Running News Daily
Top Ten Stories of the Week
10/12/2019

Eliud Kipchoge and his technical team are expected to land in Vienna Tuesday for the INEOS 1:59 Challenge this weekend

World marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge and his technical staff are expected to land in Vienna Tuesday morning ahead of the “INEOS 1:59 Challenge” this weekend.

The Olympic marathon champion was Monday night treated to the affluence that one of Great Britain’s richest persons, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, is accustomed to.

Kipchoge left for Vienna aboard Sir Jim’s Gulfstream G280, which was flown by two pilots from his British base to fly Kipchoge to the Austrian capital.

The jet, valued at $24.5 million, has got Kenyans on social media talking about Kipchoge's attempt to become the first man to run the 42-kilometer distance in under two hours this weekend.

"Eliud Kipchoge" is like a human machine. Pride of Kenya and the son of the Land. There is Mursik waiting for you Legend. Know that you inspire many across the board."

"The fact that Eliud Kipchoge is attempting the INEOS 1:59 record affirms his place in the annals of athletics history. The attempt alone is enough, the victory would be a bonus. He is no longer running against man, he is running against time."

"No longer running against other men, he's running against time. INEOS1:59. KENYA is proud of you Eliud kipchoge. See you on 12th Oct 2019."

Nike has shut down the Oregon Project after Alberto Salazar was banned for four years for doping violations

Nike has shut down its elite Oregon Project (OP) long-distance running operation less than two weeks after head coach Alberto Salazar was banned for four years, a company spokesperson told CNN.

Salazar was banned for "multiple anti-doping rule violations" following a four-year investigation by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

Nike says it took the decision to wind down the OP as the situation has become an "unfair burden" on its athletes.

"Nike has always tried to put the athlete and their needs at the front of all of our decisions," a spokesperson told CNN.

"While the panel found there was no orchestrated doping, no finding that performance-enhancing drugs have ever been used on Oregon Project athletes and went out of its way to note Alberto's desire to follow all rules, ultimately Alberto can no longer coach while the appeal is pending.

"This situation including uninformed innuendo and unsubstantiated assertions has become an unfair burden for current OP athletes. That is exactly counter to the purpose of the team.

"We have therefore made the decision to wind down the Oregon Project to allow the athletes to focus on their training and competition needs. We will help all of our athletes in this transition as they choose the coaching set up that is right for them."

The Nike Oregon Project is a prolific training group that has produced some of the world's best athletes, including Mo Farah, who Salazar coached to four Olympic gold medals between 2011 and 2017.

Salazar, 61, and Jeffrey Brown, a consultant doctor for the NOP, were ruled to have trafficked testosterone, tampered with the doping control process and administered a banned intravenous infusion.

Nike told CNN it "will continue to support Alberto in his appeal," which has been taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.

”Maybe this confirms that NIKE really did know what was going on and in fact might have been the moving force pushing Salazar to do some things he otherwise would not have done,” wonders Bob Anderson.  “However NIKE is too big of a powerhouse for us to ever know the real story.  Why would they close this program and leave many elite runners out in the cold?”  

Can Ethiopian runner Tadelech Bekele win the TCS Amsterdam Marathon on Sunday October 20 for the third time

The Ethiopian runner already made history in Amsterdam by convincingly winning the last two events. A third victory would be even more significant if she breaks the course record of 2.21.09. Former world-champion Linet Masai is a formidable opponent for Bekele. The Kenyan is also in the race to win the fast autumn marathon in Amsterdam.

After achieving fantastic times in the half marathon (1.08.38) and the 10 km (30.38), Tadelech Bekele made her debut in the Berlin marathon in 2014. She put in a stunning performance over the classic distance, with a time of 2.23.02.

The 28-year old athlete from The NN Running Team then gradually upped her pace in the marathon and achieved her PB in 2018. That same year, the Ethiopian was third in the London Marathon with a personal record of 2.21.40; she then went onto win in Amsterdam.

Organiser Le Champion has a former world-champion on the start line, in the shape of Linet Masai. In 2009, Masai was 10,000 m world champion. As a junior over this distance, the Kenyan was third at the Olympic Games in 2008 in Beijing (only awarded in 2017). She is also a class apart on the roads. In 2009 and 2014, she won the Dam tot Damloop and ran the half marathon in 1.08.50.

After having a baby, she decided to make her debut in the marathon last year. In a strong field in the TCS Amsterdam Marathon, she was fifth with a time of 2.23.46. In Amsterdam, we are all looking forward to the return of this fast Kenyan runner.

