Running News Daily

Lawrence Cherono of Kenya suspended after testing positive for trimetazidine

The seventh-fastest marathoner of all time, Kenya’s Lawrence Cherono, who was one of the favourites to win the marathon at the 2022 World Championships, has been provisionally suspended on the day before the race after testing positive for a banned substance. Cherono tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine, which is used to treat chest pain resulting from a lack of blood supply and oxygen to the heart. The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said in a press release that there were delays in the processing of his test sample, which was taken on May 23. The delay made it impossible for another athlete to take his spot on Team Kenya.The drug trimetazidine helps metabolize fatty acids, which helps your body use oxygen, allowing for more blood flow to your heart and limits quick changes in your blood pressure.The 33-year-old Kenyan finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics and won both Boston and the Chicago Marathon in 2019. Cherono has a personal best time of 2:03:04 from the 2020 Valencia Marathon, where he finished second.Back-to-back NCAA champion and U.S. 400m Olympian Randolph Ross was also kicked out from the World Athletics Championships on the day before his race for tampering with the antidoping process after an unsuccessful testing attempt on June 18. 

The AIU announced on Saturday that Ross will be provisionally suspended a month after officials failed to locate him to take an anti-doping test. Ross won the Olympic gold with the U.S. 4x400m relay team in Tokyo.According to the AIU, athletes must give anti-doping authorities detailed lists of where they’ll be so testers can reach them without notice to collect samples when the athletes are not competing. In some cases, three missed tries can result in an anti-doping violation. AIU did not release the specifics of Ross’ case, other than to say that “the allegation arises out of the athlete’s conduct during an investigation into a potential whereabouts violation.”

The 2022 World Athletics Championships are taking place from July 15-25 from Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. All the action will be brought to you by Canadian Running and Asics Canada. Follow us on Twitter on Instagram for all things Team Canada and up-to-date exclusive news and content.efore the race after testing positive for a banned substance. 

Allyson Felix wins her 19th World Championships medal, the most of any athlete in history

Allyson Felix made it very clear that this was her final year of competition. She’s accomplished basically everything there is to accomplish and now she’s on her farewell tour. After the U.S. won a bronze medal in the mixed-gender 4×400-meter relay tonight at the World Championships, Felix was asked about her favorite moment over her career—a career that’s spanned over two decades, five Olympic Games, and countless other accomplishments. She said, “I’ll go with tonight.” She’s cherishing the end. “To be able to come here in front of a home crowd is something I’ve always wanted.” 

Her daughter was in the stands. Her husband was in the stands. And it’s as though the rest of the people in Hayward Field were her family. It’s like she’s the only person who matters. She’s the homecoming queen, the poster girl, the best dressed person at the party. If you were blindfolded and you had to guess when Felix got the baton by just using your ears, it wouldn’t be very hard. 

“There was a moment when I could hear all the cheers. I felt joy tonight,” she said. “I just looked around. I was just taking it in. It’s the last time.” 

Despite losing, Felix’s teammates were gracious. The media didn’t ask any of them about their personal races, their personal stories, only Felix. The man with the fastest split of anybody in the race, Vernon Norwood, said, “This bronze medal feels like it’s a gold medal since it’s her last.” Teammate Elija Godwin, the second fastest split in the race, said, “It feels like we’re part of history to be with her. I really just want my picture with her.” Norwood and Godwin were the only two men to split under 45 seconds in the field.  

Everybody thought the Americans would win. They were the fastest team in the preliminary round earlier today and they traded out two of their athletes for others with faster PRs. They led or were in touch of the lead the entire race. They got to compete at a World Championships on home soil for the first time ever. But in the end they fumbled. It was as though it happened all at once: With 20 meters remaining, Team USA’s anchor leg Kennedy Simon visibly grimaced, gritted her teeth, and everybody knew what was going to happen. She tied up and it was like she was moving backward. Two teams got around her. The crowd collectively gasped, went silent for a few moments, then sat back down while the team from the Dominican Republic ran a victory lap.

Team USA’s bronze medal is Felix’s 19th medal at a World Championships, the most of any athlete in history. She’s now won a medal at eight separate World Championships, which is a record. (She used to share it with Ezekiel Kemboi of Kenya with seven.) 

The Dominican Republic won the race in 3:09.82, the second fastest time ever. With a very fast anchor leg (48.95) from the Olympic medalist Femke Bol, the Netherlands finished second in 3:09.90, a national record. The U.S. finished third in 3:10.16. 

Felix got the baton in first and was 50 meters off the front and everybody was on their feet cheering for her. Today was the closest Hayward Field has ever been to maximum capacity and the volume of the crowd felt historic. It was her final lap, and she was running strong. Then the daydream ended. Halfway through the lap, the Dominican Republic’s second leg, Marileidy Paulino, had reeled in Felix. She blew around her on the final straight, splitting 48.47, the fastest leg of any woman in the field. Paulino’s split would be the second fastest time in the world this year if it were run in an open event. 

Felix still split 50.15. She said she was proud. Her daughter is too young to register what she witnessed, but Felix said if tonight could teach her something it’d be that “It’s about being a fighter,” she said. “That’s a spirit I hope she carries over, a confidence I hope she has.”

The other woman on Team USA is 14 years younger than Felix and will probably never forget what she was a part of. Simon is only 22 and this was her first major championship race. She’s still in college at the University of Texas, a world apart from where Felix is now. “This whole season was a gradual progression to me getting here,” she said. “For me to be here… I’m satisfied.” 

It appeared like the Americans lost the race in the anchor leg. Earlier in the day Kennedy ran the preliminary round and split 50.64, the second fastest split of any woman in the race. She had roughly eight hours to rest before the gun fired a second time, but appeared tired in the final. 

It’s hard to show up once. It’s harder to show up twice. It’s even harder, still, to show up like Allyson Felix has, time and time again. 

Obiri, Chelimo will confront Hassan in 10,000m gold rush

Hellen Obiri and Margaret Chelimo, who staged a 1-2 finish in the 5,000m final during the previous 2019 Doha World Athletics Championships, to do battle in the final.

Obiri missed out on a 10,000m medal at the 2019 World Championships and the Olympic Games in Tokyo, finishing fifth and fourth respectively, and has decided to focus on the 25-lap only.

Chelimo hopes to double up in the 10,000m and 5,000m that will begin with the heats on Thursday at 2.25am followed by the final on Sunday at 4.25am.

This year, Obiri won the 10,000m at Kenya Defence Forces and the national trials in April and June respectively. She finished second at Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in February in 1:04:22 but won the Istanbul Half Marathon in March in 1:04:48.

The duo from Kenya Defence Forces will be eying to recapture the title Kenya won last through Vivian Cheruiyot at the 2015 Beijing World Athletics Championships.

The Kenyans have a battle at hand against the Olympic and World 10,000m champion Sifan Hassan from the Netherlands and Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey, the world record holder in  both 10,000m and 5,000m.

The Dutchwoman wrestled the 1,500m title from Kenya's Faith Chepng'etich before sealing a double with victory in 10,000m at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.

The 29-year-old would march on to 5,000m and 10,000m gold and 1500m bronze at last year’s Olympic Games.

It's Chepng'etich who halted Hassan's march for the historic hat-trick in Tokyo.

Hassan had not competed this year until a return on July 8 when she won the 5,000m race at Stumptown Twilight Meet, Griswold Stadium, Portland in 15:13.41.

If Hassan wins, she would become only the second woman to successfully defend the title, after Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba, who achieved the feat in Helsinki in 2005 and Osaka in 2007 – and who also triumphed in Moscow in 2013.

Cheruiyot won the title in 2011 and regained it from Dibaba in 2015.

Gidey, the Ethiopian who obliterated Hassan’s two-day-old world record of 29:06.82 with a stunning 29:01.03 in Hengelo in June last year, has the best finishing kick alongside Obiri.

In Doha in 2019 and in Tokyo last year, Gidey failed to halt Hassan’s dream for victory, taking silver and bronze respectively.

I will forget everything and focus on the finish line, says Ferdinand Omanyala after finally landing visa hiatus

African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala says the visa hiatus that has rocked his boat towards the World Athletics Championships in Oregon will not deter his determination and has vowed to give his best once he lands and sets his spikes on the starting blocks in Eugene.

Omanyala received his US visa late Thursday morning, slightly over 24 hours before the heats of the 100m gun off in Eugene. Athletics Kenya has managed to secure a 6pm flight for his departure from Nairobi, arriving in Oregon 4pm Friday, two hours and 40 minutes before race time.

“First of all it is a relief. It has been a tough last few days. The first target now is to get there on time, hoping there are no more issues along the way. I want to thank everyone who has worked hard to see this possible. At some point yes I thought it was never going to happen but I always felt that a breakthrough would come,” Omanyala told Capital Sport.

“I would like to thank the President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Government through the Ministry of Sports and CS Amina Mohamed and PS Joe Okudo for all the effort they put to ensure that I get both the US and UK visas despite everything that was going on,” Omanyala added.

He also says; “She (CS Amina) has been working from last night to have this done and I want to thank her so much. I also want to thank the US embassy for expediting. I am sure they did this out of a clean heart.”

He adds; “I hope to get there on time and once I step on the blocks, I will give everything to be on the finish line. Yes it has been tough but it has not deterred my focus. I will use this as a stepping stone to give me more strength for the race.”

The 26-year old has been booked a business class seat to ensure he gets as much comfort as he needs and gets to Eugene a bit better than if he had been on an economy seat.

Though he believes it is a tough call for him to be at the blocks fresh, he hopes for the best.

“It is a challenge of course, to ensure that I have shaken off the jet lag and all. But I thrive under pressure and I love challenges. I am sure I will get over this,” he added.

Omanyala is the third fastest man in the world this year, having clocked 9.85secs to win the Kip Keino Classic in May.

Visa issues cause headaches for hundreds of athletes and officials at track world championships

100-meter sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala is expected to land in Oregon about three hours before his first heat Friday

Kenya's Ferdinand Omanyala is one of the fastest men in the world at 100 meters, the rare African sprinter who could medal this weekend at the 2022 track and field world championships in Oregon.

But first, he has to make it there – and that's proven to be anything but simple.

Omanyala is one of the hundreds of international athletes and officials who have encountered visa issues ahead of the world championships at Hayward Field, leaving them frustrated, frazzled and, in many cases, racing just to make it to the start line.

The issues appear to stem from poor communication, applications being filed too late and general backlogs at U.S. embassies, where athletes must schedule an appointment and interview in order to obtain a temporary visa.

"This is ridiculous!" retired U.S. sprinting star Michael Johnson wrote on Twitter. "It’s been known US entry visa may be one of the most difficult and (World Athletics) and the organizing committee didn’t get ahead of this?"

World Athletics spokesperson Nicole Jeffery told USA TODAY Sports in an email that, as of Thursday, 374 visa cases involving athletes or officials had been flagged to a joint committee consisting of local organizers, World Athletics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, who have worked to help speed up the process.

About 73% of the cases have been resolved, Jeffery added, leaving a little less than 100 still in various stages of the process.

"We continue to follow up with those outstanding visa issues," World Athletics said in a statement. "International travel in general has become more challenging due to the pandemic and we are extremely grateful for the help and experience of the USOPC in helping to resolve issues that have come up in Omanyala, who has recorded the third-fastest time in the 100 this year, is perhaps the most high-profile athlete who has been impacted. His manager, Marcél Viljoen, told USA TODAY Sports that the 26-year-old has been "frustrated and disappointed" while working to obtain his visa, which he finally did Thursday morning in Kenya.

Viljoen said Omayala is now scheduled to arrive in Eugene, Oregon about three hours before his first heat Friday.

"I want to thank everybody who has worked around the clock to ensure I get my visa," Omanyala told the BBC.

"There's nobody to blame here. It's the system, how it works. You cannot force anything."

Nearly a dozen athletes from South Africa have also encountered visa issues, according to South African media outlet Independent Online, as have athletes from India, Iran and Jamaica, among others.

"Missed out on representing Libya at Worlds because my Federation couldn’t get visas," sprinter Ahmed Amaar wrote on Twitter on Monday. "Representation matters and with no support from (World Athletics) there can be no development for smaller Nations."

Inocencio added that he was surprised to encounter logistical issues like this given the United States' size and reputation. He hopes it might serve as a learning moment before the nation hosts the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.

In the meantime, athletes whose travel plans have been disrupted – but not completely derailed – by visa delays can only try to make the best of a stressful situation. 

"We (are) finally going, although some of us are going to arrive on the day we racing," South African sprinter Gift Leotlela wrote on Instagram. "We will fight and represent our country with Pride and honour."

Conseslus Kipruto leads Kenyan quartet in quest for steeplechase gold

Kenya's dominance in the 3,000 metres steeplechase faces a stern test when the World Championships start on Friday in Oregon, USA.

Defending champion Conseslus Kipruto, Olympic Games bronze medallist Benjamin Kigen, 2017 World Under-18 2000m silver medallist Leonard Bett and Commonwealth Games silver medallist Abraham Kibiwott are carrying the nation's hopes of keeping the title the country has won in every World Championship since 1991 except in 2001 and 2005.

Kenyan-born Qatari Saif Shaheen, who holds the world record of 7:53.63 in the race, bagged gold in 2001 Saint-Denis and 2005 Helsinki World Championships.

Bett and Kibiwot are in the first heat where they will be seeking to make the final scheduled for Monday.

The top three athletes in each semifinal plus the six fastest losers will qualify for the final.

Bett and Kibiwott face an uphill task as they face Olympics champion Soufiane El Bakkali from Morocco in the first heat. Bakkali has a personal best time of 7:58.15 which is also the world-leading time.

Bett told Nation Sport that the plan is to safely navigate through the heats before they can hatch a plan on how to claim the medals in the final.

“We started our preparations early by joining the camp before the trials because the initial plan was to make sure we tackle the stiff competition especially from the two athletes (Girma and Bakkali) who have been on top form this season," said Bett.

“I won’t tell you who will win the gold medal but we have to work as a team to make sure we redeem our name as a country,” added Bett.

The second semifinal will see the Kipruto square it out with Ethiopia’s Lamecha Girma, whom he narrowly beat during the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Djibouti’s Mohamed Ismail, Canada’s Ryan Smeeton, USA’s Hillary Bor are also in the field.

Kigen, Ethiopia’s Hailemariyam Amare, Tunisia’s Mohamed Amin, USA’s Evan Jager, Norway’s Jacob Boutera are in Heat Three.

Kipruto, who has been battling injuries after his triumph in Doha in 2019, is seeking to atone for lost time after missing the Olympic Games last year.

Kipruto finished fifth during the Athletics Kenya Track and Field Championships which acted as the trials for the Africa Senior Championships after clocking 8:32.24, before emerging in the same position during the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi last month.

“Kenyans should not be worried because this is a championship and you can’t compare it with the Diamond League races. It will be a tight contest in the final and I will be doing my best to make sure we bring back our glory as Kenyans,” Kipruto had said in an earlier interview before leaving for Oregon.

In the 2019 worlds, Kipruto won gold in 8:01.35 ahead of Girma who clocked 8:01.36 while Bakkali settled for bronze in 8:03.76.

Joshua Cheptegei is set to defend his world title at Oregon

Cheptegei, 25, currently holds the 5000m and 10000m world records, the Commonwealth double and the 5000m Olympic title, will also hope to wrestle the 5000m title from Ethiopian Edris Muktar. 

Now Cheptegei, who is bidding to defend his world title over the 25-lap distance, will lead Africa’s quest for glory on the west coast of the USA.

Silver medalist over the same distance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics last August, Cheptegei’s title defence will be backed up by Stephen Kissa and world half-marathon champion Jacob Kiplimo on Sunday.

There are others like Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot will face stiff competition from Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen over the 1500m distance.

Other African stars set to bid for glory include South African sprinter Akani Simbine, Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon, Burkina Faso’s world triple jump bronze Hugues Zango among others.

According to World Athletics, 37 of the 43 individual winners from Doha will aim to defend their titles in Eugene.

Besides the champions from Doha, 42 individual gold medal winners at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics are in Eugene too.

TEAM UGANDA TO OREGON WORLDS:

Women: H. Nakaayi (800m),

W. Nanyondo (1500m),

P. Chemutai (3000m Steeplechase),

E. Chebet (5000m),

M. Chelangat (10000m),

S. Chesang (10000m),

I. Chemutai (Marathon)

Men: T. Orogot (200m),

R. Musagala (1500m),

P. Maru (5000m),

O. Chelimo (5000m),

J. Kiplimo (10000m),

S. Kissa (10000m),

J. Cheptegei (5000m & 10000m),

F. Chemonges, F. Musobo & J. Kiprop (Marathon)

That starts with Japanese Toshikazu Yamanishi who will attempt to retain his 20km race walk final on the morning programme of Day 1 action tomorrow.

Five basic types of runs all runners need

If you want to be a better runner, you can’t just go out and run for as long as you can or as fast as you can. Well, you may be able to improve to a certain extent, but if you want to bring your running performance to the next level, you should incorporate these 5 basic type of runs into your training. Yes, as simple as it sounds, this is the secret to becoming faster!

#1 The Recovery Run

Recovery here actually means recovery! Just to give you a rough idea of what the recovery run means – the Kenyans know how to train hard, but also know how to recover well. They start off their recovery runs at a 6min/km pace and end at a 5min/km pace. Bear in mind this is given their 3.30min/km tempo run pace. This probably gives you a gauge on how slow a recovery run should be. Recovery runs may seem painstakingly slow, but that is the point of the run – to recover, not to make yourself more tired.

#2 The Tempo Run

This is often described as comfortably hard. This means running at a sustained effort at what is known as the lactate threshold intensity. In short, lactate threshold is a point where lactate starts to increase exponentially in our muscles. When lactate starts accumulating in our muscles, there will come a point whereby our muscles start to fatigue and can no longer sustain a particular speed. The tempo run serves to tackle this and increase your lactate threshold. To find your tempo pace, add roughly 15 seconds to your recent 10km race pace! Remember this just gives you a gauge. There is no right magic number. Run at this pace for a time of 20 minutes, and voila you’ve got a tempo run in.

#3 Speed Intervals

This is often described as running above your red line. You will come out gasping for air. I guess you could call this uncomfortably hard. You run for a short intense period, then have a short recovery time before going out full force again. You will have to learn how to deal with the pain. This workout trains your speed, fatigue resistance and pain tolerance. An example of this would be doing 400m x 12 sets at every 3 minutes.

#4 The Long Run

The long run has been the staple of every long distance runner’s training plan. It is advocated as the method to train your aerobic capacity, also known as raw endurance. It’s not difficult to grasp this concept, just run a long distance 15 – 20km at a rather comfortable pace. You should be able to hold a conversation at this pace. The long run aims to train your body to draw energy from other sources other than blood sugar which is especially important in the marathon event. It also gives you a confidence boost to complete a long distance race.

