On this week's SC podcast, we tell you which men will make the 2024 US Olympic track and field team 800 on up. Plus Paul Chelimo and Leonard Korir have some big races this weekend and Bill Rodgers is back at it as well.
Supporters Club Podcast
Australian & South African Champs
The 16-year old ran like a veteran and tried to control things from the front. WHAT A RACE. The video is also embedded above.
- Wayde Van Niekerk Wins South African Champs 400m Title In 44.17 It was his fifth national 400m title.
- Women's 1500: Jessica Hull blitzes sub-60 last lap to take down defending champ Abby Caldwell with 4:04:19 MR (video)
- MB: Official 2023 Australian Track and Field Championships Live Discussion Thread
- Akani Simbine wins final in 10.14 (headwind) after running 9.98 1st round & 9.92 semi and Wayde van Niekerk (45.99 prelim) look great on Day 1 of SA Champs
- 81-year-old Ans Botha shares her coaching secrets "We always have to remember that we don't work with robots. We work with people. You have to prioritise the human element."
On The Boards
On The Boards
Road News
- NYC Marathon Champ Sharon Lokedi Withdraws From The Boston Marathon With Injury Boston would have been her first race since she won NYC in her marathon debut.
- Kenyans Roncer Kipkorir Konga (59:43) And Irine Jepchumba Kimais (66:00) Win Prague Half-Marathon
Sprint Stuff
- Video: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Dominates Track Race At Her Son's School Sports Day SAFP left the other parents in the dust in the race on grass. A lot better than Mo Farah who only got 3rd in his parents sprint race, losing to a dad in jeans.
- Erriyon Knighton: “I actually want to go sub-19. I don’t want to say it’s possible. It’s possible, but you just never know... Only one human went under 19.20.”
- Oscar Pistorius Denied Parole; Will Remain In Prison And Have To Re-Apply In A Year The parents of the late Reeva Steenkamp say they don't believe Pistorious' story that he accidentally killed their daughter and think he should remain in prison until he admits the truth.
Tx Relays / Stanford Invite
- MB: 2023 Stanford Invitational - Official Discussion Thread BYU’s Jenna Hutchins impressed with a 15:35, Utah's Emily Venters ran a 31:48, Charles Hicks won the guys 10k in 27:57 as 5 guys broke 28:00. In his NCAA 5000 debut, Colin Sahlman ran 13:42 to finish 14th. Plus Brian Clas's legendary 29-year-old Cornell school record of 29:00 went down to Perry Mackinnon (28:33) in the B heat of the 10k.
- A look at some of the records set at the Texas Relays
Olympic News / Ukraine Boycott?
- IOC Warns Ukraine Against Boycotting Paris 2024 Qualifying Events The Ukraine government said they would boycott any events where Russian and Belarusian athletes were competing, but the IOC warned this would only hurt Ukraine athletes.
- ANOC Executive Council Criticizes Ukraine Government For Boycotting Paris 2024 Qualifying Events
- Mexico Wants To Host Either The 2036 Or 2040 Olympics Mexico hosted the Olympics in Mexico City in 1968.
- Between 140 And 170 Boats Will Be Used To Transport 10,000 Athletes During Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony On The River Seine
Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Is Sunday
Local school teacher Susanna Sullivan is back to try to defend her title against the likes of Nell Rojas, Sara Hall, and Caroline Rotich. Hillary Bor leads the US men's field. Woody Kincaid has scratched.
Articles That We Found Interesting
- In recent years Benin's Noelie Yarigo has been pacing on the circuit, but now at age 37 thanks to her new coach, she's #2 in the world at 800 An interesting read as she didn't really even start running seriously until age 26.
- UK Athletics issues statement saying they are going to have to fire staffers due to financial situation 1) It's a shame when billions were spent on stadiums for 2012, that $100 million wasn't put into a UK Athletics trust. 2) It's a shame Max Siegel won't give them some of his $3 million salary.
- Now that she's run 10.92, might Alana Reid break the WJr record of 10.88 that Germany's Marlies Oelsner has held since 1977?
