Running News Daily

Luxury' race will be among most expensive on earth

Ultramarathon competitors are used to "roughing it" in races, sometimes sleeping in bivvy bags at the side of muddy trails or even running through several nights.

They set themselves incredible long-distance challenges, often running through remote and difficult terrain.

But now a new ultramarathon race is being launched which gives them luxury few could afford - including butlers, hydrotherapy pools, speed boats and Michelin-star chefs.

Highland Kings Ultra, a four-day camping race covering 120 miles on the west coast of Scotland, costs £15,499 per person to enter.

In contrast, the 95-mile West Highland Way Race costs just £120.

The organisers of the Highland Kings Ultra are calling it "the most exclusive, luxury ultra-run experience on the planet".

Race director Rebecca Silva told BBC Scotland the idea was for the runners to "race like a warrior but recover like a king".

She said: "The luxury element makes it very different to other races.

"It's aimed at professionals, who can afford it, who want a sense of adventure but want an element of luxury off the beaten track, in the wild and not in the typical places people explore."

The organisers of the Highland Kings Ultra are calling it "the most exclusive, luxury ultra-run experience on the planet".

Race director Rebecca Silva told BBC Scotland the idea was for the runners to "race like a warrior but recover like a king".

She said: "The luxury element makes it very different to other races.

"It's aimed at professionals, who can afford it, who want a sense of adventure but want an element of luxury off the beaten track, in the wild and not in the typical places people explore."

The race starts in Dalness in Glencoe, with a mountainous marathon to Dalmally in Argyll and Bute, two miles east of the tip of Loch Awe.

This is followed by 32 miles through hilly forest terrain to Loch Fyne, then 34 miles to Portavadie on the west coast of the Cowal peninsula, and finishing with 28 miles on the Isle of Arran.

Competitors then spend a night in a luxury campsite, followed by a gala dinner with explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

The event is being run by outdoor adventure business Primal Adventures, led by an ex-forces Ayrshire man, Matt Smith, and managing director Rebecca Silva.

Ms Silva said: "We were asked by a group of French clients to organise a luxury running trip from the Isle of Aran to Inverness in 2018 and that planted the seed because the event was so successful.

"We have been arranging primal bush craft and adventure courses for years, so this has been an extension of that."

Ian Beattie, chairman of Scottish Athletics and race director of the 95-mile West Highland Way ultramarathon race, said he had never heard of a more expensive race.

"It will be interesting to see if there is demand for this event," he said.

"There is an element of criticism for commercial races, but people will decide what they want."

He said ultramarathon races organised by running groups and/or experienced runners were much cheaper because of the number of volunteers involved.

He added: "My advice would be to join a local running club as there are always qualified coaches there and people with a wealth of experience and knowledge."

Less than three seconds was the difference between America’s Grant Fisher winning an Olympic medal in the 10000m in Tokyo

USA's Grant Fisher finished fifth in the 10,000 meters Friday with a time of 27:46.39. Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda won the bronze medal in 27:43.88.

Selemon Barega of Ethiopa won the gold medal with a time of 27:43.22, running the final lap in 53.94 seconds to nip Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda, who clocked 27:43.63.

"We did what we could to prepare,” Fisher, a former NCAA champion at Stanford, said, “but nothing prepares you like being out there. It’s physical, it’s choppy, guys are making moves.”

It was also hot, not to mention humid.

Fisher, competing in just his third official 10K, was able to stay within striking distance of the top runners going into the last lap, then unleashed a strong finishing kick to move up to fifth in 27:46.39. Cheptegei (27:43.63) and Kiplimo (27:43.88) took the silver and bronze medals, while Kincaid was 15th in 28:11.01, followed one spot later by Klecker in 28:14.18.

"I was just trying to race without fear, put myself in there and give myself a shot at the end,” Fisher, 24, said. “I was really happy with it. That whole thing, it never felt good. I bet even the guys that were 1-2-3 didn’t feel good in that race. I hope, because I felt that way.”

Despite the fifth-place finish, Fisher’s medal hopes are not over.

He’ll be competing in the 5,000 meters – his signature event – next week in Tokyo. The preliminaries are Tuesday, Aug. 3 and the final is Friday, Aug. 6.

Fisher, 24, is a 2015 graduate of Grand Blanc High School, where he was a two-time state and national cross country champion. In track and field, he became the seventh high school runner to break the four-minute barrier in the mile when he recorded a time of 3:59.38 in his final mile race as a senior.

At Stanford, he was a 2017 NCAA outdoor champion in the 5,000 meters. He was a 12-time college All-American.

Ten track and field nigerians banned from Olympics for missed doping tests protest in Tokyo

Nigerian athletes protested in Tokyo on Friday after they were disqualified from the Olympics for failing to meet anti-doping testing requirements, reports said.

Ten would-be Olympians were banned from competing in the track and field competition after Nigerian sports officials allegedly failed to properly register them for three mandatory out-of-competition tests, Nigeria’s Premium Times reported.

The Ministry of Sports and the Athletics Federation of Nigeria said the athletes’ tests did not meet collection and analysis standards and the Athletics Integrity Unit, which handles the anti-doping program for the sport, said the athletes didn’t meet the testing requirements, the outlet reported.

“The AFN bears responsibility for any lapses that may have occurred during the process and reassures Nigerians that our performances will not be negatively impacted,” the AFN said in response.

“All our athletes resident in Nigeria and who qualified for the Olympic Games completed the three mandatory tests. Most of our top athletes resident in the USA also completed their tests. However, a few athletes in the American collegiate system were tested but those tests were deemed not to have complied with… sample collection and analysis standards.”

But the star runners claim the snafu wasn’t their fault and held signs with messages like “Why should we suffer for someone else’s negligence” and “We are not just alternates but potential medalists.”

The 2020 Olympics is the first time since 2012 that Nigerians have two athletes competing in the semifinals of the 100m women’s race after runners Blessing Okagbare and Nzubechi Grace Nwokocha made the cut in pre-qualifying events.

The AFN noted no Nigerian athlete tested positive for prohibited substances.

The most common mistakes that slow you down on a run

If you’ve already fallen in love with running, then you know how great it can be to lace up and really pick up the pace.

Here, experts weigh in on the biggest mistakes you could be making that slow down your run.

1.- YOU’RE BOUNDING TOO HIGH

Your stride says a lot about you. The goal of your run should be to propel you forward, not upward. Any extra upward movement could be slowing down your pace and ultimately, an injury risk. “I see a lot of runners who are too bouncy in their motion,” says Rachel DeBusk, a Seattle-based RRCA run coach. “If you think this is you, think about running under a low ceiling, about 2 inches above your head.”

Another movement fixer? Try looking at a stable object in the distance as you run. If it’s bouncing, so are you, says DeBusk.

2.- GOING OUT TOO FAST

Unless you’re specifically running for tempo pace, your goal should be to run the second half faster than the first half, says Amanda Dale, certified sports nutritionist and endurance coach. “This not only ensures that you have enough energy in the tank to actually finish the workout, but it trains your body to work harder through fatigue — a great skill to have come race day.”

3.- YOU’RE NOT WEARING THE RIGHT CLOTHES

Wearing full tights on a scorching hot day or a loose-fitting T-shirt that catches a lot of drag? Be smart about the garb you lean into when you’re heading out for your morning miles.

“Clothing might seem like a second thought, but it can have a huge impact on your run,” says Alexandra Weissner, RRCA-certified running coach and co-founder of bRUNch Running. “This can be anything from too-short shorts without using something like Vaseline or BodyGlide in those spots that chafe to a pair of running tights that won’t stay up.”

Weissner suggests finding the picks that work for you, and then snagging them in multiple colorways.

4.- YOU’RE MOVING YOUR TORSO TOO MUCH

“Plain and simple: It’s wasted motion,” says DeBusk. “It both slows you down and tires you out.”

To visualize the optimal core stability for a faster run, DeBusk suggests the following exercise: Put yourself in a plank and bend one knee backward 90 degrees, toward the sky. Pulse that foot 2–3 inches toward the sky without letting the raised knee drop and keeping the core completely still. “That trains the body to keep the torso still and efficient during a run,” she says.

5.- YOU’RE NOT PROPERLY HYDRATED

Dehydration can slow you down majorly. This holds especially true for morning runners, who want to get up and out as soon as their alarms go off. “After sleeping for 7–8 hours your body needs to be replenished,” says Cortney Logan, an RRCA-certified run coach. “While you should down a glass of water after getting out of bed, this might not often be enough.” Runners need to know proper hydration.

Logan’s go-to is the three-beverage approach: a glass of water, an electrolyte beverage and a cup of coffee. “Water will help flush those muscles, electrolytes help combat dehydration from your good night’s rest, and coffee has caffeine that gives you that desirable jolt.”

6.- YOU’RE WEARING THE WRONG SHOES

Being in the wrong kind of shoes can be painful and stop a runner in their tracks. “Make sure to get fitted for your running shoes at a specialty shop,” suggests Jonathan Poston, USATF Level II endurance coach. “Test them out for shorter distances before going out for anything more than a few miles.”

Sydney McLaughlin wants gold at Olympics

Given its unique demands on technique, endurance, and speed, many consider the 400m hurdles one of the most challenging track and field events. After exploding out of the starting blocks, athletes must sprint 400m while propelling themselves up and over 10 hurdles positioned evenly around the track.

At 21 years old, Sydney McLaughlin is already the fastest woman in the history of the event as she begins her Olympic campaign on Saturday morning in Tokyo.

McLaughlin earned the world record at the US Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon in June. Blazing hot temperatures (topping off at nearly 110 degrees Fahrenheit) resulted in a five-hour delay to one of the most anticipated races of the meet, where McLaughlin faced 2016 Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad, the previous record-holder. But the wait was worth it for McLaughlin. She crossed the finish line in 51.90 seconds, bettering Muhammad’s record (set at the 2019 World Championships) by 0.26 seconds. Realizing her momentous accomplishment, McLaughlin’s mouth gaped as she crouched on her knees.

“I felt immediate excitement and overall gratefulness,” she said. “I owe it all to God, my family and my team. I’m still in disbelief, but it’s truly just faith, trusting the process, and seeing my hard work along with the gift of God being put into action.”

McLaughlin, who also holds numerous age group world records and was a two-time recipient of the Gatorade’s National Female Athlete of the Year award, will now attempt to secure another title: Olympic gold medalist. She will have the opportunity to do so in a rematch with Muhammad scheduled for 4 August. It’s a race both athletes are eagerly awaiting.

After congratulating McLaughlin on her record-breaking win, Muhammad said: “It’s going to be a battle in Tokyo for sure.”

The Tokyo Games mark McLaughlin’s second Olympic appearance. In 2016, at 16 years old, she became the youngest athlete to make the US Track and Field Olympic team since 1972.

“It’s an honor in and of itself to be able to go to the Olympics for a second time. I am so excited and grateful, and I’m definitely going to continue to focus on training and being the best I can be,” said McLaughlin, who comes from an athletic family. Her mother ran in high school, her father was a semi-finalist at the 1984 Olympic trials in the 400m, and her brother, Taylor, finished second at the 2016 Under-20 World Championships in the 400m hurdles.

In Rio de Janeiro, McLaughlin’s Olympic journey stopped in the semi-finals, where she placed fifth. This year, she is five years older, stronger and wiser, and the pandemic helped her gain a renewed focus.

“Those first couple of months being stuck in the house, I was like, ‘Who am I doing this for?’” she said.

Her outlook shifted, however, as she became more involved in her faith.

“My goals are different now,” she said. “A lot of my life was trying to prove something, which is an endless cycle that will never fulfill you. My gifts are not to glorify myself. When I stand on the podium, I give the glory to God.”

Even with this newfound meaning, training in Los Angeles during the pandemic presented its own challenges. When the city shut down, McLaughlin was forced to get creative with her workouts, which meant sneaking onto tracks and running on highway medians. She also traveled with her team to Arizona to get a month’s worth of consistent training. Despite this unconventional approach, the delayed Olympic games worked in her favor.

“The extra time for me was a blessing,” McLaughlin said.

The additional year enabled McLaughlin to make key changes, including switching to coach Bobby Kersee, the husband and former coach of Olympic gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Kersee also trained McLaughlin’s previous coach, Olympic gold medalist Joanna Hayes, and Florence Griffith Joyner, who holds world records in the 200m and 100m races and is touted as the fastest woman of all time.

Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega wins gold at 10,000m in Tokyo

Selemon Barega captured gold in an exciting men’s 10,000m final today in Tokyo in 27.43.22, followed by race favourite Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo, both of Uganda, for silver and bronze – the first medals ever won by Ugandans in this event. Canadian record holder Mohammed Ahmed threw in a surge near the end, briefly leading the tightly bunched pack, but ended up finishing sixth in the 25-lap spectacle, with a season’s best time of 27:47.76. 

Ahmed managed to stay in contention and out of trouble early on in the race, going with Cheptegei, who took over the lead with four laps to go. With two laps to go, Ahmed took the lead, but in the end was out-kicked.

Ahmed also finished sixth in the 10,000m at the 2019 World Championships in Doha. Despite finishing off the podium, this is an incredible achievement for Canadian distance running. Ahmed grew up in St. Catharines, Ont., and ran at the University of Wisconsin. Since then, he has been training with the Bowerman Track Club in Portland, Ore., and his teammate, Woody Kincaid, finished 15th.

The 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medallist in 5,000m and 10,000m will be on the track again looking to reach the podium in the 5,000m heats on Tuesday, Aug. 3 at 7 a.m ET.

Without Jamaican Usain Bolt the 100m is suddenly a race again

The post-Usain Bolt era in the Olympic 100 meters begins this weekend as the United States seek to regain supremacy in the event they dominated for more than a century.

Jamaican Bolt won the last of three straight titles in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and since his retirement the following year nobody has really stepped up to stamp their authority on the sport's most-watched race.

The U.S have won more golds in the event than all other nations combined, having taken 16 of the 28 Olympic titles contested, but their last success came via Justin Gatlin in 2004.

This year, though, they are back gunning to top the podium, even without the presence of banned world champion Christian Coleman.

Seven out of the eight sprinters with the fastest times in 2021 have been Americans, led by Trayvon Bromell whose 9.77 second run in Florida last month is the fastest of the year and marks him as the race favorite.

He won the U.S. trials in 9.80 to put a long and troublesome injury history behind him, but the self-described "silent killer" is not happy with the favorite tag.

"When you put yourself into that bubble, into that box, a lot of expectations come into it," he said recently. "When you start living in other people's world then you get off of your own plan."

Bromell's closest challenger is probably his compatriot Ronnie Baker, who came second to him at the U.S. trials with a time of 9.85.

Baker beat Bromell in Monaco, his second successive Diamond League win, and has run an impressive wind-aided 9.78s seconds in the past.

Unlike his compatriot, Baker is happy to blow his own trumpet. "I am one of the best runners in the world, hands down. I have been, since 2018," he said after his win in Monaco, a race that included his rivals in Tokyo.

He has also had to overcome injuries over the last few years, but he said that he was feeling confident heading into Tokyo.

"This year is probably the most technically sound I have been," he said. "I know I can run way faster than anyone."

While the U.S. sprinters, that include Fred Kerley, the 2019 400m world bronze medalist, are definitely contenders for all three medals, there are other runners coming to Tokyo with a mission, though unusually Jamaica look a touch off the pace.

Another non-American who can make some noise in Tokyo is the South African sprinter Akani Simbine who finished fifth five years ago and boasts the second fastest time of the year.

The Detroit Free Press Marathon is going ahead with U.S.-only race

Detroit's cross-border marathon is staying on the U.S. side of the Detroit River this year, organizers say.

The Detroit Free Press Marathon announced that given the "fluidity" of the pandemic and restrictions at the border — and the race being less than three months away — a decision was made to proceed with a Detroit-only route.

"Running internationally is a beloved and unique component of our race, and because of that, we exhausted every opportunity and avenue, hoping that we would continue that tradition this year," the organization said on its website on Thursday.

The marathon, half-marathon and marathon relay take place on Oct. 17. It's only the third time in the race's four-decade history that runners will be competing within Detroit only.

The route usually crosses the Ambassador Bridge and the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel. 

Last year's event was virtual, amid the pandemic and restrictions on non-essential travel at the border.

The Canadian federal government announced earlier this month that as of Aug. 9., U.S. citizens and permanent residents will be able to enter Canada for non-essential purposes if they're fully vaccinated.

The U.S. has yet to reciprocate to Canadians. The government recently extended the border shutdown until at least Aug. 21.

