2012 Tokyo Marathon Is This Weekend *Watch Live 7 PM ET Saturday Night Here *Also On Twitter @JRNLive
Preview: "The most anticipated Japanese marathon in years is here." What a race!!! Haile Gebrselassie tries to qualify for a last Olympics and get the one thing he doesn't have - an Olympic marathon gold - as the Japanese men led by amateur Yuki Kawauchi try to secure Olympic selection in a year where Brett Larner says "it could take a 2:07 to make the London team." Originally Geb was going to go for a "controlled 2:05" but he'll probably need something faster to make London.
More Kenyan News
.*Kenya Names 2012 World Championships Team - Calls It The Strongest Ever Pamela Jelimo is on it for the women but teen sensation Caleb Ndiku and 5,000 WL Thomas Longosiwa are left off in favor of sub-7:30 3,000 performers Augustine Choge and Edwin Soi. Silas Kiplagat in the 1,500, Boaz Lalang in the 800.
*It's Unclear Whether The Kenyan Olympic Trials For The 5k & 10k Will Be In Eugene Pre meet director Tom Jordan sounds more optimistic about getting the 10k and not the 5k, almost certainly not all four.
The NYC Half Is March 18th: Liliya Shobukhova Running Only NYC Half And Bank Of America Shamrock Shuffle 8k In Chicago Before Olympics In NY, she will face Desi Davila and Kara Goucher.
*Ritz Explains His Decision To Race The NYC Half
UK And Olympic News
- Recommended Read: Q&A With British Jav Legend Steve Backley, Who Says Emil Zatopek Was His Hero "I was fortunate enough to meet him a year before he died. .... I just wanted to shake his hand, look him in the eye and acknowledge his greatness. You don’t need to say a lot to people like that, just thank them and look into the whites of their eyes."
- Recommended Read: A Stunning Olympic Upset: Britain's 4 X 100 Win In 2004 A team with no finalists at 100m or 200m beat a USA all-star team that didn't drop the baton. *Video
- Missed Out On Olympic Tickets? Well, 40,000 T&F Tickets Will Be Offered To Lucky Losers Soon Event tickets left for the 100m final although good luck getting/paying for them.
- London Mayor Criticizes Olympic Ticket Sale Process And Calls It The "cruel engine of disappointment." 75% of tickets are supposed to be available to the public, but there is suspicion that is not the case.
- West Ham Says They Will Not Move To Olympic Stadium If They Have To Share It With Another Team It sounds like things might have been better off if West Ham just won the original bid like was announced before all the court cases.
- Half Marathon In Wales "Sabotaged" By Moved Signs
UK World Indoor Team
- Steve Cram Say GB Is Set Up To Do Well At World Indoors
- UK World Indoor Team Is Released & Mo Farah Is On It
- Former Olympic Champ Christine Ohuruogu Is Surprise 4 X 400 Entrant Her last two years have been awful as she's only broken 51 three times.
- van Commenee Not Worried By Farah Loss - Says It's "Quite Healthy" For Him To Lose "It's quite normal for athletes to get beaten. It's quite healthy as well - certainly five months before the Olympics. There is no reason to be concerned. ... There is this assumption that Mo is unbeatable but that assumption is only in Britain. I don't think that in Kenya or Ethiopia people take the same view. It will happen every now and again - as we saw in the 10,000m at the World Championships in Daegu."
- Previous: Mo Farah Says He's Not Sure If He'll Go To World Indoors - Needs To Ask Salazar
Nike Technology Unveiled
- With Carl Lewis' Help, Nike Unveils New Technology Designed To Shine At London 2012 From basketball shoes with flywire, to a track suit that is supposedly faster than skin and will help a sprinter by .026, to new Victory mid-d spikes that loosen and tighten with the motion of the foot, Nike had an Apple-like event in Manhattan. "Today we unveiled technology we believe has the potential to change sports performance," Mark Parker, Nike's chief executive.
- Nike Goes Digital With Nike FuelBand; Device That Measures All Types Of Body Movement
- Nike New Product: Basketball And Training Shoes That Measure Performance
- Nike Press Release Abdi Abdirahman was on hand as Nike released a new marathon shoe that is 19% lighter than the Zoom Streak.
- ESPN's 1st Look At Nike's New Gear
- Nikeblog.com
- USA Today: Bball Uniforms are 14 Ounces Lighter Than Normal All we say is bring back the short Larry Bird shorts which are even lighter.
- Nike new product: Basketball and training shoes that measure performance
- Somewhat Related To Nike: Bill Dellinger Has Successful Cancer Surgery
- Jordan Kent, Who Lettered In Football, Basketball & Track And Had 3-Year NFL Career, Is Now Focused On Track Can he make the "A" standard in the 400. His PR is 46.95.
News From Japan
- Crazy: Ten Running Stars From Sammy Wanjiru's Japanese HS Will Transfer To School That Is 3-Time National Champion And the new school is saying they are taking them in as part of a post-tsunami relief effort. Ridiculous. Wanjiru's school isn't totally innocent, however, as their coach resigned as he felt he wasn't getting support. A spokesman said the obvious: "We respect the personal decisions of all the students involved. Our track and field program will have to rebuild from zero."
- Two-Time World Championships Women's Marathon Medalist Reiko Tosa Will Retire After Nagoya Women's Marathon On March 11
Sprint News
- Asafa Powell's Agents Says The People Powell Is Racing Is Of Zero Importance To Them - They Are Just Picking Races That Fit Coach Francis' Training Plan
- Bolt Says "everything is good."
- Everything Isn't Good For World Indoor Bronze Medallist Daniel Bailey, Who Hurt His Hamstring In Birmginham And Will Now Miss World Indoors
- Opposite Of Sprint News: Up-And-Down Course Record Holder At Comrades - Leonid Shvetsov - Will Come Out Of Retirement To Race Comrades This Year 3-Time Defending Champ Stephen Muzhingi isn't worried though, as Shvetsvov says his goal is top 10.
