The 10k isn't boring ⏱

Lap 14: Sponsored by Streamline Athletes

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10 x 1k @ WR pace w/ 0 sec rest ✈️

(Editor’s Note: The below was written on Monday evening.)

29:06 — Sifan Hassan put on for the home crowd in Hengelo on Sunday, setting a new 10k world record and winning — obviously. To properly put this race into perspective, we need to look at the recent history of this record. At the Rio Olympics, Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia dominated one of the best 25 lappers in history, with a 29:17 in a race that saw eight national records fall. Previously, it was Wang Junxia’s 29:31 set in 1993 — and although it hasn’t officially been stricken from the books (for some reason), she and 9 other Chinese athletes admitted to their coach forcing them to dope. Sifan ran way faster!

Overall, the silence from the running Internet was deafening for an athlete that is so well-known in the United States. That is probably at least partially due to the inherent xenophobia, sexism and jingoism that exists in the sporting world. But another major reason the crowd went mild for Sifan is because her previous coach is none other than Alberto Salazar. The general public is oddly selective over who gets the scarlet letter distinction for that association. Since many people see a fast time like this and grab the pitchforks, please allow me to play devil’s advocate.

First off, Sifan is already the mile world record holder (4:12). She’s run world class 800s (1:56) and an unbelievable half marathon (65:15) and she is the 2019 double world champion at 1500/10k. Last year in Hengelo in much worse conditions, she ran 29:36. If you weren’t throwing stones then, don’t start now.

Yes, there are shoes. But arguably more advantageous is the wave-light technology pacing athletes from the inside rails. Look at the lack of variability vs. Ayana’s record run. Despite only having a rabbit for the first 2k, Sifan ran exactly as fast as was needed up until the final laps. If you’re someone who defers to me for what their opinions on all things running should be, please note that I’m ok with the lasers. Just leave them out of actual races (looking at you British Championships!). We don’t yet know just how helpful they are, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s greater than 4% when hovering around a threshold is the key to sustaining a hot pace. We saw the success Joshua Cheptegei and Letesenbet Gidey experienced with it in the WR runs last summer. The further you run, the more time technology has to carry you.

But finally, according to the IAAf scoring tables, 29:06 is worth 1298 points.

For context here are some similar rated performances: Brigid Kosgei - 2:14:04 (1296), Ruth Chepngetich - 64:04 (1296), El Guerrouj - 3:26 (1302), Daniel Komen - 7:20 (1299), Joshua Cheptegei - 12:35/26:11 (1302/1306), Eliud Kipchoge - 2:01:39 (1316)

Sparknotes: You’re free to draw your own conclusions, but this record is on par with other performances we have seen from her and others in the sport.

(And then THIS happened!)

The Ethiopian Olympic Trials were also held in Hengelo, and it was a barn burner. On Tuesday, Letesenbet Gidey stayed right on the pacing lights for 24 laps and then kicked it home to take down the 2-day old 10K WR. This was the most impressive showing from a meet of many incredible performances. Seriously — it was wild. Check out these winning times:

800m: Werkwuha Getachew - 1:56 ; Elhassane Moujahid - 1:46

1500m: Freweyni Hailu - 3:57 ; Teddese Lemi - 3:31

Steeplechase: Bikila Takele - 8:09 ; Mekides Abebe - 9:13

5000m: Gudaf Tsegay - 14:13 ; Getnet Wale - 12:53

10000m: Selemon Barega - 26:49 ; Letesenbet Gidey - 29:01

All of my above points about Sifan Hassan’s run hold true for Gidey’s, and if anything are strengthened by the fact that all of her compatriots ran ridiculously fast, too. I truly don’t think there’s systematic cheating going on. It’s happened before elsewhere, and I’ll acknowledge it is possible, but Ethiopia has virtually no history with doping. Currently on the extremely long list of individuals serving a ban, only one is Ethiopian — and they weren’t even that good.

