Running News Daily
Top Ten Stories of the Week
1/30/2021
These are the top ten stories based on views over the last week.
Jim Walmsley, Hayden Hawks Going for 100-km World Record at Project Carbon X 2 in Arizona
A group of top ultra runners will gather in Chandler, Ariz., with hopes of breaking the World Athletics records for 100 kilometers on the road. The event, called Project Carbon X 2 and staged by Hoka One One for the benefit of their athletes, will start and finish at the Wild Horse Pass Motor Sports Park and will use some of the same roads as The Marathon Project which was held with great success last month.
“I’m incredibly excited,” said Hoke One One president Wendy Yang on a video conference today with reporters. “Also feel super fortunate that the team was able to bring this event together.”
The pandemic has meant dramatically fewer competitive opportunities for road running athletes, especially ultra runners who specialize in distances longer than the standard marathon distance of 42.195 km, or 26.2 miles. However, since most ultra runners train alone or in very small groups, the pandemic has given them a chance to put in long blocks of uninterrupted, COVID-safe training and improve their strength and fitness. Tomorrow’s race will offer them a chance to show off their work.
We wanted to give our athletes the chance to compete,” Yang continued. “We felt like our athletes really needed this chance.”
The top targets for tomorrow’s race are the ratified World Athletics 100-K records of 6:33:11 for women, set by Japan’s Tomoe Abe in 2000, and 6:09:14 for men, set by Japan’s Nao Kazami in 2018. Both records were set at the same event, the Lake Saroma 100-K in Hokkaido, Japan. The women’s record works out to a pace of 3:56 per kilometer, which means running two 2:46 marathons back-to-back plus another 15.6 kilometers at the same pace. The men’s record pace of 3:42 per kilometer translates to running back-to-back 2:36 marathons plus the extra distance.
“You never know what can happen in an ultramarathon,” said Hayden Hawks one of the top contenders in the men’s division. Hawks smashed the course record at the venerable JFK 50 Mile (80.5 km) in Maryland last November, clocking 5:18:40. His pace at that event, which included rugged trails and some steep climbs and descents, worked out to 3:58 per kilometer. He said he’s been practicing on flat, loop courses to simulate the conditions in Arizona, and that with his strength and mental toughness he has a chance at the record.
“My greatest strength is probably just my stubbornness,” Hawks said. He added: “I feel like I have this mental strength to push through a lot of pain.”
Hawks’s main rival tomorrow will be ultra star Jim Walmsley, the man whose record he broke at the JFK race. Walmsley is best known as a trail runner, and is the course record holder for the impossibly difficult Western States 100-Miler in Auburn, Calif., where he ran 14:09:28 in 2019 (he also won in 2018). Walmsley already holds the world best for 50 miles on the road of 4:50:08. Using the popular Riegel Formula, that’s equivalent to 6:05:51 for 100-K, comfortably under the 100-K world record by more than three minutes.
Note: Walmsley was on the LetsRun.com Track Talk Podcast this week where he talked about his 100-k world record attempt, his big plans for 2021 and his cancelled 2020. Highlights here.
“I’m really looking forward to improving on my past performances in the 100-K,” Walmsley said today, admitting that he hasn’t yet perfected his approach to that distance yet. He continued: “I think I’m bringing a more mature approach of being more patient.”
If they don’t eclipse the world record, both men could surpass Max King’s USA record of 6:27:44 set in 2014.
On the women’s side, Camille Herron is the top entrant, and she rated her fitness at “80 to 85 percent.” Like Hawks, the holder of the world best for 24 hours on both the road and the track recently won the JFK 50-Miler. She played down the possibility of getting the world record, but said she was in about the same shape as when she won the famed Comrades Marathon in South Africa in 2017 over a distance of 86.73 kilometers. She allowed that a personal best (sub-7:08:35) was possible, despite only doing a six-week build-up.
“I’m definitely confident in my fitness,” said Herron who recently switched sponsors from Nike to Hoka One One and who will be doing her first race in Hoka shoes. She added: “I’m getting fitter every week. I have a pretty good idea of what I’m capable of.”
Also competing in the women’s division is Irish Olympic marathoner Caitriona Jennings, 40, who will be making her 100-K debut. Jennings will be taking a cautious approach to the race because she is 12 weeks pregnant. She said that there will be plenty of ice and fluids available on the course so that she can keep her core temperature in check.
“It wasn’t a decision I took lightly,” she said emphasizing that she had consulted with her doctor before agreeing to compete. She added: “I think (the water and ice on the course) will help with hydration and keep my temperature down.”