#5 Hill Repeats

This is the secret to being a fast runner. This is what will make a difference between a great runner and a regular one. Hill repeats allow you to build power, physical strength and mental strength. It is going to hurt, but that pain tolerance is what’s going to make you a better runner. Pick a short segment of a hill, and tackle it as hard as you can.

Now you know what to do. Grab your running shoes, mix it up a little and hit your personal bests!

Peter Mwaniki Njeru sets new course record at the KATA 10k Time Trial clocking 29:00.9

Peter Mwaniki Njeru used his international experience to produce scintillating performance at the Kenyan Athletics Training Academy (KATA) 10 Kilometres monthly time trial held in Thika Kenya on Wednesday morning (July 13).

Njeru bounced back to victory and chalked new course record of 29:00.81 to surpass his previous mark while his namesake Peter Wanyoike, the winner of the last four editions, also beat his personal record after timing 29:18.88, eclipsing his time of 29:53.19 attained last month.

The victory, coming soon after the winner resumed his training after competing in Europe, aided the champion to focus on the programe for faster times in August.

“I was just testing my body after doing good loading the last two weeks. I know I will do better in my next races,” said Njeru, whose races are centralized in Italy.

The monthly time-trial also ushered in newcomers KepharNamtala from Nyahururu and Evans Kiguru of Murang’a who clocked 30:29.6 and 30:40.4 and finished 3rd and 4th respectively during the event held on a five kilometres paved stretch of road not far from KATA.

In the absence of consistent and regular Zakariah Kirika, rising star Nicholas Kitundu registered new 30:46.3, erasing his previous 31:13.3 to finish in position five as the Academy, located near Mang’u High School, off Thika Superhighway, marked 11th months since it officially opened.

The next time-trial, will be moved to the track to introduce variety, is scheduled for August 17th this year.

KATA 10k Time Trial #11 Results:

Name                       Bib             Age           Time

1. Peter Njeru          80              23             29:00.9

2. Peter Wanyoike  78              26             29:18.9

3. Kephar Namtala  66             23              30:29.6

4. Evans Kiguru        79             27              30:40.4

5. Nicholas Kitundu 500           22              30:46.3

6. Johnson Kaberia   81           25              31:10.4     

7. Raphael Gacheru 72             22              31:26.9

8. Boniface Mungai 77             23               31:46.3

9. Levis Kuria            82             21               32:04.1

10. Fredrick Kiprotich 100       23               33:26.8

11. Erick Mutuku     99             20               33:27.4

12. Alfred Kamande71             24               34:17.8

13. Martin Mambo 98              27                34:18.2

14. Peter Mukundi 85             25                 37:59.8

15. Jackson Cheruiyot 70       29                 38:01.5

16. Eston Mugo         73          29                 D N F

17. Robinson Mwaura 67     29                  DNF

Olympic 800m medalist Nijel Amos suspended for doping

The third fastest 800m runner of all time, Botswana’s Nijel Amos has been provisionally suspended ahead of this week’s World Championships, after the 2012 Olympic silver medallist tested positive for a banned metabolite, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Tuesday.

The drug found in the 28-year-old’s system was GW1516, which modifies how the body metabolizes fat, and which can boost endurance. An AIU press release said that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has also warned that it poses a health risk to athletes.

GW1516 was originally developed to treat obesity and diabetes, but is not approved for human use, since it was discovered to be carcinogenic. It is banned in and out of competition, and not eligible for Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE). A USADA bulletin from 2019 says GW1516 is also sometimes known as cardarine or endurobol and has been found in some supplements, even though it is illegal. In 2017, there were 31 sanctions worldwide related to its use. 

The AIU collected the sample from Amos during an out-of-competition test on June 4. Amos was notified of the result while he was preparing for the World Championships in Eugene, Ore., where he was scheduled to compete in the heats of the 800m on July 20. He finished eighth in the 800m final at Tokyo 2020. At Rio in 2016, he failed to make it out of the heats.

Amos’s silver in the 800m from the London Olympics was Botswana’s first Olympic medal and ranks as the third-fastest 800m time ever (1:41.73) behind Kenya’s David Rudisha (1:40.91) and Wilson Kipketer (1:41.11).

Amos has spent his last six seasons training with Mark Rowland and the Nike Oregon Track Club. Rowland recently left the club to start a new role as a coach with the Athletics Canada West Hub.

The AIU says the length of his suspension will be determined at a later date.

Chinese Su Bingtian will have season's debut at World Athletics Champs

A total of 53 Chinese athletes, including veterans Su Bingtian, Xie Zhenye and Gong Lijiao, will compete for more glory at the upcoming World Athletics Championships set to start on Friday in Eugene, Oregon in the U.S.

The first-ever Asian sprinter to break the 10-second barrier in the 100-meter track and field event, 33-year-old Su is the fastest Asian man with a personal best of 9.83 seconds. He will have his season's debut as the only Chinese to participate in the red hot men's 100m event at the World Championships, where he will face a line of superstar rivals.

China's Xie Zhenye will compete in the men's 200m. Meanwhile, Xie, Su, Wu Zhiqiang, Tang Xingqiang, Chen Guanfeng and Deng Zhijian are down to compete in the men's 4X100m. The Chinese relay team was upgraded to a historic bronze medal at last year's Tokyo Olympics after Team Great Britain were stripped of the silver over a doping violation.

Other highlights for Team China will include Gong Lijiao's attempt to win her third consecutive world championship title in women's shot put and women's race walks attended by defending champion Liu Hong and teammates Qieyang Shenjie, Ma Zhenxia and Wu Quanming.

Olympic champions in women's javelin Liu Shiying and Lyu Huihui are also sure to attract attention.

However, event host the U.S. are almost sure to dominate, having won 170 gold medals since the first championship in 1983 – 110 more than next-best Kenya. 

Team USA's 151-strong roster features nine defending champions and 20 medalists from last year's Tokyo Olympics and, for a 10th and final time, superstar Allyson Felix, aged 36.

Missing the event this year is Olympic and world 400 meters champion Bahamian Steven Gardiner, who will not defend his World Championship title due to UTE tendon inflammation.

In the United States for the first time, the 18th edition of the World Championships has seen a handful of late withdrawals, including Olympic women's marathon champion Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir, who will miss out with a right hip injury.

Olympic gold medalist Lamont Marcell Jacobs returns to the 100m big stage after muscle injuries ruled him out of several Diamond League meets.

Team USA have high hopes of making it three in a row after the disappointment at the Tokyo Olympics, where the Italian team took a shock gold. 

Tokyo silver medalist Fred Kerley has been in fabulous form this season and could well be part of a home podium sweep alongside defending champion Christian Coleman and Trayvon Bromell.

Inspired by his dream of competing in the Boston Marathon, Bob Anderson started Distance Running News In 1966

Bob Anderson (publisher of My Best Runs) started Distance Running News in 1966, while he was still a high school student. Retitled Runner’s World in 1970, the magazine played a pivotal role in establishing running’s credentials as a legitimate sport.

Feature articles on training, diet, race tactics, and hotly contested reviews of running shoes delivered Runner’s World an audience in the millions, before the company was sold in 1984. Nearly 40 years later, Bob is still an exercise evangelist and a serial entrepreneur. Just don’t call him a jogger, he was only interested in racing!

ANDERSON HAS COMPETED IN NEARLY 1000 RACES

1. Why do you love running so much?

I love running simply because it gives me a lot of self-confidence. Plus you can run anyplace, anywhere, anytime — all you need is a good pair of shoes! It’s just you and your body in the fresh air. I also love that feeling when your heart’s pumping, things are clicking and you’re running as fast as you can. It’s an adrenaline rush. I’m 74 years old and I still run about 30 miles a week and walk another 30 miles. My little dog Daisy joins me for about half of this.

2. That is an amazing effort. Back in the early 70s, running wasn’t considered a sport in the way that football or baseball is, was it? How would you describe it?

Well, my dad, when he was in his 40s, wouldn’t have been caught dead in a pair of running shorts outside, it was just way too weird! I grew up in Kansas and ran cross-country and track in high school. But once the season ended, there was nothing, and college running was really only for superstars. People just didn’t run for fun and fitness. There were a few pockets of hardcore runners (like in San Franciso), and the Boston Marathon was around, but only a few hundred people entered races in those early years.

A STACK OF HISTORY

3. A lot of things conspired to create the jogging boom in the late 1970s. How did the marathon become a phenomenon?

I have to say one thing about jogging — I’ve never jogged a mile in my life! I run, and I run races! Anyway, what really helped put running on the map was when Dr. Kenneth Cooper came out with the book Aerobics. A few years earlier, President John F. Kennedy started the 50-mile hike challenge. Those two events really jumpstarted the running scene in America.

In January 1966, I published the first issue of Distance Running News.  Even though I only printed a thousand copies, lots of people wanted to read it. The next thing I knew, people started sending in subscription money. New Balance was one of my first advertisers. I think they paid $10 for a little ad.

4. Bargain! 

It started with two issues a year, then we went from four to six, then monthly. We went from black and white photos to colour. I started with a hundred bucks, and by the time I sold the magazine in 1984, we had 2,500,000 readers! We changed the name to Runner’s World in 1970, and the magazine became the Bible of running.

5. Did you have a grand plan for the business?

Not really. I was still in high school at the time! I was interested in running the Boston Marathon but had no idea how to train or go about it. I was reading every single word I could find about running, which wasn’t much. On the way to a cross-country meet one day I said to my best friend (Dave Zimmerman), "I want to start a magazine about running. We’ll call it Distance Running News!"  He said great!

A YOUNG BOB BESIDE HIS HANDY WORK

6. It sounds like the magazine fostered a great sense of community.

Absolutely. You’re right, it was all about bringing people together, which is exactly what social media does for people today. A kid living in Cheyenne, Wyoming, who absolutely loved running, but was into it by himself, was suddenly able to find out what was happening in the world of running by reading the magazine.

We covered all sorts of topics, including articles on how to break through the pain barrier when you hit the wall at 20 miles, training information, dietary advice, running after 40, and women’s running. When I started Runner’s World, a woman was not allowed to run more than a half-mile.

7. Whoa! I have never heard that before.

I mean, it’s hard to believe that was the case, but a lot of people thought the female body was just not made to run beyond a half-mile. As far as I was concerned, people are people, and it didn’t matter if you were a man or a woman. I didn’t care if you were 10 years old or 75 years old — or even 100 years old! — the fact of the matter is running should be for everyone. I remember Kathy Switzer was thrown out of the Boston Marathon in 1967. It was crazy, but women were not allowed to run 26 miles at that time. That rule didn’t change until 1972. Anyway, those are the sorts of things we were dealing with in those early days, and we covered it all.

8. The athletic brands were also in their infancy during this period. Did you have any inkling how big brands like New Balance would become?

I wish I could say I did. [laughs] At the time, the sneaker companies were really small firms. New Balance was based up in the North East of the USA and other brands were dotted around America. To put things into perspective, back in those days, a best-selling running shoe maybe sold a thousand pairs. That’s how small the business of running was.

In 1968 I asked some experienced runners if 10,000 subscribers was possible. They told me that figure was just unbelievable and that I’d never reach it. Those people I talked to clearly thought I was just a kid with crazy dreams, but I didn’t start Runner’s World to make money — I just wanted to help the sport! In my mind that was a much bigger goal.

9. Well, I’d say you had the last laugh. Do you remember when your first running shoe edition was printed?

Oh yeah, our first shoe issue came out in 1967, and we reported on all the brands. As the years went on we did it annually, and it became the biggest issue of the year by far, with close to four million readers. We hired Peter Kavanaugh at Penn State University — who we paid $25,000 for equipment — and sent him all the shoes to test. We included feedback from readers in the results too. We would end up ranking the shoes starting with the number one running shoe of that year.

10. Sounds like a recipe for drama and intrigue.

Yeah, it was. [laughs] Because we rated a shoe number one, the controversy was never far away. Some brands felt we had too much power and … actually one company thought that we were being ‘influenced’ and decided to pull out of the shoe issue, thinking that their second place ranking should have been higher. Funnily enough, we sold more copies of that October shoe issue than we ever had because the controversy made the national news. We were fully investigated and cleared, of course, because we were doing nothing wrong. We just presented the facts as we saw them.

11. What are your memories of working with Jim Davis, president of New Balance?

First of all, Jim was very personable and he didn’t need to be in the limelight. He seemed like a really hardworking guy who really cared about running shoes and making the very best product that he could. I was very impressed, and you just got the feeling he was gonna make his brand work. He made and sold shoes in different width sizes, and he was willing to roll the dice on that. And here we are today, New Balance is a huge company. It’s a very impressive story. 

(Jim Davis bought a small Boston Shoemaker in 1972 and turned it into a $3.6 billion New Balance company.  Jim is the chairman of New Balance and his wife Anna joined the company in 1977 and is the vice chairman.  Jim and Anna's net worth is estamated to be 4.6 billion dollars.)

12. You sold Runner’s World in 1984, by which time you had 300 employees…

We had 350 employees actually. [laughs] I was going through a divorce at that time and needed to sell the company. It’s funny, I started the magazine because I wanted to run the Boston Marathon, but I literally became a weekend runner only because my day was pretty full from six in the morning until eight at night. However, I was still able to run sub-six-minute miles in races on the weekend.

13. That’s quite ironic, isn’t it?

Yeah, it is. I wish I had followed my own advice. As I’ve gotten older, when I look back, my whole life was Runner’s World before the age of 35. Instead of taking off for an afternoon run, I just worked really hard. Luckily I’m still running 30 to 35 miles every week. I finally ran the Boston Marathon in 2013. It only took me 45 years to be on the starting line.

14. And was it as amazing as you thought it would be?

Oh my gosh, I’ve run close to a thousand races in my life but the Boston Marathon is number one. It was just an incredible experience and I was thrilled my wife and son Michael were with me that day. At the same time, that was also the year of the terrible bombing. Luckily I finished about a half hour before that happened. I ran 3:32:17 that day at age 65.  I was proud of my time but it only gave me like 9th in my age division.  

15. I didn’t connect that tragic year with the Boston race. That should have been a great day for you and a lot of other people.

Yeah, it was great, right up until the point the bomb went off. The experience of finally running through Boston and seeing the crowds was just beyond words. That doesn’t overshadow the victims and all the other people whose lives were destroyed that day, but the Boston Marathon is still an incredible race. What a tragic contrast to the joy that running brings.  

16. One last question.  You just can't stay away from being part of the running world!

I just love running and it will be part of my life until the end.  I am the editor/publisher of our website My Best Runs.  As of 2022 we have nearly one million unique readers annually.  In 2010 I started a new sport called Double Racing and we established the Double Road Race Federation. The double is a two stage race.  Our most popular disance is the Double 15k.  We run 10K and then a 5k one hour and 45 minutes after the start of the 10k.  Times are added together for scoring.  In 2012 I ran 50 races over the course of a year covering 350.8 miles averaging 6:59/mile.  A movie A Long Run the movie covers the event.  

I also started  the Kenyan Athletics Training Academy (KATA) in Thika Kenya (one hour outside of Nairobi) and officially opened it Sept 4, 2021.  We currently have 13 Kenyan runners living and training there.  We do a monthly 10K time Trial and we have had four of our runners already break 30 minutes.  We have a lot of plans and have just started.  I am working with an amazing team there who takes care of the day to day.  Many have already told us we have one of the nicest if not the nicest "camp" in all of Kenya.

I love running and I love turning on as many people as I can to this amazing sport...Running and Racing!

World Athletics Championships Oregon22 preview: marathon

Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor, whose career was traumatized in June 2020 when he was hit by a motorbike during a training run and required surgery on a broken tibia, is due to contest his first major championship marathon in Eugene on July 17.

The 29-year-old from Nyen was named on the Kenyan team for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 along with 33-year-old Lawrence Cherono – who missed a medal by one place in the marathon at last year’s Olympics – and 35-year-old Barnabas Kiptum.

Kamworor, confident and outgoing, was flying high when he had his accident.

Although he had performed to high levels on the track, where he earned 10,000m silver at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, it was on grass and roads that he had excelled, winning the world cross-country senior titles in 2015 and 2017, and world half marathon titles in 2014, 2016 and 2018.

In his first competitive marathon in 2012 he finished third in Berlin in 2:06:12, and he was a consistent presence on the podium at World Majors Marathons thereafter, particularly in New York, where he finished second in 2015, first in 2017, third in 2018 and first again in 2019.

Kamworor ran his first race since the accident in January 2021, winning the Kenyan Police Cross Country Championships before going on to secure a place on Kenya’s Olympic 10,000m team after winning the national trials, only to have to pull out with an ankle injury.

But at the Valencia Marathon last December he was able to perform to the peak of his ability once more as he set a personal best of 2:05:23 in finishing fourth.

At the previous year’s running in Valencia, Cherono was second in a personal best of 2:03:04, putting him eighth on the world all-time list, having made his World Marathon Majors breakthrough in 2019 when he won in Boston in 2:07:57 and then Chicago in 2:05:45.

Like Kamworor, Kiptum also set a personal best last year as he clocked 2:04:17 in placing third at the Milan Marathon and he has a solid top-three record in virtually every race he has contested.

Such is the depth of Kenyan talent that they can name 2017 world champion Geoffrey Kirui as a reserve.

Meanwhile Kenya’s perennial rivals Ethiopia will be looking to their current world champion Lelisa Desisa, who found the way to win in the steamy heat of Doha three years ago, to make the most of his wild card entry to this year’s competition.

Desisa had early track success, winning the African U20 10,000m title in 2009, and he has since become a highly consistent performer at the highest level, achieving podium finishes four times in New York, including victory in 2018, and four times in Boston, where he won in 2013 and 2015.

He also has championship pedigree, having earned world silver in 2013 six years before his Doha gold, and has a personal best from 2013 of 2:04:45.

The formidable talent Ethiopia can call upon was made clear when it was confirmed that Desisa will have as teammates Tamirat Tola, Mosinet Geremew and Seifa Tura.

Tola earned Olympic 10,000m bronze in 2016 and world marathon silver in 2017. He set his personal best of 2:03:38 last year.

Geremew took silver behind Desisa at the 2019 World Championships, having finished second at that year’s London Marathon in 2:02:55, the third-fastest time in history.

Tura set his personal best of 2:04:29 last year in Milan before going on to win the Chicago Marathon in 2:06:12.

Uganda, the rising nation in distance running, earned this title in 2013 thanks to their 2012 Olympic champion Stephen Kiprotich. But the 33-year-old hasn’t been selected for Oregon, nor have Stephen Kissa, who ran a national record of 2:04:48 in Hamburg earlier this year, and Victor Kiplangat who was third in the second-fastest time ever by a Ugandan, 2:05:09.

