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Kenyan trio of Peter Mwaniki, Emmaculate Anyango and Bravin Kipkogei headline the 16th edition of TCS World 10K Bengaluru

The Kenyan trio of Emmaculate Anyango, Peter Mwaniki and Bravin Kipkogei headline the 16th edition of TCS World 10K Bengaluru on April 28.

The World Athletics Gold Label Road Race is a Sh27m prize money event featuring some of the world's most accomplished road and track athletes.

Anyango, the world's second-fastest woman over 10K, clocked 28:57 in Valencia while finishing behind compatriot Agnes Ngetich, who posted a 28:46 world record.

A silver medalist at the 2019 African Junior championships in 3000m, Anyango barely missed the podium at this year's World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.  

“I am very excited to be in Bengaluru for the first time for this incredible event, which has gained a worldwide reputation for being one of the best 10K races. I have heard so much about the events hosted in India and the running revolution they began nearly two decades ago," said Anyango.

"I am looking forward to being there and doing my best. The field of runners in the women’s category is quite strong this year and I love a good challenge."

She will be joined by Lilian Kasait (29:32), Faith Chepkoech (29:50), Loice Chemnung (29:57), Cintia Chepngeno (30:08) and Grace Nawowuna (30:27). 

Two Ethiopians, Aberash Minsewo, this year's Tata Mumbai Marathon winner, and Lemlem Hailu, 2022 World Indoor 3000m champion, add further shine to the women's start lists.  

Mwaniki is the fastest among the men with a time of 26:59 he achieved while finishing third in Valencia earlier this year. He is the 19th runner in the World to run 10K in under 27 minutes. 

Kipkogei, the 2019 African junior champion over 10,000m is credited with 27:02 from Madrid last year while Kiprop, clocked an impressive 27:16 this February at Castellon, Spain.

They will keep the race interesting.   

Two more Kenyans, Hillary Chepkwony, last year's third-place finisher, and Patrick Mosin, the runner-up in Castellon the previous year, are expected to provide the necessary boost to return fast times.

Two young runners, John Wele from Tanzania and Boki Diriba from Ethiopia may also threaten the Kenyans.  

Kenyans Nicholas Kimeli (27:38) and Irene Cheptai (30:35) have held the course records in Bengaluru since 2022.

The winners in the men's and women's categories will each take home Sh3.3m.  A course record bonus of Sh1m is also up for grabs.

Daniel Simiu eyes Berlin Half Marathon course record

Daniel Simiu is not resting on his laurels as he targets the course record at the Berlin Half Marathon on Sunday.

World Half Marathon silver medallist Daniel Simiu has eyes on the course record as he returns to the Berlin Half Marathon on Sunday, April 7.

The course record currently stands at 58:42 and was set by Eric Kiptanui during the 2018 edition of the event. Simiu has been unbeaten so far this season, claiming wins at the 67° Campaccio-International Cross Country and the Sirikwa Classic Cross Country.

He now heads to the German capital confident and ready to pull off something unique with the course record part of his major plans. However, he faces a stern test from his compatriots since all the six runners that have personal bests of sub 60 minutes are from Kenya.

The 28-year-old has not yet run sub 59:00 and his PB stands at 59:04 which he will attempt to beat when he descends on the course. Last season, he stunned the world to win the Kalkutta 25k race with a world-best time of 1:11:13.

The record he set in India indicates that Ebenyo should be capable of running well under the course record in Berlin. Bravin Kiprop will also be in the mix after taking the Sevilla Half Marathon earlier this year and improving to 59:21, which at that time was a world-leading time.

Simon Boch is the fastest German on the start list with 61:23 while Samuel Fitwi returns to the race where he set his personal record of 61:44 a year ago.

Meanwhile, the women’s race will see Germany’s record holder Melat Kejeta, return to the streets of Berlin. Kejeta has won the race before but when she triumphed in 2018 with 69:04 she still competed for Ethiopia.

“My first goal is to run faster than the 66:25 I ran in Valencia last year. If all goes well during the race then I will try to attack my personal best,” she said.

Ftaw Zeray and Yalemget Yaregal from Ethiopia will certainly be her strongest challengers. Zeray has a PB of 66:04 while Yaregal was third at the Berlin Half Marathon last year in 66:27.

Amebaw and Yimer win 10km titles at Paris Festival of Running

Likina Amebaw, Jemal Yimer, Hagos Gebrhiwet and Caroline Nyaga were among the winners as athletes descended on Paris for the Festival of Running ASICS Speed Race 5km and 10km events on Friday (5).

Competition took place on an iconic 2.5km loop that started and finished at Palais-Royal in the shadow of the Louvre.

Ethiopia’s Amebaw and Kenya’s Loice Chemnung both dipped under 30 minutes in the women’s 10km, with Amebaw clocking a PB of 29:56 to win and Chemnung finishing just one second behind her. They were joined by Kenya’s Miriam Chebet during the first half of the race but Chebet was unable to maintain the pace and finished third in 30:41.

Finishing fourth, Nadia Battocletti improved her own Italian record to 31:19.

“It was a very amazing race. It was a fast race – I ran under 30 minutes, so I liked it,” said Amebaw, who was recently confirmed as joint runner-up in the 2023-2024 World Athletics Cross Country Tour.

She also voiced her ambition to return to Paris to compete in the No.1 Olympic sport at the Games in August.

“I have got to work hard, and I hope I will be at the Olympic Games,” she said. “Now I will get ready for track competition.”

Less than three weeks after his Seoul Marathon win in a PB of 2:06:08, Ethiopia’s Yimer matched his 10km best, running 27:43 to win the men’s race, also by one second.

Kenya’s Hillary Kipkoech was runner-up in 27:44 and his compatriot Vincent Kibet was third in 27:48.

Ethiopia’s multiple world and Olympic 5000m medallist Gebrhiwet was racing a couple of weeks out from his African Games 5000m victory, which followed a 5km win in the rain at the Podium Festival in Leicester, UK. In Paris he won the men’s 5km in 13:24 ahead of Mohamed Ismael (13:32) and Adel Mechaal (13:34).

Kenya’s Nyaga, who also raced in Leicester where she finished second, this time topped the women’s 5km as she secured a dominant win in 14:40 over Uganda’s Joy Cheptoyek and Belinda Chemutai, who ran 15:03 and 15:05, respectively.

Sawe sets race record to win Prague Half Marathon

World half marathon champion Sabastian Sawe improved the 14-year-old race record by winning the Prague Half Marathon, a World Athletics Elite Label road race, in a world-leading PB of 58:24 on Saturday (6).

The 29-year-old was racing just a week after finishing seventh at the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, where he formed part of Kenya’s gold medal-winning senior men’s team.

But he showed no signs of fatigue as he took control of the race in warm conditions in Prague. Despite running the second half solo, he maintained his pace and managed to take five seconds off his PB to claim a dominant win ahead of his compatriots Geofry Toroitich Kipchumba (1:00:01) and Patrick Mosin (1:00:15).

The women’s race was much closer and after exchanging the lead from 15km, Ethiopia’s Gete Alemayehu eventually strode away from Kenya’s Jesca Chelangat to win in 1:08:10. Chelangat finished three seconds behind the winner, while Ethiopia’s Nigsti Haftu was third in 1:09:30.

In the men’s race, the lead group set off behind two pacemakers and quickly created a gap on the rest of the field.

With the pacemakers gone, Sawe took charge and led through 5km in 13:48. As he forged ahead, his rivals couldn’t stick with the pace and by 10km Sawe was running alone. He passed that point in 27:32, nine seconds ahead of his compatriots Gideon Kiprotich Rop and Mosin.

Sawe increased his advantage to 45 seconds by 15km, which he reached in 41:25, and he continued untroubled to pick up his pace in sight of the finish line, which he crossed in 58:24.

Improving his PB, he moved from 14th to 12th on the world all-time list.

Behind Kipchumba and Mosin, Rop ran 1:00:45 and Jackson Muema 1:02:01 to complete a Kenyan top five.

In the women’s race, Alemayehu and Chelangat ran together through 5km in 15:43 but Alemayehu dropped back as Chelangat followed the pacemaker through 10km in 31:26. Alemayehu was 11 seconds behind Chelangat at that point but as the race approached 15km, Alemayehu caught and then passed her rival.

That lead was short-lived and Chelangat responded as they fought for top spot behind the pacemaker.

But as the race reached the closing stages, Alemayehu had a look of concentration on her face as she moved away from Chelangat and she managed to hold on to that lead, winning by three seconds in 1:08:10.

Kenya’s Vivian Jepkemei Melly followed Haftu over the finish line to finish fourth in 1:09:33, while Turkiye’s Sultan Haydar was fifth in 1:09:48.

Sawe sets focus on Prague Half Marathon

After what is considered a poor show at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, Sebastian Sawe will hope to do better when he takes part in the Prague Half Marathon on Saturday, April 6.

He has some days to work harder and be ready for the half-marathon action after finishing seventh in Belgrade on Saturday, March 30, 2024.He has some days to work harder and be ready for the half-marathon action after finishing seventh in Belgrade on Saturday, March 30, 2024.

At the World Cross Country, Sawe was one of the favorites, but he faltered as Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda made history by defending the title. However, his seventh place helped Kenya win team gold. 

Although, individually, it was not a good performance, Sawe has a chance to right the wrongs in Prague.

He is the fastest entrant for the Prague action as he enjoys a 58:29 personal best that he achieved at the 2022 Bahrain Royal Night Half Marathon. He will have Geoffrey Kiprotich challenge him as a teammate.

Kiprotich is a sub-one-hour runner on the field with a 59:13 personal best, and Gideon Kiprotich, who holds a 1:00:28 personal best, will also be in action.

Uganda, Kenya's emerging arch-rivals, will be led by Maxwell Rotich, who enjoys a 1:00:06 personal best from last year's Praha Half Marathon.

Although the Ugandan unit is seen as Kenya's main challenger, Ethiopia's Haftamu Abadi Gebresilase (1:00:27) is considered a strong rival too.

In the women's race, Jesca Chelangat and Vivian Melly will carry the flag. Nigistu Haftu of Ethiopia, who holds a personal best of 1:06:17, just 17 seconds shy of Irene Kimais' winning time from last year, will offer Kenyans the needed challenge.

Texas 16-Year-Old Breaks Two High School 5K Records

Elizabeth Leachman ran 15:28 for 5,000 meters indoors and 15:25 outdoors—but she’s taking the long view.

Elizabeth Leachman has built an impressive running résumé during her first two years of high school. Last December, the sophomore won the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships in San Diego in 16:50, finishing 14 seconds ahead of the second-place runner.

She made headlines on March 10 at the Nike Indoor Nationals meet in New York, when she broke an indoor track record for previously held by Katelyn Tuohy. Leachman, 16, ran 15:28.90 for 5,000 meters, bettering Tuohy’s high school record (15:37.12), set in 2018, by more than 6 seconds. Leachman averaged 4:59 per mile. 

Then on March 28, she ran the 5,000 meters at the Texas Relays and took an additional 3 seconds off. Her time, 15:25.27, broke Natalie Cook’s high school record (15:25.93) from 2022. 

Her coach, Jenny Breuer, doesn’t care about any of that. She just wants her athlete to run even splits. 

Leachman, who goes to Boerne Champion High School, in Boerne, Texas, a suburb of San Antonio, knows her pacing can be a weakness. But she’s working on it.

“That’s definitely been a struggle for me,” she said. “I really like to go out hard and just kind of get after it. But I pay for it at the end, for sure.” 

That’s why according to Breuer, the 5,000-meter record wasn’t even the most important race Leachman ran at the Nike indoor meet. Two days earlier, Leachman won the 2-mile in 9:44.16, splitting 5:03 for the first mile and 4:41 for the second. 

The 4:41 was (unofficially) a mile PR for her. It also proved to her that she didn’t have to lead. Leachman has had some poor (for her) races after going out too hard, most notably at Nike Cross Nationals last fall, the week before her Foot Locker win, when she rocketed out to a 17-second lead in the early miles before fading to 15th place.

“You can’t keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result, so [for the 2-mile] we really just talked about waiting for the 1200, six laps in, then go,” Breuer said. “She likes to lead. It stresses her out not to lead. I think that gave her a lot of confidence she could race differently and still win.” 

Breuer says Leachman is easily the most talented athlete she has had in 28 years of coaching college and high school athletes. But she spends most of her time holding Leachman back. 

After she contended with hip bursitis and tendinitis in her hip and hamstring as a freshman, Leachman embarked on a vigorous cross-training regimen, alternating sessions of pool running, the elliptical machine, and the ARC trainer. 

Her weekly schedule is similar to that of Parker Valby, the University of Florida star who is a four-time NCAA champion. Leachman’s routine includes only three or four days each week of running, for about 30 miles total. She’ll do a 90-minute session of cross-training on the days she doesn’t run, and on the days she does, she’ll put in an extra 30 minutes of cross-training after the workout.

A typical week, Breuer said, will include a long run, a threshold run or intervals, and a shorter interval workout. The long run is usually 9–11 miles. She tried to have Leachman run by time, but she ended up running too fast and too far, so they went to a mileage limit. 

A recent threshold workout was 4 x 1 mile at about 5:10 pace, with a one-minute recovery between miles. The speed day was 4 x 600 meters with a 200-meter float between each. She never does more than a mile for warmup or cooldown, so that workout totaled less than 4 miles. 

They’ve also spent a lot of time doing 200s in 36 seconds and 400s in 72. Breuer will sometimes have Leachman do those after the main part of the workout, just to get the feeling of the pace she should not exceed. 

“If you have to take the lead, do not go faster than 36 or 72,” Breuer said she instructed Leachman before the 2-mile. “Do not run a 68. Please.”

The coach and the runner sometimes challenge each other. Leachman wants to do more. Breuer wants her to stay healthy and develop over time. “I’m always pulling her back,” Breuer said. “Err on the side of caution.”

For all the unusual ability Leachman has—a powerful aerobic engine, the discipline to work hard at cross-training—there’s one thing that she doesn’t have that most 16-year-olds do: an Instagram account. 

That’s been a deliberate choice on the part of Leachman and her parents, who don’t want to see their daughter swept up into the frenzy and pressure that can sometimes descend on young, female runners. (See: Tuohy and Valby.) 

“I think if it was fully up to me, I probably would have it,” Leachman said. “But my parents don’t want me to, and I’m okay with it. I haven’t really fought it.”

When she was at Nike Indoor Nationals in New York, it was the first time she had encountered fans who wanted to take pictures with her. It wasn’t too weird, she said. “It was mostly other high school girls and then a couple of younger girls,” she said. “It was sweet. I never expected that.” 

The social media moratorium is a way to keep Leachman’s high school experience as typical as possible. She maintains a perfect GPA. She works occasional shifts at a gym after school, staffing the front desk or the babysitting area, where parents drop their kids while they work out. She likes to be with her teammates, helping score points for Boerne Champion, even though she does many of her workouts alone or with the boys’ team during cross-country season. 

She follows what’s happening in pro and college running, but not obsessively. She knew Valby ran 14:52 in winning the NCAA indoor title—“insane” Leachman called it—but then she didn’t give it much more thought. 

“Because running is important to me, it’s the focus of what I’m doing a lot of the time,” she said. “When I’m away from it, I try not to make my whole life focused around it, so that I can be more balanced in general.”

The adults in Leachman’s life sound a constant drumbeat: You are more than your performances. 

“We talk a lot about external expectations, and just because you’re good at running doesn’t mean that it’s everything that defines you,” Breuer said. “That’s what’s really hard, I think, for a 16-year-old to remember sometimes when the spotlight is on. I try to remove that pressure as much as possible and remind her that this is supposed to be fun.”

There is plenty of time for all the extras. Leachman will have to wait to see if her 15:25 gets her entry into the Olympic Trials this summer, but Breuer is playing the long game. 

“She has a really good perspective,” Breuer said of Leachman. “Her parents have done a super job. And also, I say, ‘I want you to be an amazing college runner, I want you to be an amazing professional runner, if that’s what you want to do. We don’t want you to peak in high school. That’s not the goal.’”

6 Ways to Be a Great Training Partner

These 2024 Olympians know how to help each other while keeping it fun.

Pianist Harold Mabern said that jazz is “competition without animosity.” He might well have been describing the running relationship of Conner Mantz and Clayton Young, who finished first and second, respectively, at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in February. 

That Mantz and Young are not just two guys who run together, but true training partners, became obvious over the second half of the Trials race. Zach Panning, who wound up finishing sixth, took the lead in the sixth mile and dropped the pace by more than 10 seconds per mile. Mantz and Young tucked in; by the 19th mile, when they were Panning’s only company, they slapped each other’s hands in an apparent celebration of making the team. 

When Panning started to slow a few miles later, Mantz and Young pushed on ahead. With two miles to go, Mantz was visibly struggling. Young, looking great by comparison, repeatedly talked to Mantz and stayed with him rather than running the faster pace he looked capable of. In the closing strides, Young eased back as an exhausted Mantz heaved himself over the finish line, one second ahead of his training partner.

Seven years earlier, their first run together was also memorable. Both are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), the largest Mormon denomination. Many LDS members go on a one- to two-year mission in their late teens to early 20s. Even for members who are top athletes, the mission is primary; most do little to no training and gain a significant amount of weight.

In 2017, Mantz returned from his mission weighing 150 pounds, compared to his usual 120. A little more than a month later, down to 140, he showed up for his first day of practice with the Brigham Young University team. The group was doing an 8-mile tempo run a little slower than 5:00 per mile. “I held onto the pack for as long as I could,” Mantz recalls. “I almost made it 5 miles until I had to slow down.”

Young, who was in the pack, says, “When Conner stuck with us past halfway, I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s only a month and a half off his mission. Conner is the real deal.’”

They began training together regularly in 2019, the year when Young went pro after winning the NCAA 10,000-meter title. Young remained in Provo to train under BYU coach Ed Eyestone, a two-time Olympic marathoner. While at BYU, where he won two NCAA cross country titles, Mantz mulled going pro. He initially stayed in Provo, but thought that he would soon move and join the Oregon-based Bowerman Track Club or another group. Instead, a few months became several months, then several months became a year. After Mantz ran 2:08:16 at the 2022 Chicago Marathon in his debut, he thought, “Alright, this is working.”

That’s an understatement. Here are six takeaways about being good training partners from Mantz and Young, who will run the Olympic Marathon in Paris on August 10.

Find people with similar goals and outlooks

Since their build-up for the 2023 Chicago Marathon, where both PRed (Mantz 2:07:47, Young 2:08:00), they’ve had near-identical competitive schedules. Mantz and Young typically run together six days a week. They do their main run of the day in the morning. Depending on their schedules, the two, who live a few miles away from each other, sometimes also meet for their shorter afternoon run.

Why don’t they run together seven days a week? Both run their 100-plus-mile weeks while devoting Sundays to their faith. Being an outlier in that regard was one reason that Mantz decided not to join a more formal pro group. “I knew nobody else would be taking Sundays off,” he says, “and that added to the list of reasons to stay here.”

Good training partners help you get more out of yourself

Mantz is a notoriously hard trainer. Young is probably better aware of that than anyone else.

“My best workouts are keeping up with Conner, but Conner’s worst workouts are staying with me,” Young says. “I can’t remember the last time I dropped him in a workout or a long run. That’s one of the beauties about working out with Conner—you really do get pushed to your limit. My workouts with Conner are usually far better than they would be by myself. I just have to make sure I don’t go too hard.”