The athletes will start and finish on the race track, and will run about nine laps of an 11-kilometer circuit (Walmsley estimated that each full lap would take him about 41 minutes). The course was measured by two World Athletics “A” measurers, Joe Galope and Jay Wright (an “A” measurer must be used in order for a course to be eligible for a World Athletics record). The event will have in-competition drug testing done by the USA Anti-Doping Agency, also a requirement for setting a world record.
All of the competitors will be wearing the new Hoka One One Carbon X 2 shoe. Colin Ingram, Hoka’s director of product, called the new shoe “one of our sharpest tools in the box.” He explained that the shoe had been improved over its predecessor by incorporating “swallow tail construction” to improve deceleration on the foot strike, and lowering the carbon plate to get it closer to the ground.
“It allows for a more natural gait,” Ingram said.
While Hoka One One has not disclosed the cost of the event, it is significant, especially making it as safe as possible from the coronavirus. Mike McManus, Hoka’s director of global marketing, said that every athlete had at least three antigen PCR tests in the last week, and that masks and social distancing were required at all times except when the athletes are on the course. An industry insider contacted by Race Results Weekly estimated the cost of COVID mitigation for the event was around $60,000.
“It’s been a huge challenge for us to make this event happen in a very safe way,” McManus said.
The race will be streamed live and free at hokaoneone.com beginning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
(01/23/21) Views: 128Let’s Run
Molly Seidel and Aisha Praught-Leer have signed with Puma
Two U.S. athletes recently announced they have signed sponsorship agreements with Puma heading into the 2021 Olympics: Olympic Marathon Trials second-place finisher Molly Seidel and Olympian and 2018 Commonwealth Games steeplechase gold medallist Aisha Praught-Leer.
Seidel surprised everyone with a second-place finish in her debut marathon at the Olympic Marathon Trials last February. She completed the race a time of 2:27:31, earning her a spot Team USA for the Tokyo Olympics. The following October, she lowered her PB during the elite-only London Marathon, finishing in sixth place in a time of 2:25:13.
After her first sponsorship deal as a professional athlete with Saucony came to an end, she officially announced on January 22 via Instagram that she has signed a new contract with Puma. This new sponsorship comes on the heels of a fantastic year for the Turkey-Trotting runner, and should the Olympics go forward as planned, we look forward to seeing what Seidel can do.
Jamaican-American Praught-Leer competed for Jamaica in the steeplechase at the 2016 Olympics, won gold in the event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and holds the national record at the distance. She had been sponsored by Under Armour since 2017 but announced via Instagram on January 1 that her partnership with the company had come to an end.
Since that day, runnin fans everywhere waited to see where she would be going next, and on January 18 she made the official announcement that she would be partnering with Puma for the next few years. She and Seidel will be joining other notable Puma-sponsored athletes, including Canadian sprinter Andre Degrasse, two-time world record-setter in the 100 metres Asafa Powell and of course nine-time Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt.
(01/23/21) Views: 67Brittany Hambleton
2021 British Athletics Indoor Championships cancelled due to the pandemic
The British Athletics Indoor Championships due to be staged in Glasgow next month has been cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The competition was the qualification event for the European Indoor Championships, which is scheduled to be held in Torun, Poland, from March 5-7.
British Athletics says smaller Covid-19-compliant event qualification opportunities for the European Championships are now being explored.
Confirming the cancellation of the February 20-21 event at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena, a British Athletics statement read: “The decision was taken in light of the ongoing pandemic to ensure the safety of all those due to participate; athletes, coaches, technical officials, volunteers, event and venue staff as well as protecting the Glasgow community.
“At the present time, the process of testing all those attending the Championships from across the UK, seen as an essential measure, would not sufficiently mitigate the risks.
“British Athletics recognises our wider social responsibility to reduce Covid-19 transmission and to not overburden the NHS.
“Whilst elite sport has been granted the privilege of an exemption to enable training and competition to continue, the logistics of safely staging a national championships comprising approximately 500+ attendees based across the UK and overseas need to be balanced with the risks to those involved, the local community, and the current medical climate.”
On selection for the European Indoor Championships, the statement added: “British Athletics acknowledges that the cohort of athletes vying for GB & NI team selection will need competition to enable qualification.
“Therefore, alternative provision that enables smaller, COVID-19-compliant event qualification opportunities is being explored and will be confirmed to eligible athletes by British Athletics in due course.”
(01/22/21) Views: 64
Japanese officials deny as categorically untrue, report Tokyo Olympics could be cancelled
Japanese officials on Friday vehemently denied a newspaper report suggesting that the Olympic Games, due to be held in the country this summer, could be cancelled.
