With the 2021 World Marathon Majors season in the books, Jonathan Gault analyzes what we learned from a busy fall of marathon racing.
Archived Homepage For November 10, 2021
Archived Homepage For November 10, 2021
Fall Marathon Season Review
One Killer Is Leaving Jail As The Other Enters
- Oscar Pistorius' Parole Process To Begin In South Africa Under South Africa law, he became eligible for parole after serving half his 13 year and 5 month sentence. He's been eligible since July, but first must have a face-to-face meeting with Reva Steenkamp's parents.
- Closed Circuit Television Footage Shows Agnes Tirop's Husband At The Murder Scene One detective said that the CCTV footage "has shown us exactly what happened and how it was conducted."
On The Boards
On The Boards
More From NYC
More From NYC
In July 2020 Rivers was put into a medically induced coma for weeks while he was treated for a rare form of lymphoma. He spent to and a half months in intensive care and even more in rehab. Doctors said he would probably be on a ventilator the rest of his life and at this time last year he couldn't even sit up in bed. But he slowly learned to walk again and only a year later finished the NYC Marathon.
*MB: Tommy Rivs NYC Result?
- Runner's World: Who Is Annie Frisbie, The American Runner Leading The NYC Marathon At Halfway? The full-time (40-hours a week) graphic designer ran 2:26:18 for 7th place in her marathon debut.
- Good Read: Shalane Flanagan Talks About Her Journey After Running Six Marathons In Six Weeks She ran 2:33:32 in NYC and said she was happy to run her last one the fastest and said she "had probably more in me" but started out conservative.
*MB: Shalane MF Flanagan - 2:33 - How Did The Celebrities Run In NYC? Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton ran 3:59:09. Former Giants running back Tiki Barber ran 4:47:49.
*MB: LetsRun sleuths, did Chelsea Clinton really run NYC Marathon in 3:59:09 today under a fake name?
- NY Times Shares Their Photo Highlights From NYC
- NY Times: New York City Marathon Returns With Fanfare And Optimism
UK Athletics News
- British Sprinters Adam Gemili And Daryll Neita Defy Orders To Cease Contact With Coach Rana Reider After Sexual Misconduct Allegations They say they don't feel they have sufficient information about the allegations to walk away from their coach and training group which is pretty fair considering not even Reider has received notification of the allegations yet. But they risk losing their funding if they don't comply.
- UKA Chair Ian Beattie And Interim Chief Executive Mark Munro Looking To Improve British Track One of the main things is they want to get track back on the BBC after this year's British Olympic trials were the first in over 20-years to not be televised when the UKA's long-term BBC contract expired.
Field Event News
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/Z4QJFCR3V5O7PGPTFEX2W7TK64.jpg)
- Russian High Jumper Danil Lysenko Blames Officials For Doping Coverup He admits to guilt with his whereabouts failures, but says it was the athletics federation's plan to forge documents so he could avoid a ban. Lysenko: "Of course I could have said no, but I didn't. I listened to the bosses and decided to do as they said. ...I'm certainly aware that innocent athletes have suffered because of this situation. I'm very sorry."
- Olympic Javelin Silver Medalist Jakub Vadlejch Named Czech Athlete Of The Year
- RIP: Soviet 1992 Olympic Hammer Bronze Medalist Igor Nikulin Dies At Age-61
More Recent Results
- AW Extensive Weekly Round-Up Samuel Kosgei (2:06:03) and Tadu Teshome (2:23:53) won the Zurich Barcelona Marathon; Zablon Chumba (2:08:58) and Kidsan Alema (2:28:01) won the Porto Marathon in Portugal.
- Burundi’s Rodrigue Kwizera and Ethiopia’s Zenebu Fikadu Win World Athletics XC Race In San Sebastian, Spain
- Germany’s Samuel Fitwi And Netherlands' Julia van Velthoven Win Mol, Belgium World Athletics XC Race
Jepchirchir just missed the course record as she won a three-way sprint finish during the final 800 as Viola Cheptoo Lagat, Bernard's sister, surprised in second. American Molly Seidel set a new American course record.
38-year old American Elkanah Kibet ran the race of his life to surprise in fourth.
Post Race Interviews
NYC MB Talk
- Official 2021 New York City Marathon discussion thread
- Molly MF Seidal
- American Male Runner Finishes FOURTH at NYC Marathon!!!
- Bekele cheapening his legacy
- Ben True 1 second behind Bekele
- Kandie's marathon has opened my eyes about the distance
- Over or Under 2:20 for Seth Demoor in NYC
- Mass marathons: sub elites get the short end of the stick by poorly seed
He's Baack!