Stadium News
- Olympic Soccer Pitch Isn't Up To Premiere League Standards Will Have To Be Ripped Up After Olympics "Under-soil heating" is needed for winter soccer games. Not sure why they didn't include it already.
- Oregon State's New $7 Million Track Facility Is Coming Along Nicely
It's Official - Only Rich People Do Triathlons
90% 55% Of All Triathletes Make More Than $100,000 Per Year This is good news for Lukas V fans as it's official - the African athletes have little chance. It's also worth noting that triathletes spend over $2,000 per year on the sport but less than 5% of that on running shoes.
More Action From Last Weekend Action
- The World's Top Two 30km Races Were Both Held On Sunday In Japan - Leading Time Was 1:30:01 By Leading Japanese Olympic 10,000 Hopeful Tsuyoshi Ugachi
- Victor Kipchirchir (1:00:27) And Mercy Chemutai (1:12:51) Win Half Marathon In Kenya Put On By Paul Tergat's Foundation
- Runners Tribe Ranks The Australians' Performances At The Sydney Track Classic
Oregon-Related News
- Tom Jordan On Kenyan Olympic Trials In Eugene: "Nothing has been confirmed yet." "But the (Kenyan) men's and women's 10K are promising."
- Galen Rupp, Jesse Williams, Matthew Centrowitz Expected To Be At The USA Indoor Championships
Saturday's Birmingham - Aviva Indoor Grand Prix *Results
Top Indoor Meet Of Year
Eliud Kipchoge 8:07.4 2-Mile Defeats Mo Farah This was a tremendous race with 4 guys, Kipchoge and Farah plus Uganda's Moses Kipsiro and Tariku Bekele, battling on the final lap. Kipchoge, the 2003 World 5,000m champ, got the win and World Leader. If you think this makes him the best Kenyan right now, think again. Kipchoge
was 4th in the 3,000m in Germany last weekend.
In other action, Genzebe Dibaba blasted another fast 1,500 (4:01, Anna Pierce 4:11), Liu Xiang ran a PR to beat Dayron Robles, Jamaica's 8th-fastest 100m man last year, Lerone Clarke, ran a national record in the 60 ahead of Asafa Powell, Meseret Defar ran 8:31.56, Jessica Ennis had 2 PRs and a world best in the hurdles, and Bernard Lagat was well beaten at 1,500m. 8,000 fans in attendance. This is what track and field needs.
- Mo Farah Unable To Explain Loss In Birmingham Telegraph
- "Plastic Brit" Shara Proctor Breaks UK Indoor LJ Record And Ignores Criticism She's from Anguilla, which is not recognised by the IOC, so she would not be able to go to the Olympics if she competed for them.
- Jessica Ennis Smashes Two Personal Bests, Gets World Leader In Hurdles Guardian
- NY Times On Liu Xiang Beating Dayron Robles
- Brilliant Day For Jessica Ennis
- Athletics Weekly Recap
- Video Of Sick 3,000m In Germany Last Week Where Kipchoge Was 4th
- Interesting: Emiel
Puttemans Reflects On His 38-Year-Old European 2-Mile Record, Talks About How He Could Have Broken 10,000m Record In 1972 Olympic Heats Puttemans says he could have broken the world 10,000m record in the heats of the 1972 Olympics. *Discuss Here
Birmingham On The Boards: why was uceny dq'd?? - Kipchoge over Farah
Other Weekend Results
- Christophe Lemaitre Wins 60m At French Meet In 6.59, But Says Will Not Compete In World Indoor Champs France's Renaud Lavillenie set world lead in PV with 5.93m; Jamaican Patricia Hall ran 200m WL of 22.88.
- Victor Kipchirchir Wins Close Race At Unep Half Marathon In 1:00:27 Over Kamiu Wanjiku's 1:00:28 Mercy Chemta won the women's race in 1:12:51. The article doesn't say much about it, but the more interesting race if they ran hard would be the 5k, as it included Paul Tergat and Patrick Makau along with other past elite Kenyans.
- US HS: Dallin Farnsworth Gets Simplot Games 3,200m Record With 9:10.34 This was at altitude and broke the previous record of 9:11.05 held by Josh Rohatinsky, who went on to be an NCAA XC champ in 2006. *Full Results *Preview
- Asian Indoor Champs: HJer Mutaz Barshim Sets World Lead And Asian Record At 2.37m
- Good Story: Former Rugby Player Thom Evans Running Fast In The 60m 2 Years After Spinal Injury That Almost Killed Him "I thought I would die there on the grass."
- Dwain Chambers Has Poor 60m Showing
- Stephen Mokoka And Rene Kalmer Break CRs At Pretoria Half Marathon With 1:04:35 & 1:13:09
2012 RAK Half Is In The Books *Photo Gallery Of Winners *Top Results
LRC Mary Keitany & 17-Year-Old Dennis Koech Win 2012 RAK Half Marathon Windy conditions slowed down the winning times considerably (60:34 and 66:42), but Mary Keitany did still produce the 8th-fastest 13.1 in women's history as a 17-year-old Kenyan dispatched the 2012 world leader and a 2:03 marathoner in the men's race.
*IAAF Recap Geoffrey Mutai Withdraws With Sore Foot And Then Fast Times Are Blown Off Course The IAAF is saying that Koech is 18.
*Pre-Race Photos *Race Previews
Out Of Work? The IAAF Is Hiring And Looking For A "Whereabouts" Asst. It looks like a perk of this job won't be that you get to look at Track & Field stars' private parts - it's more of clerical help. *Job Offer
We Disagree
Ken Goe Thinks That Bring Back The Mile Idea Isn't A Good One We disagree with Goe's overall argument but agree with him here: "The rest of the world isn't going to give up the metric system because it's uncomfortable for the U.S. geriatric set." The thing that all BBM detractors seem to don't get is - we aren't saying BBM will save the sport - we're
just saying
it can only help and won't hurt. The sport needs to make every incremental improvement it can. As Meb said Thursday, "Well, in running or track and field there's three prime events, there's the 100 meter, the mile and the marathon."