Want Stronger Bones? Running Builds Bone Strength

In the constant battle for health and longevity, you’ve got to take care of your bones. After all, they’re a major factor in keeping you upright and moving. Unfortunately, as you age, bone density can decrease and lead to osteoporosis. Before things get that far, there’s a lot you can do to ensure your bones stay strong for years to come.

According to the NIH Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases National Resource Center, weight-bearing and resistance exercises are great for your bones. This includes walking, running, climbing stairs, playing sports and lifting weights.

A study out of the University of Missouri looked at the bone density of men ages 25–60. After one year of performing high-impact exercises, the men experienced new bone growth. Basically, high-impact exercise caused the bones to adapt, become stronger and repair themselves, which included the formation of new bone tissue.

On the other hand, activities like cycling and swimming — while excellent for cardiovascular health — might not be doing your bones any favors.

Per a recent study from the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, elite-level road cyclists had worse bone density than runners. When comparing middle-distance and long-distance runners with the cyclists, researchers noticed the cyclists had lower bone mineral density across the board — males and females alike. More than half of the cyclists were actually classified as having low overall bone density per criteria set forth by the American College of Sports Medicine.

In fact, even though cycling is great for your heart and lungs, the bones in cyclists don’t show much difference from the bones of people who do not exercise. To address this problem, researchers suggest combining cycling with resistance training.

Running puts significant stress on your bones. This isn’t news to anyone who’s experienced sore knees or ankles after pounding the pavement. But as we’ve seen from the above studies, this pounding isn’t necessarily a negative thing, and it can actually be very beneficial.

Depending on your speed and gait, distance running can put up to three times your bodyweight on your bones and joints with each step. If you’re sprinting, that number can increase to seven times your body weight, according to the book “Build Your Running Body.” That adds up. If you’re overdoing it — or unlucky — such gravitational force can lead to shin splints and stress fractures. But each time your bones are subjected to this force, they also have an opportunity to change and improve.

Just as your muscles break down during exercise and then repair themselves, coming back bigger and stronger than before, so do your bones. One study even found sprinters (and tennis players) have 23% greater bone mass than people who don’t exercise. Another study found sprinters have 10–14% more bone mineral density in their hips.

The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons says most people begin to lose bone mass at around 40 years old. However, if you take the right steps — like going running, which involves taking many steps — you can slow that loss and even build new bone. All that extra bone comes in handy as you age.

Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon organizers look forward

The 76th Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon race held on February 28 this year concluded as the best edition ever held, with the establishment of a new Japanese men’s national record and the first ever performance of under 2 hours 4 minutes by an Asian athlete.

The Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon boasted the longest history of any marathon in Japan. It has traditionally been a men-only elite race with approximately 300 entries each year. In order to catch up with the trends of the world’s major marathon races the race organizers have decided to move the race, leaving the beloved course in Otsu city in Shiga prefecture and relocating to Osaka, using the course of the present Osaka Marathon, and combining the elite race with the mass participation Osaka Marathon.

The 10th Osaka Marathon was to be held in November 2020 with 32,000 participants anticipated but had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization of the event itself is perfect but until 2019 Osaka Marathon had not had attracted serious elite athletes.

On February 27, 2022 a new event had been planned, combining the 10th Osaka Marathon and the 77th Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon with a total of 35,000 runners provided. Because of the continuing impact of the COVID-19 virus this number has now been revised to 20,000.

The elite race level of the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon will be maintained on the Osaka Marathon course route. The Japan Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF), the Osaka Prefecture and the Mainichi Newspapers will be the joint organizers of the race, and NHK will continue to broadcast on TV, providing live coverage in Japan and overseas.

The invited athletes will be sufficient in quality and quantity to retain a Gold Label. The Mainichi Newspapers will remain responsible for the management of the elite athletes.

Hunter and Davis are officially melting the Internet: Hunter on Instagram - They said I’d never walk, So I learned to run instead!

#TeamUSA long jumper Tara Davis & Paralympic athlete Hunter Woodhall are officially melting the Internet!! I hope they both win gold in the #TokyoOlympicGames!! 🇺🇸 Posted Gary Allen on FB. 

After two-time Paralympic medalist Hunter Woodhall ran a season-best 11.04 seconds in the 100-meter T62 sprint at the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials for Track and Field on June 18 in Minneapolis, he picked up his phone and FaceTimed his girlfriend immediately upon stepping off the track.

Tara Davis was already on the other side of the country, preparing for the long jump competition at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Eugene, Oregon. Woodhall and Davis, who train at the University of Arkansas and University of Texas, respectively, are accustomed to regular FaceTime calls at all moments in time to keep their long-distance relationship strong.

In Tokyo, Woodhall is expected to compete in both the 100 and 400; at the last Paralympic Games in Rio he won silver in the 200 and bronze in the 400. While he’s no longer competing at the NCAA level — he turned pro in January — he’s still training with the Arkansas team, having adjusted his schedule to peak at Trials and the Games as opposed to indoor and outdoor collegiate nationals.

Davis was competing in her second Olympic Trials after finishing 19th in the long jump in 2016. She has held the American junior record in the event since 2017 and earlier this season broke Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s collegiate record set back in 1985.

Davis is also No. 2 at the junior level in the 60-meter hurdles.“I can't put into words how I'm feeling right now, there just are so many emotions,” Davis said to the website of the University of Texas, where she was an NCAA indoor and outdoor national champion.

“I say it all the time, I didn't think I was going to be here. I was going through so much I just didn't ever think I was going to be at the Olympic Trials. But here I am, and I was so grateful for the opportunity, and I took advantage of it.

”The couple, both 22, have been chronicling their journeys in their own YouTube channel, and Woodhall, a TikTok star who has more than three million total social followers across all his platforms, has been profiled by the likes of the New York Times and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

”The first double amputee track and field athlete to have earned a Division I athletic scholarship insists there will be as many reasons to follow the Para track and field athletes like himself in Tokyo, as the Olympic athletes like Davis.

“The biggest reason to tune in is because of the stories that come along with the Paralympics — things that people have had to fight through and go through just to be here,” he said.

“At the end of the day we are all humans and all in the same field. If people can come out here and compete after the things they’ve gone through and still be chasing their dreams, that shows that everyone’s on the same level.”

Will this world record ever be broken? Maybe in another 100 years!

38 years ago Czech runner Jarmila Kratochvilova set the still standing world record of 1:53.28 over 800 meters for women.  Is this record legitimate and will it ever be broken? Dave Ross asked on FB. 

In 1983, Kratochvílová broke the 800 m world record with a time of 1:53.28. At the World Championships shortly afterwards, she set a world record of 47.99 seconds to win the 400 m.

Kratochvílová's 1983 400-metre world record of 47.99 seconds stood for two years until it was broken by her great rival Marita Koch in 1985. Koch's 400-metre world record of 47.60 seconds still stands as of 2021. Koch and Kratochvílová are the only women who have broken the 48 second barrier in a 400-metre laned race.  

Her 800-metre world record is the longest standing track record in men or women's athletics, and was described by 1996 Olympic champion Svetlana Masterkova as ".. very fast. It's impossible for women to run so fast. It will last for 100 years."

Kratochvílová was a late developer, not breaking 53 seconds for the 400 metres until she was 27, and she was 32 when she set her world records.

Her remarkably fast times and her atypical muscular physique spawned rumors of illegal drug use.   

Kratochvílová has maintained her innocence, and although in 2006 the Prague newspaper Mladá fronta DNES claimed to have uncovered a doping program run by Czechoslovakia's Communist government, there was no link to Kratochvílová despite her being her country's highest profile athlete.  

She and her coach of 20 years, Miroslav Kvac, maintain that it was rigorous training and high doses of vitamin B12 that account for her records, a claim treated with scepticism by several anti-doping campaigners.  In 2017, she criticized a proposal by European Athletics to remove suspicion about drug-taking by voiding all world records set before 2005.

Olympic Sprinter Switzerland's Alex Wilson Banned From Tokyo 2020 Denies Doping, Blames U.S. Meat

A Swiss sprinter who blamed failing an anti-doping test on meat he ate in the U.S. will not compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reinstated his ban on Wednesday.

Jamaica-born Alex Wilson, who was scheduled to race in the 100m and 200m, was suspended in April by the Swiss anti-doping agency after testing positive to trenbolone—a banned steroid—in an out-of-competition test back in March.

Wilson maintained he was clean and attributed the positive test to contaminated meat he ate in a Jamaican restaurant in the U.S. and successfully appealed the ban, which was lifted earlier this month by Swiss Olympic—the umbrella organization that covers Swiss sports and the Swiss Olympic Committee.

World Athletics, however, appealed the decision to CAS, which reinstated the ban.

"The Panel concluded that the provisional suspension imposed on the athlete on April 28 2021 should not have been lifted by the Disciplinary Chamber of Swiss Olympic," CAS said in a statement.

"It follows that the decision of the disciplinary chamber of Swiss Olympic dated July 2 2021 is set aside and the provisional suspension shall be reinstated with immediate effect.

"The present CAS decision does not prejudge in any way the decision which will be rendered by Swiss Olympic later on, once the disciplinary proceedings will have been completed."

In an official response following the ruling by CAS, Swiss Olympic said it regretted the incident.

"Swiss Olympic very much regrets this case and would be very disappointed if the offense was confirmed," the statement read.

"Swiss Olympic is convinced that the fight against doping must be conducted with all consistency."

The bronze medalist in the 200m at the European Championships in 2018, Wilson broke the European record in the 100m with a time of 9.84 earlier this month at a meeting in Marietta, Georgia.

While the record was not ratified it marked a significant improvement from Wilson's previous six performances over the distance this year, where he had never clocked a time below 10.38.

Wilson isn't the only athlete due to compete in Tokyo to have been suspended over alleged anti-doping violations.

On July 14, the International Swimming Federation (FINA) announced two swimmers due to represent the Russia Olympic Committee at the 2020 Olympics had been provisionally suspended.

Athletics Kenya (AK) have named World 2019 bronze medalist Rhonex Kipruto as Geoffrey Kamworor's replacement in Kenya's 10,000 meters team for the Tokyo

Geoffrey Kamworor, who sustained an ankle injury in training this week, was a big medal prospect in the team that also has national cross country champion Rodgers Kwemoi and Weldon Kipkirui. 

The two left the country last Friday and will be competing in the final on July 30 where Kenya is expected to bag its first medal in athletics.

Kipruto, World Under-20 10,000m champion, withdrew from the Kenyan trials with five laps to go.

General Team Manager for the Tokyo Olympic Games Barnaba Korir said Kipruto has officially joined the team after clearance from World Athletics and necessary paperwork is ongoing.

“We are pleased to announce that Rhonex Kipruto is the latest inclusion to our athletics team for the Tokyo Olympics. He has already reported at Kasarani Stadium where the remaining part of team Kenya are in residential training in a bubble camp.

"The decision was arrived at after AK sought clearance from the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) on his anti-doping testing status, which I am pleased to say he has been given the green light,” Korir said via his official Facebook page.

Kipruto told Nation Sport that he is happy to get a chance to represent Kenya in what will be his first appearance at the Olympics. 

“I’m really sorry for my good friend Kamworor and I want to wish him quick recovery so that he can continue with his career. On my part I’m delighted becaue I will be able to represent my country once again and we will work hard to win something good for our country,” said Kipruto.

He also revealed to Nation Sport that his first Covid-19 test came out negative and he was going to be tested for the second time, a requirement before jetting out for the Games in Tokyo.

“I got the results and they are negative. We are doing another test just to be sure because this is now a requirement before travelling,” said Kipruto. 

Kipruto is currently the fastest man in 10km on the road having clocked world record time of 26:24 after lowering Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei’s time of 26:38 in Valencia, Spain in 2020.

The two will clash again when they line up for the 10,000m final on Friday after Cheptegei floored Kipruto during the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar winning gold ahead of Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha who took silver with KIpruto settling for bronze.

“We shall be battling out again with Cheptegei whom we have met in various races. He is a good athlete but I don’t want to say much for now but just to give my best, teamwork will be paramount,” he added.

Speed Work vs. Endurance Running

“Going for a run” means something different to everyone. Mileage always varies, and there are myriad things to focus on; from form and speed, to distance and strength, it can be daunting to try and figure out which factors will give you the best results. Luckily, a simple mix of speed work and endurance running will kick off some key physiological adaptations—and (done properly) will naturally help refine your form. Let’s dive in to what that looks like in practice!.

First, let’s take a look at what it means to “sprint.” While competitive running defines a sprint as 400m and under, we’re going to treat a sprint as a fast, 10-30 second effort, since it’s easier to measure time than to measure distance on a training run. Sprinting (or speed work) is useful in training because it taxes our anaerobic system and increases our ability to buffer and process lactate. Speed work also creates high-intensity muscle fatigue by increasing the demand for power.

Also, because these are short bursts of effort, you need to arrive at correct run form faster, locking in proper foot strike and arm swing to quickly increase your speed. In terms of foot strike, that means we need to be sure our weight is coming down in the middle of our foot, and that we’re not rolling over towards the inside or outside of the foot. As for our arm swing, we want to keep it parallel, not letting our arms cross over the midline of the body, as that can put unnecessary strain on our back and shoulder muscles. Good, upright posture and a tight core will help with both of these, and should always be among our top priorities when we run.

Speed and power aside, it’s also important to think about your form during speed work to avoid injury. Sprinting forces your muscles to do very hard work in a short amount of time, and when your muscles are working harder, they are more vulnerable to injury. Focus on keeping your movements controlled and efficient to help avoid tweaking anything during speed work.

By contrast, long efforts (upwards of 60 seconds) increase your endurance by creating sustained low-intensity muscle fatigue. Distance running works your aerobic system, and increases your body’s ability to deliver oxygen to working muscles. 

In addition to testing the endurance of your running form, long runs require you to work on stabilizing your breathing, which (again) good posture can help with. To test your endurance running form, simply take note of where you’re sore after a long run. Sore abs, glutes, hamstrings, and quads are all good indicators of proper running form, but sore muscles in your back, neck, and shoulders likely indicate a hunched posture, and/or a twisted arm swing that crosses over your midline. Sore feet and ankles could be the result of an uneven trail, but may also indicate an uneven foot strike if the soreness occurs after a road run.

Because distance running puts your body under stress for longer, it can increase injury susceptibility gradually over time. These injuries will be more subtle than acute, but can take longer to recover from. Take note of any soreness that doesn’t go away after a day or two of endurance running—you might be due for some new shoes or a gait analysis.

Mobilizing is imperative in order to reap the benefits of your runs, no matter their distance or speed. So get out that foam roller, and stretch out the big and the small muscles that power your run. (If you need some ideas on what or how to foam roll, check out the video to learn the basics!)

In addition, be sure to include at least one day of strength training per week. Stronger muscles are less susceptible to injury, and the more we strengthen the muscle groups that support correct running form, the more natural that form will feel.

By maintaining a good form during both speed and endurance work, those muscle groups will fire up as well, and eventually you won’t even have to think about your form! If you’re not sure exactly how to strength train, try either this workout or this one to get some initial ideas.

So how do we combine these all ideas to reach our peak performance? It’s ideal to practice a relatively equal combination of endurance running and speed work, combined with daily mobility and a day or two of strength training per week. You can do as few as two runs a week and maintain fitness, just make sure that you don’t slack on your strength and mobility, which will ultimately enable your most efficient running form. Incorporating just one longer run and one day of speed work (focusing on 10-30 second sprints) per week will help take your running to the next level.

Kenyan Faith Chepng’etich ready for Sifa Hassan duel in Tokyo

Olympic 1,500m women's champion Faith Chepng’etich is optimistic that she will retain her title at the Tokyo Games.

The 1,500m race will see the Kenyan rekindle her rivalry with Dutch’s Sifan Hassan, who is looking to make history in Tokyo by winning gold in the 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m.

Chepngetich is the first Kenyan woman to win gold in the 1500m race at a World Championship, achieving the feat at the 2017 Worlds in London, before bagging silver medal in the Doha games in 2019.

Nation Sport caught up with the four-lap race queen at her training base in Kaptagat, Elgeyo Marakwet during her speed work session where she said that her preparations are complete.

“I have done good preparations and I know the race will be competitive and my target is to get into the finals where I know my friend Sifan will also be eyeing victory. For me it’s a matter of winning and defending the title I won in 2016,” said Chepng’etich.

The two met during the Monaco Diamond League race and Faith came out on top, narrowly missing the world record after timing a new national record of 3:51.07, which was also a world lead time.

