LetsRun.com: The Home of Distance Running and Track and Field

We Can’t Wait For April

JG Column Even After Four Blowouts, Why We Still Care About Eliud Kipchoge vs. Kenenisa Bekele in London Jonathan Gault explains why distance fans are fascinated by Bekele vs Kipchoge in London. While we’ve technically seen Kipchoge vs. Bekele four times before, we’ve never actually seen it the way we imagine it in our minds with both in supreme fitness battling it out mano a mano. Plus how does Bekele remind Jonathan of Muhammad Ali and Tiger Woods?
*MB: Kenenisa Bekele Added To London Marathon Field The matchup that all the fans wanted – Bekele vs. Kipchoge – is on.

This Week’s Podcast *Subscribe Here

LRC Des Linden Gave The LRC Podcast A $50 Tip, She Joins The Podcast To Discuss Why And Her Great Career + Kipsang Suspension, Rupp’s Coaching Change Des Linden gave a $50 tip to the LRC podcast. She explains why. Listen and subscribe today to the podcast.

Women In The News

Tirunesh Dibaba Gives Birth To 2nd Baby Boy No word on whether he’s a US citizen like his older brother, who was born in the US in 2015.
Colorado Standout Sage Hurta Says She’ll Miss Indoors With Strees Facture The 2:04/4:13 runner was an All-American in XC.
NXN Runner-Up And Racewalk Star Taylor Ewert Blogs About Her Incredible 2019 She’ll be at Arkansas next year.
London Marathon Women’s Field Includes 4 Of 10 Fastest British Women In History

The Olympic Marathon Trials Are Next Month

Galen Rupp Talks About His Decision To Ask NAU’s Mike Smith To Coach Him “I got a really good feeling from him. I really enjoyed listening and talking about training with him. I liked his philosophies on a lot of things. He’s not scared to think outside the box and embrace new ideas. He’s looking for inspiration from all different areas – MMA fighters, whatever it is.”
MB: Molly Seidel running marathon trials The former NCAA champion hasn’t ran a marathon, but has a half PB of 70:27. She’s running the Houston Half this weekend.
MB: Jim Walmsley to run Rock ‘N’ Roll Arizona half this Saturday

Sprint Stuff

Trinidad And Tobago’s Commonwealth Games 100m Champ Michelle Lee Ahye Gets 2-Year Doping Ban She’s been banned after three whereabouts failures.
Former Olympic 100H Champ Sally Pearson Announces She’s Pregnant With Her First Child Pearson announced her retirement last year, but there was speculation that she could still make a comeback for Tokyo 2020. This ends that speculation as she’s due just before the Games begin.
Rutgers’ Taj Burgess And North Carolina A&T’s Cambrea Sturgis Are NCAA Athletes Of The Week Burgess ran the #2 fastest 500m time in collegiate history with 1:00.80 (the record is 1:00.63 by Brycen Spratling). Sturgis ran 7.15 in the 60m, which is the fastest time ever run by a collegian this early in the season.
*Event-By-Event Top-10 Marks From The Collegiate Weekend
BBC Audio Profile Of Dina Asher Smith Asher-Smith starts out the 14-minute listen saying she feels so lucky that her job is to run in a straight line down a track.
Jamaica’s World Long Jump Champion Tajay Gayle Signs Deal With Puma In Doha, Gayle jumped 8.69m moved to #10 on the all-time list became the first Jamaican man to win a men’s LJ world title. Puma also signed Japanese sprinter Hakim Sani Brown.

London Marathon Women’s Field Released

World Record Holder Brigid Kosgei Will Return To Defend Her Title At The 2020 London Marathon The London field is always super deep and 2020 will be no exception as Kosgei faces 2018 London champ Vivian Cheruiyot, three-time Berlin champ Gladys Cherono, Roza Dereje (2:18:30), world champion Ruth Chepngetich and world half marathon record holder Joyciline Jepkosgei.

Weekend Indoor Action

Ukraine’s Yuliya Levchenko Opens Season With 2.00m HJ Clearance At The Christmas Cup In Kyiv
Florida State’s Jayla Kirkland Runs 7.17 To Beat Out Briana Williams’ 7.25 At The Clemson Orange And Purple Elite Meet
MB: Matthew Boling Runs 6.68 In Season Opener At Clemson He was second behind Taylor Banks‘ 6.67. Boling also came in second in the LJ with 7.50m. *Meet Results
Jamaica Gleaner: Jeanine Williams Shines At Clemson Indoor Meet Williams won the 60m hurdles in 8.07.
USTFCCCA Collegiate Weekend In Review Alabama junior Tamara Clark ran 36.56 for #5 NCAA all-time in the 300m.
Florida State Men #1 In Pre-Season NCAA Indoor Rankings LSU was second with Southern California third.
Southern California Women #1 In NCAA Indoor Pre-Season Rankings Arkansas and Georgia are ranked 2-3.

