Khannouchi's Retirement
LRC Carey Pinkowski Reflects On Khalid Khannouchi's Career: "He Was The Absolute Best I've Ever Seen" The Chicago marathon director talks about the man who made his name in the Windy City. Plus quotes from London Marathon director Dave Bedford and a tweet from Ryan Hall.
LRC Marathon Legend Khalid Khannouchi Officially Retires Khalid Khannouchi, one of the greatest marathoners of all time, has told LRC that he is officially retiring from competitive running. Khalid
helped revolutionize the sport of marathon running, setting two world record in the span of three years, including his final one at the "Greatest Marathon Ever Run" - the 2002 London Marathon matchup that featured
Khannouchi, Paul Tergat and Haile Gebrselassie. All three men would eventually hold the marathon record. Take a minute to read this article and reflect on Khannouchi's incredible career. At the end of 2002, Khannouchi had 3 of the 4 fastest marathon times ever run, and 8 of the top 9 times were run in races Khalid won, as he helped revolutionize the marathon. A decade later, Khalid's best time - believe it or not - is only the 46th best in the world (but is still the
American
record).
Read all about it.
More: *Scott Douglas Asks: What Does Phil Hersh Owe His Readers?
*Reuters Story With LetsRun.com Mention
*IAAF Story With LetsRun.com Mention
*Chicago Tribune's Phil Hersh Reacts Bitterly: Khannouchi calls it quits, which is nothing new Hersh is apparently very upset that Khannouchi never ran for the US in the Olympics.
*Recommended Read 1998 New York Times Profile Of Khalid Khannouchi - From Morocco to Brooklyn, A Runner's Road to the Top Nice quote from Joe McVeigh.
*1998 Chicago Tribune Profile Of US Immigrant Khalid Khannnouchi
*LRC MBoard: Khalid Khannouchi Retires
US Distance Pros In The News
"Fam" Says He Won't Back Down At Carlsbad 5k This Weekend Against Dejen Gebremeske, Eliud Kipchoge & Tariku Bekele He may not back down, but we'll give 150 dollars to charity if he's within 15 seconds of the winner.
Shalane Flanagan Surprised Herself With Lisbon Half Victory
"When I saw the start list, I was wondering if I should have entered the race. I was wondering what I'd gotten myself into. A lot of the women on the start list had PRs (personal records) that were a minute to a minute and a half faster than
mine."
US World Indoor 1,500 Team Member Sara Vaughn Is Trying To Make It As A Mom Of Two & Next To Zero Sponsorship Props to her for going to World Indoors. "I'm not old, but I'm a little bit older. I didn't have a shoe deal - I
couldn't get a shoe contract after I got pregnant with our second kid. Adidas dropped me. The Bowerman Athletic Club were the only people to offer anything, and it was like shoes and $500."
Somewhat Related: Des Moines Set To Host 2013 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
News From Kenya
- 1st Round Of Kenyan Trials Will Take Place In Kenya On April 17th Kip Keino says success in running is 75% mental. We disagree.
- Kenyan Coach Julius Kirwa Is Upset That Kip Keino Stadium Is Being Used As Cattle Grazing Ground Ignore the part where Kirwa supposedly claims that the stadium is the same altitude as Oregon, as in the other article, Kirwa says the toilets are unusable and states the accurate altitude.
Marathon News
Lengthy Profile On Double World Champ Abel Kirui As He Prepares for London And Talks About Canova Kirui's dream is making the Olympics. On Renato: "Canova is a man almost 70, so old is gold all the time. He has the
wise words and wise programmes. If you follow what he tells you, you
will succeed. He gave good programmes and I respect him as a grand father."
Camobidan Olympian In Marathon Is A Japanese Comedian Who Was Discovered On A Reality Show There is another guy who is five minutes faster training in Kenya whom the federation does not like. The IAAF shouldn't waive its rules for this Japanese guy.
More Results From The Weekend
- Sardinia XC: John Kipkoech Wins Close Race Over World XC Silver Medalist Paul Tanui World 10k 4th placer Prisca Jepleting Cherono won the women's race.
- French HJer Mickael Hanany Sets Outdoor WL At 2.31m In the Iberian 10,000m, Spain's Gema Barrachina (32:08 WL) and Manuel Angel Penas (28:17) won individual titles while Portugal won the team trophy.
- Oscar P: Mom Was Oscar P's Inspiration "We never focused on disability in my family. When I woke up, my mother told my brother to put on his shoes and me to put on my legs."
*Pistorius Loses To Arnu Fourie In 100m At SA National Disabled Champs
London 2012 News
- Never A Bad Idea To Have A World Champ Owe You A Favor: Dedicated Dai Greene Fans Steps Up To Get Him Extra Olympic Tickets Using Twitter, Greene was able to use the help of a fan who got him 8 extra tickets for his family. The fan initially paid £1,500 of his own money to buy them.
- First Leg Torchbearer For London 2012 Revealed Greek swimming world champ Spyros Gianniotis will start the trip off from Greece on May 10th. Detailed explanation of the torch's route/journey if you're interested.
- UK Sprinter Christian Malcolm Wants His Friend Dwain Chambers' Lifetime Olympic Ban To be Overturned Malcolm: "There should be redemption and I like to see drug cheats come back because I like to see what they can do without the drugs ... If they come back and don't do well, then that is a real punishment."
- Michael Johnson Warns Jessica Ennis That She'll Need A PR To Win In London After Losing Both Her World Titles
- Jacques Rogge To Meet In London With Prime Minister David Cameron About Final Preparations For Games One big topic still left to discuss is what political world leaders will get an invite to the Opening Ceremonies and who won't be allowed in the country.
Sunday's Action *LRC Updated Full Photo Gallery
Shalane Flanagan Wins Lisbon Half, Tadese Three-Peats Updated with IAAF story The American got the big upset win (just
as we predicted)
and Zersenay Tadese got the win but not the world record (just as we predicted - a broken clock is accurate twice a day). Flanagan ran
68:51 for the win.
