Running News Daily

Paul Chelimo is set to make marathon debut at Olympic Trials

Paul Chelimo, an Olympic 5000m silver and bronze medalist, will make his marathon debut at the U.S. Olympic Trials on Feb. 3 in Orlando.

“Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of running a marathon… The day has come- this is it!” was posted on his social media Friday.

Chelimo, 33, qualified for the marathon trials by running a 1:02:22 half marathon last April 2, safely quicker than the 1:03:00 minimum to get into the field.

He didn’t publicly commit to racing the marathon trials until now. He could still contest the track trials in June.

“Let’s start by Orlando... then we will see!” Chelimo’s agent wrote in an email when asked about track trials.

At marathon trials, the top three finishers on Feb. 3 are likely to make up the team for Paris. Since Chelimo has never raced a marathon, he also must run 2:11:30 or faster to hit a minimum qualifying time for Olympic eligibility.

Chelimo made five of the last six Olympic or world outdoor championships teams on the track in the 5000m. He won Olympic silver in 2016 and bronze in 2021, the latter being the lone U.S. men’s distance medal at the Tokyo Games.

Now, he joins a recent list of American global track medalists to move up to the marathon after Kara Goucher (2007 World 10,000m silver), Shalane Flanagan (2008 Olympic 10,000m silver), Galen Rupp (2012 Olympic 10,000m silver) and Bernard Lagat (world 5000m medals in 2007, 2009 and 2011).

Jenny Simpson, a world champion and Olympic bronze medalist at 1500m, also plans to make her marathon debut at the Feb. 3 trials.

Rupp made the 2016 Olympic marathon team in his debut at the distance at those trials. Molly Seidel did the same for the Tokyo Games. Each won a bronze medal in their first Olympic marathon.

Rupp, eyeing a fifth Olympics, headlines the men’s trials field along with Conner Mantz, the fastest American marathoner in 2022 and 2023 going for his first Games.

(01/27/2024) Views: 527 ⚡AMP
by Olympic Talk

Nuguse breaks North American indoor mile record at Millrose Games

Yared Nuguse ran the second-fastest indoor mile in history as three national records fell or were equalled in a thrilling men’s Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games. Alicia Monson also set an area record in the 3000m, while Abby Steiner claimed a US record in the 300m at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in New York on Saturday (11).

In the infield, Ryan Crouser demonstrated his effective new shot put technique and Katie Moon returned to her winning ways in the pole vault before a roaring crowd that also cheered runners in competitions from U8 through high school and college.

As always, the men’s Wanamaker mile culminated the meeting, and Nuguse ran away with the race in a world-leading 3:47.38 to claim his second area record of the season to go along with the 3000m.

Pace setter Erik Sowinski brought the runners through half way in 1:52.99 – just as he had been asked – with Nuguse and training mates Mario Garcia Romo and Olli Hoare in the lead group. But Nuguse turned on the jets and covered the final quarter of the race in 54.23, breaking the meeting record, facility record, and crushing Bernard Lagat’s 15-year-old US indoor record of 3:49.98.

“Running that race the way we did,” Nuguse said, “all three of us right there up for the first half of the race, I felt good knowing I had my closest guys having my back. And then that last part was give it everything I had and I was able to close with something crazy and get it.”

Great Britain’s Neil Gourley ran a PB of 3:49.46 to move to sixth on the world indoor all-time list, and Hoare equalled the Oceanian record with 3:50.83. New Zealand’s Sam Tanner ran a PB of 3:51.70, while Romo’s 3:51.79 was a Spanish record.

Yuguse has now eclipsed Hicham El Guerrouj on the all-time list; only Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha has run faster, clocking 3:47.01 in 2019.

“I’m always excited to see what else I can do next,” Nuguse said. “There was definitely a nice confidence boost. After that 3000m (where he broke the US record), I was feeling pretty confident already, but to do this in the event that I love the most and the one that I feel like I’m going for at the world championships, that makes me feel even better.”

Laura Muir won the women’s Wanamaker Mile in 4:20.15, followed by Josette Andrews in 4.20.88. Muir, the Olympic silver medallist, led for most of the race, then Andrews hit the front with two laps to go. But the Briton kicked again on the final lap and went on to win comfortably.

Sprint sensations

World record-holder Christian Coleman took a bow after winning the men’s 60m in a season’s best of 6.47. “I feel like this is what I do best and I came to put on a show,” he said.

Noah Lyles was charged with a false start and ran the race under protest, clocking 6.53, although the time would not count. Lyles, the US record-holder in the 200m outdoors, admitted a little bit of movement, but said his feet never left the pad. “I got a time that I’m very happy to see,” Lyles said. “Everybody knows I’m just here to play around. I’m not a 60-metre runner, but if I can take some heads, I’m going to do it.”

Jamaica’s Travis Williams was awarded second place with a PB of 6.59, followed by Josephus Lyles, Noah’s younger brother, also with a PB of 6.59. Williams edged Lyles by .003.

Aleia Hobbs set an Armory record of 7.04 to win her fourth straight competition, having clocked a world-leading 6.98 at the end of January. Teenager Tamari Davis was second in a PB of 7.08, followed by Marybeth Sant-Price in 7.11, Mikiah Brisco at 7.13 and 17-year-old Shawnti Jackson in 7.16.

“I don’t think my start was as good as it’s been, but I was patient,” Hobbs said.

In only her second 300m, Steiner broke the US record, clocking 35.54 to easily go under Quanera Hayes’ time of 35.71 from 2017. Steiner held off a spirited challenge from Brittany Brown, who ran 36.13.

“It’s definitely one of those races I think you learn a little bit about every time you run it,” said Steiner, who set the collegiate record in her first race.

Although this 300m is her last of the season, she still wants the world record of 35.45, shared by Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Irina Privalova. “I clean up my start a little bit,” Steiner said, “and I think it’s there.”

World indoor champion Jereem Richards of Trinidad & Tobago ran a season’s best of 45.84 to avenge the previous week’s loss to  Noah Williams, who clocked 46.20. In Boston, they were separated by only .004 as both ran 45.88.

Devynne Charlton won the women’s 60m hurdles in 7.91, while Tonea Marshall ran a season’s best of 7.94 and Sharika Nelvis clocked 7.96 to edge Olympic silver medallist Nia Ali in 7.97.

 

(02/12/2023) Views: 761 ⚡AMP

Giants of track and field prepare for battle at Millrose Games

print showdowns, the world’s greatest shot putters and magnificent mile fields highlight the Millrose Games, this season’s fourth World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting, in New York on Saturday (11).

Fresh off a PB and 60m win in Boston, world 200m champion Noah Lyles takes on 60m world record holder and defending Millrose champion Christian Coleman at The Armory, which boasts the nickname ‘The Fastest Track in the World’.

Shot putters Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs open their 2023 campaigns by resuming their fierce rivalry, essentially picking up where they left off last September in Switzerland. As the women’s shot returns to Millrose for the first time since 2003, the event couldn’t ask for a better field led by Chase Ealey, the world champion and world indoor silver medallist.

According to tradition, the Rudin Wanamaker Miles cap the storied meeting, which was founded in 1908. A national record might be needed to win the men’s race, but which country will take the honours? Defending champion Ollie Hoare of Australia, USA’s Yared Nuguse, Sam Tanner of New Zealand and Mario Garcia Romo of Spain are top contenders. Great Britain’s Olympic and world medallist Laura Muir is the favourite in the women’s mile, having already claimed a New York record on the road.

Straight down the middle

Although The Armory is far from the neon lights of Times Square, it’s still a hop, step and a jump from Broadway – and perhaps no athlete enjoys putting on a show more than Lyles.

At the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix Boston, he posted a PB of 6.51, edging Trayvon Bromell by .002. Coleman clocked 6.71 in Fayetteville two weeks ago to open his season, well off his world record of 6.34 set in 2018 when he was also world indoor champion. Lyles, the Olympic 200m bronze medallist, has been working on his start in a bid to double in the 100m and 200m at the World Athletics Championships later this year in Budapest.

Lyles will also attempt to avenge an early season loss to his younger brother Josephus in Florida. Ronnie Baker, the third-fastest 60m runner in history and 2018 world indoor bronze medallist, won this event in 2018 and 2020. Ackeem Blake of Jamaica, Miles Lewis, the Puerto Rican record-holder, and Kendal Williams, who defeated Lyles in Florida but lost to him in Boston, are also in the field.

Aleia Hobbs is seeking her second straight win in the women’s 60m after exploding to a meeting record 7.02 in Boston. She also owns the world-leading time of 6.98, run in Fayetteville in late January. In Boston, Hobbs held off world indoor silver medallist Mikiah Brisco and Celera Barnes, who get another chance to defeat her at Millrose.

 

Melissa Jefferson, who edged Hobbs in the 100m at last year’s USA Championships; world indoor bronze medallist Marybeth Sant-Price, and English Gardner are also in the field. Shawnti Jackson was third at Millrose last year, setting a national high school record of 7.18, and will look to improve both her placement and her time.

Olympic silver medallist Keni Harrison, the Millrose 60m hurdles winner in 2020, will take on 2019 world champion Nia Ali, heptathlete Anna Hall, and Olympians Anna Cockrell, Devynne Charlton and Cindy Sember.

Ring rivalry renewed

The road to Budapest begins for the top shot putters on the planet. World and Olympic champion Crouser will face Kovacs, a double outdoor world champion and two-time Olympic silver medallist.

While Crouser has won at Millrose three years in a row and holds both the indoor and outdoor world records, he knows his compatriot is always in the hunt to topple him. Kovacs set the world-leading mark in 2022 while moving to second on the all-time list and winning the Diamond league final in Zurich. At the season-ending meeting for both, Kovacs won at Bellinzona with a toss of 22.19m, with Crouser next at 22.00m. Tripp Piperi and Nick Ponzio of Italy round out the field.

Ealey had a dream season in 2022, building on her world indoor silver to take the world title in Oregon and then capture the Diamond League title. Compatriots Maggie Ewen, the 2021 Diamond League champion, and Jessica Woodard will challenge Ealey for the first Millrose crown in 20 years, along with Canada’s Commonwealth champion Sarah Mitton.

The women’s pole vault features Katie Moon (formerly Nageotte) and Katerina Stefanidi, the last two Olympic gold medallists. However, in their previous meeting, the Greek vaulter was third and the Tokyo champion placed fourth in Boston, with Bridget Williams and Gabriela Leon going 1-2. All four athletes will be on the runway at Millrose.

Steiner seeks another record

The rarely run 300m has become something of a specialty for USA’s Abby Steiner. She already holds the NCAA record and is targeting the national record of 35.71 in her first indoor season as a professional. Two weekends ago, Steiner raced to a 400m victory in Fayetteville in 50.59. The world record of 35.45 is shared by Irina Privalova and Shaunae Miller-Uibo, with the Bahamian clocking her winning time in 2018 at Millrose. Jenna Prandini, Steiner’s teammate on the victorious 4x100m relay in Oregon, and 2019 world 200m silver medallist Brittany Brown offer strong competition.

The men’s 400m could be another duel between USA’s Noah Williams and Trinidad & Tobago’s world indoor champion Jereem Richards. In Boston, both clocked 45.88, but Williams surged on the inside to win by .004. Michael Cherry, fourth in the 400m in Tokyo and an Olympic and world gold medallist at 4x400m, opens his season at Millrose, along with the fourth man in the field, Bryce Deadmon, another Olympic and world gold medallist on relays.

Going the distance

The great Paavo Nurmi raced at the Millrose Games nearly 100 years ago and the distance races never disappoint. Of course, the signature event is the Rudin Wanamaker Mile.

After recently setting a North American indoor record over 3000m, Yared Nuguse is in a New York state of mind to break another continental record: Bernard Lagat’s 3:49.89 in the indoor mile. Nuguse and training partners Hoare and Romo are hoping for a fast pace to propel them into the record books. Hoare set an Oceanian record of 3:50.83 in winning the 2022 Wanamaker Mile and is the Commonwealth 1500m champion. Other contenders include Tanner, a three-time New Zealand champion; Great Britain’s Neil Gourley, whose home straight sprint led to a world-leading 3:52.84 in Boston; 2022 US indoor 1500m champion Cole Hocker, Johnny Gregorek, Sam Prakel and Kenya’s Eliud Kipsang.

Muir had a US indoor race debut in Boston, clocking 8:40.34 in the 3000m, and now is dropping back down to more familiar territory. The world and Olympic medallist in the 1500m set a course record of 4:14.8 on the road in the Fifth Avenue Mile in 2022. At Millrose, the record is 4:16.85, set by Elle Purrier St Pierre in 2020, which is the third-fastest indoor mile in history after Gudaf Tsegay’s 4:16.16 in Torun. In a deep field, Muir will be challenged by training partner and Olympic 800m finalist Jemma Reekie, and US champion Sinclaire Johnson.

In the men’s 3000m, Geordie Beamish and Cooper Teare, who went 1-2 last year, return to the Armory track where they will try to fend off Josh Kerr, the Olympic 1500m bronze medallist; Joe Klecker, Guatemala’s Luis Grijalva and Nico Young.

Alicia Monson, defending Millrose champion in the women’s 3000m, faces national indoor 5000m record-holder Elise Cranny with Karissa Schweizer’s national indoor 3000m record of 8:25.70 in their sights. Monson set a Millrose Games and Armory record last year of 8:31.62 en route to a stellar outdoor season. Katelyn Tuohy recently set an NCAA mile record of 4:24.26 in a race won by Monson; she’s primed for another test against the pros. European champion and 2019 world bronze medallist Konstanze Klosterhalfen won the Wanamaker mile in 2019 and has the fastest 3000m time in the field, clocking 8:20.07 outdoors.

Streaks at stake for Wilson

In the 600m, world indoor 800m champion Ajee’ Wilson will attempt to extend some impressive winning streaks.

Since losing to Alysia Montano in the 600m at the 2013 Millrose Games, she has won 17 straight races at The Armory, including seven at Millrose. She also has won 15 straight races indoors, most recently the 800m in Boston with a time of 2:00.45. Wilson is the second-fastest woman in history in the 600m outdoors and could threaten Keely Hodgkinson’s newly minted world indoor best of 1:23.41. The fastest performer in the field this season Shamier Little, the 2015 world silver medallist in the 400m hurdles, who clocked 1:24.65. 

The men’s 800m will be a rematch between world indoor silver medallist Noah Kibet, still just 18 years of age, and world indoor bronze medallist Bryce Hoppel, the defending Millrose champion. The loaded field includes his compatriots Clayton Murphy, the 2016 Olympic bronze medallist, world indoor finalist Isaiah Harris, Great Britain’s Kyle Langford, Mexico’s Tonatiu Lopez and Irish record-holder Mark English. Cade Flatt, the second-fastest US high school runner at this distance, is also in the field.

(02/09/2023) Views: 811 ⚡AMP
by World Athletics

Viola Lagat will be heading to the New York City Marathon for the second time hoping to improve on her second place finish in last year’s race

Viola Cheptoo Lagat, the younger sister of Kenyan-born US distance running legend Bernard Lagat had set base for the last three months in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet County.

This Sunday’s race in the “Big Apple” will be her third over the marathon distance.

“Last year, it was a dream come true because I was debuting in the marathon and coming in second alongside such great athletes competing was just amazing. It gave me a reason to continue working hard,” said Lagat.

She did not change her training programme but wants to lower her personal best time.

Obiri makes debut

Other Kenyans lining up at Central Park on Sunday will be two-time world marathon champion Edna Kiplagat, Grace Kahura and Hellen Obiri. Obiri, a two-time world 5,000 metres champion and twice Olympic silver medallist over the distance, will be making her marathon debut.

“Competing with a great name like Edna Kiplagat is an inspiration. I’m still young in marathon because I need to know what time should I react and what time I should increase my pace compared to her who has done more races, she is sure of what she is doing,” Lagat added.

Lagat has good memories of last year’s race hailing Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir for pushing her to the podium at Central Park.

“I started slow in the race, but the most amazing thing is that my body started reacting well and I surged forward steadily and, to my surprise, I managed to get to where Jepchirchir was. She asked me if the pace she was doing was fine with me and I told her I was comfortable. She really encouraged me,” explained Lagat.

Tips from Keitany

Lagat has also been taking notes from four-time New York Marathon champion Mary Keitany who has been giving her tips on how to overcome the tough New York course.

Lagat started her 2022 season with a sixth place in Boston Marathon in April, her preparations affected by a bout of Covid-19 which slowed her training.

“When I started my training in January, I had difficulty. I just trained for two months and that affected my performance in April,” she said.

Lagat has planned with her coach to attack the Abott Marathon Majors series which, besides New York, also features the London, Tokyo, Berlin and Chicago marathons.