General Olympic News

Iran’s Only Female Olympic Medalist Announces She’s Defected The taekwondo bronze medalist criticized the regime’s “hypocrisy, lies and injustice.”
Thomas Bach Praises Iran’s Support For “Principles Of Political Neutrality In Sport” Despite Its Refusal To Allow Its Athletes To Compete Against Israelis Bach said this even though the Iran government is violating the Olympic charter by ordering its athletes ont to face Israelis at sports events.
Official Posters For Tokyo 2020 Revealed
IOC Hits Its Highest Percentage Of Women Members Ever With 37% The percentage will drop slightly next week though when some new male members are added.
IOC Confirm Three Cities Are Interesting In Hosting Future Winter Olympic Games Sapporo, Salt Lake City and Barcelona have all expressed interest.

Better Running Shoes

LRC The 10 Most Popular Running Shoes On LetsRun.com Before we do our final call of shoe reviews in 2019, we decided to take a look at what shoes are the most popluar on LetsRun. Four shoe lines dominant, the Nike Pegasus, the Brooks Ghost, the HOKA Clifton and the Saucony Kinvara. These four might be a great place to start when looking for a new pair of shoes.

Houston Half And Full Are This Weekend

LRC Molly Huddle, Sara Hall, Jared Ward & More: Olympic Trials Preview On Tap At 2020 Houston Half Marathon Each year, Houston always gets road racing in America off to a good start and with the US Olympic Marathon Trials just six weeks away, that’s truer than ever this year. *MB: Official 2020 Houston Discussion Thread

USA XC Is Also This Weekend: MB: USA XC champs are this weekend – Do you recognize any of these entrants? One will be a natl. champ.

Nike Vaporflys Getting Banned?

Eliud Kipchoge Responds: “It’s the person who is running, and not the shoes.” Kipchoge made the analogy to Formula One and said it’s Lewis Hamilton who does the driving, not Pirelli Tyres. However, we’re not sure Formula One is the best “sport” to compare as just about every aspect of the car has regulations that need to be strictly followed.

Reports Coming Out That World Athletics Is Going To Ban The Nike Vaporfly The issue being discussed is the foam and carbon-fiber sole which acts like a spring; new rules would limit sole thickness and the use of carbon plates. The ban would also apply to Nike’s new running spikes which were worn by Laura Muir to set the British indoor mile record last year (4:18.75). There’s no decision on whether records set before the shoes were banned (like Brigid Kosgei‘s 2:14:04) will be allowed to stand.
*The Times: “Nike’s Record Breaking Running Shoe To Be Banned” (article behind paywall)
*MB: Reports: Vaporfly to be banned

The London Marathon Men’s Field Is Out

Ethiopian Duo Mosinet Geremew And Mule Wasihun Will Return To Challenge Eliud Kipchoge Again At The 2020 London Marathon At last year’s London, Geremew ran the fifth-fastest time in history (2:02:55) to finish just 18 seconds behind Kipchoge. Wasihun was third in 2:03:16. The field also includes last year’s fourth placer Shura Kitata, Tamirat Tola (2:04:06) and another four sub-2:06 men.
*MB: London elite – Bekele is not there

Diack Trial Delayed

Lamine Diack’s Trial Delayed Until June After New Documents Were Submitted To The Paris Court Concerning Testimony That His Son Papa Massata Diack Gave In Senegal World Athletics (the IAAF) is reportedly seeking 41.2m euros (£35.3m) in compensation from the six defendants (Diack, his son and other ex-IAAF officials). Diack asked the court to be allowed to return to Senegal to see his family, but his request was denied (not surprising since Senegal has refused to extradite the younger Diack). *2nd Article

Another Day, Another Record Goes Down In Valencia – But This Runner Wasn’t Wearing The Vaporflys

Rhonex Kipruto Smashes The 10k World Record With 26:24 In Valencia The world 10,000 bronze medalist took 16 seconds off Joshua Cheptegei‘s record set just six weeks ago. He also set the 5k WR en route with 13:18 (his second 5k was even faster with 13:06, but won’t be record eligible). On the women’s side, Sheila Chepkirui was just 3 seconds off the WR with 29:46. Rosemary Wanjiru and Norah Jeruto were a close 2-3 both timed at 29:51.
*Switzerland’s Julien Wanders Breaks His Own European 10k Record With 27:13 Third-Place Finish
*MB: Rhonex Kipruto destroys 10k WR – not in vaporflys!
*MB: Adidas shoes WR!!!!
*MB: Are the new Addidas Adizero Pro better than Vaporfly?
*MB: Julien Wanders new ER record –27:13!!