- USATF 10 Mile Championships are Sunday - Hillary Bor, Sara Hall, Abbabiya Simbassa, and Nell Rojas will be there
- Grandma's Marathon champ Esther Macharia popped for testosterone
- If you exercise a lot, it may not matter if you sleep less than 6 hours a day At least in terms of death.
History at The Champs
Since he ran 10.02 last year at World Jrs, sub-10 wasn't a shock but to do it on the biggest stage is super impressive.
- Alana Reid produces the first sub-11 in girls race (10.92) That time crushed VCB's meet record of 11.13. *Video
- Does 400 ace Delano Kennedy have a false-start problem?m?
- Will Bouwahjgie Nkrumie go sub-10? He ran 10.51 in the prelim.
- Nkrumie ran 10.08 in semis, breaking Zharnel Hughes 10.12 MR
- Class 1 Discus records fall
- Champs going down to the wire - Jamaican Gleaner
Sprint News of Note
- Christine Mboma's coach thinks she'll still be competitive after she lowers her testosterone “I'm very optimistic that Christine will be 100% competitive on the track. Christine feels the same way. We know her situation, and we know that Christine has a tremendous amount of speed and that is not from testosterone levels,” Botha said. Good luck with that.
- Q&A with Kenny Bednarek who says he wants to run 9.7 and 19.30 this year
- 20-year-old Marione Fourie hopes to break SA 100mh NR this weekend
- Oscar Pistorius could be released from prison this week The parole board hearing is Friday.
Pro News
- Erin Strout says Kara Goucher's new book is "perhaps the most important contribution she’ll ever make to women’s sports"
- Two-time Abel Kirui racing Daegu on Sunday, then hopes to do Chicago, Tokyo, the Olympics and then retire in Berlin
- Thomas Bach says its "deplorable" than many European govts have pushed back against his plan to let individual Russian compete
- Mondo and Jakob will do Silesia DL on July 16th
Distance News
- Recommended Read Lynn Bjorklund's high school 3000 record of 9:08.6 stood for 41 years, but she never raced on the track again In this interesting profile, Marc Bloom catches up with the former teen phenom.
- Part 1: Lynn Bjorklund would run hours a day as she loved it and was bullied in school “I ran every single day for hours. To escape the bullying. I tried to survive pretending the whole school didn’t exist...What I really wanted was for people to like me for who I was as a person, rather than as someone who won a race.”
- Eilish McColgan to run Berlin half this Sunday She's managed to get the bursitis on her knee under control but now her achilles/calf are acting up after she had to jump out of the way of some kids who weren't paying attention on the track.
- IT problem causes Rory Linkletter to pull out of London "Two weeks ago, an IT band issue flared up, I took a couple days off and it seemed to calm down. However, after [the March 19 New York City Half Marathon] things really locked up on me," said the 2017 NCAA 10,000 runnerup who has a 2:10:34 marathon pb
- AW says Steve Ovett was the most well-rounded UK distance runner in history Jake Wightman is the fastest 800 through 3k but Ovett gets the nod as he won Olympic gold in the 800 and CG gold in the 5000.
- S. Africa's newest ultramarathon star Nkosikhona Mhlakwana shares his training\
- Tyler Andrews sets 2 Kilimanjaro FKTs He has both the fastest ascent and round trip on Africa's tallest mountain.
Big Drug Test News
Peter Bol's team had two labs re-look at his case and they've both come back on his side. *Sydney Morning Herald
- Bol's agent James Templeton watched for 22 hours as his B sample was tested - just likea scientist did for Bernard Lagat years ago- and alarm bells were raised once again. We must admit this makes us wonder - can the EPO tests be trusted?
- Column: Peter Bol deserves a Senate inquiry into handling of his doping case
- Bol's lawyers call on Australian doping agency to halt investigation "This wasn't even a close call, these were just negative tests, they couldn't get it right, they had no idea what they were doing," Greene told Channel Nine.