Sifan clocked 3:53.60 to finish second, while Ethiopia’s Hailu Freweyni was third in 3:56.28.

Chepng’etich said that she is aware that Sifan will be out to dethrone her, but remains confident of holding her off in Tokyo.

“I ran in Monaco and clocked my personal best and I wanted to gauge my performance ahead of the Olympic Games. I managed to identify some few areas which I have worked on and will give my best in Tokyo,” said the mother of one.

The 1500m heats will be held on August 2, before the semi-finals take center stage on August 4. The final is due on August 6.

Ban on cannabis, should be reviewed says World Athletics president Seb Coe

The rules on the use of cannabis by athletes should be reviewed, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe has said in the wake of the case that meant Sha'Carri Richardson, winner of the women’s 100 meters at the US Olympic trials, missing Tokyo 2020.

Richardson accepted a 30-day ban, and the qualifying results she achieved were annulled, after she tested positive for the banned recreational drug during the trials.

The 21-year-old said she had been under emotional stress after learning of the recent death of her biological mother.

In response to questions on the issue, Coe has said a review is now sensible and "it should be" done, Reuters reports.

Coe added: "I am sorry for her that we have lost an outstanding talent [from the Olympic Games]", but said that existing rules were interpreted correctly.

The World Athletics President said he had asked the independent Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) to work with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on reassessing marijuana’s place on the prohibited list.

Coe, who believes the matter is a question for experts at the AIU and the WADA to determine, said Richardson’s absence was "a loss to the competition" but predicted "she will bounce back".

The 2021 World Anti-Doping Code classifies tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive constituent of cannabis, marijuana, and hashish, as a "Substance of Abuse".

Athletes found to use it outside of competition face a three-month ban, although in this case the United States Anti-Doping Agency banned Richardson for 30 days as long as she also undertook a treatment programme.

Discussion on this matter is not expected to take place during the World Athletics Council’s two-day meeting that starts tomorrow before the Olympic track and field programme begins on Friday (July 30) - at least officially.

What will be under consideration is a determination of the hosts for the 2023 World Athletics Relays, held this year in Poland, the newly-established 2023 World Road Running Championships, and next year’s World Race Walking Team Championships, where a replacement is being sought for original host Minsk.

World Athletics cited "uncertainties around diplomatic relations and international travel restrictions with regard to Belarus" when stripping Minsk of hosting rights earlier this year, with protests continuing after the controversial re-election Alexander Lukashenko as the country’s President last August and many nations imposing sanctions on Belarus.

There will also be a report from World Athletics' Russia Taskforce at the Council meeting.

Day two of the meeting is understood to involve commission and working group reports.

Flora Duffy delivers a golden first for Bermuda, winning the olympic women triathlon

Flora Duffy claimed a first ever Olympic Games gold medal for Bermuda with a brilliant display to win the women’s triathlon at Tokyo 2020.

The 33-year-old, world champion 2016 and 2017, was virtually faultless as she negotiated treacherous conditions in the swim and on the bike before making a decisive move to clinch victory on the run.

Great Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown saw her hopes of gold ruined by a flat rear tyre late in the bike leg, but fought back brilliantly to pip American Katie Zaferes to silver. The American claimed the bronze.

The conditions in Tokyo were vastly different from Monday’s men’s race – then it was brutal heat and humidity, now it was torrential rain which caused a 15-minute delay to the scheduled start.

Britain’s Jess Learmonth went out hard on the swim and led the field out of the water at the end of the first lap, just ahead of Brazil’s Vittoria Lopes. Americans Zaferes and Summer Rappaport were also in close attendance with Duffy and Learmonth’s Britain team-mate Taylor-Brown.

A lead group of seven exited for T1 with Learmonth (18:24) still in front and Zaferes, Rappaport, Duffy and Taylor-Brown all in very close attendance. The third British athlete Vicky Holland meanwhile was in the second group, just under 50 seconds off the pace.

The field was already well strung out as they headed for their bikes, such was the pace that Learmonth had injected.

Bike – small but select

Learmonth led that select lead pack through the early stages of the bike leg, but by the end of the first lap she’d been joined at the front by Taylor-Brown and Duffy. Rappaport meanwhile was clinging desperately onto the back of the group. The chasing pack were more than a minute off the pace, with 2012 Olympic champion Nicola Spirig leading them in typical style.

The second lap saw the status quo maintained, with Duffy leading the lead group through along with Zaferes, Taylor-Brown and Learmonth. Rappaport was still struggling to maintain her position at the back of that group. The gap to the chasing pack led by Spirig was still more than a minute.

Seven became six in the lead group by the end of Lap 3 as Rappaport fell away to cross the line 37 seconds off the pace. Up front it was still the big guns Taylor-Brown, Learmonth, Duffy and Zaferes leading the way. They were in company with Germany’s Laura Lindemann and the Brazilian Lopes.

Run – decisive from Duffy

Zaferes, Lindemann, Duffy and Learmonth set off on the 10k run knowing they were in prime position to fight it out for the medals, while Taylor-Brown tried desperately to get back on terms.

Duffy made the first decisive move on the opening lap of four on the run, surging clear of Zaferes. Taylor-Brown meanwhile was making progress as she picked off team-mate Learmonth and Lindemann to move back into a medal position. At the end of that first lap Flora was 17 seconds clear of Zaferes with Taylor-Brown a further nine seconds away.

Flora, looking imperious out in front, pulled further clear on the second lap and at halfway on the run her advantage was now 47 seconds over Zaferes. Taylor-Brown meanwhile was just five seconds down on the American in the battle for silver.

The dominant Duffy increased her lead to 67 seconds on the third of the four run laps, while Taylor-Brown passed Zaferes to move into second just as the pair reached the bell.

Flora was still full of running as she powered through the final lap to come home to a famous victory in a winning time of 1:55:36. She was 74 seconds clear of silver medallist Taylor-Brown, while Zaferes was a further 13 seconds away in the bronze medal position.

Alberto Salazar gets lifetime ban for sexual, emotional misconduct

Alberto Salazar, the 1982 Boston Marathon champion from Wayland and once a prominent Nike coach of some of the world’s top distance runners, was permanently barred from participating in track and field Monday by the US Center for SafeSport, which cited Salazar for sexual and emotional misconduct.

Salazar, 62, has 10 business days to request an appeal through arbitration of the ruling made by SafeSport, a nonprofit founded in 2017 to protect athletes from sexual, physical and emotional abuse.

The decision Monday was the latest stage of a humiliating fall for Salazar, who was suspended for four years in September 2019 by the United States Anti-Doping Agency for violating rules governing banned substances. He is appealing that suspension to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the Swiss-based equivalent of a Supreme Court for international sports.

The SafeSport charges were not detailed Monday. In January 2020, the organization temporarily barred Salazar from participating in track and field after elite female runners who formerly trained under him, including Mary Cain, Amy Yoder Begley and Kara Goucher, described what they said were years of psychological and verbal abuse by the coach.

Neither Salazar nor his lawyer immediately responded to requests for comment Monday. Salazar has previously denied all accusations of misconduct.

In a 2019 video produced by the Opinion department of The New York Times, Cain, a former high school phenom from New York who is now 25, accused Salazar of shaming her in front of others on the Nike Oregon Project team — which has since been disbanded — when she did not reach weight targets. She said that her low weight caused her to miss her period for three years, leading to lower levels of estrogen and five broken bones.

Cain also said that she had suicidal thoughts and had cut herself, but that no one at Nike “really did anything or said anything.”

Yoder Begley, a 2008 Olympian, tweeted in 2019 that she was removed from the Oregon Project after a disappointing showing in the 10,000 meters at the 2011 United States track and field championships.

“I was told I was too fat and ‘had the biggest butt on the starting line,’ " Yoder Begley wrote.

Goucher, another American Olympian who once trained with the Nike Oregon Project, told The Times that after being cooked meager meals by an assistant coach, she often ate more in the privacy of her room, nervous that she would be heard opening the wrappers of energy bars she furtively consumed.

Salazar replied to Cain’s 2019 video in a statement to The Oregonian newspaper: “Neither of her parents nor Mary raised any of the issues that she now suggests occurred while I was coaching her. To be clear, I never encouraged her, or worse yet, shamed her, to maintain an unhealthy weight.”

Cain acknowledged at the time that she had sought to train again with Salazar, seeking an apology, closure and his approval. But she described their relationship as poisonous, saying, “I was the victim of an abusive system, an abusive man.”

Salazar told Sports Illustrated in 2019 that his “foremost goal” was to promote athletic performance in line with the good health and well-being of his athletes, but he acknowledged, “On occasion, I may have made comments that were callous or insensitive.”

Olympians, champions and top americans will lead fields for 2021 Asics Falmouth Road Race

Falmouth Road Race, Inc., organizers of the 49th Annual ASICS Falmouth Road Race, one of America’s premier running events of the summer season, today announced the men’s, women’s, and wheelchair open fields for this year’s race. Defending champions Leonard Korir and Sharon Lokedi lead an accomplished field of Olympians, World Champions and top Americans participating in the August 15, 2021 race.

WOMEN’S OPEN DIVISION

Lokedi, a Kenyan elite and 10-time All American at the University of Kansas, will race 2019 runner-up Sara Hall, who has won 11 U.S. national titles from the mile to the marathon. Hall recently finished sixth at the U.S. Olympic Trials 10,000m and won the AJC Peachtree Road Race, which hosted the National 10K Championships. The duo is joined by Edna Kiplagat, a Boston, London and New York City champion as well as a two-time World Athletics Marathon Championships gold medalist. 

Twelve-time All American and NCAA DI 10,000m champion Emma Bates and 2021 Olympic marathoner Molly Seidel will also participate. Bates is gearing up for a fall marathon and Seidel will run, alongside her sister Isabel, as a post-Olympic celebration.  

Accomplished women racing the leaders include Jordan Hasay, an 18-time All American and multiple podium finisher at the Boston and Chicago Marathons; former Falmouth champion and three-time Olympian Diane Nukuri; NCAA 10,000m champion Natosha Rogers; young talent Iveen Chepkemoi; Emily Durgin who finished runner-up at the AJC Peachtree Road Race with a 31:49 personal best, and Taylor Werner the recent USATF National 6K champion.

Many of the women in the field raced in the 5,000m and/or 10,000m at the recent U.S. Olympic Track Trials including Rogers, Durgin, Werner, Erika Kemp, Makena Morley, Jaci Smith, Fiona O’Keefe,  and Paige Stoner.

MEN’S OPEN DIVISION

The 2019 podium of Leonard Korir, Stephen Sambu, and Edward Cheserek return. Korir, an Olympian, became the first American man to win the Falmouth Road Race since 1988. He has 10 USATF national titles and holds the fastest-ever marathon debut by an American (2:077:56). 

Sambu looks to add an impressive fifth Falmouth Road Race title to his name. A road running star, Sambu set the 8K world record at the B.A.A. 10K, a race he has won twice. He is also a four-time champion of the Shamrock Shuffle. Edward Cheserek, the most decorated NCAA distance runner of all time with 17 NCAA Division I titles, ran for the University of Oregon. At Boston University in 2018, Cheserek ran the indoor mile in 3:49.44, which at that time was the second fastest indoor mile in history.  

Chasing the trio are 2018 Falmouth Road Race champion and 2018 NCAA 10,000m winner Ben Flanagan, of Canada, and Ben True, who holds five national titles, set a 5K national record at the 2017 B.A.A. 5K and recently finished fourth in the 10,000m at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Fresh from a two second 1-2 finish at the 2021 AJC Peachtree Road Race, Sam Chelanga, a six-time USATF National Champion, and Fred Huxham are in the field, as are B.A.A. 10K champion David Bett, 2018 Falmouth runner-up Scott Fauble and top 5,000m runner Emmanuel Bor. 

Many of the men running the ASICS Falmouth Road Race competed at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Track Trials including Korir, Chelanga, Bor, True, Biya Simbassa, Jacob Thomson and Frank Lara.

World record holder Eliud Kipchoge is ready to defend his Olympic crown

World marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge cannot wait to defend his Olympic crown at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Eliud won gold at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and is favorite to bag gold at the Summer Games. 

"I have completed my training and I am really excited to race in Sapporo. For me, there is no greater race than competing for an Olympic medal. In Japan, I will defend my title from Rio, to win a second Olympic medal in the marathon would mean the world to me," he posted on his Twitter handle Monday.

Kipchoge became the first man to ever run a full marathon, 42.195km, under two hours when he clocked 1:59:40 in Vienna, Austria in 2019. He also holds the world record over the distance at 2:01:39. 

Eliud is in the marathon team that also has Lawrence Cherono and Amos Kipruto. The women's team has record holder Brigid Kosgei, Ruth Chepngetich and Peres Jepchirchir.

The marathon teams will leave for Japan on August 1 and 2. The women's race will be held on August 7, while the men's race is on August 8 in Sapporo.

Women that have been barred from Olympics for being manly

One day, Annet Negesa was pushing her body to endure and make her the champion she believed she was born to be. On another day, her Olympics dreams were crushed because she was faster, stronger.

Annet Negesa reportedly still harbours intentions to run for her country. She runs every day, with the hope of returning to international competitions one day. 

Hers is a case of unfinished business, a dream that was cut short in June 2012 when she received a call from a doctor from track and field’s world governing body telling her, according to the New York Times newspaper - that “she would no longer be competing in the London Olympics because her testosterone levels were too high for competition,” thereby giving her an unfair advantage over other female athletes.

Negesa, 20 then, was one of Uganda’s top athletes. On the back of her London preparations, she set a national record for 800 metres earlier that year at a meet in Netherlands.

She was a three-time national champion and brought home a gold medal at the 2011 All-Africa Games.

She identifies as female and was born with external female genitalia but also with internal male genitalia that produce levels of testosterone that men do.

Most women, including elite female athletes, have natural testosterone levels of 0.12 to 1.79 nanomoles per litre, according to World Athletics. The typical male range after puberty is reportedly much higher, at 7.7 to 29.4 nanomoles per litre.

After years of litigation, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in 2019 upheld World Athletics’ testosterone restrictions for female athletes in races with distances from 400 meters to the mile after renowned athlete Caster Semenya (we shall get to her later in the article), filed an appeal.

The court ruled by a 2-to-1 vote that the restrictions were indeed discriminatory but also a “necessary, reasonable and proportionate” means of achieving the World Athletics goal of preserving a level playing field in women’s track events.

Therefore intersex athletes (these are said to be roughly one in every 2,000 births), who want to participate in middle-distance women’s track events must take hormone-suppressing drugs and reduce testosterone levels to below five nanomoles per litre (5 nmol/L) for six months before competing, then maintain those lowered levels.

Unfortunately, the intervention seems to have come seven years late for Negesa, who claims World Athletics physician Dr Stéphane Bermon gave her surgery as her first option to reduce testosterone levels in 2012. 

But Negesa has since battled persistent headaches and achy joints that have not allowed her to pursue her career. Her postoperative care, which according to documents seen at the Kampala Hospital by the New York Times should have been recommended in further discussions with Dr Bermon, did not include the kind of hormone treatment that might have helped her body adjust to the change.

After Negesa appeared in a ‘break the silence’ documentary on German television’s ARD network in October 2019, World Athletics issued a statement denying that it participated in or recommended a specific treatment to Negesa.

Third category

Nine years after Negesa’s predicament, another recommendation to World Athletics; to introduce a third category of events in order to allow competitors with high testosterone levels to compete in their preferred disciplines, seems to be gathering steam after Kenyan 800m runner Margaret Wambui was ruled out of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

“It would be good if a third category for athletes with high testosterone was introduced; because it is wrong to stop people from using their talents,” Wambui told BBC Sport Africa.

The sport’s governing body, World Athletics, says it has no plans to introduce such a category and will stick to its current classifications of men’s and women’s events.

The idea of a third category in athletics has been floated before, but Wambui is the first athlete to express outright support for the suggestion.

“We would be the first people to compete in that category - so we can motivate others who are hiding their condition,” she said.

Since World Athletics introduced its latest rules governing DSD (disorders of sex development) athletes in 2018, not one of the three athletes who stood on the 800m podium in Rio has contested the distance at a global international championship.

At the 2016 Games, Wambui was beaten to gold by Semenya and silver by Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba.

“It is sad to see that the whole podium won’t be there.”  “They cut short our careers, because that wasn’t our plan. I feel bad that I won’t be in the Olympics because of World Athletics rules,” says Wambui.

