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Archived Homepage For November 20, 2021
Archived Homepage For November 20, 2021
NCAA XC is Saturday
NCAA XC is Saturday
NCAAs are Here
It's not too late to enter our free prediction contest. Play fantasy track. Bijan Mazaheri's computer program at Lacticc.com doesn't agree and has Wesley Kiptoo as the favorite.
NAU (60 points), Notre Dame (87), and Oklahoma State (142) were the three best teams at NCAAs last year. NAU has gotten worse, Notre Dame has improved a little, and Oklahoma State has improved a lot. That means it should be pretty close between the three of them on Saturday.
NC State, New Mexico, Colorado, and BYU all have a legit shot to win on Saturday. We make the case for and against each team but ultimately go with Laurie Henes' NC State Wolfpack. How cool would it be for her to win NCAA title #1 after 30-years at her alma mater?
A second NCAA XC title would vault Mantz into the NCAA XC pantheon, but to win he'll have to beat a loaded field featuring Kiptoo, Adriaan Wildschutt, Cooper Teare, Nico Young, and more.
*MB: NCAA Predicted Men's Individual top 10
It's been 10 years since a woman repeated as NCAA XC champ, but Alabama's Chelangat has a chance to do it and is undefeated in 2021. BYU's Orton might be her biggest threat, while West Virginia's Ceili McCabe is also undefeated.|
*MB: NCAA Predicted Women's Individual top 10
On The Boards
On The Boards
Notre Dame's Sean Carlson
NAU's Mike Smith
Colorado's Mark Wetmore
FSU's Bob Braman
Mercy Chelanagat of Alabama
Cooper Teare of Oregon
Ceili McCabe of WVU
Dylan Jacobs and Yared Nuguse of Notre Dame
More NCAA XC News
- Register Guard: Will NCAA XC Champs Be Cooper Teare's Last Race As A Duck? He says he hasn't decided on if he'll go pro before the track season.
- IndyStar: "Butler Runners Head To NCAAs, Thanks To Science + Edginess + Grit"
- DyeStat: Nine Men And Nine Women Are Racing In Their Fifth NCAA XC Championship
News That Passed Our Stringent (Secret) Vetting Process
- Sir Brendan Foster knighted by fellow Olympian Princess Anne The former Olympic bronze medallist and European champion deserved it as he also founded the Great North Run.
- Seb Coe hoping 2022 Worlds in Eugene leaves "a very defined footprint for our sport in that country,”
- UK Athletics issues rare lifetime ban to coach John Lee accused of sexually abusing athletes Lees admitted to two of the charges - massaging an athlete who was under 18 at his home and "making inappropriate and sexualised comments to athletes in his training group" - he denies all other allegations and has never faced criminal charges.
- The Rundown podcast: Lanni Marchant gets candid about mental health, Wonder Woman and her new relationship with running - Canadian Running Magazine
- 53rd World Athletics Congress sets ambitious course for the sport
- Intersex athlete Annet Negesa (1:59 pb) is irate she underwent a gonadectomy in 2012 and says the surgery was misrepresented to her And she wants to make sure it doesn't happen again. "[I've spoken out as] I was worried that the powerful white men who run World Athletics might still be ruining the lives of hard-working young African women for whom sport means a better life."
- USTFCCCA Meet Preview of 2021 NAIA Cross Country Championships
- John Korir, who won LA a few weeks ago, wants to repeat next year like his brother Wesley
Non-Distance News
- Ashton Eaton advises Aussie Ash Moloney not to do Commonwealth and WC decathlons two weeks apart in 2022 “Maybe at his age, 21, it wouldn’t be so bad because the body recovers quickly but when you are an elite athlete, no. Put it this way, if it was me I would choose one or the other.”
We Love This Event
The BTC had the fastest split on each of the final 5 legs en route to a dominant victory.
*MB: 2021 US Pro Ekiden was today @ 1 pm ET. BTC CRUSHED the competition
Pro News of Note
- Meet Diane Leather: 23 days after Roger Bannister broke 4:00, she was the first woman to break 5:00
- Mary Cain's team has signed another pro - Ireland's and San Fran's Aoibhe Richardson (15:43 5k pb) Other members include former Michigan runner Jamie Morrissey (4:11 pb) as well as Cain herself. *Team website
- MB: Help wanted: USATF posts ad for national relays coach and Wallace Spearmon tweets at Carl Lewis to apply
- Scientific study: Vaporfly 4% shoes only provide 3% gains on uphills or downhills
- Salomon issues 50 minute documentary on Courtney Dauwalter & Francois D'haene taking on Hardrock 100 and UTMB just 6 weeks apart
- After dropping out of London, 2021 world's fastest marathoner Titus Ekiru will run next week's ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon
- 300 minutes a week of moderate exercise may help ward off cancer About 3 percent of cases in the US each year (46,000), could be prevented by meeting physical activity guidelines.