“I would like to ask Kenyans and all our fans to always pray for us as we line up for the race. Personally, I’m doing this for Peres Jepchirchir who pulled out of the race due to injury. We are praying for her to heal as soon as possible,” said Lagat who is a former 1,500 meters specialist.

 

She ranks Obiri as the dark horse, arguing that anyone making a debut is capable of upsetting the applecart.

(11/03/2022) Views: 1,012 ⚡AMP
by Bernard Rotich

Grant Fisher sets new America 5000m record

In the latest installment in one of the greatest seasons ever by an American distance runner, Grant Fisher ran 12:46.96 at the Memorial Van Damme Diamond League meet in Brussels on Friday to smash Bernard Lagat’s 11-year-old American 5,000-meter record of 12:53.60. Fisher was also in contention for his first Diamond League victory with 150 meters to go but had to settle for second as Kenya’s Jacob Krop, the Worlds silver medallist, pulled away to win in a world leading 12:45.71 (#6 all-time).

Fisher had near-perfect conditions to break the record. The temperature (low-70s) and wind (6 mph) were fine and wavelight technology was in play, but the most important ingredient was a trio of opponents committed to pushing the pace once the pacemakers dropped: Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha and Kenyans Krop and Daniel Ebenyo.

Kejelcha hit 3k in the lead at 7:41.74 (12:49 pace), by which point the four leaders had begun to separate. The gap between those four and the rest of the pack would only continue to grow as Krop took the lead with 1700 meters to go and kept his foot on the gas. Fisher, seeing Krop’s eagerness, was content to sit at the back of the group of four and get towed along to a fast time.

Just before three laps to go, Fisher went past a fading Kejelcha (who would end up dropping out) and moved into third. With a little bit more than 500 to go, a gap started to open up between Krop and Ebenyo and Fisher showed he had more in him as he went past Ebenyo and latched on to Krop. It was now a two-man affair.

Krop was keeping the pace scorching hot as the 4th to last lap was 61.43, the 3rd to last was 61.52 and the penultimate lap was 61.37. At the bell (11:47.9), it was clear Lagat’s American record was history. How fast could they go and who was going to emerge as the winner?

Fisher was ready to put up a fight but he was looking like a car with its engine maxxed out while Krop still looked incredibly smooth. Ultimately Krop broke Fisher with 100m to go to cap a 57.75 final lap (unofficially we had it 29.68, 28.06).

Fisher sprinted it in to finish just behind and break Bowerman Track Club Moh Ahmed’s 12:47.20 North American record in addition to obliterating Lagat’s AR. After running 12:53.73 for 5,000 indoors in February, 26:33.84 for 10,000 in March, and 7:28.48 for 3,000 in August, Fisher’s 12:46.96 tonight gives him four American records in a 2022 season that will go down as a year for the ages in the annals of American distance running.

(09/02/2022) Views: 1,054 ⚡AMP
by Let’s Run

America's Heather MacLean runs sub four minute 1500m in Monaco

Heather MacLean became the 12th American woman ever to break 4:00 in the 1500m today in Monaco, running 3:58.89. When she finished out her collegiate eligibility at UMass in 2018, she was a 4:19.19 1500m runner.

The Monaco track is known for its speedy middle-distance performances and in the women’s 1500m Faith Kipyegon came within three tenths of a second of breaking Genzebe Dibaba’s world record with 3:50.37.

Allie Wilson led through 400m in 59.89 and 800m in 2:01.64 before Adelle Tracey took over to keep the pace as hard as possible. Kipyegon hit the front with 600m to go and despite hammering the final lap she fell agonisingly short of the mark but still went No.2 on the all-time rankings.

America's Heather Maclean (3:58.89) and Elise Cranny (3:59.06) were second and third with sub-four performances.

“I have been chasing the time for quite some time but I am happy with the personal best,” the Olympic and world champion said. “I knew this was the best place to get the world record but I am so disappointed I lost it in the last metres. I hope for the best next time. We will see when.

“I was definitely ready for it today. I am heading home now and want to get a good Diamond League final in Zurich.”

It was a first class track meet. World champion returns to winning ways at the Diamond League while fellow Brit Lizzie Bird smashes the national 3000m steeplechase record

Jake Wightman bounced back to form after his defeat at the Commonwealth Games by taking the 1000m at the Diamond League in Monaco on Wednesday (Aug 10).

The world 1500m champion destroyed many of the world’s top 800m runners over the neutral distance of one kilometre as he improved his Scottish record from 2:16.27 to 2:13.88 to go No.3 on the UK all-time rankings and No.9 on the world all-time lists.

Seb Coe’s long-standing UK record of 2:12.18 remains an elusive target and Steve Cram is No.2 all-time with 2:12.88 but Wightman has now overtaken Steve Ovett and James McIlroy on the rankings.

In Monaco the pacemaker Erik Sowinski led through 400m in 51.02 and Marco Arop was in pole position through 800m in 1:45.46, but Wightman, who spent much of the race running alone in no man’s land a few metres ahead of the main pack, finished strongly to pass Arop in the final metres as Clayton Murphy was third, Commonwealth 800m champion Wycliffe Kinyamal fourth and the Olympic and world 800m champion Emmanuel Korir 12th.

“I did not really know I was in shape to do this today. It was just very, very hard as I had run on my own,” said Wightman. “I knew Arop is a little bit quicker on the home straight so I had to judge the right moment. I had to stay strong to be able to catch him.”

Wightman steps down to the 800m at the European Championships next week and said: “This is a really nice step towards Munich. The main difference between the 1500m and 1000m is just the speed of the first couple of laps. You go from running 55s to 52.”

Lizzie Bird smashed the British record for 3000m steeplechase as she improved Aimee Pratt’s national mark by almost eight seconds to 9:07.87.

Pratt set a British record twice at the World Championships last month as she ran 9:18.91 in her heat and 9:15.64 to place seventh in the final. But Bird ran 9:17.79 to take silver at the Commonwealth Games and here in Monaco swiped a further 10 seconds off her best as she pipped former world champion Emma Coburn at the finish to place third behind Ethiopia duo Workua Getachew and Zerfe Wondemagegn.

Bird, 27, was encouraged to try the steeplechase while studying at Princeton in the United States. She was a reluctant steeplechaser at first and suffered injuries from 2016-18 but set a UK record of 9:19.68 when placing ninth in the Olympics last year and the Shaftesbury Barnet athlete is now closing in on the nine-minute barrier while combining athletics with a career in immigration law based in Colorado.

There is more: Distance runner Grant Fisher’s record-breaking 2022 season continued tonight at the Herculis meeting in Monaco where he ran 7:28.48 for 3000 meters, finishing 3rd, to break Bernard Lagat’s 7:29.00 American record which had stood since 2010.

Fisher’s 3000 record is his third American record of the year as in February he set the indoor 5000 record (12:53.73) and outdoors he set the American 10,000 mark in March(26:33.84).

 

(08/10/2022) Views: 1,341 ⚡AMP

Five high school boys have combined to break the four-minute barrier seven times in 2022 and no one has enjoyed it more than Jim Ryun

Jim Ryun was the first high school boy to break the four-minute barrier in the mile as a Kansas 17-year-old in 1964 and went on to a legendary track and field career that included three Olympic appearances in the 1,500m, a silver medal in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, and numerous American and world records. 

Ryun’s name always surfaces when a high schooler dips under 4 minutes in the mile. And in 2022, his name has been coming up a lot. 

Ryun’s career was also in the spotlight earlier this month when he was one of 30 former college track and field athletes inducted into the inaugural class of the USTFCCCA’s Athlete Hall of Fame in conjunction with the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. 

The original 4-minute high school barrier breaker celebrates the resurgence of American high school distance running and says for too long runners were held back in fear of what would happen if they ran under 4 minutes for the mile. 

“I think they realize it’s not a barrier that can’t be broken, it’s more of a matter that if you break it,” Ryun said, “will you go on from there, which you can because we’re seeing more and more of them that are doing that.  

“It’s not the barrier that it once was, should never have been there. For a long time, there were three of us. Myself, Marty Liquori and Tim Danielson. We were the only (sub) 4-minute milers from high school for years and I think it was the result of people being afraid of that, and coaches saying if you run too fast, too soon you’ll never make it very far.” 

Growing up, Ryun often wondered if he would ever be successful in an athletic endeavor. He tried basketball and football and was cut from his church baseball team. At a high school assembly, Bob Timmons, the school’s track and field and cross country coach, encouraged students to run on his cross country team in the fall. 

Ryun had never run more than one lap around a track before joining the cross country team, but in one season at Wichita East High School, he went from the last runner on the third-string team to a sixth-place finish at the Kansas state meet. 

“Running was so new to me, I didn’t know who the heroes were,” Ryun recalled. “In fact, my first thought was I wanted to be a baseball, football, basketball player. Running, what’s that? So, it took a while. The first book Coach Timmons gave to me was about Emil Zatopek, the great Olympian, so I read that, and it began helping me understand about the sport.” 

Ryun said Timmons was convinced he could be the first high school runner to break 4 minutes in the mile. That came true on June 5, 1964, when Ryun ran 3 minutes, 59.0 seconds to finish eighth at the Compton Invitational in Los Angeles. 

“The goal originally was my coach’s because I was the kid that got cut from the church baseball team, didn’t have great talent and when I started running, I was looking for direction,” Ryun said. "And he began basically teaching me about goals, how to reach goals, and gave me workouts to get there. The night that I ran 4 minutes, 3:59.0, I didn’t sleep that night (before) because I realized that it was his goal. 

“But my thought was, what happens if I take ownership, ownership being there’s certain things you as an athlete know you could do like maybe a little extra weightlifting, better eating. It was a transformational moment, because I mean when you finish eighth in a race and become the first kid to run under 4 minutes, that has to change your life – and it did.” 

Ryun’s running career took off from there. He made the 1964 U.S. Olympic team in the 1,500m that went to Tokyo and was the last U.S. high school men’s track and field athlete to make the U.S. Olympic team until teenager Erriyon Knighton qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 200m and finished fourth there. 

As a high school senior, Ryun broke 4 minutes four more times. His time of 3:58.3 at the 1965 Kansas state meet was the first time 4 minutes was broken in a high school-only meet. On June 4, 1965, Ryun returned to the Compton Relays, the site of his first sub-4-minute mile and ran 3:56.8. A little over three weeks later, he ran 3:55.3 at the U.S. AAU Championships in San Diego and beat New Zealand’s Peter Snell, the 1964 Olympic champion in the 800m and 1,500m. 

Ryun, who would stay close to home and attend Kansas University after graduating from high school in 1965, roomed with a former Jayhawks great, Billy Mills, during U.S. training camps leading up to the 1964 Olympics. In Tokyo, Mills stunned the world by becoming the only U.S. athlete to ever win the Olympic 10,000m. 

In 1966, Tim Danielson became the second American high schooler to break 4 minutes when he ran 3:59.4. A year later, Marty Liquori ran 3:59.8 to become the third high schooler under 4 minutes. 

Ryun and Liquori had illustrious careers after high school, particularly Ryun. At age 19 in 1966, Ryun set two world records, first in the 800m (1:44.9), and then the mile (3:51.3). He was the NCAA indoor mile champion for Kansas in 1967, 1968 and 1969, and the 1967 outdoor NCAA mile champion. In 1967, he set a 1,500m world record of 3:33.1 that stood for seven years.

That same year, he lowered his mile world record to 3:51.1., a mark that stood for almost eight years. Ryun was the last American man to hold the mile world record. He still holds American junior records for the mile (3:51.3) and 2-mile (8:25.1), and his 800m American junior record of 1:44.9 stood for exactly 50 years. 

In 2003, ESPN.com ranked Ryun as the greatest U.S. high school athlete of the 20th century, ahead of Tiger Woods, LeBron James, Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Wilt Chamberlain, Marion Jones, and others.

After Ryun, Danielson, and Liquori, the 4-minute mile wasn’t broken by a prep athlete again for more than 32 years until Alan Webb ran 3:59.86 at the New Balance Games in New York on Jan. 20, 2001. Sensing something special in Webb, the promoters of the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore., invited him to run in the Bowerman Mile, the signature event of the meet that has since become a Diamond League event, on May 27, 2001. 

Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj, still the world record-holder in the 1,500m and mile, won the event in 3:49.92, followed by Kevin Sullivan of Canada and Bernard Lagat, then of Kenya, who later ran for the U.S. They helped pull Webb to a fifth-place finish in 3:53.43, breaking Ryun’s 36-year-old high school record. 

“I thought he would. I just didn’t know how much he would break it by," Ryun said. “It was one of those moments in time where he had run well, but he needed somebody to help him get over that finish line, just as I did running under 4 minutes for the first time. You need someone to help set the pace. You can relax a little bit, and he was able to take advantage of that.  

“So, there was no real surprise to me. The biggest surprise was that there weren’t more high school boys running under 4 minutes.” 

It would be another 10 years before a high schooler would break 4 minutes in the mile. In 2015, Matthew Maton and Grant Fisher, now the U.S. record-holder in the men’s 10,000m, both ran 3:59.38 about one month apart. In 2016, two runners broke 4 minutes, including Drew Hunter, who did it twice in a 15-day span in February indoors, both times in New York. 

The 4-minute barrier was broken by high schoolers once in 2017 and again in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Hobbs Kessler ran the fastest high school mile since Webb when he ran 3:57.66 indoors. Kessler later that year broke Ryun’s 1,500m American junior record of 3:36.1 that stood for almost 55 years. 

The lack of American high school runners breaking 4 minutes in the mile for decades might be a big reason why U.S. men haven’t enjoyed much Olympic or international success until recently. When Matthew Centrowitz won the men’s 1,500m at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, he was the first American man to do so since 1908. At the same Olympics, Clayton Murphy won the bronze medal in the 800m, the first American man to medal in the event since 1992. 

And when the World Athletics Championships are hosted on U.S. soil for the first time next month in Eugene, Ore., the defending 800m men’s champion is American Donavan Brazier. 

“If you look back in history, you’d see there was a dominance maybe by a country for a time like Great Britain had all those great runners. America at one time was dominant in that area as well,” Ryun said. “So, I think it’s a matter of floating from place to place, and I think it comes down to motivation. How motivated are you?  

“Over time you start realizing that motivation has to come down to you be willing to get up, run in all kinds of weather, race all over the world and let those talents be developed that God’s given you. So, it takes time. I think America can come back with dominance, but it also comes down to how motivated you are. I see the Kenyans as very motivated, and America can be just as motivated as you see with these new young runners that are developing quickly.” 

That has proven to be the case this season. Seventeen high school runners have broken the 4-minute barrier, and 2022 has been the banner season for it so far with five runners breaking the mark seven times. 

“I think a lot of coaches are seeing, too, that kids are just developing a lot faster doesn’t mean you’re going to burn out,” Ryun said. “It means you’ve got great opportunities. Will you decide to keep it going and, in my case, will you take ownership? The coach can only take you so far, but then you have to establish ownership.” 

The owner of the fastest prep mile this year is Colin Sahlman, who ran 3:58.81 indoors in February, and, like Webb, was invited to the Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic. In a field that included 2020 Tokyo Olympic 1,500m gold medalist Jackob Ingebrigtsen, defending World Athletics Championships 1,500m gold medalist Timothy Cheruiyot, and defending 1,500m NCAA outdoor champion Cole Hocker, Sahlman finished 13th in 3:56.24. Of the 14 men who finished the race, seven set personal bests and seven set season bests, including Ingebrigtsen, whose time of 3:49.76 is the fastest in the world this year. 

Sahlman’s time moved him to third on the all-time prep list behind Webb and Ryun. Sahlman, who is headed to Northern Arizona University for college, was part of a high school powerhouse at Newbury Park High in Southern California. In 2021, Newbury Park became the first high school team to have four runners break 4:10 for the mile in the same season. 

“That mindset has really evolved and developed over these last three to four years,” Sahlman said in a March article in the Los Angeles Times. “It’s just like it’s transformed into something that we never thought was possible. Now we think anything’s possible.” 

Gary Martin has also broken 4 minutes twice this year, running 3:57.98 on May 14 and 3:57.89 on June 2 in the Festival of Miles in St. Louis. At the Festival of Miles, Connor Burns ran 3:58.83 to become the first high school junior since Ryun to break 4 minutes. It was also the first time two prep runners broke 4 minutes in the same race.

Those two performances gave the Festival of Miles four prep runners who have broken 4 minutes. That’s where Fisher did in 2015, a feat repeated by Reed Brown a year later. 

And one day after Martin and Burns broke 4 minutes, Rheinhardt Harrison ran 3:59.33 in Florida on June 3. On June 15, Simeon Birnbaum added to the list of sub-4 minute runners when he became the second high school junior this season to break the mark with a time of 3:59.51.

Will this high school running resurgence lead to greater U.S. success against international competition and major global championships? Only time will tell.  