Shoes matter and wave lights matter. And while I can’t speak to the culture of countries outside my own, one of the most influential factors that can’t be measured in a lab is the opportunity women have in 2021 vs. a generation ago. As the landscape of educational, social and family dynamics continues to evolve, the depth and pinnacle of female running will continue to explode to new heights. USATF can’t make standards difficult enough as fields continue to overfill.

You saved the Earth! ♻️

Oh, the Olympics wants to recycle all of a sudden? Let’s not forget about the first two R’s — reduce and reuse! Is there a better way to combat the various levels of corruption, displacement, urban decay and tax-dollar waste than creating a sedentary home for the games? Greece invented the damn thing and we should stop shopping it around and buy some time shares in Athens instead.

#MommyRocket 🚀 🇯🇲

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce gave birth to her son in 2017 after going into labor while watching the World Championship 100m final. Her absence drew questions as to if she’d ever get back to the same championship form that took home 6 Olympic medals. Those questioned were answered in 10.63 seconds this past weekend. Fraser-Pryce is still setting personal bests and national records at the age of 34 — 13 years after winning her first gold medal over 100m in Beijing. Do you know who is going to be 21 in Tokyo? Sha’Carri Richardson! (Fun fact: 15 of the top 18 100m runners in the world this year are Jamaican or American.)

Sir, this is a Wendy’s 🍔

Matt Centrowitz showed up to the Stumptown Twilight meet to run a special workout: 3 sections of the 800. While watching the meet it was hard not to feel bad for the athletes who came to actually race, but I figure way more people tuned in because of him. Plus, the 15 guys who are now Olympic gold medalists through the transitive property weren’t too upset, so it was a win-win. Two weeks before Rio, I paced Centro for a similar workout in Eugene after he raced a 1:47. Coming off a 3:35 myself, I brought him through ~500m to 3 x 800 in 1:53/1:49/1:47. Obviously this workout in Portland isn’t quite as good, but the Tokyo finals are still two months away and the trajectory is favorable. Centro is coming at 2021 less at the angle of being a 1:44 guy and more from the point of possessing 13-flat capabilities. But this whole thing really makes you think about the fact that El Guerrouj ran back-to-back 1:51s. I wonder if he would have been equally as scrupulous in the sharing of workout details on Instagram?

‘Hey! I know you’re getting excited about the Olympic Trials coming up. I think you’d enjoy this weekly newsletter that I subscribe to.’

Do we hit the panic button? 🚨

With 400m to go in Nashville, Dani Aragon saw the clock and knew she’d have to book it around the 11x US Champ, Jenny Simpson — who Aragon likely had a poster of on her bedroom wall growing up — to get her automatic qualifying time for the Olympic Trials. Immediately upon finishing, Aragon ran into the arms of her father, Chuck Aragon, who is now a track-side photographer/doctor, but holds a 3:51 mile best. This was the biggest win of her career and is the sort of leap forward that can reorient an athlete’s mind to believe anything is possible.

On paper this should have been an easy tune-up for Jenny to build some momentum and confidence leading into the Olympic trials. Granted, this was a 4 second season’s best, but still far from the form we’d expect this time of year. Currently, she is entered in both the 1500 and 5k at the trials, but will likely choose one to focus on as the schedule does not make that a friendly double. Only in sports would the age of 34 be worth noting, but that’s when people typically move up in distance. That said, if she’s looking to medal at the Games, then it’ll be the 1500. My parting words from this blurb are that you’re insane if you’re betting against Jenny Simpson making this team— I was just saying all that stuff to create some drama.

(As I continue to work late into Tuesday night it has dawned on me that I am supposed to get up in a few hours to pace Dani.)