Drew Hunter is back and Weini Kelati showed she's a level above everyone else. Updated with analysis and athlete interviews. *Results
Discussion: 2021 US 5k champs official thread - He's BAAAACK. Hunter FTW over Centro!!!!
Non-NYC Weekend Action
Aregawi was just one second off Joshua Cheptegai's WR. Chimdesa Debele Gudeta (27:16) and Celliphine Chespol (30:21) won the 10ks.
*MB: Aregawi, 20 years young, Ethiopia, 12:52, wins Lille 5km, French steeple monster, Mekhissi, 8th, 14:03.
*MB: T. Gudeta, 35 years old, Ethiopia, wins Lille 10km in 27:16, improving from 30:32 in 2012!
- Laura Muir And Andy Butchart Win Scottish Short Course XC Titles
- Kenya's John Korir (2:12:48) And Wales' Natasha Cockram (2:33:17) Win LA Marathon Korir’s older brother is 2012 Boston champ Wesley Korir.
- Komazawa Defends National University Ekiken Title by 8 Seconds Over Aoyama Gakuin
- Uganda's Victor Kiplangat (2:10:18) And Kenya's Sheila Jerotich (2:24:15) Win Istanbul Marathon
- Ian Carter (2:16:24) And Christina Murphy (2:37:57) Win Indianapolis Monumental Marathon Brogan Austin (62:32) and Molly Grabill (70:42) won the half-marathon.
- Aldershot Women And Shaftesbury Men Triumph At English Cross Country Relays
- Fujistu And Asahi Kasei Take Regional New Year Ekiken Qualifier Wins
Other Random News
- Rare Puma Track Spikes Featured On Pawn Stars The limited edition spikes from 1968 feature 68 spikes and are valued at $100,000 or more.
- MB: Thomas Ratcliffe to Bowerman TC
- Michael Johnson Picks Karsten Warholm And Elaine Thompson-Herah As His Athletes Of The Year Was he showing some sprinter bias here? He said Sifan Hassan would "maybe" be his second choice and that winning three Olympic distance medals was "pretty impressive but Elaine was amazing."
- Bahamas Looking To Host The 2025 World Relays
- WADA Reports $5.7 Million Surplus, Despite Legal Costs Linked To RUSADA And Chinese Swimmer Cases This in part thanks to COVID drastically decreasing their travel and accommodation costs.
Other NYC Marathon News
- Manager Jos Hermens On Kenenisa Bekele And Eliud Kipchoge (He Manages Both): “Kipchoge is Zen, but Bekele is a Ferrari. “Watch him run downhill Sunday. No one can run like him.”
- Shalane Flanagan Returns to NYC Marathon 4 Years After Historic Win With New Goal in Sight Flanagan: "Honestly, I had no idea that this project would be as magical as it has been. This is the most fun that I've ever had running. When I cross the finish line in NYC, elated and exhausted, I already know I will wish that I could do this all over again."
- NY Times: The Best NYC Marathon Photos From The Last 50 Years
- You're Not Allowed To Run With A Selfie Stick At The NYC Marathon Read about that and five other random things you're not allowed to do at the NYC Marathon.
- Hoka Teams Up With Local Brewery To Create A Beer To Celebrate The NYC Marathon Soaring High is "a light pilsner brewed with kiwi and strawberry and dry-hopped with Tettnanger and Motueka hops."
- NY Times: "The Marathon Returns to a City Eager to Celebrate It" NYC Marathon is back, but with a field down about 40% from years past.
HS / NCAA News
- Olympic Trials Qualifier Juliette Whittaker Chooses Stanford The 2:01.21/4:38.65 runner joins fellow high school OT qualifier Roisin Willis who announced her decision last week.
- MB: Bernard Lagat throws in the towel- removes Arizona’s mens and womens teams from West Regionals entries after PAC12s collap
- Conroe The Woodlands XC Club Boys And Boise XC Club Girls Announced As Winners Of The HOKA Postal Nationals Championship The competition has teams from across the country post their results from 2-mile time trials on the track. The Woodlands XC Club had a 9:31 average with a 9:11 fastest man while the Boise XC Club had a fastest time of 10:45 and 11:00 average.
- NCAA D2 Regionals Recap
Media Day in NYC Was Thursday
The greatest distance runner in history sounded very confident when we caught up with him this morning in New York. "On Sunday, I expect a good day and good result," said Bekele who has recovered nicely since Berlin.