More NCAA Stuff
Tell us who will win NCAAs and win some cool RunningWarehouse and Asics prizes.
There are around a dozen athletes who will get to run NCAA XC for a 5th time on Saturday. We introduce you to a few of them, plus the 26-year-old ninth-year senior (and mother) who first ran NCAA XC in 2013.
Marathon News
- Crazy Follow-Up Story On The Chinese Ultramarathon Where 21 People Died Apparently survivors have been harassed and/or threatened for speaking out about the race (possibly pressured by the Chinese government to remain silent) and the Communist Party secretary of the local area died after falling from his apartment (police supposedly ruled out homicide).
- Good Read: World Athletics Looks Back On The Life And Career Of Grete Waitz, The "First Lady Of The Marathon" Follow Waitz's story from beating her brothers at cops and robbers, to her mid-d career, to setting a WR in her first marathon and wanting to "kill" her husband for making her do it to her 10 NYC Marathon wins.
- NYC Running Form Analysis Of Peres Jepchirchir And Albert Korir
- Runner's World Story On The Duck That "Ran" Part Of The NYC Marathon Wearing special homemade shoes, Wrinkle the duck made it about a half a mile on the streets of NYC.
Young Stars In The News
- GB's Olympic 800m Silver Medalist Keely Hodgkinson Targeting Championship Quadruple In 2022 She says she's targeting World Indoors, World Champs, the Commonwealth Games and Euro Champs next year.
- World Athletics: Spotlight On Rising Stars Keely Hodgkinson And Sean Burrell Burrell won the 400H at NCAAs in 47.85, an U20 world record.
- World Athletics: Spotlight On Rising Stars Erriyon Knighton And Silja Kosonen 17-year-old Knighton was 4th in the 200m in Tokyo while Finnish hammer thrower Kosonen broke the 16-year-old U20 record with 73.43m.
Assorted International News
- Reeva Steenkamp's Parents Oppose Oscar Pistorious' Parole Until He Shows "Remorse" For Killing Their Daughter They say that they don't believe his story and think he should serve his full sentence.
- World Athletics Extends Russian Suspension The report by Rune Anderson, Chair of the Russia Taskforce, said he recommended maintaining the suspension until all reinstatement conditions have been met. He said that there is a "new culture within RusAF" but that "there are still people in Russian athletics who have not embraced this new culture, and there is still much work for RusAF to do..."
- 110m Hurdler Jason Joseph And Sprinter Ajla Del Ponte Named Swiss Athletes Of The Year Del Ponte made the Olympic 100m final and broke the Swiss record with 10.90.
2021 In Review
- Finalists Announced For World Athletics' 2021 Track Photo Of The Year One of the three finalists is a photo of Mondo Duplantis clearing a bar in Tokyo.
- A Look At Five Diamond League First Timers In 2021 Ryan Crouser won his first DL trophy, Trayvon Bromell got his first DL win.
Recent Results
- AW Extensive Weekly Round-Up: Ronald Kiprotich Kirui (59:38) And Nelly Jepchumba (67:46) Win Movistar Madrid Half-Marathon
- Aoi Ota (62:27) Wins Miyako Salmon Half In Japan Elsewhere, his college teammate Takumi Karasawa won the Setagaya 246 Half in 62:38.
- 2:16:49 And 2:41:30 Wins The First Athens Marathon Since The Pandemic
- Toyota Boshoku, YKK, SGH and Chudenko Win Final New Year Ekiden Qualifying Races
Bad News For Women's Sports
- Not Good: IOC Changing Its Guidance On Transgender Athlete Rules The new guidelines say there is no presumption of advantage for biological men and doesn't require them to lower testosterone to compete in women's sports. Individual sports can set their own rules, but can only block trans athletes competing after they've done “robust and peer-reviewed science … which demonstrates a consistent, unfair and disproportionate competitive advantage and/or an unpreventable risk to the safety of the athletes.”