Instead, Filex Chemonges, Fred Musobo and Jackson Kiprop will run the World Championships marathon, according to the Uganda Athletics Federation. So Kiprop, who helped Kiprotich to win the 2013 world title, is back at the World Championships for the first time since 2015.

Kissa, meanwhile, is due to be in Oregon in the 10,000m, where he will run with fellow Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei, the world 5000m and 10,000m record-holder, while Kiplangat is reported to be running the Commonwealth Games marathon.

Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands and Belgium’s Bashir Abdi earned surprise silver and bronze medals respectively at the Olympics last year, but went on to confirm that their performance in Sapporo was anything but a fluke. Abdi set a European record of 2:03:36 to win the Rotterdam Marathon just two months later, while Nageeye was victorious at the Rotterdam Marathon earlier this year in a Dutch record of 2:04:56, finishing ahead of Abdi.

Both men will line up for the marathon in Oregon, only this time it will be less of a surprise if they reach the podium.

The United States will be looking to the highly consistent figure of Galen Rupp. After taking Olympic 10,000m silver in 2012, Rupp moved to the roads and earned Olympic bronze in 2016.

In 2017 he became the first US man to win the Chicago Marathon since 2002 and finished second at the Boston Marathon. He qualified for Oregon by finishing eighth at last year’s Olympics.

The championships will be in Rupp’s home state, in the same city where he made his first Olympic team in 2008 while he was a student at the University of Oregon.

The other US selections are Elkanah Kibet and Colin Mickow. Kibet, who is with the US military, finished 16th at the 2017 World Championships and set a personal best of 2:11:15 in finishing fourth at last year’s New York marathon.

Mickow is a 32-year-old full-time financial analyst for an organic and natural foods distributor who took up road running six years after finishing his college track career. He qualified for his first international vest after being the top US man home at last year’s Chicago Marathon, where he was sixth in 2:13:31.

Japan’s trio of male runners will be headed by Kengo Suzuki, who set a national record of 2:04:56 in February 2021 at the Lake Biwa marathon in Otsu. Daniel Do Nascimento of Brazil has run a 2:04:51 personal best this year and is another one to watch.

The three-loop World Athletics Championships marathon course only varies by about seven meters between its high and low points and the weather is likely to be considerably cooler than it was in Sapporo or Doha, where the men's marathon had to be held at midnight and the start time temperature was 29C/84F with 51% humidity.

Women's marathon

Ruth Chepngetich will defend her marathon title at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 on July 18 by virtue of a wild card.

Chepngetich claimed the first gold medal of the 2019 World Championships, clocking 2:32:43 in the steamy heat to gain her first major gold.

She went on to finish third at the 2020 London Marathon before a roller coaster 2021, when she set a world record of 1:04:02 at the Istanbul Half Marathon, failed to finish the Tokyo 2020 Marathon in Sapporo but then won the Chicago Marathon.

At this year’s Nagoya Women's Marathon she won in 2:17:18, just 10 seconds off her personal best and the second-fastest ever women-only marathon.

She will be joined on the Kenyan team in Oregon by Judith Jeptum and Angela Tanui. Jeptum set a French all-comers’ record of 2:19:48 to win the Paris Marathon this year, while Tanui won the 2021 Amsterdam Marathon in 2:17:57.

Ethiopia will be represented by Gotytom Gebreslase, who won the 2021 Berlin Marathon on her debut and finished third in this year’s Tokyo Marathon in 2:18:18, Ababel Yeshaneh, second at the 2019 Chicago Marathon in a personal best of 2:20:51, and Ashete Bekere, third in last year’s London Marathon in 2:18:18, who has run 2:17:58 this year.

USA’s Keira D’Amato, who broke the North American record when winning January’s Houston Marathon in 2:19:12 – taking 24 seconds off the mark set by Deena Kastor in 2006 – has answered a late call to join the host nation’s team following the withdrawal of Olympic bronze medalist Molly Seidel.

Seidel has been suffering from a hip injury that forced her to drop out of the Boston Marathon in April and withdrew from the team after being unable to resolve her issue, giving the 37-year-old D’Amato, who only began serious marathon running in 2017, three weeks to prepare, but she is reported to be in “great shape”.

Her teammates will be Emma Bates, runner-up at last year’s Chicago Marathon, and Sara Hall, who finished second at the 2020 London Marathon and third at last year’s Chicago Marathon.

Japan has named Mizuki Matsuda, who has a personal best of 2:20:52, Mao Ichiyama, who has run 2:21:02, and Hitomi Niiya, who has a best of 2:21:17.

Britain will be represented by Rose Harvey, Olympian Jess Piasecki and Charlotte Purdue, who ran a personal best of 2:23:26 in finishing 10th at last year’s London Marathon.

Other names to watch out for are Bahrain’s Eunice Chumba, who ran 2:20:02 in Seoul in April this year, and Israel’s European 10,000m champion Lonah Salpeter, who won the 2020 Tokyo Marathon in 2:17:45 and was going well in the lead group at last year’s Olympic marathon before dropping down to 66th place in the closing stages.

After also dropping out of the 2019 World Championships marathon, Salpeter will be seeking to make the global impact her talent warrants.

Meanwhile Eritrea’s Nazret Weldu, who has run a personal best of 2:21:56 this year, is another one to watch.

Jemal Yimer and Rosemary Wanjiru take wins at Utica Boilermaker

Jemal Yimer Mekonnen of Ethiopia won the 45th running of the Boilermaker 15K Road Race presented by Excellus BlueCross Blue Shield, smashing a 12-year-old course record by 8 seconds in the race's return to its traditional first Sunday in July. Rosemary Wanjiru of Kenya took home the women's crown and a $10,000 Super Bonus as part of the Professional Road Racing (PRRO) 25th Championship.

Mekonnen won the 9.3 mile race with a time of 42:38, overtaking Edwin Kimutai of Kenya in the final mile and taking the win by 2 seconds. Mekonnen took home $7000 for winning the Boilermaker and a $2500 bonus for winning the PRRO Championship. He was not eligible for the PRRO Super Bonus, which requires a win in a previous series race.

Mekonnen bested the Men's Open record of 42:46 set by Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia in 2010.

Wanjiru, who previously won the Bloomsday Run in 2019, bested fellow-Kenyan Veronica Nyaru Wanj by nearly 20 seconds, finishing the race in 48:54. The women's course record is held by Edna Kiplagat of Kenya, who won the 2010 race with a time of 47:57.

Wanjiru leaves the race as the PRRO Series Champion, winning $7000 from the Boilermaker in addition to the super bonus prize money from PRRO.

Sam Chelanga of Columbia, SC, the top American male, finished third overall with a time of 43:09, while the top American woman was Carrie Verdon of Boulder, CO. Verdon was the fifth overall female, finishing in 49:37.

As part of the PRRO Championship, runners who were eligible for the PRRO Super Bonus who finish in positions 2-10 in the men's and women's open divisions receive a $1500 bonus. On the men's side, Kimutai earned the $1500 PRRO bonus for his second-place finish in the men's open division, in addition to $4000 from the Boilermaker. On the women's side, Birukayit Degafa earned the $1500 PRRO bonus, in addition to $1500 for her fourth-place Boilermaker finish, while Susanna Sullivan takes home the $1500 PRRO bonus to go along with the $1000 she won for finishing sixth.

Last year's men's open winner, Syracuse native Stephen Rathbun, who now lives in Springfield, NJ, finished 23rd with a time of 47:15. Interestingly, Rathbun's finishing time was 17 seconds faster than his winning time from the October 2021 race. New Hartford native Savannah Boucher of San Antonio, TX, who won the women's open race in 2021 with a time of 56:24 was 14th in the women's open division with a time of 54:40.

Daniel S. Romanchuk of Champaign, IL, the world's top ranked wheelchair athlete, won the Boilermaker Men's 15K Wheelchair Race presented by Sitrin and NBT Bank with a time of 31:33, besting his own course record, set in 2018, by one second. Local favorite Hermin Garic of Utica finished second in the men's wheelchair division with a time of 35:25.

Jenna Fesemyer of Champaign, IL, won the women's race with a time of 43:01. Emily Sweeney of Montrose, NY successfully completed the Sitrin Wheelchair Challenge, finishing in 1:14:15, earning a custom-made racing wheelchair.

The race returned to its traditional second Sunday in July for the first time since 2019. A total of 5848 runners finished the 15K presented by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, while 2848 finished the 5K presented by Utica National.

Michael Hennelly of Suffern, NY won the men's 5K with a time of 16:04, while Tricia Longo of Waterford, NY won the women's race in 17:49.

Peres Jepchirchir, world’s top marathoner, withdraws from world championships

Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir, who in the last year won the Olympics, New York City and Boston marathons, withdrew from next Monday’s world championships marathon due to a right hip injury, her agent confirmed.

Jepchirchir, a 28-year-old mom, began feeling discomfort last week, according to the Daily Nation.

Last year, Jepchirchir became the first person to win the Olympic and New York City Marathons in a career, doing so in a span of three months. She then added a title in Boston on April 18, cementing her status as the world’s top marathoner.

In Jepchirchir’s absence, the marathon field at worlds in Eugene, Oregon, is led by defending champion Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya and Ethiopians Ababel Yeshaneh (second to Jepchirchir in Boston) and Gotytom Gebreslase (Berlin Marathon champion), plus American record holder Keira D’Amato.

D’Amato replaces Olympic bronze medalist Molly Seidel, who withdrew two weeks ago, citing a hip injury, an ongoing process seeking a therapeutic use exemption for ADHD medication and a focus on her mental health.

The Dibaba family of Ethiopia dominated the women’s long-distance running for decades

The Dibaba Sisters, from Ethopia, is the fastest family on earth.

Ethiopian distance runner Tirunesh Dibaba made history at the 2008 Beijing Olympics when she became the first woman to win gold in both the 5,000-metre and 10,000-metre races. She defended her gold medal title in the 10,000 metres at the 2012 London Olympics, becoming the first woman to win the event at two consecutive Olympics.

She was inspired by a family of runners. In fact, she and her sisters have been amazing in the field of distance running. The Dibaba sisters — Tirunesh, Genzebe, Anna, and Melat — are the only siblings in recorded history to hold concurrent world records, and they are a fiercely competitive family from a humble background.

Their parents, Gutu Tola and Dibaba Kaneni, were not athletes themselves but their children have always acknowledged the support that their parents have given them to thrive in athletics.

Her baby-like face combined with her track performance gave her the perfectly fitting nickname ‘The Baby Faced Destroyer’.

Fourth born in a family of six, Tirunesh started running with a clear focus on becoming a professional athlete at the tender age of 14.

Her sister, Ejegayehu Dibaba was already a professional athlete, and her cousin, Derartu Tulu, also helped inspire to take up athletics.

Moving to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa in 2000, the year her cousin Ejegayu had won her second Olympic gold during the Sydney Olympics in the 10,000-meter race, Tirunesh moved in to live with Ejegayu launching her athletic career.

Just over two years later, in 2003, Tirunesh would win her first international medal by scooping gold in the 5000 metres during the IAAF World Track & Field Championships.

A year later, Tirunesh competed in the Olympics winning the bronze medal finishing behind teammate Meseret Defar and Kenya’s Isabela Ochichi. 

From there Tirunesh went on to establish herself as one of the greatest ever long-distance woman runners of all time becoming the youngest female World Champion in the history of athletics. She has gone on to win three Olympic gold medals.

In her highly decorated career, Tirunesh boasts of three Olympic gold medals and three bronze along with five World Championship gold and one silver. Additionally, she has four World Cross Country Championships 4 gold medals, and 2 silver, and has won two African Championships gold and one silver medal.

In total, ‘The Baby Faced Destroyer’ has 14 gold medals, four silver,  and three bronze medals from all major global athletics events.

  The biggest reason behind her success has been the blistering speed that she used in the final laps leaving the competition in her wake. 

Now 37 years old, Tirunesh has informally retired as one of the greatest track and field athletes of all time. She has won everything and set records that will take a while before they are broken. 

Ejegayehu Dibaba

Ejegayehu is the eldest of the Tirunesh’s and just like her younger sister she has also carried the Dibaba’s flag high and to the top.

Winner of the 10,000m silver medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics, Ejegayehu finished ahead of her cousin Derartu Tulu who took the bronze.

Other medals from major internationals include two World Championships bronze in Helsinki 2005 in the 5000m and 10,000m.

She also went on to surprise the world by winning her debut marathon in Chicago in 2011.

Genzebe Dibaba

Genzebe is the youngest of the family and has also tasted the sweetness of winning an Olympic medal. Her moment of glory in the Olympics came in the 2016 Rio Olympics winning silver in the 1500m race.

In total Genzebe won a total of 11 gold medals, five silver medals, and two bronze medals in her athletic career.

Derartu Tulu

Cousin of the three sisters, Derartu Tulu's exploits were an inspiration to the Dibabas setting the pace for her cousins by concurring the world.

Tulu became the first Black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal winning the 10,000m race at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Eight years later she would win her second Olympic gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

She would have an incredible achievement winning a medal in three different Olympics winning a bronze at the 2004 Athens Olympics in the 10,000m.

Other major titles in her illustrious career include 10,000m gold and silver medal at World Athletics Championships in Gothenburg 1995 and Edmonton 2001.

Sileshi Sihine

Sileshi Sihime is a two-time Olympic silver medalist with over a dozen major athletics medals under his belt. Married to Tirunesh Dibaba, he is a three-time Olympic gold medalist.

Conclusion 

In terms of ‘Sports Dynasties’, the Dibabas are the 'African Sports Dynasty’. Talent, hard work, and dedication are clearly what enabled the Dibabas to conquer the world of women's long-distance races for decades.

Eliud Kipchoge picks his next marathon he will be racing the Berlin Marathon for a fifth time on Sept. 25

Eliud Kipchoge will race the Berlin Marathon for a fifth time on Sept. 25, returning to the German capital event for the first time since he broke the world record there in 2018.

“Berlin is the fastest course, it’s where a human being can showcase its potential to push the limits,” he said in a press release.

Kipchoge has the greatest marathon record of any man, winning 14 of his 16 starts and becoming the first and so far only person to run 26.2 miles in under two hours (doing so in a non-record-eligible event).

Kipchoge, 37, chose Berlin over London, his other usual marathon, and the other fall major marathons, Chicago (which he raced once in 2014) and New York City (which he has never raced).

London, usually in April, will be held in the fall for a third consecutive year due to the pandemic before returning to its spring date in 2023.

Kipchoge called it a “really hard” decision to go with Berlin over the others, speaking in a virtual press conference from training in Kaptagat in his native Kenya.

Kipchoge has said that he hopes to run all of the World Marathon Majors, which would require making his debuts in Boston, which is contested every April, and New York City, which is in November.

So far, Kipchoge has primarily run London every April and Berlin every September, never doing more than two marathons in a year.

He said Friday that Boston and New York City remain targets, and when asked specifically about Boston, said it was on his bucket list.

Kipchoge is expected to race the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he could become the first marathoner to win three gold medals (or three medals of any color).

He has never raced a fall marathon in an Olympic year, so if he doesn’t race New York City in 2023, he may not do so until, at the earliest, 2025, when he will be three days she of turning 41 years old.

Kipchoge said Friday he may continue racing after the 2024 Olympics and into his 40s. He plans to focus on major city marathons rather than specialty races, such as his 2017 and 2019 attempts to break two hours for a marathon in non-record-eligible events.

He ran 2:00:25 on a Formula One track in Italy in 2017 and 1:59:40 in Vienna in 2019.

In Berlin, he has three victories and a runner-up. In 2018, he broke countryman Dennis Kimetto‘s world record, lowering it from 2:02:57 to 2:01.39. The next year, Ethiopian legend Kenenisa Bekele won Berlin in 2:01:41 with Kipchoge not in the field.

Kipchoge and Bekele, 40, have not gone head-to-head since then. Bekele, who hasn’t broken 2:06 since Berlin 2019, signed up for London on Oct. 2.

The other headliner in Berlin is defending champion Guye Adola of Ethiopia.

In 2017 in Berlin, an unknown Adola came out of nowhere to finish 14 seconds behind Kipchoge in the then-fastest-ever marathon debut on a record-eligible course, sticking with Kipchoge until the last mile. Adola didn’t know he was running until four days before the race and wasn’t meant to start with the elite group.

Adola said he hopes to break 2:03 this year.

Joyciline Jepkosgei, Brigid Kosgei ready to clash in London Marathon

Defending champion Joyciline Jepkosgei will confront two times champion and world record holder Brigid Kosgei at this year's London Marathon on October 22 in the British capital.

Jepkosgei, who claimed her maiden victory in the British capital in a personal best and eighth fastest time of two hours, 17 minutes and 43 seconds last year, and Kosgei, the 2019 and 2020 winner, are part of the elite field heading for the race.

Jepkosgei became the 10th Kenyan woman to win the London Marathon on her third appearance in 2019.

In the same year, she won the New York Marathon in 2:22:38 and finished second at the Valencia Marathon (2:18:40).

Kosgei, who set the world record of 2:14:04 at the 2019 Chicago Marathon, finished a surprise fourth last year, but bounced back to win this year’s Tokyo Marathon in a world-lead time of 2:16:02.

Jepkosgei, 28, joined the long list of Kenyan athletes who have won the London Marathon; Joyce Chepchumba (2), Tegla Loroupe (1), Margaret Okayo (1), Keitany (3), Prisca Jeptoo (1), Edna Kiplagat (1), Jemima Sumgong (1), Vivian Cheruiyot (1) and Kosgei (2).

“It was a great achievement for me,” said Jepkosgei on the London marathon website.

“It was not an easy race.There were a lot of strong competitors and I stayed with them until there were only a few kilometres left."

“Then I was on my own. It was hard, but the cheerers around me kept me motivated and got me to the end. I was so happy to get to the finish line.”

Jepkosgei’s delight at winning was hard to miss and stayed with her throughout the night:

“I didn’t sleep at all, I was so happy,” she said.

“This achievement will stay with me forever. It was a great achievement and will last a lifetime.”

The other Kenyan in the race is Mary Ngugi, 33, who for the second consecutive time, came third during the Boston Marathon on April 18, but this time around in a personal best of 2:21:32.

The Kenyans will take on the fastest-ever female marathon debutant Yalemzerf Yehualaw, who leads a horde of Ethiopian runners to the London streets.

The 22-year-old Yehualaw is the current 10K world record holder (29:14) and ran 2:17:23 to win the Hamburg Marathon in April, the fastest marathon debut ever.

Ethiopian duo Degitu Azimeraw and Ashete Bekere, who finished second and third last year, also return.

Bekere finished second behind Kosgei at this year’s Tokyo Marathon in a personal best of 2:17:58.

