Running News Daily
Top Ten Stories of the Week
8/22/2020
These are the top ten stories based on views over the last week.
2019 Paris Half Marathon champion Antonina Kwambai says that she is ready for Valencia Marathon
Following a successful return of athletics at the Monaco Diamond League on Friday, Taipei Marathon champion Antonina Kwambai is hopeful her return will be as epic when the Valencia Marathon goes down in the Spanish city on December 8.
The 2019 Paris Half Marathon champion said she has undergoing rigorous training ahead of the race, hoping to lower her personal best time in what she calls a fast course.
Kwambai has a personal best time of 2:27.43 clocked while finishing second at the 2019 Warsaw Marathon and remains optimistic that the coronavirus pandemic health situation will have improved by the time she heads to Europe.
This will be her third marathon race after Warsaw and Taipei.
“I have fully resumed training in readiness for the Valencia Marathon, targeting a sub-2:23 time," said Kwambai.
When the first COVID-29 case in the country was announced in March, Kwambai was preparing for a trip to the United States of America to run at the Los Angeles Marathon but as fate would have it, the government introduced restrictions which meant she could not fly out.
“First, I was told there was a delay at the airport and later I was told that the race had been cancelled. I was disappointed because I had done all that was needed to travel to the USA but I had to accept the decisions made by the authorities since people's health,” added Kwambai, the 2018 Lille Half marathon.
“After missing out at the outing, I did not lose hope but maintained my training under manager Renato Canova with coach John Litein ensuring that I follow the program to the later,” said Kwambai, who had ran 21 half marathons across the world before taking onto the full marathon.
After signing with Renato, she says she expects to register good results. On Sunday, she was on the training track with an easy run and fitness routines.
“I have done well in half marathons with a personal best of 67:49 set at the Roma Austria half marathon and I have a 10,000m PB of 31:02 set at the Valencia Track and Field Championships,” she said.
Apart from the international races, she finished third at the 2018 Eldoret Family Bank Half Marathon, finished third at the Kabarnet 10km race and second at the inaugural Rimoi Half Marathon last year.
(08/17/20) Views: 59Emmanuel Sabuni
Lynn Rathjen of Grand Island broke the American age-group record in the mile August 9th
Lynn Rathjen, a high school cross-country coach and retired physical therapist in Grand Island, Nebraska, has been running consistently for the past 40 years. But he didn’t give a whole lot of thought to setting age-group records until his son, Andrew, looked them up.
As Rathjen was approaching a new age category—he turned 75 in January—a few marks suddenly looked attainable. He signed up for the USATF indoor and outdoor masters championships, with the goal of gunning down some fast times.
Then COVID-19 intervened, canceling the races Rathjen had targeted. But on August 9, at the socially distanced Lincoln Mile in Nebraska, he got his shot—and set an American 75–79 record for the road mile, running 5:59.18.
Rathjen took more than 17 seconds off the previous record, 6:17, set by multi-time masters champion Doug Goodhue in 2017. Rathjen ran mostly evenly, he said, hitting 3:00 for the half-mile split, slowing slightly on his third quarter, and finishing strong.
“I had a good sprint at the end,” he said, “and I could see the overhead big clock, which was a motivator in getting under 6:00.”
Rathjen was a strong high school runner, but he gave up the sport until he was about 35. Since then, he’s been running consistently, but never with high mileage—he rarely exceeds 20 miles per week in an effort to preserve his good health. In his practice as a physical therapist, he saw many runners who progressed too quickly from beginners to the marathon over the course of a year or two, before sidelining themselves with debilitating injuries.
Runners in their 70s who stick to the track and shorter distances on the roads continue to rewrite the American age-group records books. It’s not just the celebrity marathoners, like Gene Dykes and Jeannie Rice, who are lowering times; athletes like Patton, Goodhue, and Paul Perry, who earlier this year ran fast times indoor times for the 3,000 meters and mile at the Armory in New York, are finding success as well.