Try these fitness-test workouts to gauge where you're at before a race

When you have a goal race coming up, you may want to test yourself a few weeks ahead of time to see where you’re at before you toe the start line. Similarly, it’s a good idea to test your fitness at the beginning of a training block and then again near the end to get an idea of how you’ve progressed.

While there are many ways you can do this, we spoke with Mile2Marathon coaches, Lauren Andrews and Mathew Travaglini, who gave us their favorite fitness-test workouts for you to try before your next race.

The 8K time trial

Andrews really likes using off-distance time trials as a way to gauge fitness before a race, because since you race this distance infrequently, your desire to compare your result to a previous personal best won’t be as strong as it would be in a 5K or 10K trial. Her favorite distance for this purpose is 8K.

“This distance is short enough to not require extended recovery after, but long enough to be relevant to someone, say, beginning a marathon build or in mid-build,” she explains. “You can easily calculate the equivalency of an 8K to a 5K, 10K or even half marathon too.”

Andrews emphasizes that a time trial should be done a minimum of two weeks out from a big race, but preferably you should use it as an assessment of your progress midway through your training. Even though this is a time trial and not a real race, you want to do your best with it in order to determine where you’re at as accurately as possible, so make sure you prepare properly before you start. Get plenty of rest, stay properly hydrated and be sure to fuel appropriately before the workout.

Medium-length intervals

Travaglini says the type of workout you do to test your fitness will be slightly different depending on the race you’re training for, but he really likes to use medium-length intervals (anywhere from 800m to 1,200m) at your goal race pace that covers about 60 to 80 per cent of your race distance. For example, if your goal race is a 5K, he suggests the following workout:

Warmup: 10-15 minutes easy jog, followed by drills and strides

Workout: 5 x 800m at goal race pace with equal rest (so if you take 4:00 to run 800m, give yourself four minutes of rest)

Cooldown: 10- to 15-minute easy jog, followed by light stretching.

Research says talent will get you so far, but it's the gritty athletes who rise to the top

Have you ever wondered what separates elite athletes from the rest of us, or what allows one competitor to perform at a consistently high level no matter the odds? Of course, physical ability, resources and skill all come into play here, but there’s one ingredient that seems to outweigh the rest: grit. Behavioural psychologist Angela Duckworth defines grit as a special blend of passion and persistence, and she, along with many other experts, agrees it is what pushes someone to show up day after day, make sacrifices and push through setbacks to become the best.

According to a 2007 paper written by Duckworth, “grit entails working strenuously toward challenges, maintaining effort and interest over years despite failure, adversity, and plateaus in progress. The gritty individual approaches achievement as a marathon; his or her advantage is stamina. Whereas disappointment or boredom signals to others that it is time to change trajectory and cut losses, the gritty individual stays the course.”

This definition highlights one important factor that determines success in running, and that is the time it takes to achieve that success. When a new elite runner bursts onto the scene, it’s easy to think they just magically became really good, but what we don’t see are the years of strenuous, focused effort it took for them to get there. That person has already experienced several setbacks and failures, and yet they’ve carried on.

In Duckworth’s 2016 book, titled Grit, the Power of Passion and Perseverance, she outlines the two equations that lead to achievement. The first is talent x effort = skill. Most research agrees that in order to make it to the top level in sport, there is an element of innate ability, but this talent only tells part of the story. Without effort, talent goes nowhere. The second equation is skill x effort = achievement. When you put these two equations together, it means you need to apply effort to turn talent into skill, and then you need to apply more effort to translate that skill into achievement.

What does that look like in the context of running? When someone shows early talent in running, that will only help them go so far. If they want to continue improving, they need to apply effort in order to perfect skills like pacing, form, endurance and of course, racing. These are all things that need to be practised. Practising them over weeks, months and years is what will eventually lead to achievement (winning big races, setting records, etc.).

While the scientific literature is fairly limited in this area, there have been a few studies assessing the effect of grit on athletic performance, including this 2017 study that looked at more than 250 athletes from a variety of sports, including runners. Participants ranged from age 13 to 30 and came from a variety of skill levels, from local sports teams to international competitions. The researchers measured them on a “grit scale” comprised of two categories: perseverance of effort (PE) and consistency of interests (CI). They found that athletes who scored higher in the perseverance of effort were more likely to attend all mandatory and optional practices and to practise on their own. The athletes who scored higher on consistency of interests were also far less likely to quit their sport.

The bottom line

Grit is a difficult thing to measure, but it has a significant role to play in performance. All you have to do is listen to or read the stories of our Canadian Olympians and other elite runners to know that success doesn’t come easily, quickly or without sacrifice. So yes, are elite athletes naturally gifted? Sure. But talent alone has not gotten them where they are. For the rest of us, having a gritty mentality in our training may not take us to the Olympic stage, but it will lead us to reach a level we never thought possible.

Gloria Ratti, ‘first lady’ of the Boston Marathon, dies at 90

The Boston Athletic Association is mourning the loss of vice president, historian, and archivist Gloria Ratti, who died Saturday at 90 “after a courageous battle with cancer,” the organization said in a statement.

Ms. Ratti, a South Boston native, served the BAA and Boston Marathon runners in a variety of roles over more than half a century of involvement with the organization, according to the statement.

“Gloria in essence was the First Lady of our sport, no matter where she went,” Guy Morse, former BAA executive director and a longtime colleague to Ms. Ratti, said in the statement.

“From champions to common runners, Gloria personally cared for everyone and represented the human side of running,” he said. “It was her mission to make the Boston Marathon more than a single-day event; she strived to make it a personal experience for so many. She did that, but also was the moral authority that helped propel the entire organization forward.”

Matthew Centrowitz runs a 3:49.26 mile

Running entirely solamente over the final 600 meters, your defending Olympic metric mile champion, Matthew Centrowitz Jr. ground out a hardscrabble 3:49.26 over the imperial one mile distance last night up in Portlandia.

In addition to setting a lifetime PB, that is THE fastest mile ever contested on U.S. soil by an American. 

The previous such mark was the 3:49.89 run indoors by Bernard Lagat at the University of Arkansas oval back in February of 2005.

Solid. ✊

Should You Be Drinking Protein Coffee?

The nutrition trend is all over TikTok, and it’s actually not a bad idea

Social media isn’t a great place to find wellness or nutrition advice. The most viral stuff tends to be the most over-the-top and the influencers who create it typically care more about shareability than science. Put bluntly: “Likes and follows do not indicate competence,” says Leslie Bonci, co-founder of Performance365 and the sports dietitian for the Kansas City Chiefs. But once in a blue moon, a viral nutrition trend is worth trying. Like protein coffee, which recently took TikTok by storm.

#Proffee is pretty simple: it’s a protein shake, made with coffee. And while the idea of a caffeinated smoothie isn’t earth-shattering, it has its merits, particularly if you’re someone who likes to work out in the morning. Here’s what two sports dietitians have to say about it.

How to Make It

There’s no master recipe for #proffee. Scroll through the tag on TikTok and you’ll find thousands of videos. One woman orders a couple of shots of iced Starbucks espresso in a venti cup and then pours a pre-made shake on top. Another uses a vanilla protein shake as “creamer,” and several people blend their own shakes with flavored protein powder, ice, and coffee instead of milk. You get the idea.

Protein coffee is a great way to kill two birds—nutrition and caffeination—with one stone. Let’s get one thing clear, though. “Coffee is not a meal,” says Abby Chan, a sports dietitian and co-owner of Evolve in Flagstaff, Arizona. “And adding protein to coffee still does not make it a meal.”

If you’re relying on protein coffee alone to get you through the morning, Bonci recommends adding carbohydrates by blending in a banana or eating some fruit or cereal alongside your drink. Chan points out that you could add fat with a scoop of nut butter, too.

Protein coffee works well alongside a regular breakfast, particularly if your morning meal contains less than 15 grams of protein. Chan says this is the minimum amount that most people should eat per meal, although there’s no need to hit this target on the nose every time. For reference: two large eggs contain roughly 13 grams of protein, a seven-ounce container of plain Greek yogurt has 20 grams, and a half-cup of rolled oats cooked in a cup of two-percent milk has 13 grams. If you’re already eating protein-rich foods at breakfast, Chan says, there’s not much benefit to adding it to your coffee, although it won’t cause any harm. “Your body can only absorb 25 to 35 grams during a meal,” she says.

Why It Works

Some TikTokers use protein coffee as a pre-workout drink. This makes sense, since caffeine is the main active ingredient in most pre-workout supplements, and a cup of coffee is far cheaper than a scoop of expensive powder. Bonci explains that for many people, consuming caffeine 30 to 60 minutes before a workout can boost endurance and increase focus.

But it might not work for everybody, and it’s not a magic bullet. Outside columnist Alex Hutchinson previously reported on a 2018 randomized controlled trial looking at caffeine’s effect on performance, published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. The study followed a group of 101 male athletes during 10k cycling time trials, and found that, while caffeine did boost performance on average, the athletes who benefited the most had a specific gene that helps them metabolize caffeine well—and those without that gene actually rode more slowly.

You likely already know from experience whether caffeine helps, hurts, or doesn’t affect your workouts. If you feel better exercising after coffee, Chan explains that adding protein could have some benefit for workouts lasting more than 90 minutes. When your glycogen stores are depleted, having amino acids (the building blocks of protein) readily available in your system will prevent your body from breaking down existing muscle to get them. But for shorter workouts, the protein probably won’t serve any purpose beyond helping you hit your nutrient requirements for the day.

Chan stresses that you shouldn’t need caffeine to train. “If you’re relying on caffeine to get through a workout, then you are not ready or recovered enough to be training,” she says.

“At the end of the day, protein coffee is simply a protein shake with caffeine,” Chan says. “It’s not a meal, and it’s not a magical elixir.” Frankly, it’s surprising that something so simple took off on TikTok, a space usually reserved for wellness trends that are either extreme or completely ridiculous (like dipping cucumber slices in stevia as a low-sugar substitute for watermelon). If you like the taste of a coffee protein shake, great! Just don’t drink it in lieu of breakfast.

How to Be a Super Commuter

The average American commutes nearly an hour per day. That adds up to nine days a year. But your trip to work doesn’t have to involve cramming your face into someone’s armpit on a packed train or suppressing road rage on a clogged freeway. Make like these four professionals and turn it into a mini adventure.

Nicholas Thompson

Editor in Chief at Wired, New York City

“My boss is Anna Wintour,” Thompson says. “I’m supposed to look good.” But at the risk of mussing his hair, he runs nine miles round-trip between his home in Brooklyn and his Manhattan office nearly every day, no matter the weather. Thompson does a marathon once or twice a year, and these daily jaunts are a big training help. “I’m able to stay in shape without having to find time in the day for it,” he says. “I get to relax and run twice a day. It’s a nice break.” Plus, he hasn’t bought a monthly transit pass in years. 

Make your routine efficient. Thompson covers his one-way distance in 35 minutes on foot. And his shower routine is spartan—in and out in five minutes. 

Plan ahead. Thompson keeps a few full outfits at the office and runs with a fanny pack (even though it slows him down by five to seven seconds per mile, according to Strava) to hold his keys, wallet, and phone.

Steal family time. “Showering at the gym means I don’t have to shower in the morning before I go, which means a few extra minutes with my kids.”

Beware of tourists. “The dangers are selfie sticks, cars driving the wrong direction down one-way streets, wedding photo shoots, and people getting out of cars. But it’s like 90 percent selfie sticks.”

Drew Myers

Founder of Banyan, Seattle 

Myers’s commute lines up with his general ethos: an aversion to waiting and an affinity for wide-open spaces. He may love his ride to work more than anyone in the world. Since 2006, he’s been hopping on a jet ski from Mercer Island and zipping across Lake Washington to his office—passing everyone stuck in traffic on Interstate 90. Driving would take 30 minutes, but jet skiing takes about ten from dock to desk. “There’s nobody out there. It’s totally free,” Myers says. 

Don’t fall in. But just in case, make sure you have the best computer drybag out there. “I could throw my Drycase in the water and it would be fine,” Myers says.

Embrace bad weather. “For the most part, I do it even in the pouring rain,” he says. He keeps his work clothes dry under head-to-toe waterproof gear.

Safety first. Myers always wears a life jacket. And he only commutes eight months of the year—in the winter it gets dark at 4:30 P.M., making for a potentially dangerous crossing. 

Cassidy Doucette

Nurse practitioner at Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City

Doucette’s car usually sits on the street. For the past nine years, she’s biked five miles round-trip to and from the hospital for convenience and personal enjoyment, but also to reduce her impact on the environment. Her route cuts through the University of Utah and offers uninterrupted views of the Wasatch Mountains. “Unless my errands require transporting large objects, I’m mostly able to bike anywhere I need to go,” she says. 

Start the day off right. “I work with cancer patients. It’s emotionally and mentally challenging. Those 20 minutes on my bike in the morning give me perspective and goodness before a ten-hour shift.”

Watch out for pedestrians. “College kids looking down at their phones are my biggest obstacle.” â€¨â€¨Stay organized. Doucette leaves shoes at work and carries her post-shower clothes in a Patagonia Black Hole packing cube to keep them tidy in transit. 

Phil Hitch

Director of product development at MSR, Seattle

Hitch commutes an hour and fifteen minutes each way in ultimate Pacific Northwest style: he bikes four and a half miles from his home on Bainbridge Island to the dock, hops on a ferry to downtown Seattle, then rides another two and a half miles to the office. 

Consider it a workout. “I get an hour in the saddle every day, and I don’t have to go to the gym,” Hitch says.

Make no excuses. Hitch commutes approximately 200 days a year. In the winter it’s dark both ways, and there are no streetlights on most of the island. His advice: don’t think too hard, just put on your gear and head out the door. â€¨â€¨Join the crowd. Hitch says there’s a strong contingent of bike-ferry commuters in Seattle: a steady 30 people in winter, and 100-plus in the summer months. If it’s not too rainy for an outdoor commute in Seattle, then it’s not too rainy where you live. 

8 simple rules for dating a runner

So you’ve fallen in love with a runner — congratulations! Runners, in our not-so-humble opinion, are possibly the best people on the planet. Of course, they do have their own quirks, and if you want to have a long-lasting relationship with the runner in your life there are a few things you should know. To keep them happy, follow these eight simple rules for dating a runner.

1. Never ask us if we’re going “jogging”

This is possibly the most offensive thing you can say to a runner. We run, we do not jog. There is a difference, so don’t get the two confused.

2. Don’t try to make plans for Sunday mornings

Sunday mornings are a sacred time reserved for our long run. If you want to plan an activity, it’s going to have to be in the afternoon. On that note, Sunday afternoons are usually spent recovering from our long run, so maybe just don’t plan anything for Sundays that involve straying too far from the couch…

3. Don’t expect us to stay out late on a Saturday night, either

Not only do we have to get up early in the morning for our long run, but we have to make sure we fuel properly the night before, and hydrate as well. You can go out and party if you want, but don’t expect us to join you.

4. Always make sure there’s lots of food in the house

Bonus points if that food is carbs. On that note — if you’re planning on starting a keto or low-carb diet, we most certainly will not be joining you. And we’re probably going to eat carbs in front of you, too.

5. If we come back from a long run missing a sock, don’t ask questions

Hey, sometimes you run into digestive issues while you’re out on the trail and you don’t have any other option. What happens on the trail, stays on the trail… as does the sock.

6. Don’t expect us to be flexible

We mean that both literally and figuratively. Our training schedule is set in stone and we’re pretty hard-nosed about it, so don’t expect us to move a track session so you can take us out to dinner. We’re also just happy if we can touch our toes without bending our knees, so if you’re hoping for some sort of acrobatics, you’re going to be disappointed.

7. Don’t buy us pedicures as gifts

OK, we get it — our feet are gross. But those calluses have been built up by miles and miles of training, and without them, we’ll be left hobbling the last few miles of our run with very sore feet. Then you’ll be stuck listening to us complain about our blisters for the rest of the week, and that’ll be even less fun for you than it is for us.

8. Get ready to be our #1 cheerleader

We’re going to run a lot of races, and there’s no one we want cheering us on more than you. Be prepared to get up early and stand outside in all types of weather only to catch a glimpse of us crossing the finish line — it may not be the most pleasant way to spend your weekend, but it will mean the world to us.

Wedding dress and running shoes: runners tie the knot during race in Europe

Claudia Weber and Thomas Wenning have run over 100,000 kilometres together, gone through more than 150 pairs of running shoes and completed over 300 marathons, and on July 17, the pair were married during the Reschensee run in South Tyrol, Italy.