*Full IOC Document On New Transgender Athlete Guidelines
Hosting News
- White House Says Joe Biden And Chinese President Xi Jinping Did Not Discuss Beijing 2022 As US Diplomatic Boycott Of Winter Olympics Likely The Washington Post reported that Biden is going to approve of a diplomatic boycott of Beijing 2022 because of China's human rights abuses.
- Berlin May Bid For The 2036 Olympics It would mark 100 years since Berlin hosted the "propaganda games."
- Rieti To Host 2026 European Athletics U18 Championships
Our Weekly Recap
After taking a look back at NCAA regionals, we take a look at some great pre-finish line celebrations - some of which worked out quite well and others not so much. This WTW is dedicated to Jimmy Wyner.
Be Inspired
At the age of 38, after 11 straight disappointing marathons, Elkaneh Kibet PRd in marathon #13 in NY where he finished 4th overall and beat the great Kenenisa Bekele.
*MB:The Elkaneh Kibet Interview
Bolt Updates
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- Did You Know Usain Bolt's Shoe Was Untied When He Set The 100m World Record At The 2008 Beijing Olympics “People started talking about it and I started watching the videos, people saying my shoe was untied and I didn’t even notice. It could have gone horribly wrong.”
- Usain Bolt On The Olympics: “I really missed it. I was like, I wish I was there. Because for me, I live for those moments. So it was hard to watch." Bolt also said he thought he'd be fighting for a podium spot if he was in Tokyo: "My coach said something to me at the end of my career. He said, 'People are not getting faster. I was getting slower.' I never looked at it that way."
- Usain Bolt Talks Soccer And Gives His Thoughts On Manchester United's Current Struggles “We are going to struggle. Cristiano [Ronaldo] has saved us every game. One guy has to do all that work. We have not played good football in so long."
Final Rankings Before NCAAs
- NAU Men Stay Ranked #1 As BYU Makes Big Jump From 8th To 2nd In Pre-NCAA XC Champs Rankings OSU and Notre Dame are ranked 3-4.
- No Changes To The Top-6 Teams In Pre-NCAA Champs Women's Rankings As NC State Stays #1 New Mexico, Colorado and BYU are ranked 2-4.
Japan Running News
- Charles Kamau Wanjiku Breaks Japan Collegiate 10,000m Record With 27:18.89 At Nittai Time Trials In A Race Where The Top-13 All Went Sub-28 In the B-heat, there was a high schooler who ran 28:11.96 while the 5000m had six high schoolers sub-14 lead by Daniel Ndiritu (13:18.75). Margaret Akidor won the women's 5000m in 14:55.43
- 18-Year-Old Seira Fuwa Runs 31:29 To Anchor Her Team To East Japan Women's Ekiden Win Fuwa turned heads at an ekiden two weeks ago when she ran a stage time equivalent to about a 30:37 10k.
British News
- Eilish McColgan's Mother Says A Man Followed Her In His Van And Exposed Himself When She Was Training On Country Roads As A Young Pro Liz McColgan-Nuttall, the former 10,000m world champ, also talks about guiding Eilish to her marathon debut next fall.
- How They Train With GB 10.08 Sprinter Harry Aikines-Aryeetey His favorite session is 3x120s with about 10-12 minutes in-between. His least favorite is 250 and 300m repeats.
- GB's Katarina Johnson-Thompson Moving To Florida To Work With A New Coach Her coach in France got a job with the French Athletics Federation so she had to look for a new option.
Non-Distance News
- The Altlanta Journal-Constitution: For Christian Coleman, The Comeback Begins Now Coleman's suspension ends this Sunday. He talks about what he's been up to during his suspension, still getting tested about twice a month and shares his thoughts on the Tokyo 100m final.
- Better A Decade Late Than Never: US's Erik Kynard Officially Confirmed As The 2012 Olympic High Jump Champion After The Doping DQ Of Russian Ivan Ukhov Derek Drouin, Robbie Grabarz and Mutaz Essa Barshim all tied for the bronze medal at those Olympics so they're elevated to silver.
- RIP Britain's 1948 Olympic 100m Silver Medalist Dorothy Manley, 94 She ran 12.2 in the final to take second behind Fanny Blankers-Koen.
- Jamaica Set To Host The 2022 CARIFTA Games After COVID Cancelled The Last Two Years It's scheduled for mid-April.
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
‒British Olympic swimming medallist Sharron Davies writing on twitter about how the IOC's recent decision to allow trans women to compete in elite women's sports without being required to lower their testosterone is logically flawed.
*MB: This should be the Quote of the Decade regarding trans athletes participating in elite women's sport