(06/20/2022) Views: 1,429 ⚡AMP
by Ashley Conklin (World Athletics)

Who is Ready? Who is Not? What the Pros Said at Boston Marathon Media Day

2022 Boston Marathon and it’s time to get excited. The weather is nice, the trees are starting to bloom (well, some of them), and two dozen of the world’s best distance runners have descended upon the Hub for the most loaded Boston Marathon in race history.

LetsRun.com will have boots on the ground all weekend, and we had a chance to talk to a number of top athletes, agents, and coaches at this morning’s media availability ahead of Monday’s race. The B.A.A. announced two race updates, with 2017 champ Geoffrey Kirui scratching from the marathon and US 10,000m champ Emily Sisson scratching from Saturday’s B.A.A. 5K. Here are the other things we learned on Friday from speaking to Molly Seidel, Peres Jepchirchir, Geoffrey Kamworor, CJ Albertson, and many more.

Molly Seidel says she has had some privacy concerns with her Strava account but is feeling excited and fit for Boston

Seidel will run two marathons in the first seven months of 2022, with Boston on Monday and the World Championship marathon in Eugene in July, and she and coach Jon Green have built their strategy for the year around those two races.

“We were looking [at] Boston as coming into this with a lot of strength and using this to try and carry through and hone the speed for Worlds,” Seidel said. “Right now I feel like we’ve set it up really well like that, and I’m hoping that the speed’s gonna be there. Fingers crossed.”

Seidel will likely need that speed over the final, mostly downhill 10k in Boston, as that is where the race is often broken open. And with two top half marathoners leading the field – World Half champ Peres Jepchirchir and former HM world record holder Joyciline Jepkosgei – the pace could get very hot at the end of the race.

Challenging for the overall win will be tough, but Seidel said she is excited to race the best in the world on Boston’s hallowed course.

“Obviously intimidated, they’re incredible, and I’ve gotten my ass kicked by Peres the two times I’ve raced her,” Seidel said. “But getting to be in a race with a huge amount of competition like that, women with incredible credentials, that fires me up like nothing else.”

Seidel’s buildup wasn’t perfect, as she dealt with a hip impingement about a month ago and had to miss the NYC Half as a result. But she’s logged multiple 130+ mile weeks since then, which you can tell by visiting her Strava page. And while it’s great for most of the running community to be able to see what an Olympic medalist does for training – transparency that Seidel says she values – recently, she has met with some of the Strava staff out of concerns that some people have been using the data to figure out where she lives.

“It can be a lot sometimes, realizing you’ve got 60,000 people following your every move and a little bit scary sometimes when people start tracking that,”’ Seidel said. “So it’s something that I’m still figuring out, honestly. And I’ve wavered back and forth on getting off the platform, mainly because of that.”

Geoffrey Kamworor (photo) is all-in on the marathon and ready to go in his Boston debut

For the first decade of his professional career, Kamworor developed a reputation as a man for all seasons. He ran 12:58 and 26:52 on the track and earned a silver in the 10,000 at Worlds, won World XC twice, and won the World Half three times. He also mixed in two NYC Marathon titles during that span, but the marathon was never his full focus.

That, says his agent Valentijn Trouw, has now changed. Boston will be Kamworor’s first spring marathon since 2014, and he has already committed to the World Championship marathon in July. At this point, he is all-in on the marathon.

And that could be a scary prospect for the rest of the field. Kamworor’s 2:05:23 pb may only be 10th-best in the field, but he ran that in Valencia in December in a race Kamworor had barely been able to train for due to an ankle injury. For this buildup, Trouw said, Kamworor did not miss a step.

While the deep men’s field is pretty wide-open on paper, one prominent agent we spoke to (not Trouw) said he views Kamworor as the favorite due to his two NYC wins and his killer speed in the half marathon – two assets that should help significantly in Boston.

Defending champ Benson Kipruto ready to take on some big names

Kipruto was a surprise winner last year, but will not be able to sneak under anyone’s radar this year. He gave the platitudes about being “happy to be back” this year. But he said his training has gone well and the goal is the same as last year — to win, despite the field being stronger this year. “There are some strong guys, but I don’t care…my preparation was good.”

CJ Albertson isn’t a 2:06 guy yet, but he’s trying to think of himself that way

Albertson has run some insane efforts in practice, including a 2:09 marathon on a treadmill in 2020 and a 2:10:28 “split” three weeks ago at the Modesto Marathon (his result is listed officially as 2:11:56, but the lead bike led Albertson the wrong way, causing him to run extra distance). Yet Albertson’s official marathon personal best is still 2:11:18 from the Marathon Project in 2020. Is he leaving his best efforts in practice? Albertson doesn’t view it that way.

“At some point, I’m gonna run fast,” he said. “Hopefully it’s on Monday.”

Albertson also had an interesting perspective when we asked about all those hard efforts in practice. They might seem crazy for a guy whose official pb is 2:11, but Albertson said his goal is to run 2:06 one day and that he tries to think of his training in that context.

“Whatever you want to be, you have to mentally be there first before you’re actually there,” Albertson said. “I want to work out and train like I am an American record holder. Because one day I’m going to be or I’ll have a shot to be in that position and those two weeks before aren’t gonna matter, it’s gonna be what I did the five years leading up to it…The workouts that I’m doing, if you look at me like an American record holder and it’s like, he’s going out and running 5:00 pace on the weekends, it’s no big deal.”

He had one of those workouts on Sunday, running 4:50 pace (2:06:43 marathon pace) for 15 miles and feeling great doing it.

As for Monday, Albertson, who led for the first 20 miles last year and ultimately finished 10th, said he will likely go out hard again but expects he will have more company this time given the strength of the field and great conditions in the forecast.

Colin Bennie is running Monday’s race for the Play Ball Foundation while his contract situation with Reebok is sorted out

Bennie was the top American at last year’s Boston Marathon, finishing 7th in 2:11:26. It is a bit of a surprise, then, that he will not be racing on Monday in the colors of the Reebok Boston Track Club. The reason why is a bit complicated. Reebok has been undergoing an ownership change, and in March was officially sold by adidas to Authentic Brands Group. Bennie’s Reebok contract was up at the end of 2021, and as a result he’s in limbo as Reebok did not want to offer a new contract in the midst of an ownership change. The new owners are still figuring out what to do with the Reebok Boston Track Club, but Bennie is hopeful that the group’s strong recent performances, such as Josette Norris’ 5th-place finish in the 1500 at World Indoors, are proof that the team is still worth supporting (he is still training with the team and coach Chris Fox in Virginia).

“There’s been good support throughout,” Bennie said. “These things just do take time.”

With no sponsor for the moment, Bennie, a Massachusetts native, will be running Monday’s race for the Play Ball Foundation, a local charity dedicated to providing sports opportunities to middle schoolers in underserved communities. Play Ball’s logo is the letters PB in large, blue font – good letters for a marathoner.

“It’s a very good thing to have on you on race day,” Bennie said.

Jake Riley and Jared Ward are hoping things turn a corner for them in Boston

Riley and Ward are both US Olympians, but both have hit some rough patches recently. They’re hoping Boston is a first step back in the right direction.

Riley, 34, had been struggling in practice and had an awful tuneup race for Boston, running 46:27 at the US 15K champs on March 5 to finish in 35th place. After searching for answers, Riley finally determined, with the help of his nutritionist, that he was underfueling between runs, which meant that he struggled to finish workouts and races strong. 

Riley pointed out that he was able to go out with the pack at the 15K but just could not get his body to go faster over the final 5k when the racing picked up.

But Riley said that he has made some changes to his diet and that the last four weeks of training have gone very well.

“Since I’ve tried to fix that, things have finally started to come around,” Riley said. “My energy levels are better, I’ve been able to close out workouts better.

”Four weeks may not be enough to turn things around for a big race in Boston, though. Riley admitted that there is a wide range of outcomes for him on Monday.

As for the 33-year-old Ward, he was wondering, after a rough 2020 season, whether he might be nearing the end of his marathon career. Now a father of five, Ward was feeling more tired in practice and daily live and simply chalked it up to getting older

“I just kind of thought, this is just, I guess, how you feel,” Ward said.

But in marathon years, 33 really isn’t that old. So Ward endeavored to find out what was wrong. Ultimately, he was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and prescribed Levothyroxine, a thyroid-replacement drug, by his doctor. But Ward is well aware of the stigma around thyroid medication in the running world, and for two weeks, the medication sat untouched in his cupboard. Ultimately, however, he decided that he would take the supplement – which is legal under the WADA Code and does not require a TUE – but that he would be open and honest about exactly what he was taking and why ( this Instagram post has more details). So far, Ward says, the reaction has been positive from fellow athletes, who are grateful that Ward has addressed the issue in an honest manner.

“It’s around us a lot more than you might think, and for people that need it, it’s important,” Ward says.

Ward says that since taking the medication, his energy levels feel back to normal, which have made it easier for him to train – and to play with his kids. But he also said that his fatigue issues before that meant that he was not able to push as hard in practice as he would have liked, meaning he probably doesn’t have the base quite yet to get back to his best marathoning.

“I think it might take a year or two to climb back to where I’d like to be,” Ward says.

Jared Ward starting new pro group in Utah: the Run Elite Program

Utah has produced a lot of really good runners, but up until now it was not known for its pro training groups, despite being at altitude and a good place to train. Jared Ward and Isaac Wood (of the Wood Report) wanted to change that and set out to get funding for a pro running group in Utah. Mike McKell, a state senator in Utah and a big runner, said they should try to get state funding, which they did to the tune of multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Wood talks about the foundation of the group below, which is designed to be shoe brand agnostic.

Peres Jepchirchir and Joyciline Jepkosgei ready to battle

Jepchirchir and Jepkosgei will battle for the title of World’s #1 marathoner on Monday.  They sat next to each other in the media room and were both confident they would handle the Boston course on their first try.

Both said their preparations have gone well. While neither has run Boston, they both are New York City Marathon champions and have shown they can win non-rabbited hilly marathons.

Viola Cheptoo Lagat has found her event

Viola is the sister of 1500m star Bernard Lagat. So she naturally thought she was a 1500m runner and made the Olympic team for Kenya. But she never ran faster than 4:04. Turns out her event really was the marathon. Coming off her 2nd place finish at the New York City Marathon where she battled Jepchirchir nearly to the line, Lagat’s goal is to win on Monday, but with this tough field knows a top 3 finish would be a good accomplishment.

Ageless Edna Kiplagat discusses longevity: “This year the field is so strong, but I have no fear”

Kiplagat was born in the 1970s and she’s still a force in the pro running ranks, getting 2nd at 2021 Boston in the fall. Winning may be out of the question but it’s a strong bet Kiplagat will have a good race on Monday.  She said the key to her longevity has been staying focused and not over racing. As for this year, “This year the field is so strong, but I have no fear.”

Scott Fauble doesn’t mind flying under the radar in 2022

Since Meb Keflezighi’s win in Boston in 2014, no American man has run faster in Boston than Scott Fauble’s 2:09:09 in 2019. That led to a lot of attention and expectations over the next couple of years, but also pressure. 

“I sort of was the belle of the ball and I put a lot of pressure on myself,” Fauble said.

The spotlight on Fauble has faded recently, however, as he was only 16th in Boston last year and is currently unsponsored (he will race Monday’s race in a Lululemon singlet he bought himself). But it would be a mistake to sleep on him: Fauble, now working with coach Joe Bosshard, ran 61:11 in the Houston Half and knows what it takes to succeed on this course.

(04/17/2022) Views: 1,277 ⚡AMP

Fast Fields Set For The Publix Atlanta Half-Marathon

After a special pandemic edition in 2021 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the Publix Atlanta Half-Marathon returns to city streets for the 2022 edition on Sunday, February 27.  The race, part of the Publix Atlanta Marathon Weekend organized by the Atlanta Track Club (ATC), will feature an elite field, a $17,000 prize money purse, and a $5,000 bonus pool for exceeding the fastest times ever run in the state of Georgia (1:08:29 for women and 1:03:59 for men).

Leading the women’s elite field will be Kenya’s Viola Cheptoo who, when she competed as a middle distance runner for Florida State University in the NCAA system, went by “Viola Lagat.”  The younger sister of two-time Olympic medalist Bernard Lagat will be running her first race since her dramatic marathon debut at the TCS New York City Marathon last November where she finished a close second to compatriot and Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir.  Her time of 2:22:44 was the third-fastest time in race history.  She’ll be incorporating the Publix Atlanta Half-Marathon into her Boston Marathon training.

“I am looking forward to it,” said Cheptoo who has never been to Atlanta before.  “I want to do well and build a relationship with the community, as I am aware of all the good work done by Atlanta Track Club.”

Cheptoo, who has a half-marathon best of 1:06:47, will face another strong Kenyan, Dorcas Tuitoek, who has run similarly fast: 1:06:33.  These two woman have an excellent chance of bettering the state record which was set by 2021 Olympic Marathon bronze medalist Molly Seidel at last year’s race.

North American athletes will also be represented on the women’s side, including Dakotah Lindwurm of Minnesota Distance Elite (1:09:36 PB), Maegan Krifchin of the Atlanta Track Club (1:09:51), and Canadian Lanni Marchant (1:10:47) a 2016 Olympian and the 2021 Honolulu Marathon champion.

The top entrants on the men’s side are also from Kenya, and both have broken 60 minutes for the half-marathon.  Benard Ngeno (59:07 PB) and Geoffrey Koech (59:36) are the fastest men in the field.  The top North Americans will be Canadian record holder Rory Linkletter (1:01:08 PB), Jonas Hampton of Newtonville, Mass. (1:03:57), and Matthew McDonald of the Boston Athletic Association High Performance team (1:04:48).  McDonald, the tenth place finisher at the 2020 USA Olympic Trials Marathon, formerly trained with the ATC at Georgia Tech.  He now works at MIT in Cambridge, Mass.

The complete elite fields are below with personal best times:

Dorcas Tuitoek, KEN, 1:06:41Viola Cheptoo, KEN, 1:06:47Mary Munanu, KEN, 1:07:54Tsige Haileslase, ETH, 1:08:30Daisy Kimeli, KEN, 1:08:34Dakotah Lindwurm, USA, 1:09:36Maegan Krifchin, USA, 1:09:51Ludwina Chepngetich, KEN, 1:10:34Lanni Marchant, CAN, 1:10:47Leslie Sexton, CAN, 1:11:21Bridget Lyons Belyeu, USA, 1:12:24Grace Kahura, KEN, 1:12:49Janel Blanchett, USA, 1:13:43Anne-Marie Comeau, CAN, 1:14:09Joanna Stephens, USA, 1:14:23

Benard Ngeno, KEN, 59:07Geoffrey Koech, KEN, 59:36Raymond Magut, KEN, 1:00:00Bayelign Teshager, ETH, 1:00:30Bethwell Yegon, KEN, 1:00:57Rory Linkletter, CAN, 1:01:08Mike Cheshire, KEN, 1:03:45Jonas Hampton, USA, 1:03:57Matt McDonald, USA, 1:04:48Chris May, USA, 1:04:50Paul Hogan, USA, 2:15:51 (Marathon)

(02/17/2022) Views: 1,533 ⚡AMP
by David Monti

Grant Fisher (12:53.73) DESTROYS US 5,000 Record in Boston, Moh Ahmed (12:56.87) and Marc Scott (12:57.08) Break Canadian and British Records

As the runners were getting ready for the elite section of the men’s 5000 meters at the 2022 Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invitational on Saturday evening, we should have known we were in for a treat. After all, the slow heat had just been won in 13:05.

It’s crazy, when you think of it: Bowerman Track Club coach Jerry Schumacher had decided Woody Kincaid, the reigning US 10,000-meter champion, was not quite ready to mix it up with his BTC teammates in the fast section and Kincaid wound up running 13:05.56, at the time the second-fastest indoor 5,000m ever by an American. 

Just as crazy: Schumacher was kind of right. Because what we saw in the fast heat was the deepest 5,000-meter race ever contested on US soil, indoors or out.

Grant Fisher, a former high school phenom who won two Foot Locker titles and broke 4:00 in the mile while balancing soccer with running, delivered on his immense promise and ran 12:53.73 to win the race, smash Galen Rupp’s American indoor record of 13:01.26, and come within a whisker of Bernard Lagat’s American outdoor record of 12:53.60. He is now the fifth-fastest human ever at 5,000 meters indoors, one spot ahead of a guy by the name of Eliud Kipchoge.

Fisher’s Bowerman teammate Moh Ahmed, the Olympic silver medalist last year, was next across, running 12:56.87 to break his own Canadian indoor record of 13:04.60. Marc Scott completed the BTC national record sweep in third, and like Ahmed, Scott lowered his own European indoor record, taking it from 13:08.87 to 12:57.08.

In the process, Scott became the first man born in the United Kingdom – and just the third born in Europe – to break 13:00, indoors or out. The race marked the first time that three men broke 13:00 in the same race indoors (only once before had even two done it in the same race).