Bolt Update: Glen Mills: "Usain Bolt Is Not Injured" According to this, Bolt has scheduled visits with "Healing Hans" several times a year for treatment for his scoliosis, so this is just a routine thing. Mills could have avoided the speculation by saying that from the start instead of trying to cover it up with a faux "business trip."
Week That Was
LRC Rupp's Record Vs. Lagat's Record, Down Goes Rono, Miles Batty, Chris Derrick And Ryan Hill?, Plus Katie Flood, Marathoning, White Dudes In The 4 X 400, Some Canadian Coaching Advice And More Just in time for Valentine's Day, the track and field world came afire with some sizzling action and records galore. We got the meat (what you expect) and the potatoes (what you wouldn't expect) of the track and field world covered. We guarantee you won't be disappointed. If you are, complain here.
Interesting Read: Patrick Makau Speaks On Being Self Coached, His Half Marathon Loss In Spain, And His Two Newborn Twin Sons He gives great training advice, as he talks about listening to his body and says that he could have won in Spain, but he decided to save himself for other things ahead. Good read from Mutwiri Mutuota.
*10-Minute Video Interview With Makau From Same Story
Sprint News
Recommended Read: The Telegraph's Ian Chadband Catches
Up With Yohan Blake After His 2012 Season Opener - Blake Still Plays Cricket Every Sunday With Glen Mills' Blessing Can anyone in America imagine a college coach letting a sprint star play pickup games on the weekend? Yet Blake, who comes from a tough background, is super-fast. "I wasn't born with a golden spoon in my mouth; it was a really tough life. So many times, we had no money to even get to school. I'd have to find empty beer bottles to sell and spent hours carrying water on my head because we
had no water at home. It gave me strength which helps me today."
Boltgate Day II
*Despite Denials, Sportsmail Says Bolt Visited Doctor In Germany
*Meet The German Doctor Bolt Went To See Instead of Running 400m Last Week - The Doctor They Call "Healing Hans" In December, ESPN did a long profile of Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt - the doctor to the stars - including 5 of the 8 Berlin
100m finalists, plus people like Bono. He swears by Actovegin injections
- calf's blood.
Previous: Bolt Doesn't Run 400m Because He Has "Business Trip"
*Coach Says He's Stunned That People Think Bolt Is Hurt But Yohan Blake Admits He Went To Get A "General Checkup"
USATF Classic *Results *Photo Gallery
LRC Galen Rupp's American 2-Mile Record Is Highlight Among 5 World Leaders Pre-race, we pondered if this was the best men's indoor mile in the US since LetsRun.com was founded and it lived up to the hype, as Silas Kiplagat edged Caleb Ndiku in a world-leading time, but it was Galen Rupp, running to honor the late Geoff Hollister, who stole the show with an impressive American record at 2 miles. In other action, Brenda Martinez took on some of the world's best in the mile, Jamaica's 8th best sprinter beat all the Americans, and Tianna Madison (a long jump world champion most of you have forgotten) shocked VCB and Allyson Felix in the 60m.
- USATF Recap
- Silas Kiplagat, Caleb Ndiku, Russell Brown And Leo Manzano Talk About Their Miles
- Galen Rupp Interview
- Register Guard: Bernard Lagat Hints At Eventually Taking Back His 2-Mile Record
- IAAF Recap Says Salazar "waived a post-race workout" as a "reward" for the record, but we doubt either Salazar or Rupp would skip a workout unless it made sense.
- Ciarán Ó Lionáird Cites "Poor Tactics" As Cause For Disappointing 6th Place Finish
- On The Boards: Rupp gets AR
- Was This the Most Stacked Indoor Mile in the US Since LetsRun.com Was Founded?
- Galen Rupp Has NO CHANCE At Lagat's 2 Mile AR
USATF XC *XC Results *Men's Photos *Women's Photos
Molly Huddle Celebrates Too Soon, Sara Hall Wins XC On Lean, Bobby Mack Beats Aaron Braun Great races in the chill of St. Louis, as Molly Huddle and Sara Hall battled to the line. Huddle put up her hands thinking she won, but Hall leaned and got the win. Photos here. On the men's side, Mack pulled away from Braun the final 600m. More coverage here. Photo finish photo here.
- DyeStat Coverage Of Junior Race
- Quick Photos Of Finish
- Men's Photos
- Women's Photos
- OTB: 2012 USA XC Nats
- Is Bobby Mack the Jeremy Lin of Running?
- Why does Sara Hall still compete?
Friday Action 12:58! For Thomas Longosiwa
- Düsseldorf Results (Nixon Chepseba 3:35, Thomas Longosiwa 12:58, Adam Kszczot Crushes Boaz Lalang, Lolo Jones Wins Hurdles, Jimmy Vicaut Wins 60) Dayron Robles got beaten by Kevin Craddock of the US. Logosiwa was Kenyan Champ in 2007 and ran 12:51 that year. He was 6th at Worlds last year.
- On The Boards: 12:58 indoor 5K for LONGOSIWA
A Sad Day In The World Of Track And Field
Geoff Hollister, An Original Nike Employee And Former University Of Oregon Track Runner, Dies At Age 66 Hollister was a legend at Nike and the sport of track and field and Nike wouldn't be the same without him. He also was the producer of Fire on the Track, which was voted the best running movie ever on LetsRun.com. Members of the Oregon Project
wore special singlets at NB supporting
him as he was critically ill at the time.
(Photo by Jeff Johnson via Walt Chadwick Larger Here)
Bank Of America Chicago Registration Full
LRC Abdi Talks Olympics As He's In Chicago For Launch Of Registration For 2012 B Of A Chicago Marathon Abdi talked to LRC's Wejo via phone. Abdi discussed the Chicago launch, his track plans, his training group, and gave us an update on drug cheat Martin Fagan. Registration was over 18,000 as of 4pm.