Marathoners are ready to sweat it out in Doha tonight and Kenyan runners should be leading the pack

If recent history is any guide, the men’s marathon title is likely to go to an African runner with Kenya entering four runners led by defending champion Geoffrey Kirui who will be out defending the title at midnight.

Despite the race starting at midnight in an attempt to avoid the brutal heat of the day, temperatures are still expected to be 30C as marathoners take on the course along the waterfront of Doha’s famous Corniche connecting Doha Bay and Doha City Centre, set against the capital city’s towering skyline.

Unlike track and field being staged in an air-conditioned Khalifa International Stadium, marathoners have to endure the unforgiving Qatari heat as witnessed on day during the women’s race where also half the field failed to complete simply because you can’t air-condition 42km of road.

Kirui who is also the 2017 Boston Marathon winner will partner with Laban Korir who has wealth of experience on the roads having won Setúbal Half Marathon in Portugal, and another followed at the 2009 Pombal Meia Maratona.

At the 2011 Amsterdam Marathon, he finished second with his run of 2:06:05 behind his compatriot Wilson Chebet. Korir then won the 2014 Toronto Waterfront Marathon with a time of 2:08:15. He holds a personal best of 2:05.05 from Armsterdam Marathon in 2016.

Paul Lonyangata is another member of the squad that holds personal best of 2:06.1.

Amos Kipruto is the fourth member of the team, he made his marathon running at the  2016 Rome Marathon with a victory. In 2017, Kipruto won the Seoul Marathon in 2:05:54, before finishing fifth in the Amsterdam Marathon in 2:05:43. He was runner-up at the 2018 Berlin marathon.  

Away from the Kenyans Mosinet Geremew tops the entry list with a PB of 2:02:55, set as he followed home Kenya’s Olympic champion and world record-holder Eliud Kipchoge as he won the London Marathon.

Mule Wasihun was one place behind in London in a personal best of 2:03:16 that places him third in this season’s list also.

Callum Hawkins has been training in a heat chamber for Doha

The last time Callum Hawkins tried to win a marathon gold medal he went viral – with the images of him collapsing with heatstroke and dehydration at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Australia spreading around the world.

But as the 27-year-old Scot prepares to run 26.2 miles in the 32C heat and 50% humidity of Doha he has revealed a secret weapon: using a stack of heaters while on a treadmill in his shed to replicate the desert conditions at the world championships.

“I’ve been doing a bit of work in a heat chamber to prepare as well as getting the Aldi heaters,” he says. “I got it up to 39 degrees at one point. It’s a big proper shed and not a wee tiny one.”

Hawkins, who finished fourth at the 2017 world championships in London, insists he is not worried about a repeat of the Gold Coast – despite nearly half the field in the women’s marathon being forced to pull out due to the extreme conditions.

When asked what were the odds of him buying a one-way ticket back home after seeing that race, he laughed. “Never even thought of it,” he said.

“I’ve prepared well or at least I think I’ve prepared well. I learned a lot from watching it and I’ve got eight years of learning. It’s mainly about being patient – make sure I’m close enough but not doing too much or overheating.

“I’ve run well in the heat in the past – I ran decent in Rio and London in 2017 was not roasting but it was getting up there, into the 20s in the sun. Everyone is in the same boat. It’s about who prepares best and making sure your race plan matches the conditions.”

Most of the world’s top marathon runners will not be here – Eliud Kipchoge, the Olympic champion, is preparing to go under two hours in Vienna while Mo Farah will run at the Chicago marathon on Sunday week. However, Hawkins insists he is still facing a strong field.

“It’s got two Ethiopians who were second and third in London, the former world champion and the Kenyan team is always strong,” he said. “But we saw at the women’s that times don’t really matter, what you’ve done in the past doesn’t really matter. The women were 15 minutes off their best; it’s about who can get closest to their actual best. With the conditions it’s anyone’s race.”

Eliud Kipchoge has an even better chance to break 2 hours in the marathon, according to scientists

A team of respected running scientists from Vienna, Boulder, Sacramento and Houston has just released a paper analyzing the marathon course Eliud Kipchoge will run Saturday morning in Vienna in the Ineos 1:59 Marathon Challenge. The paper concludes that the layout is only 4.5 seconds slower than what would be expected from a perfectly straight, perfectly flat course.

“Our simulation indicates that the Vienna course was well chosen for optimizing performance,” said the researchers in a paper entitled: The effects of course design (elevation undulations and curves) on marathon running performance: an a priori study of the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna.

Kipchoge’s manager, Jos Hermens, recently told us that Kipchoge is in better shape than two years ago, and that he learned from the Nike event and will benefit from better handling of the pace car and his sports drinks.