OTB: Flanagan wins Lisbon. Lock for Olympic gold?
*Will there be an official Lisbon half-marathon thread?
*Letsrun...seriously
your picking Shalane Flanagan to win the 2012 Lisbon Half Marathon?
*Full Photo Gallery
*LRC Lisbon Half Marathon Preview
B Of A Shamrock Shuffle: *Results (link fixed) *Discussion Abdelaaziz Atmani won as Abdi was 3rd. Julia Lucas won over Delilah DiCrescenzo.
More Weekend Action *Excellent Photo Of Spearmon By Max Faulkner Of FW Star-Telegram
- Arlington, TX: LRC Wallace Spearmon Runs 19.95 In March! To Crush Jeremy Wariner No one in the history of the world had run sub-20.00
in the Northern hemisphere
in March until now. Spearmon's Achilles
injury is clearly behind him. Doc Patton ran a 10.04 on a perfect 80-degree day and La Shauntea Moore ran a WL in the women's 200m. *Discuss
FW Star-Telegram: Spearmon: "I'm back." Spearmon trains with Doc Patton, who ran 10.04. - S. African Yellow Pages Meet: Caster Semenya 2:03.60 Win, Mbulaeni Mulaudzi 1:46.41 Win, LJ Van Zyl Is Rusty In 400 This was former world champ Mulaudzi's first race in 8 months, so that's a pretty good performance. LJ Van Zyl only ran 46.50.
*Mulaudzi Says The Only Person To Worry About Is David Rudisha He says he's "not really concerned" with anyone else. *Results - Austin: Leo Manzano Runs 3:55.98 At Manzano Mile Congrats to Leo on the Texas state record, which was in essence a solo effort with rabbits. *MBoard Thread
- Kenya: 2:19 Marathoner Lucy Kabuu Gets Ready For London With 15:40 5k Win At Kenyan Track Meet Kabuu and her coach are still hoping to make the Kenyan Olympic marathon team with a win at London.
- Italy: Ethiopia's Yacob Jarso Wins Stramilano Half Marathon In 1:01:07 Jarso (4th in 2008 Olympic steeple) beat out Andrea Lalli in the last 800m. Italian marathoner Valeria Straneo won the women's race in 1:08:48.
- Asia: Bahrain Runners Dominate At Asian XC Champs World 10k 6th placer Shitaye Eshete won the senior women's race. *Top Results
*US HS Action: MileSplit Recap Of Weekend Meets Bernie Montoya runs 4:08 mile to win Chandler Rotary Invy. *Results
A Look At Top US Marathon Women Who Didn't Make The Team In Houston And Their Plans As They Move To The Track Deena Kastor originally thought her London Games dreams were done, but now is going to try to qualify on the track and says "my legs are waking up to the training and I feel refreshed dropping down in distance."
Distance News
Serena Burla Q&A After Her 2:28:27 Huge PR At Last Week's Seoul Marathon This didn't get a lot of attention, showing how much better American marathoning is getting. A bit surprising Burla didn't run Boston.
Japan And Kenya Doing The Best In The World Half Marathon Rankings The Japanese depth is amazing. The Kenyans of course dominate the top marks.
News From The UK
- Former Marathon Great Ron Hill, Who Inspired Seb Coe To Get Into Athletics, Is Disappointed He Was Snubbed By Olympic Torch Relay Organizers The 73-year-old's snub is disgraceful. He is still 10th all-time on the UK marathon rankings (2:09:28 from 1970) and inspired the Olympic head Coe to get into Athletics. "I was disappointed. In my area it seemed to be about charities. These people ought to be recognised, and are, for the work they do. But this is about sport and Olympians, for heaven's sake. I cannot see any other country in the world celebrating having the Olympics on home soil in this way."
- Scientists Criticize GB Organizers For Uniform Mistake - Lack Of Red To Doom British Team To Failure Last year, professor Robert Barton documented that red uniforms benefit performance: "Obviously she has designed these from a fashion point of view and was not taking into account the possible effects that might have on performance. Given there's an obvious (patriotic) justification for [including more red] and given the effects that we and other scientists have found, it does seem like a mistake." *Yahoo Photos Here
- Reuters Picks Up Lack Of Red Controversy - Welsh Irate As Well
- British Press Guy Praises New Anti-Doping Location Computer Program The new "ADAMS" - the Anti-Doping Administration and Management System - works much like Microsoft Outlook.
- West Ham Among Four Formal Bidders For London 2012 Olympic Stadium
- Orient Chairman Says With Athletics Track Staying, That Olympic Stadium Is "Not Fit For Football"
Random Kenyan News
- Kenyans Cracking Down On Age Cheating?
Trials For East Africa Youth Champs Being Held Right Now In Kenya - Officials Says They'll Need To See Birth Certificate Or Passport They want to stop age cheating. - Athletics Kenya (AK) received a shot in the arm with National Bank of Kenya forking out Sh33 million for this year's the track and field season.
US News
- Q&A: Carrie Tollefson Not Retired Yet You may have recently seen the 2004 Olympian doing broadcasts, but she says she never retired from running and is hoping to make the US Trials "A" standard of 15:35 in the 5k (possibly at Payton Jordan).
- Galen Rupp On How Mo Farah Has Toughened Him Up In Training He says that before Mo, he could give himself an "out" in workouts because he knew the pacers he had weren't doing the full workout or mileage he was. Now with Mo, he can't make excuses.
- After Being Shot In The Legs Three Times, USC Sprinter Bryshon Nellum Is Finally Pain Free 3 Years Later He was the No. 1-ranked 200m and 400m high school sprinter in the nation back in 2007. Memorial service will be held at Beckman HS, Tustin, CA on Saturday, April 14th, from 1-2:30PM.