(08/15/20) Views: 57Sarah Lorge Butler
Ohme Road Race to skip 2021 due to the coronavirus crisis
The organizers of the Ohme 30 km Road Race have announced that next year’s 55th edition scheduled for 21 February will not be held, with the next planned running bumped back one year.
Organizers cited the difficulty of ensuring safety and security during the ongoing coronavirus crisis. “We have carefully discussed the situation with the different organizations involved, but given the nature of a large-scale event with 20,000 participants we decided that it would not be possible to do it in a safe and secure way at this point,” they explained. The Ohme-Hochi event is the largest 30km race in the world.
The 2020 event was held in February amid concerns that it should be cancelled in the midst of the initial spread of the coronavirus in Tokyo, but with measures including the use of masks and disinfectants and a ban on high-fiving it was held without incident.
One of Japan’s most popular races, Ohme joins the Marugame Half Marathon, the Kumanichi 30 km, and six Japanese marathons with fields of over 8000 in already cancelling next year’s race. Ohme was previously cancelled in 1996, 2008 and 2014 – all due to heavy snow.
(08/15/20) Views: 55Brett Larner
Almost 10,000 participants are expected in the New Balance Falmouth Road Race At-Home Edition Kicks Off on Saturday
Almost 10,000 participants are expected in the New Balance Falmouth Road Race At-Home Edition, which begins Saturday – the birthday of late race founder Tommy Leonard – and continues through August 29.
As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, 9,482 people had registered, from 45 states plus the District of Columbia and nine countries – England, Ireland, Canada, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Australia and Spain as well as the U.S.
“Although the road from Woods Hole to Falmouth Heights will be quiet this year, being able to share our race with those who otherwise might not get to experience the Falmouth spirit is definitely a plus,” said Scott Ghelfi, president of the Falmouth Road Race, Inc. board of directors.
Among those entered are 719 families of three or four, and 45 wheelchair athletes. The oldest registrant is 97-year-old Helen Richards, of Coral Gables, Florida, who is running for The Boston House, a nonprofit. As of Wednesday, the 1,629 participants in the race’s Numbers for Nonprofits Program had already raised $1.2 million for Massachusetts-based charities.
“We’re especially proud to be able to continue helping nonprofits in these difficult times, when other fund-raising avenues have narrowed even as the needs have grown,” said Ghelfi.
Wearing Bib #1, which is usually awarded to either the defending champion or the fastest pro runner in the field, this year will be worn by Phil Svahn of Austin, Texas, for being the top fund-raiser in the race’s Numbers for Nonprofits Program. Svahn has raised $7,850 for the Glen Doherty Memorial Foundation.
Also taking part in the At-Home Edition will be Ben Flanagan, the 2018 New Balance Falmouth Road Race champion; Abdi Abdirahman, a five-time Olympian and longtime Falmouth competitor; Diane Nukuri, the 2015 Falmouth champion and a fan favorite here; and Molly Seidel, who recently made the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team. The four will also square off in a Zoom scavenger hunt.
And on August 23 at 10 a.m. EDT, wheelchair athletes will participate in an event to be streamed on Facebook Live. Details on both the scavenger hunt and wheelchair event will be announced soon.
The 48th running of the New Balance Falmouth Road Race will be celebrated as a virtual event beginning on Saturday and concluding on August 29, with runners covering 7 miles in their own neighborhoods any time in that period. Registration will be available at falmouthroadrace.com throughout the event.
(08/14/20) Views: 51
European champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen from Norway set his second European record of the season in the 1500m with 3:28.68 in the Monaco Diamond League on Friday
After breaking the European 2000m record with 4:50.01 at the Impossible Games in Oslo where he had the advantage of being paced by his brothers, Ingebrigtsen was racing against not only his older brother Filip but also the reigning world champion Timothy Cheruiyot from Kenya who was decisively beaten by the Ingebrigtsens in the virtual head-to-head clash between Oslo and Nairobi.