ELITE FIELD

Brigid Kosgei (Ken) 2:14:04 (WR)

Yalemzerf Yehualaw (Eth)2:17:23

Joyciline Jepksogei (Ken)2:17:43

Degitu AZIMERAW (Eth)2:17:58

Ashete BEKERE (Eth) 2:17:58

Joan Chelimo MELLY ROU 2:18:04

Sutume Asefa KEBEDE (Eth) 2:18:12

Alemu MEGERTU (Eth) 2:18:51

Hiwot GEBREKIDAN (Eth) 2:19:10

Ababel YESHANEH (Eth) 2:20:51

Mary NGUGI (Ken) 2:21:32.

British half-marathon record-holder Eilish McColgan to make marathon debut in London

Eilish McColgan will make her much anticipated marathon debut in London on October 2 as she takes on a world-class field around the streets of the British capital.

The 31-year-old Scot broke Paula Radcliffe’s British half-marathon record of 66:47 on February 19, after clocking 66:26 at Ras Al Khaimah and now feels like it’s the right time to take on the marathon.

Since McColgan started competing on the roads she has broken the British 5km record, European 10km record and set a British best over 10 miles.

Given her natural progression through the longer distances on both track and field, it was always a question of not if but when McColgan took on 26.2 miles.

“It’s really just coming from a confidence side of things,” McColgan says. “I think I’ve known for like a very long time that this is where my career would go. I think my mum and my dad have known even longer than I have. From being a young kid they always said the marathon was the event I’d end up going to.

“The way I’ve progressed over the years now through the distances, taking on both the 5km and 10km, I remember thinking, ‘I’ll never ever run a half-marathon’. And yet now, I’m excited. I couldn’t wait to get out and race it against some of those the top athletes in the world.

“It is my choice. I feel I’m going to do it when I’m ready to do it and I think that’s that time is coming now. I think there’s no better place to do that than the London Marathon.

McColgan takes to the streets of the British capital 26 years after her mum, Liz McColgan won the race. Like Eilish, Liz started out on the track and gradually progressed to the marathon, winning on her debut in New York in 1991 before her triumph in London five years later.

“It’s amazing and it’s a bit surreal,” McColgan adds. “The more iconic images I’ve got in my head as a youngster were my mum running the London Marathon with Buckingham Palace in the background. It’s just incredible that so many years later I’m following in her footsteps and I think she’s excited to see that finally come into action.

“It’s always the iconic event. It was the one where I always watched my mum run as a kid when I sat in the hospitality area and ate all the free food! There’s not a London Marathon that my mum and dad have ever missed. It’s just got a buzz and everyone speaks about it, even those who don’t know much about athletics.”

Although this is McColgan’s debut marathon she does have experience of the London circuit though, having been the pacemaker for Charlotte Purdue last year.

Purdue is also part of the line-up this year which includes world marathon record-holder Brigid Kosgei, defending champion and fellow Kenyan Joyciline Jepkosgei and the fastest-ever female marathon debutante Yalemzerf Yehualaw of Ethiopia.

“It just feels surreal to me [to hear that],” McColgan adds. “I remember watching Paula [Radcliffe] on the side of the road in Athens and being as devastated as she was. I watched her run the world record in 2003 and it was strange watching it because, given her pace, it was like watching a robot. You thought there was no way somebody could keep it up for 26.2 miles.

“Out of all the records she set this is by far the one the hardest she set. It’s difficult for me to believe that’s it’s almost possible but if you asked me two years ago would I run 30 minutes for 10km, I’d have told you no chance but now I believe I can break that record.”

McColgan also has a busy summer on the track as she races over both 5000m and 10,000m at the World Championships in Oregon before representing Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Ahead of Paris 2024, she wants to focus on the marathon and compete in more road races in the near future.

Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo puts speed shift for Oregon Worlds

Jacob Kiplimo has his priorities set. His main goal is a medal over the 10000m at the World Athletics Championships which come in Oregon, US, in under a fortnight.The 21-year-old could have done the long-distance double on the West Coast but just one will do.Kiplimo feels he is in a good place after posting seven minutes and 29.55 seconds for second place over the 3000m at the Stockholm Diamond League (DL) in Sweden on Thursday night.

“Yes, I’m happy about it,” the reigning world half-marathon champion and record holder told this publication before returning home at the weekend. “I came to Stockholm because I needed to test my body. I had to withdraw from the Pre Classic (Eugene DL) and it was important to run one race before the world championships.”

Despite doing one race on track all year, Kiplimo is confident ahead of the 25-lap final set for July 17 at the Hayward Field in Eugene.“I’m 99 percent satisfied, the one percent is because I missed the victory in the last 15 meters but it’s part of the job,” Kiplimo posted on Instagram.

Leading at the bell, Kiplimo could have won his first track race in 11 months but it was Athlete Refugee Team’s Domnic Lobalu who beat him to the tape with about 30 metres left.Lobalu, who hails from South Sudan, posted 7:29.48 not only for the world lead time over the distance but also slashed his personal best by 20 seconds.

Prior, middle-distance runner Ronald Musagala continued to improve with another season best of 3:36.90 in third place over the 1500m.“According the way I was struggling with my body in Uganda, it’s a good progress,” noted Musagala, currently based at the Global Sports Communication camp in Nijmegen, Netherlands.

Meanwhile, world 800m champion Halimah Nakaayi will need maximum concentration to perfect her craft before flying to Oregon. In the Swedish capital, she lost some seconds and energy trying to get space on the outside before finishing fourth in 1:58.85.The two-lap race was won by in-form Kenyan Mary Moraa in 1:57.68, beating Olympic silver medallist Briton Keely Hodgkinson (1:58.18) and Australian Catriona Bisset in third with 1:58.54.

Rhonex Kipruto wins men’s elite division at AJC Peachtree Road Race

Against what was touted as the fastest field in the race’s 53-year history, Kipruto pulled away near the seven-kilometer point of the 10K race and finished in an unofficial 27 minutes, 25 seconds.

It is Kipruto’s second title at Peachtree, having won previously in 2019. Kipruto won despite having arrived Sunday evening on a flight from Doha, Qatar. Fellow Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie finished in second place.

All five reigning world champions named on Kenya's team for Oregon

All five of Kenya’s champions from Doha in 2019 will defend their titles at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 on 15-24 July.

Beatrice Chepkoech, Ruth Chepngetich, Timothy Cheruiyot, Conseslus Kipruto and Hellen Obiri have been named on the Kenyan team for the event at Hayward Field, where they will be joined by athletes including Olympic champions Peres Jepchirchir, Faith Kipyegon and Emmanuel Korir.

Obiri won her second consecutive world 5000m title in Doha and has been selected for that event as well as the 10,000m, joined by Margaret Chelimo in both.

Chepkoech and Kipruto defend their 3000m steeplechase titles, while Cheruiyot will look to return to the top in the 1500m after securing silver behind Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen in Tokyo.

Chepngetich will be joined by Angela Tanui and Judith Jeptum in the women’s marathon, as well as Olympic champion Jepchirchir. After Tokyo, two-time world half marathon champion Jepchirchir went on to win the New York and Boston marathons and has been added to the team for Oregon.

Kenya finished second in the medal table behind USA in Doha three years ago with five gold, two silver and four bronze medals.

Kenyan team for Oregon

Women400m: Mary Moraa800m: Naomi Korir, Jarinter Mawia, Mary Moraa1500m: Winnie Chebet, Edinah Jebitok, Faith Kipyegon, Judy Kiyeng5000m: Beatrice Chebet, Margaret Chelimo, Gloria Kite, Hellen Obiri10,000m: Margaret Chelimo, Sheila Chepkurui, Hellen Obiri3000m steeplechase: Beatrice Chepkoech, Jackline Chepkoech, Celliphine Chespol, Purity Kirui20km race walk: Emily NgiiMarathon: Ruth Chepngetich, Peres Jepchirchir, Judith Jeptum, Angela Tanui

Men100m: Ferdinand Omanyala400m: Emmanuel Korir800m: Wycliffe Kinyamal, Emmanuel Korir, Cornelius Tuwei, Emmanuel Wanyonyi1500m: Timothy Cheruiyot, Abel Kipsang, Charles Simotwo, Kumari Taki5000m: Nicholas Kimeli, Jacob Krop, Daniel Simiu10,000m: Rodgers Kwemoi, Daniel Mateiko, Stanley Waithaka3000m steeplechase: Leonard Bett, Abraham Kibiwott, Benjamin Kigen, Conseslus Kipruto400m hurdles: Moitalel Mpoke20km race walk: Samuel GathimbaMarathon: Lawrence Cherono, Geoffrey Kamworor, Barnaba Kiptum

Rhonex Kipruto and Kibiwott Kandie Added to Fastest Field in Peachtree History

Rhonex Kipruto is returning to Atlanta for two reasons: Vindication and to protect his event record at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race. The 10K world record-holder was announced Thursday by Atlanta Track Club, organizers of the Peachtree, as a late addition to the elite field at Monday’s 53rd Running of the race.

The 2019 Peachtree champion isn’t the only Kenyan superstar joining the field: Also making the trip to Running City USA will be Kibiwott Kandie, whose personal best of 26:50 gives him the second-fastest 10K in the world this year and fifth fastest all time. Kandie, the 2020 World Athletics Half Marathon champion and 2022 Kenyan 10,000m champion, will be making his Peachtree debut.

Kipruto’s winning time of 27:01 here in 2019 is not only the Peachtree record but also the fastest 10K ever run in the United States. To hold on to his event record – and perhaps be the first man to ever break 27 minutes on American soil – he’ll have to battle five other men with road personal bests under 27:15. In addition to Kandie who defeated Kipruto when they raced on the track earlier this month, that speedy group includes Bravin Kiptoo, who was the runner-up to Kipruto, his brother, in 2019.

Kipruto was not planning to race the Peachtree this year. As one of the top-ranked 10,000- meter runners in the world, he was expected to make the Kenyan team for the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, later in July. However, he finished a disappointing sixth in the Kenyan Championships and now hopes to redeem himself by making history on the Fourth of July.

“Chasing after the course record, weather permitting, is on my mind, especially as I failed to make Team Kenya this past weekend,” said Kipruto. “What comes after the defeat is always more important than the defeat itself.”

Kirpruto’s 2019 course record came with a $50,000 bonus for the 50th Running of the Peachtree. This year, the bonus is $53,000 to be split among any men or women in the footrace or Shepherd Center Wheelchair Division who set a record. With two other division record-holders returning – Brigid Kosgei in the women’s footrace and Daniel Romanchuk in the men’s wheelchair division – anyone who sets a record this year may find themselves sharing the purse. There will be plenty of competition. For Kosgei – whose 30:22 course record is also the fastest time ever run in the U.S. – the path to victory has become slightly easier, as Sheila Chepkirui withdrew after finishing second in the 10,000 meters at the Kenyan Championships. However, Irene Cheptai, the 2017 World Cross Country champion who finished 6th in the 10,000m in Tokyo last summer, has been added to the field.

There have been several other notable withdrawals from the elite field. Eight-time Peachtree winner Tatyana McFadden, 2017 Peachtree winner Leonard Korir and 2022 Publix Atlanta Half Marathon winner Nicholas Kosimbei are no longer racing on Monday.

Athletics Kenya issues strict rules for athletes at pre-worlds Champ

Athletics Kenya (AK) has warned that no athlete will leave the World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games training camp at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani without permission.

AK Chief Administrative Officer Susan Kamau said that AK, the team management and the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) will decide whether to allow some athletes to compete in the Diamond League.

The Stockholm Diamond League is on Thursday in Sweden with events like the 800m, men’s 3,000m and women’s 3,000m steeplechase on the program.

The World Athletics Championships will run from July 15 to 24 in Oregon, United States followed by the Commonwealth Games on July 28 to August 8 in Birmingham, England.

After Stockholm, the next Diamond League is on August 6 in Silesia, Poland.

However, there are close to 15 events in the World Athletics Continental Tour before the start of the world event.

Kamau noted that it will be wise for the athletes in camp to concentrate on their preparations.

“Nevertheless, we shall make a decision on whom to release if possible,” said Kamau, adding that members of the athletics team selected on Saturday are already in camp at Kasarani.

“We have been working on their documentation and all is well. We are ready for the world event and Commonwealth Games. We shall be giving updates on the progress of the team,” said Kamau.

Kenya finished second with 11 medals; five gold, two silver and four bronze during the 2019 Doha World Athletics Championships.

Team Kenya collected 16 medals in athletes at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games; four gold, seven silver and five bronze, a performance that saw them finish fifth overall in athletics.

The country finished 14th overall with the only other medal coming from boxing through Christine Ongare who won bronze.

Athletics Kenya selected a team of 47 athletes for the World Athletics Championships and a similar number for the “Club” Games. There are several athletes who will double up in the two competitions.

The trials witnessed the return to form of some athletes, for instance World 3,000m steeplechase champion Conselsus Kipruto and Commonwealth Games 800m champion Wycliffe Kinyamal.

Others are the 2015 World Military Games 1,500m champion Selah Jepleting and World Half Marathon silver Kibiwott Kandie.

It also witnessed the continuous rise of some like Amos Serem, World Under-20 3,000m steeplechase champion Jackline Chepkoech and Abel Kipsang in 1,500m.

While Kipruto and Kinyamal will be heading to Oregon, Serem, Jepleting and Kandie could only settle for places in the Commonwealth Games team due to varying reasons.

Kipruto, who has been struggling with form, something that saw him fail to defend his Olympic title in Tokyo last year, eased off at the home-straight allowing World Under-20 champion Amos Serem to win.

Jepleting was the surprise winner of the women’s 5,000m, having scaled the distance event from 1,500m.

It was her second 5,000m race this year, having finished fifth at the Kip Keino Classic, but the anti-doping rules locked her out of the world event team.

Jepleting has not repented Kenya since the 2016 Durban Africa Senior Athletics Championships.

Kenyans athletes must go through three out-of-competition tests to qualify for the world event. Jepleting and Serem didn't meet this requirement.

Eliud Kipchoge launches cycling academy

The GOAT of marathoning has taken on a new project: a cycling academy. The two-time Olympic marathon champion and world-record holder Eliud Kipchoge announced on Instagram last week that, together with his partners INEOS and Global Sports Communication, the NN Running training center will now also host a cycling school. “I’m proud that we are expanding our Kaptagat-based training camp from a purely athletics focused training camp toward a wider kind of sports academy.

The INEOS Eliud Kipchoge Cycling Academy is a very natural fit, with great potential to enable our young talented cyclists to make the next steps toward the top level of cycling,” Kipchoge shared.

The cycling academy will employ some of the staff already on Kipchoge’s team and will be run by Kipchoge’s long-time partner Valentijn Truow, as reported by Cycling News.

Trouw, a Dutch citizen, has over three decades of experience working with long-distance runners in Kenya and a background in athlete management. Trouw said that he was excited to build what is a fairly undeveloped sport in Kenya, “in good harmony and collaboration with the Kenyan Cycling Federation, bringing together our collective knowledge and insights from running and cycling for the benefit of the sport.” Kenya had no full-time cycling professionals in 2022.

“We work with the great potential of east African long-distance runners for over 30 years, and I believe the exceptional local endurance talent combined with the great training environment at Kaptagat will be perfect for developing quality cyclists,” Truow added. “Working together with Sir Dave Brailsford, the INEOS Grenadiers Cycling Team and tapping into the broader INEOS sporting family will bring us the world’s best practice in competitive cycling.”

The INEOS Grenadiers Cycling Team is world-renowned, and it will be interesting to watch Kipchoge’s cycling academy grow through this high-level partnership. “This is a significant and exciting development in world cycling–it has the power to drive lasting change by developing new riders from Africa,” said Grenadiers manager Dave Brailsford.

Americans Leonard Korir and Keira D’Amato Sweep Titles at 2022 B.A.A. 10K

It was an American sweep at the 2022 B.A.A. 10K presented by Brigham and Women’s Hospital, with Leonard Korir (28:00) and Keira D’Amato (31:17) winning the professional open divisions and Susannah Scaroni and Hermin Garic capturing the wheelchair crowns. The pace was as hot as the weather, with the wily veteran Korir setting a personal best and Scaroni shattering the wheelchair world record for the distance.

“It feels really nice!” said Scaroni, who won a gold medal at 5,000 meters in the 2020 Paralympics but two weeks later was struck by a car while training. “It’s always great to be at a race where they’re trying to make it world-record eligible.” Scaroni broke the tape in 21:56, shattering Tatyana McFadden’s previous mark of 23:34.

As pleased as she was with the record, Scaroni was also excited to win the race outright. Asked if she had ever been the first wheelchair athlete, man or woman, across the line, she beamed. “Oh no, never! I didn’t expect that at all.”

Winning the men’s wheelchair race was Boston Marathon veteran Hermin Garic, in 22:07. “It feels awesome, coming back to Boston.”

In the men’s open division, a pack of 17, led by Bravin Kiptoo, went through the first mile in a scorching 4:21.

“When I saw the first people were so fast, I knew they were going to pay,” said Korir, a 2016 Olympian who has already won national titles this year at the half marathon and 25K. “It was like suicide. I said, ‘let me just hang in there and strike when the time comes.’”

The men ran the second mile in 4:24, but had slowed to 4:37 by the fifth. By that time, it was Kennedy Kimutai and Korir running neck-and-neck. “With a mile to go, I realized I was feeling so strong. I said, ‘let me just go now.’”

He would surge ahead to win in 28:00, nine seconds faster than the personal best he set on this course in 2014. Kimutai would finish second in 28:07, with Philemon Kiplimo third in 28:09. American Ben True was fourth in the same time; Ben Flanagan, fifth in 28:11, set a Canadian 10K record and also set a national mark through 8K in 22:30.

In the women’s race, D’Amato said that her goal was to race aggressively and go after the pace. Mission accomplished: A pack hit mile 1 in 5:05, but by mile 3 (reached in 15:08) she and Kenya’s Sharon Lokedi were gapping the field. As they battled, they ran mile 4 in 4:29, 30 seconds ahead of their chasers.

“We were battling it out,” said D’Amato, who in January broke the American record for the marathon when she ran 2:19:12 in Houston. “That was a fierce duel. With 1200 [meters] to go, she was breathing really hard and I just went by her.” Lokedi succumbed to the heat and humidity on Charles Street roughly 200 meters from the line and would not finish.

American Emily Sisson finished as runner-up in 32:03, with the 42-year-old Edna Kiplagat, the 2017 Boston Marathon champion, third in 32:09.

Claiming the inaugural B.A.A. 10K Para Athletics Divisions were Adrianne Haslet (1:15:19) and Marko Cheseto Lemtukei (35:44) for T61-T64 (lower limb impairment) classification and Erich Manser (50:49) and Jennifer Herring (45:41) in the T11-T15 (vision impairment) classification. Haslet earned the title on her birthday, and was exuberant at the opportunity to win on the road of Boston.