Kipchoge hopes to run 1:59:xx early on Saturday, October 12 in Vienna in an unofficial, non-record-eligible time-trial similar to the Nike Breaking2 event he raced in May, 2017, on an auto track in Monza, Italy. There he hit halfway in 59:59, and snapped the tape in 2:00:25—the fastest running time ever for the 26 mile, 385 yard marathon distance.

Kipchoge’s performance in Monza did not count as an official world record, because he had a pace car, a large, rotating group of pacers, and received help with his drinks, among other violations of official IAAF competition rules. The Vienna race will follow suit in many ways, and likewise not be eligible for world-record status. That doesn’t lessen the excitement and intrigue among running fans.

Kipchoge and his INEOS sponsors are hoping that better weather and that loud spectator support will help him in Vienna. In Italy, he ran with temps in the upper 50s, slightly humid. According to weather forecasts, Vienna could be 5 to 10 degrees F cooler, with somewhat lower humidity. Wind was not an issue in Monza, and isn’t expected in Vienna.

The Vienna course begins on the Reichbruecke Bridge (over the Danube River; also the start of the annual Vienna Marathon) and drops 40 feet in the first 1.4K. It then enters Prater Park for four out-and-back 9.625K loops, mostly on the straight-as-an-arrow, pedestrian-only Hauptallee Road, in the shadow of the iconic Prater ferris wheel. This road has small up-and-down undulations of about 8 feet.

Importantly, the straightaways do not reverse direction with abrupt, momentum-killing U-turns. At both ends, Kipchoge and pacers will take longish, gentle “roundabouts.” One is called the Praeterstern and has a circumference of 870 meters. The other, the Lusthaus, has a circumference of 210 meters.

After the four loops of the Hauptallee and roundabouts, the course begins a fifth loop. This ends 2.3K later at the finish, which is a net 43 feet below the start.

The roundabouts are so easy to navigate that the science team estimates Kipchoge will lose only 0.5 seconds (at 4:34/mile pace) due to cornering. At Monza, they estimate he lost 1.5 seconds on the winding course.

They didn’t have enough data from Monza to estimate time lost to the slight ups-and-downs. In Vienna, this should amount to about 4 seconds.

Two weeks ago, a Danish group named Albatros Adventure Marathons tried to scoop the 1:59 effort with its “World’s Fastest Marathon” near Granada Spain. The open race started at 8,546 feet in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and dropped 6358 feet to the city finish. A little-known Kenyan named Antony Karinga Maina passed the halfway point in 59:30, but then slower to a winning 2:09:38. Four months earlier, Maina had run 2:22:38 in the Salzburg Marathon.

In recent years, a number of downhill marathons have appeared to help runners qualify for the Boston Marathon. The Revel marathon series includes a handful of marathons with elevation drops of 2000 to 4000 feet. Physiologists believe that long, steep downhills lead to debilitating quadriceps muscle damage, and that half as much drop might be better.

Registration for the 2020 Missoula Marathon weekend opened on Tuesday

Registration for the 2020 Missoula Marathon weekend of events opened on Tuesday, October 1st and runners from all over the country have already entered.  Race director Tony Banovich noted that “Registration has been strong since we opened, with runners and walkers from over 35 states and 3 foreign countries already being represented.  Registering early allows our participants to get the best possible value for one of the top rated events in the United States.”

The Missoula Marathon has been named the #1 Marathon In The US by The BibRave 100 in 2017 and 2018; and, was named as a Top 10 Bucket List Marathon by Runner’s World Magazine in 2018 and 2019.  According to Banovich “We like to think that we provide a great weekend experience for our runners. 

With great access to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, hiking, fishing, biking, wildlife viewing and more, the Missoula Marathon can be a great anchor for your visit to the Treasure State.”  Register today and start planning your very own Big Sky adventure.

The 2020 Missoula Marathon weekend will include a Friday Social Beer Run, Friday and Saturday Runner Expo, Saturday 5K and Kids Marathon, and Sunday Marathon and Half Marathon.  Over 6,000 participants are expected for 2020.

New Half-Marathon to Debut in Chicago in June 2020

The Bank of America Chicago 13.1 will debut on Sunday, June 7, 2020, anchoring a three-day health and wellness festival on Chicago’s West Side, race organizers announced Thursday. The new half-marathon is described as a "running tour of Chicago’s West Side neighborhoods."

The addition adds a third premier race to organizers' portfolio, which includes the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle.

