26 miles 2 far! ⏱

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Hello London Marathon 🇬🇧🎩

For Joyciline Jepkosgei, the consolation prize for not being selected to the Kenyan Olympic team is a London Marathon title in the 7th fastest time in history (2:17:43). That ought to pair nicely with her 2019 title from New York!

Second and third place finishers, Degitu Azimeraw and Ashete Bekere, also did not compete in Tokyo, but finished just ahead of Brigid Kosgei, who recently won Olympic silver. Ultimately the eight-week turnaround between the two events seems less than ideal for a proper recovery and buildup. That said, it was great to see Lonah Salpeter finish strong in 5th. We last saw her fading out of podium position over the final miles of the Olympic marathon, which she attributed to menstrual cramps.

The race came through the halfway point in a Des Linden-esque, even split of 68:51 with a big pack of women who had let the pacers get away. While they were just doing their job as it was assigned and aren’t at fault, it’d be nice if at some point the pacers were instructed to slow down and let the racers reattach... you know, so that they’d actually serve a purpose. Admittedly however, I prefer the World Marathon Majors without rabbits (New York, Boston and Chicago). If a race has the pedigree to be exciting just off its stout, competitive field, let it be.

On the men’s side it was Ethiopia’s Sisay Lemma — who bounced back from the disappointment of a DNF in Tokyo — who broke the field late to win in 2:04:01. Of note, he was also the first finisher without an Instagram. He hung out quietly in the pack behind the big-man, Vincent Kipchumba, for the better part of 2 hours before letting his presence be known. Lemma has finished near the front numerous times in his previous nine World Marathon Majors, but this was his first victory. But his first WMM win came without a trip to the top of the podium after the race. Because he was a close contact of Kinde Atanaw, who was forced to withdraw due to Covid, Lemma was not allowed to receive his award — can’t be too cautious after already breathing all over your competitors for two hours.

The defending champion, Shura Kitata, put together a masterclass on what it means to run his own race. He showed up on the start line with some tape on his knee and the not so distant memory of dropping out of the Olympics with a hamstring injury. It looked like it’d be a short race once again after he fell off the leaders before the 2 mile split, but he somehow managed to run the entire race alone (looking pretty rough in the process!) in 2:07:51 to grab sixth. With the power of positive self-talk and the motivation of collecting an appearance fee, anything is possible.

Oh, how the tables have turned!

They make it too easy to root against the bureaucracy! Charlotte Purdue was left off the British Olympic team despite her 2:25 showing at the last London Marathon, after she was given a medical exemption from competing in the Trials. Instead her slot was determined by the discretion of a panel who would play gatekeeper to Purdue’s dreams.

Despite a conversation with a UK Athletics doctor, in which she communicated the positive progress of her training and readiness for Tokyo, the message failed to reach the decision makers. Instead, under the pretense that she was still running 30-minutes a day, she was passed over.

On Sunday, Charlotte ran 2:23:26, the third fastest time in UK history and solidified her selection to the Commonwealth Games, Europeans and Worlds. Now the ball is in her court as to which she’ll run next summer. In my American bias, the only meaningful meet of the three is Worlds, but when asked if the snub had affected her desire to run for Great Britain in the future she said, “it’s definitely tainted my desire.”

I think this is where Charlotte holds UK Athletics ransom for a significant amount of money under the threat that she’ll start in all three races, only to step off the course in each with middle fingers flying.

Shalane Flanagan Watch 👀

Two down, four to go. Starting with the masses, Shalane tried out a different strategy this week versus the massive negative split she ran in Berlin — the questionably effective and rarely purposefully executed positive split. After coming through the half in 75:04 and remaining under 2:30 pace through 30k, she ultimately faded to 2:35:04. There’s less than a week to recover before the Chicago/Boston double, where hundreds more will do their best to sit and kick on Shalane before asking for her autograph.

A runner’s best friend 🐶

As the seasons begin to change and I keep having to wake up to run alone in the dark every morning, I can’t be alone in thinking that it would be really nice to have more friends. I think Phil Sesemann found an appropriate solution in the form of a mutt named Kipchoge. As a junior doctor in Leeds (we’re talking about Phil again, not his pet dog), there isn’t always time to meet up with training partners for a run. Having the four-legged company of his spaniel mix seems to have served as a worthy replacement — his marathon debut of 2:12:58 made him the top Brit in London and 7th overall. It takes a special type of friend to suffer through a 103-mile week with you but that friend being in charge of your food bowl is certainly a strong negotiating tactic.

Another road WR down! 🛣

If it feels like you’re learning of a new women’s world record falling every week, that’s because, well, you are. This time it was Bahrain’s Kalkidan Gezahegne’s turn — her 29:38 10k in Geneva eclipsed Joyciline Jepkosgei’s 2017 mark of 29:43. (Hopefully Jepkosgei’s London victory (and payday) will be enough to ease the pain of this heartbreaking news.)

Before Gezahegne was winning silver medals in Tokyo, she was competing for her birth-nation of Ethiopia at the 2010 World Indoor Championships, where she won gold. In those prelims she pulled the OG-Sifan Hassan when she fell to the track, but then got back up to not only qualify, but to do so in the fastest time of the day.

Gezahegne has had a remarkable season after not competing in 2019 and 2020. On a completely unrelated note, she has been coached the past two years by Jama Aden’s 19 year old son. Surely he is the youngest coach of an Olympic medalist in history — how is this not receiving more attention?