Weber and Wenning first got to know each other at the 2004 Rhine-Ruhr Marathon, and have been running together ever since. The Reschensee run is a 15.3 kilometre race around Lake Reschen that starts and finishes in the village Graun. The couple started the race together and walked directly to the registry office of the municipality of Graun and were officially married by the mayor. Immediately afterward, they continued the run and crossed the finish line in front of the town’s historic church tower, officially a married couple.

“When I crossed the finish line with Claudia in our first half marathon together in 2004, it was clear to me that this was the right one!” said Wenning. “Our joint running and charity projects have welded us together forever!”

Wenning promised his bride that at some point, he’d take her to the registry office. Weber said that if she got married, it would be to Wenning on a running track.

"Thomas is my second half,” said Weber. “I would like to share the adventure of life with him. Together we not only celebrated records and victories. Thomas stood by my side even in difficult times!”

Thousands run through London in first mass 10k since lockdown was lifted

Thousands of runners have taken to the streets of London for their first mass 10k since lockdown restrictions were lifted.

Roads across central London were closed as the runners in the Asics London 10k swept past views of landmarks to the sound of cheering crowds and entertainers who lined the streets.

Race director Ian Allerton described it as “an important day for the mass participation industry” as many runners helped raise funds for more than 200 charities in what he hoped would be the start of “a new season of safe running events in 2021”.

TV presenter and activist Katie Piper who was the victim of an acid attack in 2008, officially started the race before stepping out to become one of up to 14,000 runners on the course.

Her run was to raise funds for a rehabilitation centre and she later said she had “such an amazing day”.

Ms Piper said it had been “really powerful” to see the benefit the race had on her mental wellbeing and on others who took part.

Organisers said they have been working closely with Westminster City Council and Public Health England over the past six months to ensure the event was Covid-secure.

The annual mass participation event, which was billed as “London’s best summer celebration of running,” was previously cancelled due to the pandemic.

The 2021 route was brought to life by the sounds of live bands and DJs at every 1km to help the runners keep moving as they raced past landmarks such as Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the London Eye.

Andrew Heyes won the male race with a time of 29 minutes and 25 seconds, Natasha Cockram clocked 33 minutes and 37 seconds to cross the line first in the female run while Bethany Evans was victorious in the wheelchair event with a time of 40 minutes and 42 seconds.

Mr Heyes said: “I really enjoyed the sights and am so excited to be back after 18 months.”

Ms Cockram added: “It was brilliant being back out on the road. Since the pandemic I’ve only been able to train on the track.

“Being out on the big wide roads is so exciting, I want to do it again.”

The event came a day after thousands of adult joggers and walkers in England laced up their trainers to take part in 5km Parkruns in local parks for the first time since lockdown eased.

The Bix is back: Race returns with resounding success

The crack of a starting pistol sent a scribble of smoke upward, queuing upbeat dance club music.

Miles away, a barber shop quartet serenaded with harmonic tones.

Palmer College of Chiropractic members dressed as vertebrae snaked their way up the infamously steep Brady Street.

Good Samaritans sprinkled cooling droplets of mist and rushed to the aid of an overheated runner.

A volunteer raked a neat pile of thousands of discarded water cups out of the road.

"These 14,000 cups have gotta go somewhere," Jen Broders said.

Post-race Jello shots were downed and accompanied by dives onto a front-lawn water slide.

Runner, walkers, past Olympians, pint-sized entrepreneurs, Marilyn Monroe look-alikes and "short-legged, no-talent" family members, friends and supporters packed the streets of downtown Davenport on Saturday morning for the 47th annual Quad-City Times Bix 7. More than 9,750 people registered for Bix races, according to race officials, marking the first time participation has dipped below 10,000 since 1986 (not counting last year's virtual Bix).

"Since last year's race ended, we've been planning for a very different race because our plans have changed on a monthly, weekly and daily basis," Bix 7 Race Director Michelle Juehring said.

The 53-year-old became race director in 2020 after the retirement of former longtime Race Director Ed Froehlich. She guided the race through its virtual version during the COVID-19 pandemic and was in the midst of preparing for her first full-blown Bix as its director.

Through all the changes COVID-19 forced in 2020, planning for the 2021 race was not without lingering pandemic-induced difficulties.

"We didn't know if the race would be open to all contestants until, basically, the last week in June, first week of July," Juehring said. "I am very grateful to have a whole race, but the road to getting here has forced us to be flexible and change."

Shade become prime real estate along the race course for bystanders. The temperature at race time was 78 degrees, tied for the third-hottest in Bix history, with 82% humidity and a 9-mph wind.

Though the start-time temperature was reasonable, the mercury shot up quickly and so did the action inside the medical tent. By 9 a.m., the temperature had climbed above 80 degrees. By 10:30 a.m., the mercury reached 85 degrees, at which time 36 people had been treated in the medical just past the finish line, one of whom was transported to the hospital. Another 10 runners were taken from the course to the hospital. Craig Cooper, spokesman for Genesis, said Saturday evening that one person had been admitted to the hospital but all others taken to Genesis had been treated and released.

Beat the Elite runner Doug Boleyn, 53, was the first patient escorted into the medical tent. Innovation officer at Genesis Health System, Boleyn was treated by colleagues from Genesis, which staffs the medical tent with dozens of volunteer doctors, nurses, aids and others. He was treated and released. 

The hot, hazy and muggy conditions, though, didn’t slow former Olympian Leonard Korir, 34, of Colorado Springs, Colo., who won his third Quad-City Times Bix 7 with a time of 32 minutes, 48 seconds, edging 25-year-old Frank Lara, of Boulder, Colo. Forty-one-year-old fellow Olympian Edna Kiplagat of Kenya won the women’s division.

“To win it three times, I’m so grateful,” said Korir, who credited his experience and training for his third top finish at the Bix 7.

As runners slogged through the heat and crowds on Kirkwood Boulevard, a gray tarp, continuously sprayed with a hose, offered brief refreshment for those brave enough to jump on.

Watching over the scene, resting on a lawn chair with Happy Birthday balloons tied to the back, was a large photo Sean Troncao's mother smiling.

he loved the Bix, Trancao said. It was one of her favorite days of the year. This year the Bix fell on her birthday weekend, so the family chose to celebrate at the Bix and bring her back to the event she loved so much.

"It just felt fitting to make sure she could join us," Trancao said.

Tom and Linda Hughes arrived on McClellan Boulevard at 6:15 a.m. Saturday to reserve their usual spot for their large family to watch the road race, and to promote organ donation through the Iowa Donor Network.

The group wore matching T-shirts featuring a photo of Tom's sister, the late Mary Ellen Smith. Smith used to run the Bix every year and was killed several years ago in a pedestrian-truck crash. Upon her death, all of her organs were donated.

Jerry Spaeth, Carl Anderson and Ken Stark stood on the side of the road enjoying a drink or two and cheering on Stark's wife, who he said has been running the Bix 7 for 22 years.

"I ran it for 15," Anderson said. "Now I stand here and drink beer." 

World record-holder Joshua Cheptegei shares his passion for running

My passion for running started from the age of 10 or 11. I remember my brother and I would put some poles around a grass field as markers, and we’d race friends and neighbours six or seven times around the poles.

Even back then, running brought me great joy and immense happiness.  Running was in my blood from a young age. It was my passion.

I soon started competitive running at primary school. Back then I competed just for the glory of my school. It was never for commercial gain. The glory of competing for my school is what motivated me. Sometimes I finished second, sometimes third, I didn’t always win but I was grateful and happy.

It was while at high school in 2012 I first dreamed of being a professional runner. But even later, once I started training full time, my passion for running has remained.

I’m at my happiest running the tempo runs. I love it. Those long speed sessions where you have to try to hold the same pace for a long time. It brings me immense joy – especially those sessions when you finish and you still feel like you can push some more.

It is never a good day when, for whatever reason, I can’t run – especially if I’m injured or ill. I love to wake up every morning and go for a run.

I would say there is immense value in running. Success starts with a healthy body and a healthy mind, and when we run we are nourishing both. This will then allow us to be more productive and achieve our best results, no matter the profession.

Running brings with it great freedom and health. And even after I’m retired from professional athletics, I look forward to the thought of going for a run every day.

Aisha Praught-Leer will race in Tokyo despite serious knee injury

Aisha Praught-Leer, who trains with Team Bosshard in Boulder, Colo. alongside reigning steeplechase world champion Emma Coburn but who races for Jamaica, announced on Instagram today that she has sustained a meniscus tear to her left knee, which will require surgery as soon as she is finished competing in the 1,500m in Tokyo.

The athlete says felt the injury when it happened on Sunday while she was training near St. Moritz, Switzerland, in preparation for the Tokyo Games. She completed the workout, and had an MRI on Wednesday, which revealed a complete tear requiring surgery.

Praught-Leer says she will still travel to Tokyo to compete in the 1,500m on Sunday, and will have a couple of (entirely legal) procedures, including having fluid drained from her knee and a cortisone injection, to allow her to compete. But she acknowledges that she will not be able to perform as well as she hoped, given her situation.

The meniscus is a C-shaped piece of cartilage that cushions the knee joint. Tears are relatively common in athletes. 

Praught-Leer, 31, qualified for Tokyo 2020 on the basis of her world ranking (43rd), and this will be her second Olympics; she made the final of the 3,000m steeplechase in Rio in 2016, finishing 14th, and won gold in the event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Praught-Leer signed a sponsorship deal with Puma earlier this year.

Bone Broth Can Strengthen Your Soft Tissues Against The Rigors of Running

This much-hyped superfood can strengthen your soft tissues against the rigors of running.

Dialing in your nutrition is as important as your training when it comes to powering your runs. So what runner wouldn’t appreciate a superfood that can give them an edge?

Bone broth has been hyped as a health elixir for years, and with good reason: It’s packed with ingredients that can strengthen your joints and ligaments, help you refuel, and aid in post-run recovery. But what is it, exactly?

“Bone broth is that liquid that’s left over after simmering animal bones and connective tissue (from chicken, beef, turkey, pig, or lamb) over heat,” says Sarah Schlichter, R.D.N., owner of Nutrition for Running. “It provides an array of nutrients, including electrolytes like sodium, magnesium and calcium, as well as Vitamin A, Vitamin K2, iron, zinc and omega-3 fatty acids, all of which are dependent on the animal marrow that’s simmered.”

Anyone can benefit from bone broth’s nutrient makeup, but runners have been swigging this stuff at aid stations in endurance events even before it went mainstream. (And Mets’ pitcher Noah Syndergaard, who underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2020, drinks it as well!) Here’s why.

How does bone broth help runners?

Bone broth’s main ingredient is collagen, says Katie Kissane, a registered dietitian at UCHealth in Colorado and owner of Fuel 2 Run.

“Since collagen is made of connective tissue and amino acids that are important in the building of our own joints and ligaments,” she explains, “it’s thought that taking collagen helps us strengthen these tissues.”

Running can be tough on your soft tissues and joints; a 10-minute mile, for example, consists of 1,700 steps, each one producing ground reaction forces about two and a half times your body weight. Collagen, which also contains an anti-inflammatory amino acid called glycine, says Kissane, can be a welcome nutrient in bulletproofing your body against some of that impact.

“While you can get collagen from your diet, those with a poor diet or who deal with constant injuries may want to consider additional collagen,” says Schlichter.

Athletes who supplemented with five grams of collagen peptides per day for 12 weeks saw a statistically significant improvement of activity-related joint pain, a 2017 study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, Nutrition, Metabolism found; additional research published in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition that year found that consuming five to 15 grams of collagen resulted in an increase in collagen content and synthesis and improved mechanics.

There’s one catch: Bone broth may not provide the same consistent amounts of collagen as a collagen supplement would, according to a 2019 study published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. Still, “there's certainly no harm in adding bone broth to your diet and, if anything, you could see benefits and receive additional nutrients as a result,” says Schlichter.

How to incorporate bone broth into your everyday diet

Since bone broth is a liquid, it’s an easy add to any diet. You can use it as a base for soups or sauces, use it in your post-workout smoothies, and even drink it like hot tea.

To make your own bone broth, just place the animal bones of your choice (i.e. the leftovers from a roast chicken dinner) in a large pot with water and some spices of your choice—sea salt can boost the electrolyte benefits, for example—and simmer for 12 to 24 hours, says Schlichter. Some people also like to add other liquids for flavor, such as apple cider vinegar or coconut milk, she adds.

If that seems like too much of a time commitment (or out of your kitchen skills repertoire—no judgement!), there are plenty of bone broths you can pick up in grocery stores.

You don’t need to consume a lot in one go to get the benefits. Kissane suggests having somewhere around 10 to 20 grams per day—one to two cups. “About 10 grams is a standard dose,” she says.

The best time to have those cups would be before or ofter your workout. The naturally occurring electrolytes you get from bone broth—like sodium, potassium and magnesium—make it a solid hydration choice pre- or post-workout. Plus, it can contain various amounts of protein, which could help with decreasing muscle protein breakdown after a workout, says Schlicter.

Just don’t count it as part of your daily protein needs, says Kissane—“it’s not a complete protein, so it doesn’t contain all of the essential amino acids,” she explains. Instead, think about pairing it with another protein source and carbohydrates to enhance post-workout recovery.

Just remember, “as with anything, bone broth is not a cure-all or magical solution to a ‘healthy’ diet,” says Schlicter. If you’re looking to strengthen your muscles and connective tissues and boost your recovery, “habits and behaviors always count as well!”

Timothy Olson (Probably) Just Nabbed the FKT on the PCT

After 2,652 miles, 400,000 feet in elevation gain, and more than 51 days, the ultrarunner finished his PCT thru-hike.

Fifty-two days, eight hours, and twenty-five minutes. As of Thursday evening, that’s the record Timothy Olson appears to have beat running from border to border, Mexico to Canada, on the Pacific Crest Trail. Once Olson’s own time is confirmed, he will have completed the PCT faster than anyone ever before. According to his Instagram account, his unconfirmed time is 51 days, 16 hours, and 55 minutes.

When Olson arrived at the northern terminus of the PCT at 10:48 P.M.on Thursday, he seemingly surpassed the record held by Karel Sabbe from Belgium since 2016. An FKT on the PCT, which winds through 2,652 miles of rugged mountain terrain in California, Oregon, and Washington, is one of the most prized speed records in thru-hiking and ultra-running. And for good reason: Olson averaged more than 50 miles a day for seven weeks straight for this record, often at alpine altitudes, gaining more than 400,000 feet in elevation. Not to mention another 400,000 feet of elevation loss.

Olson wore a GPS tracker for the length of his run, and once the data is confirmed, the official time will be released. (The complete tracker data has yet to be made public.) He started his journey in Campo, California, on June 1, which suggests he beat Sabbe’s time by less than 24 hours. The record comparison is complicated by the fact that trail adjustments, closures, and above all, seasonal wildfires, mean that the Pacific Crest Trail varies in route and length every year. This means that Olson, along with every thru-hiker, had to improvise: at least once, Olson ran up to a trail closure, turned around, ran back to a trailhead, and was driven to the other side of the closure. The extra added miles approximately equaled the distance of the closure, so even if Olson could not run every mile of the trail, he likely ran as many miles, if not slightly more.

Olson is not an amateur athlete, and this isn’t his first ultrarunning record. He once held the record for the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run, which he won in 2012 and 2013. But running the PCT is a fundamentally different challenge, physically and logistically.

Many FKT attempts on the country’s “triple crown” of thru-hikes, which also includes the Appalachian Trail and the Continental Divide Trail, end in failure, often due to injury, inclement weather, or sheer exhaustion. Olson was supported by a team of seven following along in two RVs, rendezvousing with Olson as he passed through trailheads, and handling logistics like food and laundry. Most nights, Olson slept in an RV. But in several especially isolated sections, such as the Sierra Nevada, Olson spent the night alone, sleeping on the ground along the trail Sweetening the moment of victory for Olson is that his wife and fellow ultrarunner, Krista Olson, is eight months pregnant with their first daughter. “Each step of the journey, I am connected to my family,” Olson wrote on his Instagram as he ran through Snoqualmie Pass in Washington. Krista and both of his sons, Tristan, 8, and Kai, 5, were active members of his support team, meeting him at trailheads and assisting with logistics. Sometimes, his sons even joined him for brief sections of trail.

In addition to record-chasing, trail running has helped the Olsons cope with loss—in particular, two miscarriages they experienced before their current pregnancy. As part of the FKT attempt, they’ve been raising money for Return to Zero: H.O.P.E., a non-profit that supports families going through pregnancy loss or baby loss.

Thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail is an elite physical challenge, even at a normal pace. In 2019, the Pacific Crest Trail Association issued 5,441 thru-hike permits, and another 2,437 permits for section hikes. Of those, only 1,181 people self-reported as having completed the entire PCT. Typically, thru-hikers finish in five to six months, carrying their own food and gear, and sleeping in tents each night. Completing the trail in less than two months, and the logistics needed to make an FKT attempt possible, registers on an altogether different scale of magnitude.

“In a normal year, only around one-fifth of the people who set out to hike the entire PCT actually succeed,” says Scott Wilkinson of the Pacific Crest Trail Association. “To travel the entire trail in a single season is remarkable. To do it faster than anyone ever has? It’s mind-boggling.”

The number of thru-hikers grows each year, as does the number of competitive ultrarunners. For those reasons, Olson’s FKT attempt certainly won’t be the last. But for now, he can rest easy knowing that he is very likely the fastest known PCT thru-hiker of all-time.

2021 Badwater 135 Results: McRae Wins First Women’s Title, Lewis Gains Second Men’s Win

On Monday night, the 44th Badwater 135 Mile kicked off in Death Valley, California. In a field headlined by former male champs and women vying to become first-time winners, the first finishers rolled across the finish line at Whitney Portal, California on Tuesday night.

The race started in three waves at 8:00 p.m., 9:30 p.m., and 11:00 p.m Monday night, and the full field will cross the finish line before the 48-hour cutoff on Wednesday evening.

The Badwater 135 covers three mountain ranges for a total of 14,600 feet (4,450 meters) of cumulative vertical ascent and 6,100 feet (1,859 meters) of cumulative descent. Course conditions figured to be especially severe this year, as heat waves continue to rake the American West. As I write this sentence, the heat index in Death Valley is 117 degrees Fahrenheit; at Whitney Portal, it’s 100 degrees.

2021 Badwater 135 Men’s Race

In a field stacked with previous race winners, 45-year-old Harvey Lewis pulled off his second Badwater 135 victory. The Ohioan spent most of the race in a three-man weave with Ukrainian Igor Gotsuliak and Russian Sergey Ionov, who took second and third respectively. Lewis checked in almost an hour behind Gotsuliak for the lead at mile 90 but blistered past the Ukrainian to take a one-hour lead by mile 122. He’d previously won the event in 2014, and this was his 10th finish and fifth podium.

The lead pack distanced itself from a loaded field. In addition to Lewis, three other Badwater winners returned in 2021 with four total gold medals between them. Michele Graglia won in 2018, Pete Kostelnick won in 2015 and 2016, and Oswaldo Lopez won in 2011. Kostelnick was especially hot in 2016 when he set the men’s 20-29 age-group record with a 21:56:32. However, he didn’t finish in 2021, dropping out between miles 90 and 122. Graglia was also a DNF. And Lopez finished this year’s event in 10th place with a time of 31:46:04.

2021 Badwater 135 Men’s Results

1. Harvey Lewis – 25:50:23

2. Igor Gotsuliak (Ukraine) – 26:35:08

3. Sergey Ionov (Russia) – 26:49:06

4. Kenneth Ringled – 28:56:37

5. Mark Wooten – 29:39:02

76-Year-Old Attempts to Break Age Record

Notably, Bob Becker aimed to become the oldest competitor ever to finish, at 76. Jack Denness set the current record with a 59-hour push at age 75 in 2010. Becker’s bid fell short — word from the course was that he retired from the race around mile 50 with physical issues; the results mark him as a DNF.

2021 Badwater 135 Women’s Race

In her first return to the Badwater 135 since a seventh-place finish in 2018, Sally McRae took the women’s field in 30:48:47. After McRae overtook and distanced herself from then-leader Suzi Swinehart midway, she left little reason to doubt she would win, finishing two hours and 49 minutes ahead of Norma Roberts in second place. Swinehart ultimately took third, improving on her sixth-place finish in the 2019 race. Caryn Lubetsky finished in fourth place, just a half hour behind third-place Roberts. And Jessica Hardy was 2021’s fifth-place woman.

Other notables included 2019’s third-place finisher Lisa DeVona, who was laboring at the middle/back of the pack at the time of publication.

2021 Badwater 135 Women’s Results

1. Sally McRae – 30:48:47

2. Norma Roberts (Canada) – 33:37:49

3. Suzi Swinehart – 34:24:33

4. Caryn Lubetsky – 34:56:11

5. Jessica Hardy – 35:56:47

When Their Training Spot Got Turned Into a Vaccination Site, These National Champions Trained in Their School Hallways

The team from the Bronx normally trains at the Armory, which was converted to a COVID-19 vaccination site.

Less than a mile from Yankee Stadium in the Bronx sits Cardinal Hayes High School, an all-boys Catholic school that can now call itself track and field national champions. Earlier this month, the 4x200-meter relay team, anchored by Travis Williams, 18, won a national championship for the event and set a Hayward Field facility high school record of 1:26:36.

“This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Tavon Williams, 18 (no relation to Travis), told Runner’s World. “I was walking around, looking at people run, knowing that Olympians ran on that track [at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in June]. My little brother came with me, and it was good to see him watch me medal and run fast.”

The team—coached by Cardinal Hayes alumnus, Craig Joseph—includes Jaavier Jackson, 17, Tavon Williams, 18, Jaden Barrett, 18, Travis Williams, 18, and alternate Kenneth Maxwell, 17.

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The squad was up against the best high school runners in the world, and it wasn’t until the race’s second leg—Tavon—did the team start to smell victory.

“I realized we were going to win when I was seeing how Tavon was able to accelerate, put us into first place, and then maintain that position,” Jackson, who ran the first leg, told Runner’s World. “There were a lot of obstacles, but once I saw my teammates take over and extend, I felt a lot more confident.”

Travis called the moment he crossed the finish line in first place surreal.

“We accomplished a goal at the end of our season, and it was life-changing,” he told Runner’s World. “COVID struck [last year] and we had to make do with what we had. We did our best and came out national champs.”

To say that the COVID-19 pandemic put up roadblocks in every aspect of life would be an understatement. For the Cardinal Hayes track team, the pandemic took away not only the spring 2020 track season but also its winter training facility: the Armory in Washington Heights.

“We normally have access to the Armory twice a week, but this year, it was a vaccination center and it wasn’t available,” Joseph says.

So, the team took to the hallways of the high school.

The workouts varied—30, 60, 200-meter sprints—but were limited by the length of the halls, sharp turns, and slippery surfaces.

“Sometimes we’d get crazy and run 350s [meters],” Travis says. “We’d do anything we could with the little space we’ve got, but it was really hard to run around the curves at our speed.”

Not to mention, the toll running on hallway surfaces can take on the body.

“Being in the hallways four to five days a week was very challenging,” Joseph says. “We had to manage contact time.”

Plus, Maxwell says, sprinting in a hallway doesn’t translate to a track. But there weren’t other options in the northeast winter.

With a national championship under its belt, the Cardinal Hayes track team is already looking ahead to the next season. Three of the five team members—Barrett, Travis, and Maxwell—will attend college this fall. Barrett will play wide receiver at Wagner College on a football scholarship, Travis will run track at the University of Albany, and Maxwell will run track at Fordham University.

That leaves room for up-and-comers to defend the 4x200-meter title.

But Joseph, who’s been coaching at Cardinal Hayes for 17 years, knows nothing is guaranteed.

“Every year I go into the season with my seniors and say, “It’s your turn. The bar was set last year. How high are you going to raise it?’” Joseph told Runner’s World. “Well, this is a pretty high bar. You can’t go any higher. So next year, we’ll come in and set the bar again. The standard has to be to continue to elevate.”

His athletes know this.

“They’re looking at us. Like, we up there now. We’re number one in the nation,” Tavon said. “Hopefully we go back for another one.”

Betsy Riley and NBC's Olympics Production Team Are to Thank for the Peaking Track Coverage

The network’s Olympics production team is peaking at the right time—thanks, in part, to Betsy Riley, its first female producer.

Track and field reporter Lewis Johnson is live on NBC during the third day of the Olympic Track Trials in Eugene, Oregon—and he’s perched on the steeplechase barrier in front of the water jump.

He explains the origins of the event, from the 1800s in England. Graphics flash on the screen, showing the specifics of the modern-day version of the steeplechase, 28 barriers over a 1.86-mile race. Johnson describes how the barriers don’t move as he tries, unsuccessfully, to hip check the one he was just sitting on.

Then the segment takes a whimsical turn. He walks around to the water side of the jump, kicks off a pair of green Nikes, and wades in. “Oh, that feels so good, Diff,” he says, talking to Leigh Diffey, the lead announcer at the Trials.

As Johnson gets to the deepest portion of the pit, the water is lapping at the bottom of his khaki shorts. He sits down at the edge. “Throw me a towel, man,” he says, before the broadcast cuts to the 17 women lined up at the start of the first heat of the women’s steeplechase.

It’s effective television: In one minute and 17 seconds, the segment has entertained and informed viewers—those who might not know the first thing about one of track’s quirkiest events as well as those who understand the basics of steeple but have never gotten close.

The idea for the segment? That came from the Trials producer, Betsy Riley.

Riley has implemented dozens of changes to NBC’s track broadcasts. Some are obvious improvements, like bringing on two-time Olympian Kara Goucher as a commentator, or using double boxes to keep a camera focused on track action during commercials. Others are behind-the-scenes, out of sight of viewers, but which contribute to better coverage.

The result is that long-suffering track fans, who for decades from their recliners have made a secondary sport of complaining about the way track is aired, suddenly find themselves with little to carp about. In fact, anecdotally at least, they’re happy to tune in, whether it’s on their TVs or phones or tablets, and watch running and field events.

That’s largely because Riley is one of them, a true believer and competitor with a lifelong love of track and field.

A pair of firsts

Riley will make TV history this month when she becomes the first woman to produce track and field at an Olympics for NBC. Network brass plan their coverage of the summer Games around swimming, gymnastics, and track—these three disciplines are the “tentpoles” that anchor the coverage—and in fact, Riley is the first woman to produce any of the sports for NBC at the Games.

“We’re so proud of her,” said Molly Solomon, who is the executive producer for the summer Games, also a first for a woman at NBC. “The fact that she’s producing an ‘A’ venue, track and field, at the Olympics, one of the big three. It’s a huge accomplishment.”

But Riley brushes this aside. While other people are making a big deal out of it, she is not, deflecting attention to the great role models she’s had at NBC, including Solomon, and the team of experts she has around her.

A pair of firsts

Riley will make TV history this month when she becomes the first woman to produce track and field at an Olympics for NBC. Network brass plan their coverage of the summer Games around swimming, gymnastics, and track—these three disciplines are the “tentpoles” that anchor the coverage—and in fact, Riley is the first woman to produce any of the sports for NBC at the Games.

“We’re so proud of her,” said Molly Solomon, who is the executive producer for the summer Games, also a first for a woman at NBC. “The fact that she’s producing an ‘A’ venue, track and field, at the Olympics, one of the big three. It’s a huge accomplishment.”

But Riley brushes this aside. While other people are making a big deal out of it, she is not, deflecting attention to the great role models she’s had at NBC, including Solomon, and the team of experts she has around her.

From there, she raised her hand for anything, filling any role, on coverage of surfing, golf, horse racing, college football, college basketball. And always the Olympics and Olympic sports. These days, she’s also Michele Tafoya’s sideline producer on Sunday Night Football.

Amid the long hours that TV requires, Riley met her husband and got married, and they have two children, ages 4 and 1 1/2. In a year when talk of mothers and motherhood has dominated track and field, Riley has her own story to rival them all.

It was 2017, she was 35 weeks pregnant, and she had just finished producing the Prefontaine Classic, a Diamond League track meet in Eugene. On her flight home to Baltimore, somewhere over the Midwest, her water broke. When the plane landed, she took a cab straight to the hospital, and met her husband there. A few hours later, they welcomed a son—who had jumped the gun by more than a month.

Infinite possibilities

Track and field is among the most complex sports to broadcast, and Riley strives to replicate for viewers at home an experience that would be similar to what happens when spectators are watching live, in the stadium. They can choose to watch running on the track or look to the infield for one or more field events happening simultaneously. How do you get that same sense of the action on screen?

On June 26, the penultimate day of Trials competition, Riley sits in the cramped NBC production truck, staring at 30 different screens displaying various camera angles. On her headset she hears the voices of seven on-air commentators. Riley has field events producer Scott Karpen a few feet to her left and director Charlie Dammeyer inches to her right, so close you could barely hold a discus between them. A countdown until the live show begins. Four minutes. Two minutes.

Into her headset, Riley says in a low voice, “Have a great one, everyone.”

From there, Riley is making constant decisions for the next two hours from an infinite combination of elements: which replays to show, when to air a graphic, when to go to a field events package on the women’s hammer throw that happened earlier in the evening, how much time to devote to Sydney McLaughlin walking toward the track while leaving Diffey enough time to voice the element.

Riley, Dammeyer, and Karpen trust one another completely, which makes Riley’s job easier as she decides which family members and coaches to show, when to go to live interviews with happy athletes who just made the Olympic team (and what to do when one lets an expletive slip, as Elle Purrier St. Pierre did after winning the 1500 meters). Karpen describes the role of producer as “the ultimate multitasking job.”

Her background helped make Riley great, observers say, because she grew up in sports television, filling every position, from the entry level production associate calling graphics to working in the videotape area to being in charge of the tape area. She’s been in the front of the truck as the associate director who assists the director and producer in timing.

“If you do those jobs, when you are promoted to producer, you understand what everyone is doing,” Solomon said. “You understand what they need from their leader. You can synthesize all of it. It’s an amazing skill, but you can have six voices in your headset and hear the right ones at the right time. It’s orchestrated chaos.”

A different person might be ruffled by the pressure, but Riley’s steady demeanor is one of her hallmarks.

“I always admire her measured style in the heat of battle,” Solomon said. “She’s very calm, cool, and collected, but she knows what she wants, and she’s direct. That’s what makes great producers—to have a clear head in the middle of the chaos and be able to communicate to the team and lead the team.”

Riley says her faith in the people around her makes it easy. “Our team is incredible,” she said. “It doesn’t happen without every single person contributing, sharing ideas and then pulling in the same direction when we’re on air. In any successful broadcast, you have great teamwork.”

But she has trouble explaining what is going on in her brain during broadcasts, synthesizing all the camera angles and voices, making scores of journalistic decisions every minute. All she can say is that she’s constantly evaluating: What’s the most important right now?

Building team chemistry

None of it happens by accident. Every live broadcast is the result of months of brainstorming, testing, planning, and coaching.

“People at home see the ultimate product,” Karpen explains. “They don’t see the months and years and hours of thought and time she’s put into this. Nothing happens overnight. It’s because Betsy was somewhere in the world thinking, ‘How can we get better?’ And pushing people to think about this. It’s not show up and let’s make TV. This is hours and years to get to that one moment.”

Riley is known for listening at meetings, soliciting input from anyone who wants to contribute, giving serious consideration to all ideas.

“One thing I absolutely respect about her is that nothing is a bad idea,” Dammeyer said. “Ideas come from everywhere. She’s asking everyone, ‘What do you think?’ Everyone has a seat at the table, from Ato [Boldon] to Leigh to the graphics production assistant. Everybody’s voice counts.”

When Goucher first started doing on-air commentary for NBC this spring, Riley gave her extra coaching sessions, telling her what she was doing well and what she needed to improve. On the live broadcast, Riley is in Goucher’s ear.

Goucher remembers watching Abbey Cooper pull away in the early laps of the first round of the women’s 5,000 meters, trying to get the Olympic standard on her own in the Eugene heat. “I was like, ‘This is crazy.’ Betsy was in my ear. ‘Why is this hard? Tell the audience why this is hard.’ She gives me little cues.”

Goucher has been one of the revelations of the track season—a hit with viewers for the passion she brings and the insights she shares, gleaned from her own career as an athlete. But nothing motivates her as much as her producer’s live coaching. “If I do something that she likes, she says, ‘Well done.’ She’ll give you a little feedback as you’re going, which I find super helpful.”

Which isn’t to say that it’s always roses. Boldon has been working NBC broadcasts for 14 years. In 2019, around the time of the Prefontaine Classic, he and the other commentators and members of the production team were summoned to a meeting.