"I’ve watched Chicago running transform over the past 30 years, and one of the questions I get asked most frequently is 'when are you going to put on a half marathon,'" said Carey Pinkowsi, Bank of America Chicago Marathon executive race director, in a statement.

Registration for both the 2020 Bank of America Chicago 13.1 and the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle opens at 10 a.m. Monday, Oct. 7. The registration fee for the Chicago 13.1 will start at $95, and the Shamrock Shuffle registration fee will start at $39.

"We are excited to start our next chapter by bringing a world-class half marathon to our city," Pinkowsi said, "and to further our mission to grow the sport and welcome new runners."

Paul Lambert, Bank of America Chicago market president, said the new race "has been years in the making."

"We're excited to debut our newest distance event that will take runners on a tour of the city’s West Side," Lambert said in a statement, "highlighting the dynamic neighborhoods and diversity that make our city one of the best in the world."

The group's longest race, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, is set for Oct. 13, 2019.

Leah Olson will be running the Portland Marathon for her marathoner dad, who was diagnosed with Lou Gherig’s Disease

"He'd always give me the rose at the end": A Portland Marathon dream changes after an ALS diagnosis.

Leah Olson is running the Portland Marathon this weekend for her dad Marc, who was diagnosed earlier this year with Lou Gherig’s Disease, the debilitating illness most often called ALS.

While it’s been a difficult time for the family, they’ve found a way to channel their energy into a fundraiser to find a cure, and the support around them keeps growing. The 26-mile race holds emotional memories. Leah grew up watching her dad run the Portland Marathon, where every finisher gets a rose.

“He'd always give me the rose at the end,” she said.Over the years, Marc has finished 35 marathons. His personal record is less than three hour. Running is something he’s always done.

Leah's dream has always been to run a marathon with her dad, but that dream changed on February 5th of this year, when Marc was diagnosed with ALS.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis weakens muscles. For Leah’s dad, the effects started out small. “May of 2018 he began to have a little problem speaking and it was a tiny slur in his voice,” said Gina Olson, Leah’s mother. Now swallowing and speaking are difficult. Also difficult to deal with is the news that the average life span after diagnoses is typically two to five years. “Two neurologists my parents went to essentially told them, spend time with loved ones. My dad has a lot of fight in him and he wasn't ready to take -- and we weren’t ready to take -- this diagnosis as a death sentence,” said Leah. So with Leah leading the way, the family jumped into action committed to doing something positive and raising money to help researchers find a cure. “We sent over 600 mail letters that I hand signed,” said Leah of the effort to inform family and friends.

While Leah and her dad won't be running the Portland Marathon together, they're both facing marathons, just of a different kind. “I'm running a physical marathon, the 26.2 miles. But dad is running a metaphorical marathon through his fight to defeat ALS,” said Leah. Marc's marathon is his hardest yet. But he's got the support of many.

“All you can do is try and solve it and help other people, and that's what they're doing by being so supportive of me,” said Marc, whose speech is affected by the disease. But despite the scary prognosis, the Olson family is maintaining their spirit, and doing something to make a difference in not only their own lives, but the lives of others who are also suffering from ALS. They’re hoping their fight will inspire others to do the same.

Marc is currently involved in a clinical trial for an experimental drug that could help. It’s possible he could be a part of the placebo group, but the Olson family remains hopeful that he's getting the drug.

Dez O'Connor, could be banned from future events if he continues to push his daughter around in races

Dez O'Connor, 35, from Plymouth, Devon, (UK)  likes to run in charity races and for the last three years has been taking his daughter Elsie, three, with him in a specially designed pushchair.

But he has now been left seething by a letter from the organizers of a charity 10K run, Britain's Ocean City Running Series, raising safety concerns.

In the letter, they said that although no action would be taken for his previous races, he would be banned if he tried to compete with the pram again.

The letter said Dez was in breach of rules and a safety hazard to other runners and Elsie.

Hundreds of people have signed a petition supporting Dez and calling for the ban to be reversed.

Dez, a firefighter and scaffolder, said: 'They said it was against the rules of UK Athletics, but we spoke to them and they said there was no rule and it was down to organizer discretion.

'I asked what the risk was but they wouldn't tell me, they wouldn't let me look at the risk assessment. I asked if we could put in control measures but they just ignored me.

'They said it was against the rules and that's all they would say on the matter.'

Because of the letter, Dez decided not to run in the Plymouth 10K over the weekend but took part in a training run the day before.

He added: 'I have run the half marathon with Elsie three times. After I did the last half I got an email saying if I ran with the pram again I would be banned.

'If they're worried about space I'll start from the back, I've been doing this for years and most people are very receptive.'