Now what, Sir? 🇬🇧

Brutal move here by the Olympics social media team to call out Mo Farah not making the Games (yet), but the least they could do is @ him next time. The European Cup played host to the British 10k trials, and it disappointed. Generally, the race within a race takes a lot of the excitement away as those racing with something on the line may not actually be at the front of the race. Fortunately, Eilish McColgan won the whole shebang and got to celebrate her bid properly by crossing the line first. On the men’s side, viewers were in the dark for the second half as the race was taken over by France’s Morhad Amdouni. Marc Scott was the top finisher from the UK in 7th, but his ‘A’ standard earlier in the year secured his spot. After a four year hiatus from the track, Farah returned to finish 8th in 27:50. Although this fell outside the qualifying time of 27:28, he has until June 27th to try again. It’s too bad there is no USATF Rule 8 for the Olympics. May I suggest getting those special shoes and pacing lights? Oh, he had them…

Enough with the high hurdles! 🚧

Sydney McLaughlin has run over hurdles 7 times this season, but they’ve all been 100 meters or less, until the Music City Carnival in Nashville. The wait was worth it as she opened her season with a 52.83 — a world lead and her 3rd fastest ever. It was confusing to watch her race the 60m hurdles indoors at a New Balance sponsored meet and seeing her doors get blown off. It was revealed afterwards that she was purposely practicing going over with her opposite leg. Apparently those games were worth it because she looked strong switching sides part way through, but a 9th hurdle stutter indicates there is still time left to grab.

The WR holder and defending Olympic champ, Dalilah Muhammad won her race down in Florida in 54.50, while Shamier Little’s best is a 53.12 a couple weeks ago. This is the race of the Olympic trials and who you root for is T&F’s version of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. I got the one who is obsessed with Twitter.

Turning heads in the gym 😳

I’d need a calculator to tell you how much weight Tianna Bartoletta is hexbar-dead lifting, but the reaction of fellow gym goers says what we are all thinking. This is the sort of power necessary to run 10.96 in the 100m like she did this week, her fastest time since 2016. With her back up against the wall to qualify for the trials, she practiced what she preaches in her new book, Survive & Advance.

Scot invades American territory 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

(This is not sponsored content from the Sit & Kick Podcast, although they did support the week 10 newsletter. It’s just karma at work!)

3:31.55 — The track seems to shake when Josh Kerr makes his move. Generally when a pacer starts to slow before stepping off, the athletes like to take a moment to appreciate the lull in cadence and gather their breath. In what has become a signature move that is completely indefensible to those of us who enjoy that aforementioned lull, Kerr seizes this opportunity to pounce, swallowing the rabbit whole and jumping the field. And when you’re fitter than anyone in the field, why not? Leading up to his American soil record, Kerr had run a 1:45 and 13:23 in the few weeks prior. Since graduating from New Mexico with a few NCAA titles, he has been dominant and consistent on the US domestic scene. He placed 6th at the World Champs in 2019, but hasn’t spent much time on the Diamond League circuit. Boxers like to start their seasons off by getting some early KOs to build up their confidence leading into a title fight. It’s hard to imagine that his gigantic head will fit on the plane to the British Champs later this summer.

And shoutout to the Tracklandia/Portland Track crew for continuing to put on high quality meets that have built-up a reputation for going fast. (They’ve also proven the PPV model works and is popular!)

Plus, they let those of us who don’t live in Portland watch another major moment in the feel-good story this spring that is Empire Elite’s Eric Holt who came into the season with a 3:44 personal best. Despite winning five straight 1500s against strong fields, his 3:39.8 seed wasn’t going to get him into the trials, so he flew to the Electric Forest to run 3:36.6 and punch his ticket. The Saturday before this breakthrough, Holt had run 3:40 to win in Boston — he didn’t suddenly become a 3:36 guy. He already was, but needed the right opportunity to prove it.

(Kyle points to Eric’s heart and whispers, ‘It was in here the whole time!’)

Happy Pride Month 🏳️‍🌈

I’m completely obsessed with Gabriela Stafford’s new hair.

TRACK WATCH

NCAA Track & Field Championships - Wednesday, 6/9 to Saturday, 6/12 - ESPN

Florence Diamond League - Thursday, 6/10, 1pm - Peacock