- RIP: Celebration Of Life Of 1968 Olympian And HS Coach Bob Day Planned For April 14th *UCLA Article
*Original LA Times Obituary: Former American mile (3:56.4) & 2-mile (8:33) record holder Bob Day passes - Turf Goes Down As Construction On OSU Track Facility Continues
- USATF Report On NACAC XC Champs The US swept the team title in all 4 races.
Getting Ready For The Olympics
- UK Running Legend Ron Hill Disappointed At Being Rejected As One Of The 7,300 Torch Bearers For The Olympics Was a top marathoner who also has a record-breaking streak of having run at least a mile every day since December 1964. Apparently torch bearers for these Games are being chosen from among charity workers, not athletes.
*4 Kenyans To Bear Olympic Torch - Steve Hooker May Put On Own 3-Man PV Competition In Warehouse To Get Olympic Qualifying Standard
- Q&A With Top French Sprinters Christophe Lemaitre And Jimmy Vicaut Lemaitre won't double 100/200 at the Olympics. He says he's partial to the 100, but thinks his chances for a medal are better in the 200.
- Dwain Chambers To Train In Jamaica With Asafa Powell, Michael Frater And Nesta Carter
- Dai Greene: A Track Athlete Who Actually Watches Track We've read a lot of comments lately from elites who say they didn't watch or follow the results from indoor World Champs. Greene didn't compete there, but still watched his teammates.
- London 2012 Team GB Uniforms Released And Praised By Olympic Athletes
- Jessica Ennis Even More Focused On Training After Loss At World Indoor Champs
Some Of The World's Best Women Are On the Comeback Trail, Learn From Them
Guardian Takes A Long Look At Paula Radcliffe Dropping Out Of 2004 Olympic Marathon Radcliffe had injuries heading into Athens.
- Amy Yoder Begley Has Joined OTC, Is Battling An IT Band Issue And Hoping To Get Ready For The Trials Begley was the distance sensation of the 2008 Trials, but may not make it this time.
- IT Band Issue Has Lauren Fleshman Going To Phoenix For Therapy All the coaches trying to recruit someone who is considering U of O must love this quote: "Why do I live in this God forsaken rain-soaked shit hole?!"
- Running Times: A Lengthy Look At The Multi-Faceted Lauren Fleshman
- 2-Time NCAA XC Runner-Up Renee Metivier Baillie Has Moved To Oregon And Has Recovered From Achilles Surgery She was 4th at US XC.
- Nicole Blood Blogs On Coming Back From Injury She says take it one week at a time.
Bring Back The Mile: 4 Minutes With Leo Manzano: Leo Talks About The Mile, Breaking 4 For The First Time And This Weekend's Manzano Mile Leo's got a nice quote: "You don't ask people, 'Hey, how many 1,600s did you run today?' You ask them, 'Hey how many miles did you run today?'"
Move Over, Brojos
- Jedward, Irish Identical Twin Pop Duo, Claim To Have Run LA Marathon With No Training They banditted the race from what we can tell. Anyone know what time they ran?
- BBC Weigh-In: Can You Run A Marathon On No Training?
- Discuss: Running A Marathon On No Training?
NY Times Asks: How Long Does It Really (Scientifically) Take To Recover From A Marathon? We like how the author, Gina Kolata, slyly brags she qualified for Boston with half an hour to spare. We now understand why she quotes LRC in her articles at times - she's fast.
Upcoming
- John Kiprotich Back To Defend Vs. World Champ Luke Kibet At Next Month's Vienna Marathon
- 2:05 Guys Dadi Yami And Shami Dawit Running Hamburg Marathon In April
- 2000 Olympic Steeple Champ Reuben Kosgei Hopes To Improve On His 2:11 Marathon Best In Hannover On May 6
Another Big Doping Scandal?
- Spanish Police Secretly Arrested 10 People 2 Months Ago In International Doping Ring That Is Linked To Positive At Beijing Games The arrests were hidden presumably so authorities could try to catch others as the group is responsible for positives also at the 2010 Vuelta a Espana, the 2009 Volta a Portugal and the 2010 Spanish athletics championships. The article says the mastermind is only known as "Dr. Alberto BN." Think Morocco is full of cheats? Well, "the shop is also alleged to have delivered EPO to two Moroccan brothers in Madrid who administered doping substances to cyclists."
- Alberto BN Is IDed As Former Liberty Seguros Dr. Alberto Beltran Nino
- Interesting Read: WSJ India Asks: Should Poor Countries Face The Same Doping Bar Iin Sports? We think the headline is ridiculous but actually agree 100% with the decision to overturn the ban on the India 4 x 400 team so they can be eligible for the Olympics. They were inadvertently given contaminated ginseng tablets by their coach.
Tuesday's Yellow Pages Series I Event In South Africa *Full Results
South Africans Come Up Short Of "A" Standards South African steepler Ruben Ramolefi won in 8:27.50 in his 1st race since September, Gladwin Mzazi won the 5,000 in 13:24.13, Peter van der Westhuizen won the 1,500 in 3:38.61. 2012 African xc champ Clement Langat, whom some reports said was going to stay in South African to race in the meet, did
not start the 5000.
*200,000 South African Rand ($26,000) To Be Split By Anyone Getting "A" Qualifiers
More South African News: Did You Know That Oscar P Has Two Pet White Tigers And He's Shed 37lbs (17kg) In 2.5 Years? Apparently he's loaded as well, as the tigers cost $47,000 each. "If you've got extra weight you've got to justify it. If it's not adding to the power-to-weight ratio, it has to go."