But pace-pushing Mantz also benefits from having Young to gauge himself by. 

“For the most part, I would be way worse on my own,” Mantz says. “I can put a lot of pressure on myself and run too fast early on. I’m all about, ‘Let’s run faster than we did at this point last build-up.’ I see it as I want to get better every day. It’s a little difficult, because I may have gone a little too hard in workouts over the last few years, and so now to even match what I did a year or two ago is quite difficult.”

Compare yourself to you, not your training partners

“There are definitely workouts where Conner is totally trashing me the last interval,” Young says, “and I just have to say, ‘Okay, I did what Coach said and I’m faster in February 2024 than in February 2023. I just really need to compare myself with myself.”

If, like Young, you have a training partner who likes to hammer, do like Young and listen to what your body is saying on that day.

“Typically, Coach will give us some splits he thinks we should start at,” Young says about hard workouts. “But it’s not uncommon for Conner to go faster than those splits, and so I have to do these mental gymnastics of, ‘Do I go with Conner or do I do what Coach said?’ Conner and I are obviously really competitive, and you get a lot of confidence training with one of the best athletes in the marathon, so should I stick with what feels good and with what Coach said, or should I try to close this gap and run with Conner? Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t.”

Share both the joys and the struggles

As pros, Young and Mantz are unlikely to come up with reasons to blow off runs. But we all need an occasional pick-me-up.

“If I’m not feeling good during a workout, I turn to Clayton and say, ‘You’re leading the next one,’” Mantz says. “And he’s always like, ‘Alright, I’ll help out,’ even if he’s also having a bad day.”

For many of us, meeting our running partners doesn’t just help us get out the door. Doing so is often a dependable source of pleasure. That’s as true for Olympians as it for the regular runners. “I just get excited sometimes thinking about the camaraderie and that I get to run with Clayton today,” Mantz says.

Acknowledge irksome behaviors but keep them in perspective

Some days with your training partners won’t be exciting or fun. You might even find yourself wishing you were running alone. But as with a romantic partner, it’s the overall quality of the relationship that matters.

“There are times I’m like, ‘Conner, why did you go that fast? I thought Coach said to do this,’” Young says. “I can get frustrated. But at the end of the day, it’s making me faster. As long as I recognize that balance and look at the big picture, having Conner with me as a training partner far outweighs the little frustrations that I have every now and then.”

Use your time together to improve your lives

Like a lot of us, Young and Mantz spend a good amount of their running time talking about running—how their most recent workout went, what races they have coming up, how the BYU team and other top runners are doing, what the weather will be like on their next hard day. But, says Young, “we’re kind of unique professional runners in that we have a lot of stuff going on outside of running. So we’ll also talk about family, real estate, investments, taxes.”

Mantz, who at age 27 is three years younger than Young, has used a lot of their run time to discuss marriage. “That’s the biggest benefit of having Clayton as a training partner—asking questions and getting advice on things like adjusting to having somebody in your life at a new level,” he says.

Young, who had knee surgery less than a year before making the Olympic team, says, “We’ve gone through some tough stuff. We’ve been able to lean on each other a lot. Our runs together are often like a therapy session.”

Daniel Simiu targets historic victory at Okpekpe Race amidst high expectations

Daniel Simiu aims to defend his title and make history at the Okpekpe 10km Road Race in Nigeria.

World Half Marathon silver medallist, Daniel Simiu, is setting his sights on making history at the upcoming Okpekpe International 10km Road Race, scheduled for May 25 in Okpekpe, Edo State in Nigeria.

Following his record-breaking win last year, where he set a new course record of 28:28, Simiu is not only looking to defend his title but also to become the first man to successfully do so in the history of the Okpekpe race.

"I am interested in returning to Nigeria to run at the Okpekpe race. Nigeria is like my second home,” the 28-year-old athlete remarked as per The Guardian.

When asked about the possibility of breaking his own course record and potentially becoming the first man to run under 28 minutes at Okpekpe, Simiu remained modest yet hopeful.

“Maybe I will try,” he said, leaving fans wondering if this year’s race will witness another groundbreaking performance from the Kenyan.

Since clinching the Okpekpe title, Simiu’s career has been on an impressive trajectory.

He went on to secure a 10,000m silver medal at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, and added a half marathon silver medal at the World Road Running Championships in Riga, Latvia, to his accolades.

His season started with a victory at the 67° Campaccio-International Cross Country, followed by a dominant performance at the National Police Cross-country Championships and Sirikwa Classic Cross-country.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Okpekpe Road Race, and organizers are promising an event filled with glamour and entertainment, aiming to make it the best edition yet.

“The technical and administrative organisation of the event have been applauded by World Athletics with the elevation of the event to a gold label status after its return from a two-year COVID-induced absence,” highlighted race director, Zack Amodu.

A Navy Dentist Trained for and Ran a Marathon While Out at Sea—All on a Treadmill

For 16 weeks, he followed Runner’s World’s training plan while deployed and ending up breaking four hours.

I always despised the treadmill. I was never able to run on it, partially because I was afraid that if my foot slipped too far off left or right, I would end up face-planted. Plus, what I love about running is being out in the wilderness and not having to run in a perfectly straight line, which is everything the treadmill isn’t: It’s confined and claustrophobic.

But I didn’t always love running the way I do now. As a kid, I played baseball and golf, so when I pivoted to running in high school, it was quite demanding physically and mentally at first. I ran both cross-country and track, and because I was part of a successful team—we won the state championship in track in 2003, and cross country in 2004 and 2005—it was challenging and took a lot of hard work. But even then, I enjoyed the mental challenge of pushing myself hard: No one can make you run, no one can force you, it’s all on you.

And for that reason—because I love to challenge myself—part of me always wanted to conquer my fear of the treadmill. Plus, when my buddy said I could not possibly train for and run a marathon on a treadmill during our back-then-upcoming deployment out at sea, it just made me want to do it all the more. But above all, there was one special person who motivated me to train: My wife, Jessee, and her recent BQ.

Jessee and I were both runners long before we met in college. We take the sport with us wherever we move with the Navy, joining group runs, and even racing together. But while Jessee has been getting faster, in late 2022, I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis, followed by months of rehab and uncertainty about whether I’d ever run another marathon again. However, I was determined to fully recover, following my physical therapist’s recommendations to a T.

While I was healing, Jessee was training for the Wilmington Marathon in February 2023, following the Runner’s World break 3:30 plan, hoping to beat the 3:35:00 cutoff for her age group and make it her Boston qualifier. Her final time was 3:31:33. I was there for the race, spectating, and the whole experience—from training to the race—awakened new determination in me. Could I qualify for Boston as well?

By then, I already knew I would be deployed in July 2023. As I slowly started to feel better, getting back to some easy runs, a plan formed in my head: I would commit to the same training plan Jessee had followed for her BQ—except my training would be solely on a treadmill on the Navy ship. 

To qualify for Boston in 3:05:00 for my age group, I knew I’d have to gradually improve my time from my existing PR of 3:58:17. I started training on the first day of our deployment, which set my treadmill marathon date for October 28, 2023. 

It was not an easy training block for sure. There had been a handful of days where the ship was rocking and pitching, which brought some surprising, unintentional hill workouts to my treadmill runs. There are no windows, so you just have to be aware and try to anticipate the next move. 

In the end, running in a straight line was the least of my worries—the toughest stage was handling the hot days while we were in the Persian Gulf. The heat index was 120 to 130 Fahrenheit outside, and the ship was very hot as well. But one of my favorite quotes is: “Smooth seas don’t make skilled sailors.” I knew that come marathon day, I’d be able to look back on those runs for motivation, knowing that I can do hard things.

In general, I don’t listen to music while running; I like to know what’s going on around me. But the treadmill doesn’t provide much excitement, so I came up with a plan. I read some Runner’s World articles that mentioned the physiological benefits of listening to music while running. I thought if I get through about 16 miles without music and then run the last 10 miles with music on, that should give me a good boost. I practiced it first for a few miles at the end of each long training run, figuring out what songs I wanted on my marathon playlist.

On the day of the marathon, the gym was 76 degrees, about 20 degrees more than all my previous marathons, so I expected the temperature to be a factor going into it. Around mile 18, I started to feel that heat seep in. And then, at mile 22, I felt a sharp pinch in my left groin, so I backed off a little bit. I was hoping for 3:30, but in the end, I finished at 3:43:58 (pure run time, as I had to restart the treadmill every 60 minutes). I ran almost 15 minutes faster than my previous PR though, and was now 15 minutes closer to Boston.

Overall I discovered this marathon training block supported my mental health. Out at sea, it can feel like Groundhog Day—every day is the same. Having a goal helped bring structure to my days. Having a plan gave me a focus and direction. The Runner’s World training plan included a description of what to do each day, running tips, nutrition, and sometimes a little pep talk. I didn’t have to think about it; I was just following what it prescribed.

Since the marathon, I’ve been running three or four times a week, focusing more on strength training, and figuring out what could be next. 

Besides Boston, Jessee and I also hope to eventually run a marathon on every continent. We will be moving to Washington D.C. soon, so for now, I hope to run the Marine Corps Marathon this fall and keep shaving time off my PR. 

While I’m glad I conquered the treadmill, I doubt I’ll do another treadmill marathon—I’m very much looking forward to running outdoors again, as soon as I return from my deployment.

These tips have made my running journey a success:

1. Work foam rolling into your routine

After my injury following the London Marathon, my physical therapist showed me some foam-rolling techniques for my quads and calves. Before and after every run, I get things loose and warmed up, and it really made a huge difference. By the time I did the treadmill training block, the injury was essentially nonexistent. It’s definitely changed the way I approach running.

2. Make yourself a playlist to boost your mood

Music is quite personal so I’d recommend checking out RW playlists and Spotify playlists, then make your own based on your taste. All genres—rock, rap, pop—can give you a boost in a different way.

3. Find a training plan

Even if you have never run competitively or are brand new to running, Runner’s World can help you figure out the smartest and safest way to start so you don’t do too much too soon and help avoid injury.

4. Find your running people

Googling “local running club” can help you find a community of like-minded people near you. This is a great way to make friends and learn more about running. My wife and I always find a running community every time we move with the Navy. We have made some lifelong friends and look forward to meeting more runners wherever the Navy takes us!

Mike's Must-Have Gear

→ Garmin Forerunner 55: I try to keep my running minimalistic, so I only use the watch for pace, time, and heart rate. There are probably a million other things the watch can do, but that’s enough for me.

→ Brooks Sherpa 2-in-1 running shorts: The boxer brief lining makes these the most comfortable running shorts I’ve ever worn. It’s kinda pricey, so I have only one pair that I wear on my long runs (maybe I'll invest in a second pair one day). The waistband is also very comfortable and the pockets are a perfect storage for my needs.

→ Balega socks: My wife got me a couple of pairs for this deployment, and I absolutely love them. They are a little pricey but so worth it.

More Than 100 Professional Athletes to Race Boston 5K

Fast fields featuring Olympians, Paralympians, rising stars, and recent B.A.A. event winners will take center stage at the Boston 5K presented by Point32Health and B.A.A. Invitational Mile on Saturday, April 13. The deepest professional field in race history will include more than 100 accomplished athletes from 19 nations, set to square off for prize money and awards in the open, wheelchair, and Para Athletics Divisions. 

“More than 40,000 athletes will take part in B.A.A. races across Boston Marathon weekend,” said Jack Fleming, President and Chief Executive Officer of the B.A.A. “Saturday’s Boston 5K and B.A.A. Invitational Mile fields feature some of the fastest American and international stars, many who are aiming to compete at the Olympics and Paralympics in Paris.”

A new champion will be crowned and the stage is set for another close race at the Boston 5K. Ben Flanagan (Canada), Edwin Kurgat (Kenya), and Alex Masai (Kenya) – all top-five finishers a year ago – will return. They were at the front of an exciting finish a year ago that saw the top 13 men come across the line within ten seconds of the winner.

Top Americans Cooper Teare, Zach Panning, and Drew Hunter look to be at the front of the field. Teare is the reigning U.S. club cross country national champion, while Panning led a majority of February’s USA Olympic Team Trials – Marathon and Hunter is a former national champion indoors at 2 miles. B.A.A. High Performance Team members Eric Hamer and Barry Keane will be racing their hometown event.

Also on the start line will be Ben Kigen, an Olympic steeplechase bronze medalist in 2021; Simon Koech, last year’s Diamond League winner in the steeplechase; and Merhawi Mebrahtu, the 5,000m World Junior Championships silver medalist. Ethiopians Getnet Wale and Addisu Yihune are the two fastest men in the field, having gone sub-13:00 on the track for 5,000 meters.

Leading the women’s field is USATF 5K National Champion and B.A.A. High Performance Team member Annie Rodenfels. Joining her are 2024 Team USA Olympic marathoner Dakotah Lindwurm, former American marathon record holder Keira D’Amato, perennial top-American Boston Marathoner Nell Rojas, as well as Team B.A.A. runners Abbey Wheeler, Bethany Hasz Jerde, and Megan Hasz Sailor.

Uganda’s Sarah Chelangat, the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile champion in 2023, and Mercy Chelangat, a former NCAA Cross Country and 10,000m winner, are both entered. Reigning B.A.A. Half Marathon champion Fotyen Tesfay of Ethiopia also comes back to Boston seeking another win.

In the wheelchair division, course record holder and six-time Boston Marathon champion Marcel Hug (Switzerland) will square off against Americans Daniel Romanchuk and Aaron Pike. Brazil’s Vanessa de Souza – the 2018 Boston 5K winner – is the women’s wheelchair division favorite. Perennial Para Athletics Division contenders El Amine Chentouf (T12, vision impairment), Brian Reynolds (T62, lower-limb impairment), and Marko Cheseto (T62, lower-limb impairment) will vie for prize money and podium placings. This will be the largest professional Para Athletics Division field in event history.

Nearly 10,000 participants will take part in the Boston 5K, serving as the first race of the 2024 B.A.A. Distance Medley series.

KRISSY GEAR LOOKS TO REPEAT IN B.A.A. INVITATIONAL MILE

Krissy Gear earned a hard-fought B.A.A. Invitational Mile win last year and now comes in with the target on her back as defending champion. Four of the top five finishers from 2024 return, including Susan Ejore (Kenya), Jazz Shukla (Canada) and Taryn Rawlings (USA). Micaela Degenero, the 2022 NCAA Indoor Mile champion, and 4:23.94 Helen Schlachtenhaufen are entered as well.

Massachusetts high school standout Ellie Shea will take on the professionals. The Belmont High School student-athlete finished 10th at last year’s B.A.A. Invitational Mile.

Massachusetts native and 3:52.94 miler Johnny Gregorek leads the men’s field of competitors. Melkeneh Azize of Ethiopia, the world junior champion at 3000m in 2022, and Harvard’s Vivien Henz, a national champion in Luxembourg, will each make their B.A.A. road racing debuts.

In addition to the professionals, student-athletes from each of the eight cities and towns that make up the Boston Marathon route will compete in a Scholastic Mile and Middle School 1K.

Grovdal, Kipchumba Take Victories At United Airlines NYC Half

Norway’s Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal and Kenya’s Abel Kipchumba won this morning’s hilly and chilly United Airlines NYC Half in 1:09:09 and 1:00:25, respectively.  Grøvdal, 33, a three-time European Athletics cross country champion, became the first European woman to win the race since Britain’s Mara Yamauchi in 2010. 

Kipchumba, 30, last November’s B.A.A. Half-Marathon champion in Boston, was the race’s ninth Kenyan male champion over its 17-year history.  Both athletes won $20,000 in prize money.

The two dozen women in the elite field were in no hurry to establish a fast pace when the race set off from Prospect Park in Brooklyn just after sunrise.  Calli Thackery of Great Britain, recently named to her country’s Olympic Marathon team, was the early leader and a pack of seven went through the 5-K checkpoint in a gentle 17:07.  Grøvdal was in that pack along with Kenya’s Gladys Chepkurui, Edna Kiplagat and Cynthia Limo; the Netherlands’ Diane Van Es; and Switzerland’s Fabienne Schlumpf.  The two top Americans, Des Linden and Jenny Simpson, were five seconds back.

The next five kilometers would be critical.  As the leaders ascended the Manhattan Bridge to cross the East River, the pace became too difficult for Thackery, Van Es and Schlumpf who all slid back.  At the 10-K mark on the Manhattan side (33:26) the race was down to four: Grøvdal, Chepkurui, Kiplagat, and Limo.

Limo, the reigning Honolulu Marathon champion, was next to lose contact after Chepkurui pushed the pace up the FDR Drive along the East River. By 15-K, Limo was nearly 20 seconds behind and would finish a distant fourth in 1:11:54.

Grøvdal Comes Back

But Grøvdal was also hurting.  In the tenth mile (17th kilometer) as the race went up Seventh Avenue past Times Square, Grøvdal began to lose contact with Chepkurui and Kiplagat.  It looked like she would finish third for the third year in a row.

“I was so tired then,” Grøvdal told reporters.  “Just thinking, it’s third this year also.  But then, I don’t know.  I just tried to don’t get the gap too big.  Suddenly, I was just behind them again.”

The final seven kilometers of this race are particularly tough.  The race climbs about 30 meters from 15-K to the finish, and the finish straight itself is uphill.  Grøvdal knew the course well and was ready.

“Then something in me just, OK, now it’s the finish,” Grøvdal explained.  “It’s 3-K left, so I was planning to have a strong finish the last 2-K and I did that.”  She added: “I just went for it.”

The men’s race began much more aggressively than the women’s.  By the 5-K mark (14:23) Kipchumba and Morocco’s Zouhair Talbi had already reduced the lead pack to four.  Along for the ride were two Olympic steeplechasers, American Hillary Bor and Eritrean Yemane Haileselassie.  The four stayed together through 10-K (28:38), but then Kipchumba and Talbi began to trade surges.  That kind of racing was too punishing for Haileselassie, who drifted off the pace.  Bor, running in just his first half-marathon, hung on.

“I wanted a fast race and I think the same for him,” said Talbi, who is observing Ramadan and had to fast in the days leading up to today’s race.  “He (Kipchumba) wanted to push… so both of us keep pushing from the start.  I pushed until the end, basically.”

By 15-K (42:54) Bor was 12 seconds back and Haileselassie was 32 seconds in arrears.  It would be either the Kenyan or the Moroccan who would take the victory today.  Kipchumba was determined and recognized Talbi as a formidable opponent.

“Today was not easy,” Kipchumba told Race Results Weekly.  “The guy was strong.”

Kipchumba finally shook off Talbi in the race’s final stages, leading by 10 seconds at 20-K (57:18) and, ultimately, 17 seconds at the finish.  His time of 1:00:25 was the fastest since 2017 when the race was held on a different –and much easier– course from Central Park to lower Manhattan.

“I tried my best; I won the race,” Kipchumba said.  “(With) three kilometers remaining I said it’s time to win.”

Talbi was second in 1:00:41, and Haileselassie passed Bor in the final kilometer to take third in 1:01:37 to Bor’s 1:01:47.  Another American, Reed Fischer, rounded out the top 5 in 1:03:06.