The times were so fast up front that would-be historic performances were relegated to also-ran status. Emmanuel Bor ran the second-fastest time in US 

indoor history (under Rupp’s previous AR) but was only 4th (13:00.48). Sam Atkin of Great Britain and Jonas Raess of Switzerland both ran faster than the previous European indoor record but had to settle for 5th (Atkin in 13:03.64) and 6th (Raess in 13:07.95).

Florida State’s Adriaan Wildschutt of South Africa ran the second-fastest NCAA time ever indoors and third-fastest under any conditions – 13:09.20 – setting a national indoor record in the process and he was only 5th – in the B heat. Notre Dame’s Dylan Jacobs ran 13:14.04, #4 on the NCAA all-time indoor list and an American indoor collegiate record.

It was sheer madness.

In the main race, the early pacing was good, with 2020 US indoor 1500 champ Josh Thompson and 27:20 man Zouhair Talbi of Morocco taking the field through 3k in 7:53.51, but the real racing didn’t get going until just under a mile to go, when Atkin signaled for Fisher to pass him, knowing he could no longer hold the pace Fisher wanted to run.

From there, Fisher conducted a symphony of pain on the BU track, stretching the field out until Atkin, Scott, Ahmed, and finally Bor had dropped, leaving Fisher all alone for the final 400 as the crowd roared him into the history books. His last four 400m splits: 60.00, 58.95,  59.91, 58.74, good for an otherworldly 3:57.56 final 1600.

Fisher’s performance, just like almost every elite distance performance in the year 2022, must be placed into the context of its era. Earlier in the day on the same track, Notre Dame’s Yared Nuguse, the Olympian and 2019 NCAA 1500 champ, broke Alistair Cragg’s 7:38.59 indoor collegiate record which had stood since 2004. And last night, Gabriela DeBues-Stafford and Elise Cranny set dueling Canadian/American records, Cranny taking 14 seconds off Shalane Flanagan’s 14:47.62 AR.

Fisher and Cranny’s talents have long been known, and they are undoubtedly great runners. Yet between them, they own a grand total of one NCAA and one US title. That they could annihilate national records established by two of the greatest distance runners in American history is yet more evidence that we have entered a new age of distance running ushered in by super shoes, one in which the standards must be (and are being) adjusted.

 

(02/13/2022) Views: 1,455 ⚡AMP
by Let’s Run

Kenyan duo of Peres Jepchirchir, Albert Korir win 50th edition of New York City Marathon

Peres Jepchirchir pulled off a historic double Sunday.

Three months after she won gold at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Jepchirchir turned around and won the 50th edition of the New York City Marathon, emerging from a pack of three in the final mile to cross the finish line in 2 hours, 22 minutes and 39 seconds.

The 28-year-old Kenyan is the first woman to win Olympic gold in the marathon, then win a major fall marathon thereafter.

Meanwhile, countryman Albert Korir won the men's race in dominant fashion, with a time of 2:08:22.

While Korir separated himself from the rest of the field by Mile 20, the women's race proved to be much tighter, with three women neck-and-neck entering the final mile.  Viola Cheptoo ended up finishing second, followed by Ababel Yeshaneh of Ethiopia in third.

Cheptoo, the younger sister of retired American marathoner Bernard Lagat, shared a moment with her brother after the race; Lagat was working as a commentator for ESPN's television coverage of the event.

Molly Seidel, who won a surprising bronze at the Tokyo Olympics over the summer, was the highest-placing American in the women's field. The 27-year-old finished fourth with a time of 2:24:42.

Elkanah Kibet, who also placed fourth, was the top American finisher on the men's side with a time of 2:11:15.

Sunday's race marked the 50th running of the New York City Marathon. The event initially consisted of 127 people running laps around Central Park in 1970, with a $1 entry fee. It has since blossomed into one of the largest and most iconic marathons in the world.

Reigning Paralympic champion Marcel Hug of Switzerland dominated the men's wheelchair race, besting the rest of the field by more than six minutes with a time of 1:31:24. Madison de Rozario of Australia also followed up a Paralympic gold with a win in New York, cruising to victory in the women's wheelchair race in 1:51:01. 

(11/07/2021) Views: 1,075 ⚡AMP

Bernard Lagat and Deena Kastor to Join TCS New York City Marathon Broadcast Team

Five-time Olympian Bernard Lagat and Olympic medalist and American record holder Deena Kastor will join fellow Olympian Carrie Tollefson as part of the broadcast team for the 50th running of the TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 7, which will be aired live on ABC7/WABC-TV in the New York City area and on ESPN2 nationwide.

WABC-TV and ESPN have been home to the award-winning broadcast of the world’s largest marathon since 2013. The race will be available globally in more than 180 countries and territories and in over 500 million homes through various international broadcast partners.

The trio of Olympians will join a team of 15 commentators, led by ESPN’s John Anderson, who will serve as race-day host and play-by-play analyst for his eight consecutive race. Both Lagat and Tollefson will join Anderson in the commentary booth. Kastor will join Lewis Johnson in covering the professional athlete races throughout the course from the women’s and men’s motos, respectively. Johnson will then join ABC7’s Sam Ryan in hosting the post-race award ceremonies for the champions.

Lagat competed at every summer Olympics on the track from 2000 to 2016, winning a silver and bronze medal in the 1,500 meters in 2004 and 2000, respectively. He ran the TCS New York City Marathon in 2018, finishing as the top men’s masters athlete. He will now make his broadcast debut at the event at the same time his sister, Viola Cheptoo, makes her marathon debut in the professional athlete field.

“In 2008, I got to watch the TCS New York City Marathon from a lead vehicle, and in 2018 I ran New York for my debut marathon,” Lagat said. “I’m excited that in 2021, I get to see the race unfold from yet another angle – in the broadcast booth. I hope my experiences as an athlete can add a different perspective to the race for those watching throughout New York City and across the country.”

Kastor is the American record holder in the marathon and a three-time Olympian who won a bronze medal at the Athens 2004 Games. She finished as the top American woman in her marathon debut at the 2001 New York City Marathon in an American debut record time, and had three top-10 finishes at the event in her career.

“Twenty years ago, I fell in love with the marathon distance when I debuted at the New York City Marathon,” Kastor said. “I feel privileged to commentate on this historic race by joining the ESPN2 broadcast with my fellow Olympians Bernard Lagat and Carrie Tollefson. I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate 50 years of this race.”

The group will be joined by a talented array of reporters at the start, finish, along the course, and in the sky, including ABC7’s Eyewitness News reporters Ryan Field, Anthony Johnson, Kemberly Richardson, Michelle Charlesworth, Lee Goldberg, John Del Giorno, and Josh Einiger.

The international feed will be led by local sports radio personality Ed Cohen calling the play-by-play, and veteran track and field broadcaster, Paul Swangard.

The broadcast, produced in coordination with 45 Live and distributed by IMG, will air on ABC7/WABC-TV and ESPN2 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EST. Pre and post-race coverage will air on WABC-TV from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. EST, and 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. EST.

Long-time director of the broadcast Bruce Treut, who has directed every New York City Marathon broadcast since 1989, is handing the reins to Brigette Boginis. Boginis, the first women at the helm of the show, will pick up Treut’s duties directing 35 live cameras.

The 50th running of the race will also stream live on abc7ny.com, and the ABC7New York app in the tristate viewing area and the ESPN App nationally from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. EST. Pre-race and continuing coverage will also be streamed live nationally on ESPN3 (accessible on the ESPN App and ESPN.com) from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

A two-hour encore presentation of the race broadcast will air on ABC affiliates around the country from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST and on ESPN2 from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. EST.

International broadcast partners secured by IMG for the race include: ESPN Brasil (Brazil), SMG Sports (China), Eurosport (Pan Europe, Pan Asia, India), L’Equipe (France), RAI (Italy), TV Asahi (Japan), Sky Mexico (Mexico), NOS (Netherlands), New Zealand (Sky), SuperSport (South Africa), ESPN International (South America), and TVE & Esports3 (Spain).

This year’s broadcast features an engaging story on U.S. Olympic marathon medalist Molly Seidel; a look back at the first New York City Marathon in 1970 through the spoken word of its first champion, Gary Muhrcke; and an insightful piece on New York City during the pandemic from the perspective of Ana Johnson, an Oncology Nurse at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center racing in the professional women’s field.

(10/30/2021) Views: 1,235 ⚡AMP
by Running USA

Sister of Bernard Lagat, Viola Cheptoo will Run her first marathon debut at New York Marathon

When Viola (Lagat) Cheptoo decided she was going to run her marathon debut at the 2021 New York City Marathon, one of the first things she did was tell her family in their WhatsApp group text.

As the youngest of 10 in a family full of talented runners, Cheptoo, 32, grew up watching her older siblings make history on the track and the roads. When she took up the sport as a kid, she had nine brothers and sisters to look up to and who’ve supported her endeavors ever since. This summer, the Iten, Kenya native couldn’t wait to share her plans for the next phase of her running career.

After she sent the text, Cheptoo was hit with another layer of excitement from the fifth-oldest sibling, five-time Olympian Bernard Lagat.

“My brother was like, ‘Oh my gosh! Are you serious because I’ll be commentating there!’” she told Runner’s World.

On November 7—three years after Lagat, 46, made his marathon debut in New York City—Cheptoo will compete in her first 26.2 on the same course, while her brother announces the 50th running of the race as one of three Olympians headlining the ESPN broadcast team.

When Cheptoo learned this news, she was reminded of the enthusiasm she felt during the summer of 2016 when she and Lagat both competed at the Rio Olympics. He represented Team USA with a fifth-place finish in the 5,000 meters, and she represented Kenya in the 1500 meters. This year, running is bringing them together once again on the streets of New York City.

“It’s one of those things that you only dream of, siblings to make a team for your country and be at big events at the same time,” she said.

Like her brother, who is 14 years older, Cheptoo started as a middle-distance runner. By the time she was in grade school, Lagat was becoming a three-time NCAA champion and 11-time All-American at Washington State University.

Cheptoo competed for two seasons at Central Arizona College in 2009 and 2010 before transferring to Florida State University in 2011. Looking back on her college career, Cheptoo credits then-FSU head coach Karen Harvey with encouraging her to see herself as a long-distance runner after competing in the 800 meters early on. By her senior year, Cheptoo bought into the idea and became an All-American in cross country and the 1500 meters.

In 2016, she competed for Kenya at the 2016 World Indoor Championships and 2016 Olympic Games. That year, she finished eighth in the 1500-meter indoor final in Portland, Oregon and sixth in heat 2 of the 1500-meter semifinal in Rio.

After the Rio Games, Cheptoo got injured and switched coaches in 2017, moving to Iten to join a training group led by coach Julien Di Maria. In her return to consistent running, he encouraged her to embrace longer runs to build a strong base of mileage. In 2018, she went from running 6 to 7 miles every day to 8 to 12 miles, depending on the workout, and the training paid off.

In February 2020, she made her 13.1 debut at the Napoli City Half Marathon in Italy, where she won in 1:06:47.

“​​My coach was like, ‘If you don't believe in yourself, I think this is something that should make you realize that you can actually run a good marathon,’” she recalled. In the same conversation, Cheptoo said he predicted she’d run a marathon in two years. “I thought he was joking.”

“​​I’ve just decided to give myself a chance when it comes to this marathon in New York,” Cheptoo said. “I’m just focusing on the positive things and thinking about mentally preparing myself that I’m going to be strong. I’m not going to let the pain distract me from focusing on my race.”

(10/29/2021) Views: 2,071 ⚡AMP
by Tailor Dutch

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. ✊

(07/25/2021) Views: 1,184 ⚡AMP
by Mike Fanelli

Emily Sisson Secures First US Title & Olympic Berth with a 10K Masterpiece

EUGENE, Ore. — The spirit of Molly Huddle lives on. Last week, Huddle announced her withdrawal from the 2020 US Olympic Trials, her 36-year-old body no longer able to generate the speed or smoothness that had carried her to five straight US 10,000-meter titles and an American record. But on a sunny Saturday morning at Hayward Field (82 degrees in Eugene at start), Emily Sisson delivered a run her erstwhile training partner would have been proud of, methodically squeezing the life out of the women’s 10,000-meter field to win in a meet-record of 31:03.82 despite 86-degree temperatures.

Actually, we know Huddle was proud of the effort

A Huddle comparison is selling Sisson short, however. This was dominance at a level we are unaccustomed to seeing at an Olympic Trials, particularly in an event in which 13 women in the field entered with the 31:30 Olympic standard. Only seven Americans (including Sisson) have ever run faster than her 31:03.82 today, achieved in the morning sun and without the aid of pacemakers. Her 12.70-second margin of victory left her almost a full straightaway clear of runner-up Karissa Schweizer.

Sisson had sealed the victory by building a 30-meter lead with three laps to go and would only pick it up from there, going 71.47-71.25-69.26 to close out a 15:14.67 final 5k and 4:44.45 final 1600. Schweizer took second in 31:16.52 to make the Olympic team at a second distance (she also made it in the 5k on Monday), while Alicia Monson gave On Athletics Club another Olympian by taking third in 31:18.55.

The top five women in this race will all be running in Tokyo — the top three in the 10k and fourth- and fifth-placers Elise Cranny and Rachel Schneider in the 5k.

Sisson lapped everyone in the field save for the top seven. The last person she lapped — in the final 100 meters — was none other than 2016 Olympian and 2015 world championship bronze medallist Emily Infeld, who stuck with the lead pack for 6k.

The Race

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsYzi04MOQ4&feature=emb_title

The race had been shifted to a 10 a.m. start to avoid the hot weather (forecast to reach 100 degrees when this race would have originally been run at 6:44 p.m.), though the conditions were still hot and sunny when the gun was fired. Sisson took the lead just before two kilometers, dropping the pace from 78’s and 78’s to consistent 75’s, whittling the pack to 10 by 5k (15:49.15). Sisson would continue tightening the noose all the way home. She dropped the pace to 74’s just after halfway, which was enough to drop former New Mexico teammates and new US citizens Weini Kelati and Ednah Kurgat, as well as 2016 Olympian Infeld by four miles.

By 6800, Schneider, Hall, and 2012 Trials runner-up Natosha Rogers had been dropped as well, leaving a four-woman battle for three spots between Sisson, Cranny, Schweizer and Monson. After running consistent 74’s, Sisson let a 75 slip in for her 18th lap. From there, however, Sisson’s pacing was masterful: each of her final seven laps was faster than the one that preceded it. A 72.58 fifth-to-last lap gave her a 10-meter gap with a mile to go, and with 41 starters, it became hard to keep up with who was where as Sisson had been lapping multiple runners per lap. She would press on to win in dominant fashion, while Schweizer, who trailed Monson by 3.5 seconds at the bell, would use a big last lap (68.81, fastest in the field) to take second, with Monson safe in third, over 16 seconds up on Schweizer.

For the record, Schweizer said she plans on running both the 5k and 10k in Tokyo.

Quick Take: Total masterclass

Sisson has had some great performances in her career (she’s made two Worlds teams at 10k, won two USA road titles, and won two NCAA titles), but she had never had one like this.

Not only did she make her first Olympic team and win her first USATF track title, she put on a wonderful performance. She took the lead after the mile and never gave it up. She started clipping off 75-second laps (5:00/mile) through halfway. That whittled the lead pack down to 10. Then she upped the ante again, lowering the pace to roughly 74s through 8k. That made it a four-woman race for the three Olympic spots. Then she started running 72s or better and it was game over.

Quick Take: Redemption for Sisson, who used the extra year to her advantage

When we spoke to Sisson a month ago, she admitted that had the Trials been held as scheduled in 2020, she likely would not have been in contention to make the team. Her body felt broken after dropping out of the Olympic Marathon Trials on a brutal Atlanta course, and after a stellar 2:23 debut in London in 2019, she struggled to make sense of the result.

“Usually I’m good at moving on from bad races, but I struggled with that one,” Sisson.

It didn’t help that, after COVID postponed the Trials, there was nothing to move on to.

But eventually, Sisson was able to get back on track (she praised her husband, her former Providence College teammate Shane Quinn, for his support) and work back to incredible fitness. In December, she ran 67:26 to miss Huddle’s American record in the half marathon by one second, and she looked strong in her three track 5k’s this spring, running 14:55, 14:53, and 14:59. She had never broken 15 minutes prior to this year. Her plan today was to play to her strength and make it a fast race, as she knew she was in the best shape of her life.

“There were some workouts where I had to ask [my coach Ray Treacy] to repeat my splits, like what did I just run?” Sisson said.

QT: Alicia Monson pushed her body to the brink (and to the hospital) to make her first Olympic team

The newly-formed On Athletics Club (editor’s note: On Sponsored the Road to the Trials on LetsRun.com) got its second 10k Olympian at the Trials as Alicia Monson finished 3rd to make the team, joining teammate Joe Klecker who was 3rd in the men’s 10k on the first night of the Trials.

