly keep them being compelling, elite sporting events.
News From Kenya
- Good News: Killers Of Ugandan Olympian Benjamin Kiplagat Sentenced To 35 Years Each The Olympic steeplechaser was stabbed to death on New Year’s Eve in Eldoret after the killers forced his car off the road.
*MB Archive: Benjamin Kiplagat has been murdered - Faith Kipyegon Enjoys Holiday With Safari Game Drive With Family
Doping News
- Laura Muir Retrospectively Awarded 3000m Bronze Medal Medal From 2015 European Indoor Champs Muir finished 4th at the time, but was upgraded when winner Russian Yelena Korobkina was disqualified for doping. Muir said, “Better late than never is the phrase I suppose ...I’m fortunate I am still a runner but of course it could have meant a lot to my career at that time – aged 21 and not having won my first international medal."
- Japanese Olympic Silver Medalist Race Walker Koki Ikeda Suspended For Doping The AIU detected unusual data in his biological passport.
- InsideTheGames: WADA's 2025 Prohibited Substances List Explained
NYC Leftovers
- Running Influencer Matt Choi Banned From NYC Marathon For Improper Recording Choi had a film crew of two people riding electric bikes on the course with him without authorization. Choi has already faced harsh criticism for doing this at other races in the past.
*MB: Matt Choi's brother with an e-bike on the NYC 'thon course
*MB: Matt Choi haters, APOLOGIZE Choi finished the race in 2:57:15. - Video: Form Analyst Jae Gruenke Looks At Abdi Nageey's NYC Marathon Victory Gruenke explains how Nageeye's form is "unusual," but he makes it work for him.
Updated NCAA Rankings
- BYU Women Stay #1 In Updated NCAA XC Rankings; Oregon Jump 15 Places To #2 Washington and NAU each dropped a spot to 3-4. *Regional Rankings
- BYU Men Move Up To #1 In Post-Conference Champs NCAA XC Coaches' Poll OSU moved down to #2 while Arkansas and Iowa State remained 3-4. *Regional Rankings
2024 AOY
There are two finalists in each category (six men and six women total). They are Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Letsile Tebogo (men's track), Sydney McLaughlin-levrone, Julien Alfred (women's track), Mondo Duplantis, Miltiadis Tentoglou (men's field), Yaroslava Mahuchikh, Nafissatou Thiam (women's field), Tamirat Tola, race walker Brian Pintado (men's out of stadium), Sifan Hassan, Ruth Chepngetich (women's out of stadium).
- 2024 AOY Award Is Different As In Addition To The Category Awards, A Fan Vote Will Decide The Overall Man And Woman AOY Vote here now.
- Some Kenyan Fans Are Angry Double Olympic Champ Beatrice Chebet Was "Snubbed" From World AOY Finalists List Beatrice won the 10,000m and 5,000m in Paris, set the 10,000m WR (28:54), won World XC champs and the DL 5000m title whereas Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone barely raced, but won Olympic gold and set the 400H WR. We loved the quote from one fan who said, “It’s like the top school prize being given to the girl who was absent all year and turned up to sit the exams."
- InsideTheGames: "The World's Fastest Man, Noah Lyles Is Not Among 2024's Best" Comparing Lyles to Letsile Tebogo, Lyles won four global medals in 2024 to Tebogo's two. (Paris 100m gold, 200m bronze and 60m/4x400 world indoor silver for Lyles. Paris 200m gold and 4x400 silver for Tebogo).
- Pulse Sports Says Lyles Missing Out On The AOY Shortlist "Is a lost opportunity to further leverage his brand..."
More Sprint News
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- Fred Kerley Says "They Gave Him That Time" When Talking About Noah Lyles' #2 All-Time 150m; Challenges Him To A 1v1 Showdown Fred Kerley says some weird stuff.
- Gout Gout's Manager Wants To Avoid Usain Bolt Comparisons He also said they've denied all interview requests because they "just want to allow him to be a normal kid at school. We don’t want him to have any distraction."
- Gout Gout's 20.29 Was The Fastest Time By An Aussie Since 1993 The 20.06 Australian NR goes all the way back to 1968 by Peter Norman.
- Yohan Blake Says He Was More Upset About Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Withdrawing From The Olympics Than Missing Out Himself On his own setback he said, “I just did not have any emotions. I have been in this thing so long that I now understand when it is your day or not."
Kenyan Issues
- AFP: Kenyan Athletes' Deaths Expose Mental Health Struggles Linked To Doping Former 800m world bronze medalist Kipyegon Bett recently died from kidney and liver failure brought on by alcohol abuse. His sister says he "went into a depression and started drinking heavily" after he was banned for doping in 2018.
- Gender-Based Violence Hotline Launched For Kenyan Athletes The free hotline is in response to the recent tragedies with Agnes Tirop and Rebecca Cheptegei being killed by their husbands.
Sprint Stuff
- Aussie Teenager Gout Gout Runs 20.29 For 200m (#4 On Under-18 All-Time List) At The Queensland All-Schools Championships He's now only behind Erriyon Knighton (19.84), Usain Bolt (20.13) and Puripol Boonson (20.19) on the under-18 all-time list. He recently signed a pro contract with adidas.
- Yohan Blake Is Apparently Not Retiring Yet The 34-year-old had previously said 2024 would be his "last dance" but now says, “Even though people say, ‘quit, quit, quit, stop,’ those are the things that drive me. They can’t make me quit. I have to make me quit.
- GB Three-Time Olympian Jodie Williams Retires At Age-31 Williams got a bronze medal in Paris by running in the heats for GB's 4x400. She's #6 on the GB all-time list in the 200m (22.46 PB).
A New World Marathon Major
Sydney is the first race to join the series since Tokyo joined 11 years ago. The current "six star medal" will remain in place for those that complete the original races, but it could be a nine star medal in the future with Cape Town and Shanghai also candidates to join the WMM.
The Latest Jonathan Gault SC Feature
For many years, Kwemoi was defined by the 3:28.81 1500 he ran in 2014, which made him the fastest teenager in history. Now Kwemoi is an Olympic medalist and will join Grand Slam Track in 2025. How did it happen?
SC Paywall lifted
At the start of 2024, only five men had ever broken 1:42. Five have done it in 2024 alone, and David Rudisha's 1:40.91 world record looks poised to fall. What is going on? Jonathan Gault interviews coaches and scientists from all over the world and unveils Project 99 - the quest for the first sub-1:40 800 in history.
The Newest LetsRun Shirt Is Here
The newest shirt is in stock at the Letsrun store.
David Rudisha's 800m Record on Borrowed Time?
At the start of 2024, only five men had ever broken 1:42. Five have done it in 2024 alone, and David Rudisha's 1:40.91 world record looks poised to fall. What is going on? Jonathan Gault interviews coaches and scientists from all over the world and unveils Project 99 - the quest for the first sub-1:40 800 in history.
LRC Exclusives
LRC Exclusives
Was this the best Olympic track & field competition ever? Why did the US men run so well? Plus the greatest unanswered questions from Paris 2024 and why Jakob Ingebrigtsen should not abandon the 1500m.
A lot to talk about on this week's LRC podcast. We couldn't get to it all so join the Supporters Club to get Friday's bonus podcast.
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