Kejelcha goes No.3 all time with 26:37 10km in Laredo

World indoor mile record-holder Yomif Kejelcha stormed to a 26:37 10km win in the northern Spanish town of Laredo on Saturday (16). 

With that performance at the World Athletics Label event, the Ethiopian 26-year-old achieved the third-fastest men's 10km of all time. Only Rhonex Kipruto with his world record of 26:24 set in Valencia four years ago and Berihu Aregawi with his 26:33 run in Laredo last year have gone faster.

Racing under ideal weather conditions on a 15ºC windless afternoon, Kejelcha was perfectly paced by his fellow Ethiopian Addisu Yihune, himself the reigning world U20 5000m champion. They went through the opening kilometres at a steady 2:38 pace, the tempo needed to attack the world best.

Meanwhile, Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei travelled a few metres behind in the company of his own pacemaker, his compatriot Naman Kipyeko, but the world 5000m and 10,000m record-holder began to lose ground some six minutes into the race. By the third kilometre, Kejelcha became a virtual victor as he had built a seven-second gap on the Ugandan, with 7:54 and 8:01 their respective times at that point.

Despite being well on schedule to challenge the world record, Kejelcha overtook Yihune before reaching the fourth kilometre and from then on it was a solo run by the two-time world indoor 3000m champion, who went through halfway in a promising 13:10. Cheptegei ran nine seconds in arrears in the company of Yihune. 

Over the second half, Kejelcha maintained a frantic rhythm in the 2:38/2:40 per kilometre range to increase his advantage on Cheptegei.

Over the closing two kilometres, Kejelcha could not maintain the pace on his own and despite his huge effort he romped home 13 seconds shy of the coveted mark and four seconds off the Ethiopian record. As for Cheptegei, the 27-year-old finished in 26:53, his third-quickest time and 15 seconds slower than the then world record of 26:38 he set in Valencia in December 2019. 

Surprisingly, the 20-year-old pacemaker Yihune completed the race in a massive lifetime best of 27:28.

“I came to Laredo to break the world record but it was not possible,” said Kejelcha. “I felt some discomfort in my hip around the eighth kilometre and could not maintain my speed.”

As for Cheptegei, the Olympic 5000m champion confirmed his main goal was to get the Olympic 10,000m standard of 27:00 and he expressed his happiness at having reached that target two weeks before he competes at the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade.

Klosterhalfen prevails 

Held alongside the men’s race, the women’s event featured Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen as the favourite. The European 5000m champion dropped out during her last race, the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon, three weeks ago and was trying to bounce back in Laredo with the main target of getting the qualifying time for the 10,000m at the Paris Olympics (30:40). 

Running in a group alongside male athletes, the 27-year-old started at a brisk pace and covered the opening kilometres at a tempo of around 3:00 per kilometre to go through halfway in 15:07, well on schedule for her target. Kenya’s Purity Gitonga travelled in second, five seconds back, and Spanish 3000m steeplechase record-holder Irene Sanchez-Escribano was third in 15:32.

Over the second half of the race all the main contenders slowed down their speed as Klosterhalfen began to falter dramatically inside the closing kilometre. That saw her lose any chance of achieving the entry standard for Paris but she still achieved a PB of 31:07.

Gitonga finished runner-up in 31:24 and Sanchez-Escribano ran a massive lifetime best of 31:35 for third.

Gebreselama and Fisher win as records fall in San Juan Capistrano

Tsigie Gebreselama set a US all-comers' record to win the women’s 10,000m, while Grant Fisher topped a deep men’s race to triumph at The TEN, a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver event, in San Juan Capistrano, California, on Saturday (16).

Hitting the Olympic standards for Paris – 27:00.00 for men and 30:40.00 for women – was the aim for many athletes in San Juan Capistrano. A total of eight athletes managed it in the men’s race and four achieved it in the women’s.

Leading the way in that women’s race was Ethiopia’s world cross country silver medallist Gebreselama, who improved her PB to 29:48.34 to move to ninth on the world all-time list.

The 23-year-old won the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in a PB of 1:05:14 three weeks ago and returned to the track to dip under 30 minutes for 10,000m for the first time, also becoming the first woman to break that time barrier on US soil.

Gebreselama, the fourth-place finisher in the World Road Running Championships half marathon in October, had been the only athlete to go with USA’s Alicia Monson from the start but when Monson struggled to maintain the pace, Gebreselama took over at the front and Monson later dropped out.

Chasing the Olympic standard in a group further back, USA’s Weini Kelati led the way and clocked a PB of 30:33.82 to finish second. She was followed by Lauren Ryan, who ran 30:35.66 to improve Benita Willis’s 20-year-old Australian record, and Britain’s Megan Keith, who ran 30:36.84 on her 10,000m debut.

Rachel Smith finished fifth in 31:04.02 and Karissa Schweizer sixth in 31:04.80.

In the men’s race, North American record-holder Fisher led one of the deepest 10,000m races in history as he sprinted into the lead in the closing stages to win in 26:52.04. 

His 21-year-old US compatriot Nico Young followed him over the finish line in a US collegiate record of 26:52.72 and the next six were also under the Olympic entry standard.

Andreas Almgren ran a Swedish record of 26:52.87 to finish third, while Canada’s Mohammed Ahmed was fourth in 26:53.01, Eritrea’s Habtom Samuel was fifth in a PB of 26:53.84, Adriaan Wildschutt was sixth in a South African record of 26:55.54, USA’s Woody Kincaid was seventh in a PB of 26:57.57 and Kenya’s Edwin Kurgat was eighth in a PB of 26:57.66.

Former World Cross Country Champion Irine Cheptai runs marathon debut in Hamburg, Katharina Steinruck chases special record time

Irine Cheptai, Kenya’s World Cross Country Champion from 2017, will run her debut marathon in Hamburg on 28th April. This was announced by the organisers of the Haspa Marathon Hamburg, who released some of the top women’s contenders and presented Germany’s Katharina Steinruck during a press conference.

While Steinruck will chase a special family record on the fast Hamburg course it is Winfridah Moseti who heads the current women’s start list. The Kenyan has a personal best of 2:20:55. 14,000 runners are expected to compete in Germany’s biggest spring marathon on 28th April. Online registration for the race is still possible at: www.haspa-marathon-hamburg.de

Irine Cheptai has been very successful on the track as well before she focussed more on road running. In 2021 she was sixth in the Olympic 10,000 m final in Tokyo and a year later the Kenyan won the 10,000 m silver medal in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Then she showed very promising half marathon races, culminating in a 64:53 PB in Valencia where she was second. With this time Cheptai was the fourth fastest half marathoner in the world in 2023. 

Hamburg has seen great debut marathons in the past. In 2013 it was Eliud Kipchoge who won with a course record of 2:05:30. Two years ago Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw ran an unofficial world debut record of 2:17:23 which still stands as Hamburg’s course record. There are two more debutants on the women’s start list who could do very well on 28th April: Kenya’s Nelly Jepchumba has a half marathon PB of 67:00 while Roselida Jepketer of Bahrain has run 68:40 for the half. 

Winfridah Moseti ran a huge personal best of 2:20:55 when she was runner-up in last year’s Frankfurt Marathon. While the Kenyan will want to build on this performance Frankfurt’s third place finisher will be among her rivals in Hamburg: Sharon Chelimo improved to 2:22:07 last October. Ethiopia’s Kidusan Alema and Canada’s record holder Natasha Wodak, who have personal records of 2:22:28 and 2:23:12 respectively, will also run their spring marathon in Hamburg.

Katharina Steinruck will be very much in the national focus when she hopes to break her mother’s family record. It was exactly 25 years ago when Katrin Dörre-Heinig, the bronze medallist of the 1988 Olympic marathon in Seoul, won the Hamburg Marathon with 2:24:35. For many years this was the German marathon record. “It is my aim to break my Mum’s record and it would be great if I could do it in Hamburg,“ said 34 year-old Katharina Steinruck, who is coached by her mother and improved to 2:24:56 in Osaka at the end of January. “Katha“ Steinruck returns to the race for the first time since 10 years and has good memories.

In 2013 and in 2014 she clocked personal bests of 2:34:20 and 2:33:56 in Hamburg as a young athlete. Ten years later running around ten minutes faster will be the goal. And there could not be a more fitting race than the Haspa Marathon Hamburg to break the family record. 

Tadesse Worku breaks Ronald Kwemoi course record in Spain

Former World U20 3000m champion Tadesse Worku broke the race course record at the eleventh edition of the 10K Facsa Castellón on Sunday (25) in Castellon, Spain.

The 21 year-old who is also the 2019 World Cross Country silver medallist crashed the old course record of 27:16 set two years ago by the 2015 Commonwealth Games 1500m silver medallist, Ronald Kwemoi from Kenya with a new course record of 27:02.

Worku was followed by reigning Sevilla Half Marathon champion, Bravin Kiprop from Kenya, who equaled the old course in 27:16 with the fastest entrant on paper in this race, Dennis Kibet Kitiyo sealing the podium in 27:33. 

Kenyans Vincent Kimutai and Manga’ta Kimai Ndiwa finished in fourth and fifth in a time of 27:42 and 27:45 respectively.

Mateiko and Gebreselama with bright future after dominant RAK wins

There were breakout victories for hitherto little known Daniel Mateiko of Kenya and Tsigie Gebreselama of Ethiopia in the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in the United Arab Emirates early Saturday morning. And the imperious manner of their wins on a breezy, humid morning with a sea mist invading the latter stages suggests they both have a very bright future.

Yet the contrast in their race-winning tactics could hardly have been greater. Mateiko led from the gun, and only conceded the lead for brief periods, before outgunning his colleagues John Korir and Isaia Lasoi in the final kilometre, to win in a world leading 58min 45sec. Korir and Lasoi finished five and ten seconds behind respectively.

In contrast, Gebreselama contented herself to stay in the pack until she was ready to strike for home in the last five kilometres. Only former world record holder (64.31) and 2020 winner, colleague Ababel Yeshaneh could go with her, but that challenge didn’t last long. And such was Gebreselama’s attritional pace that by the time she crossed the line in 65.14, Yeshaneh was exactly half a minute in arrears. Jackline Sakilu of Tanzania was the surprise of the day, setting a national record of 66.05 in third place. What was no surprise was that the podium places were taken by athletes from three East African countries who share the same topography, the high altitude plateau of the Great Rift Valley.

Konstanze Klosterhalfen of Germany threatened to gatecrash that exclusive club up to the hallway point in a race, having come directly from her own training camp in Ethiopia. But, having headed the field up to 10k, which she passed in 31.09, which would have been a PB had she finished the race, she tailed off drastically and dropped out shortly afterwards, saying she did not feel well.

Olympic marathon champion, Peres Jepchirchir had been one of the favourites to win, but in the bustle of the start, someone trod on her heel and she lost around 20sec putting her shoe back on. Surprisingly for someone with her long experience, instead of working her way gradually back to the group, she shot off and rejoined them before they had completed the first kilometre. She paid for that unnecessary effort in the closing stages, and could only finish seventh in 67.19.

Gebreselama was not entirely unknown prior to today; she finished second in the world cross country championships in Australia last year. ‘That was my best performance, but today is better than that, because I won,’ she said after the race. ‘I knew I was in good shape. I think I like cross country and road running equally, but now I must prepare for the track’. In a reversal of tradition, she is leaving here for a four-month stint in an altitude training camp in the USA, before she runs the Ethiopian trials with the intent on making the Olympic team at 10,000 metres.

Having been told that there was no pacemaker in the men’s race, we wondered why Mateiko, who led from the gun kept consulting his watch and checking over his shoulder at his pursuers. Maybe he was surprised they were still there for so long, right up to the final kilometre. But having done all work, he was rewarded with a more than worthy victory, then engagingly stated that that was his intent throughout the race. ‘After finishing second last year, I promised myself to win. But the conditions were difficult; it was windy and very humid.’

Mateiko hails from Mount Elgon on the Kenya-Uganda border, but now trains in Eldoret with twice Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge under the tutelage of former steeplechaser Patrick Sang. ‘Patrick told me I was in good shape, but to be strong-minded. And Eliud is giving me advice too. I would like to have his consistency. Now my dream is to run well in the London Marathon’. If his marathon debut is as impressive as his win here today, the London crowds in April will be in for a treat.

Results, Men:

1 Daniel Mateiko KEN 58:45

2 John Korir KEN 58:50

3 Isaia Lasoi KEN 58:55

4 Gerba Dibaba ETH 59:38

5 Benard Koech KEN 59:42

6 Birhanu Legese ETH 59:43

7 Tamirat Tola ETH 59:46

8 Amos Kibiwot KEN 59:51

9 Boki Diriba ETH 60:10

10 Alphonce Simbu TAN 60:28

Women:

1 Tsigie Gebreselama ETH 65:14

2 Ababel Yeshaneh ETH 65:44

3 Jackline Sakilu TAN 66:05

4 Margaret Chelimo KEN 66:31

5 Evaline Chirchir KEN 66:36

6 Catherine Amanang’ole KEN 66:49

7 Peres Jepchirchir KEN 67:19

8 Gete Alemayehu ETH 67:25

9 Megertu Alemu ETH 69:23

10 Ashete Bekere ETH 70:03

Mateiko and Gebreselama win in Ras Al Khaimah

Daniel Mateiko and Tsigie Gebreselama were victorious at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon, a World Athletics Gold Label road race, on Saturday (24).

Making his third appearance in Ras Al Khaimah, Mateiko lit up a foggy morning to storm home in a world-leading time of 58:45 and win by five seconds from his compatriot John Korir, while Isaia Lasoi completed a Kenyan top three, clocking 58:55.

In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s world cross country silver medallist Gebreselama improved her personal best by more than half a minute to win in 1:05:14, 30 seconds ahead of her compatriot Ababel Yeshaneh, the 2020 Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon champion and former world record-holder. Tanzania’s Jackline Sakilu was a surprise third, beating her personal best by more than three minutes with a national record of 1:06:05.

This year’s race was held exclusively for the first time on the fast and flat roads of Al Marjan Island and the elites took it in their stride, despite unusual weather conditions which saw visibility limited to around 50m at the finish line.

Mateiko was always to the fore and he made his winning move in the final kilometre, leaving Korir and Lasoi to chase him to the finish line.

A delighted Mateiko was relieved to finally get a win in Ras Al Khaimah after finishing sixth on his debut in 2022 and runner-up to Benard Koech last year. 

“I was the fastest man in the field and I promised myself I’d win here after finishing sixth and then second last year,” said the charismatic 25-year-old, who dedicated his win to Kelvin Kiptum, the marathon world record-holder who died in a road traffic accident earlier this month.

“The conditions were very difficult – it was windy, humid and a little foggy – so this is definitely the best win of my career so far.”

While Mateiko saw off a world-class field that included defending champion Koech, who finished fifth (59:42), and New York Marathon champion Tamirat Tola, who took seventh (59:46), in the women’s event the hugely talented Gebreselama underlined why she is considered one of her country’s finest prospects.

After passing 15km in 46:42, Gebreselama and Yeshaneh broke away from the lead women’s group before Gebreselama forged ahead for victory.

“I am so happy to have run a personal best today,” said the 23-year-old, who finished fourth in the half marathon at the World Road Running Championships in Riga in October.

“I was very worried about Peres (Jepchirchir) in this race so I was surprised when she dropped back. It’s a great win for me and, while it’s too early in my career to think about the Paris Olympics, my aim is to break the half marathon world record.”

Olympic marathon champion Jepchirchir, one of the pre-race favourites and a three-time half marathon world champion, suffered a setback early on in the race when a shoe slipped off, costing her at least 20 seconds. 

14 Tips to Make the Most of Your Treadmill Workouts

Improve performance with your indoor workouts, thanks to this expert-backed advice.

We’re going to go out on a limb here and guess that if given the choice between an outdoor run and a treadmill session, most athletes would pick option A, no hesitation. And while there’s a lot of stigma surrounding the dreadmill—er, treadmill—there are also a lot of legit perks to relying on this tool every now and then. 

The obvious: Treadmills can help you complete scheduled workouts when weather or safety concerns kibosh outside runs, T.J. Garlatz, cross country and track and field coach at Western Washington University, and certified run coach with RunDoyen, tells Runner’s World. 

They also allow busy runners to train more consistently. For example, folks with a treadmill and kids at home can hop on the machine and bust out a workout without having to arrange childcare, Garlatz adds. Another plus: You can control key variables—namely, pace and incline—making it easy to accomplish specific workouts, like hill repeats and threshold runs. This can be especially helpful for runners who don’t live in hilly places but want to train that skill, as well as those who struggle to pace themselves. 

To boot, treadmills provide a flat, soft surface, which can make running more comfortable for people with joint pain or injuries, Kai Ng, USATF- and RRCA-certified run coach in New Jersey and New York, tells Runner’s World. 

Of course, to reap the benefits of treadmills, you need to be willing to use them in the first place, which for many runners involves overcoming the negative association they have with this oft-loathed machine. To help facilitate a more positive mindset, we tapped Garlatz and Ng for their tips for how to run on a treadmill. From beating boredom to setting paces to specific workouts to try, here’s the advice that may just tempt you to hop on the belt today. 

1. Toggle With Speed and Incline

The biggest mental block people have with the treadmill is “the monotony and boredom associated with it,” Garlatz says. And if you’re running at the same exact speed and incline for your entire treadmill workout, of course it’s going to be a mind-numbing experience. 

One easy way to shake things up? Change the pace and/or grade often throughout your workout. For example, do two minutes at a 3 percent grade, then two minutes flat, then two minutes at a 5 percent grade, then two minutes flat, then two minutes at a 7 percent grade, then two minutes flat, and repeat that pattern until you’ve completed your mileage for the day. Or, embrace the concept of Fartleks and alternate between easy, moderate, and hard paces. (Of course, there are nearly infinite ways to vary your pace and incline in one workout, these are just two examples.) 

However you choose to splice things up, expect your workout to feel a whole lot quicker. “As you’re rotating through either pace zones or incline zones, after a while, you don't realize it and 25 minutes have passed,” Garlatz says. 

2. Give Yourself Time to Find a Flow

Treadmill running (and really, any type of running) is not going to feel awesome for the first mile or two. “I don’t think anybody really enjoys the first 20 minutes,” Ng says. “No one starts running and says that this is amazing. Not even elite athletes.” 

Instead, “it takes some time to get into a flow state where everything locks in and you feel good,” he explains. Remind yourself of this fact before you start your treadmill workout so that you can better embrace the initial discomfort instead of being tempted to quit three minutes in when your legs still feel like lead. 

3. Focus on Form

Logging an easy run on the treadmill is “a great opportunity to work on good running form,” Ng says. That’s because the surface is soft and even, and there are fewer distractions compared to outdoor running, he explains. To do this, complete a body scan every five minutes. 

Here’s how: First, check your posture. Are you standing up tall? If not, imagine a balloon gently pulling the top of your head, straightening your spine, Ng says. Next, think about relaxing your shoulders, arms, and hands. Then, make sure you’re leaning slightly forward from your ankles (not your hips) and focus on pushing the belt backwards with every step, he says. 

Finally, note where on the belt you’re running. “‘The ideal place is probably the middle,” Ng says. “You don’t want to be too far back where you have to worry about falling off or you don’t want to be too far forward where it intrudes on arm swing.” 

