On a wet day in Boston, Jonathan Gault was on hand to see new American citizen Teshome Mekonen run his first race as a US citizen. He also saw Molly Seidel finish her 1st race since February. Plus how is Molly Huddle's comeback coming?
Archived Homepage For November 14, 2022
Archived Homepage For November 14, 2022
The Latest Exclusive From The Hardest Working Man in Running Journalism
Doping News - Another Kenyan Banned
He had three positive tests this year for a banned steroid and apparently competed once after his provisional ban. He was initially given a six year ban, but it was reduced to five years after he admitted his guilt. *2nd article
- Kenya's Sunday Standard Reveals List Of 22 Kenyans Who Are Provisionally Suspended, But Whose Bans Haven't Been Announced One former athlete claims athletes pay the Kenyan anti-doping agency to not have their name made public and then feign injuries to hide their ban.
- NY Times: Incoming NYRR Chair Nnenna Lynch Says Breaking Zero Tolerance Policy Was Unintentional Lynch has ran in multiple NYRR races despite NYRR having a zero tolerance policy against athletes competing if they've had a previous drug suspension. She says she would no longer run in NYRR if it violated their rules.
On The Boards
On The Boards
A Slow Distance Weekend
- Kenya's rampant doping problem gets big feature in The Sunday Standard 31 doping suspensions is A LOT including apparently 22 we haven't heard about.
- Kenyan govt says are starting a welfare program for ex-great athletes and that they will build a new stadium to honor their 1st Olympic medallist Wilson Kiprugut We'll believe it when we see it.
- An Enduring Affair With World Cross-Country: A Column by Len Johnson
- Lucia Stafford's 15:20 road 5k debut last weekend was amost a Canadian record The record is 15:16.
- It was a huge weekend for HS xc with many state meets and Nike regional meets held
- Unseasonably warm weather (18c, 64f) greeted the runners at Saturday's British Athletics Cross Challenge
NCAA XC MB Talk
- Is Katelyn Tuohy's left hamstring injured? (new link) LRC visitors have some photos that make it look like something is up.
- Katelyn Tuohy is NOT injured!
- Cole Sprout sat out regionals and internet sleuths discovery he's posted just 1 run on Strava in a week A runnerspace article said he has a "slight injury."
- How does UVA move up to 2nd after getting 6th?
- Is UVA a TOP 10 team???? 7 under 24 min today in Boston
- Better career at Michigan: Tom Brady the football player or Tom Brady the runner?
- Isai Rodriguez.... doesn't get enough credit
Available to Supporters Club members.
Happy Saturday Everyone - Life Is Good
- 32 of The Best Signs From the NYC Marathon
- Toni Reavis' book "about the wartime meeting and marriage of my parents in the dying days of World War II" is now out on Kindle and paperback They met on Valentine's Day in 1945 and ended up giving birth to one of our favorite running journalists.
- Damascus Marathon completed peacefully, amid war The 1st-ever marathon in the city was Friday.
Not Everything Is Great
Kenya's 58:35 half marathoner Kenneth Kiprop Renju ban is confirmed, 5 years for steroids His provisional suspension had been announced last month.
Non-Binary and Women In The News
- Nikki Hiltz gets profiled by CNN: "How this professional runner is making their sport more inclusive"
*MB: Nikki HIltz is tired of being misgendered by announcers: "I can’t just be like, ‘Oh, no worries, it’s okay." - LGBTQ icon and women's sports legend Martina Navratilova tweets her support for Mara Yamauchi & Rojo's column saying non-binary divisions should not pay out prize money There is no need to confuse inclusivity with elite sport. Pro sports by definition is non-inclusive. If you missed the article, it is here.
- After overcoming eating disorder, Maria Langholz has gone from 3:32 in the marathon in 2019 to 2:38 in 2022 - can she qualify for the Trials at CIM?
- Former NCAA champ and Olympic 4 x 400 gold medallist Rochelle Stevens resigns as LeMoyne-Owen track coach due to lack of institutional support
Administrative News of Note
- Athletics Ireland signs 6-figure sponsorship agreement wtih 123.ie 6'9 teenage long jumper Reece Ademolawas brought in to promote the deal and the photo of him is fantastic.
- For 1st time since 2019, the British and Irish Masters Cross Country International returns this weekend
- MB: This had better be SOLD-OUT. 2022 Diamond League final / Pre Classic dates are set for September 16-17, 2023 Nike athletes normally are required to run Pre. Since the DL final is Pre, does that mean Athing Mu will keep racing? Will Syndey M keep her season going post-Worlds since the DL final is in the US?