Upcoming Races
- 2:03:06 Man Moses Mosop Inspects Rotterdam Course & Says "This is the fastest course I have ever seen. If a world record is possible than it is here." The race is April 15th. He'll have his hands full in winning the race with NYC Half champ Peter Kirui there. *MB: ROTTERDAM MARATHON FIELD RELEASED
World Indoors *Results *Video Highlights For US Visitors *UK Visitors *Yahoo Photos
LRC Men's 3,000m Final Lives Up To The Hype World 5,000m champion Mo Farah squared off with two-time world indoor champion Bernard Lagat and 2012
World leaders Augustine Choge and Edwin Soi of Kenya. Once again, Bernard Lagat was too good. They were all in contention on the final lap. There was some contact, two guys running on the infield, a DQ and a resintatement, but none of that stopped Bernard Lagat from showing he's the best 3,000m runner in the world.
LRC 800s: Pamela Jelimo Is Back As USA's Erica Moore Gets Bronze, 18-Year-Old* Mohamed Aman Gets Gold The last time Pamela Jelimo was any good, Erica Moore wasn't an 800m runner. They both left World Indoors pleased, as Moore made her first sub-2:00 clocking count with a bronze
medal.
In the men's race, 18-year-old* favorite Mohamed Aman got gold. On The Boards: Erica Moore 800m at Worlds
LRC Hellen Obiri Stuns Four-Time World Champ Defar link fixed Obiri Closes In 4:06.6 For Gold Get used to the name Hellen Obiri. Last year, she ran internationally for the first time and won the Kenyan 1,500m championships. This year, in the fourth 3,000m of
her
life, she came from behind to stop Meseret Defar from getting her 5th world title.
IAAF Final Day Recap: Brittney Reese Is Incredible, Aries Meritt Upsets Liu Xiang, Will Claye Wins Brittney Reese had her back to the wall in the long jump, so what did she do? Unleash a jump that made her #3 all-time to win.
Saturday
LRC Saturday: Iguider Wins Thrilling Men's 1,500m, Dibaba Lives Up To The Hype, Ashton Eaton, Sanya Richards Ross, Chaunte Lowe And Justin Gatlin (Uh) Get Gold World Record And $90,000 For Eaton A tremendous day of action and a good one for the USA. We break it down, including the men's 1,500m, where Abdalaati Iguider
ruined the coming out party of Ilham Tanui Özbilen in an exciting race that saw Matt Centrowitz challenge for the lead. Genzebe Dibaba dominated the women's 1,500, showing she's the real deal. Plus Sanya Richards Ross, Chaunte Lowe and Justin Gatlin are all back from various ailments, some self inflicted, some not. Not to mention a super-tight long jump and a gold by a 39-year-old married to a former heroin dealer.
The Fast Guys Of The LRC Puma Faas Challenge (Our Apologies For Disrespecting The Always Disrespected David McNeill)
LRC The Fastest Puma Faas Winners - Mark Wieczorek, David McNeill And Ricky Flynn LetsRun.com is made up of the most passionate and fastest runners on the planet. The three guys above entered the Puma Faas Challenge just like you even though they are total studs. Mark is a 1:46.00
800m
runner, David a two-time NCAA 5,000m champion and an Australian national champion, and Ricky was a breakthough performer at the Olympic Trials Marathon. Read all about them. Thanks to Ricky's run at the Trials, he may be getting a sponsor soon, so he's giving his shoes to his roommate.
Previous: Get Inspired With The Final 20+ Winners In The Puma Faas Challenge A guy with incurable cancer who wants to run 16-minute miles, a guy who want to break 4 despite getting hit by a car going 35mph, a woman who has a 5-year running streak going that includes two pregnancies, much more.
Dreams Don't Become Reality?
LRC Haile Gebrselassie Tweets "My Olympic Marathon Dream Is Over" And Ethiopia Announces A Preliminary Olympic Marathon Team Missing A Few Stars Geb's tweet is big news as we'd like to see him make one final attempt to compete in the Olympics. Just as big news
may be that neither Gebre Gebremariam, Tsegaye Kebede nor Fiyesa Lilesa
were on the preliminary
team. Their men's team is the top 4 Ethiopians from Dubai.
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.
The Week In Review
LRC The Week That Was In Running: March 19-25, 2012 Last week, South Africa's 800 stars opened up at their specialty with resounding victories and we tell you what their wins mean (which means our incessant update on Nick Symmonds' medal chances), we do the same for Shalane Flanagan's impressive win in Lisbon, plus free coaching advice from Lauren Fleshman (do as I do) and Chris Solinsky (don't do as I do), and quotes from Mo Farah, a happy Nick Willis, an angry Ron Hill and a happy Olympic janitor. Plus Wallace Spearmon and LetsRun.com impress the brass at USATF.
Interesting To Say The Least
- 2851 & Counting: Kenenisa Bekele Breaks Record For Most Consecutive Days Holding Both 5,000 And 10,000 World Records Lasse Viren had the old record and Bekele's records are very safe as no one has come within 1 second per lap of either one in 5+ years.
- Male Track & Field Performance Of The Year So Far? US Pole Vault Star Brad Walker Is Sleeping With Lindsey Vonn
- 19 Of The Most Bizarre Explanations For Drug Positives In History
- Attention All Potential US Olympians: Don't Fall In Love While In London
Olympic Athletes And Coaches Not Allowed To Marry While On British Soil For London Games The UK Borders Agency document states: "While you are in the UK, you will not be allowed to undertake a course of study; or marry or form a civil partnership, or give notice of marriage or civil partnership."
US Collegiate News *Accepted Stanford Entries
- Vin Lananna Happy With Oregon Ducks Progress So Far - Doesn't Flat Out Deny USATF Head Rumors He also said that Mac Fleet should race soon and he doesn't know if the women can win NCAAs. "On the women's side, I don't know if we have enough firepower to get it done on the NCAA level without killing people. We do need to pay attention to the Olympic Trials. We have the responsibility when we recruit these high-end, talented kids, who have dreams with five rings attached, to do the right thing. That's what we'll do."