4. Combine Outdoor Runs With Treadmill Time

The treadmill doesn’t have to be an all or nothing tool. “You can make treadmill running part of your run—it doesn’t have to be the run,” Ng says. 

What he means by this: Weather and location permitting, instead of committing to a full workout on the treadmill, which in itself can be daunting and loathsome, warm up by jogging outdoors to the gym. Once you get there, hop on the belt and run a little faster for a brief period of time (for example, go for 20 minutes at marathon pace). Then, get off and jog home at an easy pace, Ng suggests. This hybrid approach can reduce the intimidating factor of treadmill running by bookending your run with fresh air and sunshine. 

5. Recruit a Friend–or Five

Fact: “All running is better when you’ve got friends or workout buddies,” Garlatz says. Though most social runs happen outdoors, cajoling a pal or group to join you for a treadmill session (so long as you have access to a space with multiple machines in a row) can be a great way to make an otherwise loathsome workout more appealing. 

Don’t know any local people who run? Reach out to an area run club to get connected with possible treadmill buddies or sign up for Peloton to join a virtual community. 

6. Pair It With Something Positive

One surefire way to make the ‘mill more palatable is to cue up a favorite movie or TV show to watch it while you stride, Garlatz says. Consider it a treadmill-specific treat (after all, you can’t safely stream Netflix while running outdoors) and save up your most-anticipated episodes for the days when you’ll be hopping on the belt. A side benefit of this approach: By combining exercise and screen time, you can free up your schedule late in your day when you may otherwise be parked on the couch watching the tube. 

Just be sure to save this for an easy or long treadmill run where you can just zone out instead of a speed or interval-focused workout that requires more concentration. 

Oh, and speaking of concentration, if you’re streaming and striding, make sure to stay aware of your surroundings. Obviously you need to pay attention enough so you don’t fall off the treadmill, Ng says. 

Not a TV or movie buff? Lean on your go-to podcast or favorite Spotify playlist to help pass treadmill minutes. 

7. Try a Threshold Run

Outdoor threshold workouts can be a tough skill to master, considering people tend to either over or undershoot their goal pace, Garlatz explains. But on the treadmill, pacing is guaranteed: Simply input your desired speed and then resist the urge to toggle with the numbers until you’ve completed your workout. You can also pay attention to your heart rate as you go to make sure you stay within that zone. 

8. Conquer Hills

Like we mentioned, treadmills can be a great way to incorporate hill-specific training, and playing with the incline can be a surefire hack for making your workout more interesting. 

For a no-brainer hill workout, simply use the machine’s “hill run mode” (many treadmills have this) and you’ll get a workout that automatically cycles through varying incline levels, Garlatz says. 

If your treadmill doesn’t have this feature, simply adjust the incline manually. Garlatz recommends alternating between a 2, 3, and 4 percent grade. If you’re looking for a little more challenge, increase the grade to 6, 7, or 8 percent for brief bursts, though keep in mind “once you get past 6 or 7 percent, it’s honestly pretty darn steep and it makes it a little bit less enjoyable,” Garlatz warns. 

Another option: If you’re training for a specific race with known hills, look up the course elevation profile and simulate some of the climbs during your treadmill runs, Ng says. 

9. Run Intervals for Time vs Distance

The treadmill can be a great place for speed workouts, but instead of going for distance, run for time. That’s because the former can involve doing a lot of math—wait, how many tenths of a mile equals one 200-meter repeat?—which can be distracting and tedious, Ng says. Plus, if the treadmill is running continuously, sometimes it’s hard to remember exactly what distance you started a sprint at (and thus when it’s time to pump the brakes), Garlatz adds.

For a fuss-free workout, crunch the numbers ahead of time to figure out how to translate your sprint workout from distance into time. For example, if you typically run 400-meter sprints at an 8-minute mile pace, aim to run hard for 2 minutes on the treadmill at 7.5 mph.

10. Embrace 0% Grade

You may have heard the common advice to always set the treadmill to a 1 percent incline if you want to simulate running on flat ground outdoors. “The theory behind it is that because there’s no wind resistance or air resistance that you’re encountering when you’re running on a treadmill,” Garlatz explains. So, by bumping up the treadmill incline, you level the playing field, so to speak. 

But a 1 percent grade isn’t always necessary, Gartlaz caveats. In fact, he sometimes encourages athletes to leave the grade at 0 and instead run at a slightly faster pace—say, 7:50 per mile versus 8 minutes. “If you put the treadmill at 1 percent and theoretically, the effort is a little bit harder, our legs aren’t turning over as fast,” he explains. “And so if you keep the incline flat, then sometimes you’re getting a little bit more practice just turning your legs over more quickly.” This can help train your neuromuscular system to be able to maintain faster paces, which can become helpful in a race day scenario, he explains. 

11. Stay Hydrated and Cool

Unless it’s the heat of the summer, chances are you’ll sweat more during a treadmill workout compared to an outdoor session. That’s because on a treadmill, the room tends to be hotter than outside and the heat your body generates from exercise hangs around you, sort of like a hot fog, Garlatz explains. Compare that to outdoor running, where the naturally cooler temps and wind resistance help cool you as you stride, and it’s no surprise you may overheat on a treadmill. 

Combat the effects of that—namely, discomfort and diminished performance—by bringing ample hydration. Also consider propping a fan on the treadmill for mid-workout cooling. Even a little tiny fan can “go a long way,” Ng says. 

12. Don’t Trust Your Watch

PSA for all runners who use a fitness smartwatch: You can’t trust the distance and pacing data for treadmill runs. “At least for now, the GPS and indoor running mode for Garmin, for any other running watches, is just so inaccurate,” Ng says. So instead of tracking your workouts via a wrist-worn device, simply rely on what the treadmill itself reports for your distance and pace, he advises. 

13. Work on Cadence

Another way to rev up your excitement for the treadmill—plus practice your cadence—is to line-up a beats-per-minute (bpm)-specific playlist. Ng recommends striding at 150 bpm or faster, he explains. 

On Spotify or most any other music provider, search for playlists tagged under a certain bpm. A bunch of options should show up; pick one that jives with your musical tastes. Then, once you’re adequately warmed up, hit play and do your best to stride to the rhythm. 

14. Maintain Paces You’d Run Outside

Need to move a scheduled outdoor run to the treadmill? You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. “A lot of the components are really easy to mimic,” Gartlaz explains. A well-rounded run will start and end with easy running, two components Gartlaz recommends also doing on the treadmill. 

In terms of the workout itself, whatever target pace you planned for your outdoor run will likely suffice for a treadmill session, Gartlatz says. For example, if you were aiming to hold a 9-minute-per-mile pace outside, then that should be your target for the treadmill—most machines will tell you how a mile-per-hour pace corresponds to a minutes-per-mile pace, but if not, here’s a quick cheat sheet you can reference. 

For interval and threshold running, just make sure you know ahead of time which pace zones you’re targeting so you can set the treadmill accordingly. Also, don’t feel beholden to the numbers. “You definitely can run by feel and just adjust the paces up and down accordingly,” Gartlaz says.

Mary Ngugi confirmed for Roma-Ostia Half Marathon

Ngugi, a Boston marathon silver medalist from 2021, headlines the women’s field with a personal best (PB) of 66:29 in the half marathon and 2:20:22 in the marathon.

As part of her preparations for the upcoming Boston Marathon, Mary Ngugi-Cooper will line up for this year’s Roma-Ostia Half Marathon in March.

The race will be held on March 3, 2024 in Italy.

Ngugi, a Boston marathon silver medalist from 2021, headlines the women’s field with a personal best (PB) of 66:29 in the half marathon and 2:20:22 in the marathon.

The 2022 Boston bronze medalist who placed fifth at the New York City marathon last year will compete against her compatriots Caroline Korir and Nelly Jeptoo, the young Ethiopian Wariyo Bekelech Teku (fifth in the recent Ethiopian Cross Country Championships and rising star), and compatriot Anna Dibaba, the younger sister of the well-established Tirunesh and Genzebe.

“I’m really excited to announce that in April I will be running @bostonmarathon. Boston holds a special place in my heart, not only for having two podium finishes in the last few years, but getting married there too! The streets are always amazing, crowds loud and I can’t wait to hit Heartbreak Hill once again with a ridiculously strong field of talented women,” Ngugi said while announcing her return to Boston.A welcome return for the Italian team is Rebecca Lonedo, who is in great shape with a recent PB of 70.13 in Seville.

As for the men’s elite list, Ethiopian Tsegu Berehanu Wendemu headlines the list with eyes firmly set on running under an hour as he holds a PB of 59:42.

Shadrack Koech, eager to compete on the fast Roman course after his 61.12 in Trento last October, and Kimakal Kipsambu, returning to the capital after pacing with a time of 61.37 in 2023 make up the top three list of elites.

Former world record holder Henry Rono has passed away at the age of 72

Kenyan track legend Henry Rono, famed for setting four world records, has passed away at 72 in Nairobi, leaving a lasting legacy.

Kenya’s athletics fraternity is in a state of mourning following the death of track legend Henry Rono who passed away on Thursday morning in Nairobi.

Rono, who was 72 at the time of his death, had been admitted to Nairobi South Hospital for the past ten days. 

His illustrious career in the 70s and 80s saw him dominate the track, setting an astounding four world records within just 81 days.

"Athletics Kenya is saddened to announce and notify the public of the demise of former Athlete Mr. Henry Rono which occurred today at 10.30am,"  a statement from the organization read.

Rono's achievements on the track have cemented his legacy as one of the greatest runners of his time, particularly as the former record holder of the 3000 meters steeplechase, a record he held for over a decade. 

Rono also twice set the world record for the 5000 meters, first in 1978 and then again in 1981.

The athletics community, both in Kenya and globally, has been pouring in tributes for the late Rono.

"On behalf of Athletics Kenya Executive Committee and athletics fraternity, we wish to convey our sincere heartfelt condolence to his family, friends, and the entire athletics fraternity during this trying moment. May his soul rest in eternal peace," the statement added, reflecting the deep sense of loss felt across the athletics world.

Rono's journey in athletics was marked by remarkable achievements, including gold medals in the 10,000m and 3,000m steeplechase at the Commonwealth and African Games in Edmonton and Algiers, respectively. 

His tenure at Washington State University was historic, as he became only the third person, after Gerry Lindgren and Steve Prefontaine, to win the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men’s Cross Country Championship three times, in 1976, 1977, and 1979.

His winning time of 28:07 in 1976 still stands as the fastest 10,000m cross country mark in NCAA history.

Despite his global acclaim, Rono never competed at the Olympics, a consequence of Kenya's boycotts of the 1976 and 1980 Games.

By the time of the 1984 Olympics, Rono had retired from competition.

Born in Kiptaragon, Kabsabet in Nandi County, Rono returned to Kenya in 2019 after spending 33 years living in the USA.

Masai, Gebru to battle it out at Sevilla Marathon on Sunday

Vienna Marathon champion Magdalene Masai will battle Azmera Gebru at the Sevilla Marathon on Sunday even as the organizers promise to honor Kelvin Kiptum.

The organizers will observe a 42-second silence in respect to Kiptum, the world marathon record holder who died on Sunday in a road accident alongside his coach, Rwandese Gervais Hakizimana.

“Before the start of the marathon on Sunday, we will pay tribute to Kelvin Kiptum, the world record holder, and his coach, who died in a traffic accident. We will observe 42 seconds of silence, as many as kilometers of the race, in his memory,” the organizers said in a statement.

Masai won the Vienna Marathon in April last year in 2:24:12.

She also won the 2019 Toronto Waterfront Marathon in Canada (2:22:16) and was second at the Hasper Marathon in Hamburg, Germany, in 2:26:02.

The 31-year-old is also a 2015 World Challenge gold medallist in 3,000m steeplechase from Dakar, Senegal, where she clocked 9:31.55.

Joining her will be 2018 Paris Half Marathon champion Antonina Kwambai. She clinched the Paris title in 1:08:07.

Gebru, from Ethiopia, won silver during the 2011 World U-20 Cross Country Championships in Punta Umbria, Spain, clocking 18:54.

She is also an African U-20 champion in the 3,000m from the 2011 Africa Junior Championships in Gaborone, Botswana, clocking 9:11.84.

The duo will face stern competition from Spanish champion Meritxell Soler, the Cursa dels Nassos (Barcelona) 10km champion (32:37).

Leading the elite men’s race is defending champion Gadisa Shumie of Ethiopia who won last year’s edition in 2:04:59.

He will be up against 2019 Gran Canaria Marathon champion Julius Kiprono, 2023 Hannover Marathon bronze medallist Fredrick Kibii, Collins Kemboi and 2023 Zurich Marathon San Sebastian champion Benson Tunyo.

Marathon debut behind him, Cheptegei turns focus back to 10,000m for Paris

Just a few miles away from the site of his world 10,000m record three years prior, Joshua Cheptegei stumbled towards the finish line of the Valencia Marathon.

On the track, the Olympic 5000m gold medallist and three-time world 10,000m champion is renowned for his unbeatable finishing strength. But in what was his debut over the marathon distance, with each foot somehow supporting a tired body on the brink, the Ugandan had to be content with 37th place in the Spanish city, clocking 2:08:59.

Cheptegei wasn’t too disappointed or surprised, though. Supported by race organiser Marc Roig, Cheptegei hobbled to the elite finishers’ tent immediately after the race, beaming from ear to ear.

A few days before, Cheptegei had prophetically warned: "The marathon has no respect for people.”

Not even Olympic champions, it would seem.

Fans have grown used to Cheptegei finding his rhythm in a leading pack, so it was no surprise to see him there at halfway. Going through 13.1 miles in 1:00:36 wasn’t part of the plan – not that there necessarily was one.

When asked in the build-up to the race what he wanted from his debut, Cheptegei simply said: “I want to learn.”

Collapsing over the line with a rueful smile, Cheptegei made it clear that his objective had been achieved.

He knew that his preparation for the event had been far from perfect. It started with pulling out of the Wanda Diamond League final due to a reaction to wearing spikes in defending his world 10,000m crown in Budapest. Once he did return, the weeks that followed saw his usual runs around the rolling hills of Kapchorwa deemed too dangerous due to constant deluges.

Cheptegei never ran more than 160km a week – which, by the standards of most current marathon specialists, was a light schedule.

Yet in Valencia, he still chose to go with the pace. Many would expect little else from a world 5000m and 10,000m record holder consistently pushing the margins of the possible.

For many fans, their first clear memory of Cheptegei at a senior level was his performance at the 2017 World Cross Country Championships on home soil in Kampala.

That day, the 2016 Olympic 10,000m sixth-place finisher ripped the senior race apart, striding away through the middle section and building a huge lead into the final kilometer.

The Ugandan fans chasing him in bursts around the course almost went as far as to hand over the red, yellow and black flag.

As the commentators proclaimed his title, Cheptegei had pushed himself to the limit, a smooth stride rolling to a wayward struggle.

Defending champion Geoffrey Kamworor – a former mentor to Cheptegei during his time in Kenya in 2015 – silenced the crowds, passing the struggling Ugandan in a fleeting second and going on to win. Cheptegei eventually finished 30th.

“Joshua had a great belief and a great determination in running,” Kamworor commented on his Ugandan rival. “Whenever you talk with him, you could see in his mind that he had great aspirations in life.

“He's even becoming one of my mentors.”

Cheptegei won the senior title at his next attempt in Aarhus in 2019, the year of the first of three consecutive world 10,000m titles. An Olympic silver in Tokyo in that event accompanied 5000m gold.

Risks taken, lessons learnt all in a bid to break new ground. It's core to Cheptegei’s philosophy as a runner and ultimately role model to those that follow him around the world but perhaps most importantly back home in Uganda.

It’s also followed him since his first days as a professional.

While training with Kamworor, Eliud Kipchoge and the rest in Kaptagat, barely aged 20, the 2014 world U20 10,000m champion made a difficult but bold decision.

“I told my management that I wanted to go back home and build a running culture, and to inspire the young generation here in Uganda.”

As a young athlete – and although it happened 24 years before Cheptegei was born – Cheptegei was made aware of the fact that John Akii-Bua earned Uganda's first Olympic athletics medal when taking 400m hurdles gold in Munich in 1972.

It’s clear that Cheptegei now feels a sense of responsibility when it comes to developing the sport in his country, in much the same way Akii-Bua did more than 50 years ago.

“It’s a privilege to have had great guys like him open the way for us, especially in a difficult time where the country was unstable,” says Cheptegei.

Akii-Bua was forced to live out a large part of his life outside Uganda, moving to Kenya towards the final days of the Idi Amin dictatorship.

Likewise, Uganda’s next Olympic gold medalist, Stephen Kiprotich, trained for much of his career in their eastern neighbor.

The then 15-year-old Cheptegei admits taking a break from kicking a football around the schoolyard to watch Kiprotich win Olympic marathon gold in 2012, that being the moment he made his own plans for global success.

“I was like, ‘right it’s in my heart. I want to become a champion, a national hero like him’.”

Cheptegei has developed those ambitions. For better or worse, he aims to deliberately show the next generation they need not leave home. No altitude camps elsewhere, high tech facilities or trips to some winter sun.

“I have always trained in Uganda, always and always," he reiterates.

Despite the world records, Olympic gold and world championship titles, Cheptegei still feels that to prove that emphatically, one achievement remains left to tick off.

It's all about the number 10.

“2024, it’ll be 10 years running internationally,” he says. “10 years at a high level.

“I'm still in love with the 10,000m, the special distance. I still want to go to Paris and win.”

Only Kenenisa Bekele and Haile Gebrselassie have won more world 10,000m titles than Cheptegei. Both won two Olympic golds in the event.

Cheptegei will head to the French capital hungry to find his first, motivated in the knowledge that in doing so he'll send a message to that young Ugandan watching, hoping to follow in his path.

Joyciline Jepkosgei eyes Barcelona Half Marathon title

Joyciline Jepkosgei will seek to go one step further and win the Barcelona Half Marathon on Sunday after finishing second last year.

Barcelona returns to the Spanish city where she clocked 01:04:46 behind winner Irine Kimais (01:04:37) while Catherine Reline (01:05:39) and Gladys Chepkurui (01:05:46) finished third and fourth.

Jepkosgei warmed up for the event with a second-place finish during Saturday's Sirikwa Classic Cross Country Tour, timing 33:10 in the senior women's 10km race at Lobo Village, Eldoret.  Immaculate Anyango won the race in 32:55.

Jepkosgei was using the Lobo event for speed training. “I will be competing at the Barcelona Half Marathon on Sunday and I wanted to use the cross country as part of my training ahead of the Spanish race,” said Jepkosgei.

In November 2019, Jepkosgei won the New York City Marathon in her official debut, clocking 2:22:38, the second fastest time on the course for women.

The 30-year-old further won the 2021 London Marathon in 2:17:43 making her the seventh fastest female marathoner in history.

She placed seventh at the 2022 Boston Marathon before finishing second at the London Marathon (2:18:07) behind Ethiopia's Yalemzerf Yehualaw (2:17:26).  She finished second at the 2018 World Half Marathon Championships.

At the 2017 Prague Half Marathon, she broke four world records — 30:05 over 10k, 45:37 over 15k, 61:25 in 20k and won the race in a record 1:04:52.

Joining her in the elite women's race will be two-time Chicago Marathon champion Ruth Chepngetich.