- Meet U-20 stars Kerrica Hill & Letsile Tebog0 Should They be U-20 AOYs? Tebogo was supposed to be an Oregon Duck but we haven't heard that he showed up.
*MB: Did Letsile Tebogo show up at Univ of Oregon in September? Is he still going or has that ship sailed? - Meet U-20 stars Mine De Klerk & Erriyon Knighton
RIP to an American legend
In the early days of LRC, Young was called "perhaps the most complete American distance runner ever" as he made Olympic teams in the steeple (60, 64, 68), marathon (68) and 5k (72) before going on to a great coaching career.
Post-NYC News
2022 was a historically fast year for women's marathoning, the #2-4 men's marathoners in the world might all train together, and the NYC Marathon has a security problem.
Rojo and Mara Yamauchi Editorial
For nearly 40 years, the NYC Marathon has been known for being a trailblazer that paid its male and female athletes the same prize money. Sadly, that changed on Sunday. Guess what sex dominated the new non-binary gender division at Sunday's 2022 New York City Marathon? Olympian Mara Yamauchi joins Robert Johnson in this guest column.
The WMMs seemingly don't want anyone to know who won the series title, and for good reason, as the winners are being screwed out of $200,000 each.
More Marathon Stuff
- Just Stop, Super Shoes Are Bad Enough: Athletics Weekly: How Nanobots Can Help Make Breaking The 2-Hour Marathon "Commonplace" One "futurist" at a leading global technology company talks about a future with a "complete blurring of boundaries between technology and the athlete." We hope that never comes to be.
- Interesting Profile On Haile Gebreselassie: "Former Athlete Making It Big In Business" Talking about his narrow 10,000m win over Paul Tergat at the 2000 Olympics, Geb said, “Olympic is a special medal with Paul Tergat. That medal is really special. If there are two gold medals then two of us should have shared it out. That medal does not belong to me. It belongs to me and Tergat."
- 40-Year-Old Former Two-Time World Marathon Champ Abel Kirui Is Still At It; Leads Field For Fukuoka Marathon December 4th He's one of six men with sub-2:08 PBs.
More News On Surprise NYC Winner Sharon Lokedi
- NY Times Article On How NYC Champ Sharon Lokedi Wasn't Part Of The AIU's Out-Of-Competition Testing Pool AIU head Brett Clothier says due to COVID they had to scale back the number of road runners tested to the top 40 men and 40 women. Lokedi wasn't part of that group and hasn't been tested by them since June 2021. Clotheir added that the testing pool would expand to 150 men and 150 women in 2023.
- Sharon Lokedi Dedicates NYC Marathon Win To Her Mother
European Distance News
- Steepler Lizzie Bird Talks About Her Training And Breakthrough 2022 Season Where She Set The British Steeple Record With 9:07.87 She credits consistent training and staying injury free since 2018. She also went to altitude for the first time this year.
- Keely Hodgkinson Announced For Birmingham World Indoor Tour Final On February 25 She ran her 1:57.20 British 800m indoor record (and the fastest indoor time for 20-years) here last season.
- Nordic Cross Country Championships Recap: Denmark's 17-Year-Old Sofia Thøgersen Wins U20 Race; Her Twin Sister Finishes 5th
Recruiting Updates
- Aaron Sahlman Signs With Northern Arizona The 4:01 Newbury Park miler had narrowed down his final decisions to NAU, UCLA, Arkansas or Oklahoma.
*MB: AARON SAHLMAN TO NAU - More NCAA News: NY Times: New Endorsements For College Athletes Resurface An Old Concern - Sex Sells Apparently Louisiana State gymnast Olivia Dunne will have earned more than $2 million over the next year.
- MB: Sara Hall's daughter commits to NC State
- Illinois Track Signs Five Mid-Year Recruits
Hosting / Admin News
- Birmingham Set To Host The 2026 European Championships; First Time Ever For GB Great Britain has hosted the Olympics (2012), World Championships (2017), three Commonwealth Games (2002, 2014, 2022), two World Indoors (2003 and 2018) and two European Indoors (2007 and 2019), but has actually never hosted the outdoor European Championships.