“You know how when a team is playing really badly and you have a players-only meeting?” he said. “Right. We had one of those. The chemistry wasn’t right, the flow wasn’t right. It was watching a team of really good players play badly because they can’t play with each other.”

In Boldon’s telling, Riley led the meeting and didn’t mince words with her assessment of what needed to improve. The message? “Swimming and gymnastics get the baton and we have to bring it home for NBC,” Boldon said. “Everyone in that room was as serious as a heart attack. She came with receipts. She came with video—she had put together a whole package. ‘Look at this. What’s wrong with this? Can we do better here?’”

It was a turning point. “I think the broadcast we did from the Eugene Trials was the best Trials broadcast I’ve ever been a part of,” he said.

A network’s core values

NBC coverage—no matter who the producer is—focuses on two things, according to Riley. First, getting the sport right. And second, storytelling.

“Sometimes people think of storytelling as a soft human interest story, and that’s possible, but it’s also storytelling about the race itself and the athletic event itself,” Riley said. “Storytelling is part of everything we do at the Olympics.”

Donavan Brazier in a feature about fly fishing before the men’s 800 final? That’s storytelling. Lewis Johnson wading into the water jump pit? Also storytelling. But most important is the race itself. Replays that show Dalilah Muhammad getting out to a fast start in the women’s 400-meter hurdles, or Cole Hocker’s kick to win the men’s 1500 meters are, at their core, about storytelling.

The goal of every sports broadcast is to make the viewer care about who they’re watching. Riley understands this, and she’s not afraid to push the envelope with technology to help viewers better understand track and field.

During the Trials, fans of the distance races rejoiced at coverage that continued through commercials with double boxes. It’s a feature that’s been around for five years, Riley said, but its use is expected now.

“Sponsors are noticing that it’s nice to have action, it’s nice to have people sticking around for those commercials,” she said. “Early on there was definitely an effort to showcase the value of it. Now that we’re five years on, people know that’s expected and what track fans really want.”

Riley has been experimenting with other forms of technology—miles per hour graphics and live leaderboards that show how many meters behind athletes are from the leader. The point, always, is to give the viewer at home deeper understanding.

Heading to Tokyo

On the NBC broadcast in primetime, Riley and her team will make sure track and field is accessible for those who tune into the sport only once every four years. Boldon says Riley has pushed him not to rely on statistics and times. Instead, she’ll be in his ear during broadcasts, urging him along to find a different way to tell stories. “Make me care,” she’ll say. “Make me care.”

But changing technology allows viewers to customize what they see. If hardcore triple jump fans want to watch every minute of triple jump or discus from Tokyo, and not just a highlights package, that’s possible with the cable channels and digital streams.

And that means as the broadcast team heads for Tokyo, they’ve got hours and hours of work ahead of them. For 10 straight days, July 30 to August 8, Riley and the team will be at it, documenting the performances and the emotions they inspire.

“For the TV dorks like we are, our team relishes the opportunity to do lots of TV and cover lots of competition,” Riley said. “That’s really fun stuff.”

Tokyo Olympics preview: marathon-Women's marathon

World record-holder Brigid Kosgei will start as the woman to beat in the marathon when she hits the road on the Games' penultimate day. But she won’t be lacking for formidable opposition.

The 27-year-old Kenyan has been among the best marathon runners on the planet since 2017 when she first threatened the 2:20 barrier at that year's Chicago Marathon, finishing second in 2:20:22. She returned the following year to take the title in 2:18:35 and then returned again in 2019 to smash the world record with a jaw-dropping 2:14:04 performance.

She followed up well with a successful title defence at the London Marathon last October in 2:18:58, winning by more than three minutes to secure her fourth consecutive marathon victory.

Kosgei hasn't contested the distance since and has only raced twice in 2021, so her current form will be somewhat of a mystery. This will also be the first time she has competed at a major championship. Given her marathon pedigree, though, you can expect her to arrive in Sapporo well prepared.

But she'll have plenty of fast company, beginning with her teammates.

Peres Jepchirchir, the two-time world half marathon champion, heads to her first Olympics courtesy of her 2:17:16 victory at the Valencia Marathon last December, the fastest in the world last year. Just over a month earlier, she broke the half marathon world record for a women-only race, clocking 1:05:16 at the World Half Marathon Championships.

They'll also have Ruth Chepngetich, the world champion, for company. Chepngetich clocked 2:17:08 in Dubai in 2019 that currently places her fourth on the world all-time list. After a third-place finish at the London Marathon last October in 2:22:05, Chepngetich returned to action at the Istanbul Half Marathon earlier this year when she broke the world record in a mixed race, clocking 1:04:02.

That Kenyan trio is about as good as they come. But the Ethiopian team isn't too far off that mark.

Birhane Dibaba clocked 2:18:35 to finish second in Tokyo last year, one of the fastest performances of 2020. Teammate Roza Dereje was even faster a few months earlier, clocking 2:18:30 in Valencia in December 2019. Zeineba Yimer, 23, is another rising star, clocking 2:19:28 and 2:19:54 at the 2019 and 2020 editions of the Valencia Marathon.

Expect Israeli record-holder Lonah Salpeter to be in the hunt. The 32-year-old broke into the all-time top-10 after a sensational 2:17:45 run to win the 2020 Tokyo Marathon and has tuned up with a solid but pressure-free 2:22:37 run at home in March.

Helalia Johannes of Namibia, the surprise bronze medallist at the 2019 World Championships, also made a notable jump last year into the sub-2:20 club, finishing third in Valencia in 2:19:52. She'll turn 41 the week after the Olympics ends and is showing few signs of slowing down. Winner of the Commonwealth title in 2018, Johannes excels in championship races held in hot conditions.

Japan will be well represented by a pair of consistent runners who could be ready to challenge for the podium. Mao Ichiyama has a 2:20:29 lifetime best from her victory at the 2020 Nagoya Marathon and was nearly as fast the following year when winning in Osaka in 2:21:11. Meanwhile, Mizuki Matsuda clocked 2:21:47 to win the Osaka Marathon in 2020 and 2:21:51 to win Nagoya earlier this year.

Tokyo Olympics preview: Mens marathon

Five years ago, marathon world record-holder Eliud Kipchoge was the last champion crowned at the Olympic Games in Rio. He'll be aiming to replicate that achievement in Sapporo on 8 August, the final day of the postponed Tokyo 2020 Games.

Successfully defending any title over the marathon distance is no easy task. Only two runners have managed the feat at the Olympics: 1960 and 1964 champion Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia and East German Waldemar Cierpinski, the winner in Montreal in 1976 and Moscow in 1980. Over the course of his career, Kipchoge has arguably achieved more than both of those legendary marathoners: he's broken the world record, which currently stands at 2:01:39, and pieced together a 10-race unbeaten streak over a five-year stretch which included victories at most of the world's most prestigious races, a record unparalleled in modern marathon running.

That streak finally came to a halt at the London Marathon in 2020, where he finished eighth in 2:06:49, the slowest marathon of his career. But he bounced back in April, winning in Enschede in 2:04:30. Four men have run faster this year in a season still battered by pandemic cancellations, but it was nonetheless a performance which illustrated that Kipchoge is fully capable of winning, even at 36. Indeed, he's widely considered a grand old man of the distance these days, a characterisation that certainly fits at this year's Games when only 11 of the 115 entrants are older.

Picking favourites in a marathon is difficult at the best of times. Throw a pandemic into the picture that ravaged the road racing season over the past 16 months, and it becomes a near impossible task.

That said, Kipchoge can expect a strong challenge from the Ethiopian squad, led by world champion Lelisa Desisa, Shura Kitata and Sisay Lemma. Desisa hasn't run under 2:06 since 2018 but his performance in Doha's difficult conditions in 2019 bodes well for a mid-summer marathon that is also expected to endure warm temperatures. Kitata won the London race that ended Kipchoge's streak, clocking 2:05:41, while Lemma has raced well in recent big city marathons, finishing third in both Berlin in 2019 (2:03:36) and Tokyo (2:04:51) in 2020.

But both of Kipchoge's teammates have run faster more recently, suggesting ambitions to claim more than one podium spot. Lawrence Cherono and Amos Korir earned their spots after finishing second and fourth at last year's Valencia Marathon in 2:03:04 and 2:03:30, respectively, the second and fourth fastest times of 2020.

Stephen Kiprotich, the 2012 Olympic champion and 2013 world champion, leads the Ugandan squad, returning for another shot after a 14th-place finish in Rio. But his most recent top-two finish dates back to 2017 when was second in Fukuoka so Ugandans will have higher hopes for Felix Chemonges, who has a 2:05:12 lifetime best from the 2019 Toronto Marathon, and Fred Musobo, whose 2:06:56 best was set in Daegu in 2019.

Belgian Bashir Abdi could also be factor. The 32-year-old improved his national record to 2:04:20 at the Tokyo Marathon last year. Other notables include Galen Rupp, the 2016 bronze medallist, who earned his return ticket after his victory at the US trials in Atlanta in February last year.

The marathon-mad host nation's hopes lie with Suguru Osako, who broke his own national record with a 2:05:29 run at the Tokyo Marathon in 2020, finishing fourth. He'll be joined by Marathon Grand Championships winner Shogo Nakamura and Yuma Hattori who has a 2:07:27 PB from 2018.

The field also includes Tachlowini Gabriyesos, a 23-year-old Eritrean native who clocked 2:10:55 at the Hahula Galilee Marathon on 14 March to become the first refugee athlete to better an Olympic qualifying standard.

Ankle injury rules out Kenya's Geoffrey Kamworor at Olympics

Kenyan 10,000 meters runner and 2019 New York Marathon winner Geoffrey Kamworor has pulled out of the Tokyo Olympics due to an ankle injury, he told BBC Sport Africa on Thursday.

The 28-year-old is a three times world Half Marathon champion, and previous world record holder, and had hopes of a medal in the 10,000m after winning the national trials.

He won silver at the 2015 world championships in Beijing, behind Britain's Mo Farah.

The injury comes after he was hit by a motorcycle while training near his home in June last year, suffering a fractured tibia.

"These are obstacles which can come on your way when you come back from a tough injury earlier on. It's only now extremely bad timing," the BBC quoted his manager Valentijn Trouw as saying.

Setting a good running goal can keep you motivated and engaged with your training plan

Setting goals is a really great way to stay motivated and on track with your training, but they can actually have a negative impact on your progress if you don’t choose them wisely. Set a goal that’s too easy and you won’t see improvement, set a goal that’s too hard and you’ll lose your motivation. Check out these tips for choosing a running goal that’s appropriate for your experience and ability, so you can continue to get excited about running and continue to progress.

New to running? Start short-term

It can be hard to know what an appropriate goal should be when you’ve just started, so don’t be afraid to start small and change your goal as you get better. In fact, this is the time during your running life when your goal will likely be changing the most frequently. This is also the time when you’re the most likely to give up your running routine, so choosing an appropriate goal that’s achievable in the short term is crucial. Try setting a new goal each week, for example, “this week I’m going to run for 20 minutes on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.” Once you’ve accomplished that, you can adjust your goal the following week to “this week, I’m going to run for 25 minutes on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.” Focusing on one week at a time prevents running from feeling overwhelming, and before you know it, several weeks or months will have gone by when you’ve been running.

Have more than one goal

If you’re goal-setting for a longer period (for example, an entire year or for the fall racing season), having a good, better and best goal can take the pressure off just having one. The “good” goal should be something that is definitely in your reach. The “better” goal is the next step up from there, once you’ve achieved your first goal. The “best” goal is your best-case scenario, if-everything-goes-amazing goal. For example, if you’re training for your first marathon, your good goal may be to simply get to the finish line, your better goal may be to finish in under five hours, and your best goal may be to finish in under 4:30. Don’t be afraid to shoot for the moon with that third goal — it is, after all, your best-case scenario.

Don’t be afraid to adapt

Things happen and sometimes even the best-laid plans get ruined. If something happens (like an injury, a difficult life event, etc.) that makes it impossible to achieve the goals you originally set for yourself, it’s normal to be upset. While it is disappointing to have to abandon your goals, they’ll likely still be there when the time is right, so for now, adapt them to your situation. For example, if you were training to qualify for the Boston Marathon but got injured part-way through, make it your new goal to do everything your physiotherapist says, rehab your injury and come back stronger next time.

Get a coach

It can be challenging to look at ourselves objectively in order to determine what’s an appropriate goal for us and what’s not. This is where a good coach can be really helpful. This person will be able to watch how you progress throughout your training and figure out goals that will challenge you, but that won’t be unachievable.

Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon cancelled for 2021

Put your running shoes and guitars away. The Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon has been cancelled.

The organization notified Seattle participants of the cancellation in an email Wednesday, citing constraints with “local law enforcement resources and the strain any additional events could have in negatively affecting the community.”

The next Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in Seattle is slated for June 12, 2022.

“This is certainly not the news any of us wanted and we recognize that this latest setback is a significant disappointment after multiple event updates,” the organization wrote.

The 2020 Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon, which local rap legend Sir Mix-A-Lot was slated to headline, was delayed due to the pandemic. This year’s event was initially scheduled for June 12-13 before it was postponed to Aug 21-22.

There is no refund option.

Anyone registered for the Seattle 2021 Rock ‘n’ Roll running series will be automatically registered for the 2022 event. Participants can also transfer their registration for a different event or location by Aug. 4.

Other Rock ‘n’ Roll events are currently scheduled to be held this year in Virginia Beach, Virginia; San Jose, California; San Diego; Savannah, Georgia; San Antonio; Nashville, Tennessee; and Washington, D.C.

All eyes were on the Tokyo's Olympic Stadium, 69 athletes from the sport of athletics were among the flag bearers when the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 got under way

For the first time, each nation can be represented by two flag bearers, with 38 women and 31 men leading their nations before going on to compete in athletics at the Games.

A number of these athletes could also make history for their country when athletics action begins on 30 July and here are some of the stars to watch out for. 

Hugues Fabrice Zango, triple jump - Burkina Faso

Zango became the first athlete from his nation to win a World Championships medal thanks to his third place in Doha and now he could become the first person from Burkina Faso to win an Olympic medal in any sport. The 27-year-old broke the world indoor triple jump record of 18.07m in Aubiere in January and has also leapt a PB of 17.82m outdoors this year.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, 100m, 200m and 4x100m - Jamaica

Sprint star Fraser-Pryce will be looking to regain the 100m title after her wins in 2008 and 2012 and add further medals to a collection which also includes two 4x100m silvers, a 200m silver and a 200m bronze. The 10.63 she ran in Kingston in June puts her second on the world 100m all-time list.

Joseph Fahnbulleh, 200m - Liberia

No athlete from Liberia has ever finished in the top eight in their event at the Olympics, let alone won a medal, and sprinter Fahnbulleh will be looking to change that when he takes to the track for the 200m. The 19-year-old ran a PB of 19.91 to win the NCAA title in June.

Thea LaFond, triple jump - Dominica 

Dominica hasn’t yet won a medal in any Olympic sport but if she progresses beyond the qualifying round then triple jumper LaFond – who holds the national records of 14.54m indoors and 14.38m outdoors – will make further history for her nation, as no athlete from Dominica has ever competed in an Olympic final.

Alex Rose, discus - Samoa

Rose competed at the Rio Olympics in 2016, placing 29th in discus qualifying, but he’s keen to become the first Samoan athlete ever to reach an Olympic final. He improved his national record to 67.48m in May. 