London Marathon Goes To Iten
Virgin London Marathon, Which Made 2012 Athlete Announcements In Kenya, Is Giving Back To Iten, Eldoret Communities
LRC Photo Of The Day: Virgin London Marathon Fields Announced From Iten, Kenya We didn't realize London was in Iten to announce its 2012 fields. Very cool.
Bring Back The Mile Officially Launches For years, we (and many in the sport) have wondered why the mile isn't the #1 distance event in the land and why it's not run instead of the 1,500 or 1,600. Finally, someone has decided to do something about it.
*Bringing Buzz Back To The Mile *Discuss *Like On Facebook
Recommended Read: NY Times Article On Australia's LJer Mitchell Watt, Who Quit Track For 5 Years But Came Back And Got 2nd At The World Champs Apparently he was convinced to keep competing by a "12 page email" from his coach.
US Men's Olympic Trials Marathon News *LRC Vote Totals *Men's Results *Women's Results *Mile-By-Mile Splits *Yahoo Flash Photos
LRC Men's
Marathon Trials Analysis And Reaction The 2012 Trials race was a classic. We throw some love to the top 3, ponder Ritz's future in the marathon, tell you who had the best debut, and tell you who that guy you never heard of was. Plus we talk about Meb's 74-year-old badass dad and look at the fortune of some old timers who didn't make the team, Josh Cox and Dan Browne, in addition to the ones who did (Meb and Abdi).
Race Recap: Meb Keflezighi Captures 2012 Olympic Trials Marathon Title
NY Times Recap: Meb Over Hall, Abdi Grabs 3rd Spot The race lived up to the billing as the top four all broke 2:10, whereas previously there had only been one sub-2:10 in OTM history. After a blistering first half (63:25), Meb
Keflezighi got his 2nd PR in 69 days, as he ran 2:09:08 to
win over Hall (2:09:30). A resurgent Abdirahman (2:09:47) hung on for the final Olympic spot in 2:09:47 over Ritzenhein, who broke 2:10:00 for the first time (2:09:55). In the process, Meb became the first American to make an Olympic marathon team 8 years after making it previously. Abdi had no idea until we talked to him that Martin Fagan, whom he trained with some this winter, had reportedly tested positive
for EPO.
LRC Trials Live Thread Here
Trials On The Boards:
Lance And LIVESTRONG
Outside Magazine Article Accuses LIVESTRONG Foundation "If Lance Armstrong went to jail and Livestrong went away, that would be a huge setback in our war against cancer, right? Not exactly, because the famous nonprofit donates almost nothing to scientific research." *MB: Livestrong expose in Outside magazine
2011 ING NYC Marathon *Men's Results *Women's Results *Viewing Info *Flash Yahoo Photos
LRC 2:05:06!!! Geoffrey Mutai Caps Year In Style An unbelievable year in men's marathoning had an appropriate finish, as the Kenyan man who had the most unbelievable of all years, Geoffrey Mutai, smashed the previous NYC Marathon record by a stunning 2:38 - that's two minutes and 38 seconds. If it wasn't the greatest 2nd-greatest men's marathon performance
ever, you'll have to tell us what was. American Meb Keflezighi hung with the leaders for 20 miles after a blistering 63:16 1st half and ended up with a much-deserved PR. Mutai picked up $200,000 by winning, but the big financial winner was runner-up Emmanuel Mutai, who won $635,000 ($500,000 for the WMM title).
LRC Mary Keitany Beats
Herself The women's race was full of gut-wrenching
drama, as Mary Keitany went out in a crazy 67:56. The problem was she came back in 74:42, as unheralded Firehiwot Dado (Rome
Marathon champ) got the win.
LRC Post-Race Interviews: Meb And His Coach Bob Larsen Talks About His PR Despite Throwing Up Plus the winners - Geoffrey Mutai, Firehiwot Dado, men's and women's top 3, Ed Moran, Molly Pritz, Lauren Fleshman and Bobby Curtis.
Stockholm Is Today - Startlists/Schedule
- Thursday's Stockholm Meet Is Loaded: IAAF Preview The meet has some great jumps plus a fantastic men's 800 where #3 all-time Adam Kszczot will race Mohamed Aman, Borzakovskiy and Lalang. The men's 5,000 is totally loaded, as the 2012 world leaders at 5k (Thomas Longosiwa 12:58.67) and and 3k (Augustine Choge 7:29.94) will clash with Boston winner and teen sensation Caleb Ndiku. Plus former NCAA standouts Hannah England, Morgan Uceny and Anna Pierce in the 1,500.
- Holly Bleasdale Looking For Another Shot At Beating Yelena Isinbayeva They cleared the same height 2 weeks ago, but Isinbayeva won on countback. UK's Helen Clitheroe in the 1,500m.
- Dayron Robles Vs. Liu Xiang Robles says he has no hard feelings towards his friend Xiang, whose protest got him DQed from WCs.
USATF Indoors Is Saturday/Sunday *Live Webcast 2:30PM EST Sat., 12PM Sunday *ESPN Broadcast 7:30-930PM EST Sun. *Entries *Schedule *Meet Website
- Galen Rupp Won't Concede Anything When He Takes On Bernard Lagat In The 3,000
- Great Profile: Jen Suhr Literally Needs To Raise The Roof On Her Custom Built Practice Facility In Rochester, NY When she vaults, her feet are almost hitting the ceiling. Interesting insights into her start as a PVer and training which includes underwater pole valuting.
- Great Profile #2: Confident, Healthy, Ready, High Jumper Jesse Williams Eyes Olympic Gold In London Williams after missing finals in Beijing 2008: "I'm going to go home and cry for four years, then come back out in London and make sure things go right. That's all I can do."
- Daegu World Champs Jesse Williams (HJ) And Christian Taylor (TJ) Highlight Field Events As well as the top 4 shot putters in the world in Resse Hoffa, Ryan Whiting, Christian Cantwell and Adam Nelson.
- USATF Issues Statement On Advertising Guidelines
- World Heptathlon Record Holder Ashton Eaton Competing In LJ At US Champs He's already going to Worlds in the heptathlon.