“To not just be invited to run a race, but invited to compete means that we’re being included among some of the world’s best runners with the world-class B.A.A. as hosts. It can’t get much better than that,” said Haslet.

Approximately 5,146 participants crossed the finish line of today’s B.A.A. 10K. Brigham and Women's Hospital, the B.A.A. 10K’s presenting sponsor and exclusive fundraising partner, fielded a team of more than 350 fundraising runners. Since 2016, more than 2,100 runners and 180 teams have raised $1.2 million to fuel life-giving breakthroughs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital through the B.A.A. 10K.

The third and final event of the 2022 B.A.A. Distance Medley will be the B.A.A. Half Marathon presented by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fun on Sunday, November 13. Registration is currently open within the B.A.A.’s online platform, Athletes’ Village.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tokyo Olympian Tachlowini Gabriyesos will lead a six-member Athlete Refugee Team (ART) to next month's World Athletics Championships Oregon22.

Tachlowini Gabriyesos, 24, made waves one year ago when he finished 16th in the Olympic marathon in Sapporo, beating some of the world's best marathoners.

“It makes me so proud to once again wear the Athlete Refugee Team vest at the World Championships,” said Gabriyesos, a native of Eritrea who made his Athlete Refugee Team debut at the 2019 World Championships in Doha where he competed in the 5000m.

“I don’t represent a country, but millions of people without one. I want to be a role model for refugee youth around the world and wish to show the world once again that refugees can be strong, that we are hungry for success and that we deserve equal opportunities.”

Gabriyesos fled conflict and bloodshed in Eritrea at age 12 and journeyed through Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt before crossing the Sinai desert on foot to Israel where he's been living since 2010. He began running soon after and eventually found that he was best suited for athletics' longest running event.

At the Hahula Galilee Marathon in Israel in March 2021, Gabriyesos clocked 2:10:55 to become the first refugee athlete to meet an Olympic qualifying standard. He later served as the co-flag bearer for the Olympic Refugee Team at Tokyo’s Opening Ceremonies. After his solid performance in Sapporo's hot and muggy conditions, Gabriyesos improved to 2:10:09 at the Seville Marathon in February.

After its involvement with the inaugural Refugee Olympic Team that competed at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, World Athletics established the Athlete Refugee Team in 2017 to provide refugees with high level training and competitive opportunities.

It is the world’s only year-round team composed solely of refugee athletes. The team has been represented at almost every World Championship event since, in addition to a growing number of continental and regional events, most recently the European 10,000m Cup in May and the African Championships earlier this month.

"On this World Refugee Day, our Athlete Refugee Team brings a powerful and inspirational message of hope and solidarity to the world, at a time when it's truly needed," said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. "They're also showing, through their rapid development and world class performances, that they do belong among the world's best athletes."

Representing a community of 89 million

When the refugee team was introduced at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, that squad of 10 – six competing in athletics – represented 65 million people around the world who had been forcibly displaced from their homes.

That figure soared to more than 82 million by 2020 and, propelled by conflict, the climate crisis and skyrocketing inequality, has grown to 89.3 million at the end of 2021. The six athletes who are set to compete in Eugene next month will represent a community that collectively would be the 17th most populous country on the planet.

Similarly, the number of athletes involved in the World Athletics Athlete Refugee Team project continues to grow. More than 40 athletes are now involved in the programme, training at their respective bases in Kenya, Israel, France, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, Canada and Portugal.

Gabriyesos will be joined by Jamal Abdalmajid Eisa-Mohammed, a native of Sudan, who will make his second consecutive World Championships appearance in the 5000m. The 28-year-old improved his lifetime best over the distance to 13:42.98 at the Olympic Games last year.

Dorian Keletela, 23, will be making his third ART appearance after outings at the 2021 European Indoor Championships and last summer's Olympic Games in Tokyo. In the Japanese capital, he clocked 10.33 to win his 100m heat in the preliminary round, smashing his previous career best by 0.13. He improved to 10.27 last year and at the moment has a 10.47 season's best.

Fouad Idbafdil, a refugee from Morocco who is based in France, rounds out the men's squad. The 34-year-old steeplechase specialist improved his lifetime best to 8:37.94 nine days ago. He too competed on the ART squad in Doha in 2019.

The women’s team is led by Anjelina Nadai Lohalith, who will bring plenty of experience to the start line of the 1500m. The 27-year-old native of South Sudan, who is based at the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation training camp in Ngong, Kenya, will be making her second World Championships appearance after her debut in 2017.

Nadai is a two-time Olympian and most recently competed at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade in March and the African Championships in Mauritius 11 days ago. She set her 4:31.65 lifetime best in Tokyo last year.

She'll be joined by Atalena Napule Gaspore, another South Sudanese athlete from the Loroupe camp, who will be making her Athlete Refugee Team debut competing in the 800m.

Athlete refugee team for WCH Oregon22

Women 800m: Atalena Napule Gaspore 1500m: Anjelina Nadai Lohalith

Men 100m: Dorian Keletela 5000m: Jamal Abdalmajid Eisa-Mohammed marathon: Tachlowini Gabriyesos 3000m steeplechase: Fouad Idbafdil

New personal best set at the KATA 10k Time Trial

The tenth edition of Kenya Athletics Training Academy 10kilometres monthly time-trial took place on Wednesday in Thika Kenya with Peter Wanyoike running a new personal best and winning again.  

Sibling rivalry marked the event with upcoming Erick Mutuku and consistent Zakaria Kirika fighting for the runner-up position during the run that brought together 16 participants.

Wanyoike, winning the trial for the 4th time in a row, clocked 29:53.19 to beat his previous 29:53.68 registered during the 8th edition in April.

Kirika was dislodged from his second position by Erick Mutuku who timed 30:03.18. Kirika managed 30:14.86 in third place.

The monthly trial has become a yard stick forgauging individual speed with young and upcoming athletes reaping maximum benefits.

Levis Kuria, Erick Mutuku, Boniface Mungai, Nicholas Kitundu and Raphael Gacheru, all in their early 20s, attained their individual records with significant margins.

Kuria clocked 31:32.75, improving his previous 33:03.46 while Mutuku and Mungai timed 30:03.18 and 31:25.79 from 30:14.67 and 32:30.42 respectively.

The next KATA 10K Time-Trial will take place on 13th of July at the same place.

RESULTS

NAME                      BIB         TIME            Age

1.Peter Wanyoike  79          29:53.2        26

2. Erick Mutuku     67          30:03.2         20  

3. Zakaria Kirika     78          30:14.9         21

4. Nichola Kitundu 72          31:13.3        22

5. Fredrick Kiprotich 76       31:21.9        23

6. Raphael Gacheru  70       31:25.5        22

7. Boniface Mungai   77      31:25.8         23

8. Robinson Mwaura  85    31:31.4         29

9. Levis Kuria        66            31:32.8        21

10. Geoffrey Mwangi 82    34:24.4         40

11. Erick Mugo       73         34:45.8         29

12. Paul Ng’ang’a   71        34:48.1          42

13. Charles Ndirangu  80  37:03.5          62

14: Peter Mukundi     81   37:36.1          25

15. Wisely Kipkirui     84   38:38.9          24

16. Ann Wangu          83    46:47.2         30

The Rome Diamond League did not disappoint, with several meet records shattered

The Rome Diamond League did not disappoint on Thursday afternoon. Several meet records were smashed, including Eliud Kipchoge’s 5,000m meet record of 12:46.53–by his compatriot, Nicholas Kimeli,who clocked a world-leading time of 12:46.33.

Kimeli’s time was the seventh-fastest ever over 5,000m, and only six seconds behind the Kenyan national record held by Daniel Komen  at 12:39.74.

The 23-year-old Kenyan came into the race in great form, winning the TCS World 10K in Bengaluru, India, in mid-May in course record time and setting a Kenyan national record over 5K on the roads in April (12:55).

The men’s 5,000m was speedy from the start, with the pace set for 2:35/km at the front. Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia led the race until one lap to go, when Kimeli and his Kenyan compatriot, Jacob Krop, took over the race with 300m to go. Krop and Kimeli battled over the final 200m until Kimeli put a gap on Krop with less than 100m to go, setting a new personal best, meet record and world lead over 5,000m. Krop finished second in a personal best time of 12:46.79, while Canada’s Mohammed Ahmed (second photo) ran a season’s best time of 12:55.88 to finish fifth.

In the women’s 800m, Athing Mu made a statement, winning the race in a world-leading time of 1:57.01. Mu sat on the heels of the pacer for the first 400m, coming around in 56-high. Once the pacer fell off, the 20-year-old American phenom took over, winning the race by almost two seconds.

Olympic marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir said she could target the London, Berlin or Chicago marathons for a world record attempt next year

The 28-year-old Kenyan set the sport ablaze when she won the New York City Marathon just 13 weeks after claiming gold in Tokyo, the first athlete to win the Olympic marathon and the five-borough race in the same year.

She picked up her second major title five months later in Boston in a thrilling sprint finish, confirming her among the most dominant marathon runners of all time.

Jepchirchir, who wants to be the first woman to successfully defend her Olympic title in 2024, said she has even loftier goals in mind.

“I still have a mission to go – I still need to run to attempt records in marathon,” she told Reuters on Friday, a day ahead of competing in the 50th running of the New York Mini 10K.

“London is a faster course, even Berlin, Chicago is a faster course… Those are the races that maybe I can attempt.”

Jepchirchir produced the fifth all-time fastest marathon by a woman in December 2020, winning the Valencia Marathon in 2:17:16, and believes she’s “not far” from breaking compatriot Brigid Kosgei’s record 2:14.04 set in 2019.

“I’m feeling good – I’m so glad, I’m so happy for my improvement in my career,” she said.

2022 Lewa Safari Marathon to be held June 25

After running virtually in the last two years, the 2022 Lewa Safari Marathon will be held physically at the expansive Lewa Wildlife Conservancy June 25.

The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Tusk, Safaricom PLC and Huawei Technologies (Kenya) Co Ltd. announced on Tuesday during the launch.

For 23 years, the marathon held on Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, a UNESCO world heritage site and co-organised by wildlife conservation charity Tusk, has allowed participants from all over the globe to compete in an internationally acclaimed annual event whilst running through one of Africa’s most breath-taking wildlife conservancies.

Regarded as one of the toughest marathons in the world, runners of all abilities have taken part – from elite professionals like Marathon World Record Holder Eliud Kipchoge to amateur runners and walkers.

The marathon has also been a vehicle for the advancement of education, healthcare and conservation efforts in Kenya, raising above Ksh982.3 million (USD 8,600,000) for these causes since the year 2000.

Speaking at the marathon launch, Mike Watson, CEO of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy said: “While still providing an exciting and exhilarating marathon experience, the Lewa Safari Marathon 2022 aims to be the most environmentally friendly event Lewa has hosted to date.”

“This drive is inspired by the urgent need to reduce our carbon footprint, which aligns with our ethos and standards as we strive to be a model for biodiversity and ecosystem preservation.”

Charlie Mayhew, CEO of Tusk shared, “It’s a joy to be able to bring this one-of-a-kind event back to Kenya. The Lewa Safari Marathon has a 20-year legacy of drawing runners from around the world to raise significant funds for a wide range of conservation, education and community initiatives across Kenya.’

“We are immensely grateful to Safaricom and Huawei once again for their generous sponsorship of the marathon, as well as to Kenya Breweries Limited and Tetra Pak Ltd for their support.”

As lead co-sponsors, Safaricom and Huawei have continued to partner to support the marathon in its evolution. This year, other event sponsors will include Kenya Breweries Limited as well as Tetra Pak Ltd.

Felix Kirwa sent the wrong way at Stockholm Marathon, still wins race

The leaders of Saturday’s Stockholm Marathon were in confusion and disbelief after being sent the wrong way for an extra kilometer.Felix Kirwa, Tesfaye Lencho Anbesa, and Merhawi Keste were pointed in the wrong direction by race officials around the 30 km mark of the marathon.

They ran for a full minute before realizing the mistake, which cost them the lead in the race. Kirwa, 26, managed to come back and win the event in a time of 2:11:07, only one minute off the course record of 2:10:10, despite having to run an extra kilometer.

Kirwa spoke to Stockholm’s TV4 in a post-race interview: “I am very happy to win the Stockholm marathon but we ran wrong and I missed the record because of it.”

The event organizers blamed the error on motorcycle police officers who drove in the wrong direction.

Kesete, from Eritrea, hung onto second place in 2:11:45, while Tesfay, also from Eritrea, lost out on a podium spot to finish fourth. John Langat of Kenya, who wasn’t led the wrong way, finished third in 2:12:39.

Kirwa’s win in Stockholm puts him on three marathon wins, winning the 2016 Singapore Marathon and the 2016 Antwerp Marathon. Kirwa was banned from competing in 2019, after failing a drug test for the banned substance strychnine, commonly known as rat poison.

Strychnine is on the anti-doping list due to its effects as a stimulant and can give an athlete the ability to go for longer without feeling tired. Kirwa was stripped of his second-place finish at the 2018 Singapore Marathon as a result of the suspension.

Twelve Olympians will lead star-studded lineup at 50th anniversary of Mastercard New York Mini 10K

Twelve Olympians and five Paralympians will line up in Central Park for the 50th anniversary of the Mastercard® New York Mini 10K, the world’s original women-only road race, on Saturday, June 11, New York Road Runners (NYRR) announced today.

U.S. Olympians Emily Sisson, Molly Seidel, Aliphine Tuliamuk, and Rachel (Schneider) Smith will lead a strong American contingent that will go up against previously announced Olympic, TCS New York City Marathon, and Boston Marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir, United Airlines NYC Half champion and 5K world-record holder Senbere Teferi, and two-time Mini 10K champion Sara Hall.

Sisson will come into the race after claiming her sixth national title last month in an American record 1:07:11 at the USATF Half Marathon Championships. She made her Olympic debut in Tokyo last summer after winning the 10,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, where she broke the 17-year-old Trials record set by Deena Kastor in 2004. She has been very successful in her last three trips to New York, finishing as the runner-up at the United Airlines NYC Half twice and winning the USATF 5K Championships.

“After breaking the American record in the half-marathon, I’m excited to step down in distance and compete in the Mastercard® New York Mini 10K for the first time,” Sisson said. “It will be a privilege to take part in such a powerful event that has paved the way for so many women over the last 50 years.”

Seidel owns a bronze medal from the Tokyo Olympic marathon last year and in her last trip to New York set an American course record and recorded a fourth-place finish at the TCS New York City Marathon. Tuliamuk won the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials and then gave birth to her daughter before running in the Olympic marathon in Tokyo. She will be making her first trip to New York since 2019 and is coming off winning the 25km national title, bringing her national title count to 11. Smith represented the U.S. at the Tokyo Olympics in the 5,000 meters after finishing third in the distance at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials.

The deep U.S. women’s contingent also includes American marathon record-holder Keira D’Amato, the top American finisher at the last two Boston Marathons Nell Rojas, 2019 New York Mini 10K runner-up Stephanie Bruce, U.S. national champion Erika Kemp, and the top American finisher at the 2022 United Airlines NYC Half Lindsay Flanagan.

Returning to the event 10 years after her victory will be Kenya’s Edna Kiplagat, a two-time world champion in the marathon who won the 2010 New York City, 2014 London, and 2017 Boston marathons, and was the runner-up in Boston in 2019 and 2021.

“Winning the New York City Marathon 12 years ago changed my life, and now, 10 years after also winning the Mini 10K, I still enjoy my racing and am happy to still be competing at a high level,” Kiplagat said. “NYRR always invites the highest quality fields, so I always like lining up in New York with the best in the world. There are so many inspiring women who have participated in this race over the years who set a positive example for everyone – both runners and non-runners – and I’m lucky to be part of such a prestigious group.”

Last year’s TCS New York City Marathon runner-up and Mastercard® New York Mini 10K runner-up Viola Cheptoo of Kenya and former NCAA 10,000-meter champion Sharon Lokedi of Kenya will contend for the title as well.

The professional wheelchair division will be headlined by two-time Paralympic medalist and three-time Mastercard® Mini 10K defending champion Susannah Scaroni. Since the addition of the professional wheelchair division in 2018, Scaroni is the only athlete to have won the race.

“The Mastercard New York Mini 10K is a special one to me for so many reasons, and I’m excited at the chance to race on what will be a milestone day for women’s running in Central Park,” Scaroni said. “Not only is the Mini 10K the world’s original women-only road race, but it is also one of the only women-only wheelchair races at the present time, which will hopefully pave the way for future generations of women’s wheelchair racers in the next 50 years.”

Lining up against Scaroni will be U.S. Paralympians Jenna Fesemyer, Yen Hoang, Hannah Dederick, and Eva Houston.

The Mini 10K, which began in 1972 as the Crazylegs Mini Marathon, was the first women-only road race and has gone on to garner more than 200,000 total finishers to date. Former NYRR President Fred Lebow named the race after the miniskirt, which back then was in vogue. A total of 72 women finished the first race, and three weeks later, Title IX was signed into law, guaranteeing girls and women the right to participate in school sports and creating new opportunities for generations of female athletes.

The Mastercard® New York Mini 10K will offer $45,000 in total prize money, including $10,000 to the winner of the open division and $2,500 to the winner of the wheelchair division. The professional athlete races will be streamed live on USATF.TV beginning at 7:40 a.m. ET. Mastercard® will serve as title sponsor of the event for the second time, and as part of its on-going partnership with NYRR will also serve as the presenting sponsor of professional women’s athlete field.

Kenyan Faith Chepng’etich steps up preps for major races

Two-time Olympic 1,500 meters champion Faith Chepng’etich will on Monday compete in the 800m race at the FBK Games in Hengelo, the Netherlands.

She will battle it out with the world champion over the distance, Ugandan Halima Nakayi.

Chepng’etich said that she will be using the race to improve her speed in preparation for the World Athletics Championships that will be held in Eugene, Oregon, United States of America on July 15-24.

The world 1,500m silver medalist finished second behind Burundi’s Francine Niyonsoba in the 3,000m race at the Doha Diamond League on May 13.

And at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League held on Saturday in Eugene, Oregon, Chepng’etich ran a world-lead time of three minutes, 52.59 seconds (3:52.59) to win the 1,500m race.

“Competing in the 800m race is part of my training. I will be testing my speed as I prepare for the world championships in July. Speed is critical for a podium finish,” she told Nation Sport.

Chepng’etich will be looking to reclaim the world 1,500m title that she won during the 2017 edition held in London, but which she surrendered to Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands in Doha in 2019.

During the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games that were held last year, Chepng’etich defended her 1,500m title that she had previously won at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

In the 3,000m steeplechase, another top Kenyan athlete, Celliphine Chespol, will be seeking to qualify for the world championships.