The 29-year-old first won the Chicago Marathon in 2021 before defending it the following year in 2:14:18, a personal best by almost three minutes and just 14 seconds outside of compatriot Brigid Kosgei's then world record of 2:14.04.

Also in the mix is 2023 Bangsaen21 Half Marathon champion Gladys Chepkurui.

Leading the men's elite race is Valencia Half Marathon champion Kibiwott Kandie.

Kandie set a new half marathon world record with a time of 57:32 in the 2020 Valencia Half marathon, obliterating the previous record set by Geoffrey Kamworor by almost half a minute.

He won the race two more times — 2022 and 2023.

Kandie set a course record of 59:32 at the Istanbul Half Marathon in 2021.

He will be joined by Bahrain Half Marathon champion Philemon Kiplimo, Mathew Kimeli nd Hillary Kipkoech.

Lindsay Flanagan And Her Younger Sister Kaylee Are Both Racing The Marathon Trials

In the past 20 months, veteran marathoner Lindsay Flanagan has cut her personal best by 2 minutes, twice. She won the 2022 Gold Coast Marathon in Australia in a course record of 2:24:43. In August, her 2:27:47 run placed her ninth overall, and first American, at the World Championships marathon in Budapest.

But one of her proudest moments came in the wee hours of December 3. Huddled over her phone in Adelaide, Australia—where she’d traveled for a few months to prepare for the upcoming Olympic Marathon Trials—Flanagan repeatedly refreshed the results of the California International Marathon.

Not long after 4 a.m. Lindsay’s time, her younger sister, Kaylee, crossed the finish line in 2:35:24—a nearly five-minute PR and her first Trials qualifying time. “I did not sleep at all that night,” Lindsay said. As both Kaylee’s sibling and her coach, “I was so invested.”

After promising high school running careers in Illinois, both Flanagans (no relation to Shalane) ran at the University of Washington, overlapping for a year. Now, they live across the street from each other in Boulder, Colorado, where they typically share miles at least once if not twice daily. Kaylee cheered Lindsay on in Budapest; afterward, they vacationed in Croatia.

They’ve spent the past few months, uncharacteristically, half a world apart, though Kaylee frequently pops by Lindsay’s house to water plants and make sure the pipes don’t freeze. But they’re reuniting in Florida, lining up together at the Trials.

The Flanagans aren’t the only siblings competing in Orlando on February 3; the field also includes brother and sister Kaylee and Austin Bogina and twins Isabel and Monica Hebner. But they’re unique in also being athlete and coach—Lindsay has guided Kaylee’s training for about two years.

And in her third Trials, Lindsay stands out as a top, if under-the-radar, pick to make the U.S. Team.

The Asics-sponsored runner, 33, does most of her workouts alone. Her coach is remote, and she has no training group or partner capturing evidence for Instagram. Yet out of the limelight, Lindsay has spent nearly a decade preparing for a moment just like this one. “Every workout, every season, every race cycle has been meticulously chosen,” Kaylee, 28, said of her sister. “Trust me, she will be one to watch out for in Orlando.”

A steady ascent

As close as they are, the two sisters forged different paths from college to the Trials. Lindsay made her marathon debut the January after graduating. At the 2015 Houston Marathon, she ran 2:33:12, good for ninth place and a slot in the 2016 Trials. On a hot day in Los Angeles the following February, she paused to vomit around the 21-mile mark, then finished 14th in 2:39:42.

Through 20-some marathons since—so many she’s lost count—she’s gradually, if quietly, established herself. Her next breakthrough came at the 2016 Frankfurt Marathon, where she finished fourth in 2:29:28. She notched top-10 finishes in Boston and Chicago in 2019, and headed into the 2020 Trials ranked 12th. That’s exactly where she finished, running 2:32:05.

Post-pandemic, she was coaching herself but seeking mentorship. Her agent connected her with Benita Willis, a four-time Olympian for Australia and gold medalist at the 2004 World Cross Country Championships. After an hour-long conversation, Lindsay realized she wanted Willis to fully take the reins of her training.

The pair became fast friends, and under Willis’s guidance, Lindsay is now even faster. She first lowered her personal best to 2:26:54 in April 2022 at the Paris Marathon. Next, Willis suggested Lindsay make her first Australian trip to run Gold Coast in July.

The race would give the pair the chance to meet in person for the first time, and with her victory, Lindsay had an opportunity that her coach, a 2:22:36 marathoner, had missed. “I ran big races, but I never won a marathon or broke a course record,” Willis said. “I wanted Lindsay to have that sort of experience well before the Olympic Trials.”

Cooper Teare And Weini Kelati Win 2024 USATF Cross Country Titles

Weini Kelati and Cooper Teare earned convincing victories at the 2024 USATF Cross Country Championships, held on Saturday at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Va. Running just six days after setting an American record in the half marathon in Houston, Kelati took off just after 4k and destroyed the field, running 32:58.6 for the 10k course to win by 37.3 seconds — the largest margin of victory since Aliphine Tuliamuk‘s 48.2 in 2017.

Teare took a different approach, staying patient as former University of Colorado runner turned Olympic triathlete Morgan Pearson pushed the pace during the second half of the race. Teare was the only one to go with Pearson’s move at 8k and made a strong move of his own at 9k that allowed him to cruise to victory in 29:06.5. 2020 champion Anthony Rotich of the US Army was 2nd in 29:11.6 as Pearson hung on for 4th. Teare’s training partner Cole Hocker was 12th in 29:52.3.

The top six finishers in each raced earned the right to represent Team USA at the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, on March 30. Kelati’s coach/agent Stephen Haas told LetsRun last week that Kelati plans to run there while Teare’s agent Isaya Okwiya said Teare’s plans are still TBD.

High school junior Zariel Macchia of Shirley, N.Y., won the women’s U20 race in 20:31.0 for the 6k course; Macchia previously won the title as a freshman in 2022. Notre Dame freshman Kevin Sanchez won the men’s U20 title in 24:07.1 for the 8k course.

Cooper Teare shows his range with impressive victory

Teare was the 2021 NCAA 5,000m champion at the University of Oregon and has shown that his range extends both up and down the distance spectrum. Teare is the NCAA mile record holder at 3:50.39 and was the 2022 US champion at 1500 and now he is the US cross country champion. That sort of range has become increasingly common on the international level but in the US, it’s rare for a 1500 guy to run USA XC, let alone win it. Teare is the first man to win US titles at both 1500 meters and cross country since John Mason in 1968, and even that comes with a caveat as the US championships were separate from the Olympic Trials back then. Before Mason, the last guy to win both was Abel Kiviat (cross country in 1913, US mile title in 1914). You all remember him.

On the women’s side, Shelby Houlihan, since banned for a doping violation, won USA XC and the US 1500 title back in 2019.

Teare’s coach Ben Thomas told Carrie Tollefson, who was calling the race for USATF.TV, that the aim of this race was just to see where his fitness was at against a top field. Clearly, it’s very good. In his first race since leaving the Bowerman Track Club after the 2023 season, Teare, wearing a bright pink undershirt beneath his Nike singlet, ran with the lead pack until Morgan Pearson began to string things out just before entering the final 2k loop. As opposed to Pearson, who was giving it all he could to drop the field, Teare looked relaxed and in control, and at 9k he eased past Pearson into the lead before dropping the hammer to win comfortably. It was a smart run and an impressive display of fitness.

Teare may also have slayed some demons from his last cross country race in 2021, when he crawled across the finish line in the final meters. Now he’s gone from 247th at NCAA XC to a national champion.

Teare’s plans for the rest of the winter are up in the air. He will run in a stacked 2-mile at Millrose on February 11 against the likes of Grant Fisher and Josh Kerr before competing at USA Indoors a week later. World Indoors could be an option if he makes the team — as could World XC, if he wants it. No matter what he chooses, Saturday’s run was a great way for Teare to kick off the Olympic year.

Weini Kelati demolishes the competition

On paper, Kelati, who runs for Under Armour’s Dark Sky Distance team in Flagstaff, was the class of this field. The only question was whether she would be recovered from racing hard at last weekend’s Houston Half Marathon, where she set the American record of 66:25. The answer was a definitive “yes” as Kelati, after running with the leaders for the first 4k, dropped a 3:05 5th kilometer to break open the field. From there, her lead would only grow to the finish line as she won by a massive 37.3 seconds over runner-up Emma Hurley.

Kelati was not at her best heading into last year’s World XC in Australia as she had missed some time in the buildup due to injury. She still managed to finish a respectable 21st overall. Her aims will be much higher for this year’s edition in Belgrade.

Kelati also made some history with her win today. She’s the first woman to win Foot Locker, NCAA, and USA cross country titles.

I will inspire many girls after Paris Olympics – Kipyegon

Two-time Olympic 1500m gold medalist Faith Kipyegon is motivated and ready to write more history and break records in the Paris Olympic Games this year.

The 29-year-old who already has four world titles in 1500m and 5000m to her name, is also keen to enjoy the quadrennial championship and motivate the young girls from the continent and the world at large.

“I’m looking forward to Paris 2024, to step on that track and see what will happen,” Kipyegon said.

“That’s what we are looking for – to get to the Olympics, get to the track and just enjoy it and see what will come out.”

In 2023, as well as winning 1500m and 5000m gold medals at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Kipyegon broke three world records, in the 1500m, mile and 5000m.

It’s performances like these that she knows will further inspire the next generation, which is another of her aims in 2024.

“Outside of track, and after the Olympics, I think I will motivate and inspire many, especially young girls in my country and Africa and all over the world,” she says. “That is my motivation.

“I want to see them express their talent, follow my footsteps, and I want them to see good role models.”

Kipyegon has never been short of motivation.

Her international career began back at the World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz in 2010.

Running barefoot in the freezing conditions, the then 16-year-old finished fourth in the U20 race.

The following year she got gold in Punta Umbria, before winning that year’s world U18 1500m title in Lille – her first global gold medal in the discipline.

World U20 gold followed in Barcelona in 2012, before senior world titles in London in 2017 and Oregon in 2022, plus Olympic gold medals in Rio and Tokyo.

Ngetich smashes world 10km record with 28:46 in Valencia

Kenya's Agnes Ngetich obliterated the women's world 10km record by running 28:46* at the 10K Valencia Ibercaja, a World Athletics Label road race, on Sunday (14).

The 22-year-old becomes the first woman to break 29 minutes for the distance, improving by 28 seconds the previous road mixed race world record set by Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw in Castellon two years ago.

World cross country bronze medallist Ngetich was paced in the Spanish coastal city by her compatriot Japheth Kipkemboi Kosgei and the first world record fell at half way as Ngetich went through the 5km checkpoint in 14:13. That is six seconds faster than the women’s world record achieved in a mixed race, set by Ethiopia’s Ejgayehu Taye in Barcelona in 2021, and matches the time Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet set in a woman-only race in Barcelona a fortnight ago.

Ngetich’s 10km time is also faster than the women's world record for the distance on the track, with Letesenbet Gidey’s world 10,000m record standing at 29:01.03.

Emmaculate Anyango also dipped under 29 minutes in Valencia, clocking 28:57 to finish runner-up to her compatriot Ngetich.

"I am so happy. I didn't expect this world record," said Ngetich. "I was coming to improve my time, at least somewhere around 29:14, but I am happy that I ran a world record of 28 minutes. I didn't expect this."

She will now focus on the World Athletics Cross Country Championships Belgrade 24 in March and then the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where athletics will be the No.1 sport in August.

The men’s race was won by Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo in 26:48.

Ten reasons to be excited for 2024

There are many things to look forward to in the sport of athletics in the upcoming year.

There’ll be six global championships in 2024, with ever-expanding one-day meeting circuits spread throughout the year. Rivalries will be renewed, and record-breakers will continue to push boundaries in their respective disciplines.

Here are just 10 of the many reasons to be excited by what’s to come over the next 12 months.

1. Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Athletics is the No.1 sport in what will be the biggest event on the planet this year. 100 years after Paris last hosted the Games, the Olympics will return to the French capital where 2000 athletes from about 200 countries will compete for medals in 48 disciplines from August 1-11 . Expect duels, drama and record-breaking performances as athletes compete for the highest honor in the sporting world.

2. World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24

The first global track and field championships of the year will start in just two months’ time as Glasgow hosts the World Indoor Championships on March  1-3. In Belgrade two years ago, pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis and triple jumper Yulimar Rojas set world records to claim gold; they’ll be looking to add to their medal – and record – tally in Glasgow, as will a host of other top track and field stars.

3. World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24

For the first time since 2017, the World Relays will be held in the Bahamian capital as the global event returns to the venue of the first three editions. From May 4-5, athletes will be vying to secure their place in the 4x100m, 4x400m and mixed 4x400m for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Expectations of a nation rests on their shoulders – and their baton exchanges.

4. World Athletics Cross Country Championships Belgrade 24

Just two years after the Serbian capital hosted the World Indoor Championships, Serbia will this year play host to the world’s best cross-country runners. Recent editions of the event, in both Aarhus and Bathurst, have put athletes to the test on grueling courses, so expect more of the same on 30 March.

5. World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24

After the latest successful edition of the World U20 Championships in Cali two years ago, the global event will return to South America as Lima becomes the first city in Peru to host a World Athletics Series event. The championships will take place from August 27-31, and will showcase the world’s most promising up-and-coming stars.

6. World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Antalya 24

Is there room on the calendar for one more global event? Go on, then. For the first time ever in the history of these championships – including all previous iterations – Turkiye will play host to the World Race Walking Team Championships on April 21 . The first 22 teams here will automatically qualify for the marathon race walk mixed relay – the newest Olympic discipline – at the Paris Games.

7. One-day meeting circuits

While championship action is great, the likes of the Wanda Diamond League and World Athletics Continental Tour is where athletes can be seen in action week in, week out throughout the peak of the outdoor track and field season. Before that, there’s also the World Indoor Tour, while other series such as the Cross Country Tour, Combined Events Tour, Race Walking Tour and Label road races will provide competition opportunities throughout the year.

8. Record breakers

Athletes continued to push boundaries throughout the past 12 months on the track, field and roads. Expect more of the same in 2024 as the likes of Faith Kipyegon, Mondo Duplantis, Kelvin Kiptum, Yulimar Rojas and Ryan Crouser look to run, jump and throw better than they ever have done before.

9. Big clashes

Rivalries between the sport’s biggest stars always provide a gripping narrative for any season. For 2024, expect some mouth-watering clashes to come from the likes of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol in the 400m hurdles, Kelvin Kiptum and Eliud Kipchoge in the marathon, Gudaf Tsegay and Sifan Hassan in the 10,000m or Daniel Stahl and Kristjan Ceh in the discus to name but a few.

10. New stars

Every year a new generation of talent emerges. Some of those will be athletes who started to make a bit of a breakthrough towards the end of last year, while others may be athletes who fans have barely heard of. Either way, keep your eyes peeled as the season unfolds to witness the future stars of the sport mixing it with the world’s best athletes.

Ethiopia’s Dera Dida set to defend Dubai Marathon crown

Dubai: Less than 10 months after winning the 2023 Dubai Marathon, Ethiopian star Dera Dida has confirmed she will return to the UAE to defend her Dubai crown on January 7.

Earlier this year, Dida — wife of former Dubai Marathon winner and Marathon World Champion Tamirat Tola — stormed through with two kilometres remaining to take the women’s event in 2h:21:11 at Expo City Dubai, while her brother-in-law Abdisa Tola made it a unique family double by clinching the men’s title.

But while Abdisa misses out on a Dubai title defence through injury, fellow adidas runner Dera Dida will be back on the start line on January 7 as she bids for a second successive title in the UAE, this time over the fast and flat roads around the iconic Burj Al Arab and Jumeirah Beach Road area.

Familiar ground

It’s familiar ground for Dida who competed over the route in both 2018 and 2020 finishing seventh and fifth respectively. It is the first time since 2020 the event will be back at what has long been seen as its natural “home” and Dida will start as firm favourite following one of the most successful years of her running career.

In 2023, she recorded personal bests at both 10,000m and Half Marathon, while seven months after winning in Dubai, the 27-year-old Ethiopian lowered her marathon personal best to 2:19:24 in Berlin and is looking forward to maintaining her upward momentum over the classic distance.

“When I took the lead in Dubai, I was sure I’d win,” said Dida, a two-time Ethiopian National Champion at 5,000 and 10,000m and a two-time World Cross Country Championship silver medallist. “It was a wonderful race and, of course, it was very emotional when I realised Abdisa had also won.”

Remarkable achievement

Dubai Marathon race director Peter Connerton added: “It is always a great pleasure to welcome back our former champions. To have two family members win was a remarkable achievement and we are delighted to have Dera Dida return to Dubai for the first big international marathon of the new calendar year.”

Runners who would like to follow the elites and who have still not registered for the three-race event, can sign up for the Marathon, the 10km and the 4km Fun Run at dubaimarathon.org.

Chepngeno taking on Valencia 10km after Mwale triumph

After a successful half marathon debut over the weekend, Viola Chepngeno has shifted her focus to the Valencia 10km race set for January 14.

Chepngeno won the 21km race during the inaugural Mwale Medical and Training City, which is proof she can compete comfortably on the roads.

“I came here without proper half marathon preparations since I am more of a 10km runner,” said Chepngeno. “This win has motivated me to try my luck in the bigger half marathons soon.”

She clocked 1:12:54 to win at Mwale ahead of Christine Njoki in 1:13:31 and Glorious Jepkirui in 1:14:02.

Chepngeno has had a good run in 10km. She finished third at the Brasov 10km, where Agnes Ngetich set the unratified 10km world women-only record.

“The winning shows that I can run a half marathon very well. I also want to represent the country at next year’s World Cross Country Championships,” she said.

Eliud Maiyo and Irene Cherop were the 42km winners under hot conditions.

Maiyo clocked 2:24:20 ahead of Dennis Kiprotich (2:24:29), Moses Kige-(2:27:21), Duncan Manyara (2:28:00) and Henry Kosgei (2:30:10).

Cherop timed 2:46:23 to beat Viola Chemos to second in 2:49:23 as Rael Kiara (2:53:47), Sally Jepkosgei (2:55.:13) and Joy Lemuma (2:56:48) completed the top five slots.42km men

However, Maiyo bemoaned the status of the course, saying: “I have never run on such a hard and harsh course. It is full of hills and slopes but my training came in handy. Mixing rough roads and tarmac is very challenging — one is soft while the other is hard.

Cherop, from Iten, said she trains mid-morning which was key since she is used to sunny conditions.

“I train around 11 am and that marched with today’s weather,” she said.

This was her second 42km race after winning Mt. Ruwenzori marathon.

A Marathon Where Victory Isn’t Reserved for the Winners

CJ Albertson and Grace Kahura-Malang won the California International Marathon while dozens more fulfilled lifelong dreams to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials in their last chance

If there’s one race where the adage ‘To the victor go the spoils” does not ring entirely true, it’s the California International Marathon (CIM). The commanding wins of CJ Albertson and Grace Kahura-Malang were certainly deserving of celebration. But they shared in the sweet taste of victory with dozens more high-level runners on last Sunday morning.

For several minutes after Albertson stormed from behind to take the men’s race in 2:11:09 and Kahura broke the tape in the women’s race with a personal best of 2:29:00, the finish line exhilaration continued to build as numerous runners sprinted their way to the finish line on M Street, adjacent to the California Capitol Mall in downtown Sacramento. 