Coach Dathan Ritzenhein had been very bullish on Monson heading into the Trials, but how would she perform on the biggest stage and in the heat? Superbly well. While Monson was overtaken by Karissa Schweizer on the final lap, she was the last athlete to get broken by Sisson.

However, the effort really took its toll.

After the race, Monson did not look well. She eventually was resting in the shade in the bowels of the stadium, and was brought back out for an interview by NBC’s Lewis Johnson, where Schweizer helped support her. Monson said in the interview, “I have never gone to that point in a race before and I’ve always kind of wanted to. I think today was a good time to do that.”

Monson was able to go to the victory stand and do the award ceremony for the top 3, but the heat was still taking its toll.

Later as first reported by Sarah Lorge Butler, it was revealed that Monson collapsed after the medal ceremony and started vomiting and was taken to the hospital.

Ritzenhein told LetsRun he believes Monson will be okay, adding “she is just the toughest person I’ve ever met.” For anyone who remembers Ritzenhein’s all-out racing style, that is high praise indeed. Ritz even said she’d be available for an interview after she left the hospital. That definitely is a LetsRun.com first.

Quick Take: Sisson & Monson’s all-in bets pay off

When USATF switched the schedule to put the women’s 10k after the women’s 5k, athletes who qualified in both had a choice to make. If you thought your best shot to make the team was in the 10k, would you double — and perhaps wear yourself out with a heat and final in the 5k — or give yourself only one shot to make the team and focus on the 10k?

Both Sisson and Monson (and their coaches) felt their best shot was in the 10k and both decided to skip the 5k entirely. That paid off when both made the team today.

But both Schweizer and Cranny decided to attempt the double, and that decision worked out nicely for them as well, as Schweizer made the team in both events and Cranny was the US champ in the 5k. All four women are first-time Olympians.

Quick Take: Sara Hall’s Olympic dream is denied yet again, but she achieved her career-best Olympic Trials finish in 6th

Some great US runners over the years have failed to make an Olympic team. Chris Solinsky, the #2 US man ever at 5,000 and 10,000, never made an Olympic team, and Sara Hall, the 2nd-fastest US women’s marathoner ever at 2:20:32, may also end up with that label. Hall, 38, finished 6th in today’s race in 31:54.50, which was a career-best finish for her at the Olympic Trials.

Sara Hall at the Olympic Trials

2004 – 11th in 5000

2008 – 9th in 1500

2012 – 8th in steeple

2016 – DNF in marathon, 14th in 5000

2020 – DNF in marathon, 6th in 10,000

“I made all the right moves I needed to, I just didn’t have it. You know, those girls are really strong,” said Hall after the race. “Sisson, I’m really happy for her… I’m so happy she made the team, she’s so deserving… I respect all those women so much… I thought I had a shot at this team but at the same time that’s my highest Olympic Trials finish… I’m thankful I was able to do that today.”

Hall said she was rooting for her fellow marathoner Sisson — the US’s 8th fastest marathoner in history at 2:23:08 — to make the team.

“Emily’s run was so impressive, I didn’t doubt that she could do this… living in Phoenix, I’m pretty sure we’re all gonna wish we were living in Phoenix like she is… I was rooting for her so much because of the disappointment in Atlanta that was similar to mine,” said Hall, who said she’ll be announcing a fall marathon soon.

Saying Hall won’t make the team in 2024 may not be wise. The date for the 2024 marathon trials isn’t set yet, but they might be less than 2.5 years away and Hall is running better than ever. Bernard Lagat made an Olympic team at 41 in 2016. Hall will be 40 when the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials take place. Of course, the difference is Lagat had been on many teams before.

Regardless of whether she makes a team, Hall’s late-career transformation has been incredible. At the 2016 Trials, Hall had pbs of 32:44 for 10k and 2:30:06 for the marathon. Now her pbs are 31:21 and 2:20:32.

Quick Take: Sisson handled the heat like a pro

At the last Trials, Sisson said she was “pretty out of shape and I actually overheated.” She handled the heat with ease today. That may be because she lives in Phoenix, Arizona (although she hasn’t been there since March, spending her buildup in Flagstaff and then Providence).

She wore sunglasses during the race but they weren’t hers. She often runs with glasses in Phoenix but didn’t have any today, so she just borrowed her husband’s pair before the race.

Quick Take: Emily Durgin has a strong run in 9th

The top 8 spots were all filled by people with the Olympic standard of 31:25. The first person without the standard was 9th placer Emily Durgin of Under Armour. No one in today’s race ran a PB, but Durgin came the closest. When her collegiate career at UConn came to an end in 2017, she had pbs of 16:00.93/33:49. Now she’s improved them to 15:24/32:22 and she ran 32:25 for 9th.

(06/27/2021) Views: 990 ⚡AMP
by Let’s Run

Bernard Lagat wants to stay with Wildcats after impressive first year on staff

Bernard Lagat had been called a lot of different things: Olympian. All-American. World champion. At Washington State, his alma mater, he is simply “Lagat,” which translates to legend in any language.

A few weeks ago, Lagat was called something totally unfamiliar: Coach.

“I feel like I’m still an athlete, so when someone would say ‘Hey, Coach,’ I sometimes wouldn’t respond,” Lagat says with a laugh. “But then it was, ‘Oh, wait, that’s me.’”

Lots of prominent Tucson athletes have become coaches: Terry Francona, Adia Barnes, Steve Kerr, Stacey Iveson. But few broke into the coaching business like Lagat, the 46-year-old five-time Olympian who moved to Tucson 19 years ago and soon won the 1,500-meters silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

A few days before Thanksgiving, Lagat was named the interim cross country coach at Arizona, replacing his coach of 25 years, James Li, who chose to retire; Li recently moved to Shanghai, where he now coaches elite distance runners.

Until that day, Lagat’s only coaching was that of his son, Miika, a freshman at Rincon/University High School, and a few of Miika’s friends interested in running. But Miika has since become an emerging tennis prospect and Lagat’s coaching days appeared to be over.

The timing couldn’t have been better. For the first time since his Olympic debut in 2000, Lagat is not absorbed by trying to qualify for the Summer Games. He doesn’t view his quick introduction to coaching as anything related to his title of interim coach.

Asked if he would like to be hired as Arizona’s full-time cross country coach, Lagat didn’t hesitate.

“I would, I’d like this to be long term,” he says. “Funny, if you had told me about this even a year ago — if you asked if I could see myself coaching — I’d be like, ‘Ah, no.’ But that has changed 100%. I would love to continue. The job grows on you. I want to see my relationships with the athletes grow.”

(03/16/2021) Views: 1,112 ⚡AMP
by Greg Hansen

University of Oregon student Cooper Teare clocks 3:50.39 mile in Fayetteville

University of Oregon student Cooper Teare made a huge breakthrough on the first day of the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville on Friday (12), smashing his outright mile PB with 3:50.39 to move into the world indoor all-time top 10.

There were huge PBs across the board as his teammates Cole Hocker (3:50.55) and Charlie Hunter (3:53.49) finished second and third.

In an all-Oregon line-up, Angus Folmi and Reed Brown set the early pace, going through 600m just inside 1:26 and 1000m in 2:24.3. Teare, Hocker and Hunter maintained that tempo for the final two laps with 21-year-old Teare kicking to victory in a collegiate record of 3:50.39. His time ranks him seventh on the world indoor all-time list, just behind fellow US athletes Bernard Lagat and Johnny Gregorek, but ahead of Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz.

Hocker, aged just 19, crossed the line in 3:50.55 – the fastest indoor mile ever recorded by a teenager and good enough for eighth on the world indoor all-time list. Hunter’s 3:53.49, meanwhile, took a second off his own Australian indoor record, set just two weeks prior on the same track.

The en-route 1500m splits of 3:35.46, 3:35.63 and 3:36.94 respectively were also outright PBs for all three men.

Isaac Grimes produced another world-leading mark in Fayetteville. The 23-year-old long jumper went out to 8.04m in round two then improved to a lifetime best of 8.27m in round five. He went even farther in the final round, sailing out to 8.33m. He now ranks just outside the US indoor all-time top 10. JuVaughn Harrison was second with 8.09m.

Elsewhere in Fayetteville, Bryce Deadmon sped to an indoor 400m PB of 45.22, the third-fastest time in the world this year, to win comfortably from Champion Allison (45.99).

The sprint hurdles finals were swift, too, with teenager Grace Stark winning the women’s race in 7.96 from Pan-American Games silver medallist Chanel Brissett (7.98), while former world U20 record-holder Trey Cunningham ran 7.55 to win the men’s event.

Fast 400s were the highlight of the first day of the Tiger Paw Invitational in Clemson on Friday (12). 20-year-old Randolph Ross won the fastest heat in a PB of 45.21, finishing just ahead of Jacory Patterson (45.24) and Trevor Stewart (45.55). Trinidad and Tobago’s Dwight St Hillaire took the second heat in 45.64 with 400m hurdles specialist Kyron McMaster placing second in 45.92.

Jamaica’s 2015 world champion Danielle Williams won the 60m hurdles in 7.87, while Tavarius Wright was the men’s 60m flat winner in 6.57.

At the Texas Tech Shootout in Lubbock, world U20 silver medallist Twanisha Terry trimmed her 60m PB to 7.13, while Brendon Stewart won the men’s short sprint in 6.58. Teenager Bailey Lear set an outright PB of 51.94 to win the women’s 400m.

(02/13/2021) Views: 1,345 ⚡AMP
by World Athletics

Paul Chelimo, is set to compete for the title at San Silvestre Vallecana

Paul Chelimo, the Olympic runner-up in Rio of the 5,000 meters can become the first athlete 'made in the USA' to win the Nationale-Nederlanden San Silvestre Vallecana.

Chelimo also has the challenge of beating the American record for 10K -27: 48 , the same as Toni Abadía's in Spain - shared by Bernard Lagat and Mark Nenow . If he arrives in good shape, in a season in which he has hardly run a cross after the outbreak of the pandemic, he should be in a position to do so.

Among his great rivals we can mention the Israeli of Ethiopian origin Maru Teferi , triple national record holder of his adopted country in the distances 10K, half marathon and marathon, and the Kenyan Daniel Simiu Ebenyo , athlete with little pedigree but who arrives endorsed by the 27 : 18 who signed at the 10K Invitational in Berlin at the end of September.

Burundian Thierry Ndikumwenayo , ninth in the Cross World Championship in 2019 and an old acquaintance of cross-country events in national territory, arrives with 28:18 as the best 10K mark and closes the list of candidates for victory, always with the permission of the great Spanish figures.

Much national brilliance

Speaking of Spaniards, the national media, as usual, will not miss the appointment. Kevin López, Jesús Gómez and Ignacio Fontes arrive endorsed by their great season in the 1,500 and promise to fight.

The Nationale-Nederlanden San Silvestre Vallecana is also fertile ground for surprises. From León comes Jorge Blanco , who arrives at the classic on December 31 with a mark achieved in the 10K in Alcobendas, 27:51, second behind Fernando Carro in that race.

Among the specialists in obstacles, the triple champion of Spain of 3,000 meters, Sebas Martos, will seek to rediscover his best feelings after a fateful season in which he has not been at his best. In front of him, the Burgos Daniel Arce, current runner-up of

Among the specialists in obstacles, the triple champion of Spain of 3,000 meters, Sebas Martos, will seek to rediscover his best feelings after a fateful season in which he has not been at his best. In front of him, the Burgos Daniel Arce, current runner-up of

Among the specialists in obstacles, the triple champion of Spain of 3,000 meters, Sebas Martos , will seek to rediscover his best feelings after a fateful season in which he has not been at his best. In front of him, the Burgos Daniel Arce , current runner-up of the discipline in the Madrid nationals.

This dream cast is completed by Absessamad Oukhelfen , current champion of Spain of 5,000 meters in the open air; Jesús Ramos , ninth in the last Nationale-Nederlanden San Silvestre Vallecana and with a mark of 27:56 in 10K en route; the two-time Spanish half-marathon champion Houssame Benabbou and the national 3,000-meter indoor champion, Mohamed Katir .

(12/30/2020) Views: 1,425 ⚡AMP
by Thomas Campos

Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw and Kenya’s Daniel Simiu poised to strike in Madrid

The 56th edition of the San Silvestre Vallecana will be held, as is tradition, on New Year’s Eve in Madrid, but this year there have been some significant changes to the World Athletics Gold Label road race.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, organisers have been forced to design a new circuit and so the race won’t start alongside Real Madrid’s famous Santiago Bernabeu stadium, nor will it finish in the stadium of another Spanish first division football club, Rayo Vallecano. Instead, competitors will have to cover four laps of a flat 2.5km circuit, meaning – unlike previous years when the race was held on a slightly downhill course – performances will be record-eligible.

The mass race, which often attracts about 40,000 runners, has been cancelled and only the elite contests will be held with separate starts for men and women.

The showdown between Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw and Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich in the women’s race promises to be one of the highlights of the evening.

Yehualaw is in the form of her life. After taking bronze at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020, the 21-year-old Ethiopian stormed to a 1:04:46 victory over the same distance in New Delhi in late November, beating Chepngetich in the process. Yehualaw now sits second on the world all-time list behind compatriot Ababel Yeshaneh, while Chepngetich, the world marathon champion, emerged from New Delhi with a lifetime best of 1:05:06.

Yehualaw’s fastest clocking in a standalone 10km race is 31:55, recorded more than a year ago at altitude in Addis Ababa. It’s worth noting, however, that she recorded 30:49 and 30:43 for the two 10km sections in New Delhi.

Chepngetich, meanwhile, has an official PB of 31:12 and she recorded 30:57 on Madrid’s downhill course last year. She, too, passed through the first 10km in New Delhi in 30:49.

Ethiopia’s Likina Amebaw, a 32:55 performer over 10km, is expected to battle with top Spaniards Lucía Rodríguez and Irene Sánchez-Escribano in the hunt for a place on the podium.

The men’s race features Olympic 5000m silver medallist Paul Chelimo. Having finished fourth and second at the World Athletics Cross Country Permit meetings in Elgoibar and Seville respectively in January, the 30-year-old US distance runner will compete in Spain for the third time this year.

His most recent outing was a cross-country race in November in Terre Haute where he finished second. His last completed race before that was the 3000m at the US Indoor Championships, which he won. Chelimo’s main aim in Madrid will be to break the US 10km record of 27:48, co-held by Bernard Lagat and Mark Nenow. The continental record of 27:41, held by Mexico’s Arturo Barrios, could also be within his sights.

Kenya’s Daniel Simiu Ebenyo appears to be the most in-form athlete heading into the race. The 25-year-old set a big 10km PB of 27:18 in Berlin in September to move to fourth on this season’s list.

Burundi’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo, who finished ninth at the 2019 World Cross in Aarhus, is also one to watch. He has recently enjoyed a one-month training stint in Tenerife in the company of Italian 3000m and 5000m record-holder Yemaneberhan Crippa.

Many of the top Spaniards will be in Madrid, headed by Ouassim Oumaiz, Toni Abadía, Javier Guerra, Fernando Carro, Ayad Lamdassem and Yago Rojo. Oumaiz improved to 13:13.14 over 5000m this summer, Abadía holds the national 10km record at 27:48, Guerra is fresh from a 1:01:21 PB at the Valencia Half Marathon, European steeplechase silver medallist Carro clocked 27:46 last month at a downhill event in Alcobendas, 39-year-old Lamdassem is the newly-minted Spanish marathon record-holder with a 2:06:35 clocking in Valencia, and Rojo is a newcomer to the elite, having run under 2:10 on his marathon debut earlier this month.

(12/30/2020) Views: 1,541 ⚡AMP
by World Athletics

No Millrose Games in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic

The iconic meet had been scheduled to take place on February 13.

The 2021 Millrose Games has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 114th edition of the iconic meeting, which was first held in 1908, had been scheduled to take place on Saturday February 13 at The Armory in New York City.

But the event will now return on February 12, 2022.

“The Armory Foundation has decided after extensive consultations with health experts that, due to rising cases nationally of Covid-19, it is advisable to cancel the 114th Millrose Games, previously scheduled for February 13, 2021 at The Armory in New York City,” reads a press release.

“First run in 1908, the Millrose Games has featured legends such as Paavo Nurmi, Eamonn Coghlan, Allyson Felix, Joetta Clark, Carl Lewis, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Bernard Lagat and many others.  However, given the health situation in New York and across the country, the prudent thing to do is to abstain this coming year.”

Britain’s Chris O’Hare (pictured) is a Millrose Games regular, with the multiple European medallist having won the famous Wanamaker Mile in both 2018, when he became the first British man to win the prestigious indoor race since John Whetton in 1965, and in 2020.