Aided by his training partners who were acting as his pacemakers, Cheruiyot blazed through the early stages in an unfathomably fast pace on his unofficial season’s debut. These exertions appeared to be catching up on the world champion as the pack closed up on Cheruiyot at the bell with Ingebrigtsen looming into view and Great Britain’s Jake Wightman also rounding into contention.
Ingebrigtsen was in position to strike off the final bend but the forward-leaning Cheruiyot kicked away again, holding the Norwegian off to win in a world leading 3:28.45 after an overly exuberant first 400 meters of 52.59. In contrast Ingebrigtsen ran a much more steady paced race and was rewarded with a phenomenally fast time of 3:28.68.
Ingebrigtsen’s time eclipsed Mo Farah’s European record of 3:28.81 which was set in the same stadium seven years ago and the teenager moves to eighth on the world all-time list which is still headed by Hicham El Guerrouj’s world record of 3:26.00.
“I felt like I kept the same pace...going from 3:30 to 3:28 it's double the achievement. It's crazy,” said Ingebrigtsen whose previous lifetime best stood at 3:30.16.
Ingebrigtsen was gearing up for not only his Olympic debut in Tokyo as well as the now-cancelled European Championships in Paris where more continental honors must have surely beckoned. Despite the decimation of the summer calendar due to the coronavirus pandemic, motivation has by no means been lacking for the ebullient and popular Norwegian.
“This year I have been doing every session, I never skipped a single one because I was very motivated after Doha. That's why I can run this fast. It's unbelievable to run this fast in one race. It's one shot, one chance,” he said.
The Stade Louis II Stadium is the foremost venue for middle distance runners searching for fast times. Behind Ingebrigtsen, Wightman moved to fourth on the European all-time list - ahead of both Sebastian Coe (3:29.77) and Steve Cram (3:29.67) among others - with a marvelous lifetime best of 3:29.47.
Filip Ingebrigtsen, who had to concede the family record of 3:30.01 to Jakob tonight, almost matched his lifetime best with 3:30.35 in fourth. Reigning European indoor champion Marcin Lewandowski from Poland was seventh in 3:33.99.
(08/15/20) Views: 48
16-Year-Old Rheinhardt Harrison Runs 4:01.34 At Music City Distance Carnival
Rheinhardt Harrison's kick is no secret.
Over the past few seasons in Florida and beyond, the Nease (FL) High School student-athlete has built a strong tradition on finishing hard across a variety of distances.
But on Saturday night in Nashville, Tennessee, the 16-year-old athlete took that strength to a new level, accomplishing an incredible milestone as he scored a new sophomore class record in the full mile with an official time of 4:01.34 at the Music City Distance Carnival at Lipscomb Academy.
Harrison's full performance, which saw a 57.35 second last lap, surpassed Edward Cheserek's former mark of 4:03.29, which was last accomplished in 2011. The mark also landed a new 16-year-old age group record, passing Nathan Green's mark of 4:06.20, which the current Borah High School senior accomplished in 2019.
As this track meet was held on the back end of the 2020 track and field season, Harrison's mark still goes down as a sophomore class record, even though he's within days of beginning his junior high school season.
The performance was in part derived from the field around Harrison, as five men broke four minutes in the mile, including winner Kieren Tuntivate, a Harvard graduate who set a new Thailand national record with a time of 3:57.87.
Harrison was in eighth after the first lap before making his way down to sixth overall, netting a new Florida state record. The time is a current US No. 2 effort.
Of note, particularly, is Harrison's progression from his last race in June, when the Floridian ran 4:09.79 for the full mile at the Desert Dream Last Hurrah Invitational.
But perhaps training has begun to fully kick into gear under Tom Schwartz, the coach of the Tinman Elite professional group in Boulder, Colorado. Schwartz has long coached talented young distance runners, though in recent weeks he's formed a junior group, the Tinman Junior Elite, of which Harrison is a part of.
The Nease athlete was one of a handful of athletes under that junior training group competing on Saturday.
She came agonizingly close.