That’s because the winning prizes extended far beyond the $10,000 to something money can’t buy. American runners who could get to the finish line in time earned a qualifying berth for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon on February 3 in Orlando, Florida. That event will determine the six U.S. runners who will compete in next summer’s Paris Olympics, but it’s also a quadrennial benchmark of domestic distance running excellence, and the chance to run in it—especially for those who have no chance at making the Olympic team—is a badge of honor that lasts a lifetime.

Sunday’s CIM was the last opportunity to grab that proverbial brass ring, and as the time ticked down to the cutoffs—2:18 for men and 2:37 for women—41 runners realized dreams that had been several years in the making. That’s a considerably smaller number than the 109 runners who qualified four years ago, but the Olympic Trials are four weeks earlier this time around and many runners opted for earlier races.

To reach the lofty Olympic Trials qualifying (OTQ) standards, many runners had to face their inner demons as they accepted the physical, mental, and emotional challenge of running 26.2 miles faster than they ever have.

“It was very hard-fought,” said Mary Denholm, a Colorado runner who lowered her personal best by more than four and half minutes to finish in 2:36:28 and earned the OTQ time. “During the race, I tried to think as little as possible, but you know those little negative thoughts creep in. I kept saying to myself, Well, you’d be happy with a 2:37 or a 2:38, which is true, but I had to not allow myself to accept that and slow down. Marathoning is so hard. It’s a process. You really have to love the journey.” 

Celebrating its 40th year, CIM has developed a reputation as one of the best domestic races for elite and age-group runners seeking personal best efforts, whether that’s chasing an OTQ or Boston Marathon-qualifying time. The race’s point-to-point, net-downhill 26.2-mile course from Folsom to Sacramento amid Northern California’s typically favorably cool, dry early December weather is ideal for running fast for any of the 10,000 participants. But what makes fast times more likely is the communal effort of the large packs of runners at nearly every pace group.

With the Trials-qualifying deadline of December 5 looming, about 200 American runners lined up at CIM to specifically chase the 2024 OTQ marks. While a few have been training with the aid of sponsorships or trying to become professional runners, the majority were amateur runners who work full-time jobs.

For some—like first-time marathoners and twenty-somethings Charlie Sweeney, Christian Allen, Ava Nuttall, and Abbie McNulty—it was the initial opportunity to meet the mark. But it wasn’t the first rodeo for many others who were back after coming up short in previous years, including thirty-somethings Denholm, Noah Droddy, Allie Kiefer, and Chad Beyer. For some who are slowing with age, or on the verge of hanging up their racing shoes for bigger career pursuits, CIM might have been the final shot of their competitive running careers.

In the moments before the race in Folsom, the nervous energy of every elite runner was palpable as they did their final pre-race strides and stretches, each one carrying with them their own long backstory that brought them to the brink of their dreams. After a brief moment of calm on the starting line, the gun went off and the enticing challenge began.

“This was my shot,” said Droddy, a 33-year-old Salomon-sponsored pro from Boulder, Colorado, who had a breakthrough 2:09:09 runner-up performance at The Marathon Project in 2020 but, because of a variety of injuries, hadn’t finished a marathon since. “I qualified on the last day in 2016, and so this was another full-circle moment to try to do it on the last day again.”

For the next two-plus hours, every runner locked into the silent rhythm of their race pace—each with their own goal in mind—holding onto the cadence of the random runners nearby. This is all the while knowing that consistent effort would gradually transition from being smooth and tolerable to eventually becoming extremely difficult by the later miles of the race. 

Allen, a marathon rookie from Salt Lake City eager to make his mark, boldly opted to run off the front from the start with New Zealand’s Matt Baxter and Kenyan Milton Rotich, while Albertson, a Fresno-based runner who has been one of the most consistent elite-level marathoners in the U.S. for the past several years, looked calm and content as he ran just off the lead near the front pack. 

While many OTQ-seeking American women grouped together in the quest for a 2:33 to 2:37 finish, Kahura-Malang, a 30-year-old Kenyan runner who lives near Boulder, started quickly and tagged along with a much-faster group of men with hopes of breaking 2:30 for the first time.

“I really didn’t know how far I was from the other women, but I didn’t want to focus on that,” she said. “I just wanted to keep running fast.”

Achieving success in a marathon can be a fickle task—one that relies on equal parts sufficient training, optimal fueling, and mental tenacity. But the magic of an elite-level marathon, especially CIM during a pre-Olympic Trials year, can be tied to finding confidence running amid the collective rhythm of a pack of like-minded runners, at least until things get difficult at the crux of the race somewhere near mile 20. 

Maintaining race pace and grinding through the final miles is something every runner experiences, each one to varying success. That’s where inspirational mantras, acknowledging motivational words written on an arm, or a variety of other mental tricks come into play.

“We had a great group for a while, and then about 20 miles, it started to thin out,” said Jacob Shiohira, 27, from Bentonville, Arkansas. He sliced seven minutes off his personal best with his 13th-place, 2:16:34 finish to make the OTQ cut. “The last three miles turned into a grind, but everyone’s in the same boat, and that’s what makes it special.” 

The 26-year-old Allen, fresh off finishing an All-American track and cross country collegiate career at Brigham Young University, spent the summer racing shorter distances on roads and trails. He stuck with his gutsy strategy to lead the race until his legs began to tighten up at the 23-mile mark. Albertson had let Allen and Rotich get ahead of him on a few of the later hills in the race but patiently stayed within himself and seized the lead late in the race to open up a two-minute advantage before the finish.

Rotich finished two minutes after Albertson in 2:13:04 for second, followed by Charlie Sweeney, a 24-year-old runner from Boulder, who completed a stunning debut marathon with a third-place, 2:13:41 finish to earn the Olympic Trials-qualifying standard. After that, Baxter, a Kiwi runner who runs for NAZ Elite, put down a new personal best of 2:14:08, followed by Eritrea’s Amanuel Mesel (2:14:11). From there, Robert Miranda (2:14:43), Jerod Broadbooks (2:14:58) and Allen (2:15:01) led a parade of 27 American men who celebrated securing their OTQ times.

Droddy made it too, finishing 17th in 2:16:56, to earn one of the celebratory golden OTQ flags CIM handed out to each of the qualifiers.

“I didn’t care about the time at all, just as long as it was under 2:18,” said Droddy, who also qualified in 2016 and 2020. “I was just happy to get it done. It means a lot because now I know I can join my teammates at the Olympic Trials.”

More than four minutes after Kahura-Malang ran away with the women’s title, Kiefer (2:33:26) led the charge of a long string of American women who cruised in under the OTQ cutoff. Once a top American runner, the 36-year-old from Austin, Texas, hadn’t finished a marathon since she placed seventh in New York in 2018. Like a lot of runners, she’s been through a lot of challenges in recent years, including injuries, races she’s dropped out of (including the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials in Atlanta), relocating to new cities, changing coaches, and general motivation.

“I’m back to the basics of having fun with it,” Kiefer said. “There’s no pressure right now. I just wanted to have a good experience, and it was a great experience. It feels validating to get back to the Trials. It’s just nice to go out there and do the part you love.” 

Nuttall, 22, was perhaps one of the positive surprises of the day. A senior at Miami University in Ohio, where she was the top cross country runner for the Redhawks this fall, she finished her debut marathon in third place in 2:35:09. After that it was Kaylee Flanagan, 28 who earned her first OTQ with a strong 2:35:24 effort to join her older sister and Asics pro Lindsay Flanagan in Orlando. After that it was professional trail runners Rachel Drake (2:35:28) and Peyton Thomas (2:35:42), who finished fifth, and sixth, respectively. (Drake is also the mother to 14-month-old son, Lewis.)

Nine more women earned the OTQ time—14 total—including Denholm, who finished 13th in 2:36:28.

But amid the joy of dreams coming true, there was also the heartbreak of near-misses. Tammy Hsieh sprinted to the finish just in the nick of time, crossing in exactly 2:37:00 to make the women’s cut, but moments later Gina Rouse (2:37:10) and Jennifer Sandoval (2:37:11) narrowly missed it and went home disappointed.

On the men’s side, Duriel Hardy dashed across the line in 2:17:56 to become the final men’s OTQ’er, but then Alexander Helmuth came across the line two seconds too late in 2:18:02. 

After a record 511 women qualified for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta—nearly double the number of male qualifiers—the women’s standard was lowered by eight minutes, down from 2:45 to 2:37. The new mark equates to a hefty 18 seconds per mile faster, down from 6:18 minute mile pace to 6 minutes flat. Denholm, who qualified in 2020 with a 2:42:02 effort at the 2019 CIM, was one of hundreds of women who spent the past several years trying to make that big leap. 

After running a personal best of 2:40:59 at the 2022 Boston Marathon, Denholm hoped to continue her progression and earn her qualifying time months ago. But the marathon is a fickle event because training never goes perfectly and something—injuries, work, life—always gets in the way. And sometimes everything goes right and it’s just not your day on race day.

After dealing with a torn labrum and then going through a divorce, career changes, and a move from California to Colorado, the 36-year-old running coach targeted last summer’s Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota—another domestic race on par with CIM when it comes to providing a competitive platform for elite and sub-elite runners to excel. 

But despite a good training block, Denholm struggled in that race and finished in 2:43:19. After that, she refocused her training with the help of coach and three-time OTQer Neely Gracey and set her sights on the September 24 Berlin Marathon, only to come down with COVID after she arrived in Germany. Not wanting to give up, she retooled her training one more time and registered for CIM as a last-ditch effort.

She was on 2:36 pace the entire way, running near-identical 13.1-mile splits of 1:18:17 and 1:18:11, but needed the encouragement of friend, Sofie Schunk, to get her through the final miles. Schunk, 31, of Albuquerque, finished six seconds ahead of her in 2:36:22.

“I went to a really dark place out there and had to fight through that,” she said. “It was awesome to have other women out there to go for it with and encourage along the way. I split some of my faster miles near the end, and I’ve never been able to do that, so that was a huge victory for me. I hope this can be encouraging to other women because I really think everyone is limitless. I’ve just worked really hard to get where I am and I just want others to feel encouraged.”

Ugandan runner Prisca Chesang provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit

Ugandan runner faces provisional suspension by AIU for for the presence/use of a prohibited substance (Furosemide).

World U20 5000m bronze medalist Prisca Chesang has found herself in hot water with the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).

The 20-year-old Ugandan has been provisionally suspended by AIU for the Presence/Use of a Prohibited Substance (Furosemide), a clear violation of the World Anti-Doping rules.

Chesang, who made headlines as the fourth female Ugandan athlete to secure a medal at the junior championship, finds herself facing charges under Article 2.1 and Article 2.2 of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Chesang's remarkable journey began at the 2021 World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, and continued in Cali, Colombia last year, where she clinched the bronze medal.

She joined the ranks of Peruth Chemutai (2018), Annet Negesa (2010), and Dorcus Inzikuru (2000) as one of the few female Ugandan runners to achieve such a feat at the junior level.

"The AIU has provisionally suspended Prisca Chesang (Uganda) for the Presence/Use of a Prohibited Substance (Furosemide)," the AIU confirmed.

Chesang's suspension echoes a somber note in Ugandan running history, following the suspension and three-year ban of Janat Chemusto in November.

Prisca Chesang had been making remarkable strides in the senior division as well, finishing 7th overall at the World Cross Country Championships held in Bathurst, Australia, earlier this year.

However, it was her astonishing performance in the 10km race and her ranking at the World Cross Country Championships in 2023 that truly had the athletics world taking notice.

On New Year's Eve in 2022, Chesang emerged as the champion of the Madrid 10km with an incredible time of 30:19.

This achievement unofficially crowned her as the fastest junior athlete ever over the 10km distance.

Her exceptional performance ranked her 6th on the Senior World List for 2022 and placed her among the top 20 on the World All-Time list for the same distance. 

Defending champion Ezekiel Kemboi Omullo set for grand return to Singapore Marathon

Defending champion Ezekiel Kemboi is bubbling with confidence ahead of the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon.

The stage is set for a thrilling showdown at this year’s edition of the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon as Ezekiel Kemboi Omullo and Bernard Kiprop Kipyego take it to the start line of the race.

Kemboi returns as the defending champion and he will face a stern test from Kipyego, a seasoned competitor who will also be keen to impress.

Kemboi won last year’s race in 2:20:20 and is returning to defend his title. He turned heads at the 2023 Gold Coast Marathon, securing the second position with a Personal Best time of 2:08:26.

In an exclusive interview with ToughASIA, Kemboi revealed that he has intensified his training to enhance his speed and endurance.

“I’ve prepared rigorously for this race, making sure I’m in peak condition. Each marathon is a new challenge, and I’m excited to give my best in Singapore.

"The setbacks only fuel my determination to succeed, and I’m ready to leave everything on the track,” Kemboi added.

Kemboi has enjoyed a blistering season but faced an unexpected setback in the Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon 2023, finishing sixth with a time of 2:14:50. He will be using the Singapore Marathon as he seeks redemption.

On his part, Bernard Kiprop Kipyego, is a decorated athlete with a laundry list of accomplishments that include a bronze medal at the 2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and a silver medal at the 2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen is injured and will miss the rest of 2023 season

For the first time in seven years, Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen will not defend his continental cross-country title at the European XC Championships in December. 

Norway’s TV 2 reports that Ingebrigtsen will miss this year’s European Cross Country Championships and the remainder of the 2023 season, due to injury. According to Norwegian news NRK, Ingebrigtsen has suffered an injury around his sacrum, but the severity of the injury is undisclosed.

Espen Skoland, the spokesperson for the Ingebrigtsen brothers, reports that Jakob wants to focus on recovery and training after a long and hard season, and that he has an important year ahead of him.

Ingebrigtsen has dominated the European XC Championships since 2016, winning the 2021 and 2022 senior championships and also claiming the 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 U-20 European cross-country titles.

It has been an eventful year for Ingebrigtsen, who defended his world 5,000m title at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, and finished runner-up to Great Britain’s Josh Kerr in the men’s 1,500m. He also clocked two world records, in the two-mile and the 2,000m, along with the second fastest time in history over the mile at the Diamond League final in Eugene, Ore., which he won.

Ingebrigtsen has also had a monumental year off the track, marrying his longtime partner Elisabeth Asserson, in their native Norway. The 23-year-old also went through a rocky public battle with his estranged father and coach, Gjert. In October, the brothers released a statement accusing their father of aggression, control and physical violence, and saying he took the joy out of the sport they once loved.

Ingebrigtsen hopes to compete for Norway at the 2024 World Indoor Championships in March, the European Track and Field Championships in June and ultimately, the 2024 Olympic Games in August.

Ingebrigtsen’s older brother and coach, Henrik, has been named to the Norwegian team for the Dec. 10 championships in Brussels.

Jacob Kiplimo continued his return to racing with a stunning performance at the NN Zevenheuvelenloop

World cross-country champion Jacob Kiplimo continued his return to racing with a stunning performance at the NN Zevenheuvelenloop in Nijmegen on Sunday (19), equalling the world 15km best with 41:05.

The Ugandan was forced to miss the World Championships in Budapest and World Road Running Championships in Riga through injury, but returned to action at the end of last month with a convincing win at the Cross Country Tour Gold meeting in Atapuerca.

Today he notched up another victory, winning by 99 seconds to equal the world best set five years ago by his compatriot Joshua Cheptegei.

He started out at a relatively conservative pace, mindful of the fact there was a big climb to come between 3.5km and 5km. He reached 3km in 8:42 – 23 seconds down on Cheptegei’s pace from 2018 – and got to 5km in 14:24, by which point compatriot Rogers Kibet was already struggling to stay in touch.

Shortly after, Kiplimo was out in front alone and he passed through 8km in 22:31 with a 24-second leading margin. He hit the 10km checkpoint in 27:49, the exact same split Cheptegei recorded during his landmark run. From that point on, Kiplimo’s pace fluctuated slightly; sometimes ahead of course record pace, sometimes behind it.

A 2:31 final kilometer – his fastest of the race – brought him home in 41:05. Kibet held on to second place in 42:44, securing a Ugandan 1-2.

Although 41:05 is the fastest ever performance in a standalone 15km race, Kiplimo recorded a 15km split of 40:27 en route to his half marathon world record in Lisbon in 2021.

World steeplechase record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech was a convincing winner of the women’s race, crossing the line in 47:12 to finish 43 seconds ahead of Israel’s Lonah Salpeter.

Edinah Jebitok and Ronald Kwemoi reign in Seville

Edinah Jebitok and Ronald Kwemoi achieved a Kenyan double at the Cross Internacional de Italica, the fourth World Athletics Cross Country Tour Gold meeting of the season, held on the outskirts of Seville on Sunday (12).

Making their debuts at the event, Jebitok and Kwemoi claimed the titles on a sunny and pleasant afternoon after respective sprint finishes against Ethiopia's world U20 champion Senayet Getachew and Kenya's Hillary Chepkwony.

In the absence of pre-race favourite Beatrice Chebet, who withdrew on the eve of the event because of illness, the women's 9918m contest opened at a brisk pace set by Jebitok, who only had her compatriot Winnie Jemutai, Ethiopians Getachew and Wede Kefale, and Uganda's Annet Chelangat for company just one minute into the race. Way back, Britain's Amelia Quirk, Kate Axford and Phoebe Barker led the chasing group alongside Spain's European U20 champion Maria Forero and her compatriot Carolina Robles.

Jebitok broke away from the rest of the lead group at the start of the second 2450m circuit and built a five-second margin over Getachew midway through that lap. Getachew was another four seconds clear of Jemutai and gradually she reeled in Jebitok, until they were running together at the helm midway through the race. Jemutai was a lonesome third, while Kefale and Chelangat were further back. Behind them, Quirk and Forero took turns leading their group, followed by Robles and Axford.

Throughout the penultimate loop, Jebitok and Getachew tried to lose each other but neither managed to do so. By the bell, the pair had built a 20-second margin ahead of Jemutai, while Forero and Quirk were in sixth and seventh place, and would fight to be the first European home.

Already on the closing lap with the clock reading 25:40, Jebitok unleashed another kick and was able to leave Getachew behind for the second time, opening a six-second margin with 1000m remaining. Much to the delight of the large crowd watching, the Ethiopian bounced back and passed Jebitok with some 500m remaining. Jebitok then found another gear and reached the narrow final bend a few metres ahead, but to the astonishment of the crowd she stopped in the belief that she had crossed the finish line.

Getachew took advantage and overtook her, entering the home straight in the lead, but Jebitok – a 1500m specialist – didn't surrender and passed her rival in the final metre to win by the narrowest of margins. Both athletes were credited with a finishing time of 32:39, well clear of Jemutai who was third in 33:37. Chelangat was fourth and Kefale fifth, while 20-year-old Forero got the better of Quirk to secure sixth.

“I'm so satisfied with my European tour as I have won twice and was runner-up in Atapuerca,” said Jebitok. “My main goal is to be the overall victor of this season's Cross Country Tour.”

Kwemoi maintains momentum

The men's race was also held over 9918m and witnessed an early lead by the in-form Kwemoi, as the 28-year-old – who set the world U20 1500m record in 2014 – set a brisk pace that could only be followed by his compatriots Chepkwony and Ishmael Kipkurui, the world U20 champion, plus Burundi's Rodrigue Kwizera and Uganda's Martin Kiprotich. The opening lap was covered in 7:07, with the lead group also featuring the Spanish pair of world 5000m silver medallist Mo Katir and Abdessamad Oukhelfen, the 2019 European U23 cross country bronze medallist.