- Preview Of Women's Field Events Jen Suhr, Jillian Camarena-Williams & Brittney Reese.
- MB: Does Rupp have any realistic chance of beating Lagat this weekend?
Random US News
- Let's Hope They Advertise On LetsRun.com - We'll Do It For Product - Sam Adams To Unveil New Boston Marathon Beer On Thursday The Samuel Adams Boston 26.2 Brew "will have a slightly lower alcohol level and lighter body than many other Samuel Adams beers."
- CBS Marketwatch Looks At How Marathon Is Much More Marketable Than Rest Of Track & Field And Talks To Meb & Shalane To Prove It
- USA Today: B-Ball Uniforms Are 14 Ounces Lighter Than Normal All we say is bring back the short Larry Bird shorts which are even lighter.
- NY Times Article On Former Olympic Swimming Champ Janet Evans, Who Is Returning To Competition At 40 Years Old
A Definite Recommended Read & Discuss
Sports Illustrated & Tim Layden Profile Mo Farah & Galen Rupp: A Bond Born At Speed The two training partners clearly will have vastly different amounts of pressure on them at the London Games and it's clear that Rupp is happy to not be in the spotlight: "I don't envy Mo. He's going to have a bunch of people cheering for
him, but all that stress. It's nice sometimes to just train
and not have all that external stuff."
MB: Rupp 10.9 and Farah 11.3 for the 100m *Do you believe the rest of the SI article about Rupp & Farah? 8 x 1200 at 4,551 Ft Altitude in 3:09/2min rest? *Alberto Salazar's coaching pre-Galen Rupp *Does
Rupp have any
realistic chance of beating Lagat this weekend?
Kenya-Related News
- Kenyan 5,000 & 10,000 Trials At Pre Classic Is Now Being Hotly Debated In Kenya As Former Greats Moses Tanui And Paul Tergat Voice Disapproval Tanui points out that the cost of shipping one athlete to Eugene would go a long way in Kenya.
- Masai Warrior David Rudisha Gets Reuters Profile
- Dave Bedford Expects Someone Could "Carve A Chunk Off" Men's Course Record At 2012 Virgin London Marathon
Interesting Articles
- Benedict Arnold Updates Sub-4 Transfers Pat Casey And Riley Masters Justify Their Decision To Leave Hometown Colleges To OU Student Newspaper
- Washington Post Looks At Fact That Building Built In 1901 That Doesn't Allow LJ Or TJ Hosts Md. State Qualifying Meets We loved this quote from an old-time coach who defended the use of the building: "I think we're getting soft in our old age," said Clarksburg Coach Scott Matthias with a smile. "Do I love it? No. Do I rather [run at] PG? Yes. But a race is a race whether it's faster or slower than at other places."
Sprint News
- Imagine This - A Good Head-To-Head Matchup
Asafa Powell To Race Usain Bolt In Rome On May 31st Last year, the two also raced in Rome and Powell was only .02 behind Bolt. - Usain Bolt Goes To Local Road Race/Serves As Starter For 5.6km Corporate Race *18:08 Wins 5.6 Km Race
- Ivet Lalova Wants Medals At European Champs This Year Don't known Lalova? She's an LRC interview sensation and the 2nd-fastest European ever at 100m.
- Inspirational
Ex-Scottish Rugby Player Thom Evans, Who Was Nearly Killed On The Pitch Two Years Ago With A Broken Vertebra, Is Back As A 60m Man Now He's not all that fast (7.23) but it's an amazing accomplishment.
Interesting Read A Look Back At The Last Time London Hosted The Olympics: The 1948 "Austerity Olympics" The 1948 Games were a huge success but put on with a tiny budget of just £760,000. Competitors were given bed linens but expected to bring their own towels. "Today, when seven years are needed to organise a multibillion-pound Olympics, it is fitting to reflect on these 'Austerity Olympics,' in which so much was achieved, in so little time, with so little money. The Games were an extraordinary occasion, a true celebration of victory after dark times, and one of the most inexpensive and unpretentious Olympiads of the twentieth century."
LetsThrow.com
- We Aren't Making This Up: Weighted Shoulder Throw To Become Javelin Of Indoors?
- Another Big Throw For DePaul Shot Putter Tim Nedow
Bertie Messitt, Former Irish Record Holder At Events From 3,000 To 10,000, Dies At Age 83
Sydney Track Classic *Results
Kiprop 1:45.9, Rudisha 45.61, David Torrence 3:35.6 Wins The Australian season got underway in full force with the two best mid-distance runners, Olympic and World 1,500m champ Asbel Kiprop and World 800m champ David Rudisha, both dropping down in distance. Rudisha ran 45.61 at 400, while Kiprop got the 800m win in 1:45.9. Kiprop dropping down let American David Torrence win the 1,500 in 3:35.6. World hurdles champ Sally Pearson did the hurdles/200m double. Nick Symmonds did not have his kick and was a well-beaten 6th in 1:47.44, which is a pretty good opener.
- Valerie Adams Wins SP
- On The Boards: Kiprop Wins it in 1:45.96, Riseley Kicks Hard for Second
- Rudisha 45:82 at Sydney!!!!
- David Torrence 3:35 WL in Sydney today
LRC Track Talk Live From Kenya LRC Employee #1 talks about meeting Kiprop and Rudisha. Did you know Rudisha was doing the decathlon for a while?
Kenyan XC Champs
Bedan Karoki, Joyce Chepkirui Win The Toughest XC Race On The Planet Karoki is the Japanese-based athlete who won the Stanford 10,000m last year. Chepkirui had a breakout year in 2011, running 30:38 on the roads (prior to last
year, she had never broken 33 minutes) and ran 31:26 to win the Zatopek 10k. World and NYC Marathon champ Edna Kiplagat was 3rd, while former World XC Champ Joseph Ebuya was 49th.