Updated with quotes from Sally Kipyegon and Stephanie Bruce.
- RRW: Peres Jepchirchir Hope To Make History By Becoming 1st Olympic Marathon Champ To Win New York City Marathon If Kenenisa Bekele wins it, he will be the first male Olympic champion to win the Olympics and NYC. One woman has won Olympic gold (on the track) and NYC - Derartu Tulu won the 10,000 gold in 1992 and then NYC 17 years later in 2009.
- NPR: Only 1 person from the original NYC Marathon will also run the 50th Two guys were going to do both but sadly one was tragically paralyzed by a wave while on vacation in Australia in 2017.
*MB: Meet Larry Trachtenberg, the only person to run the 1st and 50th NYC Marathon - Athletics Weekly: Here's why Kenenisa Bekele is the greatest male distance runner in history Or if you are a visual learner, take a look at this video.
- Bekele, in New York for marathon, appeals for ceasefire in Ethiopia He hopes the two sides "come down to the negotiation table and discuss a settlement.”
Non NYC News of Note
- NCAA 5k runnerup Katie Wasserman joins HOKA Northern Arizona Elite
- Toni Reavis reminds us the 36th LA Marathon is this weekend And the favorites are the brothers of US Olympian Leonard Korir, John (2:09:14 pb) and Evans Korir (2:06:35 pb).
- British sprinter Imani-Lara Lansiquot made the most of her 2-week Olympic quarantine - she wrote a play
- Strava's shares the hilliest Canadian streets
- Cool story: In Feb of 2020, a Malawi soccer player entered a local xc race as she needed money and she won her first race ever and €37, she ended up running in the Olympics in Tokyo (as a sprinter)
- CAS upholds six-month ban for former World Athletics council member Al-Kamali after gifting watches, but wipes out his $5,500 fine He says he gave watches worth $40. Said Aouita said they were Rolexes.
- 2021 Instanbul Marathon elite field There are 5 sub-2:07 men and 1 sub-2:25 woman.
- Top British sprinters told to cease immediate contact with Rana Reider This seems crazy to us. Let them know of the allegations but if they want to still be coached by him, they should be allowed to do so until if and when he is sanctioned for something. *Discuss
- 1948 Olympic 100 silver medallist Dorothy Manley dies aged 94
- AW: Will Neeraj Chopra's Olympic javelin gold awaken the sleeping giant of athletics, India? Our answer, "No."
What About The Sport?
Getting rid of the rule that automatically DQd a runner for stepping on the line in a race is a good start, but World Athletics needs to join the modern world in terms of officiating. Before the runners leave the track, they and everyone in the stadium should know if a foul has been called. It should then immediately be reviewed with the outcome and explanation announced just like in the NFL.
*MB: Rojo: Track and field needs to join the modern world when it comes to officiating
More NYC Related News
We LOVED this piece by David Monti on Thweatt who led a lot the 2020 Olympic Trials before finshing 5th.
The American record holder's marathon career began just weeks after 9/11 with a 2:26:58 7th place showing.
- Ben True Ahead Of His Marathon Debut In NYC: “I’d love to keep racing. The way that my body has felt for the marathon build has made me think I can do this for a lot longer.” One of True's training partners says True recently did a solo 12k time trial and came within 10 seconds of the national record.
- After battling bulimia and depression, Molly Seidel realized "everything I get to do now is a gift"
- Shalane Flanagan says she won't start with elite women in NYC
- WSJ: "Shalane Flanagan Aims to Finish Her Sixth Marathon in Six Weeks—On Two Rebuilt Knees" (behind paywall)
More Distance News
- 2022 World Half champs postponed from March 27 to November 13, 2022 due to Covid We suggest they just move them out of China.
- How a coaching change, a DQ and a year of injury led Japan-loving Massimo Stano to Olympic gold We aren't big fans of the race walk but found this profile to be a good read.
- Eliud Kipchoge Coy On Whether He'll Run Paris 2024 (He'll Be 39-Years-Old) "I will make that decision later. Three years is still a lot so, the future will tell."
- 1992 Olympian Judi St. Hillaire Expected To Recover After Being Hit By A Car While Biking The 1992 10,000m 8th placer sustained 12 broken ribs, punctured lungs and two broken collar bones.
- MB: Boston Marathon 2022 Requires Vaccination
Sprints / Jumps
- 12-Time US High Jump Champion And Cancer Survivor Chaunte Lowe Wants To Increase Breast Cancer Awareness Lowe emphasizes the importance of early detection and talks about how she had to push for further testing after a doctor initially dismissed her lump as a lymph node.