- Hasay Will Open Up Outdoor Season At Penn Relays
- Running Times Asks: Is It Better For Collegians To Time Trial Or Learn How To Race? East coasters went 1-2-3 in the women's 5k last year and Abbey D'Agostino says racing is key. Diego Estrada doesn't agree: "When we go to California, it doesn't matter if I get last in my heat as long as I run a PR."
Olympic News
- Steve Cram Says He's Not A "Massive Fan" Of New Team GB Gear He tells a funny story of how back in the day he thought the "flares" on his leisure suit were outdated, so he "accidentally" forgot it.
- Irish Marathoner Mark Kenneally Will Carry Olympic Torch In Dublin The 2:13:55 runner was the 1st Irish person to qualify for the Games.
- Sonia O'Sullivan Will Also Carry Torch In Dublin
- Prime Minister David Cameron Vows To Deliver "Greatest Show On Earth" Without Hitches
Sad News
1984 Olympic 5,000m Bronze Medallist Antonio Leitão Dies He was only 51 years old. The Portuguese club Benfica named its race after him. *More On Antonio Leitão's Death Here
*Rosa Mota Pays Her Respects *Video
Of 1984 Olympic 5,000m Final Announcer Tim Hutchings got 4th.
LetsJump.com - Remember The Name Devin Field As He Seems Like A Real Stud
Recommended Read: Learn Why High School LJ & TJ Phenom Devin Field May Not Have A Jr. Season The two-time state champ in Texas in the LJ has already gone 25' 5.75" this year and won indoor nationals but can't compete for his team as he doesn't live with his mom, as she moved back to the coast after fleeing from a hurricane. *More On Field
We All Have Our Own Story Of How We Became A Runner, But Few Can Say It Was Because They Were Arrested
Recommended Read: Former CEO Of BETonSPORTS.com Went To Jail To Become A Runner At 50 years old, David Carruthers used his time in prison/house arrest to go from being 192 lbs. and overweight to running a 3:07 marathon and sub 5-min. mile.
Olympic And Distance News
- Thanks To Photoshop: Olympic Mascots Wenlock And Mandeville Are Being Mocked Worldwide *Deadspin.com Photoshop Contest
- Good News: Roger Bannister Goes from 33/1 To 3/1 Odds to Light Olympic Flame Steve Redgrave, a British rower hardly known outside of Britain, is the favorite still.
- Steve Ovett's Son Going To Univ. Of Oregon *Steve Ovett's Son Freddy (1:51 800) Signs With Oregon, As Does 3:45/8:12 Guy Richard Goodman - Both Are Eligible Right Now *MB: Ovett & Goodman join Ducks
- Oregonian On Ovett Ovett's son had been living in Australia.
- 5 Of Top 12 Finishers At US Men's Olympic Marathon Trials (Ritz, Arciniaga, Gotcher, Grabow, Flynn) Tell RW What Their Plans Are For Rest Of Year
- Complaints About Cost, An Olympic Rite, Are Being Voiced In Britain
- Charles van Commenee Takes Offense At Plastic Brits Term: "You're British or you're not." Well said.
- Liu Xiang Trying To Keep Focus On Himself As He Prepares For Olympics
- New Zealand Names Olympic Team Of 4 With Nick Willis, Kim Smith On It
- Garrett Heath Is Guest Speaker At This Weekend's 34th Fools Five Plus One-Mile Race In Minnesota
News At Home: A USATF CEO This Year(?), Another Men's Track Program Gone, And A Marathon WR For The US (Sort Of)
- Need A Job? USATF Has Resumed CEO Search Candidate interviews will begin next month and they plan on announcing the new CEO "well in advance of the 2012 Olympic Trials."
- Ray Flynn Signs 3-Year Deal As Millrose Meet Director Article reveals Millrose is considering moving its date further back to Feb. 16 for 2013.
- Some More Additions To The Elite Field For The Boston Marathon In addition to Jason Hartmann and Nick Arciniaga, who were announced last week, Sergio Reyes (2010 Twin Cities Marathon champ, 2:14:02), Mary Akor (2:33:50), and Paige Higgins (2:33:06) have been added.
- Watch Out, Patrick Makau: 41-Year-Old Chuck Engle Sets WR For Most Marathon Wins At 145 In 2011, he won 33 out of 51 marathons, averaging 2:45 (his PR is 2:31). Impressive, but he admitted that what he does is "unique" but he knows "there are a couple of Kenyans who ... could do it if they had the funding." A couple? Try 150 and then
somea lot more. - LaShawn Merritt Wanted To Be A Baseball Player Until He Went To His First Track Meet "I was about eight years old, an I didn't event know about track and field, and my mentor at the time took me to a track meet ... I just loved that one-on-one competition. You couldn't blame anything on anyone else."
- Galen Rupp Talks About His Relationship With Alberto Salazar, Which Has Spanned 12 Years
- Another One Bites The Dust: Winston-Salem State Cutting Men's Track And Field It's been a bad year for collegiate men's programs.
- Turning Pro Early In Track & Field: The Right Or Wrong Decision? Article has limited analysis, but some comparisons between former collegians such as Alan Webb, Robby Andrews, Nick Willis, Evan Jager and Matt Centrowitz.
LA Times Take A Look at Altitude Training At Mammoth Lakes
- Meb Keflezighi On His High Altitude Training Base At Mammoth Lakes: "This was a distance runner's heaven."
- Morgan Uceny One Of Many Elites Training At Mammoth Lakes "There's something special about this group. If you don't have a knowledgeable coach that can take that kind of training and make it work, then it's pointless. Just being at altitude isn't going to do anything. You have to know how to use it."