- Russian Bill To No Longer Recognize CAS Decisions Submitted To Parliament They are arguing that the CAS hasn't protected the rights of Russian athletes who've been banned due to Russia's war with Ukraine.
- Eugene 2022 Wins Two Sports Tourism Awards
- Magic Johnson Named Global LA Ambassador To Help Attract Business Ahead Of The 2028 Games
2022 Review
- Vote For The Athletics Weekly 2022 Readers' Choice Awards Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Eliud Kipchoge, Soufiane El Bakkali and Faith Kipyegon are the distance runners in contention for their athlete of the year.
- 2022 Diamond League By The Numbers There were 146 different winners from 48 different countries throughout the DL season.
Don't Forget to Vote
National and regional voting now open for the 2022 NCAA Regionals. Tell us who his going to the big dance.
Nike Cross Regionals Start This Weekend
Trials Awarded
What will the course be like? What type of weather can we expect? We break it down for you.
Podcast
The LRC crew looks back at NY, ranks the American performances, has a Galen Rupp rumor for Supporters Club members, and then turns to the Olympic Trials going to Orlando, and some big changes in training groups.
Champion Milers In The News
- Olympic And World 1500m Champ Faith Kipyegon Really Wants The 1500m WR After Running 3:50.37 And Missing It By .30 In Monaco This Year “I have been trying to break the world record but I keep on missing it by a small margin. This time, I'm praying that all things go the right way to secure the record."
- MB: CENTRO IS OFF THE MARKET (gets engaged)
- Faith Kipyegon Says Eliud Kipchoge Has Inspired Her To Eventually Move To The Marathon “When you stay with marathon runners, you don’t see yourself as a 1500m athlete any more – you see yourself as a marathoner. You follow them on long runs, you follow them on fartleks and you see every day what they do. [It makes you feel like] ‘I need to do this.’"
- World 1500m Champ Jake Wightman Is Looking For "Redemption" At The Paris Olympics He wants to make up for his "disappointing" 10th place finish at the Tokyo Olympics.
European Throwing News
- RIP: German Three Time Olympic Discus Thrower Michael Möllenbeck Dies At Age-52 Möllenbeck won bronze medals at the 2001 and 2005 World Championships.
- Javelin Thrower Jakub Vadlejch Named Czech Athlete Of The Year He won bronze at Worlds and silver at Euros.
Post NYC Updates
The good news is the Brazilian star is recovering well after going to the hospital. His agent explains what he thinks happened.
- Which Super Shoes Did The Best In NYC? While Nike shoes dominated in numbers, there were plenty of other shoe brands to finish in the top-10 men and women including a surprise win by Under Armour on the feet of Sharon Lokedi.
- NYRR's Post-Race Release Specifically Omits Nonbinary Winner's Time They listed the winning times for the men's, women's, and wheelchair divisions, but not the nonbinary. Maybe they didn't want to highlight the fact that they gave thousands in prize money to biological men who ran significantly slower than many women who got nothing?
High School News
- Sub-4 Miler Simeon Birnbaum Commits To Oregon Oregon now has two high school sub-4-minute milers incoming next year in Birnbaum and Connor Burns.
*MB: The next Oregon duo: Burns & Birnbaum both to Oregon - Tyrone Gorze Runs 14:37.9 Course Record At Oregon State Meet Interestingly, he ran faster in wet conditions with spikes than he had a week earlier when he ran 14:41 in Nike road super shoes.
*MB: Record Setting Run by Tyrone Gorze @ OR HS State Meet - Nike Indoor Nationals Returning To The Armory In March
More From The Weekend
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- Beijing Marathon Returns But China Sticks To Strict "Zero-COVID" Rules China's crazy lockdowns (where people are forcibly barricaded in their homes if there is one COVID case in their neighborhood) have generated public anger after causing multiple tragic deaths that could have been prevented.
- Burundi’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo And Kenya’s Lucy Mawia Muli Win At Soria, Spain XC Race
- Kenya’s Robert Kimkemboi (2:10:18) And Ethiopia’s Sechale Dalasa (2:25:54) Win Istanbul Marathon
- Athletics Weekly English Cross Country Relays Recap Former pro, now master runner Gemma Steel led her team to victory.
- Komazawa University Breaks Own CR by Over 4 Minutes to Win 3rd-Straight Japan National University Ekiden Title
What a crazy day in NY. Recap, analysis, and post-race videos at link above.
Sharon Lokedi got a huge win for herself and Under Armour as well as Hellen Obiri's debut fizzled the final few miles. Aliphine Tuliamuk was first American.