*Bedan Karoki Says Kenyan XC Was Part Of Buildup For Fukuoka Marathon (Which Is In December)
*Over The Flu: Vivian Cheruiyot To Race World's Best 10km This Saturday She missed out on Birmingham with the flu.
*Pre Classic Update: Meet Director Tom Jordan Comments On Kenyan 10,000m Trials Being At The Pre Classic Says it looks "promising" but not "confirmed yet." He only spoke of the 10k and wouldn't comment on the possibility of the 5k being included too.
*Kenyan 5,000m And 10,000m Trials To Be At Prefontaine Classic This is big news. The details clearly aren't out, as Chris Solinsky is trying to figure out what it means for him (i.e., whether the races will be Kenyan only). More here.
LRC Track Talk Live From Kenya Employee #1 has been in Kenya for 2 weeks, meeting with many of the sport's stars. In this 45-minute broadcast, get the inside scoop.
Talk About A Comeback: Philip Mosima, Who Competed In 1988 Kenyan Olympic Trials As A 12-Year-Old, Is Trying To Make A Comeback At Kenyan XC Champs He ran 12:53 in 1996 when 12:53 was unbelievably fast.
1 Month & 1 Day From Friday
Meb, Ritz, Kara And Desi To Run 2012 NYC Half Also sponsorless man Scott Bauhs will run as will a bunch of other Americans, including 2009 WChamps 5,000 team member Julie Culley in her
13.1 debut.
*AP
*Transcript Of Meb, Bob Larsen & Mary Wittenberg Teleconference (Word document) Meb reveals that his wife ran a 5k in 26:05,
officially eliminating their children as #1 prospects for the class of 2030.
*Denver
Post Catches Up With Ritz, Who Is Excited To Get Back To The Track - Ritz: "I still think I'm one of the best runners in the world."
*Ritz Blogs About His Recent Training: "I got out my spikes for the first time in two and a half years."
Interesting Reads
- Recommended Read #1 5 Minutes With Southern Utah Coach Eric Houle - The Man Behind Cam Levins' (And Jess Baumgartner's Success) Learn from the man who designs the workouts for LRC sensation Cam Levins. Houle talks about training at 160 mpw and says that Cedar City, US is one of the hidden gems in terms of location in the US, as it's within a short drive of 10,000 and 2,000 feet of altitude.
- Recommended Read #2 Science Of Sport's Ross Tucker Looks At Alberto Contador, Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich & Oscar P Cases Says it's a shame so few people truly understand science. Even though Contador was banned for 2 years, he disagrees with their assertion that a blood transfusion was "very unlikely to have occurred." We also loved this quote: "The general public, and therefore the general media who cater to them, do not want to peel back layer after layer of scientific explanation to truly understand a case. They want simple answers, black and white, and science is incapable of providing them. PR, on the other hand, thrives on simple answers."
- Interesting Read Bloggers encourages track meets to be intimate affairs that "cater to a sophisticated, microbrew and/or wine drinking, nationalist" We agree that each track meet must be unique and specific to a particular audience if the sport is to survive and we also agree that each meet director needs to think about why he or she is putting on the meet. We don't understand why it starts with total vitriol for super-agent Ricky Simms.
- Want To Be A British Olympian? You Have To Agree To This Code Of Conduct: Selling official kit, criticising team-mates, betting on events and political tattoos are banned in Olympics 34-page code of conduct.
Some Good Interviews
- Brief Chat With Lawi Lalang After His 13:08.28 Collegiate 5k Record Talks about plans to go for the Kenyan Olympic Trials 5,000m, training with Bernard Lagat, and some ambitious goals which include sub-13 outdoors and a shot at either the mile or 3k collegiate record sometime in the next couple of weeks.
- Running Times Interview With Ricky Flynn Flynn ran 2:13:41 for 12th place in his debut marathon at the Olympic Trials and is the guy we noted as "least moving backwards over the last 5k." Some interesting talk about his move to high-volume training.
- Q&A With Canada's 2008 Olympian Taylor Milne, Who Is Trying To Qualify For The 2012 Games In The 1,500 Apparently he has "Beijing 2008" tattooed on his chest.
- Bernard Lagat Says He Wants To Run World Indoors And Would Like To See Galen Rupp There Too Also includes quotes from recent AR setters, Jillian Camarena-Williams and Jenn Suhr.
Fast Times In Lieven! *Website/Results
- Olympic 800m Champ Pamela Jelimo Sparks Back To Life In Lievin It was her first sub-2 since the Trials for the 2009 Berlin World Championships.
- Poland's Adam Kszczot Runs 1:44.57 And Moves To 3rd On World All-Time Indoor List Ethiopia's Mohamed Aman (the man who beat David Rudisha) was 5th in 1:46.80. Olympic bronze medallist Edwin Soi ran 7:32.56 for 3k to beat out 12:53 5k man
and 20+-year-oldIsiah Koech (7:32.89). Koech's time got him the world "junior" record. World indoor silver medallist Abdelaati Iguider won the 1,500 in a WLing 3:34.10. Mariem Alaoui-Selsouli ran 4:03.67 to win the 1,500 (Brit Steph Twell was ninth in 4:11.65).
*IAAF Recap Lievin - Jamaica's Lerone Clarke Beats Christophe Lemaitre To Set The WL In The 60m At 6.50 Seconds Lemaitre went on to win the 200m in 20.92. Morocco's Malika Akkaoui set a world-leading time of 1:59.01 in the 800, beating Olympic champ Pamela Jelimo (1:59.10). Yelena Isinbayeva is rounding into shape as she won the PV in 15 feet, 9 1/4 inches and made three attempts at a WR mark of 16-1 1/4 (Jen Suhr has current WR at 16-0.)
- Elsewhere: Daegu HJ Bronze Medallist Trevor Barry Goes 2.30m To Win Brno HJ Competition
*National Records Go Down At Chinese Indoor Meet China's Zhang Jun set the Asian indoor shot put record at 20.16m and Xue Fei set a 1,500m NR at 4:09.71.