UK News: Athletes Not Feeling The Pressure
- Dai Greene Says He's Staying Relaxed And Not Letting Olympic Pressure Get To Him "I'm not going to get strung up on it ... I'm pretty sure that it'll be 400m that we'll run and it'll still be 10 hurdles. I try not to complicate things too much."
- Olympic 400m Champ Christine Ohuruogu On The Comeback After An Injury Filled 2011 "I can't see any point on going on a visit [to the stadium] now, I won't glean anything from the experience. As long as its got eight lanes, I will be happy."
- Former UK Rowing Great, Sir Steve Redgrave, Who Won 5 Olympic Medals At 5 Consecutive Games, Doesn't Think He'll Be Chosen To Light Olympic Flame At the last London Games, an unknown athlete was chosen for his "Olympian good looks."
- Irish Update: Ireland May Have Surplus Of Women's Marathoners With Olympic "A" Standard To Choose From
Aussie/NZ Updates
- NZ's 17-Year-Old Jacko Gill Not Officially Qualified For Olympics Yet As Only Has The "B" Standard
- Aussie 800m Runner Johnny Rayner Disappointed By Olympic Trials Experience As He Won The "B" Heat While Foreigners Raced In The "A" "Personally, I was a little disappointed that only 6 Australians got to race the 'A' 800m at the Australian Olympic trials."
In Case You Missed It
- Click On This Wallace Spearmon Photo Your money back if you don't like it.
- Recommended Read!!! Meet Norway's Full-Time Janitor Who Is About To Be An Olympic Marathoner Urige Buta is a 2:09 marathoner who works full-time as a janitor. Incredible.
Kiwi Champs *Results
- Nick Willis Crushes Will Leer - Wins NZ 5,000 Title & Says He Can Run 13:10 & Do 1,500/5k Double At Olympics Willis defeated his 13:36 training partner Will Leer by 11+ seconds to get the win and seems thrilled by his fitness. MB: Can Willis medal at 5k? *Willis Eases To 5,000m Title
- NZ Champs: Jacko Gill Misses His National Record In Shot, Nikki Hamblin Pulls Out Of 800 To Run 1,500
- Willis Pre-Race On 1,500 Chances: "I feel like I've put in the training a gold medallist would need to do." "The sky's the limit in terms of what can happen in London."
More News From South Of The Equator - From Australia: Australia's Michael Shelley Was Thrilled With His 43-Second 61:27 PR That Got Him 10th In New York
- Saturday In South Africa: 2009 World 800 Champion Mbualeni Mulaudzi Will Make His 1st Appearance Since Getting Injured Last June 30th 400m hurdles World Championships bronze medallist LJ van Zyl will also compete.
- We Agree: S. African Sports Minister Says Passion - Not Money - Will Win Medals In London "Spirit, courage, resilience and loyalty to South Africa is what will win medals at the end of the day."
- South African Javelin Star Sunette Viljoen Isn't Resting On Her Laurels
- Previous: Nice Recap Of Tuesday's 5,000 In South Africa: Mzazi, Gelant Gallant As 5,000m Goes To The Wire
The "Bolt Effect"
- "The Bolt Effect: How Chasing Usain Bolt Made The World Run Faster" Some scientists claim that Usain Bolt is the catalyst for improving overall performance of the top 25 sprinters by 0.9 percent.
- Some Things You Didn't Know About Bolt He likes Skittles and Pringles, has a pet cheetah that lives in Kenya, is big into Call of Duty and is not a Britney Spears fan.
A Younger Kawauchi! Yuki Kawauchi To Pace Younger Brother In Marathon Debut At Kasumigaura Marathon April 15th
Kirani James Pulls Out Of May 5th Jamaica Invitational
IAAF Asks "What makes a great Racewalker?" Our answer: ability to tolerate frequent mocking and strange looks on the street.
WADA Chief Calls For More Blood Testing He says athletes using performance-enhancing drugs such as HGH are "getting away with it" because not enough blood testing is being done. In 2010, WADA analyzed 258,267 samples, but only 5,000 were blood and the rest were urine.
Men's Corner
- Nick Willis Says He May Run 5,000 And 1,500 At Olympics The 1,500 is first and the 5k is a backup. Willis is running the 5k at the Kiwi champs this weekend.
- AJ Acosta Training In Eugene Without A Sponsor Acosta beat Centro Jr. two years ago at NCAAs. He has his own nation, but no sponsorship.
- Steve Cram Writes About Haile Gebrselassie And Ian Thorpe: When Is It Time to Hang It Up?
- Robby Andrews Talks To NJ Paper About Turning Pro And On Alan Webb: "It's just the two of us. It's very beneficial."
- Farah Says No Matter What, If It's 100m, Triple Jump, He Wants To Win "Whether it was the 100m, the triple jump or the 3,000m I was competing in, I would want to win it."
- CNN Looks At Yohan Blake Trying To Overtake Usain Bolt
Good News For The 99% Of Us Who Wear Shoes
Barefoot Running May Not Be As Efficient As Wearing Really Light Shoes The shoe used in the test was the Nike MayFly.
4 Recommended Reads
- #1 With 4 Titanium Screws Holding His Hamstring To His Pelvis, Chris Solinsky Will Try To Not Overdo It In 2012 After a sensational 2010 which saw him become the 1st white man under 27:00, Solinsky went crazy in 2011 and overdid it. Now he's on the comeback trail from the 1st significant injury of his career. We almost certainly will use this as QOD for Thursday.
- #2 Meet Eulace Peacock - The Man Who Owned Jesse Owens Until He Tore His Hamstring (Note: The dates appear to be off) Even Owens doubted he could beat Peacock. Owens: "It's going to take a special man to beat Eulace Peacock. You see, I've already reached my peak. Peacock is just now reaching his. He's a real athlete. I don't know whether I can defeat him again."
- #3 Marc Bloom Asks: What Makes A Great HS Coach? Do you need to have been a former Foot Locker finalist yourself? Or maybe it's better to have never run at all? The secret is ...