- Expert predicts ‘potentially massive’ global impact of Peter Bol doping case
- MB: Peter Bol: independent testing says he did not take EPO - Can the EPO test be trusted? We'll eventually have our own story on this case ourselves.
Women in the news
She's won the RAK and NYC Halves this year and will take a second crack at the 26.2 distance after a disappointing debut in NY where she bonked late.
Is her form too inefficient to hold up over 26.2?
*MB Klecker and Obiri training in Boulder, contrasting styles
*MB 2023 Boston Marathon Field Gets Even Better: Hellen Obiri Added to Field Jo
Young, who has remained in South Africa, denied that there was an argument and said: ¨They felt I wasn’t looking after myself properly, maybe thought the pressure was getting to me. I’d say they were reading too much into it.¨ But The Times of London says one source believes the relationship ¨may now be severed.¨
*MB Muir and Reekie have falling out with Andy Young, get on first plane home from South Africa
Distance News
- Good Read: Sara Hall Talks About How She Bounced Back From Injury In Time For The Boston Marathon Starting in August, Hall had injury issues that kept her running more than 10 minutes without pain for months. It wasn't until December that she was able to start running longer again and Boston will be her first race in 8 months.
*MB: We need to talk about Sara Hall. - Kenya's 2015 African Games 10,000m Champ Alice Aprot Gets 4-Year Doping Ban She claimed she did not knowingly dope, but took medication given to her by a pharmacy.
- Boston Prepares For 10-Year Anniversary of Marathon Bombings
Athing Mu Talks Past, Present, Future
Mu said that modeling has excited her since she was young: "I make jokes all the time about me retiring within the next two years and just going to walk the runway."
Track Talk Podcast
Video highlights of Mu portion above. Full podcast here or at link above.
Sprint Stuff
- Usain Bolt On The State Of The Sport: "I think we've talked about it for years that the sport needs to change the way it's set up ...It's not as exciting so people don't want to watch." He added, "If you don't have a superstar that stands out like I did, then it's going to be hard to draw the big crowds and draw that attention that you want."
- Karsten Warholm Actually Set A 200m PB On The First Lap Of His Winning 400m At European Indoor Champs He split 20.84 at 200m and his official PB is 20.91. He wasn't able to hold the quick pace though as he finished in 45.35, slower than his 45.05 European record.
- Christian Malcolm Hired As New Performance Sprints Lead For Athletics Ireland Malcolm was appointed the head coach for British Athletics in 2020, but lost that job last year and was replaced by Stephen Maguire.
Recent Road Results / Upcoming
- Mo Farah To Race Port-Gentil 10k In Gabon On April 8th Ahead Of His Final London Marathon Appearance
- GB's Eilish McColgan Racing The Berlin Half-Marathon This Weekend As Tune-Up For Her Marathon Debut In London Next Month Ethiopia's Tsigie Gebreselama (64:46 PB) leads the field. The men's race has a few sub-hour men lead by Sabastian Sawe (58:02).
- Germany’s Amanal Petros (2:07:02) And Croatia's Matea Parlov Kostro (2:25:25) Win Hannover Marathon Richard Ringer (61:44) And Miriam Dattke (70:47) won the German half-marathon champs.
*MB: Julien Wanders pulls out of the Hannover Marathon citing “poor shape” - Athletics Weekly Road Round-Up: Jonny Mellor (62:06) And Lauren McNeil (72:00) Waters Wilmslow Running Festival Asics HalfWin
NCAA Award Updates
- NCAA DI Program Of The Year Standings Update The OSU men and NC State women lead after NCAA XC and Indoor Champs.
- The Bowerman Men's Post-Indoor Watchlist NAU's Drew Bosley and Tennessee's Dylan Jacobs are the two distance runners on the list.
- The Bowerman Women's Post-Indoor Watchlist Katelyn Tuohy and Stanford's Roisin Willis are the two distance women on the list.
Congrats to these new running moms!