World XC Champ Hellen Obiri And World U20 XC Silver Medalist Tadese Worku Win Elgoibar XC Race Obiri beat out world U20 XC champ Beatrice Chebet by 6-seconds while Worku dominated the men’s race. USA’s Paul Chelimo finished a distant 4th.
Former NCAA XC Champ Kate Avery Wins Stirling XC Race Avery won by 11 seconds while Welshman Kris Jones won the men’s race. Andrew Butchart failed to recover from a mid-race fall and finished 4th.
*Scotland Men And England Women Win International Team Competitions At Sterling XC

Upcoming Indoor Action

Say It Ain’t So

LRCFormer Marathon World Record Holder Wilson Kipsang Suspended for Whereabouts Failures & Tampering Violations

If the charges hold, he will be the most prominent men’s marathoner to break anti-doping rules. *Discuss

Kenya Continues To Lose Credibility / Yet Another Kenyan Gets Popped

Former World Youth And Jr. 800 Champ Alfred Kipkter Gets Popped For Whereabouts Failures He ran 1:42.87 after finishing 7th in the Olympics in 2016.
*MB: Is there really no LRC thread about Kenyan doper A. Kipketer (1:42.87s 800m) being suspended provisionally by AIU
MB: Kenyan drug testers show up at camp. Top Kenyan athlete jumps out window and jumps over fence to escape
Other Countries Aren’t Totally Innocent Either Commonwealth 100m Champion Michelle-Lee Ahye Gets Two-Year Ban For “Whereabouts Failures”

Distance Stuff

Evan Jager Eyes 2020 Comeback Jager hasn’t raced since August 2018 after missing all last year with a chronic foot injury, but says he’s back healthy and “[email protected]#&ING amped” for the 2020 season.
Mo Farah Talks About His Decision To Return To The Track And His Ambitions To Make History At Tokyo 2020 Just by toeing the line at the age of 37 Farah will make history as the oldest man to run in a 10,000m Olympic final, but he says “it’s gold or nothing.”
GB’s Former World 1,500m Silver Medalist Hannah England Retires At Age 31 In a post on Instagram, England said she was “proud of my achievements” and “it was a privilege” to be surrounded by so many talented people.

Japanese Distance News

2020 Japan Olympic Marathon Trials Winner Shogo Nakamura Wins His First Race Of The Year With A PR Of 61:40 At The Takanezawa Genki Up Half Marathon It was a 13-second PR and a course record.
Kyoto Wins National Women’s Ekiden Title For 17th Time
2020 Japanese Distance Rankings

Doping / Corruption News

Lamine Diack’s Trial Starts On Monday In Paris The 86-year-old faces the prospect of 10 years in French prison for corruption charges involving the Tokyo Olympics, Qatar World Cup and Russian doping cover-ups.
The Guardian Reports That Lamine Diack Offered A Deal To Delay Doping Sanctions Against 23 Russian Athletes In Exchange For $1.5 Million In Funding To Help A Friend Win The 2012 Senegalese Presidential Election
BBC Article On Lamine Diack Trial Diack has been under house arrest in Paris since November 2015.
17-Year-Old Malaysian Sprinter Facing Possible 4-Year Ban For Steroid Use
Thomas Bach Reassures Russian Athletes They Have Same Rights As Other Countries Until CAS Doping Ruling They aren’t provisionally suspended; they can continue to compete until the CAS ruling …which will hopefully uphold their 4-year ban.

Ultra / Mountain Running News

The Guardian Examines How Some Women Have Been Beating Men In Super Ultra Races And Wondering If It Might Be A Sign Of Genetic Superiority Ross Tucker doubts it unless you are talking maybe about swimming where a woman’s higher fat percentage might help them in super-long swims.
World Marathon Running Association World Cup Is Expanding Its Calendar In 2020 The 2020 season will have nine events with 12 total races.

The Decade Has Ended

LRC LetsRun.com’s Decade Awards: Alberto Salazar Is Our Person Of The Decade + Best Runner, Best Upset, Doping Excuse Of The Decade, & More! In a decade marked by controversy, it’s fitting that Alberto Salazar is our Person of the Decade as controversy clung to Salazar like a paper clip to a magnet. Plus who wins our world and US athlete of the decade honors?

LRC US And World Runners Of The Decade: Jenny Simpson, Matthew Centrowitz, Caster Semenya And Eliud Kipchoge

LRC 2019 LetsRun.com World And American Rankings: Donavan Brazier And Ajee’ Wilson Are World #1s The 6th annual world and US distance rankings are here and for the first time ever two Americans are #1 in the world in their events.

Rojo Speaks: The 2010s Are History: It Was Both The Best And Worst Of Times For Track And Field Fans What a crazy decade. From Chris Solinsky‘s 26:59 at the start of the decade to Brigid Kosgei‘s 2:14:04 at the end, there were plenty of high highs but the lows were also big as well as Olympic champs at 800, 1,500, steeple and the marathon were all banned from the sport. What does it all mean? LetsRun.com co-founder Robert Johnson looks for meaning and tries to figure it all out by taking you back in a time machine to January 1, 2010.

LetsRun.com Founders Named as Two of “The 50 Most Influential People in Running”