Meet director Ray Flynn said: “Canceling the iconic Millrose Games was a very difficult decision, but with all the health concerns surrounding an event of this complexity, rather than risking the athletes, officials, meet personnel, media and others, we have decided to wait until February 12, 2022, for the next edition of the Millrose Games."

(12/24/2020) Views: 1,234 ⚡AMP
by Athletics Weekly

The Marathon Project is an elite only marathon being held Sunday Dec 20 in Chandler Arizona

When COVID-19 postponed or canceled all of the year’s major marathons in the U.S., two running industry insiders—Ben Rosario, the coach of NAZ Elite in Flagstaff, and Josh Cox, an agent to many marathoners, including several on the NAZ team—brainstormed a way for some of the country’s fastest athletes to race.

The result is The Marathon Project, an elite-only 26.2 that takes place at 10 a.m. ET on Sunday, December 20, on the Gila River Indian Reservation in Chandler, Arizona.

The course is on a flat, two-mile stretch of road with roundabouts at each end. Runners go up one side of the road and back down the other for a 4.2-mile loop that they’ll do parts of six times. The course is built for fast times, not for variety.

The race will be broadcast live on USATF.tv, and a 90-minute replay of the race will be available on NBCSN at 7:30 p.m. ET on Sunday evening. The broadcast will include veteran commentator Paul Swangard as well as Des Linden and Bernard Lagat, two experienced marathoners who should bring some insightful analysis.

Who is racing?

The race brings together 53 men and 44 women, plus 14 male pacers. Several were top-10 finishers at the Olympic Marathon Trials in February, the last chance these runners had a chance to race a major marathon on U.S. soil.

The top women include Sara Hall, who finished second in 2:22:01 at the London Marathon in October, and Keira D’Amato, who recently set a women’s-only 10-mile American record.

Stephanie Bruce, Emma Bates, Kellyn Taylor, and Julia Kohnen (who were sixth, seventh, eighth, and 10th, respectively at the Trials) also figure to be in the mix.

On the men’s side, Americans Scott Fauble and 2016 Olympian Jared Ward are among the top contenders. Four top-10 finishers from the Trials—Marty Hehir (sixth), CJ Albertson (seventh), Colin Bennie (ninth), and Matt McDonald (10th)—will also line up.

The men’s race also brings several international entrants. Amanuel Mesel Tikue of Eritrea boasts a PR of 2:08:17, although it dates back to 2013. Jose Antonio Uribe Marino of Mexico hopes to hit the Olympic standard of 2:11:30 to qualify for the Games, and Cam Levins of Canada also is looking for a strong performance to put him on the Canadian Olympic team.

Will Sara Hall set the American record?

Hall, 37, has been on a tear lately. After dropping out of the Trials at mile 22, she redeemed herself with a PR in a solo half marathon in Oregon and that runner-up finish in London, which she earned by way of a furious finishing kick in the race’s final meters.

The American record for the marathon, Deena Kastor’s 2:19:36, has stood since 2006. Hall has asked for a pacer to take her through the halfway point in 69:40, faster than Kastor’s record.

But in a prerace press conference, Hall was reluctant to call it a record attempt. “I want to go into this race with the mindset of trying to run as fast as possible,” she said on the Zoom call. “I can be all or nothing, and I don’t want to be in a scenario where I’m running really well and if I’m just off the American record pace, it feels like I’m failing. I think that would still be a big success, a big PR. That’s my main focus, just running as fast as I can.”

Hall added that she has done a lot of training faster than record pace. “I think [the record is] definitely possible based on my training,” she said.

In addition to Hall’s requested pace for a 2:19:20 marathon, the women’s race will have three other pace groups: 2:23, 2:26, and 2:29:30, which is the Olympic qualifying standard. The men will have two pace groups: 2:09 and 2:11:30.

What’s in it for the runners?

Rosario announced a modest prize purse: $5,000 for each winner, $2,000 for second, and $1,000 for third.

Otherwise, athletes are racing for sponsor bonuses—shoe companies often pay their athletes extra money for breaking certain times, although the terms of these deals aren’t publicly known.

Then, of course, there’s the joy of racing, when events have been hard to come by for the past 10 months.

“Every opportunity we have to be on a starting line is a gift in 2020,” Bruce said.

What safety measures are in place?

The race is following safety guidelines set out by USA Track and Field, World Athletics, and the state of Arizona. Participants must take two COVID-19 tests, separated by 24 hours, within the seven days before the race—which, of course, must both be negative. Most participants are staying in a race hotel near the course, creating a bubble environment of sorts.

But runners are traveling from all over to get to the race. Hehir, who is finishing up his final year of medical school, is traveling to the race from Philadelphia, where he has spent the past two weeks working in an ICU filled with COVID-19 patients.

“It’s just as scary as it’s hyped up to be,” Hehir said of Covid. “Yes, not everyone ends up in the ICU, but when you end up there, you are incredibly sick. It’s definitely a bleak place to be.”

He said he gave some “extra thought” into committing to the race, but he praised the precautions the race had put in place. “These opportunities are far and few between,” he said, “and as long as we feel like it’s being done in a safe way, a lot of us are going to jump on it.”

(12/17/2020) Views: 1,309 ⚡AMP
by Sarah Lorge Butler (Runner's World)

Bernard Lagat Completes Interim Coaching Staff at Arizona Cross Country

Arizona cross country has completed its staff for the 2020-21 season as the program will be led by the trio of Dave Murray, Bernard Lagat and Doug Keen. 

Lagat, one of the most decorated distance runners of all time, has been a volunteer assistant coach at Arizona for 15 years. The 11-time All-American and two-time medalist at the Olympic Games is considered an American distance running legend as he has competed in five Olympic Games and qualified for the 2020 Olympics earlier this year.

 "I am honored to join Fred Harvey and be a part of the Arizona cross country and track & field program," Lagat said. "Having been a volunteer assistant coach for the last 15 years, I have gotten to know many of the great student-athletes that continue to proudly represent the University of Arizona.

I look forward to passing on the knowledge and experiences that I have gained as a student-athlete and professional. It is a privilege for me to follow in coach Li's footsteps and lead the next generation of Wildcats to success on and off the track." 

Lagat won a silver medal in the 1500m at the 2004 Olympics and won a bronze medal in the 1500m at the 2000 Olympics while finishing in fourth in the 5K at the 2012 Olympics and fifth in the 5K at the 2016 Olympics. He has also won two gold medals, three silver medals and one bronze medal at the World Championships. 

Off the track, Lagat has served as a chair member of the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) and the United States Track & Field Advisory Boards.

"Coach Dave Murray will be a great mentor to not only the student-athletes, but the coaches as well," said director of track and field & cross country Fred Harvey. "His knowledge of Arizona Track & Field and Cross Country is priceless. Bernard Lagat is one of the world's all-time great distance runners and will bring a level of comfort and confidence to our student-athletes since he has been in the program for over 15 years and understands their training methodology. Doug Keen brings a level of excitement as well as an understanding of building cross country teams.

His ability to structure four Arizona High School State Cross Country Championship teams will be instrumental as we prepare for an upcoming spring cross country and track & field season."

(11/23/2020) Views: 1,317 ⚡AMP
by Arizona Athletics

World bronze medalist Moh Ahmed and US champion Shelby Houlihan smash North American 5000m records in Portland

World bronze medallist Moh Ahmed and US champion Shelby Houlihan made significant improvements on the North American 5000m records at a low-key competition at Jesuit High School in Portland on Friday night (10).

Ahmed’s 12:47.20 took more than six seconds off Bernard Lagat’s continental record set back in 2011, while Houlihan’s 14:23.92 was a 10.53-second improvement on her own North American record from two years ago. Runner-up Karissa Schweizer also finished inside the previous continental record, clocking 14:26.34.

Organised by their training group, the Bowerman Track Club, the meet comprised just two 5000m races and the intention for both events was to provide the opportunity for fast times. Steeplechase specialist Colleen Quigley paced the early stages of the women’s race, taking the field through the first 1000m in 2:55.44.

Fellow steeplechaser Courtney Frerichs, the 2017 world silver medallist, took up the running just before 2000m, which was passed in 5:51. Three women – Quigley, Marielle Hall and Gwen Jorgensen – withdrew at the 3000m point. Elise Cranny briefly led at that point, clocking 8:47.88 for her 3000m split, and was just ahead of Houlihan, but Cranny and Frerichs eased off for the final stages of the race, leaving just Houlihan and Schweizer out in front.

Houlihan drifted to the front with three laps to go and gradually started to increase the pace for the final kilometre. Schweizer managed to stick with her training partner until the final lap, which Houlihan covered in 61.4 seconds, giving her a finishing time of 14:23.92. Schweizer was second in 14:26.34.

“I knew Karissa was going to try to come up on me and take the lead, but I decided I was not going to let that happen,” Houlihan told usatf.tv after the race. “I just kept trying to fight her off and tried to have a big kick on the last lap.

“Karissa was in the race in Heusden two years ago where I set the previous record,” added Houlihan. “It’s been really awesome to have her as a training partner and to see how far she has come. She was only three seconds behind me today and I know she’s going to get that 5000m record at some point.”

The men’s race played out in similar fashion, with half the field helping to set the pace for the first 3000m before leaving Ahmed and Lopez Lomong to battle it out for victory.

Ryan Hill (2:36.2) and Grant Fisher (5:12) were the respective leaders for the first and second kilometres as Ahmed and Lomong sat in the middle of the pack. Fisher reached 3000m in 7:46.10, closely followed by Evan Jager and Sean McGorty, but they soon stepped off the track and Ahmed took up the running with three laps to go.

Ahmed then started to wind up the pace and broke away from Lomong on the penultimate lap, which he covered in 59.5. He moved up another gear and ran the final 400m in 57.45 to cross the finish line in 12:47.20, smashing his own Canadian record and moving to 10th on the world all-time list. Lomong, who narrowly missed out on breaking the 13-minute barrier last year with 13:00.13, finished second in a lifetime best of 12:58.78.

“Once I saw the way Shelby and Karissa attacked the last 600m, I told myself that I just had to do the same kind of thing,” said Ahmed, whose previous best was 12:58.16. “With two laps to go, the clock said 10:49 and I just thought, ‘you can run two (minutes) flat (for the final 800m)’. With 200m to go, I just tried to blast it as hard as I could.

“I’m excited, it’s something I’ve been working really, really hard for. It’s been an extremely challenging year, but luckily we have a good group and it was great to deliver this.”

(07/11/2020) Views: 1,489 ⚡AMP
by World Athletics

Galen Rupp won the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials for a second straight time

Galen Rupp won the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials for a second straight time, returning from a coaching change and major injury to repeat as champion.  The trials were held Feb 29 in Atlanta Georgia.

Rupp, a two-time Olympic medalist, clocked an unofficial 2:09:20 to win by about 42 seconds and qualify for his fourth Olympics. He is joined on the Olympic team by second- and third-place finishers Jacob Riley and Abdi Abdirahman.

Rupp was the  2016 Olympic Marathon Bronze Medalist.  The 33-year-old Galen is from Portland Oregon.  At the 2012 Olympics Galen was the 10,000m Silver Medalist.

Today was a bit challening. The wind was very strong but the temp was perfect being 50 degrees at the start.

After 20 miles Galen was in total control. The big question of the day was who was going to place second and third. At 25 miles Abdirahman, Maiyo, Korir and Riley were within two seconds of each other with Jacob Riley leading them. 31-year-old Riley best time before today was 2:10:36.

Jacob Riley finished second clocking 2:10:02 a new personal best for him.  Abdirahman, 43, will break Bernard Lagat‘s record as the oldest U.S. Olympic runner in history. He will become the second American runner to compete in five Olympics, joining Gail Devers, according to Olympic historian Bill Mallon.

Jared Ward, who was sixth in the Rio Olympic marathon, began fading from a chase pack soon after Rupp surged to the lead in the 16th mile.

Rupp finished a marathon for the first time since October 2018. In between, he underwent Achilles surgery and dropped out of the 2019 Chicago Marathon with a calf injury. He also lost career-long coach Alberto Salazar to a doping suspension last fall.

Rupp was not implicated by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and has a clean drug-testing record.

“I feel relief, almost, more than anything,” Rupp told Lewis Johnson on NBC. “It’s been a really long year and a half.”

(02/29/2020) Views: 1,851 ⚡AMP
by Nick Zaccardi

Galen Rupp and Jared Ward, who placed first and third at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Marathon lead the way Saturday, headlining a deep and talented men’s field that brings together the best of the best

The U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Marathon are the second stop on the 2020 USATF Running Circuit. The top three finishers Saturday will represent the United States as the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer. Fans can tune-in for the live broadcast beginning at 12:00pm ET on NBC or NBC Sports Gold, with the men’s race beginning at 12:08pm ET and the women’s race starting at 12:20pm ET. 

While Rupp had to drop out of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in October, he still enters Saturday’s race as the prohibitive favorite. Rupp ran the top qualifying mark at the Prague Marathon in 2018, finishing in 2:06:07, while earning fifth at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon that fall in 2:06:21. In addition to earning bronze in the marathon at the Olympic Games in Rio, finishing second at the Boston Marathon in 2017 and winning in Chicago in 2017, Rupp has unmatched big-race experience against the field.

The Portland-based runner recently ran a tune-up half marathon in Arizona, finishing in 1:01:19, proving he’s in excellent shape. Not to be outdone, Ward also has some impressive finishes to his name after finishing third in Los Angeles four years ago.

The Utah-based standout placed sixth at the Olympic Games in Rio and has consistently shown his ability to finish well up the results at major events. 

Ward ran to an eighth-place effort at the Boston Marathon last spring, finishing in 2:09:25, while earning top American status at the TCS New York City Marathon in November with a sixth-place effort. Recently running 1:01:36 at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon and finishing as the top American gives Ward plenty of momentum heading into Atlanta. On paper, Leonard Korir is the next top challenger.

While Korir has only run one marathon, it was a great performance. At the Amsterdam Marathon last fall, Korir ran the second fastest qualifying mark of Saturday’s field, placing 11th overall in 2:07:56, making him the top American performer over the distance in 2019. Along with his success on the USATF Running Circuit, as well as on the track, Korir certainly has the ability to push for the win. Next up is Scott Fauble.

The HOKA ONE ONE Northern Arizona Elite star has proven himself time and time again the past two years, quickly rising the ranks of American marathoning. Fauble placed seventh at the TCS New York City Marathon in 2018, finishing only four seconds behind Ward, while placing as the top American at the Boston Marathon in 2019 in 2:09:08, while beating Ward. 

The trio of Jacob Riley, Jerrell Mock and Parker Stinson are also prime to put themselves in contention over the final miles, pushing for a spot on the Olympic team. The trio finished ninth, tenth and eleventh at the 2019 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Riley has the most experience of the group and his 2:10:53 effort in Chicago rank him as one of the top five fastest in the field Saturday.

Two other notable top contenders are Elkanah Kibet and Shadrack Biwott. Kibet has quietly become one of America’s best marathoners, having placed 11th at the Boston Marathon in 2019 and eighth at the 2018 Boston Marathon. Owning a personal best of 2:11:51, he ranks well in Saturday’s field.

The trio of Matt Llano, Andrew Bumbalough and Chris Derrick are also looking to make an Olympic-sized result Saturday. Bumbalough enters with a 2:10:56 best coming at the 2019 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

Another trio of incredibly experienced veterans are also entered and will be looking to make one more push for an Olympic berth. Bernard Lagat, Abdi Abdirahman and Dathan Ritzenhein are all American distance running legends. Each has qualified for at least three Olympics and represented the United States extremely well on the world stage.

(02/26/2020) Views: 1,819 ⚡AMP
by Scott Bush

A look at who's got a shot at making the American Olympic marathon squad

The U.S. Olympic Trials are less than three weeks away. The fields are finalized, the tapers are starting soon and runners and fans are anticipating one of the most exciting trials yet.

Here’s a look at which runners we think are most likely to place in the top three and be named to the U.S. Olympic squad after the February 29 race in Atlanta.

Women’s field.- The favorites to make this Olympic team are Sara Hall (Asics), Des Linden (Brooks), Molly Huddle (Saucony) and Emily Sisson (New Balance). Hall has been extremely consistent over the past year, running personal bests in both the marathon and the half (a 2:22:16 in Berlin and a 1:08 in Houston just a few weeks ago). Linden is a gamer and someone who shows up no matter the conditions. She’s also an Olympic marathon veteran.

Huddle and Sisson are training partners who have helped each other improve over the marathon distance. Huddle has been a staple on the American distance scene for years (she’s a multi-time American record holder) and Sisson is the rising star who has flourished alongside Huddle. The pair own 2:23:08 (Sisson) and 2:26:33 (Huddle) marathon personal bests and know how to show up on race day. But the knock on Sisson is that she’s only run one (albeit, fantastic) marathon, and inexperience could be her downfall.

