WR (& XC Charges Forward)

A World Record in the Men's Half-Marathon was run in the Valencia race.
But let's begin with a Track 10000 recently run in Japan!
There, Richard Yator's winning 27:14.70 became the World leading mark of 2018!

In the Valencia race, Abraham Kiptum came through 10K in 28:02, after hitting the first 5K in 13:56.
Not WR material, and slower than the 27:50 pace he'd wanted!

But then he took charge, and blasted his next 5000 in 13:38!!
Another 13:38 (!!!) brought him to 20K in 55:18!
His SECOND 10000 had been run in---27:16!!
(Now you know why I mentioned Yator's World-Leading Track 10000 first!!)

From there, his next seven-tenths of a mile was run in 3:00, or sub-4:20 mile pace!!

His new WR of 58:18 is also the National Record of Kenya, and the Age 29 Record!!

Jamal Yimor's 58:33 becomes the best 2nd Place mark!
It also gives him the Age 22 Record, and Ethiopia's National Record!!
He moves from 22nd A-T World to 3rd, tied with 1 other!!

Abadi Hadis's 58:44 gives him the best 3rd Place mark!!
He's 9th A-T World, tied with 1 other!
The next 4 runners ended between 59:21 and 59:27.
Then came Suman Cheprot's 59:28, which tied him with 1 other for the best 8th Place mark!!
Abel Kipchumba got the best 9th Place mark with his 59:29!
And Josphat Boit's 59:42 gives him the best 10th Place mark!!

The Women's race went to the veteran Gelete Burka, time of 66:11.
She beat Alia Saeed's 66:13, which is the new National Record of the United Arab Emirates, or UAE!
Edith Chelimo's 66:18 took the Bronze!!

More Road running later, but the Collegiate Conferences gave up some results that might point toward a clearer picture of who the top finishers might be in Madison on November 17th!

Weini Kelati, the tiny Eritrean, beat Ednah Kurgat---again!!
And her MARGIN of victory grew---to a whopping 18 seconds.
Now, either Kurgat is holding her cards close to her chest, or Kelati has now become New Mexico's---and the NCAA's!---clear favorite!
Her 19:49 beat Kurgat's 20:11.
In 3rd and 4th came Charlotte Prouse (20:14), and Allie Ostrander (20:14)!!

Paul Roberts's 24:34 nrst Eric Hamer's 24:37 and Carson Hume's 24:39 in the Men's race!1


Another 2018 shocker might be Wisconsin's Alicia Monson, who has now established herself among the true elites with a dominant win in the Big 10 race!
Her 19:49 beat Aubrey Roberts's 19:58..
Bethany Hasz's 20:14 was back in 5th!

The Men had a fast race, with Morgan McDona;d's 23:26 beating Oliver Hoare's 23:29!

But Grant Fisher's remains---barely---in front on the Leaderboard of NCAA faves!
His 23:10 in the PAC-12 race was virtually tied by the next 3 placers!
Talia Hull matched Fisher's time, while Alex Ostberg and Alek Parsons both hit home in 23:11.
Joe Klecker was 5th in 23:12, while Cooper Teare was given basically the same time.
DJ Principe ended back in 24th, time of 23:40.

The Women's race had a LOT of top names up front!!
Dani Jones might give Ms's Kelati & Monson & maybe Kurgat some trouble, as she toyed with the field before pushing ahead to win in 19:24!!
She ended just one second in front of Jessica Hull!
Elise Cranny ran 19:29, beating Weronika Pyzik's 19:35 for 3rd!
Fiona O'Keefe was 5th in 19:43.
Katie Rainsberger was out of it back in 11th, time of 20:04.

Times at the SEC were either BOLTian, or utterly ridiculous, due to a mismeasurement of the course!!
No way a pretty much unknown woman runs 6K in 18:55---even if the course was downhill and on a perfect golf course surface with perfect weather!!
Ditto the Men's leader NOT running 22:20---at least not for a course supposed to be 8K!!
However, as I've often noted, it's the MARGIN of victory that counts much more than the time!!