The 2018 World Athletics Under-20 Championships winner in Tampere, Finland will be competing against Olympic champion Peruth Chemutai from Uganda, who will be participating in her fifth event this year.

During last week’s Prefontaine Classic, Eugene Diamond League, Chespol finished fifth in her specialty.

Kenyan-born Kazakhstani athlete Norah Jeruto won the race and another Kenyan-born Bahraini runner Winfred Yavi was second.

Chespol said that her season has started slowly, but she is getting back into shape. She said that the races she has participated in have helped her improve her performance.

Boston Marathon Champions & National Record Holders Headline Professional Field for 2022 B.A.A. 10K

The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) has announced a star-studded field for the 2022 B.A.A. 10K, presented by Brigham and Women’s Hospital, to be held on Sunday, June 26. Evans Chebet, the 2022 Boston Marathon men’s open division champion, will return to Boston, while recently crowned American half marathon record holder Emily Sisson will lead the women’s field on the roads of Back Bay. Four-time B.A.A. 5K champion and American 5K record holder Ben True will also make his B.A.A. 10K debut.

The B.A.A. 10K starts and finishes on Charles Street adjacent to Boston Common and Boston Public Garden, and is widely regarded as one of the fastest 10K races in the world. Registration remains open at www.baa.org, while athletes interested in supporting Brigham and Women's Hospital, the B.A.A. 10K’s presenting sponsor and exclusive fundraising partner, are encouraged to visit www.runbwh.org/10k.

“We’re excited to continue to showcase the world’s most accomplished runners at our B.A.A. events,” said Mary Kate Shea, the B.A.A.’s Director of Professional Athletes and Technical Support. “We’re looking forward to cheering on all participants as they race towards the finish.”

The B.A.A. 10K women’s race brings together Boston Marathon champions Des Linden (2018) and Edna Kiplagat (2017), American record holder Sisson, 2017 B.A.A. 10K winner Joan Chelimo Melly, 2022 Boston Marathon top American Nell Rojas, 2016 USA Olympian Marielle Hall, and USA 15K runner-up Emily Durgin.

Sisson, a Providence College graduate and 2021 Olympian, ran 1:07:11 on May 7 to win the USATF Half Marathon Championships in a new national record. She’s also the defending USA 15K champion.

“Breaking the American record in the half marathon was very exciting and I'm now looking forward to switching things up and racing different distances,” said Sisson. “The 10K is a fun and different challenge and I always love racing in Boston.”

Additional international entrants include Biruktayit Degefa of Ethiopia, who has won a quartet of American road races this spring, and Kenya’s Sharon Lokedi, who placed third at the 2022 B.A.A. 5K in April. From the B.A.A. High Performance team are Erika Kemp and Abbey Wheeler; Kemp is a two-time national champion.

In the men’s race, Chebet looks to become only the second Boston Marathon champion to win the B.A.A. 10K, joining the likes of 2011 winner and course record holder Geoffrey Mutai. Chebet stormed to his first Boston Marathon victory in 2:06:51 on April 18.

“After winning the 2022 Boston Marathon, I’m excited to return to the city to run the B.A.A. 10K with a world class field,” said Chebet. “Boston feels like a second home to me now.”

Challenging Chebet from Kenya are David Bett, the reigning 2019 B.A.A. 10K winner; Kennedy Kimutai, the fastest man in the field with a 27:09 lifetime best; Bravin Kiptoo, the 2019 African junior 10,000m champion; and Nicholas Kosimbei, winner of this year’s Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in Washington, D.C. Brothers Jake and Zane Robertson, a dynamic pair from New Zealand who have lived and trained in Kenya, will also race. Recent Iowa State graduate and NCAA champion Wesley Kiptoo will make his Boston road racing debut.

Maine-native Ben True will return to familiar territory, having won the B.A.A. 5K four times, including a national-record setting run of 13:20 in 2017.  Fellow American contenders include Olympians Leonard Korir and Shadrack Kipchirchir, Princeton, Mass.-native Colin Bennie, and a quartet of B.A.A. High Performance Team members in Jerrell Mock, Matt McDonald, Jonas Hampton, and Paul Hogan. Korir enters the B.A.A. 10K hot off a pair of national title wins at the USATF Half Marathon and USATF 25K Championships in May.

In the wheelchair division, Jenna Fesemyer, the 2022 B.A.A. 5K women’s winner, Susannah Scaroni, the 2022 Boston Marathon runner-up, and 2020 Paralympian Yen Hoang are entered. Scaroni earned a gold medal on the track at the 2021 Paralympic Games in the 5000m, and is the fastest women’s wheelchair marathoner in U.S. history. James Senbeta and Hermin Garic are the top men’s wheelchair entrants.

For the first time in race history, Para Athletics Divisions will be offered for athletes with upper-limb, lower-limb, and visual impairments. Among the entrants confirmed include Marko Cheseto Lemtukei, Chaz Davis, and Liz Willis, each of whom won Para Division titles at April’s 126th Boston Marathon. Jacky Hunt-Broersma, who ran 104 marathons in 104 consecutive days for a Guinness World Record, and local Para athlete Adrianne Haslet are also entered.

In addition to racing, top professional athletes will participate in the first-ever B.A.A. 10K Fest & Field Day on Saturday, June 25, one day prior to the race. From 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Boston Common, 10K Fest & Field Day will feature youth fitness activities, games, appearances by professional athletes, running clinics, and more. Participants will also be able to pick-up their participant shirts and bib numbers at 10K Fest. Additional details will be available on baa.org in the coming weeks.

Registration for the 2022 B.A.A. 10K, presented by Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is currently open through the B.A.A.’s online platform Athletes’ Village. All participants who enter will receive an adidas participant shirt, unique bib number, and finisher medal. Additional participant information can be found on baa.org. The race will start at 8:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, June 26 on Charles Street adjacent to Boston Common and Boston Public Garden.

Brigham and Women's Hospital, the B.A.A. 10K’s presenting sponsor and exclusive fundraising partner, will again field a team of fundraising runners. Since 2016, more than 2,100 runners and 180 teams have raised $1.2 million to fuel life-giving breakthroughs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Learn more and register at www.runbwh.org/10k.

On June 1, the B.A.A. will celebrate Global Running Day with a special pop-up location at the Boston Marathon Finish Line between 3:00-6:00 p.m. Runners can take a picture with the Boston Marathon trophy, receive giveaways, refreshments, and more! RSVP for the free event on our Facebook page, and log miles throughout the day as part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors Global Running Day Challenge. Visit https://bstnmar.org/GRD22 to sign up for free, track your miles, and print a bib to wear as you join a global community of athletes around the world logging miles.

2022 B.A.A. 10K WOMEN’S FIELD (NAME, COUNTRY, ROAD 10K PB)

Joan Chelimo Melly, Romania, 30:14^

Edna Kiplagat, Kenya, 31:06*

Sharon Lokedi, Kenya, 31:06

Mary Munanu, Kenya, 31:20

Biruktayit Degefa, Ethiopia, 31:23

Emily Sisson, USA, 31:47

Emily Durgin, USA, 31:49

Diane Nukuri, USA, 31:49

Lanni Marchant, Canada, 31:49

Vibian Chepkirui, Kenya, 31:49

Nell Rojas, USA, 31:52

Erika Kemp, USA, 32:18

Laura Thweatt, USA, 32:20

Elaina Tabb, USA, 32:40

Rachel Schneider Smith, USA, 32:47

Abbey Wheeler, USA, DB (32:53.50 10,000m)

Grayson Murphy, USA, 32:55

Fiona O’Keeffe, USA, 32:57

Katie Kellner, USA, 33:05

Des Linden, USA, 33:06*

Taylor Werner, USA, 33:35

Marielle Hall, USA, 33:36 (31:05.71 10,000m)

Allie Hackett, USA, 35:17

Jesca Chelangat, Kenya, DB (15:16 5K)

Courtney Hawkins, USA, DB (37:59.99 10,000m)

^ = Previous B.A.A. 10K Champion

* = Previous Boston Marathon Champion

2022 B.A.A. 10K MEN’S FIELD (NAME, COUNTRY, ROAD 10K PB)

Kennedy Kimutai, Kenya, 27:09

Bravin Kiptoo, Kenya, 27:12

Philemon Kiplimo, Kenya, 27:23

Zane Robertson, New Zealand, 27:28

Jake Robertson, New Zealand, 27:28

Wesley Kiptoo, Kenya, N/A (27:37.29 10,000m)

Ben True, USA, 27:51

Nicholas Kosimbei, Kenya, 27:52

John Dressel, USA, N/A (27:57.51 10,000m)

David Bett, Kenya, 28:08^

Dominic Korir, Kenya, 28:08

Leonard Korir, USA, 28:09

Shadrack Kipchirchir, USA, 28:12

David Nilsson, Sweden, 28:13

Tsegay Tuemay, Eritrea, 28:13

Bethwell Yegon, Kenya, 28:24

Reuben Mosip, Kenya, 28:28

Paul Hogan, USA, N/A (28:49.55 10,000m)

Johannes Motschmann, Germany, 28:51

Alex Masai, Kenya, 28:53

Colin Bennie, USA, 28:55

Futsum Zienasellassie, USA, 29:03

Matt McClintock, USA, 29:02

Jacob Thomson, USA, 29:07

John Raneri, USA, 29:19

Evans Chebet, Kenya, 29:30*

Jerrell Mock, USA, 29:36

Aaron Dinzeo, USA, 29:37

Matt McDonald, USA, 29:38

Diego Estrada, USA, 29:41

Fabiano Sulle, Tanzania, 29:53

Jonas Hampton, USA, 30:15

Tim McGowan, USA, 30:17

Connor McMillan, USA, 30:20

Josh Kalapos, USA, N/A (14:33.88 5,000m)

^ = Previous B.A.A. 10K Champion

* = Previous Boston Marathon Champion

Celebrating 50 Years of the Mini

The Mastercard New York Mini 10K began in 1972 as the first women-only road race, known as the Crazylegs Mini Marathon. Since then, the Mini has had more than 200,000 finishers, and this year's event will be the 50th running.  

You can register for the Mastercard New York Mini 10K, set for Saturday, June 11 in Central Park, and be part of the historic anniversary celebration. Youth ages 8-18 can register for the free Kids Run at the Mastercard New York Mini 10K Stage 2 or Stage 3.We share five "Mini Moments” that define the history of the Mini.

The First Mini and First 10K 

On June 3, 1972, the first women-only road race, the six-mile Crazylegs Mini Marathon, made its debut. There were 72 finishers—a huge number at the time. Three weeks later, Title IX was signed into law, guaranteeing women the right to participate in school sports and creating new opportunities for generations of female athletes.

In 1975, the Mini distance shifted from 6 miles to 10K (6.2 miles) to align with a standard racing distance for roads and track. 

Extraordinary 5-Time Champions

Two women, Grete Waitz of Norway and Tegla Loroupe of Kenya, each won the Mini an amazing five times. Waitz—also a nine-time winner of the New York City Marathon—scored her fifth victory in 1984 and Loroupe got her fifth Mini win in 2000.This year’s pro field will feature Olympians and other world-class athletes including defending champion Sara Hall and Boston and TCS New York City Marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir.

The Mini Grows and Grows

In 1998, the 100,000th Mini finisher crossed the line, and 20 years later, in 2018, the race saw its 200,000th finisher. This year’s Mastercard New York Mini 10K will have an estimated 10,000 finishers.

Youth at the Mini

In 2016, the first Girls Run at the NYRR New York Mini took place with hundreds of finishers on an age-appropriate course. A wheelchair division was added in 20xx. This year youth of all genders will take part in the Kids Run at the Mastercard New York Mini 10K.

Record-Setting Wheelchair Races

In 2018, Susannah Scaroni (above, center) won the first wheelchair division at the Mini, setting a world-best of 22:48 for the distance; she broke that record in 2019. 

The history of the Mini, and its return at full capacity with youth events this year, point to a bright future for women and girls in running.

Kenyan Faith Kipyegon sets record in Eugene Diamond League

Two-time Olympic gold medallist Faith Kipyegon of Kenya ran a world-lead time as she won the 1500m race in Saturday's Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon in USA.

Kipyegon timed 3:52.59 on a night where Trayvon Bromell and Elaine Thompson-Herah grabbed 100m victories as eight world-leading performances highlighted the action at Hayward Field.

Kipyegon’s time was the ninth fastest in the 1500m history. She beat Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay who finished second in 3mins and 54.29secs.

Kipyegon, who trains in Kaptagat, Elgeyo Marakwet County, finished second in the 3000m in the season-opening Doha leg behind Burundi's Francine Niyonsaba.

America's Bromell, the fastest man in the world last year, bounced back from a false start disqualification in Birmingham last weekend to win a star-studded men's 100m in 9.93sec.

Jamaica's Thompson-Herah, who won back-to-back Olympic 100m-200m doubles in 2016 and last year, captured the women's 100m in 10.79.

Neither was a world best for 2022, but Thompson-Herah said she was just pleased to hit the line first and healthy on a rainy day in Eugene at the same venue that will host the World Championships on July 15-24.

"I'm excited I crossed the line healthy," Thompson-Herah said. "I don't care about the time. The rain was falling. It was a little cold.

"It shows I'm on a great path," added the Jamaican star, who pulled out of the Birmingham Diamond League meeting with a shoulder injury, testing herself in a lower-level meeting in Kingston last Saturday instead.

Canada’s Kinsey Middleton won the Ottawa Marathon, she is the first Canadian to win the race since Lioudmila Kortchaguina in 2007

It was the perfect race and the perfect day for Kinsey Middleton at the 2022 Ottawa Marathon. She became the first Canadian woman to win the race since Lioudmila Kortchaguina in 2007, in a personal best time of 2:30:08.

Middleton, 29, who lives and trains south of the border in Idaho, sat in sixth place at the halfway mark in 1:14:19 but stuck to her pace and moved up as a few runners dropped from the front pack. At 30K, she discovered she was leading the race when the lead vehicle pulled in front of her. Middleton’s pace slowed a bit over the final 5K but she managed to hold on for the win. 

This was a day beyond my wildest dreams,” Middleton says. “I was shooting for a top-five finish but to end up with a personal best and the win, I couldn’t be more thrilled.”

Lee Wesselius, who was fifth in the Canadian 10K championships yesterday, paced Middleton for the entire race. It was a successful weekend for Middleton, who will now head back to Boise with a race purse of $29,000 for winning the race and being the first Canadian to cross the finish line.

Middleton grew up in the U.S. but her mother is from Canada and her father is American. Middleton is a dual citizen and chose to compete for Canada after graduating from Oregon State University.

Thirteen women from Kenya and Ethiopia, who were on the elite list, were not able to run the marathon due to visa issues required for entering Canada. The list of women includes 2:19 marathoner Tigist Girma and 2019 Paris Marathon champion Gelete Burka from Ethiopia.

Elissa Legault of Montreal was the second woman to finish in a huge personal best time of 2:33:26. Her previous best came at the 2o21 Berlin Marathon where she ran 2:38:13. Legault negative split the final half of the race in 1:16:19 after covering the first half in 1:17:07. Katja Goldring of Flagstaff, Ariz., was the third runner to finish in 2:33:57.

Norman reigns in fierce 400m clash with record run in Eugene

USA’s Michael Norman produced the standout performance at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Eugene on Saturday (28), the 24-year-old setting a Diamond League 400m record of 43.60 to beat Grenada's Kirani James (44.02) and Matthew Hudson-Smith, who broke the British record with 44.35. 

On a cool, blustery afternoon at Hayward Field, with many outbreaks of heavy rain, Norman was one of many athletes who defied the conditions to make it another memorable edition of the Prefontaine Classic.

“I had zero expectation of what I could run today,” said Norman, who revealed he and coach Quincy Watts had gone “back to the basics” during their winter training. “Hard work and consistency with diet and training,” he said. “My motto this year has been that if it’s comfortable, it’s too easy – on the weight room or the track. Based on how I felt, there are a few areas I can improve on.”

Looking to next month’s US Championships and the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 on the same track in July, Norman said: “I’m going to train like I want to do something special, and when the time comes, the time comes.”

Kenya's Faith Kipyegon was equally peerless when taking the women’s 1500m in commanding fashion, the Olympic champion tracking chief rival Gudaf Tsegay until the final turn, at which point she blew by and came home a clear winner in a world lead and meeting record of 3:52.59. Tsegay got second in 3:54.21 with Canada’s Gabriela Debues-Stafford third in 3:58.62. “The race today gave me great morale that everything I’m doing is correct towards the World Championships – that’s my biggest fish and I hope for the best, for the gold medal,” said Kipyegon, who is “going to think about” a world record attempt at 1500m later in the summer. “I was not expecting (to run 3:52) when I saw the rain this morning, but I felt comfortable. It was good.”

USA's Ryan Crouser produced by far the standout performance in the field events, the Olympic shot put champion looking utterly peerless when launching a world-leading 23.02m effort in the second round. That left him well clear of long-time rivals Joe Kovacs (22.49m) and Tom Walsh (21.96m).

What made it more impressive is that Crouser did not use his full technique, but threw off a “static” starting position, which prior to today had never produced a 23-metre effort. Crouser said he usually throws 40-60cm farther when utilising his full technique. 

“I thought 23 was possible but I thought I’d have to get into my full (technique) to do it,” said Crouser. “My best static ever was in the 22.90s. To throw a static PR, under a heavy load, without a taper, is a really good indicator of where I can be seven or eight weeks from now.” Berihu Aregawi turned in a superb solo performance to take the men’s 5000m in a meeting record and world lead of 12:50.05, coming home well clear of fellow Ethiopians Samuel Tefera (13:06.86) and Selemon Barega (13:07.30). Aregawi swept to the front in the third kilometre after the pacers stepped aside and the Ethiopian broke clear of the field, powering through to the final laps to a rapturous reception from the crowd, which historically loves displays of fearless distance running. 

In the men’s 400m hurdles, Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos achieved another dominant performance, clocking a world-leading 47.23 to come home a distant winner ahead of USA’s Khalifah Rosser and Quincy Hall, who both clocked personal bests of 48.10. 

“I’m happy with this, but I want more, I want to go faster,” said Dos Santos. “Me and (Rai) Benjamin never win against (Karsten) Warholm, and nobody wants to lose, but it’ll be hard for us to come up against him at the World Championships and win. He is the boss, the guy to beat, and for winning the final you need to run 45 (seconds) – everyone is so strong.”

Sprint queen Elaine Thompson-Herah once again asserted her supremacy with a comfortable win in the 100m, clocking 10.79 (0.7m/s) to beat Sha’Carri Richardson, who bounced back to form with a 10.92 clocking to edge Shericka Jackson, who was third in 10.92. Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith was fourth with 10.98. 

