The World by Half

Mid-September is supposed to be a time of transition---from full-bore Track & Field to the first inklings of what the Cross Country season will be about--with maybe a Road Race or 2 to sweeten the pot!
Well, XC has begun (See below!), while the main portion of the T&F campaign was completed in the Talence meet (Also see below!).
But OH MY, those Road Races---with the Half-Marathon being the dominating force!!

With Galen Rupp and Jordan Hasay being promoted endlessly for today's Philadelphia Half, our attention was riveted on that race.
Fooled ya!!
Because while that race was okay, it was MUCH less competitive and slower than other Half-Marathon races run these past couple of days!
Let's begin with the best--the Copenhagen (Denmark) Half!

Beset by a hail (!!) & thunder storm during the race (at the 90 minute point), the organizers tried to stop the race!
But the hardy back-pack crowd ran on!!
Meanwhile---before the storm hit!---the elites had finished!

Abe Cheroben ran 58:40 for the win!
This is the National Record of Bahrain, as well as the Age 24 record!!
He moves from 7th A-T World, tied with 1 other, to 3rd!

Jorum Okumbo was 2nd in 58:48.
He's 8th A-T World, tied with 1 other!
Alex Korio finished in 58:51, making him 10th A-T World!!

Fourth & Fifth weren't too slow, as Albert Kangogo ran 59:25, while Len Barsoton was next in 59:28!!

The Women ran good too, including Sara Hall, the lone American!
Eunice Chumba won it in 66:11.
This makes her 14th A-T World!
Joan Melly was 2nd in 66:25.
She's 17th A-T World, tied with 1 other!
Brigid Kosgei's 66:35 in 3rd also made the World list, in 23rd!!

As for Hall, her 69:37 in 10th was a PR by 30 seconds, moving her from 12th to 8th on the A-T US list!!

The Czech Republic Half was also fast!
Barsilius Kipyego won it in 59:14.
He misses my (revised!!) World list by 8 seconds!
Josphat Tanui took Silver with a 59:22.
Third, in a National Record of Tanzania time of 59:30, was Ismail Juma!!

Violah Jepchumba took the Women's race in 66:06!
(She'd run 65:22 earlier this year!!)

As for Rupp & Hasay, Galen easily won the Philly race in 62:18--a decent tempo run before his Chicago Marathon race!
But Hasay went up against one Meseret Defar, who showed she's FAR from being finished!!
Her 68:46---slow times were probably caused by high heat & humidity!--defeated Caroline Rotich by 55 seconds!1
Hasay also tempo'd through, time of 70:42--as she's also scheduled to run in Chi-Town!

The early XC dribblings showed some young---a couple VERY young!!--Women moving into the early ratings talk for NCAA--& the HS races (NXN & Footlocker).

Texas Soph Destiny Collins--the former Great Oak (CA) stud--won her first pair of races in dominating fashion!
Times are not important, but she won this weekend's race by 30 seconds, front-running the whole way!
Sam Worley--the fast HS Miler (4:00.61) from this past season--also ran good (3rd) as a Texas Frosh!

Brodey Hasty, now a HS Senior, beat a pack of Collegians (!!) at the adidas XC Challenge.
But maybe "beat" is the wrong word!
He OBLITERATED the field, his 14:45 over the 5K course being a full 74 seconds ahead of the runner-up!
This was in North Carolina.

The Harvard/Princeton/Yale Tri-meet gave some interesting results--at least in the "familiar names" department!
While Andrea Mastron (sp??) won the Women's race in 13:45 (4K), in 2nd came Sophie Cantine in 14:02.
She's now a Princeton Frosh, but you might recall my mentioning (over & over & over again!!  LOL) that her 2:47.64 INdoor 1000 she ran as a HS Frosh WOULD have set records & made lists EXCEPT that it was run on Seattle's Oversize Track a few years ago!!
She never did run any LEGAL list-making times as a HS'er!!
Maybe her time for that will be as a Collegian!!

The Men's race too produced a familiar name!
Matt Chisholm won the 6K race in 19:27.
But it was a Yale Frosh back in 4th you might recognize!
Nick Dahl's time was 19:39!

Karissa Schweizer's initial race of her Senior year proved one thing--She's a force to be reckoned with at NCAA's!!
Her time of 16:25 over the 5000 meter course produced a 64 second gap back to 2nd!!

As for those youngsters I mentioned earlier, THEIR names are Ping--as in HS Frosh Grace--and 7th Grade sister Lauren!!
Grace is fairly well known, as reported a few times on this blog!
In fact, her 16:25.63 Track 5000 from this past Spring--even though she was then an 8th Grader!!--ranks 16th A-T HS!!

I reported (in a previous post) that Grace & Lauren---though I'd forgotten her name then!!--had finished 1st & 3rd in their first XC race this year!
Well, they've one-upped themselves!
Grace again won--the Rochester MN Mayo Invite--in 18:16 over the 5K course!
Lauren was a full 65 seconds behind--19:21--but she ended SECOND---as a Seventh Grader!!
Oh yes, in 3rd came the first HS SENIOR!!--time of 19:48!

In interviews, they both sound VERY serious about wanting to get faster & become future elites!
That future may be NOW!

BTW, Grace is on Twitter--and wants people to PM her to talk about Track!
Not only a great runner, but a FAN of the sport!

The Talence Multis meet (DecaStar) lost Kevin Mayer to a DNS, as well as Kurt Felix & Zack Ziemek being early DNF's, the latter with some sort of injury!

Damian Warner thus had it relatively easy, his 8252 points being enough for the W.
Anouk Vetter had a bit more competition--but her 6363 prevailed over Xenia Krizsan's 6282 in the Heptathlon!

Trevor Dunbar invited some of his pals up to his home state of Alaska for some Mile races on the track!
The one in Kodiak was the fastest, won by Ben Blankenship in 3:57.85.
This is the fastest ever Mile run on Alaska soil!!
I don't believe there were any Women's races!

At the Dam to Dam 10 Mile race in Amsterdam (Sic!!), Berhanu Legese won over Yenew Alamirew--45:38 to 45:45.

That's it for results, but I have a few news items to offer.

The Nor-Cal Distance Project is no more!!
Drew Wartenburg's group has folded--after Leah O'Connor and Kate Grace both left!
He's married to Kim Conley, and will continue to coach her--but at least for now, in a non-group environment!

Drew Hunter has moved to Colorado to train!!
But he says he's not joining a group--at least for now!

Another moving to Colorado is Kaela Edwards!
She'll be joining Emma Coburn, to also be coached by Emma's soon-to-be husband Joe Bosshard!

Finally, Jereem Richards turned Professional before his Senior year at Alabama!!

Berlin's Marathon is in a week, with talk of a WR chase for the Men--no specific time goal given!
But with Eliud Kipchoge, Wilson Kipsang, and Ken Bekele among the entrants, that talk ain't cheap!!

Not sure when exactly, but I might do my Collegiate & HS Athlete of the Year posts BEFORE my report on Berlin!!

See you soon!