A New (T&F) Season---A New Life

I'm back.
And so is this blog.
A brief synopsis of the past 6 weeks---

Beginning about 2015, a lower leg & foot infection worsened---a lot!
And like an addict denying his addiction, I ignored it, thinking it would cure itself.
As the years, months & days wore on, I came THIS close to the door of death!!

Bob Dylan---my hero & life inspiration---sang he's "trying to get to Heaven before they close the door"!!
In fact, my residence became a living HELL!!

And then my greatly needed intervention arrived.
Adult Protective Services brought 3 EMT's to my apt and persuaded me to go to the hospital!
Long story short, I was in St Joseph's Hospital here in Bellingham between December 4th and the 24th!
And I'm 100% CURED!
The infection is GONE!!

Thank you to Dr Huong, the many nurses and nurses aides (CNA's), the PT's and others who tended to, cared for, and conversed with me (non-medical subjects) through all 20 days there!
I was cured within 12 days, actually, but my apt needed to be cured  also---paint job, new flooring, a new bed---and that's why I didn't come home until late on Christmas Eve!!
Scrooge---and his abode---redeemed!!
No more "Bah!  Humbug's!" from me!!!

Soooo---
let's return from that door of death, and get back to the reason and purpose of this blog!!
With that in mind, I'm going to begin my report with the NCAA Cross Country Championships held on November 22nd!!

The Men's race was slow.
Nohing new in the post King Ches era!
Morgan McDonald--out of Australia--won it in 29:06, a full 2.5 seconds ahead of the favored Grant Fisher!
Edwin Kurgat followed in the Cardinal's shadow, ahead of Isai Rodriguez, Aaron (Sic!) Templeton, and Tyler Day!
Aman Kemboi, Joe Klecker, John Dressel, and Connor Mantz filled places 7 through 10.
Some other names---Alfred Chelanga was 12th, Matt Baxter 15th, Rory Linkletter 22nd, and Casey Comber 34th!!
No times were even close to my Top 24 A-T list for this event!!

The Women's race--seemingly a given!---was faster!!
Dani Jones used her incredible kick to move into the Winner's circle---and come to within a second of making my A-T list---her time being 19:42.
She blew past the diminutive Eritrean--Weini Kelati---and beat her by 3 seconds!!
Another 5 seconds back came Jessica Hull.
Yet another 5 seconds behind came Alicia Monson, Ednah Kurgat, and Allie Ostrander!
Also under 20 minutes was Erica Birk!!
Makena Morley, Charlotte Prouse, and Anna Rohrer filled out the Top 10!
Other big names included---
Elise Cranny and Weronika Pyzik in 11th & 12th, followed by Dorcas Wasike in 14th, Katie Rainsberger in 19th, with Sharon Lokedi back in 45th, and Callie Logue in 53rd!

Before leaving November, let's not ignore Kellyn Taylor's fine Half of 1:10:13!!
(For some reason, her time is NOT listed in T&FN's year-end list!!)
Run on November 11th, it ranks 14th A-T US!!

The Istanbul Marathon produced a fast Woman's time!
Ruth Chepngetich missed the Age 24 Record by one second, but her winning time of 2:18:35 ranks her 7th A-T World, tied with 1 other!!
Cut OFF my list was the venerable Edna Kiplagat, her 2:19:50 dating from 2012!!

Now let's review the HS XC Championship races---the NXN and Footlocker!
For those unaware, the NXN is mainly a team race, with some at-large individuals added.
Footlocker is all individuals--although they run for "regions" of the country!

The redoubtable Katelyn Tuohy broke her own Course Record by about 7 seconds, her 16:37.8 beating her NY rival Kelsey Chmiel by about 17 seconds!!
Chmiel's time (16:54 & change) ranks her 4th A-T for the NXN, although please note that the course has changed, while the distance remains 5000 meters!!
In fact, the first 7 make my A-T list!!
Runner-Walker Extraordinaire Taylor Ewart took 3rd, her 17:06.7 ranking 7th A-T.
Emily Covert's 17:10.2 is 9th A-T, tied with 1 other!
Claire Walters's 17:13.3 is 11th, with Brooke Rauber's 17:19.2 ranking 15th A-T, and Alexis Morris's 17:25.3 ranking her 23rd A-T!!
Way back---48th & 49th in a field of 50!!--came BIG names Grace Ping and London Culbreath!!

The Men too broke Records & made my list!!
Unheralded Liam Anderson not only won the race, but his 14:57.6 is the first sub-15 time ever run at NXN!!
Cole Hocker--also unknown to me!--took 2nd about 3 seconds back, his 15:00.9 ranking 3rd on the A-T list!!
Another Cole--Sprout--was 3rd in 15:02.7, ranking 4th A-T!!
Nico Young's 15:04.7 and Easton Allred's 15:05.2 ranks 9th & 11th, respectively!!
Austin Varicil's 15:08.8 makes him 14th A-T!
Alex Maur (??) ran 15:10.3 for 23rd A-T!!
And Matt Strange (???) is 24th A-T with his 15:10.5 in 8th!!

Footlocker saw Cole Hocker again---and here he WON!!
But his 15:13.7 fell 20 seconds short of making my A-T list!!
Jake Renfer took 2nd six seconds behind!