The Tokyo Olympics originally planned for 2020 were delayed 10 months ago following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
The local Olympics organizing committee said in a statement that the games would go forward as planned and had the support of Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
Another statement from the Cabinet Secretariat on behalf of Japan's government also dismissed the report.
"Some news reports circulating today are claiming that the Government of Japan has privately concluded that the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 will have to be cancelled. This is categorically untrue," the statement said.
Adding that all involved, including the Swiss-based International Olympic Committee (IOC), were "working together to prepare for the successful Games this summer" and would "implement all possible countermeasures against Covid-19."
The denials come after a British newspaper, The Times of London, citing an anonymous source that it said was a member of the ruling government coalition, reported that the games could be cancelled. It also said the government was seeking a way to announce the cancellation amid efforts to ensure Tokyo as a future host.
Manabu Sakai Japan's deputy chief cabinet secretary and an ally of the prime minister also shot down the story. "There is absolutely no truth to this report," he told press on Friday.
While Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike went further, calling for possible action against the newspaper.
"I don't even know how this is being reported or how this information was obtained. In fact, I think we should lodge a complaint. That is how I feel," she said during her regular news conference Friday.
(01/22/21) Views: 63Arata Yamamoto and Adela Suliman
5000m champion Hellen Obiri added to Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon line-up
Obiri, who won world titles at 5000m and cross country in 2019, will be making her half marathon debut. The Kenyan has limited road running experience, but her few outings to date have been promising; she clocked 29:59 for 10km on Madrid’s downhill course at the end of 2018.
World half marathon silver medallist Melat Kejeta of Germany and world marathon bronze medallist Helalia Johannes are the other recent top additions to the field, and they will face a formidable line-up of stars, as previously announced by the organisers.
World marathon champion Ruth Chepngetich, who recently set a half marathon PB of 1:05:06, will make her Ras Al Khaimah debut. Peres Jepchirchir, who won the world half marathon title last October in a women-only world record of 1:05:16, will return to the scene of her 2017 triumph when she set a world record of 1:05:06.
The three fastest women in history – world record-holder Ababel Yeshaneh, Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw and marathon world record-holder Brigid Kosgei – will also line up in Ras Al Khaimah.
Yeshaneh and Kosgei have clashed twice to date, both races resulting in world records. Their first duel came at the 2019 Chicago Marathon, which Kosgei won in a world record of 2:14:04 while Yeshaneh placed second in 2:20:51. Just four months later, Yeshaneh levelled the score by winning in Ras Al Khaimah in a world record of 1:04:31. Kosgei was runner-up in 1:04:49, the second-fastest time in history.
Yehualaw, meanwhile, finished third at the recent World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, just a few seconds behind Jepchirchir. Six weeks later, she won the New Delhi Half Marathon in 1:04:46, the second-fastest time in history.
USA’s Sara Hall, who placed second at this year’s London Marathon, and South Africa’s Gerda Steyn are also in the field.
(01/26/21) Views: 63World Athletics
Jim Walmsley Shatters the 100K American Record, But Misses the World Record by 11 Seconds
The king of Western States came so close at the Project Carbon X 2 race.
After more than six hours of running, Jim Walmsley crossed the finish line 11 seconds short of his ultimate goal—the world record in the 100K.
At the Hoka Project Carbon X 2 100K race on January 23, held in Chandler, Arizona, Walmsley ran 6:09:25, shattering the American record of 6:27:44, set by Max King in 2014. But the world record (6:09:14, set by Nao Kazami in 2018) continues to elude him.
“Definitely feels like one of the more special runs I’ve had,” Walmsley said, in his post-race interview. “Really felt like I got everything out of myself today, dug real deep, and fought all the way to the line. I don’t feel like I gave up, but it was tough to see the seconds tick by. It’s a little bittersweet, but definitely awarded with an American record today, and those don’t come very often. I don’t get to do things like this in my home state very often, so it’s extremely positive. A 45-minute PR. It was a pretty amazing day.”
Nineteen men and women were chasing national and world records in the 100K distance in Saturday’s race. Walsmley was the men’s favorite to set both the world record and the American record, while Camille Herron was favored for the women. Herron was forced to drop out of the women’s race with a hip injury.
Walmsley started the race in a pack with five other runners, running conservatively to keep his legs fresh. But the other four runners faded behind him, leaving Walmsley to chase the record alone. His pacing picked up over the final 30K, as he raced the clock with everything he had.
Around the 3:30 mark in the race, Walmsley clipped his left shoulder on a course sign, and he was visibly bleeding for the next two and a half hours. At water stops, he’d fuel and treat his wound as best he could while keeping his stride.