- MB: Dreams Become Reality: LetsRun Babies Are Here! Longtime LetsRun posters txRunnergirl and nikeman met through the message board, got married and now as of Saturday, have twin babies, Grayson and Lily. Congrats to the new parents!
- MB: Fast Babies: Kate Grace, Elle Purrier St. Pierre, Brenda Martinez all recently gave birth Grace and Purrier had their babies on March 4th and 5th and Martinez had hers on February 28.
Huntington Update
A Huntington County grand jury handed out an indictment on Monday "charging Johnson with a Level 6 felony of sexual battery and misdemeanor battery", and Johnson is "accused of touching a victim who was compelled to submit by force or imminent threat, and knowingly and intentionally touching the victim in a rude or angry manner." Johnson previously had been charged with sexual charges in a case where he allegedly slept and showered with a teen but that case was dropped after the teen became uncooperative. *David Woods
Marathon News
"I tweaked something in my hip during a workout a few weeks ago, and it just didn’t quite heal fast enough," explained Sisson. Does London still have the best women's field or is it now surpassed by Boston?
Boston has a new title sponsor starting in 2024. Bank of America is also the title sponsor of the Chicago Marathon.
NCAA News
- Minnesota Men Are #1 In First NCAA Rankings Of Outdoor Season LSU, California and Harvard are ranked 2-4.
- LSU Women Start Off NCAA Outdoor Season Ranked #1 USC, UCF and Duke are ranked 2-4.
- Distance Runners Matthew Wilkinson And Allie Hays Are USTFCCCA's Athletes Of The Week At the Raleigh Relays, Wilkinson ran 8:29.35 in the steeple and Hays 32:21.13 in the 10,000m.
- MB: Margot Appleton got game (4:08 1500m season opener)
- NCAA Event-By-Event Top-10 Marks Of The Week
Russia Olympic Drama
- IOC Set To Discuss Russia/Belarus Reinstatement At Executive Board Meeting The IOC recommended from the start that Russia and Belarus be banned due to the war in Ukraine. It's unclear what has lead to the change of heart.
- Pro-Ukrainian Protestors In Lausanne Urge IOC To Ban Russia And Belarus At Paris 2024
- More Than 300 Fencers Write Open Letter To IOC President Thomas Bach Calling For Russia And Belarus Ban To Remain Bach is a former Olympic fencing champion.
- IOC's United Nations Advisor Gets Backlash For Saying Athletes That Are Russian Soldiers Could Compete At Paris 2024
Doping Polls are Baaack!
When track and field fans walk into a bar or go on a run, doping is often the topic of conversation. With that in mind, we want your thoughts on which current track and field stars you think are clean and which you think are dirty.
Distance Action
- Zach Panning (22:48) And Sarah Disanza (26:35) Win Shamrock Shuffle 8k In Chicago Galen Rupp ran and finished in 25:50. *Results
- MB: Leo/Lex Young race 1500m at UCLA Leo Young took 2nd in 3:40.86 behind UCLA's Ronan McMahon-Staggs (3:39.50). Lex Young was 4th in 3:41.50
- Camille Herron Breaks 48-Hour Ultra-Running Record She ran 270.505 miles by running 1088 laps on a track in Australia. That's 10:39 mile pace. The previous record of 255.668 was set just six weeks ago. She's now the 3rd best individual male or female in world history. *All-time 48 hour list before yesterday *Discuss
- World Athletics: 35k Women's Race Walk WR Goes Down
After 7-Years Russia Is Finally Unbanned ...But Also Still Banned
- World Athletics Lifts Russia's Doping Ban Which Has Been In Place For Last 7-Years They are under what is basically a 3-year probation period where they have to meet certain special conditions, but the doping ban from 2015 is finally lifted. However, they are still banned due to the war in Ukraine, so this doesn't really change anything.
- The Telegraph: World Athletics' War Ban On Russia And Belarus Puts Them On A "Potential Collision Course With The IOC" The IOC has said they want Russians and Belarusians to return under a neutral flag, but Seb Coe says there is "no ambiguity" about World Athletics' right to make their own decision.
