2024 NCAA XC is Saturday
2024 NCAA XC is Saturday
Even Easier to Play
Last year, Graham Blanks accomplished something no American man had done in 20 years -- win an NCAA XC title before their 22nd birthday. Can he join the likes of Steve Prefontaine and Gerry Lindgren as repeat American champs?
The women's team title is there for the taking. It may be won with the most points in history, but who will rise up and win it: BYU, NAU or Oregon? And will New Mexico freshman sensation Pamela Kosgei stay undefeated or will 14:40 woman Doris Lemngole of Alabama hand her a first NCAA loss?
The Latest In-Depth SC Exclusives
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.
On The Boards
On The Boards
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 reportedly said, 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
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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).
Conner Mantz (6th, 2:09:00) set an American course record in New York while CJ Albertson (10th) ran 2:10:57 just 21 days after running 2:08:17 in Chicago.
As usual, it came down to the final mile in Central Park, but Chepkirui turned the tables on the famed kicker Obiri to win her first major. Sara Vaughn (6th, 2:26:56) was the surprise top American.
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.
Conference Champs
The Big 12 showdown between the top two teams in the country lived up to the hype while Wisconsin's Bob Liking became the fourth man to win four Big 10 XC titles.
- Arkansas Men, Alabama Women Win SEC XC Titles Arkansas' Patrick Kiprop and Alabama's Doris Lemngole took the individual wins. *Results
- Olympian Graham Blanks Defends His Heps XC Title; Princeton Men Beat Harvard By 11 Points Blanks dominated by 40 seconds. On the women's side, Princeton beat Harvard by 13 points and Columbia's Phoebe Anderson won the individual race. *Results
- NAU Men And Women Sweep Big Sky XC Titles In Mike Smith's Final Conference Meet NAU's David Mullarkey beat Colin Sahlman by 8 seconds for the win; NAU's Ali Upshaw won the women's race.
- Rosina Machu Leads Gonzaga Women To West Coast Conference Title; Portland Rolls To Men's Win Washington State's Evans Kurui won the men's race. *Results
- Georgetown Women Edge Providence By A Point, Villanova Gets Past Butler At Big East Championships
- Habtom Samuel, Pamela Kosgei Lead New Mexico Domination at Mountain West
- MB Threads: NCAA XC Conference Weekend
- ACC XC CHAMPIONSHIP PREDICTION
- Parker Wolfe injured
- BYU beats the East Africans
- Princeton men puts 12 ahead of Harvard's 5th at Ivy XC Heps, Harvard's winless streak extends to 1972
- Oregon: is the jerry experiment over?
- Patriot League XC 2024
- MIAC 2024 Cross Country
- UMAC Conference Thread
- Big 10 XC Men's Predictions
- Big 12 Champs on Friday Nov. 1st
- Big 10, ACC, Big 12 Roster Limit Predictions?
- Colorado chokes, Carlson cringy
- Vin Lananna is a good manager but a bad coach
Signing News
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- #2 All-Time Half-Marathoner Agnes Ngetich Signs With Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track Ngetich is the 10k road record holder (28:46) and recently missed the half-marathon WR by 11 seconds (63:04).
- Nike Signs Nine Athletes To NIL Deals List includes NC's Parker Wolfe.
Saturday In NYC
Rodenfels repeated as champ in 15:20 while Muhumed held off Sam Prakel by one second. Plus a Joe Waskom update -- he's running the highest mileage of his life and wants to run World Indoors.
NCAA XC Is Almost Here - Get Your Gear For Madison
It's time to get excited for NCAA xc. Order one of these shirts now and we'll bring it to you in Madison. Buy today for 50% off for 48 hours.
The Ekiden Is Crazy Popular
It's wild that the World Series is drawing more TV viewers in Japan (15.9 million) than in the US (13.8 million), but did you know that a 2-day road race that takes more than 10 hours to complete has attracted nearly 65 million viewers?
Valencia Half Analysis
Kejelcha's pbs at 3k, 5k, 10k, and the half all rank in the top 10 all-time. Plus hear how Agnes Ngetich went from hurt to a near-WR in four months.
Q&A with Mark Coogan about Parker Valby
Coogan's team earned two medals at World Indoors in 2024 (including gold for Elle St. Pierre), put two women on the US Olympic 1500 team, and last week signed NCAA superstar Parker Valby.
Is 2:09:56 Real or Fiction?
From Amby Burfoot's attack on Chepngetich to Kenyan parliament calling out LetsRun.com's Robert Johnson, the fallout of Chepngetich's WR has been unlike any other. Jonathan Gault tries to make sense of it and reveals that she did recently switch from the Vaporfly to the Alphafly - could that explain her remarkable run?
All of that and more on this week's Friday 15 bonus podcast for our SC members.
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.
Chicago is Sunday
Chicago is Sunday
Chepngetich went out in 64:16 for the half -- the #5 half marathon time ever -- and came back in 65:41 to take almost two minutes off Tigst Assefa's 2:11:53 world record from last year.
- MB: Famed coach Renato Canova takes to the LetsRun to defend Ruth Chepngetich from doping allegations
- MB: Official 2024 Chicago Marathon Live Discussion Thread Kenya's John Korir won the men's race in 2:02:44. CJ Albertson was the top American in 7th place (2:08.17).
- MB: History in Chicago: Ruth Chepngetich runs 2:09:57 at 2024 Chicago Marathon
- MB: Ruth Chepngetich just ruined the sport of marathon
- Keira D’Amato Drops Out Of Chicago Her coach, Ed Eyestone, said she had been dealing with arch pain during her taper. Her last split was 33:32 at 10K.
- BBC: Some Stats And Info Behind Ruth Chepngetich's WR The time is equivalent to 1:59:37 on the men's World Athletics scoring tables. She wore Nike's latest super shoe, the Alphafly 3.
John Korir became the 6th fastest man in history and joined his brother Wesley as a World Marathon Major winner.
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.
Two Final LetsRun.com Pieces On The Paris Olympics
Two Final LetsRun.com Pieces On The Paris Olympics
The Olympics produce the most incredible highs and lows. Which athletes overachieved and overachieved in the Paris track and field action?
Almost no one who emerged from the repechage made the final in Paris. World Athletics president Seb Coe admits, "It was an IOC creation. It wasn’t something that we chose ourselves."
Supporters Club podcast
One final look back at Paris, a look ahead to LA and we pay respects to Usain Bolt's 100m world record and ponder how Tyreek Hill could do in a race vs Noah Lyles.
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