The race came down to the final 10K, as Walmsley needed to run 37:58 or faster over the final miles. Those watching the race on the live stream could see the fatigue and pain set in over that final stretch. He let out a loud “C’mon, Jim” scream with a little more than 5K to go, fighting the clock with everything he had.
As he entered the drag strip to the finish, he had just over a minute to cover the final hundreds of meters. He got on his toes, repeatedly checked his watch, and ran as hard as he could to beat the clock that was now in his sights. Ultimately, he watched the clock tick past 6:09:14, finishing 11 seconds later.
“We’ll have to try it again,” Walmsley said in his post-race interview. “We’re in the right ballpark and on the right track and we have a shoe to compete with this and we’re knocking on the door. I don’t think I’m done with the 100K. Fortunately, unfortunately, there’s likely another one down the road.”
The remainder of Walmsley’s year is uncertain, because of the pandemic. He told Runner’s World before the race that he’s looking at first are the Comrades Marathon and the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc. In the near future, he’s hoping to do the Black Canyon 100K three weeks from this weekend on February 13.
The Flagstaff, Arizona, native wasn’t the only runner with a notable day out on the course. Rajpaul Pannu took second in the men’s 100K in his first-ever attempt at the distance. Pannu is a math teacher in addition to being a pro runner who finished 63rd at the Olympic Marathon Trials in February 2020.
In the women’s race, the United Kingdom’s Carla Molinaro and the United States’s Camille Herron led for the first half of the race before France’s Audrey Tanguy slowly made her way past both runners early in the second half of the race. After that, Herron was forced to drop out after six of nine laps due to a hip injury.
Tanguy, the reigning and two-time champion of the Ultra-Trail Sur les Traces des Ducs de Savoie (TDS), captured the lead and ran away with the race for the win in 7:40:35, unofficially.
American Nicole Monette did move close to Tanguy late in the race and took second, finishing less than three minutes behind the winner.
(01/24/21) Views: 56
Runner’s World
With six months to go until the Summer Games, Florida's chief financial officer has offered his state as an Olympic backup plan
Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s chief financial officer, has reached out to International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach to offer his state as a backup site for the upcoming Summer Games in case the Tokyo event is cancelled.
In a letter that Patronis sent to Bach and posted online, he mentioned the rumors that the Japanese government is planning on axing the Games once and for all, adding that “there is still time to deploy a site selection team to Florida.” Florida, like Japan and most of the world, is still trying to flatten the curve of COVID-19.
Covid-19 cases continue to surge across the globe, increasing doubts surrounding the Olympics every passing day. News that the Japanese government is second-guessing its plans to host the Olympics was first reported by the British newspaper The Times. This report cited a senior member of the ruling commission in Japan who said the fate of the Tokyo Games has already been decided behind closed doors, and that the Olympics will not go ahead as planned after already being postponed one year due to COVID-19.
High-ranking officials in the Japanese government, including the country’s prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, have since denied that the Games are in jeopardy. Patronis either didn’t see these followup reports or he simply doesn’t believe them to be true, because he moved forward with his letter to Bach, referring to the “reports of leaders in Japan ‘privately’ concluding that they are too concerned about the pandemic for the 2021 Olympics to take place.”
Patronis pointed to Florida´s pre-pandemic tourism numbers, noting that the state welcomed 900 people per day. In 2019, he said, 131 million people visited Florida, adding that the state is well equipped for “a major undertaking of this sort” thanks to “ample hotel capacity and well-maintained transportation networks.” He continued, writing, “Florida has 20 commercial airports, 31 urban transit systems, 12 major universities that have existing sporting facilities – and we have world- renowned health care facilities in each of our regions.”
Patronis celebrated his state´s willingness to remain open throughout much of the pandemic, noting that this had huge benefits for the economy. He didn’t mention the state’s COVID-19 stats, which currently sit at 1.6 million cases and more than 25,000 deaths (compared to 369,000 cases and a little over 5,000 deaths in Japan).
The IOC has not published a response to Patronis, who sent his letter on Monday, but he did leave Bach his office phone number, asking him to reach out so they could set up a meeting. “Whatever precautions are required,” he wrote, wrapping the letter up, “let’s figure it out and get it done.”
(01/27/21) Views: 56Ben Snider-McGrath
Mo Farah set to defend Antrim Coast crown as Half Marathon granted elite world status
Sir Mo Farah will be back to defend his Antrim Coast Half Marathon title - that is the bold prediction of elite race organiser James McIlroy after the contest was granted elite world status.