- #4 The Week That Was In Running: March 12 - March 18, 2012 This week, we break down the action at the NYC Half and get ready for the Olympic 10,000 meters by talking about many of the US top prospects as well as Japan's 20 year old sensation Chihiro Miyawaki and by criticizing and praising Kenya's decision to have their 10,000 trials in Eugene. Along the way, we give you a stat that shows Kenya > the rest of the world at 10,000 despite the fact they haven't won gold in 44 years. Plus it's been a great last 365 days for Meb Keflezighi.
Random News That Makes The LRC Cut
- Usain Bolt Stars In New Visa Europe Ad *Visa Bolt Video
- 1st-Ever Undewater Marathon Will Be Sept. 9, 2012 In Hershey, PA To Benefit Wounded Soldiers It looks like it will be done using a HydroWorx 2000 Series pool.
- Did You Not Get The Olympic Tickets You Wanted Or Not Qualify For The Games? Well, At Least You
Don't Have To Worry About This
Olympic Terror Threat "Substantial" A top security official briefed David Cameron's full cabinet on the matter. - 2000 Olympic & 2001 World Steeple Champ Reuben Kosgei Hoping 3rd Time Is Charm In Marathon Only 32 years old, he'll race the Hanover Marathon on May 6th.
- South Korean Chef de Mission For London 2012 Resigns Because Of Corruption Scandal
- 100 Days Out - 100,000 Tickets For 2012 European Champs Have Been Sold Or Reserved Having the champs before the Olympics still has to be one of the dumbest decisions in history.
- Yohan Blake To Headline Donovan Bailey Invitational In Edmonton On June 16th
Recommended Read: 23 Years
Ago From Monday, Tim Hutchings Got Silver At World XC In Boston Stavangar, Norway & Now Hutchings Laments Current Bi-Annual State World Cross-Country
Hutchings: "... the IAAF have a lot to answer for as they reduced it to a virtual track race with manicured lawn-like courses around the world being used for the world championships and the real skills of cross country - being able to cope with changes in surface and inclines and twist and turns - being stripped away so that the event has become more like a glorified road race or even a track race on occasion."
2012 NYC Half Marathon *Top 50 Results *LRC Photos (Updated) *Race Replay (Video)
LRC Recap: Peter Kirui & Firehiwot Dado Prevail After Head-To-Head Battles
From the start, both the men's and women's races turned into one-on-one battles but with different results. In the men's race, Peter Kirui did all the work as Deriba Merga tried to hang on, but in the end, Kirui was rewarded with a victory in the 2nd fastest time ever (59:35) as no American men finished in the top 10. Kim Smith led most of the women's race, but Firehiwot Dado pulled ahead late and won in a new CR (68:35) as Kara Goucher was 3rd.
*MB: NYC Half 2012 race coverage thread and updates.
*MB:Today was Ritz's worst finish Since....
*MB:Did Kim Smith get pawned? (sic)
*MB: Todd Williams is really good at broadcasting
*Nice WSJ Recap
*Davila Loved The Weather: "If you can't run fast on a day like today, you might as well go bowling."
*IAAF Recap
*Goucher: "I had a lot more fun this year."
Japanese 20-Year-Olds Impress In Half - One In Japan (1:00:53) - One In NYC (61:48) 20-year-old Olympic 10,000m Favorite Chihiro Miyawaki (Team Toyota) set
a course record of 1:00:53 in his half marathon at the National Corporate Half in Japan as another 20-year-old Japanese guy beat Ritz in NYC by running 1:01:48. Plus another Japanese guy ran 61:15 in Japan.
*Japanese Collegians Talk About Their NYC Half Experiences
*Japanese Coach Talks Pre-NYC Half
Recommended Read The New York Times Introduces Kirani James To The World James has risen from poverty and a tiny party island to world champion in a very short period of time despite having an awkward left foot plant that "experts" have insisted he change (remind anyone of Michael Johnson?). James, just 19, is still a full-time student at the University of Alabama, as anything less than that and he'll be deported. Crazy. He already is #3 all-time at 400m indoors.
Olympic 100m Champ Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Tells Fans - Don't Be So Critical "It's not that day for you to be telling us, 'Oh, you're worthless, you're not supposed to be doing that' ... instead of saying, 'Good luck next time. All the best when it comes again.'"
2012 NCAAs *Results
LRC 3,000s: Chris Derrick Pushes Lawi Lalang To The Line, Emily Infeld Wins Her First Title (link fixed) Friday night, Chris Derrick won
accolades for
coming within 1.7 seconds of beating Lawi Lalang. Derrick did even better on Saturday night, coming within .17 seconds. In the end, Derrick's efforts weren't enough, as Lalang completed the double. In the women's 3,000m, Emily Infeld won a four-person sprint around the final bend over (among others) Jordan Hasay. Hasay's Ducks were so good they would have won the team title if she had stayed in Oregon.
LRC Mile, 800 And Team Recaps: Chris O'Hare Goes Wire-To-Wire, Jordan Hasay Tries To, Mason McHenry Surprises In 800, Nachelle Mackie Gets Another BYU 800 Win, Oregon, Florida Three-Peat After beind edged out last year, Chris O'Hare
went gun-to-tape to win the mile, while Jordan Hasay tried to do the same but just came up short. In the 800s ASU's Mason McHenry showed what running your best when it matters can do for you, and Nachelle Mackie made it two years in a row for BYU wire-to-wire victories. In the team competition, Florida three-peated thanks to Jeff Demps (60m three-peat), Tony McQuay (45.77 400) and Omar Craddock (triple jump win). Oregon three-peated on the women's
side and was led
by Jordan Hasay's 11 points, plus English Gardner winning the 60 and Brianne Theisen the pentathlon.