Clocking 7:17 for the second lap, Kiprotich, Kwemoi and Kwizera took on most of the pacing duties and Kipkurui and Chepkwony tucked behind. Some 6.7km into the race first Oukhelfen and then Katir could not live with the increasingly quick lead pace and lost ground. By the bell (7:13 for the penultimate lap), five men remained in contention while Katir and Oukhelfen travelled five and seven seconds in arrears, respectively.

The closing lap became more than thrilling as Kwizera pushed hard, trying to avoid a massive sprint, but the Burundian’s efforts only managed to leave Kiprotich behind, while Kwemoi, Kipkurui and Chepkwony, who ran conservatively always at the back of the main group, remained at Kwizera's shoulder.

The next casualty was Kipkurui and the race turned into a fascinating three-horse battle. Chepkwony moved to the front for the first time with around 500m remaining and his change of speed could not be replicated by Kwizera. Chepkwony reached the final bend still ahead of Kwemoi, but the latter finally prevailed after an epic battle for the win.

Ethiopians sweep women's B.A.A. Half Marathon, Kenyan wins men's race

The 2023 B.A.A. Half Marathon presented by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund took place today, November 12, starting and finishing within Boston’s Franklin Park. Personal bests and fast times were achieved on a chilly fall day. Preliminary results can be found here. 

In the professional open divisions, Fotyen Tesfay (Ethiopia) and Abel Kipchumba(Kenya) took home the women’s and men’s titles respectively, while Jenna Fesemyer and Hermin Garic, both of the USA, captured the wheelchair division victories. American Paralympian Liz Willisset a world record in the T61-64 division (lower limb impairment) in a time of 1:45:19. Among today’s finishers were more than 600 athletes representing the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Jimmy Fund, raising more than $700,000 to defy cancer. 

Warming up through the early miles, Tesfay and a sizeable lead pack passed 5 miles in 27:10 and 10 miles in 53:17. The race began to intensify as Tesfay, American record holder Keira D’Amato, B.A.A. 5K champion Senbere Teferi, and World Cross Country Championships silver medalist Tsigie Gebreselama covered the hilly course along Boston’s Emerald Necklace Park System.

While it was a pack with 5K to go, Tesfay was all alone entering White Stadium, breaking the tape in 1:08:46. In her Boston debut, Tesfay not only conquered the competition but also the cold temperatures. 

“The pack was so big, but I managed to move ahead of them as I got close to the finish to take the win,” said Tesfay. “This is my first time running a half marathon in Boston and the coldest race I have ever run, so I am very happy to win.”

Teferi (ETH) and Gebreselama (ETH) rounded out the podium in 1:09:00 and 1:09:06, followed by D’Amato as the top American in 1:09:12. 

In the men’s race, Kipchumba was determined to improve upon a ninth place finish a year ago. Running with Australian Olympian Pat Tiernan and defending champion Geoffrey Koech (Kenya) through five miles, Kipchumba began to break away little by little. At six miles it was a seven second lead, then at 10 miles the gap stood 30 seconds. 

Kipchumba’s broke the tape all smiles in 1:01:32 with a hard-charging Tiernan second (1:01:56) and Yemane Haileselassie third in 1:02:17. Sam Chelanga, who won a silver medal in the 10,000m at the Pan Am Games on the track last week, was top American, seventh in 1:02:49. 

“Today was difficult because it was very cold. And as we know, Boston has a lot of hills. But I managed to win the race, so I am happy,” said Kipchumba. “I like the crowds. They cheered me and I got a lot of energy to push the pace.”  

Keith and Kiprop claim Cardiff Cross Challenge crowns

Megan Keith secured a clear win while Keneth Kiprop prevailed after a sprint finish at the Cardiff Cross Challenge – a World Athletics Cross Country Tour Gold event – on Saturday (11).

European U23 5000m champion Keith built on her fifth-place finish at the Cross Internacional de Atapuerca last month, beating a strong international field to win the 6.4km senior women's race by 17 seconds.

The 21-year-old, who started her year by finishing third at the CrossCup de Hannut and then raced for Great Britain at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, clocked 20:35 to win unchallenged on the muddy but relatively flat and winding course at Llandaff Fields.

Behind her, Ethiopia’s Likina Amebaw – who started as one of the leading contenders thanks to her Cross Country Tour Gold wins in Albufeira and Amorebieta this year – clocked 20:52 to secure the runner-up spot, seven seconds ahead of her compatriot Asmarech Anley.

Their fellow Ethiopian Meseret Yeshaneh, the world U20 steeplechase bronze medallist, was fourth a further three seconds back, while Britain’s Jessica Warner-Judd, who won in Cardiff in 2017, placed fifth.

“That was great fun. I’ve run here before, this is my third year now. Every year I love this course and I love coming here and running really hard so it was just another really good day out,” said Keith, who will be targeting a place for the European Cross Country Championships in Brussels next month.

“I love Cardiff as a box to check on my way to Liverpool (British trial race).”

While Keith opened a considerable advantage over her rivals, the senior men's race was much closer and the end of the 9.6km contest came down to a head-to-head battle.

Uganda’s 18-year-old Kiprop, who was sixth in the U20 event at the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, led for much of the race, establishing a lead in the opening stages and staying ahead until Kenya’s Vincent Mutai attacked.

Kiprop placed 15th in the road mile at the World Road Running Championships last month and he used some of that speed to respond to Mutai’s challenge, with the finish line in sight.

Mutai – who won the Cardiff Half Marathon in October – had been tracking Kiprop but as he tried to pass him in the closing stages, Kiprop kicked again and won in 28:32, three seconds ahead of Mutai.

Ethiopia’s Abele Bekele Alemu was third, half a minute behind them, with Britain’s Zak Mahamed fourth and Burundi’s Egide Ntakarutimana fifth.

“I enjoyed winning this race in Cardiff because it was my first time to run in Europe in cross country,” said Kiprop. “I thought that the sprint was going to win this race.”

Which Shoe Brand Won the NYC Marathon?

We scored the race like an XC meet. Here are the results.One problem with pro running is that there’s no real team system to create legit rivalries and wild fan support. The major sports have figured this out—grown men wear Detroit Lions jerseys to Costco. Nobody’s slipping on a Hansons-Brooks singlet to hit up the Home Depot.

That could be in part because there is no league. Casual fans can’t throw their undying faith behind NAZ Elite and root for them to beat up on OAC during a showdown in the summer road racing season. Plus, there aren’t really any competitions where teams square off for bragging rights and team trophies—well, maybe USATF Cross Country Championships.

With XC in mind, let’s apply that kind of scoring to the NYC Marathon and manufacture some team drama.

In another article, I looked at the top 10 shoes from the marathon. But what happens when we go a bit deeper and look behind the pros? Which brand’s team is the best?Standing on the sidelines, I snapped photos of runners until the packs became too thick for me to capture everybody clearly. Then I sat with the results and matched runners to their shoes based on their bib numbers.

The elite fields were fairly small this year, so I left the pros in the scoring mix. Congrats, David Puleo from New York City, you were actually on Team Adidas with Tamirat Tola this year.

This is meant to be a fun look at shoes but, to be fair, there are many holes that can be poked into this scoring system. Nike and Adidas have bigger budgets and brought in more ringers. Likewise, because there were so many people wearing Nike, more were bound to make it to the finish line—Cam Levins (Asics) and Reed Fisher (Adidas) both dropped out but would certainly have scored well for their squads.

SWOOSHES EVERYWHERE

First, let’s take a look at the stunning number of Nikes that dotted the course. Here’s a count of the shoes among the top 250 runners. Nearly ⅔ of these runners had the swoosh.The ratio of Vaporfly and Alphafly to other shoe models got even more skewed as the times slowed. Of the final 35 runners I tagged, only 4 weren’t wearing Nike—1 Hoka, 1 Saucony, and 2 Adidas.SCORING

Now, on to the race results. Given the sheer number of Nike runners, it seemed inevitable that they’d win this meet in 2023. But, are other squads competitive? How close are they? And how strongly do the smaller brands compete on the streets?

A primer on XC scoring: In traditional cross-country, teams can have 7 runners, but only 5 actually figure into their own team’s score. But the 6th and 7th runners on a team can have a huge impact in the standings, because their place can affect their opponents’ scores. If they finish in front of another team’s 5th runner, that pushes the opponents’ score one point higher.

Let’s illustrate that with our top two teams.Not every brand in the race had enough runners across the line to yield a team score. This is only because I stopped keeping score when roughly 250 men had run by me at the 24-mile mark. They all certainly would have had five runners, in a field of 51,933 runners. But, by that time, the packs of runners became too thick for me to reliably capture bib numbers and shoes so that I could match them with their final standing later. I even peeped MarathonFoto for a few runners that I missed—some second-wavers ran really fast times!—but it was a painfully slow process and the images are too low res to accurately tell shoes apart unless they were garish neon colors that instantly gave away the brand. So I abandoned the exercise at 250 men.

(For this same reason, I was unable to score the women’s race. I made an attempt, but bib numbers were blocked too consistently to reasonably get enough data.)

Once I had the top finishers matched with their shoe brand (team), I omitted any who had finished outside their team’s top 7. In some XC races, you can run a big team, but runners 8 and up are yanked from the results for team scoring purposes.Interestingly, New Balance athletes ran in a tight pack, with the team’s 7th man finishing 31st. But they just didn’t have the pro-caliber runners needed at the front of the race to hang with the teams that made our podium.

MORE CHOICES, BUT ONE CLEAR LEADER

The takeaway from all this? There are many brands building great racing shoes right now, as evidenced by the parity in the top finishers of marathons. But, further back in the pack, Nike still dominates with competitive runners. That stands to reason, as they had a few years head start on everybody else in the super shoe race.

How will these standings look in a few years, after other brands have had more time for their innovations to proliferate? If it follows suit with the pro field, expect to see some of the also-rans make a strong challenge for the podium and team title.

Beatrice Chebet ready to star in Seville

The Cross Internacional de Itálica in Santiponce on the outskirts of the Spanish city of Seville – the fourth Gold standard meeting in the current World Athletics Cross Country Tour – always boasts a mouth-watering line-up, and this year’s race on Sunday (12) is no exception.

Entries for the women’s race, contested over 9.9km, are headed by Kenya’s world cross-country and 5km champion Beatrice Chebet. The 23-year-old triumphed in Atapuerca two weeks ago and will be looking for her first victory here after her runner-up place in 2020 and a third place the following year.

The world 5000m bronze medalist will be joined by her compatriot Edinah Jebitok, who was eighth at the World Cross in Bathurst and third in Atapuerca. The 1500m specialist was also a clear winner in San Sebastian last weekend.

World U20 cross-country champion Senayet Getachew and fellow Ethiopian Wede Kefale – who was 15th in the senior women’s race at this year’s World Cross – will also be in contention for a podium place.

Uganda's Anne Chelangat, 13th at the World Cross and third last week in San Sebastián, is another strong contender.

World and Olympic finalist Nadia Battocletti will be racing in Santiponce for the first time. She recently placed fifth in the 5km at the World Road Running Championships in Riga, finishing just 10 seconds shy of Chebet, so will be trying her best to stay in contention with the Kenyan on Sunday.

The line-up also includes Spanish steeplechasers Irene Sánchez-Escribano and Carolina Robles plus European U20 cross-country champion María Forero and Britain's Amelia Quirk, who was 25th in Bathurst.

The men’s 9.9km contest looks set to be a three-way battle between the Kenyan pair of Ronald Kwemoi and Ishmael Kipkurui plus Burundi's Rodrigue Kwizera.

The 28-year-old Kwemoi will compete for the third consecutive time on Spanish ground after his runner-up spot in Atapuerca two weeks ago and a narrow win over Kipkurui last Sunday in San Sebastián. On that occasion, world U20 cross-country champion Kipkurui pushed hard for most of the race but he couldn't avoid being overtaken by world U20 1500m record-holder Kwemoi in a thrilling sprint finish with the two men being separated by one second.

Their Kenyan compatriot Hillary Chepkwoni, fresh from a huge PB of 58:53 at the Valencia Half Marathon three weeks ago, will also be on the start line.

Kwizera, co-winner of the 2022-2023 World Cross Country Tour, finished eighth at the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst at the start of 2023. More recently he placed third in Atapuerca where he was beaten by Kwemoi over the closing stages but grabbed an easy victory last weekend in his Spanish base of Castellón at a low-key cross country race.

Eritrea’s Aron Kifle, the 2018 world half marathon bronze medalist, will be making his 2023 cross country debut on Sunday. He’ll be joined by compatriot Merhawi Mebrahtu, the world U20 5000m silver medalist, who finished second in Amorebieta and ninth in Atapuerca the following week.

Uganda’s 2022 world 5000m bronze medalist Oscar Chelimo, who recently finished third in San Sebastian, will contend for a top-five finish on Sunday. The 21-year-old will be joined by his compatriot Martin Kiprotich, who finished 18th at the World Cross in Bathurst.

The Spanish contingent will be headed by Mohamed Katir. The world 5000m silver medalist has been training in the altitude of Sierra Nevada since mid-October and will be back there right after the race for another week. He has planned a quiet cross-country campaign with only a few appearances.

Other Spaniards in the line-up include the in-form Abdessamad Oukhelfen, who was fourth in San Sebastian behind Chelimo, 2017 European cross-country silver medalist Adel Mechaal and national silver medalist Sergio Paniagua.

Adrian Ben, who finished fourth over 800m at this year’s World Championships, could also be in contention. The 25-year-old was a 1500m specialist at the beginning of his career and there's talk of a potential move back up in distance ahead of the Paris Olympics. Ben is fresh from a cross country victory over 5km in his native Lugo last Sunday when he defeated steeplechaser Víctor Ruiz.

Other noteworthy middle-distance specialists in the line-up include European U20 1500m and 5000m champion Niels Laros of the Netherlands and Britain's newly-minted world mile silver medalist Callum Elson.

Famous previous winners in Santiponce include Kenenisa Bekele (2003, 2004 and 2007), Fernando Mamede (1984 and 1985), Paul Kipkoech (1987 and 1988), Paul Tergat (1998 and 1999), Moses Kipsiro (2008 and 2009), Leonard Komon (2010 and 2011), Linet Masai (2010 and 2012) and Paula Radcliffe (2001), among others.

Weather forecasters predict a sunny and windless day with temperatures in the 20-22C range by the time of the event.

Men's Record-Holder To Defend Title At Manchester Road Race

Defending Manchester Road Race men's division champion and course record-holding Conner Mantz will return for the 2023 race. 

Mantz, who won two NCAA Division 1 cross country titles when he ran for Brigham Young University, rocketed around the 4.748-mile course in 2022 with the time of 21:04.  He knocked 12 seconds off the prior mark of 21:16 that Edward Cheserek set in 2018.

Also expected to be at the starting line will be last year’s runner-up, Morgan Beadlescomb.

Beadlescomb, a former Michigan State All-American, shadowed Mantz across the finish stripe last November with a time of 21:05.

Beadlescomb’s time is the second fastest-ever run on the Manchester course. Last year’s elite field was so strong that the first five runners to finish all eclipsed Cheserek’s former record, according to race officials.

“We are extremely pleased that last year’s top two finishers, Conner Mantz and Morgan Beadlescomb, are returning this year,” said Dr. Tris Carta, president of the Manchester Road Race Committee. “It is going to be another very exciting race."

Mantz placed sixth last month at the Chicago Marathon with the personal record and Olympic standard qualifying time of 2:07:47. Beadlescomb, 25, ran a personal best time of 13:08.82 for 5000 meters at a meet in Los Angeles in May and won the USATF national 5-K championship at the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5-K in 13:44 on Nov. 4th.

 The 87th Manchester Road Race, which was recognized as a 2023 World Athletics Label Event, will be held on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23, at 10 a.m. It starts and finishes on Main Street in Manchester, in front of St. James Church. The road race is organized by 500 volunteers from the Manchester Road Race Committee, with support from the Town of Manchester. 

Wanyonyi nominated for World Athletics Rising Star award

World Under 20 gold medalist Emmanuel Wanyonyi has been nominated as a Rising Star by the World Athletics.

The three categories of achievements he has been slotted for include World Championships 800m silver medalist, Diamond League champion and winner in Rabat, Paris and Xiamen World cross country mixed relay champion.

In recognition of the achievements, World Athletics acknowledged;

“The nominations reflect some of the standout performances that the sport has witnessed this year, at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23, World Athletics Cross Country Championships Bathurst 23, one-day meeting circuits and other events around the world.”

Wanyonyi, boasts of a personal best of 1:43:27 he clocked 1:44:53 and finished behind Marco Arop of Canada silver in Budapest.

Subsequently, he kicked off his Diamond League campaign with a victory in Rabat, Morocco at the end of May, followed by another triumph in Paris, France in early June.

In February, the young athlete commenced the year with a gold medal victory in mixed relays at the 2023 World Cross-Country Championships held in Bathurst, Australia. In May, he successfully defended his Kip Keino Classic title in Nairobi.

The middle-distance runner also ran a new Championship Record of 1:43.76, cruising to victory in the men’s 800m at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in 2021 at Moi Sports Center Kasarani.

Back home, the 19-year-old is among the over 3.5milion Form Four candidates sitting for the Kenya National Examination Council (KCSE) examinations. He has undertaken the finals at Kosirai Secondary School in Nandi County.

The two others nominated under the same category are Jamaica’s Roshawn Clarke for World Championships 400m hurdles fourth place, equaled and then broke the world U20 record with 47.85 in Kingston and 47.34 in Budapest and Jamaican champion and CARIFTA Games U20 champion.

Erriyon Knighton from the USA for World Championships 200m silver medalist, US champion and Winner of Diamond League races in Florence and Oslo.

An international panel of experts will select the 2023 Men's Rising Star Award winner, and the announcement will be made on World Athletics' platforms on December 11th.

Lokedi keen to defend New York title as she faces off with Jepchichir, Obiri

Lokedi keen to defend New York title as she faces off with Jepchichir, Obiri.

The 2022 New York City Marathon winner Sharon Lokedi will be seeking to defend her title against a formidable women's field during the 52nd edition of the marathon slated for Sunday.

Lokedi won the race in what was her marathon debut last year, pulling away in the final two miles to finish the race in 2:23:23.

She became the eighth athlete to win the race on debut. She has, however, been dealing with an injury for the better part of the year, which forced her to withdraw from the Boston Marathon in April.

Lokedi will be up against the 2020 Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Peres Jepchirchir who will be eyeing the top prize. The 30-year-old is the only athlete to win the Olympics, the New York City Marathon and Boston Marathon.

The two-time World Half Marathon gold medalist had been unbeaten since winning Boston last year until Dutch runner Sifan Hassan defeated her in London last April.

Joining the duo will be two-time Olympic silver medalist Hellen Obiri who is fresh from a triumphant display in the Boston Marathon.

Also in the fold will be the former world record holder Brigid Kosgei and veteran Edna Kiplagat who is a two-time world champion, Boston, London, and New York City winner.

The Kenyan squad will face stiff competition from Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey who is a 10,000m and half-marathon world record holder.