Our best bet for the top three, in order, is: Hall, Huddle, Linden.

The dark horses.-  Jordan Hasay (Nike) and Amy Cragg (Nike) are the dark horses. We just haven’t seen enough to know where these two runners are at. Hasay’s most recent result is a DNF from the Chicago Marathon. Admittedly, her training group had just folded and her former coach was charged with doping infractions, so her racing conditions weren’t ideal. But Hasay hasn’t even gotten on a start line since then.

As for Cragg, she’s the 2017 World Championship medallist and 2016 Olympian over the distance. Cragg’s results are few and far between over the past two years, but she put it all together at the Tokyo Marathon in 2018 to run a 2:21:42–one of the fastest American times in history. Both Hasay and Cragg boast the best personal bests of the bunch, but with no indication of fitness, it’s impossible to predict where they’ll end up in 20 days’ time.

Men’s field.- The favorites in the men’s race are Galen Rupp (Nike), Leonard Korir (Nike), Scott Fauble (Hoka) and Jared Ward (Saucony). Rupp was almost a dark horse, due to his poor resume from the past year, but on Saturday he clocked a 1:01:19 in a tune up half-marathon in Arizona. So he’s in good shape.

As for the other three, all hold personal bests from 2019 around the same time. Korir’s is 2:07:56 from Amsterdam and Fauble and Ward’s are both from Boston 2019 at 2:09:09 and 2:09:25. Among these three it’s really a toss-up, based on past performances, as to who makes the team.

Our best bet for the top three, in order, is: Rupp, Ward, Korir.

The dark horses.- The dark horses in this event are the masters men: Bernard Lagat (Nike) (45) and Abdi Abdirahman (Nike) (42).  Like in women’s marathoning, the men are also proving that age is just a number on the race course. Lagat and Abdirahman have both recently clocked 2:11 and 2:12 marathons and are in the conversation for the team if they have a good day in Atlanta.

(02/11/2020) Views: 2,230 ⚡AMP
by Madeleine Kelly

Veteran Bernard Lagat and Chris Brown have both announced plans to hopefully compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Not too long ago, professional athletes rarely produced world-class results after they passed their mid-thirties and ventured into their forties. Today, however, athletes like Roger Federer and Serena Williams (both 38 years old), Tom Brady (42) and Tiger Woods (43) are proving that age is just a number, each continuing to find success in their sports. 

American Bernard Lagat and Chris Brown of the Bahamas are also looking to prove they’ve still got what it takes to compete with the world’s best, with both men recently announcing they will attempt to qualify for their sixth Olympic team each.

Chris Brown, a 400m runner, is 41 years old. He has competed at each Summer Games since Sydney in 2000, where he picked up a bronze medal in the 4 x 400m relay with the Bahamian team. The Athens Games were the only ones from which Brown has returned home without a medal. He and his teammates added three more in the 4 x 400m after Sydney, winning gold in London, silver in Beijing and another bronze in Rio. 

He currently coaches the Clayton State University track team in Georgia. His bio on the Clayton State track page reads that he joined the team “following a tremendous international career,” but Brown announced that he isn’t quite finished on the world stage. 

Brown told the Bahamian paper the Nassau Guardian that although he took a year off of competing since joining the Clayton State staff, he hasn’t stopped training. 

“My body is still active and ready to compete at any minute now,” he said. “I just try and maintain and keep my body consistent with what it has been doing.” 

From the 2008 to the 2016 Olympics, Lagat competed in the 5,000m. His focus is now on the marathon, a distance which he has only raced twice. His first shot at 42K was at the New York City Marathon in 2018, where he ran a 2:17:20. In July 2019, he travelled to Australia and set an American masters record of 2:12:10 at the Gold Coast Marathon. 

Lagat will be at the US Olympic Trials in Atlanta on February 29 to book his ticket for the 2020 Olympic marathon. If he makes the team, he’ll be 45 years old at the start line in Sapporo.  

Brown isn’t just looking for a fun, lighthearted Olympic finale–he wants to help the Bahamian team to continue their success in the 4 x 400m. If Brown makes the team, he could be running with Steven Gardiner, a fellow Bahamian who won the 400m world championship a month ago in Doha, who would be a huge addition to the already stellar cast of previous 400m runners from the Bahamas.

Bernard Lagat Like Brown, the 44-year-old Lagat has competed on the track of each Summer Olympics since 2000. Lagat won a medal in his first two Olympic appearances, taking a bronze in 2000 and silver in 2004, both in the 1,500m. At that time, he was competing for Kenya, where he was born and raised. In 2005, however, Lagat became an American citizen, and he has represented the U.S. ever since. 

(11/13/2019) Views: 1,718 ⚡AMP
by Ben Snider-McGrath

Abdi Abdirahman, 42, broke Bernard Lagat’s American masters marathon record at New York

Abdi Abdirahman broke Bernard Lagat’s US masters marathon record, on Sunday, running 2:11:34 for ninth place in the TCS New York City Marathon. Lagat’s record of 2:12:10 was set only four months ago at the Gold Coast Marathon in July.

Abdirahman is a four-time Olympian who competed in the 10,000m and marathon. His time on Sunday was a heartbreaking four seconds away from Olympic standard.

Another notable American performance came from Jared Ward, who finished sixth in one of his fastest-ever marathons. Ward crossed the line in 2:10:45, making him the first American. He was followed closely by Abdirahman, and the third American spot went to 23-year-old Connor McMillan, who finished in tenth in 2:12:07 (just shy of the Olympic standard of 2:11:30.)

The American marathon trials are only three months away, and the race is shaping up to be one of the most competitive trials in history. After the so-called American men’s marathon drought of 2018, 2019 has shown that the US men are back and ready for a strong Olympic year. In 2019 alone, nine men have run under Olympic standard, a vast improvement upon 2018, when Galen Rupp was the only runner who cleared 2:11:30.

(11/06/2019) Views: 1,761 ⚡AMP
by Madeleine Kelly

If anyone can break two hours, Eluid can says Bernard Lagat who will be one of the pacers

I have known Eliud since we were young. Our homes were just a few kilometres apart and Eliud’s mum was my grade one teacher. Eliud’s older twin sisters were in my grade one class and I later recall Eliud’s mum taking a young Eliud to school in his khaki coloured trousers and green sweater!

It is a little hard to comprehend the journey Eliud has taken, from that little boy to marathon superstar. I’m very proud of him.

He later developed into a world-class runner and we became good friends on the athletics circuit. We would regularly chat in Nandi and talk about life growing up in our home villages.

Knowing Eliud for as long as I have, and to be approached by Nike to help out with the INEOS 1:59 challenge is a huge honour.

I was also fortunate to be a pacemaker for Breaking2 in Monza in 2017. 

Breaking2 was a huge event and I completed two 3km stints of pacemaking. To witness what Eliud achieved that day by running 2:00:25 was unbelievable. To have contributed in some small way to him achieving that was very special.

It was amazing to be a part of an event of that magnitude and to be involved in something similar with the INEOS 1:59 Challenge is very cool. To help Eliud achieve his dreams, a guy who had never really changed that much over the years, is a real privilege.

I’m now aged 44, not the youngest, and many of the pacemakers are capable of running much faster than me. I see my role as similar to Monza where I can communicate my thoughts and ideas to the rest of the pacemakers. I helped put the guys at ease with simple, clear, precise instructions, which the guys were able to understand and grasp.

The INEOS 1:59 Challenge has a different feel to it compared to Breaking2. I think this is because prior to Breaking2, Eliud had never previously been tested to that degree before. However, I know he would have learned so much from running 2:00:25.

Also since Breaking2 he has been able to run a world marathon record of 2:01:39. That performance in Berlin was something quite special. He didn’t just break the record by a few seconds but a huge margin. The way he came back to run that course record in London and the second fastest official marathon time in his career also shows how strong he is.

I am confident that on the day he can break two hours. Of course, many factors have to go his way. The weather conditions need to be ideal in Vienna and has to hope his body does not have an off day and that it responds positively.

Yet if anyone can do it, Eliud can. Mentally he is such a tough athlete and I look forward to playing my small part in helping my fellow Nandi and near neighbour create history.  

(08/27/2019) Views: 2,576 ⚡AMP
by Bernard Lagat

Augustine Choge, Victor Chumo and Bernard Lagat have been selected to pace for Eliud Kipchoge in his mission to run the first sub two hour marathon

Three seasoned road runners, Augustine Choge, Victor Chumo from Kenya and double world champion Bernard Lagat of the United States have been selected to pace for Eliud Kipchoge in his mission to run the marathon in less than two hours in Vienna in October.

Choge and Chumo are part of the team training with Kipchoge in Kenya for the race, which is set for October 12-20 window in Vienna, Austria. A specific date will be made known days to the race after the accurate weather forecast has been confirmed.

Kipchoge says to break the two-hour mark in marathon is about setting history and challenging his body to the limit.

"It's like stepping on the moon, going up the tallest mountain and even going to the middle of the ocean," Kipchoge said on Saturday.

Whereas the focus will be on the Olympic and London Marathon champion to improve on his last mark of two hours and 25 seconds, the three pace setters will carry the burden to lead the Berlin champion through his steps and see to it that he delivers the results for the INEOS 1:59 Challenge.

In Monza, Italy in 2017, Lagat was one of the pace setters together with Ethiopia's Lelisa Desisa and Eritrea's Zersenay Tadese, both of whom fell by the wayside, leaving the Olympic champion to run over half of the race alone.

But now the organizers have announced the trio together with Norway's Henrik, Filip and Jakob Ingebrigtsen plus Australian pair Jack Rayner and Brett Robinson.

Further pacemakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

(08/17/2019) Views: 2,293 ⚡AMP

Ingebrigtsen brothers Jakob, Filip and Henrik hope to help Eliud Kipchoge break two hours for the marathon in Vienna in October

Ingebrigtsen brothers confirmed as INEOS 1:59 Challenge pacemakers.

Famous running brothers Jakob, Filip and Henrik Ingebrigtsen have been confirmed as part of the pacemaking team for Eliud Kipchoge’s INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna this October.

In a recent interview, world marathon record-holder Kipchoge described breaking the two-hour barrier for the 26.2-mile event as “like the first man to go to the moon” and so far eight athletes have been announced as being part of the ‘pacemaking family’ which will hope to help the Kenyan to achieve it.

Last year, aged just 17, Jakob won both 1500m and 5000m titles at the European Championships and this autumn the Norwegian – who will then be 19 – will be the youngest of Kipchoge’s pacemakers, 25 years younger than USA’s Bernard Lagat who at 44 years old will be the oldest.

“To be a teenager and to be part of this project is really amazing,” said Jakob. “As a family we are used to running together and to be able to run together, alongside other great athletes to help Eliud Kipchoge try to break two hours will be something very special.”

Filip added: “Kipchoge was so close last time he tried at Breaking2 and he has improved since then.

“If he is in the sort of form he was in when he broke the world record in Berlin last year – and with three hares flying in from Norway to help – I expect there to be a record.”

Joining the ‘three hares’ will be Lagat, Kenyans Augustine Choge and Victor Chumo and Australians Jack Rayner and Brett Robinson.

Further pacemakers are set to be announced in the coming weeks.

(08/16/2019) Views: 2,186 ⚡AMP
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Bernard Lagat sets new Master American marathon record clocking 2:12:10 in Australia

44-year-old Bernard Lagat ran 2:12:10 in the Gold Coast Marathon in Australia, which averages out to 5:02.5 per mile for 26.2 miles on Sunday. The result placed him 7th overall and more importantly broke Meb Keflezighi‘s US masters record (40+) of 2:12:20 in the men’s marathon. 2:12:10 represented a massive personal best of more than 5 minutes for Lagat as the two-time Olympic medalist in the 1,500 ran 2:17:20 in his only other marathon last November in New York.

He was happy to share this moment with his son (first photo).  He wrote that he was pleased to be able to finish strong.  

The only negative about the race was Lagat came up 40 seconds short of the Olympic qualifying standard of 2:11:30 for the men’s marathon (if he’d placed the top 5, he also would have been credited with the standard but 5th was 2:10:29).

He has been training in Colorado (photo). 

(07/06/2019) Views: 1,594 ⚡AMP

Yuta Shitara sets new course record at the Gold Coast Marathon even when weather conditions were not ideal

The second fastest Japanese marathon runner in history became the fastest runner in Gold Coast Marathon history when Yuta Shitara won the IAAF Gold Label race in 2:07:50 this morning.

The 27-year-old had an exciting duel with placegetters Barnabus Kiptum of Kenya and Zane Robertson of New Zealand over the final 12km before making his move with 2km remaining.

It was the eighth win by Japanese men in the 41-year history of the event and bettered the race record and Australian all comers record previously held by Kenyan Kenneth Mungara (2:08:42).

Shitara takes home $20,000 in victory prize money and an additional $10,000 time bonus for his record-breaking effort today.

Kiptum, the winner of the Hong Kong Marathon in February, finished second in a personal best 2:08:02, while marathon debutant Robertson placed third in 2:08:19.

It was an extra special result for Robertson as his time was a New Zealand record, bettering the previous mark of his brother Jake (2:08:26, Lake Biwa, 2018), and he was crowned the IAAF Oceania Area Marathon Champion for 2019.

The first Australian across the line was Victorian Liam Adams in sixth place clocking a pb 2:11:36 – a bittersweet result for the 32-year-old as it was an agonising six seconds outside the 2020 Olympic qualification standard.

Dual world champion over 1500m and 5000m on the track Bernard Lagat (USA) improved his marathon pr to 2:12:10 for seventh place, while 2013 race winner Yuki Kawauchi (JPN) placed 13th in 2:15:32.

"It's definitely a confidence builder, and I have had a lot of things to make me confident, but this is a big one heading into the Japanese Olympic trials," said Shitara.

Shitara, who stayed with the lead group of four throughout the race, said although he was not aiming for a particular time or result, the win showed his training had paid off.

“We did a lot of training, and I think that helped," he said in a post-race interview.

Weather conditions on the Gold Coast were less than ideal, with athletes in both the full- and half-marathons battling headwinds and heavy rain.

"Honestly, I'd like to be able to run together with Yuta but I'm still not good enough," Kimura said.

Kenyan Rodah Jepkorir (KEN) held off a strong finishing burst from Tasmanian Milly Clark (AUS/TAS) to take the women’s Gold Coast Marathon.

The 27-year-old broke away from the 30km mark and then lasted to break the tape in 2:27:56, with Clark second (2:28:08) and Eritrea’s Nazret Weldu (ERI) third in 2:28:57.

This year’s eight Gold Coast Marathon races attracted a total of 26,287 entries, including 3,678 overseas competitors, as the event continues to achieve a long-term upward trend.

(07/06/2019) Views: 2,438 ⚡AMP

Kenyan Kenneth Mungara, Bernard lagat, Zane Robertson and Yuki Kawauchi are ready to compete at Gold Coast Marathon

Can the man dubbed ‘King Kenneth’ by race organizers, Kenya’s Kenneth Mungara, continue to hold back the years to achieve a fourth victory on the Gold Coast? Has Bernard ‘Kip’ Lagat learned enough from a humbling marathon debut in New York last year to mount a credible challenge? Can New Zealand’s Zane Robertson, who missed last year’s Commonwealth Games marathon on the Gold Coast through injury, atone with a victory this time and perhaps take the family record off twin brother Jake into the bargain?

First, let’s take Mungara, as befits an athlete who is the defending champion and holds the race and Australian all-comers’ records with his 2:08:42 in 2015. Sunday will be precisely two months before his 46th birthday, but he shows no signs of slowing down. Should he win again, Mungara will join Pat Carroll, who himself has the credentials to be considered king of the Gold Coast, and Margaret Reddan as four-time winners of the event.

He may not even be first in category. Bernard Lagat turns 45 in December. By any measure, Lagat is the best all-round distance runner to compete in the Gold Coast race. A silver and bronze Olympic medallist at 1500m and second-fastest ever at the event, world over 1500m and 5000m in Osaka in 2007 – he sits comfortably in any conversation of track distances up to, and including, the 10,000m. The marathon is another matter. His debut of 2:17:20 in New York last year was a harsh learning experience and left him with something to prove.

“One of the most important things I learned from running the New York Marathon,” Lagat said when his Gold Coast commitment was announced, “was the experience of ‘hitting the wall’. A lot of people warned me about it and told me to watch for it, but nothing quite teaches you like living through that experience… I panicked a bit, questioned myself if I could finish.”

If Lagat has conquered those doubts, he could be a big factor on the Gold Coast.

Zane Roberston believes he could have won the Commonwealth Games race. A half-marathon PB of 59:47 suggest that is more than just idle talk. He was happy to talk up his chances pre-race.