More Recent Action We Want To Make Sure You Realized Happened
- Sunday: Karlsruhe, Germany: Genzebe Dibaba Runs 4:00.13!!! - Augustine Choge & Edwin Soi Run 7:29.34 (Choge Wins) For 3,000 As Yenew Alamirew Is 3rd in 7:31.23 The 21-year-old Dibaba, who was 8th in the 5k at the last two WCs, became the 5th-fastest woman in history at 1,500 indoors thanks to her 4:00.13 win. In the 3k, Mariem Selsouli destroyed WC silver medallist Syliva Kibet (8:36 to 8:43). *Karlsruhe Results
- 23-Year-Old Russian Yelena Kofanova Is 1st Under 2:00 In 2012 With 1:59.80
- Bronze Medallist From 2010 World XC Juniors, Japheth Korir, Wins Luxembourg XC Meet - Canada's Reid Coolsaet Is 4th (43 Seconds Back) Ethiopia's Almensh Belete won the women's title.
- IAAF: Ennis double win the highlight in Sheffield - UK champs wrap
2012 Millrose Games *Results *Lagat, Wanamaker Mile Video
- LRC: Lagat Smashes American Record, Collegiate Record Books Rewritten Bernard Lagat ran 13:07.15 and smashed Galen Rupp's American indoor record, but the most impressive achievements may have been the rewriting of the collegiate record books. Lawi Lalang (13:08) not only obliterated the old indoor record but he ran faster than Henry Rono's nearly 34-year-old outdoor record. Chris Derrick got beaten badly but becomes the 5th-fastest collegian in the US indoors or outdoors. In the Wanamaker mile, Matt Centrowitz reminded us why he won the bronze medal at Worlds and Miles Batty broke the collegiate record.
- NY Times: Centrowitz Makes It Look So Easy (3:53.92) - American, Collegiate & HS Records Fall In 5,000 Centrowitz is one of the world's best milers and he showed it on Saturday as he totally schooled the collegians who were lined up to challenge him, although the top collegian didn't care, as Miles Batty got the collegiate record with a 3:54.54. In the women's 1,500, world champ Jenny Simpson beat Shannon Rowbury as both ran 4:06. LaShawn Merritt came up way short of the WR in the 500.
- Miles Batty Reacts To Collegiate Record
- Post-Race: Bernard Lagat Reacts To Galen Rupp Getting His 2-Mile Record
- RRW: Lagat Shatters American Record, Centrowitz Wins Wanamaker Mile
- Daily News: Lagat breaks U.S. record in 5,000 meters at Millrose Games
- IAAF Recap
- DyeStat Coverage Of HS Action
- MB: Lagat AR (13:07) Lawi 2nd in 13:08 CR, Cheserek 13:57 and Derrick 13:19!
- MB: Centrowitz just jogged a 3:53
- MB: Batty destroys CR
- MB: Ajee Wilson mixes it up with the pros, gets 4th to beat Vessey
2012 Boston Marathon
LRC Boston Marathon Releases Elite Fields For 2012 2011 champs Geoffrey Mutai & Caroline Kilel will try to defend their titles against a field that includes 5 sub-2:05 and 2:23 competitors.
Dubai *LRC Recap *Results
LRC Hello World, Meet Ayele Abshero (2:04:23 Debut!) The 21-year-old former Jr. World XC champ's marathon debut was super-special, as his surge with just over 3km remaining decimated
the deepest
marathon field in history, as four
men broke 2:05 in the race, eight broke 2:06, 10 broke 2:07, and 17 broke 2:10 - all records as fastest-ever times for places were recorded in spots three through
17. 2011 belonged to the Kenyan men, will 2012 belong to Ethiopia? The women's race was super-fast and super-deep as well, as 3 women broke 2:20 in the same race for the 1st time, as Aselefech Mergia ran 2:19:31 to win and a record 9 women broken 2:25. Martin Lel was a DNF, Ramaala 2:12. *AP
*Butcher: Ethiopians Strike Back
*MB: 4 guys I've never heard of go sub 2:05 in Dubai
Wejo Speaks: LRC What About The Sport? Wejo, an outspoken critic of Millrose Games moving to the Armory, says don't celebrate USATF sticking it to Millrose. Celebrate the sport being on ESPN.
Be Inspired By These Two Olympic Trials Breakthrough Performers
- Recommended Read! The
Ultimate Blue-Collar Runner: Meet Jimmy Grabow - The Guy With A Full-Time Job Who Ran 2:12:29 At The Trials In His First Marathon If this piece doesn't inspire you, then we don't know what will. The guy gets up every day at 5:30 and bangs out 15 miles + a core workout before going to a real 40-hour/week job before running 5 more miles after work.
*MB: Jimmy Grabow - The Ultimate Blue Collar Runner Do you know about the blue collar or yuppie debate - it's one of the greatest in LRC history. - 5 Minutes With Alissa McKaig She PRed by 5+ minutes to finish 8th at the OTrials in 2:31.
US Women's Olympic Trials Marathon News *LRC Vote Totals *Men's Results *Women's Results *Yahoo Flash Photos
Flanagan Over Davila, Goucher Gets Third As Top 4 All Break Old OTrials Record Flanagan (2:25:38) pulled away from Davila (2:25:55) and Goucher was third in 2:26:06. Amy Hastings broke the old Trials record at 2:27:17 but didn't make the team. Deena Kastor was 6th in 2:30:40.
- New: Amy Hastings Reacts To Fourth Place Finish Obviously disappointed, but a good run for Amy.
- Post-Race Reaction None of the four former Olympic marathoners in the race made the team. Hear from the top 3 and them.
- Women's Results
- Goucher: "I never imagined myself winning this race based on the short period of time I had to train." Oregonian
- Washington Post Recap Of Trials
- Deena: "I have no idea. This was not in my plans ... I really thought I was going to book my ticket to London today." MB Thread: Will Deena Kastor retire now?