She will be making her New York City Marathon debut after her 2022 victory in Valencia in 2:16:49, which is the fastest women’s marathon debut in history.

Yalemzerf Yehualaw from Ethiopia and USA’s double Olympian Molly Huddle will also be in contention for the title.

Leading the men’s elite race will be 2021 winner Albert Korir who will be seeking to duplicate his heroics during the 2021 edition.

He will be joined by Edwin Cheserek who is a 17-time NCAA (National Collegiate Athletics Association) cross country champion.

2023 World Athletics Championship silver medalist Maru Teferi of Israel will be seeking to upset the Kenyan contingent as well as Ethiopia’s Mosinet Geremew.

Netherlands’s Olympic silver winner Abdi Nageeye and 2021 New York Marathon champion and Morocco's Zouahir Talbi will also be eyeing the top spot.

Three elite athletes have, however,  pulled out of the race including the defending champion Evans Chebet, his Kenyan compatriot Geoffrey Kamworor and Ethiopian Gotytom Gebreslase.

Record-Holder Weini Kelati looking for 3-peat at Manchester Road Race

Manchester Road Race women's course record-holder Weini Kelati has committed to defend her back-to-back titles this Thanksgiving.

The Manchester Road Race Committee announced today that Kelati's manager recently confirmed that the 26-year-old will be at the starting line when the 87th Manchester Road Race takes place on Thanksgiving Day.

Kelati in 2021 won the women's championship in 22:55 while shredding more than a minute off the prior mark of 23:57 held by Buze Diriba. She ran with the men's leader pack for much of that race and finished in 18th place overall.

An 11-time All-American runner when she competed for the University of New Mexico, Kelati also won the MRR last year. Her time of 23:39 at the 2022 MRR rates as the second-fastest time run by a woman on the 4.748-mile Manchester course.

"Weini is an amazing athlete with exceptional grit, speed and endurance who has had two incredible performances at our road race," said Dr. Tris Carta, the president of the Manchester Road Race Committee. "We are very excited that she is coming back to Manchester for the third straight year."

Kelati was born in Eritrea and became a U.S. citizen in 2021. She now calls Flagstaff, Arizona, home. She was the NCAA Division I champion in cross country and the 10,000 meters while in college. Kelati won the 2023 USATF 10K women’s championship in September with a time of 31:57, and earlier this year she ran a personal best time of 31:04 for the 10,000 meters.

The 87th Manchester Road Race, which will take place at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 23), has been named a 2023 World Athletic Label Event by World Athletics, the international governing body for the sport of track and field. It is one of only 238 races in the world, and 15 in the United States, to receive that designation, which recognizes an event’s commitment to anti-doping and clean sport.

The road race is run on a loop course through Manchester's central streets and starts and finishes on Main Street, in front of St. James Church.

Kenenisa Bekele says his best is yet to come

For the last 20 years, Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele has carved his legacy in distance running, winning three Olympic golds and 19 world championship titles on the track and in cross country. When he transitioned onto roads, his success continued, winning the Berlin Marathon twice and clocking the third-fastest time in history (2:01:41). In recent years, Bekele has acknowledged the difficulty of the marathon, but the 41-year-old believes his best is yet to come.

In an exclusive interview with Olympics.com, Bekele said he isn’t done yet, and that he is driven by the belief that he can excel in the marathon. “I never achieved my maximum effort in the marathon,” said Bekele. “I train hard, but I’ve been struggling for a long time with injury–I’ve never finished my [marathon] training in a good way.”

Bekele’s personal best of 2:01:41 from the 2019 Berlin Marathon stands as the third-fastest time in history, only trailing the Kenyan pair of Kelvin Kiptum, the new world record holder, and Eliud Kipchoge. Despite track and field fans suggesting that his best days might be behind him, Bekele remains undeterred, knowing his potential and what lies ahead in the marathon.

“My mind tells me that I can still do better in the marathon. The Olympics is in front of us…maybe [Paris] will be my last Olympics.

As Bekele gears up for the 2023 Valencia Marathon on Dec. 3 (known as one of the fastest record-legal courses in the world), he has aspirations to reach the 2024 Paris Olympics. With 43 Ethiopian men already having achieved the Olympic standard of 2:08:10, Bekele will need a time of 2:04:30 or faster to put himself in a position for Olympic selection.

“I know that Valencia is very fast. And [on the entry list] there are many strong competitors from different countries, so the expectations are very high,” said Bekele.

The Ethiopian marathon team for Paris is rumoured to be selected by January 2024. 

If Bekele can reach Paris, it will be a full-circle moment for one of the best distance runners in history. Paris was the destination where he won his first World Championship medal on the track, and the location of his first marathon, in 2014. 

After two decades with Nike, Bekele recently signed a new deal with the Chinese running brand Anta. The Valencia Marathon will be his first career marathon not wearing the Nike swoosh.

Canine Cross Country for Runners and Dogs

Attention, dedicated runners with canine companions! If you’re searching for a way to enhance your training sessions while strengthening your bond with your dog, canicross might be just what you’re looking for. We spoke with Elyse Latreille, leader of Toronto’s Cani6ix running club, who told us everything we need to know about canicross (the term is a blend of “canine” and “cross country” running).What is canicross?

Canicross is more than simply running with your dog. When you walk or run with your dog, you usually encourage them to stay beside you, and not to pull on the leash. With canicross, the dog is supposed to run ahead and pull you, and the runner and dog work together as a team. “It’s basically like dog sledding, except instead of the dog pulling a sled, they’re pulling you,” says Latreille. 

Canicross originated as a way to keep sled dogs fit during spring, summer and fall, but has now become a popular activity for runners who want to include their furry friends in their fitness routines. 

What equipment do you need?

All you truly need to do canicross is a harness and leash for your dog and running shoes for you, but getting the right equipment will go a long way to ensuring it’s a good experience for both you and your dog. 

There are specialized canicross harnesses designed to ensure your dog can pull comfortably and safely, along with bungee leashes that attach to a canicross belt, so you can run hands-free. This setup allows for a comfortable and efficient way of running together, ensuring that both you and your dog can move freely and in sync. How do I know if my dog is a good fit for canicross?

Latreille emphasizes that while canicross is a very inclusive sport that most dogs can do, there are a few things you should consider–most notably, if your dog has difficulty breathing (as is often the case with pugs, French bulldogs and other similar breeds), or if your dog has any physical disabilities that could be exacerbated by running, she recommends checking with your vet before trying canicross. You should also consider your dog’s age, since steady-state running can be risky for young dogs whose growth plates haven’t fully fused. Again, Latreille recommends checking with your vet before starting.Your dog should also be able to respond to basic commands (stay, come, etc.) and should have some leash etiquette before beginning canicross. This, says Latreille, is more about safety than anything else. “You should have a good relationship with your dog, and they should have baseline obedience, so they’ll listen to you,” she says. “It could be dangerous if your dog suddenly takes off after a squirrel while you’re attached to them and you can’t get them to stop.”

Cani6ix Toronto 

Latreillle started doing canicross with her dog, Annie, and eventually invited another friend along. Gradually their group grew, and today, Cani6ix has nearly 40 members, and they run with up to 15 people (and dogs) every Sunday. They typically run 5K, and take breaks every one or two kilometres to make the running more accessible for newcomers.

Recently, the group participated in their first official race–the Tails and Trails Classic, hosted by Canadian Canicross Sports in Mansfield, Ont. Many of the Cani6ix members landed on the podium, and without a doubt every one of them had a blast. The organization is in its infancy, but already hosts three races in Ontario. The next event is the Snowy Paw Canicross Race in Orangeville, Ont., on Jan. 13.

“My goal for the group is just to grow the sport,” says Latreille. “Even if you’re not interested in racing, just the feeling of pushing yourself with your dog as a team is so good for your relationship with your dog, and is such a cool feeling.”As the group has grown in size, a canicross company has provided Latreille with extra harnesses and gear, so interested people can try it out to see how their dog likes it before investing in their own equipment.

Latreille is passionate about getting others involved in the sport. She says that while some people are initially nervous, they’re always blown away by how much fun it is. “It’s great mental stimulation for your dog, great for training and teaching your dog new commands, and you get exercise too,” she says. 

Runners in the Toronto area who are interested in joining the group can visit their Instagram page, @cani6ix, for more information about where to meet up and how to get started.

Kenyan Margaret Chelimo to battle Melat Kejeta at Valencia Half Marathon

World Road Running Half Marathon silver medalist, Margaret Chelimo will lead a strong deep field at the 17th edition of the Valencia Half Marathon slated for Sunday in Valencia, Spain.

The 30 year-old who is also the 2019 World 5000m silver medalist will partner with her compatriot Janeth Chepngetich as they try to dethrone the seven Ethiopia’s who will be led by the former world marathon champion, Gotytom Gebreslase, who comes to this race with the third fastest time on paper of 1:05.36 that she got two years ago at Bahrain Night Half Marathon where she took the honors.

Chelimo who is also the 2022 World 10,000m bronze medalist, will have to get past the current European record holder over the half marathon distance, Melat Kejeta from Germany who holds the fastest in this field of 1:05.26 that she got at the 2020 World Half Marathon Championships, where she finished in second behind Peres Jepchirchir.

The World Cross Country silver medalist, Tsigie Gebreselama and World Indoor 3000m champion Lemlem Hailu both from Ethiopia will also be fighting for the top podium finish.

The race director Marc Roig expresses his anticipation for the event, saying, “Valencia proves once again to be the race of choice for the world’s elite athletes looking to break records. “The return of last year’s winner in the women category is a testament to the race’s popularity. We expect to witness remarkable records, national records, and potentially the fastest world records of the year”.

Always learning, Jemal Yimer refocuses after Riga with marathon success in his sights

For as long as he can remember, Jemal Yimer has been a student of the sport. 

The 27-year-old grew up in the Amhara region of Ethiopia, without any running background in his family, but that didn’t stop him idolising the greats. “Haile Gebrselassie,” he says quickly, when asked about his childhood heroes.

Yimer began running at school, juggling football and athletics in his teenage years before deciding to give the latter his full focus. Since 2016, it has consumed him and when he’s not running twice a day – which he does every day except Sunday – one of his hobbies is to watch documentaries about the greats of the sport. 

“Sometimes it’s (Eliud) Kipchoge, Gebrselassie, or Kenenisa (Bekele) – we see the life history of strong athletes, their races,” he says. “That is the backbone of me; it’s motivation for me.”

Yimer earned his first international vest in 2016, finishing fourth at the African Championships over 10,000m. The following year he hit a new level, finishing fourth at the World Cross Country Championships in Uganda, helping Ethiopia to team gold, and he went on to finish fifth in the 10,000m at the 2017 World Championships in London, clocking 26:56.11. 

In 2018, there was another near-miss at a major podium, Yimer finishing fourth at the World Half Marathon Championships in Valencia, just one second behind the bronze medallist. Later that year, he returned to Valencia and performed like a man possessed, winning in a then Ethiopian half marathon record of 58:33. 

As his focus turned from the track to the roads, he also changed coaches, coming under the guidance of Getamesay Molla, who works with a number of Ethiopia’s best marathoners. Molla had been a good athlete himself, if not quite a champion, and he’d trained alongside many of the country’s best, such as Kenenisa Bekele, before turning his hand to coaching in 2010. 

He began working with Yimer in 2019 and has long been impressed by his protege. “Jemal is a very strong athlete, and he’s versatile,” says Molla. “He’s tough, especially for races. He’s confident in himself.”

They train at various venues on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, doing long runs at high altitude and dropping to medium altitude for faster interval sessions. Yimer typically runs about 200km per week. What impresses the coach most about Yimer?

“His consistency,” says Molla. “Every session, he does not miss.”

In 2020, Yimer made his long-awaited marathon debut. It was due to come at the Boston Marathon in April but after that race was cancelled due to the pandemic, it ended up being at the Valencia Marathon in December, but Yimer was unable to finish, having suffered an early fall. 

In 2021, Boston was back on the calendar and Yimer turned in a superb debut performance there, finishing third in 2:10:38, just one second behind Lemi Berhanu in second. “My expectation for him was winning,” says Molla with a smile. “But the podium was not bad; it was good.”

The transition to the marathon was “not difficult”, says Yimer, but given his stride was better suited to shorter distances, he “had challenges after 15km, 20km” on hard long runs. In 2022, Yimer returned to Boston and finished eighth in 2:08:58, and earlier this year he claimed victory at the Los Angeles Marathon in 2:13:13. In August he finished second at the Antrim Coast Half Marathon in Northern Ireland in 58:38, teeing him up beautifully for a podium tilt at the World Athletics Road Running Championships Riga 23. 

The journey to Latvia proved an eventful one, with the Ethiopian team stranded in Germany for close to a full day just two days before the race. Still, Yimer wasn’t going to use that as an excuse. 

“This was not the first time for such a long journey; travelling is always up and down and that is not a reason for how I will perform in the race,” he said on the eve of the championships. “I will focus totally.”

That’s exactly what he did, with Yimer launching himself into contention at the key moment of the half marathon, when Kenya’s Daniel Simiu Ebenyo surged to the front after 16km. Yimer was the only man to go with him, but he soon found the pace too hot to handle. 

Ebenyo also began to falter in the final kilometre, giving way to his teammate Sabastian Kimaru Sawe, but Yimer paid an even heavier price, dropping back to fourth. Try as he might, he was unable to summon the finish needed to overhaul Samwel Nyamai Mailu for the bronze medal, coming home fourth in 59:22. 

It was a sign of how hard he’d run that Yimer had to be assisted through the mixed zone by a medic afterwards, his very best coming up just shy of a medal on the day. Still, he has a chance to make amends soon. On November 5, Yimer will line up at the New York City Marathon against a top-class field. His PB of 2:08:58 ranks him 13th, though his rivals know that’s not a true reflection of his ability. 

“We can expect a good result in New York,” says Molla. “I expect he’ll be on the podium.”

A father to a two-year-old boy, Yimer will sometimes bring his son along to training and the toddler is starting to get a grasp on what his dad does for a living. Yimer knows a race like New York offers a golden opportunity to provide a better future for his family, which is part of his motivation. 

“First I focus on training, then I have many plans on the business end for the future,” he says. Yimer isn’t shy about making them public: “My goal is to run fast times, to run all the major marathons, and to win world and Olympic medals.”

Geoffrey Kamworor is out of the New York City Marathon

Geoffrey Kamworor was looking to return to the streets of New York in November but has been ruled out of the race due to an injury.

An injury setback has forced Geoffrey Kamworor to withdraw from the New York City Marathon that was scheduled for Sunday, November 2.

In a post on his Facebook page, the two-time New York City Marathon champion expressed his disappointment towards the same.

He was bracing up for a tough test of return to one of his favourite courses but he will have to wait for next season.

He said: “After good results in the World Cross Country Championships and the London Marathon earlier this year, I was building towards a great New York City Marathon.

Unfortunately, an injury came my way and didn't leave me any other option as to take some rest and focus towards 2024.”

Kamworor opened his season at the World Cross-country Championships where he finished fourth in the men’s senior race.

He then jetted back into the country for training ahead of the London Marathon where he finished an impressive second in a Personal Best time of 2:04:23.

Kamworor Kamworor had been battling a series of injuries in the previous years and he had just announced his return this season but things are currently not working well for him.

Things started off worse for him in June 2020 after being hit by a motorcycle. The injury saw him undergo surgery which forced him to slow down.

The three-time World Cross-country then came back to compete in 2021 but missed out on the Olympic Games.

Last year, he participated at the World Championships held in Eugene, Oregon but failed to make an impact after finishing fifth in the marathon. He had started off his season at the Boston Marathon where he finished eighth.

The 26th Monthly KATA Time Trial edition was a success

The Kenya athletics training academy (KATA) monthly time trial took place today Oct 18.  This was the 26th monthly KATA Time Trial held in Thika Kenya.  

The weather was chilly and because of recent rains we moved the event to the roads.  Our first Sprint time trial was held at another track.  

We had a total of 22 registered athletes for the 5k and 10k.  Seven women and 15 men. 10 athletes took part in 5k  and 12 athletes took part in 10k.  The performances were impressive considering the wet chilly weather conditions.

Job kamonde was quite impressive in the 10k considering it was his first time trial at Kenya athletics training academy. He was the winner clocking 29:55.  Boniface mungai improvement in the 10k was impressive, dropping his personal best from 31:25 to 30:26 finishing in 4th position.

Anthony Mukundi likewise lowered his personal best from 32:08 to 31:49. All women in 5k had a slight improvement. The overall performances were impressive considering the fact that all our athletes participated at last Saturday's cross country races. 

5k MEN

1. KELVIN RAGUI 466               21YRS     15;12

2. FREDRICK KIPROTICH 172   23YRS    15;29

3. CHARLES NDIRANGU 474    23YRS    15;59

4. AMOS CHIRCHIR   199         23YRS     16;22

5K WOMEN

1. LOISE WAMBUI           175     23YRS         17;29

2. KAREN CHEPKEMOI   473     23YRS         17;39

3. JECINTA MWENDE     185     22YRS         17;48

4. VIRGINIA WANJIRU    165    20YRS         18;29

5. JENIFFER MUMBI       472    23YRS         20;44

6; HANAH NJERI             180     24YRS        21;12

10K MEN.

1. JOB KAMONDE              439   23YRS   29;55

2. SAMSON NDAMBUKI   436   24YRS   30;16

3. JOHN KURIA                  174   27YRS   30;25

4. BONIFACE MUNGAI     177   25YRS   30;26

5. PETER MBURU              144   26YRS   30;40

6. RAPHAEL KARITA          465   24YRS   30;44

7. ZAKARIAH KIRIKA         176   22YRS   30;50

8. EVANS KIGURU             181   28YRS   30;55

9. LEVIS KURIA                   494   22YRS   31;39

10. ANTHONY MUKINDI     464   32YRS   31;49

11. ALFRED KAMANDE       178   24YRS    34;14

10K WOMEN.

1.SUSAN NJUU     472   37YRS   36;29

Today was the first KATA Time Trial for our sprinters and Middie distance runners.  Our sprinters have great potential of breaking records.

Our sprinters are well discplined and up to task and  the training is of high quality.  "We are first camp to have an academy with sprinters, middle distance, 10k and marathoners," says Coach Julius (KATA sprint coach).

KATA SPRINTERS Time Trial Oct 18

                        100m women

1.Doreen Waka  12.02s

2.Shelmith Rono 12.5s

3.Sheila Awino    12.8s

                         100m men

1.Brian Oyugi      10.9s

2.Festus Waita   11.0s

 3.Ambrose Simiyu 11.5s

4.Gerald Olela        11.6s

5.Philip Kinyanjui  11.7s

6.Douglas King'ori 11.8s

                            200m men

1.Benjamin Mulanda 22.8s

2.Alvin Mise               22.9s

3.Chris Mutahi          24.1s

                            200m women

1.Doreen Waka         25.9s

2.Shelmith Rono      28.0s

3.Sheila Awino        29.2s

                             400m women 

1.Rahab Wanjiru     57.1s

2.Gladys Ngure      57.5s

3.Peris Chege        58.9s

4.Emma Wavinya  60.0s

                             400m men

1.Benjamin Mulanda 52.0s

2.Felix Ngetich           52.9s

3.Sammy Langat       53.2s

                            1500m women 

1.Mercy Ndung'u       4.36

2.Patricia Gichuki     4.40