“First and foremost, I always target the win,’ Robertson said. “I want to run as fast as the pacemakers allow and once they step off the road anything can be possible. Perhaps a new Oceania record?”

Robert de Castella holds the Oceania record at 2:07:51, his winning time the first year the Boston marathon went open in 1986. Of equal note, Zane’s twin brother Jake holds the New Zealand, and family, record at 2:08:26.

The Gold Coast race also serves as the Oceania championships, so the Oceania champion will accrue valuable rankings points for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Kenyan pair Ezekiel Chebii and Philip Sanga Kimutai both boast personal bests of 2:06:07, the former from 2016 in Amsterdam, the latter from 2011 in Frankfurt. But the man with the most recent 2:06-clocking is Japan’s Yuta Shitara who ran a national record 2:06:11 in Tokyo last year, a mark subsequently bettered by Suguru Osako’s 2:05:50 in Chicago. Along with the indefatigable Yuki Kawauchi, he gives Japan a strong hand in what has been traditionally a strong race for them.

(07/05/2019) Views: 2,243 ⚡AMP
by IAAF

Yomif Kejelcha smashed the Indoor Mile World Record clocking 3:47.01 in Boston Sunday

Yomif Kejelcha from Ethiopia broke the world indoor mile record when he clocked three minutes 47.01 seconds during an invitational meet in Boston on Sunday.

The 21-year-old smashed the 22-year-old record of 3:48.45 set by Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj in 1997.

Kejelcha had come within one hundredth of a second of the record when he clocked 3:48.46 at the Millrose Games in New York last month.

The twice world indoor 3,000 meters champion was also targeting the indoor 1,500m record but narrowly missed it with a 3:31.25.

This makes Kejelcha, who is coached by Alberto Salazar, the third-fastest in the 1500m behind compatriot Samuel Tefera's February world record of 3:31.04 and El Guerrouj's 3:31.18

Eariler in the week Oregon live reported, “As promised, Nike Oregon Project coach Alberto Salazar has declared the NOP’s Yomif Kejelcha will be running for a world indoor record in the 1,500 meters -- and, possibly, the mile -- in the Bruce Lehane Invitational Mile Sunday at Boston University.

Salazar said making a world-record assault public puts pressure on the runner making the attempt, but also causes the runner to focus. And, he thinks, world-record attempts create the kind of publicity and attention the sport needs.

"If we’re going for a record in Boston, people are going to know," Salazar said then. “If we say we’re going for it, we’ll go for it.”

He told DyeStat’s Doug Binder on Wednesday that Kejeclha is fit and ready.

“He likes the 1,500 (meters), but I think the mile is more prestigious,” Salazar told Binder. “He’s going for the 1,500 record, and afterwards just hopes to maintain so he can get the mile as well.”

This is how the race in Boston unfolded as described by the IAAF. 

Kejelcha followed three different pacemakers for the opening laps and passed through 809m in 1:52. Worried the pace wasn't quick enough, he moved past the final pacemaker about two minutes into the race and was then out in front alone.

He was inside 2:51 with two laps remaining and kept up his swift pace for the last 400 metres. The clock had already ticked over to 3:31 by the time he passed the 1500m checkpoint, but he – and the eager fans – would have to wait until after the race to find out his official split. His immediate concern was reaching the finish line of the mile.

Kejelcha dug in deep and crossed the line in 3:47.01, taking 1.44 seconds off the previous world indoor record set by Hicham El Guerrouj in 1997. Moments later, his 1500m split was confirmed at 3:31.25, making him the third-fastest indoor performer in history behind Tefera and El Guerrouj.

Kejelcha's mile time is also an outright Ethiopian record, bettering the outdoor mark of 3:48.60 set by Aman Wote.

America's Johnny Gregorek (second photo)  finished second in 3:49.98, moving to sixth on the world indoor all-time list, just 0.09 shy of Bernard Lagat's North American indoor record.  This is the seventh best time by an American Indoor or outdoors according to LetsRun.  

(03/03/2019) Views: 2,527 ⚡AMP

British athlete Dewi Griffiths will be running the Houston half marathon

Dewi Griffiths will line up in the half marathon hoping to lay down a marker before making a return to marathon racing later this year.

The Welshman, who ran a fantastic 2:09:49 marathon debut in 2017, had his 2018 season scuppered for the most part due to injury.

Griffiths made a steady return to action in the latter part of the year, building up to a 1:02:55 performance at the Cardiff hosted Commonwealth Half Marathon Championships in October, before ending on a high with a 28:49 10k at the Corrida de Houilles in France.

Among those Griffiths will face are five sub 60 minute athletes, including Kenyan trio Bedan Karoki Muchiri, Bernard Ngeno and Geoffrey Koech, while USA’s Shadrack Biwott and Bernard Lagat are also in the field.

(01/08/2019) Views: 1,769 ⚡AMP

The five-time track Olympian Bernard Lagat finished 18th in 2:17:20 at his New York City Marathon debut

Bernard Lagat, 43, thought marathon runners were crazy. Even for a decorated runner who has excelled at ‘long distance’ on the track, the thought of 26.2 miles was daunting. But now that he’s tried one, he’s hoping to develop an addiction – the good kind, of course - the one that most marathon runners seem to have. “They say once you run one marathon, you come back and run again. It’s addictive,” Lagat, a five-time Olympian and American track superstar, said. Lagat finished 18th in two hours, 17 minutes, 20 seconds at the New York City Marathon Sunday morning.  It was his first marathon and he finished 11:21 behind winner Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia. “Oh man, it was something out there,” Lagat said. “It was fun. I’ve never been in such an environment like that before. I enjoyed it. The fans were amazing on the road. It’s one of those things where I didn’t even know going in that I would experience something like that today. It was really awesome.” Lagat came up a bit short of his stated goal – breaking Meb Keflezighi’s American masters record of 2:12:21 – but he says they’ll be other chances. This won’t be a one-time thing for Lagat. “I hope I can come back to New York once more,” Lagat, who won a silver medal in the 1,500 meters at the 2004 Athens Olympics, said. (11/05/2018) Views: 1,803 ⚡AMP

Mexico's Juan Luis Barrios is training with Bernard Lagat as they get ready for the New York Marathon

Mexico's Juan Luis Barrios and American Bernard Lagat have competed against each other at the highest level, but that doesn't keep them from training together for the New York Marathon. Bernard Lagat is a five-time Olympian, an American record holder and five-time world champion in distances from 1,500 to 5,000 meters. He's also a fine foodie. Come dinner time, that means a lot to Juan Luis Barrios. "Lagat is the chef," Barrios says. "He's really good in the kitchen." Since August, Lagat, Barrios, a two-time Olympian for Mexico, and Abdi Abdirahman, a four-time U.S. Olympian, have been training partners and housemates in Flagstaff, Arizona, as they get ready for Sunday's New York City Marathon. There the trio will find a strong field including Kenyan Geoffrey Kamworor, who is the defending champ. The three have found they have similar easygoing personalities and taste in food. Lagat and Barrios often yield to Abdirahman when they go out to eat, though, because when he finds a restaurant he likes, he sticks with it. Lagat jokes he's "a snob" and playfully suggests his friend won't even go anywhere for coffee but the one little spot he has visited for years. For Lagat, Barrios and Abdirahman, Flagstaff stays also mean time spent talking, eating, going out for coffee and watching TV before and after long days of training. Lagat, who will make his marathon debut at New York at the age of 43, calls Barrios and Abdirahman his brothers. He and Abdirahman, 41, first met when they competed against one another in the Pac-12 in the late 1990s and have been training together in Flagstaff since 2002. All three became friends in 2012 when Barrios made Flagstaff his base before the London Games. "I have the same conditions for training, altitude," says Barrios, 35, of his home in Mexico City. "But I don't have these kind of training partners." (10/30/2018) Views: 1,721 ⚡AMP

Bernard Lagat, the second fastest 1500m runner of all time, will debut at New York City Marathon

Bernard Lagat, at the age of 43, with two Olympic medals and five world titles to his name would have every reason to walk away from his beloved sport feeling proud. Instead, he wants to achieve more.  The 2018 New York City Marathon will be Lagat’s debut at the distance.  The Kenyan American has the second best record in history at 1,500 meters. Today, this nationalized Kenyan American athlete in 2004 is best known for all the achievements he has achieved at an age when many others have long since retired from the world of athletics. But the truth is that Bernard Lagat has earned the respect of all fans of athletics for their brands in recent years and for still running at an elite level at age 43. Lagat is the American record holder in the 1500m and mile indoors, as well as the 1500m, 3000m, and 5000m outdoors, and is the Kenyan record holder at 1500m outdoors. Lagat is the second fastest 1500m runner of all time, behind Hicham El Guerrouj. Lagat is a five-time Olympian, having competed in the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 games, and is a thirteen-time medalist in World Championships and Olympics including five gold medals. Going into the Rio Olympics with the age of 41, in the 5000m, he finished 5th among 16 starters (10/29/2018) Views: 1,752 ⚡AMP

Five-time U.S. Olympian Bernard Lagat will Make his Marathon Debut in New York City

Five-time U.S. Olympian Bernard Lagat will make his long-awaited marathon debut at this year’s New York City Marathon. At 43 years old, Lagat is remarkably still one of the top U.S. distance runners. He most recently represented the United States at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in March and claimed the U.S. 10K title in July. If he continues racing at the elite level, there may be a chance for Lagat to try and make a sixth U.S. Olympic team in 2020. For now, he’s solely focused on his 26.2-mile debut and possibly making a run at Meb Keflezighi’s U.S. Masters record of 2:12:20. The women’s field for the New York City Marathon is absolutely loaded with the defending champion Shalane Flanagan, Boston Marathon champion Des Linden, London Marathon champion Vivian Cheruiyot and three-time New York champion Mary Keitany. The men’s field already includes last year’s champion 25-year-old Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya. (08/23/2018) Views: 1,847 ⚡AMP

Tyler Penner says he surprised himself by placing third at the Peachtree 10k today

America’s Tyler Penner surprised himself today at the AJC  Peachtree Road Race 10k.   He wrote, “In such a strong field I didn't know how well I could run. I had been working out alright, but not fantastic. Last week, I felt awful, and my confidence was not where it usually is. All that carried over to the race. I felt terrible in the first half, with doubts creeping into my mind. I was drifting off the back of the back at times, almost just wanting to let them go. I took a few minutes regroup and reset. I told myself, "I've made it this far, be tough, all that strength from the marathon should be kicking in anytime now." Surprisingly that worked. I began to stick my nose in the race, eventually getting to the front truly believing I could win. Unfortunately the speed at the end was not quite there, but it's coming back.”  Tyler finished third clocking 28:49 only four seconds back of Bernard Lagat.  It was a hot and humid day and this is a challenging course.   (07/04/2018) Views: 1,955 ⚡AMP

Mission accomplished, a five-time Olympian Bernard Lagat wins AJC Peachtree Road Race

Bernard Lagat wanted to see it again. He was determined to return to Atlanta and win The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race after finishing fifth a year ago. Mission accomplished: With a time of 28:45, Lagat won the 2018 Peachtree Road Race.  “I wanted to come back again, and I wanted to win this,” Lagat said. “So I trained so hard. I decided not to race in some other races before this. My last race was in March. From March until this, there’s a lot of races I missed. But I thought it wouble be worth the sacrifice.” Lagat, a five-time Olympian, prepared for the hill challenges presented in the course. He had a much deeper understanding of it than a year ago. (07/04/2018) Views: 1,916 ⚡AMP

America's Lopez Lomong 10,000m track champion says it would be amazing to win Peachtree 10K too

Fresh off his national title in the 10,000m on the track one week ago, Lopez Lomong (Portland, OR) will compete for a 10 km title on the road for the first time as the AJC Peachtree Road Race will be Lomong’s 10K road debut. At the USATF Outdoor Track and Field Championships last month, Lomong unleashed a furious kick on the final lap to become the only man in history to win U.S. titles in the 1,500m and the 10,000m on the track. “The Peachtree is one of America’s most amazing events,” said Lomong. “It is my honor to come and run the streets of Atlanta. It’s a U.S. championship so it would be amazing to win it, but even to be a participant is massive.” Lomong, the torch-bearer for the United States at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, will join previously announced contenders like U.S. Half Marathon Champion Chris Derrick (Portland, OR), his teammate in the Portland-based Bowerman Track Club and Bernard Lagat (Tucson, AZ), a five-time Olympian who smashed the AJC Peachtree Road Race masters course record (28:42) in 2017. Also in the men’s field are the top two American men from the rain-soaked and raw 2018 Boston Marathon: Shadrack Biwott (Folsom, CA), and Tyler Pennel (Blowing Rock, NC). Reigning USATF 25 km champion Sam Chelanga (Colorado Springs, CO) and 2016 Olympic marathoner Jared Ward (Kaysville, UT) will also compete. Last year’s Peachtree runner-up Shadrack Kipchirchir has withdrawn from the race, as has Abdi Abdirahman. “We are excited to welcome athletes who have won American titles, set American records and represented the United States around the world to Atlanta’s celebration of running and country on July 4,” said Rich Kenah, Executive Director of Atlanta Track Club and Race Director of the AJC Peachtree Road Race. “The AJC Peachtree Road Race has a rich history of crowning the legends of road racing and that history will continue in the race’s 49th running.” (07/02/2018) Views: 1,915 ⚡AMP

Middle Distance Superstar Bernard Lagat at 43-years-old move to the roads has been impressive

Every sport has examples of athletes who seem infuriatingly immune to senescence, 43-year-old Bernard Lagat is in another league entirely.

Lagat has competed in five Olympics, a distinction that puts him in very select company among track and field athletes. The fact is all the more impressive when you take into account that his first games didn’t happen until 2000, when he was 25...

In the men’s 5,000 meters at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, the 41-year-old Lagat was in sixth place going into the last lap of the race. He proceeded to unleash a 52.82-second final 400 meters to win the most competitive 5K ever held at a U.S. Trials. Lagat had the decency to retire from track racing at the end of the 2016 season, he is once again redefining what should be feasible, only this time on the roads.

In January, he ran the Houston Half Marathon in 62 minutes flat, breaking Meb Keflezighi’s U.S. masters record for the distance by over a minute. In March of this year Lagat was the second American finisher at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.

For someone who holds the third-fastest 1,500-meter time ever, Lagat seems to be having way too much fun competing in the half marathon. Full story at Outside Online

(04/04/2018) Views: 2,933 ⚡AMP

Geoffrey ripped apart the field with his impressive 13:01 wind aided 5k at the 15k mark

Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor romped away over the final six kilometres to secure his third successive world title over the distance at the World Half Marathon today in Valencia, Spain. A sluggish early pace as the wind started to pick up contributed to Kamworor not breaking the hour and having to be content with a finishing time of 1:00:02 but what will be remembered is the way that the Kenyan threw in a 13:01 split between 15 and 20km to rip apart a very classy field. The first 5km were passed in a relatively leisurely 14:31 with Japan’s Kenta Murayama and Spain’s Ayad Lamdassem being the most prominent faces at the front of a huge pack of almost 70 runners...Down the finishing straight, Geoffrey beaming smile stretched broadly across his face and he started blowing kisses to the crowd. The one-hour mark just eluded Kamworor but no one was going to begrudge him his chance to celebrate what had been a tactically perfect race. Cheroben took the silver medal in 1:00:22, Bahrain’s first individual medal in the history of the championships, as Kifel passed Yimer with 500 metres to go to take the bronze in a personal best of 1:00:31...Canada's Cameron Levins scores a PB with 1:02:15, one second ahead of ageless 42yr old wonder Bernard Lagat! (03/24/2018) Views: 2,036 ⚡AMP

Korir and Lagat lead USA team for IAAF World Half Championships

National cross-country champion Leonard Korir and 2-time world champion Bernard Lagat will lead the US team at the IAAF Trinidad Alfonso World Half Marathon Championships Valencia. At the end of last year Korir became the second-fastest US man ever for the half marathon when clocking 59:52 in Delhi. Lagat, who has won numerous global medals on the track both indoors and outdoors, recorded a PB of 1:02:00 at the recent Houston Half Marathon to secure his place on the team for Valencia. USA Men's Team: Samuel Chalanga, Diego Estrada, Leonard Korir, Bernard Lagat, Jared Ward. (02/09/2018) Views: 1,717 ⚡AMP
USA Teams

Lagat runs AR Masters for Half of 1:02:00 at Aramco

Bernard Lagat runs 1:02:00 for Masters American Record. Bernard retired from elite track & field on September 3, 2016, with a 3000 meters at ISTAF Berlin. Lagat spent much time each year training in Germany, and he decided that it would be a fitting way to end his athletics career. Bernard Lagat went out fast and furious and his 1:02:00 was impressive, a 32 second improvement on his PR. Looks like he could run under the World Masters record of 1:01:19! (01/15/2018) Views: 1,432 ⚡AMP