- UK Government Urges IOC TO Ban Russia From Paris 2024 Olympics One UK official said, "[The] decision by World Athletics sends a strong message that now is not the time for the International Olympic Committee to plot a route back into competition for Russian and Belarusian athletes funded and selected by their states."
- Russian Official Welcomes Reinstatement But Warns "There Is No Need To Relax" Because Of Ukraine War Ban
Zane Robertson Update
"I think if there's a word for it yes desperation, desperation definitely comes to mind."
- MB: Zane Robertson comes clean - why he choose to cheat!
- Jake Robertson speaks out about twin Zane’s doping scandal "I feel the need to vent here, as the actions of my brother have unfortunately caused myself and my immediate family a great amount of anguish and financial loss."
- How Drug Free Sport NZ ensnared Kiwi distance runner Zane Robertson It wasn't a random in-competition test. They asked for him to be tested in Manchester.
Marcell Jacobs
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Christian Coleman
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Fred Kerley
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Noah Lyles
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Michael Norman
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Erriyon Knighton
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Grant Holloway
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Karsten Warholm
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Donvan Brazier
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Emmanuel Korir
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Jakob Ingebrigtsen
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Jake Wightman
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Timothy Cheruiyot
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Yared Nuguse
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Soufiane El Bakkali
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Evan Jager
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Lamecha Girma
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Grant Fisher
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Selemon Barega
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Ryan Crouser
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Mondo Duplantis
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Matthew Centrowitz
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Mo Farah
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Galen Rupp
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Coaches
Coaches
Alberto Salazar (coach)
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Jerry Schumacher (coach)
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Dathan Ritzenhein (coach)
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We didn't see this one coming
The Kiwi star, who had expressed his frustration with the amount of doping in the sport in 2016, was banned for 8 years after testing positive for EPO and "providing false documentation in his defence" as Robertson allegedly provided fake documents showing he went to a hospital for a Covid-19 vaccine but got EPO instead.
The Latest LRC Content
Brazier isn't currently running as Jonathan Gault has learned Brazier had to get a follow-up surgery in February (his 3rd surgery in 20 months) following surgery to correct a Haglund's deformity in July 2022.
Doping Polls are Back
One of the worst things about track and field is you're not sure what you're watching is real. We polled you whether you think the world records are dirty or clean.
Woody Speaks
Woody Kincaid is charting his own path in the running world for the first time as a professional. He opens up why he left Bowerman, his desire for American records, and a lot more including Shelby Houlihan.
How do you explain the ridiculous indoor distance times?
Are all the fast times merely a product of supershoes? Or is it something more? We spoke to coaches Dathan Ritzenhein, Jason Vigilante and Dave Smith to figure it out.
Nuguse Dreaming of Olympic Gold
Yared Nuguse surprised the world by getting one American record last weekend. By the time, the winter is over, he may have 3. Nuguse joined the LRC podcast to talk about his dreams, goals, training with the OAC, and his unorthodox start in the sport.
The Latest LRC Exclusive
On Athletics Club head coach Dathan Ritzenhein talked to LetsRun.com about a great weekend for his club and how they are exceeding his wildest expectations.
Paywall lifted
Kincaid says BTC coach Jerry Schumacher advised him not to leave the team but Kincaid told him, "Hey, I can do this and I think it's what I have to do."
We Look Back At 2022s Highs Month By Month
2022 was a year that saw Grant Fisher break out, Sydney McLaughlin explode, and Eliud Kipchoge break the WR (again). Here's what else stood out according to Jonathan Gault.
The Year's Not Over: Japensese New Year's Corporate Ekiden Will Be Broadcast at 7pm ET New Year's Eve - Watch It Live/Race Preview
Merry XMAS - Paywall lifted
In a decade, Valencia has gone from afterthought to host of some of the world's fastest races. How did the third-largest city in Spain emerge as a global capital of running? Jonathan Gault journeyed to Spain's Mediterranean coast to find out how.
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.
Kipchoge loving the LetsRun Shirt in Berlin
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