Non-Elite NYC News
- Think You're Not Good Enough To Win $$$ At A WMM, Think Again: 2:45 Wins 5 Grand For The NYC Nonbinary Division 5th place in the nonbinary division was 3:29:33 and won $1000. Meanwhile there were elite women running 2:30 who took home nothing. This is a joke.
*MB: NYC Marathon Non-Binary champ finishes in 2:45:12. - How Fast (Or Slow) Did The Celebs Run In NYC? Actor Ashton Kutcher ran 3:54:01 for his marathon debut.
- MB: CNN Host Ana Cabrera finishes NYC Marathon in 2:57 Solid finish by the former collegiate runner.
- NY Times: The New York City Marathon: A 26.2-Mile Fashion Show
- Video: Police Remove Bicyclist From NYC Marathon Course
What A Bizarre Story
The sub-4 miler finished second in the race won by Kevin Sanchez. Afterwards Hebert said, "I just ran it for fun."
USATF 5k Champs
Abdihamid Nur (13:24) won the men's title despite a late wrong turn. Weini Kelati (15:16) won the women's race as both athletes broke the course record.
World Mountain And Trail Running Champs
- Ugandans Samuel Kibet And Rebecca Cheptegei Win The Up And Down Mountain Races On Final Day Of World Mountain And Trail Running Champs
- GB Juniors Go 1-2 In World Mountain Champs Under-20 Race Jess Bailey won the women's race while Leonard Chemutai lead a 1-3 Ugandan sweep in the men's U20 race.
- US's Adam Peterman And France’s Blandine L’Hirondel Win World Mountain And Trail Running Champs 80k Titles Peterman lead the US to the team victory while France won for the women.
- Norway's Stian Angermund And Romania's Denisa Dragomir Win 40k Titles At World Mountain And Trail Running Champs The Italian men and Spanish women took the team titles.
- US's Allie MClaughlin And Kenya's Patrick Kipngeno Take Uphill Titles On Day 1 Of World Mountain And Trail Running Champs In Thailand The team USA women and the Italian men won the team titles.
- European Athletics: Italy Take Men's Uphill Team Title At World Mountain And Trail Running Champs
Pre-NYC News
- Abdi Abdirahman Talks To The NY Times Ahead Of His Last Competitive NYC Marathon Abdi says he wants to run for fun next year "to experience running with the masses" and talks about wanting to sell his 200+ collection of Nike Air Jordan's now that he's been dropped by Nike and signed with Asics.
- Good Read: Lonah Chemtai Salpeter Talks About How She Met Her Husband/Coach, Became A Runner And Became An Israeli Citizen Unlike many Kenyans who change citizenship to another country, Salpeter only became an elite runner after she first came to Israel to be the nanny for a Kenyan diplomat.
- Viola Lagat Wants To Win NYC In Honor Of The Late Agnes Tirop She finished 2nd by 5-seconds at last year's race.
- RRW: After Long Wait, Shadrack Kipchirchir To Make Marathon Debut In New York Kipchirchir says his training for the marathon hasn't been so different than what he did focusing on the 10,000m, just more mileage and longer long runs.
- Record High Temperatures Expected At NYC Marathon Temperature will be in the mid-60s at race start and a high of 73 by 2PM.
- Runner's World Looks At The Celebrities Running The NYC Marathon Actor Ashton Kutcher is making his marathon debut.
- NBC Sports Preview: US Stars Are Underdogs To Cap Epic Marathon Season
Other Weekend Action
- DyeStat: Leo Young Helps Newbury Park Sweep To Sixth Straight Marmonte League Title Young ran 14:50 to set the 3-mile course record ahead of Aaron Sahlman and Lex Young (both timed at 14:51).
- Weekend College XC Recap: NCAA DII & NAIA Conference Championships
- Sunday: Japan National University Men's Ekiden Preview
Engels Speaks
Engels says he enjoyed his time with UAC but needed to train in a place where he either had consistent training partners or a coach with him every day.
Big Mid-D News Regarding Two of America's Biggest Former Teen Phenoms
Let's hope this mean's the 400/800 double is in her near future and let's hope Mu and her fans give some praise to Milton Mallard for guiding her to an Olympic and world title.
- MB: US HS 1500 record holder Alexa Efraimson (4:03.39 pb) retires at 25 Efraimson has called it a career after last breaking 4:10 in 2019.