“I’m happy to cross the line healthy and with the win,” said Thompson-Herah, who explained prior to the event that she’d been managing a niggle in training. “It got me ready for my championship in Jamaica next month.”USA’s Trayvon Bromell laid down a big marker ahead of next month’s US Championships by defeating his chief rivals in the 100m, pulling clear to take a comfortable win in 9.93 (-0.2m/s). Fred Kerley was next best with 9.98, while Christian Coleman faded from first at halfway to third at the finish, clocking 10.04 just ahead of Noah Lyles (10.05). 

"I really just wanted to come out with the win as I knew the wind was iffy today," said Bromell. "There were some technical things I wanted to do better with but I just have to go back to the drawing board and try to fix it."

Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn came from behind to score an impressive win in the 100m hurdles, a non-Diamond League event, the Puerto Rican clocking 12.45 into a slight headwind (-0.7m/s) with Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan second in 12.58 and USA’s Tonea Marshall third in 12.66. 

“It was a little sloppy,” said Camacho-Quinn. “I hit my trail leg a couple of times and that slowed me up, but I’ll take it. I went 12.4 in these conditions.”

Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was a clear winner of the women’s 200m in 22.41 (0.8m/s), with USA’s Brittany Brown second in 22.74 and Anthonique Strachan of Bahamas third in 22.76. 

Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen re-asserted his supremacy in the Bowerman Mile, the Olympic champion breaking clear with a lap to run and coming home a comfortable winner in a world lead of 3:49.76, with Australia’s Ollie Hoare second in a PB of 3:50.65 and world champion Timothy Cheruiyot third in 3:50.77. 

“It was a great race – I’m where I’m supposed to be,” said Ingebrigtsen, who will “for sure” double over 1500m and 5000m at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22. Looking towards the European Championships in Munich, he said he’d “love to do 800m, 1500m, steeplechase, 5km, 10km and marathon, but I don’t think that’s possible with the schedule.”

He will next race over 800m before competing at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Oslo on 16 June.  Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson utilised her typical sit-and-kick tactics to great effect to take the women’s 800m, the Olympic silver medallist powering clear of race leader Natoya Goule entering the home straight and holding off the late surge of world indoor champion Ajee Wilson to win in a world lead of 1:57.72, with Wilson second in 1:58.06 and Raevyn Rogers third in 1:58.44. 

Olympic champion Athing Mu was a late withdrawal after contracting Covid-19, but Hodgkinson is looking forward to renewing their rivalry in July. 

“It would have been good if she was here, but she’s going to be there at the World Champs and I’m sure we’ll have a good duel then –  I look forward to racing her,” said Hodgkinson. “I felt really good, it was a bit windy out there but there was good competition, it was a good run. I can’t complain.”

Sweden’s Khaddi Sagnia unleashed a PB of 6.95m (1.0m/s) to take victory in the women’s long jump, with Nigeria’s Ese Brume second with 6.82m and USA’s Tara Davis third with 6.73m. 

Norah Jeruto, the Kenyan-born athlete who now represents Kazakhstan, produced an impressive display to win the women’s 3000m steeplechase in 8:57.97, a world lead. Bahrain’s Winfred Mutile Yavi was close behind in second, clocking a PB of 8:58.71, while Ethiopia’s Mekides Abebe was third in 9:03.26. In the men’s 1500m, a non-Diamond League event, New Zealand’s Samuel Tanner took victory in a PB of 3:34.37 in front of Britain’s Neil Gourley, who clocked a PB of 3:34.85.

Italy’s Martina Caironi set a world record of 14.02 in the T63 women’s 100m, while in the men’s T62 400m, Germany’s Johannes Floors took the win in 48.13.  

Prefontaine Classic promises world record attempts and rich competition despite late losses

It is a measure of Eugene’s Prefontaine Classic meeting - which tomorrow forms the third stop on the Wanda Diamond League tour - that it can lose four Olympic gold medalists at late notice and still remain packed with compelling competition and world record attempts.

The arrangement of all that athletics action was altered today following forecasts of rain and high winds - likely to be blowing into the faces of the sprinters - on Saturday.

Accordingly the men's pole vault, featuring Olympic gold and silver medalists Mondo Duplantis of Sweden and Chris Nilsen of the United States, the women's discus, featuring the US Olympic champion Valarie Allman, and the women's high jump, involving Ukraine's world indoor champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh, have been moved to Friday night's programme, where world record attempts are being made over two miles and 5,000 meters.

The news that the United States' Olympic women’s 800 meters champion Athing Mu will not now race against Britain’s Tokyo 2020 silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson, and that Italy’s men’s 100m champion Marcell Jacobs will not be in a field including the man he beat to gold in Japan, home sprinter Fred Kerley, was disappointing.

Also missing from the planned line-up at the new-look Hayward Field, which will stage this year’s World Athletics Championships, are home talents Matthew Centrowitz, the Rio 2016 1500m gold medalist, Tokyo 2020 and world 400m hurdles silver medalist Rai Benjamin and double world pole vault champion Sam Kendricks.

And South Africa’s double Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya, who had planned a first top-level race since 2019, has also withdrawn.

All this means the limelight will shine all the more intensely on stellar performers such as Jamaica’s double Olympic women’s 100 and 200m champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, who runs over the shorter sprint against a field including the American who missed last year’s Olympics because of a three-month suspension after testing positive for cannabis, Sha’Carri Richardson.

Britain’s world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith, who last Saturday won the Birmingham Diamond League 100m from which Thompson-Herah had made a late withdrawal, is also in the mix, as is Switzerland’s world indoor 60m champion Mujinga Kambundji and Jamaica’s Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Shericka Jackson.

Thompson-Herah chose to make a low-key start to her outdoor season, choosing to compete in Kingston, where she clocked 10.94sec despite a strong headwind of -1.8 meters per second.

It was on this track last year that she ran 10.54, putting her second on the all-time list.

The men’s 100m is also loaded given the presence of Kerley and his fellow Americans Trayvon Bromell, who will be keen to restore normal working after his early exit in Birmingham because of a false start, world champion Christian Coleman, world 200m champion Noah Lyles and Canada’s Olympic 200m champion Andre De Grasse.

And 18-year-old Erriyon Knighton, who last year became the youngest male athlete to represent the United States since middle distance runner Jim Ryun in 1964 and missed a 200m medal by one place, will seek to break 10sec for the first time.

Knighton already tops this year’s 200m world list with his startling 19.49sec in Baton Rouge last month, which put him fourth on the all-time list.

The women’s 200m will see double Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo taking on Jamaica’s 35-year-old Beijing 2008 and London 2012 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who won world gold at this distance in 2013 and took silver at the London 2012 Olympics.

The men’s 400m will see Kirani James of Grenada, the London 2012 champion and Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist, take on home athletes including Michael Cherry, Michael Norman – a major talent currently seeking a performance to do himself justice - Vernon Norwood and Kahmari Montgomery.

The absence of Benjamin from the 400m hurdles will offer Brazil’s Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Alison Dos Santos - who beat Benjamin in the opening Diamond League meeting of the season in Doha – a perfect chance to shine,

In the women’s 100m hurdles, Puerto Rico’s Olympic champion takes on the American who took silver behind her in Tokyo, world record holder Kendra Harrison.

The traditional Friday evening distance racing in Eugene will include a women’s two miles and a women’s and men’s 5000m race.

At the latter, which will be followed by an official Diamond League 5,000m on Saturday, Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei is billed to make an attempt at breaking his own world record of 12min 35.36sec, which he ran in Monaco in August 2020.

On Saturday afternoon the majority of the rivals Cheptegei beat to win Olympic 5,000m gold in Tokyo last year will line up for the Diamond League 5.000m, where Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega of Ethiopia, Olympic 10,000m bronze medalist Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda, Olympic 5,000m silver Mohammed Ahmed of Canada and two-time Olympic 5,000m medalist Paul Chelimo of the United States are the main contenders.

Friday night will also see Ethiopia’s 24-year-old Letesenbet Gidey aiming to lower the women’s 5000m world record of 14:06.62 that she set in Valencia in October 2020.

Gidey has since lowered the women’s 10,000m world record to 29min 01.03sec and the world half marathon record to 1hr 2min 52sec.

Elsewhere on Friday, the women’s two miles will see Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, the Olympic 5,000 and 10,000m champion, facing Diamond League 5,000m champion Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi.

The latter, who was disqualified at the Tokyo 2020 Games, beat Kenya’s double Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon over 3,000m in Doha earlier this month.

The world best of 8:58.58, set by Ethiopia’s Meseret Defar in 2007, is sure to be under threat.

Saturday’s middle-distance action will be highlighted by the clash of Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and world champion Timothy Cheruiyot, who renew their rivalry in the Bowerman Mile. 

Ingebrigtsen beat Cheruiyot for the first time in the Olympic final in Tokyo last year but the Kenyan beat his Norwegian rival a few weeks later to win over 1500m at the Diamond League final in Zurich.

Both men will need to be primed, however, to beat Kenya’s Abel Kipsang, who out-kicked Cheruiyot to win in Doha recently and who backed it up with 1500m victory in Birmingham last Sunday.

Kipyegon meanwhile will take on Britain’s Tokyo 2020 silver medalist Laura Muir and Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia in the women’s 1500m.

Hodgkinson faces an 800m field that includes home runner Ajee Wilson, who took the world indoor title earlier this year.

The men’s shot put will involve the respective Tokyo 2020 gold, silver and bronze medalists Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs of the United States and New Zealand’s Tom Walsh.

Marcell Lamont Jacobs drops out of Pre Classic with injury

The 100m Olympic champion, Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs, has withdrawn from the Pre Classic in Eugene, Ore., this upcoming Saturday after straining a muscle, according to his Instagram.

Jacobs, who pulled off an upset in last year’s Olympic final over Fred Kerley and Andre De Grasse, strained a muscle in his glute during his season opener in Savona, Italy. Despite the strain, he won the race in 10.04 seconds.

According to his post, he underwent an MRI after suffering the strain, which showed a distraction-elongation of the first degree. Jacobs was ordered to stop running for 10 days.

Jacobs was scheduled to face a stellar field in Eugene. Among those set to line up are the other medallists from the Tokyo final, Kerley and De Grasse (who finished third before going on to be crowned the Olympic 200m champion), and the reigning world champion, Christian Coleman, who was second to Jacobs in the 60m at World Indoors in March.

This is the second time Jacobs has pulled out of a meet this season; he also pulled out of the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi, Kenya, in early May, citing intestinal problems before the race.

The 27-year-old plans to return to the track on June 9, as the Diamond League makes a stop in Rome.

The Pre Classic is the third stop on the 2022 Diamond League schedule, set to take place on May 27-28 from Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., the home of the 2022 World Championships. Pre Classic action will kick off on Friday evening, with most of the track events taking place on Saturday afternoon. All races will be aired live on CBC Sports.

Reigning Champ Ed Cheserek defends his title winning again at the Carlsbad 5000

More than 6,000 runners and joggers raced along a traffic-free Pacific Coast Highway 101 Sunday for the Carlsbad 5000, returning after its pandemic pause.

Reigning champion Ed Cheserek of Kenya won again – just barely – with a time of 13:44.

“I’m excited to return to the Carlsbad 5000,” Cheserek said before the race. “Last time in 2019 was a lot of fun and after everything our running community has been through since then, I’m really looking forward to being back at the beach in sunny Southern California.”

Reid Buchanan of San Diego trailed Cheserek by just one second, in the men’s elite, in 13:45, followed by Jack Bruce of Australia.

In the women’s elite, Biruktayit Degefa of Ethiopia won with a time of 15:29. Dominique Scott of South Africa followed in 15:48, with Carina Viljoen, also of South Africa, taking third in 16:00.

The Carlsbad 5000 is renowned as “The World’s Fastest 5K,” with 16 world records having been set there, plus a slew of national records and age group bests.

Olympic gold medalists Tirunesh Dibaba, Meseret Defar and Eliud Kipchoge have run Carlsbad, along with U.S. Olympic medalists Deena Kastor and Meb Keflezighi.

Keflezighi, the San Diego High product and only male runner in history to win both the Boston and New York City marathons, plus an Olympic medal, now co-owns the event.

The race was first held in 1986; this was the 36th edition. Another plus – the race fits well on runners’ calendars, with the elite athletes being in peak fitness after running the World Cross Country Championships.

It may have been three years since the Carlsbad 5000 was held live (there was a virtual race in 2020), but the elements that characterize the race were back – the left-hand, downhill turn onto Carlsbad Village Drive, the sprint to the finish, and the ocean views along the way.

Eilish McColgan sets British and European 10k record at Great Manchester Run

Eilish McColgan set a British and European 10km record as she finished runner-up at the Great Manchester Run.

Dundee's McColgan, 31, took two seconds off Paula Radcliffe's mark from 2003 with a time of 30 minutes 19 seconds, four seconds behind Hellen Obiri.

Obiri's fellow Kenyans Ruth Chepngetich (30:29) and Sharon Lokedi (31:05) were third and fourth.

Charlotte Purdue was seventh (32:55) with fellow Briton Steph Twell (33:12) eighth.

The men's race was won by New Zealand's Jake Robertson in 28:06, ahead of Australian Jack Reyner, with Liverpool's Abdulqani Sharif in fifth place.

More than 20,000 racers took part, with applause before the start for the 22 victims of the 2017 Manchester Arena terror attack, on its fifth anniversary.

2022 Carlsbad 5000 Announces Its Elite Field

eigning champion and 17-time NCAA All-American Edward Cheserek headlines men’s race; Olympians Kim Conley and Dom Scott lead women’s elite fields

36-Year Southern California Running Tradition Returns with over 6,000 runners on Sunday, May 22

One by one, America’s most famous road races have returned after being waylaid by COVID. The Boston Marathon, Peachtree Road Race, New York City Marathon.

Familiar images unfolded. Runners excitedly talked to friends and strangers in corrals. Spectators delivering high-fives. Medals draped around necks.

Bolder Boulder, Bay to Breakers, the Los Angeles Marathon.

Come Sunday, the last of the United States’ iconic road races returns after a three-year pandemic hiatus when the Carlsbad 5000 presented by National University celebrates its 36th running. Over 6,000 runners and joggers will enjoy the splash of the surf and clean salt air along the traffic-free Pacific Coast Highway 101, then sipping brews in the Pizza Port Beer Garden.

“I’m excited to return to the Carlsbad 5000,” said reigning champion Ed Cheserek of Kenya. “Last time in 2019 was a lot of fun and after everything our running community has been through since then, I’m really looking forward to being back at the beach in sunny Southern California.”

The Carlsbad 5000 is renowned as “The World’s Fastest 5K” and the moniker was earned.

Sixteen world records have been set on the seaside course, plus a slew of national records and age group bests. Olympic gold medalists Tirunesh Dibaba, Meseret Defar and Eliud Kipchoge have run Carlsbad.

So have U.S. Olympic medalists Deena Kastor and Meb Keflezighi. Keflezighi, the San Diego High product and only male runner in history to win the Boston and New York City marathons, plus an Olympic medal, is now co-owner of the race.

“The San Diego community is very proud of the fact that Carlsbad hosts the world’s most famous 5k race,” said San Diego Track Club coach Paul Greer, a former sub-4-minute miler. “We’re proud of the race. And local runners are endeared by the fact that Meb is involved in the event because he’s one of our own.”

Many people deserve credit for the Carlsbad 5000’s success. Chief among them are Tim Murphy, the race’s creator, Steve Scott, the former American mile record holder who designed the course, and the late Mike Long, the beloved man who built relationships with African athletes and recruited them.

When the race was first held in 1986, the 10K and marathon were road racing’s popular distances. The 5K was considered a casual fun run.

“That’s how innovative Tim was,” said Scott. “He was going to start something when there wasn’t anything there.”

Scott not only designed the course. He won the first three races.

Another plus for The ’Bad: the race fell perfectly on the calendar, with the elite runners being in peak fitness after running the World Cross Country Championships.

“The world records were produced by the quality of the fields and the expectations of running fast,” said road racing historian and announcer Toni Reavis.

It may have been three years since the Carlsbad 5000 was held live (there was a virtual race in 2020), but all the charms will be back Sunday. The custom beer garden IPAs, the ocean views, the left-hand, downhill turn onto Carlsbad Village Drive, and the sprint to the finish.

The race’s official charity is the Lucky Duck Foundation, a local non-profit dedicated to fighting homelessness in San Diego County.

“Homelessness is San Diego’s number one social issue right now, and I couldn’t be prouder to partner with Lucky Duck Foundation as an official charity of the Carlsbad 5000,” said Keflezighi.

As in the past, the Carlsbad 5000 will feature a series of age-group races, starting with the Men’s Masters at 6:55 am, the Women’s Masters at 8:00 am, Open Men at 9:15 am, Open Women at 10:08 am, Junior Carlsbad Kids Mile at 11:20 am, Junior Carlsbad Kids Half-Mile at 12:13 pm, Elite Men at 1:20 pm and Elite Women at 1:23 pm.

The morning-long races create a cheering audience for the pros.

“That’s the other thing that made the elites run fast,” said Reavis. “The crowds.”

So after a three-year pause, the Carlsbad 5000 is back. For why the race continues to maintain its iconic appeal, Reavis said, “It’s those ocean breezes, the lapping waves, the laid-back lifestyle. It is perfect for this little Southern California town which gets transformed into a race course.”

For a complete race day schedule and more, visit Carsbad5000.com.