Great Marathon News
- Defending Champions Geoffrey Mutai And Caroline Kilel Will Try To Defend Their Crowns At The 2012 Boston Marathon
- 2012 ING New York City Marathon Will Be Broadcast Live On ESPN2 ESPN/NY execs, please let us consult and help you with your broadacst. We will do it for free in year 1. Our first advice will be to tell you who not to hire as broadcasters. It's amazing how little info has been shown when Boston has been on ESPN. Email us here.
The Big Interview: Dathan Ritzenhein
LRC Ritz Reflects On The Trials, His Years With Alberto, And Looks To The Future 24 hours after Dathan Ritzenhein just missed making the 2012 the Olympic Marathon team, a frank but more upbeat Ritz sat down and talked with LetsRun.com. He looked back on the Trials race ("I ran pretty good. It just was not enough.") and back on the last three years with Alberto ("He is a very smart, very passionate guy more than anything. He will find the way." and "There's been many times when we've screwed up.") before looking ahead to both the immediate future ("The Olympics is everything.") and farther down the road ("I do love the marathon, but I think I love being good better ... I want to succeed at what I'm going to be best at."). A confident Ritz has big plans for the future. A must read (or watch) if we can say so ourselves. Plus we give you splits of the last 3.2 miles in Houston.
Women At The Olympics(?)
*IOC Opens Women's Sports Conference With Video Of Olympic Heroes That Features Just 4 Women Out of 34 Shown USA Today's Christine Brennan rips the IOC here for being 100% sexist. How can they consider putting the Olympics in sexist Qatar?
*Doha Including More Sport Opportunities For Women As Part Of Its 2020 Olympic Bid Qatar has never sent a female to the Olympics but this year it will sent at least TWO!
*Human Rights Watch Reminds Us That Saudi Arabia & Brunei Have Never Sent A Woman To The Olympics
Race Of The Week: Kipchoge Outkicks Farah In 2-Mile (Final 500 Or Full Race)
Save Millersville XC/T&F
Millersville University Men's Cross-Country And Track Programs Being Cut This program has the school's only NCAA title. Sign this petition to save it. Ato Boldon already has (#3,485 on list). *News Video
Other News
*Interview With Jenny Simpson To Air On ESPN Radio Today Starts at 5:00 p.m. EST. Go here and click "Listen LIVE." Jenny will come on around 5:15.
*Interesting Look At Running Siblings And How Coaches Deal With Their Different Levels Of Talent Looks specifically at Chris Derrick and his younger brother Mark, who even though he has a 9:14 3,200 PR, is still far under his brother's shadow.
*Toni Reavis Blogs On "The Culture Of Running In East Africa"
*Tyson Gay Still A Threat To Jamaican Sprint Dominance Gay: "Last year, for me to run with basically one leg, I ran 9.7. I can be a lot more dangerous as long as I stay healthy."
College Corner (More In Our College Forum)
*University Of Pittsburgh's Brycen Spratling Breaks Collegiate 500m Record At Big East Conference Champs
*Big East Results Most of the conference meets are this weekend.
*Emily Infeld Wins 3k/Mile/DMR To Lead Hoyas To 12-Point Win
*Notre Dame Men Win
*Infeld, Van Dalen Triple Winners In Conference Meets
*More College Results Here
LetsRun.com Track Talk Live From Kenya: Friday's Live Show Is Now Available On Demand In The Player Below (Or Download It Here)
The Super-Fast 3,000m From Germany Where Kipchoge Gets 4th
News Of Note
- Chat With Chris Derrick
- Recommended ReadHigh School: How A Quarterback Won The Mile At The Millrose Games
- CNN Catches Up With Tyson Gay, Who Believes 2012 Is Going To Be A Speical Year For Him
- Kiwi 1,500m Star Nikki Hamblin Has To Prove Fitness To Make New Zealand Olympic Team As She Comes Back From Achilles Injury
Rupp's 2-Mile American Record From Arkansas (Last 2:20 Or The Full Race)
Friday's RAK Half Marathon Photo Gallery
Assorted News
*Galen Rupp Says It's Looking Like He Will Race Bernard Lagat At US Indoor Champs
*Tokyo University Hakone Ekiden CR Setters Kento Otsu & Yuta Shitara To Run NYC Half On Mar. 18th They have PRs of 1:02:35 and 1:02:43.
*DI Rankings: Arkansas And Florida Still 1-2 For Men (Texas A&M Jumps From 8th To 3rd) Oregon still lead for the women; Clemson and LSU swap 2-3 positions.
*Sydney Olympic 800m Champ Nils Schumann Under Investigation For Blood Doping Was among those named in German doping scandal.
Final 400 (Or Full Race) Of Lagat's American Record (Wanamaker Mile Video Here)
Photo Gallery: Rupp Makes History (Interview Below Or Here)
USA XC Photo Galleries *Women Here *Men Here
Help Us Pick The Final Winners In The LRC Puma Faas Challenge
We Want Your Votes We've got roughly 20 pairs of Puma Faas shoes still to put to the test and we want your votes. Voting has been going on on the message boards, but here it is for everyone else. See the amazing entries from LRC nation.
Week In Review
LRC 5 Thoughts On NBIGP, Patrick Makau Gets Beaten, Drug Talk, A Crazy Half Marathon In Japan And Minnesota Mid-D We give you more thoughts on the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix and tell you who really won the 800, then turn to the roads and talk about Patrick Makau getting beaten and a crazy half marathon in Japan, plus an update on Minnesota's great middle-d program, plus some training advice.
Osaka Marathon Photos
Trailer For "ITEN - The Town Of RED Dust"
NCAA Women's Photo Gallery
NCAA Men's Photo Gallery (500+ Photos)
Joanie Inspires
Training Corner (More In The Training Forum)
- Anyone else run hard workouts in the very-early morning?
- Stitches, breathing, and racing
- Anyone ever made a comeback after something serious (cancer)?
- I lost the spark between me and running
- How to develop speed endurance
A Scintillating Men's 10,000 Finish (US Visitors Only)
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