Parker Valby Hype Train
Parker Valby Hype Train
Who Wins NCAA XC?
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Cool XC News
How does a pro team cross country race that is World Athletics Gold Label with thousands of running insiders in town ready to watch sound? HOKA NAZ Elite, Hansons-Brooks, the Brooks Beasts, Puma Elite, Empire Elite, US Army, Taylor Made, On Athletics Club, McKirdy Trained, and Railroad Athletics confirmed.
How Would You Attack The Doping Problem?
Instead of just complaining about anti-doping it's time to try and do something about. Submit your best anti-doping proposals.
Has Kenya found a new super drug? What is going on?
And have the Kenyans found a new super drug? Kipyokei is one of 10 athletes in the last two years to test positive for the same substance, triamcinolone acetonide, a drug once used by Lance Armstrong and Brad Wiggins. Why are they suddenly all testing positive for it now?
- MB: Has Kenya found a super drug? 2021 Boston champ is one of 10 Kenyans to test positive for triamcinolone acetonide since 2021
- 23 Kenyans Have Been Banned For Doping In 2022 2:23:40 marathoner Betty Wilson Lempus (won the Paris Half in 65:46 last year) was also banned and both she and Kipyokei were charged with obstructing the AIU’s investigation by providing false information or documentation.
Disturbing Stuff
Allegations regarding the Huntington University track and field team where Nick Johnson used to coach and his wife Lauren Johnson now coaches continue to come out thanks to the great reporting by David Woods and continue to get more grim. Two national champions for Huntington claim their coach gave them unknown injections and have asked that their national titles be invalidated. One claims she was raped by Nick. Police reports show Nick, who had already pled guilty to a felony after admitting to impersonating a University of Oregon staffer so he could take a teen recruit on a trip where the teen told police many sexual acts took place, has admitted to having sex with two other athletes and his wife admitted she didn’t tell anyone at Huntington as she didn’t want them to lose their jobs. She’s now the head coach. If that’s not bad enough, there are now allegations of PED usage. Did PEDs cause the Johnsons to leave the Oregon Track Club?
- David Woods' Indy Star Expose: Christian college coach created a culture of doping and sex, star runners allege.
- Gregg Doyel Indy Star: Coach goes to prison, so Huntington hired his wife
- Huntington University places head cross country coach and assistant on leave
- MB: Coach-athlete sex, rape and PEDs at Huntington University? Nick Johnson scandal gets grimmer thanks to David Woods
Guest Post
Long before Eliud Kipchoge was running 2:01:09 in the marathon he was running 10 minute miles with a former Boston Marathon champion.
The series used the elites to build themselves up as the majors in our sport but now is forsaking the pros once the image is established. In the process, they just screwed Eliud Kipchoge out of $200,000 after the fact as the cut is effective immediately. Wow.
Kipchoge loving the LetsRun Shirt in Berlin
NCAA XC Predictions
20-year-olds rarely win NCAA XC, but Jonathan Gault says Young and Tuohy will changing that in 2022.
NCAA XC Previews
NCAA XC Previews
NAU is loaded once again. But so is Stanford, and OSU should be dangerous on its home course. Who will win it all in '22?
NC State loses two of its top five but could still be better than they were in 2021.
50 Years after 1972 Olympic Marathon Gold
Frank Shorter joined us for a fascinating talk about his 1972 Olympic gold, his training, the massacre at the 1972 Olympics, Steve Prefontaine's snow skiing abilities and a lot more.
Guest Post
Shorter was asleep on the balcony of his Olympic Village apartment when he heard the first gunshots. Why was sleeping out there? Ask Dave Wottle.
2024 Will Be Here Before You Know It
The Trials were supposed to be awarded by July 14. USATF's Adam Schmenk told us why that decision has been delayed.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen listens to the Letsrun podcast. Why don't you?
History was made 20 years ago
And he ran his marathon PB to boot.
Ross Tucker Speaks
We paid one of the top sports scientists in the world to analyze the Shelby Houlihan doping case and CAS ruling. He has 2 pieces for us, the piece above is an opinion piece where he answers our questions. In a 2nd more technical piece, Ross goes through the CAS decision step by step and outlines in clear terms exactly what Houlihan argued and why he thinks CAS ultimately (correctly) ruled against her.
The new and improved LetsRun.com forum is here. Read about the new features. Or just check them out yourself.
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