- The Telegraph Tells The Story Of Ethel Scott, The First Black Woman To Represent GB At International Track Competition Little was known about Scott, a trailblazer who ran 11.1 for 100m between WWI and WWII, until her nephew did extensive research to uncover her athletic story.
- Sweden's Multi-Time European Pole Vault Medalist Angelica Bengtsson Retires At Age-28 Bengtsson was regarded as a "teen prodigy" winning back-to-back world U20 titles, but never won a senior world or Olympic medal.
Assorted Admin News
- Leading Sprint/Jumps Coach Rana Reider To Be Investigated Over Sexual Misconduct Claims
Reider coaches a lot of top athletes including Andre de Grasse, Christian Taylor and Adam Gemili. UKA has actually told GB athletes like Gemili that the can no longer work with Reider or will lose their funding. Reider says the allegations were "news to [him]" and that SafeSport hasn't issued any notice. *Discuss - New UKA Chair Ian Beattie Says He'll Give Athletes Direct Say In How The Governing Body Is Run This includes input on new hires like replacing recently resigned CEO Joanna Coates.
- Tokyo 2020 Produced $1.76 Billion In Revenue For NBC Universal Their revenue for the Olympic quarter was up 58% from the previous year.
- WADA Investigating New Strategies To Retain Whistleblower Anonymity They should probably start by not throwing whistleblowers under the bus as they did in the past with Russia.
- Atlanta Track Club Announces Long-Term Partnership With Adidas
- WADA Adds Three National Anti-Doping Organizations To Compliance Watchlist Romania, Belgium and Montenegro.
2021 Superlatives
- Voting Open For 2021 USATF Athletes Of The Year Award Choose your top athletes, top Olympic performances and best breakthrough.
- Vote In The 2021 Athletics Weekly Readers' Choice Awards Make your pick for top international and British athletes for the year.
- The Diamond League Chooses Their Top 5 Quotes Of The Year Sha'Carri Richardson is first on their list.
Japan Road News
- Brett Larner Criticizes Japan's World Champs Marathon Selection System For Being Too Complicated Compared To USATF's He says the USATF policy "fits in one 4-page PDF, with the actual selection criteria taking up six paragraphs that can be summarized in one" while "the JAAF's selection criteria are in a 2-page PDF, but to understand it you need to wade through five other graphic and data-packed PDFs and JAAF site pages."
- March 13th Shizuoka Marathon In Japan Canceled Over Organizers' Fears Of Sixth Wave Of COVID Japan Running News' Brett Larner noted that the current new case count for this area is only 1 and that the weekly average for all of Japan is less than NYC and they're still running the NYC Marathon this weekend.
- February's Kashima Yutoku Half Marathon Canceled Due To Pandemic And Possibility Of Flu Outbreak We're not going to start cancelling races because it's flu season are we?
- Junichi Ushiyama (2:17:03) And Mai Fujisawa (2:35:52) Win Kanazawa Marathon, Japan's First Full-Size Mass Participation Races Since February 2020 The race had almost 10,000 runners.
- December 6: Kyohei Hosoya (2:06:35) And Ryu Takaku (2:06:45) Lead Field For Fukuoka Marathon
More Recent Results
- Meijo Wins Fifth-Straight National Title, 18-Year-Old Seira Fuwa Sets Sendai on Fire at National University Women's Ekiden Fuwa ran 28:00 for 9.2k to break the fifth stage record by 1:14, a time equivalent to about a 30:37 10k.
- MB: Ivan Siuris, former Moldavian 400 m runner (50.62) wins Bucharest marathon in 2:16:35.
- MB: Rheinhardt Harrison 15min 5K In Florida Monsoon! Includes video.
- MB: NAZ's Aliice Wright Breaks UK 1 Hour Track Record She ran 17,050 meters in an hour (5:39 pace).
- Burundi’s Rodrigue Kwizera And Kenya’s Lucy Mawia Muli Win Soria XC Meet
- AW Extensive Weekly Round-Up Several Brits did well at their NCAA conference championships.
- Germany'sFilimon Abraham And Italy's Francesca Ghelfi Win World Mountain Running Nations Cup In Italy
Training Advice
- Medical Experts Give Advice To Athletes On Coming Back From COVID Everyone's experience will be different, but coming back to fast could slow recovery.
- Athletics Weekly: How To Lighten The Load On Your Hamstrings
- World Athletics Asks If Elite Athletes Can Succeed On A Vegan Diet US Olympic sprinter Kaylin Whitney is vegan.
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