But few would argue the Moses Brown (RI) School freshman, who is just 15 years old, didn't continue to impress, lowering her personal record under 2:03 as she finished fifth overall in a professional field in a time of 2:02.97.
Biding her time over the first lap, the Rhode Islander ran 60-flat before following in a rather remarkable 62-second quarter, hitting her last 200m in 31 seconds.
While Gorriaran didn't surpass the rather outrageous freshman and 15-year-old age group records, she once again lowered her US No. 1 and re-set her own Rhode Island state record in the process.
Kipyego posts a sub-1:50: Finding himself in Heat 2 of the men's 800m, Darius Kipyego was on a mission.
But while the St. Raphael Academy (RI) junior didn't break 1:48, he did claim another sub-1:50 performance, netting a time of 1:49.98, which secured his second performance under that barrier this season.
Kipyego is now one of just two athletes -- John Lester being the other -- to have run under 1:50 twice over the 2020 season. Kipyego, however, accomplished that feat in two legitimate races, while Lester secured his second performance in a time trial.
Judson Greer goes sub-14:30 in The 5K: Melissa's Judson Greer was aiming for a special performance in the 5K on Saturday.
And the Texan certainly accomplished that feat, posting a US No. 3 time of 14:28.70 in a men's professional field.
Only Nico Young -- who ran 13:50.55 in June, which was the No. 4 fastest performance in high school history -- and Matthew Farrell (14:25.23) ran faster in 2020. Greer's performance will go down as No. 44 all-time for the distance and the No. 1 junior performance of the year.
Greer, like Harrison, is coached by Tom Schwartz of Tinman Elite. Jack Scherer, a high school junior from Oshkosh North in Wisconsin, went 14:45.88.
(08/16/20) Views: 46Mile Split
Des Linden is considering a move to the trails
Linden says UTMB and Comrades are bucket-list races
The 2018 Boston Marathon champion and one of America’s most beloved distance runners is eyeing up some of the world’s most competitive trail races. While it’s far from a done deal, as she’s still got some unfinished business on the road, Des Linden wants to conquer both UTMB and the Comrades Marathon before her running days are over.
Linden told slowtwitch.com that ultra racing, specifically Comrades and UTMB are bucket list items for her. “I don’t spend too much time on the trails, to be honest, I think that’s why there’s so much intrigue. Exploring Chamonix and the Mont-Blanc region on foot and in a race atmosphere just looks pretty incredible.”
UTMB and the Comrades Marathon are two of the most competitive ultra races in the world. UTMB lasts several days and covers 171K, Comrades is a little shorter running either 87 and 90K depending on the year. Trail running is gaining popularity and as it does, more road runners will move from the marathon to even longer distances. (Side note: American distance legend Shalane Flanagan has also been seen doing some trail runs lately). It’ll be interesting to see, as more elite roadies make the move, if they can catch the best in the trail running business.
Jim Walmsley is a great example of a runner who has been successful at every running discipline – but his dominance lies on the trails. Walmsley made his road marathon debut at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trails. His run there was hyped as one of the most exciting storylines, with some going so far as to claim he had an outside shot at the Olympic team. Walmsley ran extremely well (a 2:15 on the insanely hilly Atlanta course is no small feat) to finish 22nd – a far cry from an Olympic berth, but an impressive debut nonetheless.
While Linden is looking to one day attempt a reverse-Walmsley, and it’ll be interested to watch her trajectory. She could help runners answer the age-old question of: do road results translate to the trails?
(08/16/20) Views: 46Running Magazine
Eliud Kipchoge was named ambassador for Run as One
Reigning Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge was named the ambassador of the fund-raising initiative “Sunfeast India Run As One”.
Kipchoge became the first man on the planet to cover the marathon distance in less than two hours. The 35-year-old clocked 1:59:40 to create an athletic spectacle in Vienna, thus elevating his credentials as the world’s greatest marathoner.
“India is very close to my heart and I have had the opportunity to witness the warmth and hospitality of this beautiful nation,” Kipchoge was quoted as saying in a media release.