— Elite Rosters Follow —

Elite Men

Bib Number , Name, Country, Career Highlight, Birthday

1. Edward Cheserek, KENYA, Defending Champion . 17x NCAA Champion, 02/02/1994

2. Kasey Knevelbaad, USA – Flagstaff, 13:24.98 5000M(i) Personal Best,  09/02/1996

3. Reid Buchanan, USA – Mammoth, 2019 Pan American Games 10,000m Silver, 02/03/1993

4. Jose Santana Marin, MEXICO, 2019 Pan American Marathon Silver Medal, 09/03/1989

5. Eben Mosip, KENYA, Road 5k Debut, 12/31/2002

6. James Hunt, GREAT BRITAIN, 4-time Welsh Champion, 04/28/1996

7. Dennis Kipkosgei, Kenya, 2021 Philadelphia Broad Street 10 Miler Champion, 12/20/1994

8. Sean Robertson, USA, Butler University Athlete, 09/16/2001

9. Tate Schienbein, USA – Portland, 2013 U.S. Junior Steeplechase Champion, 04/04/1994

10. Hosava Kretzmann, USA – Flagstaff, AZ, 14:15 5000m PB, 09/02/1994

11. Dylan Belles, USA – Flagstaff, AZ, 2X Olympic Trials Qualifier, 05/16/1993

12. Dylan Marx, USA, San Diego’s Fastest Marathoner, 01/14/1992

13. Steven Martinez, USA – Chula Vista, 2x U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifier, 09/15/1994

14. Spencer Johnson, USA – San Diego,  14:39.09 (2022 Oxy Distance Carnival), 03/20/1995

15. August Pappas, USA – San Diego, 14:05 PB, Big Ten Indoor Track Champs, 04/10/1993

16. Dillon Breen, USA – San Diego, 14:43 Virtual Carlsbad 2020, 09/01/1992

17. Dante Capone, USA – San Diego, Phd Student at Scripps Institute, 11/07/1996

18. Jack Bruce, AUSTRALIA, 13:28.57 5000m Best on Track, 08/31/1994

Elite Women

Bib Number , Name, Country, Career, Highlight, Birthday

20. Kim Conley, USA, One of America’s best 5000m runners, 03/14/1986

21. Dominique Scott, SOUTH AFRICA, Two-time Olympian, 05/24/1992

22. Grace Barnett, USA – Mammoth, Silver at 2021 USATF 5k Championships, 05/29/1995

23. Carina Viljoen SOUTH AFRICA, 5k Road Racing Debut, 04/15/1997

24. Ayla Granados, USA – Castro Valley, 15:53 Personal best, 09/18/1991

25. Biruktayit Degefa, ETHIOPIA, 2022 Crescent City 10k Champion, 09/09/1990

26. Andrea Ramirez Limon, MEXICO, 2021 National 10000m Champion, 11/05/1992

27. Claire Green, USA – San Francisco, NCAA All-American, 05/12/1996

28. Caren Maiyo, KENYA, 5k Road Debut. 7th At 2022 Houston Half Marathon, 04/17/1997

29. Nina Zarina, RUSSIA, California resident, 3rd at the 2021 LA Marathon, 03/17/1987

30. Emily Gallin, USA – Malibu, Finished 4th 2022 LA Marathon, 10/30/1984

31. Lauren Floris, – USA – Oak Park, 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifier, 07/07/1990

32. Sara Mostatabi, USA – Los Angeles, 09/27/1993

33. Ashley Maton, – USA – Toledo,    16.37 PR at U.S. Road 5k Championships, 11/20/1993

34. Judy Cherotich. KENYA, 16:50 PR

35. Lindsey Sickler, USA – Reno, 16:59 PR, 09/05/1997

36. Megan Cunningham, USA – Flagstaff, 15:53 Track Best 5000M, 03/01/1995

37. Jeannette Mathieu, USA – San Francisco, 2020 Olympic Trials Qualifier, 04/19/1990

38. Bre Guzman, USA – San Diego, 17:37 5k/ 36:00 Road 10k PR, 10/30/1992

39. Aubrey Martin, USA – San Diego, 17:33 5k /1:19 Half Personal Best, 10/10/1997

40. Chloe Gustafson, USA – San Diego, Division II – NCAA All-American, 11/10/1992

41. Sammi Groce, USA – San Diego, 2021 Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Winner, 04/29/1994

42. Kristi Gayagoy, USA – San Diego, 17:06 PR

43. Annie Roberts, USA – San Diego, 16:58 5k, 07/10/1996

44. Alexa Yatauro, USA – San Diego, 17:40 5k, 10/18/1995

45. Jessica Watychowicz, USA – Colorado Springs, 15:47.51 5000m Track PB, 02/27/1991

About the Carlsbad 5000

The Carlsbad 5000 annually attracts amateur, competitive and professional runners from around the world. The 36th running of the iconic race will take place on the weekend of May 21-22, 2021. The inaugural 1986 event helped establish the 5K as a standard road running distance, and today, the 5K is the most popular distance in the United States. Throughout its history, the Carlsbad 5000 has seen 16 World records and eight U.S. records, as well as numerous national and age group marks.  Race day begins at 7:00 am with the Masters Men (40 years old and over), the first of seven races to take place on Sunday. The “Party by the Sea” gets started as soon as the first runners cross the finish line with participants 21 and older celebrating in the Pizza Port beer garden with two complimentary craft brews and runners of all ages rocking out to live music on the streets of the Carlsbad Village. Further information about the Carlsbad 5000 can be found online at Carlsbad5000.com and on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Hellen Obiri and Eilish McColgan will renew rivalry at the Great Manchester run

Last September Hellen Obiri beat Eilish McColgan by six seconds in the Great North Run and this Sunday (May 22) the duo renew their rivalry over the shorter distance of 10km at the Great Manchester Run.

McColgan has been in brilliant form, with a UK 5km record at the start of this month followed by victory in the Vitality London 10,000 where she missed Paula Radcliffe’s British record of 30:21 by only two seconds.

Obiri’s achievements make her the athlete to beat, though. As well as winning two world 5000m titles on the track, the Kenyan is the reigning Commonwealth 5000m champion and world cross-country gold medalist.

McColgan chose to give last week’s Night of the 10,000m PBs in London a miss in order to focus on training in the French Pyrenees. She will hope to push Obiri close again but the quality fields assembled for Manchester mean this won’t just be a two-horse race.

Ruth Chepnegetich defied horrendous heat and humidity to win the world marathon title in Doha in 2019 and the Kenyan has clocked 64:02 for the half-marathon, which was a world record when she ran it 13 months ago but has since been beaten by Letesenbet Gidey.

Sara Hall of the United States will be familiar to British fans after her runner-up performance at the 2020 London Marathon. She also held the US half-marathon record until recently, has a marathon best of 2:20:32 and is looking for a strong run in Manchester on Sunday.

Gerda Steyn, the South African ultra-marathon specialist, is also set to test her speed over 10km.

In addition to McColgan there are of course a number of other Brits in the elite women’s race. They include Jess Piasecki, the Stockport Harriers athlete who went No.2 on the UK all-time marathon rankings earlier this year with 2:22:27.

Steph Twell, the Tokyo Olympic marathon runner, is racing in Manchester ahead of the European Cup 10,000m in France a few days later.

After finishing ninth in the Boston Marathon in 2:25:26 in April, Charlotte Purdue also lines up in Manchester. Look out, too, for Lauren Heyes, Lily Partridge and Calli Thackery, the latter of whom is also racing at the Diamond League in Birmingham 24 hours earlier.

Like Thackery, Stewart McSweyn is also racing in Birmingham the day before the Manchester event as he continues to try to race himself into shape following a bout of Covid. He is joined by fellow Australian Jack Rayner plus New Zealand brothers Jake and Zane Robertson and Spaniard Antonio Abadia in the men’s 10km.

Sadly Mo Farah pulled out of the event following his under-par run at the Vitality London 10,000 earlier this month. But the winner that day, Ellis Cross, is set to race in Manchester and all eyes will be on him to see if he can repeat his form.

Mo Aadan, the Brit who finished third at the Vitality London 10,000, is in Manchester too. Further British contenders, meanwhile, include Ben Connor, Chris Thompson, Adam Craig, Josh Griffiths, Ross Millington, Phil Sesemann and Andrew Heyes.

Only five seconds separated the top three at KATA 10K Time Trial

Sibling rivalry and Excitement marked the May Kenyan Athletics Training Academy (KATA) 10k Time Trial with elite athletes fighting hard to keep their positions.

The event, the 9th since the inception of KATA, was a motivating factor for all those who posted their personal records during the trials that took place on Wednesday May 18 in Thika Kenya.  

However, Peter Wanyoike and Zakariah Kirika were unstoppable as they fought tooth and nail to keep their top positions three times in a row.

Doing the trial a week after running his local marathon in Kenya, Wanyoike led Kirika to a 1-2 finish with Eston Mugo finishing third after recovery from an Injury.

Though the top two could not better their previous times, it was a relief for all the rest after knocking down several minutes and second from their previous times.

Wanyoike, who ran 2:25.04 ten days ago, registered 30:01.3 while his avid rival, who also ran 30:04, maintained 30:02.4 to keep his runners-up position.

Eston Mugo was shade over 30 minutes to click 30:06.3 from his April’s 33:22.1 with the all the rest attaining their Personal Best times during the trial that were held under cloudy weather.

60-year-old Charles Ndirangu clocked a fine 36:13.  

The next KATA 10k Time Trial will be held on June 15th with better times being anticipated on the same course.  Runners of all abilities are welcome to compete.  

Names                       BIB       Age    Gender    Time            April Time

1. Peter Wanyoike     213       26         M           30:01.3       (29:53.7 April time)

2. Zakaria Kirika          237       21         M            30:02.4      (29:54.4)

3. Eston Mugo           224       26        M           30:06.3       (33:22.1)

4. Erick Mutuku          216       20        M           30:14.7       (31:41.3)

5. Raphael Gacheru   233        22        M           31:35.9       (32:28.4)

6. Fredrick Kiprotich  79          23        M            31:41.5       - - --

7. Nicholas Kitundu    80         22        M              32:06.9      ------          

8. Boniface Mungai   235        23        M             32:30.5     (33:05.6)

9. Levis Kuria             214       21        M             33:04.5     (33:11.6)

10. Charles Ndirangu 82         60       M              36:13.2      ------

11. Samuel Muiruri    68         27        M              36:55.7     (42:30.8)

12. Peter Mukundi     71         25        M              39:16.5     New

13. Caren Chepkemoi 127    19        M           42:06.      (42:30.5)

14. Susan Njeri             76      36         M              45:11.9    (45:30.2)

Kenya’s Irene Cheptai and Nicholas Kipkori break course records in Bengaluru

Irene Cheptai and Nicholas Kipkorir Kimeli ran course records of 30:35 and 27:38 respectively at the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) World 10K Bengaluru 2022 – a World Athletics Elite Label road race – on Sunday (15).

Cheptai took 44 seconds off the women’s course record which had stood to the late Agnes Tirop at 31:19 since 2018.

After a super-fast opening two kilometers of 3:02 and 3:04, a quick time was always likely and the race was soon down to just three women at the front: Cheptai, two-time world 5000m champion Hellen Obiri and fellow Kenyan Joyce Tele.

Tele started to lose contact with her compatriots in the fifth kilometer before Obriri, pushing the pace with Cheptai running in her slipstream, passed the halfway point in 15:15.

Obiri led the race for the next two kilometers, going through 6km in 18:23 and 7km in 21:32, before Cheptai took her turn to push at the front for a kilometer as Obiri briefly went through a bad patch. However, Obiri soon recovered her poise and regained the lead just after embarking on the penultimate kilometer.

The Kenyan pair carried on their enthralling head-to-head battle, but with just 250 meters to go Cheptai darted past Obiri and was never headed before crossing the line in a personal best of 30:35, her first time inside 31 minutes.

Obiri eased off once she knew the race was lost but still came home in an outstanding 30:44, also inside Tirop’s former course record, while Tele was a distant third in 31:47 to complete an all-Kenyan podium.

“When we raced through an inclined patch on the route [just after 7km], I felt like Hellen’s pace reduced, that’s when I tried harder to take lead,” said Cheptai. “But even when I entered the stadium for the final lap, I was fearing Hellen and kept pushing my speed to win.”

The men’s race unfolded in a very different fashion to the women’s. Kipkorir Kimeli, fourth in the Olympic 5000m final last year, took the lead with a kilometer to go and pulled away from Ethiopia’s world U20 10,000m champion Tadese Worku to reduce the men’s course record by six seconds from the previous mark set by his compatriot Geoffrey Kamworor in 2014.

The race started off in an unusual manner with Kenya’s Reynold Kipkorir – who was to eventually finish ninth – out on his own for much of the first 5km, passing the halfway point in 14:00 with the rest of the elite field staying about 70 meters in arrears.

However, shortly after going through 5km, Worku changed gear and started to rapidly tow the leading men back to Kipkorir before going past him just before the 6km point and then increasing the pace further.

Kipkorir Kimeli continued running just behind Worku for the next three kilometers, letting his Ethiopian rival do all the hard work as the pair gradually got back on to course record pace as they also put daylight between themselves and the rest of the men’s field.

Worku still looked fresh as they reached the final kilometer but could not respond when Kipkorir Kimeli took the lead, with the latter almost sprinting like a middle-distance runner over the final 300 meters as the finish line approached in Bengaluru’s Sree Kanteerava Stadium.

Kipkorir Kimeli crossed the line in 27:38 with Worku also inside the old record with 27:43 while the Kenyan pre-race favorite, and former world half marathon record-holder, Kibiwott Kandie made up three places in the final two kilometers and came through for third in 27:57.

By contrast, Ethiopia’s two-time world 5000m champion Muktar Edris was never in contention for the podium and finished back in seventh.

“Honestly, I was not expecting to get the course record,” said Kipkorir Kimeli. “When we reached 5K, we didn’t think we will get the course record, in fact, even when we crossed the 7K-mark, I didn’t think we will make the record. But only when Worku pushed ahead, I picked up pace towards the end.”

Marathon records in Copenhagen

There are new record holders for both men and women after the 2022 edition of the Copenhagen Marathon.

Berhane Tsegay from Eritrea can call himself the new holder of the record time in the Copenhagen Marathon for men.

On Sunday morning, he covered the 42,195 kilometers in the streets of Copenhagen in a time of 2 hours, 8 minutes and 21 seconds. When he crossed the finish line at Islands Brygge, he was thus over a minute and a half faster than the previous race record in the Danish capital.

Number two, three, four and five also finished in times that were faster than Jackson Limo's winning time from 2019.

Five minutes cut off the women's record

Also in the women there is a new holder of the race record.

Just over a quarter of an hour after the men's winner had crossed the finish line, Kenyan Hela Kiprob ran over it as the first woman. With a time of 2 hours, 24 minutes and 10 seconds, she cut a full five minutes off the previous record.

Among other things, this was the result of a flat route and good weather conditions.

Although it was not completely windless in the streets of Copenhagen, the many runners could enjoy pleasant conditions. At the start of the race, the temperature was just below 15 degrees, while along the way it managed to rise a few degrees in the almost cloudless capital.

This is the first time in three years that the race was held. In 2020 and 2021, the corona pandemic prevented the race from being implemented.

With four kilometers left of the men's race, six runners were within a few steps, but Tsegay timed his attack perfectly and was able to run solo over the finish line after giving himself time to wave to the spectators on the run.

A total of 11,295 people had signed up for the race, but according to the race's website, only 9026 runners competed.

How Jo Schoonbroodt smashed the world 70 plus marathon record

At an age where many of his contemporaries are winding down, the man they call the Grey Kenyan is somehow speeding up. On Sunday Jo Schoonbroodt, a 71-year-old from Maastricht, ran a marathon in a staggering 2hr 54min 19sec to become the fastest septuagenarian in history.

A few days later, when the Guardian catches up with him, his achievement is still sinking in. “I only started jogging at 36 because my doctor told me I had high cholesterol,” he says, chuckling. “But last year I ran 7,242 kilometres [4,450 miles], which is more than double what I did in my car.”

It also turns out that Schoonbroodt’s new 70+ world record, set at the Maasmarathon of Visé in Belgium, was inspired partly by an unlikely source: the Flemish crooner Eddy Wally. With a few miles remaining, he knew he was just ahead of the previous best, set by Gene Dyckes in 2018, because a friend was following him on his bike and barking out his lap times. But his legs were starting to get heavier.

“However, my friend had a special trick to keep me on track,” says Schoonbroodt, who was wearing a yellow and blue kit in support of Ukraine. “He picked up his phone and put Eddy Wally’s song Chérie, Chérie on repeat. I’ve always loved it, I don’t know why. It gave me a boost in morale. I overtook one runner after another and, despite getting cramp in the final 500m, I was able to break the record by four seconds.”

Incredibly it was Schoonbroodt’s 75th sub-three-hour marathon, and it came only four weeks after his 74th at the Rotterdam marathon. For good measure, the flying Dutchman also holds a number of ultra running records. He is clearly no ordinary Jo. But the secrets of his success might surprise you.

“Most runners train too hard. I do a lot of my training with groups who run very slowly. And then I build on these basics with some faster interval training. But I don’t do the same stupid distance 10 or 20 times – I prefer to have a lot of fun with my running.”

Schoonbroodt often runs at nine- or 10-minute mile pace, far slower than the 6:38min miles he ran for 26.2 miles to set his world record, but he says the crucial thing is he listens to his body. “A lot of people follow a training plan or coach and push on even when their body is saying: ‘No, this is not a good day to do it.’ But if you go out the door and just do what you feel, it’s easier to keep running and stay injury-free.”

He also dismisses the idea that runners need to do anything special with their diets. “Diet? No, no,” he scoffs. “No diet! I eat double portions, of course, with all these calories I burn. I love pasta and potatoes. But whatever is on the table, I eat it.”

He has a similarly relaxed attitude when it comes to alcohol. “I prefer the French wine and the Belgian beer. Not too much, and mostly on weekends. Wine is just a grape drink, so it’s made from nature. And Belgian beer is special. And if you do all this with your body,” he adds, referring to the 85 miles he still runs each week, “you need to give it something back. And this is what I give back to the body!”

Schoonbrot is a former IT worker and can tell the exact day he started running – 1 January 1986 – and how many kilometres – 120,000 – he has done since. But he stresses he was no natural. At first people called him Jogger Jo, because he was slow. Nowadays he gets called the Grey Kenyan – a nickname given to him years ago by a race announcer as he blasted past athletes a third of his age.

Being a late bloomer, he believes, has actually helped him because his ego never had to worry about chasing faster times of his youth. “Because I started so late, I missed my best years. But that’s no problem. Everything is still new to me.”

Schoonbroodt also cites the new range of carbon-plated “super shoes”, which have swept the running world over the past five years, as a key factor. On Sunday he ran in the Asics Metapeed Sky, and has been an ambassador for the Japanese company for the past four years, preaching the positive benefits of exercise to sceptics and lapsed practitioners.

But while Schoonbrodt’s achievements are exceptional, he is not the only old master to defy conventional wisdom. Several men older than 70 have run a sub-three-hour marathon – the first of whom, Ed Whitlock, who died in 2017, also ran a 3:15 marathon after turning 80.

So what might explain this phenomenon? John Brewer, a sports scientist at the University of the West of Scotland, points out that while we experience a 10% decline in muscle mass every decade as we age, the decline isn’t as sharp for endurance. “The scientific evidence shows that you can maintain your aerobic capacity – your Vo2 max – very effectively into old age,” he says.

“And if you look at where we are now compared to 40 years ago, the advances in nutrition, sports science, recovery and technology, all mean that it is more feasible for people in their 60s and 70s to produce good performance if they follow the right training.”

Brewer, who was also part of England’s backroom staff for the 1990 World Cup, says Schoonbrodt’s story carries another message – that it is never too late. “People think they can’t turn it around after years of no exercise or poor diets,” he says. “Well, actually you can.”

Schoonbroodt, meanwhile, has no plans to put his feet up. “My next marathon is in two and a half weeks, on an old Roman road built 2,000 years ago,” he says, the excitement obvious. It will be his fifth in 2022. And with that he is off. After all, the quest for a 76th sub-three-hour marathon waits for no man. Not even one who is 71.