Curtis Beach Sets Six PRs And Runs 2:23 1,000m To Get NCAA Heptathlon Title Beach ran 1:50 for 800 in high school and could be a mid-d runner if he wanted to. 2:23 is incredible for a multi guy. Discuss here.
Friday NCAAs
LRC 5,000s: Chris Derrick Puts Up A Brave Fight In 5,000m As Lawi Lalang Wins The Title, Betsy Saina Holds Off Deborah Maier Chris Derrick may not have won the men's 5,000m on Friday night but he earned a lot
of people's respect with the way he challenged the fastest-ever 5,000m runner in the NCAAs, Lawi Lalang. In the end, Lalang had too much the final 200. On the women's side, Betsy Saina got her first NCAA title despite a tough challenge from Deborah Maier.
OTB: Chris Derrick... WHAT A RUN!!!!!! *CMON DERICK, DO IT FOR AMERICA!!! *Debbie Maier is Rockin it!
LRC DMRs: Notre Dame Surprises And Katie Flood Lives Up To The Hype To Get Washington The Title Notre Dame's Jeremy Rae holds off IU's Andy Bayer and BYU's Miles Batty to get the win. Katie Flood runs
fastest women's mile of the day to get Washington the win over Oregon, Dartmouth, and Georgetown.
LRC Mile And 800m Prelim Recaps All the big favorites through, but a couple of surprises.
OTB: Fall In Heat 2 Of Men's Mile *Cas Loxsom is a
CHOKE ARTIST
USATF Indoors *Results *LRC Day 1 Photo Gallery *LRC Day 2 Photo Gallery *Race Videos
Sunday: LRC Manzano Outkicks Centrowitz And Rupp To Win 1,500, Simpson Holds Off Martinez (Updated) Two weeks ago, Manzano ran 3:57 in his opener but was last place
in a super-stacked mile in Arkansas. In the women's 1,500m, Jenny Simpson edged Brenda Martinez, showing Martinez is the real deal (Martinez had by FAR the best finish as she got boxed and was 6-7 meters back with 100m to go and barely lost), and Sanya Richards-Ross ran a 50.71 meet record. Chaunte Lowe set an American record in the women's high jump, showing she is more than back from maternity leave. Distance recaps, results, and videos with winners.
*Ashton Eaton Wins LJ With A New PR
On The Boards: Manzano outkicks Centrowitz and Rupp!
Really, what
happened Rupp in the last two laps tonight?
LRC USATF Indoor Men's 3k: Lagat, Lomong Crush Rupp (Updated w/ video interviews) Galen Rupp pushed the pace early, hoping his 12th attempt at beating powerhouse Lagat would be the charm, but was badly dropped before the
bell, unable to challenge Lagat, who then crushed Lopez Lomong with a 25-second
last lap. On to Worlds
for Lagat, where he may be the favorite to
defend his title. Like Lagat, Jenny
Simpson ran away with the women's 3,000m title. Find out why she won't be running in Istanbul.
*IAAF Recap Day 1 Will Claye jumped 17.63m in the TJ for the furthest mark by an American in 23 years.
*Jennifer Suhr Overcomes Aching Achilles To Win PV At US Champs She only had to clear two heights and then made 3 attempts to break her own AR, but missed.
*Results *LRC Official USA Indoor TNF Champs ABQ Thread
*Lagat: "I just wanted to show these guys that Daddy can still kick." RRW Recap
*USATF Recap
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
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
Perhaps The Andrew Wheating Update You've All Been Wanting
LRC Andrew Wheating Gets In A Snow Fight Brawl With Russell Brown Eugene got a rare snow and all hell broke loss between former NCAA star Andrew Wheating and training partner Russell Brown. Fortunately for track and field fans everywhere, it was all captured on film. Full video. *Discuss On The Boards
College Corner *Weekend College Track Results
- Preble And Greer Open 1:46 @ USC
*USC Posts World-Leading 4 X 400m Time With 3:02.24 *Full Results - Will Vin Lananna Leave Oregon After This Year? The Oregonian takes a look at this after a piece by Jesse Squire. Lananna prefers to create things instead of run them.
- Oregon's Jordan Hasay And Brianne Theisen Are Both Competing Outdoors, Going For NCAA Team Title Eugene Register-Guard
Three Nice Deals On Running Shoes
1) Nike Free 2+ $59.98 For men - 1 color only at this price. Other colors and women $79.99-$99.99.
2) Adidas Leap $49.98
3) Brooks Adrenaline 11 $59.98
Little LRC gets a commission with your purchase.
Train Smarter - More In The Running Training Forum
- Kellogism vs Coeism
- Based on these workouts, what event would you have me run?
- Does a night of little sleep ruin my workout
- Running a Marathon on No Training?
Updated NYC 2012 Half Marathon Photos
Weekly Recap
LRC The Week That Was In Running: March 5 - March 11, 2012 This week, we wonder if the NCAA milers could have beaten Bernard Lagat at Worlds if they'd jumped into the 3k with a mile to go, compare Chris Derrick to Galen Rupp, tell you how Meseret Defar was beaten at Worlds, tell you how many NCAA runners would have medalled at Worlds, pay homage to the great Mizuki Noguchi, and also explain why indoor track in many ways is better than outdoor track.
Highlights And Last 800m Of Men's 3,000m At Worlds (Larger Video Here - We Previously Had It Set Up So You Could Watch Without Knowing The Results)
High School New Balance Nationals *Results
- After DMR, SMR And 2-Mile Victories, Edward Cheserek Got Beaten In Mile At HS Nationals
- Final Day Recap More from MileSplit here.
- DyeStat: 4 X Mile Record By Chariho HS Highlights Day 2 At New Balance Nationals
- Erin Finn Runs 16:19 National Record In 5k
- Nuts: Edward Cheserek Goes Out In 54.6 (25.6, 29.0) And Leads His DMR Team To Victory