“The idea of helping people through running or walking or jogging, is a thoughtful way of engaging people for a good cause. And this is the reason I have joined Sunfeast India Run as One as its Ambassador.”
The “virtual event” will support people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic with the citizen-led movement bringing together people of 28 states and eight union territories. The 30-day movement will kick-start on Saturday while registrations will continue till September 11.
(08/17/20) Views: 46
Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei now eyes 10,000m record
Freshly minted 5,000 meters world record holder Joshua Cheptegei will be looking to smash the 10,000m world record before the Olympics.
However, the Ugandan, 23, said it will depend on if organisers of Diamond League races and other major events include the 5,000m and 10,000m races.
Cheptegei, who is also the World Cross Country Championships 10km champion, shattered Ethiopian legend Kenenisa Bekele’s 16-year-old world 5,000m record on Friday last week, setting a new time of 12 minutes and 35.36 seconds during the Diamond League leg in Monaco.
“I would like to improve my 5,000m world record as well as take a shot at the 10,000m world record. I’m in good shape. Let’s hope more long distance events on the track will be organized,” he said.
Bekele, who has since moved to road running, holds the 10,000m world record, having broken it twice - the first time on June 8, 2004 (26:20.31) in Ostrava, Czech Republic and on August 26, 2005 (26:17.53) in Brussels, Belgium.
Cheptegei is alive to the fact that staying healthy is key during the Covid-19 pandemic. “It’s hard to predict the future since it’s in God’s hands. The best you can do is to strive to remain healthy,” he said.
The 10,000m race had not been held as a Diamond League event for over five years and World Athletics (WA) scrapped the competition entirely from the Diamond League alongside 5,000m and 3,000m steeplechase last year. The longest track race is 3,000m but events that will accommodate 5,000m and 10,000m won’t have them featured on prime time.
Only four events have been lined up in this year’s Diamond League series that have been delayed with some events being scrapped owing to Covid-19.
The next events are in Stockholm, Sweden on August 23; Rome, Italy on September 18 and Doha on September 25.
(08/20/20) Views: 44Ayumba Ayodi
Joshua Cheptegei thanks Kenenisa Bekele for inspiring him
Joshua Cheptegei shaved two seconds from Kenenisa Bekele’s world 5000m record in Monaco and here we take a look at their remarkable runs
On crossing the 5000m finish line with a time of 12:35.36 on the clock at the Louis II Stadium in Monaco on Friday night, Joshua Cheptegei smashed a world record which had stood for 16 years, two months, and 14 days.
The Ugandan was aged just seven when Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele stormed to his historic 12:37.35 in Hengelo. Until Friday night, no athlete since had come within five seconds of the mark, with Selemon Barega going closest with his 12:43.02 in Brussels in 2018.
Ahead of the meeting in Monaco, which was the first more traditional style Diamond League event of this pandemic-affected summer, Cheptegei was open about his goal.
“I believe if there is a time to attack the world record, it is this year,” he told the NN Running Team, of which both he and Bekele are a part.
“It is now or never.”
Cheptegei gave his thanks to Bekele for inspiring him, while Bekele – who ran his 26:17.53 world 10,000m record the year after his 5000m mark – offered his congratulations to his younger team-mate.
“I’ve learned that anything is possible, if you have the right mindset and believe,” said Cheptegei. “I really thank Kenenisa so much for inspiring me when I started running.
“He has always been a big inspiration and motivation to me.
“This record is a special moment for me and I like to thank Kenenisa for his inspiration.”
In an Instagram post, Bekele wrote: “I have great memories of running my world record in Hengelo 16 years ago. It is very difficult to run any world record. Congratulations to my teammate Joshua Cheptegei for running a new world record for 5000m tonight in Monaco.”
To which Cheptegei replied: “You are forever my all time role model and idol. Your career inspires me the most. I am forever grateful to emulate and follow your footsteps.”
(08/18/20) Views: 42Athletics Weekly