An unknown Soph won the Women's race--her name being Sydney Masciarelli!!
And her 17:00.3 makes her 14th A-T!!
Katelynn Hart took a VERY close 2nd--her 17:01.0 ranking her 15th A-T, tied with 1 other!
A Frosh--Abbey VanderKool (??)--was 3rd in 17:14.
She beat some important names!!
Taylor Ewart was 4th in 17:20, while Emily Covert finished 5th in 17:29.6.

Back to the Roads for a bit!
Emma Bates will be getting married on September 20th, but more important (to our task here!!) is that she WON the Sacramento Marathon in 2:28:18!!
(T&FN says it's a "downhill" course---like Boston--so not eligible for their lists!!  But it IS eligible for MY lists!!)
Therefore, she ranks 24th A-T US, tied with 1 other.
Stephanie Bruce also broke 2:30 for the 1st time, her time being 2:29:20!!
BTW, seven Women ran 2:31:22 or faster!!

Yama Hatton (??) took the Fukuoka race in 2:07:27--the first Japanese runner to win there in 14 years!!
The Valencia Marathon saw fast times & a pair of National Records!!
Leul Gebrselassie ran 2:04:31 to rank him 23rd A-T World!
Hassan El Akbasso (??) was 2nd in 2:04:43, but claims the National Record of Bahrain!!
Mahjoub Dazza's 2:05:26 takes down Morocco's NR by one second!!


OOKKAAYYYY!!!!
It's time for the 2018-2019 INdoor T&F season!!!!!!!
And what a BLAZING start it had---at least for one race in one meet way back on December 1st!!
The Boston University track saw an amazing array of fast 5000 times in the Women's race!!
It was BU's Mini-Meet Number One!!
Let the stats speak for themselves---

Ednah Kurgat redeemed her XC season by winning in 15:14.78.
This made her 3rd A-T Collegiate INdoors!
Weini Kelati's 15:15.24 in 2nd makes her 5th A-T Collegiate!
Sharon Lokedi ran 15:15.47 to rank her 6th A-T Collegiate!
Allie Ostrander's 15:16.38 makes her 7th A-T Collegiate---and 9th A-T US!!

While Elise Cranny's 15:24.32 in 5th WOULD have made the Collegiate list, she was listed as "unattached"---so is probably either graduated, out of INdoor eligibility, or is redshirting!!
So no listing!!
However, she DOES make the US list--in 15th place!!

Dorcas Wasike's 15:25.35 makes her 12th A-T Collegiate!
Charlotte Prouse ran 15:26.01 to rank 13th A-T Collegiate!
Jaci Smith's 15:28.07 makes her 15th A-T Collegiate, and 19th A-T US!!
Aubrey Roberts's 15:32.38 makes her 19th A-T Collegiate, and 23rd A-T US!!
Lauren LaRocco's 15:33.20 makes her 20th A-T Collegiate!!
Finally--in 11th place in the race!!--came Jessica Pascoe, her 15:34.76 ranking her 23rd A-T Collegiate!!

WOW!!!!

The HS'ers and Collegiates (Except in that 5K race!!!) have been slow to come around----or come around at all!!!---but a few Pro's have wound their INdoor clocks into overdrive early!!

The venerable Mariya Lasitskene opened her INdoor season with a 6-6.75 (2.00) HJ, leading the World, of course!
Kaitlyn Long threw the WT out 79-1.25, but it's 10 inches shy of her PR!
An 18 year old Irish lass (born 12/12/2000)--Kate O'Connor--did a Pentathlon, scoring 4174 points to lead the World--and nab the Ireland National Record!!

But on January 4th in Glasgow, a pair of Women ran fast 5K's!!
Laura Muir's 14:52.02 isn't a PR, but was quick enough to beat Canada's Gabriela Stafford, whose time of 14:57.45 SMASHED the National INdoor Record of Canada to pieces!!!
It also makes her 17th A-T World!!
BUT--cut FROM my DDD list was USA's Shelby Houlihan, whose 15:06.22 dates from 2016!

Well, that takes care of the Records & Marks--but maybe I'll be setting a record (of sorts) for "off-track" news!!

Pregnancy--and giving birth--is HUGE (Sic!!) news now!
Sarah Brown is pregnant with her 2nd child--and announced her retirement from Professional racing!!

VCB--Veronica Campbell Brown--- gave us a beautiful photo of her VERY pregnant self on Instagram--and said she too MIGHT be retiring!!

And Allyson Felix!!!---who ran 51 seconds last August while pregnant!---gave birth recently to her first child!!

Tara Davis has left Georgia!!
Disagreements with her coach there--plus personal issues--caused her to depart and head home to California and her family!!
What 2019 holds for her---coaching, school, her LIFE---is unknown at this time!!

Finally, Mary Cain---Remember her???---is in serious training at the Mammoth Lakes site (Deena Kastor's group!)---in her 2nd of 3 weeks there!!
What 2019 holds for HER is also unknown right now!!
(But a photo of her showed she's lean and smiling!!)
Hopeful signs!

As for myself---and this blog--all signs are pointing towards Heaven---hopefully(for now!!) Heaven on Earth!!
Cured, home, getting stronger every day, this blogger---and blog--- LIVES!!

See you soon!