Athletics flag bearers at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Afghanistan (AFG) - Kimia Yousofi (women’s 100m)

Albania (ALB) - Luiza Gega (women’s 3000m steeplechase)

Andorra (AND) - Pol Moya (men’s 800m)

Antigua and Barbuda (ANT) - Cejhae Greene(men’s 100m)

Bahamas (BAH) - Donald Thomas (men’s high jump)

Belize (BIZ) - Samantha Dirks (women’s 400m) and Shaun Gill (men’s 100m)

Belgium (BEL) - Nafissatou Thiam (heptathlon) 

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) - Amel Tuka (men’s 800m)

Botswana (BOT) - Amantle Montsho (women’s 400m)

Burkina Faso (BUR) - Hugues Fabrice Zango (men’s triple jump)

British Virgin Islands (IVB) - Kyron McMaster (men’s 400m hurdles)

Cambodia (CAM) - Sokong Pen (men’s 100m)

Cape Verde (CPV) - Jordin Andrade (men’s 400m hurdles)

Central African Republic (CAF) - Francky Mbotto (men’s 800m)

Colombia (COL) - Caterine Ibarguen (women’s triple jump)

Comoros (COM) - Amed Elna (women’s 100m) and Fadane Hamadi (men’s 110m hurdles)

Congo (CGO) - Natacha Ngoye Akamabi (women’s 100m)

Costa Rica (CRC) - Andrea Vargas (100m hurdles)

Croatia (CRO) - Sandra Perkovic (women’s discus)

Cuba (CUB) - Yaime Perez (women’s discus)

Cyprus (CYP) - Milan Trajkovic (110m hurdles)

Denmark (DEN) - Sara Peterson (women’s 400m hurdles)

Dominica (DMA) - Thea Lafond (women’s triple jump) and Dennick Luke (men’s 800m)

Equatorial Guinea (GEQ) - Alba Mbo Nchama (women’s 100m) and Benjamin Enzema (men’s 1500m)

Eritrea (ERI) - Nazret Weldu (women’s marathon)

Gambia (GAM) - Gina Bass (women’s 100m and 200m) and Ebrima Camara (men’s 100m)

Ghana (GHA) - Nadia Eke (women’s triple jump)

Guam (GUM) - Regine Kate Tugade (women’s 100m)

Israel (ISR) - Hanna Minenko (women’s triple jump)

Ivory Coast (CIV) - Marie-Josee Ta Lou (women’s 100m and 200m)

Jamaica (JAM) - Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (women's 100m, 200m and 4x100m)

Kazakhstan (KAZ) - Olga Rypakova (women’s triple jump)

Lao People's Democratic Republic (LAO) - Silina Pha Aphay (women’s 100m)

Liberia (LBR) - Ebony Morrison (women’s 100m hurdles) and Joseph Fahnbulleh (men’s 200m)

Mauritania (MTN) - Houleye Ba (women’s 100m) and Abidine Abidine (men’s 5000m)

Micronesia (FSM) - Scott James Fiti (men’s 100m)

Nauru (NRU) - Jonah Harris (men’s 100m)

Netherlands (NED) - Churandy Martina (men’s 4x100m)

Palau (PLW) - Adrian Justin Jimena Ililau (men’s 100m)

Panama (PAN) - Alonso Edward (men’s 200m)

Portugal (POR) - Nelson Evora (men’s triple jump)Refugee Olympic Team (EOR) - Tachlowini

Gabriyesos (marathon)

Rwanda (RWA) - John Hakizimana (men’s marathon)

Saint Kitts and Nevis (SKN) - Amya Clarke (women’s 100m) and Jason Rogers (men’s 100m)

Saint Lucia (LCA) - Levern Spencer (women’s high jump)

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (VIN) - Shafiqua Maloney (women’s 800m)

Samoa (SAM) - Alex Rose (men’s discus)Sao Tome and Principe (STP) - D'Jamila Tavares (women’s 800m)

Saudi Arabia (KSA) - Yasmeen Al Dabbagh (women's 100m)

Sierra Leone (SLE) - Maggie Barrie (women’s 100m)

Solomon Islands (SOL) - Sharon Firisua (women’s marathon)

Somalia (SOM) - Ali Idow Hassan (men’s 1500m)

South Sudan (SSD) - Lucia Moris (women’s 200m) and Abraham Guem (men’s 1500m)

Switzerland (SUI) - Mujinga Kambundji (women's 100m, 200m and 4x100m)

Timor Leste (TLS) - Felisberto de Deus (men’s 1500m)

Trinidad and Tobago (TTO) - Kelly-Ann Baptiste (women’s 100m and 4x100m)

Tuvalu (TUV) - Matie Stanley (women’s 100m) and Karalo Hepoiteloto Maibuca (men’s 100m)

Uruguay (URU) - Deborah Rodriguez (women’s 800m)

Vietnam (VIE) - Thi Lan Quach (women’s 400m hurdles)

Tokyo Olympics Track and Field, marathon and Race Walking schedule

Here is the Tokyo Olympic track and field events scheduled. These events will take place July 30-Aug. 8 at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium. Sapporo Odori Park will host the race walks and marathon. All times are Eastern Times.

Full schedule (events in chronological order)

July 29

8-8:15 p.m. ET: Men’s 400m hurdles round 1; women’s 800m round 1; men’s steeplechase round 1; women’s 100 m round 1; men’s high jump qualifying; men’s discus qualifying

July 30

6-7:30 a.m. ET: Women’s 5000m round 1; women’s triple jump qualifying; women’s shot put qualifying; mixed 4x400m relay round 1; men’s 10,000m final; 8-10:35 p.m. ET —Women’s 400m hurdles round 1; women’s discus throw qualifying; men’s pole vault qualifying; men’s 800m round 1; women’s 100m hurdles round 1; men’s 100m preliminary round

July 31

6:10-8:50 a.m. ET: Men’s long jump qualifying; women’s 100m semifinals; men’s 100m round 1; men’s discus throw final; women’s 800m semifinals; mixed 4x400m relay final; women’s 100m final

8:10-9:45 p.m. ET: Women’s hammer throw qualifying; women’s 3,000m steeplechase round 1; women’s long jump qualifying; women’s shot put final; men’s 400m round 1

Aug. 1

6:10-8:50 a.m. ET: Men’s high jump final; men’s 100m semifinals; women’s 100m hurdles semifinals; women’s triple jump final; men’s 800m semifinals; men’s 400m hurdles semifinals; men’s 100m final

8-10:50 p.m. ET: Men’s hammer throw qualifying; women’s 1500m round 1; men’s long jump final; women’s 200m round 1; women’s 100m hurdles final

Aug. 2

6:20-8:40 a.m. ET: Women’s pole vault qualifying; women’s 200m semifinals; women’s discus throw final; men’s 400m semifinals; women’s 400m hurdles semifinals; men’s 3000m steeplechase final; women’s 5,000m final

8-11:20 p.m. ET: Men’s triple jump qualifying; men’s 1500m round 1; women’s javelin throw qualifying; women’s 400m round 1; women’s long jump final; men’s 200m round 1; men’s 400m hurdles final

Aug. 3

6:10-8:50 a.m. ET: Men’s 110m hurdles round 1; men’s shot put qualifying; men’s pole vault final; men’s 5,000m round 1; women’s hammer throw final; men’s 200m semifinals; women’s 800m final; women’s 200m final

8-10:40 p.m. ET: Men’s decathlon (100m); men’s javelin throw qualifying; women’s heptathlon (100m hurdles); men’s decathlon (long jump); women’s heptathlon (high jump); men’s 110m hurdles semifinals; women’s 400m hurdles final; men’s decathlon shot put

Aug. 4

5:30-8:55 a.m. ET: Men’s decathlon (high jump); women’s 1,500m semifinals; women’s heptathlon (shot put); women’s 400m semifinals; women’s 3000m steeplechase final; men’s hammer throw final; women’s heptathlon (200m); men’s 800m final; men’s decathlon (400m); men’s 200m final

8-11:45 p.m. ET: Men’s decathlon (110m hurdles); women’s high jump qualifying; women’s heptathlon (long jump); men’s decathlon (discus throw); women’s 4x100m relay round 1; men’s triple jump final; men’s shot put final; men’s 4x100m relay round 1; men’s 110m hurdles final; women’s heptathlon (javelin throw); men’s decathlon (pole vault)

Aug. 5

3:30 a.m. ET: Men’s 20km race walk

6:15-8:40 a.m. ET: Men’s decathlon (javelin throw); women’s pole vault final; women’s 4x400m relay round 1; men’s 1500m semifinals; men’s 400m final; women’s heptathlon (800m); men’s decathlon (1,500m)

4:30 p.m. ET: Men’s 50km race walk

Aug. 6

3:30 a.m. ET: Women’s 20km race walk

7:25-9:50 a.m. ET: Men’s 4x100m relay round 1; women’s javelin throw final; men’s 5,000m final; women’s 400m final; women’s 1,500m final; women’s 4x100m relay final; men’s 4x100m relay final

6 p.m. ET: Women’s marathon

Aug. 7

6:35-8:50 a.m. ET: Women’s high jump final; women’s 10,000m; men’s javelin throw final; men’s 1,500m final; men’s 1500m final; women’s 4x400m relay final; men’s 4x400m relay final

6 p.m. ET: Men’s marathon

Olympics ceremony director fired over Holocaust joke

The Tokyo Olympic organizing committee fired the director of the opening ceremony on Thursday because of a Holocaust joke he made during a comedy show in 1998.

Organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said a day ahead of the opening ceremony that director Kentaro Kobayashi has been dismissed. He was accused of using a joke about the Holocaust in his comedy act, including the phrase “Let’s play Holocaust.”

“We found out that Mr. Kobayashi, in his own performance, has used a phrase ridiculing a historical tragedy,” Hashimoto said. “We deeply apologize for causing such a development the day before the opening ceremony and for causing troubles and concerns to many involved parties as well as the people in Tokyo and the rest of the country.”

Tokyo has been plagued with scandals since being awarded the Games in 2013. French investigators are looking into alleged bribes paid to International Olympic Committee members to influence the vote for Tokyo. The fallout forced the resignation two years ago of Tsunekazu Takeda, who headed the Japanese Olympic Committee and was an IOC member.

The opening ceremony of the pandemic-delayed Games is scheduled for Friday. The ceremony will be held without spectators as a measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus infections, although some officials, guests and media will attend.

“We are going to have the opening ceremony tomorrow and, yes, I am sure there are a lot of people who are not feeling easy about the opening of the Games,” Hashimoto said. “But we are going to open the Games tomorrow under this difficult situation.”

Earlier this week, composer Keigo Oyamada, whose music was to be used at the ceremony, was forced to resign because of past bullying of his classmates, which he boasted about in magazine interviews. The segment of his music will not be used.

Soon after a video clip and script of Kobayashi’s performance were revealed, criticism flooded social media.

“Any person, no matter how creative, does not have the right to mock the victims of the Nazi genocide,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean and global social action director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Los Angeles-based human rights group.

He also noted that the Nazis gassed Germans with disabilities.

“Any association of this person to the Tokyo Olympics would insult the memory of 6 million Jews and make a cruel mockery of the Paralympics,” he said.

Kobayashi is a former member of a popular comedy duo Rahmens and known overseas for comedy series including “The Japanese Tradition.”

Japan is pushing ahead with the Olympics against the advice of most of its medical experts. This is partially due to pressure from the IOC, which is estimated to face losses of $3 billion to $4 billion in television rights income if the Games were not held.

The official cost of the Olympics is $15.4 billion, but government audits suggest it’s much more. All but $6.7 billion is public money.

“We have been preparing for the last year to send a positive message,” Hashimoto said. “Toward the very end now there are so many incidents that give a negative image toward Tokyo 2020.”

Toshiro Muto, the CEO of the Tokyo organizing committee, also acknowledged the reputational damage.

“Maybe these negative incidents will impact the positive message we wanted to deliver to the world,” he said.

3x3x3 exercise routines for runners and all you need is a pair of dumbbells

The July/August issue of Canadian Running Magazine has hit the newsstands and Newfoundland’s Jon-Erik Kawamoto is back with another strength workout for runners. While many of his recent workouts have featured bodyweight movements for at-home strength training, this routine features dumbbells for runners who’ve built themselves a home gym, or who’ve ventured back to their local gym as the country has slowly lifted COVID-19 restrictions. Try this workout yourself, and as always, be sure to grab yourself a print copy of the latest print edition of Canadian Running.

Kawamoto understands there are many runners out there who’d rather be out running than spending hours in the gym, so he designed these routines to take only about 20 minutes. He has created three separate workouts featuring three exercises, and you only have to do three sets of each, hence the name 3x3x3. All you need to perform these workouts are some light to medium dumbbells, or as he says in the video, you can just use your own body weight if you’re new to strength training.

Even though strength training may not be your favourite thing, Kawamoto explains in the video that it’s an important part of your training if you want a body that is resilient, that is strong for running and a body that has better running economy. This, he says, will help you train for several months while decreasing your risk for injuries and helping you to run faster and longer.

If you’re new to strength training, be sure to watch the video as Kawamoto takes you through each exercise and explains how to perform them safely and effectively. If you like this routine, be sure to check out his other videos in the Canadian Running archives, and be sure to grab the next issue of the print magazine to see what workout he covers next.

Jon-Erik Kawamoto, MSc, CSCS, CEP, is a strength and conditioning coach, a regular contributor to Canadian Running and co-owner of JKConditioning, a personal training, nutrition and run coaching company in St. John’s, Nfld. Find out more at JKConditioning.com

RUNCZECH PRAGUE RACES CANCELED BECAUSE THEY ARE TOO BIG TO TAKE PLACE DURING PANDEMIC.

With social distancing and other limiting rules still in place for mass participation events, as well as with all uncertainties surrounded by new waves of virus mutations, RunCzech has elected to cancel their highly popular Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon and the Birell Prague Grand Prix, planned for September 4-5, as well as the Prague Relay planned for August 25.

Staging a world class event requires months of preparations, which the organizers don’t have at disposal under the circumstances, and RunCzech prizes quality too much to jeopardize it.

Even if there was more time, considering the size of the events, the organizers would have been required to stagger the start of those races. And with tens of thousands of runners participating, the events would have dragged on endlessly. Staggered starts would have left runners standing around for hours. It would have been a burden on the volunteers who already give so much. And it would have shut down the city for far too long.

According to Mr. Capalbo, the president of the organizing committee, “the citizens of Prague enthusiastically support what we’re doing here. They celebrate with us. But closing the city for whole weekend and keeping everyone waiting that long would be unfair to the runners and to the locals.”

To all registered runners that have paid the entry fee, the organizers are making available the option to either transfer their registration to 2022, or to transform the registration fee into a voucher for the e-shop www.allrunnersarebeautiful.com or to donate their amount to the project ‘Get up and run’ for students that helps to improve the sport facilities in high schools.

Meanwhile, RunCzech is still planning to stage its next regional events, the Generali ÄŒeská Red Run on June 24 and the Mattoni Olomouc Half Marathon on August 14, which are in line with the health and safety measures and are feasible to take place.

On top, starting from August and lasting until the end of October, the organizers offer a free of charge virtual running challenge called Mattoni FreeRun Run & Plog. The project is linked with the Plogging Cesko association and together will inspire runners to collect waste while running and make their region greener.

The destiny of the Volkswagen Prague Marathon and the events in Usti nad Labem, Liberec, and Ceske Budejovice is being discussed and monitored daily. The organizers will release further information in the month of August.

The organization is hopeful that, with more people receiving the Covid vaccine, their regular race schedule will resume soon. In the meantime, Mr. Capalbo has a simple message of hope for runners. “You keep training. And we’ll keep thinking.”

Sifan Hassan eyes unprecedented Olympic track treble

Sifan Hassan may have raised eyebrows when she announced an unprecedented bid for triple Olympic gold in the 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m, but on previous form she looks tailor-made to make history in Tokyo.

The 28-year-old, born in Ethiopia but now a long-time naturalised Dutchwoman, became the first athlete to achieve the 1500 and 10,000m world double in Doha in 2019.

It was a remarkable show of running, especially as it came after the news that her coach Alberto Salazar, the head of the Nike-funded Oregon Project, had been banned for four years over doping-related issues.

"The hardest moment and pressure in my life was in Doha and I handled it," she said earlier this month.

"Tokyo will not be hard."

Hassan certainly did handle it, meeting the furore head-on after she had completed the double.

"If they want to test me they can test me every single day. Every single day," she said.

"I believe in clean sport, I'm always clean, I will always be clean.

"I believe in the Oregon Project (since disbanded by Nike). I've seen Alberto. He's worked really hard and that is what I know."

Hassan failed to bow down to more potential criticism from detractors when she selected former Salazar assistant Tim Rowberry as her new coach.

"Three years ago I made the choice to go to America," she said in 2020 after choosing Rowberry.

"I now have a familiar situation where I feel very much at home.

"I have considered several options and met new people to find the right click, but I believe that my current training situation is the best way to successfully prepare for the Tokyo Olympics."

'I am crazy'

Hassan's treble bid echoes that of the 'Czech Locomotive', Emile Zatopek, who won 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon golds at the 1952 Olympics.

For Hassan it may be more of a challenge in terms of the scheduling with the toughest day on August 2.

She runs the 1500m heats in the morning and then, provided there has not been an upset in qualifying, the 5,000m final in the evening session.  

She would then need to come through the 1500m semi-finals on August 4 with the final two days later.

If it is two from two after that, a sleepless night might beckon ahead of a history-making attempt at the third, the 10,000m final, on August 7.