Former Olympian McIlroy is confident the four-time Olympic gold medallist will return for another crack at the title he won in stunning style last September - hopefully with gold No.5 in his back pocket if the Tokyo Games go ahead.
"Fingers crossed Mo will be back this year. The 2021 race really will be amazing when you think we will have the best runners in the world running on one of the most beautiful roads in the world while also welcoming the masses back, who not only will get to race with some of their heroes returning from the Tokyo Olympics but, due to the out and back nature of the course, they'll also get a great view of the elite race - which we hope will be a record-breaking race like last year," said McIlroy, close friends with Sir Mo - who is coached by Larne man Gary Lough - since their time together in Team GB.
"We also should be in a position to welcome the American and African competitors confirmed for last year's race but who unfortunately, due to restrictions, were unable to travel."
The race is the first in Ireland to be elevated to the prestigious series of IAAF Road Race Label events, and only the third in the UK - joining the London Marathon and Cardiff Half Marathon.
The Antrim Coast Half Marathon now sits alongside events in Barcelona, Rio, Houston, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Seville, Valencia, Dubai, Istanbul, Naples and Shanghai on the prestigious roster. The IAAF have already indicated they will be sending a delegate to the race.
Sir Mo won the first ever Antrim Coast Half
Marathon - a revamped version of the long-running and highly-successful Larne Half Marathon - in a time of one hour and 27 seconds, while Lily Partridge took the women's race in 71.36, both all-comers records.
Larne man McIlroy is sure the race will be the first ever sub-60-minute men's and sub-70 women's half marathon in Ireland.
The event, which starts and finishes in Larne, had been scheduled to take place last March but due to the pandemic was postponed until September - with no mass participation race and spectators urged to stay away due to Covid - and this year's showdown will take place on August 29. Around 10,000 runners are expected to take part.
(01/22/21) Views: 55Frank Brownlow
Australia is planning to vaccinate athletes before Tokyo Games
Australia aims to vaccinate its Olympians against COVID-19 before they head to the Tokyo Games, federal sport minister Richard Colbeck has said.
Advice from the body coordinating the vaccination rollout plan suggested that athletes would likely be inoculated before the July 23-Aug. 8 Games, Colbeck said in comments published by the Canberra Times on Thursday.
"If our plans work OK it may very well be conceivable that Olympic athletes, for example, we'll get to them before they head off to the Games anyway," he was quoted as saying.
Colbeck later issued a statement saying that "older Australians, frontline workers and those with underlying medical conditions" would be prioritised and that "most athletes" would be vaccinated in a later phase of the rollout.
A number of national Olympic committees are planning to vaccinate their athletes before the Games.
Israel's Olympic Committee said it had already vaccinated half its Olympic delegation and would complete the process by the end of May.
South Korea's Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said, "Of course the athletes should be given the vaccine if they are going to participate," when asked in an interview with Reuters on Thursday.
South Korea has said it will decide whether to vaccinate the 157 athletes signed up so far when Japan comes to a formal decision to go ahead with the Games.
The International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said on Wednesday the governing body was not in favour of athletes "jumping the queue" for COVID-19 vaccines.
The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) said it hoped athletes could be vaccinated but said vulnerable people and health workers must come first.
"We are recommending and encouraging our athletes to get vaccinated but support the IOC position that it’s not mandatory," an AOC spokesman said.
(01/28/21) Views: 55Reuters
Dina Asher-Smith back on track and could go to European Indoor Champs
Dina Asher-Smith will return to competition next week for the first time since becoming world 200 meters champion more than a year ago.
On the day the British Indoor Athletics Championships were cancelled for the first time since 1961, the nation's fastest ever woman was confirmed for the Gold Series meet in the German city of Karlsruhe.
Asher-Smith will contest her first 60m for three years on Friday in a race also featuring Poland's European indoor champion Ewa Swoboda.
Pandemic-permitting she will then move on to Dusseldorf and another indoor race two days later.
Given the limited opportunities for competition ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, Asher-Smith could even take part in the European Indoor Championships in Poland on the first weekend of March. Her management have not ruled out the possibility.
Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee and Japanese government have categorically denied a report that this summer's Olympics and Paralympics are to be cancelled.
“This is exhausting,” Paralympic star Stef Reid said in response to the ever-changing speculation.
Five-time Paralympic champion Hannah Cockroft agreed: “This is our livelihoods being played with.
"We’re all aware there’s a chance the Games might not go ahead, but until an official decision is announced, please leave us to work and dream!”
(01/23/21) Views: 50Alex Spink