Gilbert  Boit ran that 22:20, beating Albert Chelanga's "22:27".
Jessica Pascoe was the recipient of that 18:55, which beat Katrina Robionson's "19:01".
Lauren Gregory ran "19:08" in 3rd!!
SEC, shame on you!!

In other Conferences---
Callie Logue ran a nifty 19:54 to beat Sabrina Johnson's 19:59 in the Big 12 race.
The Men's division went to Edwin Kurgat's 23:21.
Isai Rodriguez was 2nd in 23:26.
The ACC Men's race was close, with Peter Saufer and Zach Facioni timed in 23:31.
Dorcas Wasike took the Women's race in 20:07, beating Elly Henes's 20:16, and Anna Rohrer's 20:19.
The Big East Women's race went to Caroline Alcorta's 20:12.
Rachel McArthur took 2nd in 20:16, with Paige Hofstad further back in 3rd, time of 20:34.
Casey Comber's 23:59 took the Men's race over the 24:09 of Nick Wareham!
In the West Coast Men's race, Rory Linkletter ended just 4th, time of 23:32.
Nick Hauger took the W in 23:20 over Connor McMillan's 23:23.
Erica Birk won the Women's race in 19:46, beating Lauren LaRocco's 19:52!
And in the Big Sky Men's race, a couple of VERY key players went into battle!
Matthew Baxter beat Tyler Day, 22:46 to 22:50.
While those times also might look like outliers, the NAMES of they who ran them gives weight to the validity of the results!!
Angie Nickerson took the 5000 Women's race in 16:30.

Keep that 16:30 in mind as I report to you Katelyn Tuohy's latest pair of races!

In a race which she said was run as a workout (!!!), she still beat her own Course Record (by 7 seconds!)
Running just the final 1000 hard, her 16:46 beat the 2nd placer by 90 seconds!!
But then, in a 3 Mile race, her 15:55 did NOT break her own CR!
She missed by a mere three-tenths of a second!!
Have no idea what her race plan was there!!

This is getting long, but I have several other results to report---and some Records!!

Lawrence Cherono wiped out his own Course Record at the Amsterdam Marathon.
His 2:04:06 makes him 13th A-T World!!
Mule Wasihan took 2nd in a quick 2:04:37
Ken Bekele was up with the leaders---even led at one point---but became a VERY late race DNF---walking off the course at around 40K!!
Another Bekele won the Women's race!
Tadelech Bekele won it in 2:23:14.
But there were a couple of significant first-timers who ran some good times in their debuts!
Linet Masai ran 2:23:46, and Meseret Defar ran 2:27:25!!

The Delhi Half found Tirunesh Dibaba wallowing back in 8th at the finish line, time of 68:36!

The National Record of Canada for Men fell at the Toronto Marathon!
Cam Levins ran a sturdy and steady race, his 2:09:25 the new NR!
Benson Kipruto's 2:07:24 was the winner!
Augustino Sulle's 2:07:46 became Tanzania's new National Record!
Mimi Belete won the Women's race in a Course Record 2:22:29!
BTW, Levins's mark broke Jerome Drayton's 2:10:09, which dated from 1975!!

The Frankfurt Marathon was won by Kalhala Gezahegn's 2:06:37.
Mechamu Assefa took the Women's race in 2:20:31!
Lindsay Flanagan ran a good 2:29:35 as the lone American finisher!
Sara Hall was a DNF---reason unknown!!

Mark Kiptoo also ran in Frankfurt---at Age 42!
His 2:07:50 smashed my 40 & Over Record by 48 seconds!

Finally, on the racing front, a short course (9640 meters!!) race was run at the Reebok Women's 10K---formerly the Tufts race!!
Emily Sisson ran 30:39---which if extended that extra 360 meters, might have landed her around 31:45 or so at the end!

I'll close with some "off-track" news!

Valerie Adams is at it again!!
She's pregnant for the 2nd time---due in April!!
Not known if she'll try for the WC--which aren't until October!!

Abbey D'Agostino is now Abbey Cooper!
Not known right now is her new hubby's name!

Shannon Rowbury gave birth last June, but she says her first big race will be the World XC Champs!!
No INdoor??

Casimir Loxsom, one of America's best at 600 and 800, has retired!

See you soon!