The men’s race in Geneva was won by Kandie Kibiwott in a time of 26:51. The half marathon WR holder (57:32) makes his debut in New York next month and a tuneup like this means he’s either going to SMASH it out of the park or he’s doing way too much speed work!

The rankings are broken 📉

You know we are missing track season and living in the past once arguments about rankings lead the headlines. For a deep dive into all the flaws of the World Athletics point system look back at our analysis during Lap 18, but seeing Sydney McLaughlin and Athing Mu left off the top ten list has reignited this conversation. How many Olympic gold medals would it take until you stop caring about these lists? Hopefully two!

With that said, it seems like a fair starting place for determining the pecking order of who had the best season: “Did you break the World Record and win the biggest meet of the past five years?” From there we can look at the whole body of work — which includes meets outside of the Diamond League — to fill in the rest of the field. This isn’t just an American thing, but the New Jersey pair are certainly the most egregious omissions. Sorry there was a pandemic and not everyone could freely travel the world!

The men’s list worked out better, although it feels like we consistently aren’t appreciating the Bahama’s Steven Gardiner’s inability to lose races. Also, where is Sweden’s Daniel Stahl? He won the discus at 18 meetings this year, including the Olympics, Brussels, Stockholm, Oslo, and the Zurich Diamond League finals. It’s not my business to meddle in other people’s financial affairs, but it feels like he deserves a contract bonus for throwing the heavy frisbee consistently far.

What to watch for: Chicago Marathon 🏙

Info: Sunday, October 10th - 7:30am CT - NBCSN/Peacock

The women’s race is admittedly set up well for an American victory, but the top contender/spoiler in the field is none other than Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich. She comes to the Windy City with a personal best of 2:17:04, a 2019 World Championship title, and something to prove following her DNF at the Olympics. Given her WR in the half (64:02), the fast course that is Chicago should suit her. The next best bet would be on Vivian Kiplagat, whose 2:21:11 came in a victory at Dubai in 2019 — it’s a good indicator when you’re winning races!

It’s been proven that Sara Hall thrives on flat courses and she has announced her intention to gun for Deena Kastor’s American Record of 2:19:36. She ran an official time trial half marathon of 1:08:44 in Oregon during August so it’s certainly a possibility.

The New York Times had a great write-up on Keira D’Amato whose story is most likely familiar to those who have seen her seemingly come out of nowhere the past two years. She would have been a potential contender to make the Olympic team on the track, but unfortunately did not start due to injury. Let’s not forget she ran 2:22:56 during the Marathon Project back in December 2020.

Based on some 120 mile weeks posted to her Strava, it would appear that Emma Bates is ready to take down her 2:25:27 from when she won the US Champs in 2019. I once did a run with Emma and her dog, Nuka, and she (re: the pup, this time) would disappear into the woods for a worrying amount of time before magically reappearing back in front of us on the trail.

There is way more depth on the men’s side of the race, but for American fans/dissenters, Galen Rupp is the headline. He won here in 2017 and has an Olympic Bronze in the marathon from Rio, but finished just 8th in Tokyo. His personal best is only 2:06 from Prague and that’s moderately surprising given that he has started ten marathons.

There are nine international sub 2:08 guys in this field and you probably haven’t heard of many of them. Most of that bunch haven’t run well recently, although Reuben Kipyego (2:03:55) has the fastest PB in the field and did that this year in Milan, where he was just ahead of Seifu Tura who ran 2:04:29 there. But if I wanted a longer shot to get paid on it’d be on Japan’s leading duo of Kengo Suzuki (2:04:56) and Masato Kikuchi (2:07:20), who’ve broken out the last couple years.

Chicago is a destination race for 2:09-2:13 American Marathoners and this race is full of them. The fastest patriot not named Galen is Ian Butler, who has run 2:09:45 despite regularly starting workouts at 4:45AM before heading off to his day job as a teacher. The local Illinois boys, Colin Mickow (2:11:22) and Chris Derrick (2:12:50) will have the advantage of crowd support. And then there is Wilkerson Given (2:11:44), who helped found Stoke Performance, one of this newsletters first sponsors (see if code ‘TLC’ still works!). If you subscribe to The Victory Lap, then there’s plenty of reason to add Jacob Thomson to your athlete tracker. Ultimately, there is so much depth here that the odds are in favor of someone whose name I didn’t mention!

Interested in supporting athletes? On Friday morning we will be publishing a conversation with Frank Lara in our premium newsletter, The Victory Lap. We’ll be hearing about his advice for new professionals and balancing life between the track and roads. Sign up to read as this initiative has now raised over $12,300 with all proceeds going towards the elite athletes.

What to watch for: Boston Marathon 🍩

Info: Monday, October 11th - 9:00am ET - NBCSN/Peacock

You know spring has arrived when the Boston Marathon is here! It may not be Patriot’s Day, but I am confident that Boston-area college students will still use this occasion as an excuse to get drunk in the morning and yell at exercisers. Less inebriated and more knowledgeable fans of the sport will have quite the race to spectate — but the race organizers certainly didn’t do the Americans any favors with this elite field.

The quickest woman on paper in the field is Yebrgual Melese, who ran 2:19:36 in Dubai back in 2019, but the most decorated would be Edna Kiplagat, who has won Boston, New York, London and two World Championships. She’s also 42. The 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, Mare Dibaba, is there, but with no results to her name in the past two years, she’s a bit of a wildcard. There are 15 athletes in this race who have run under 2:23 — and with no pacers to string things out expect a massive pack and some decisive moves.

From an American perspective, Jordan Hasay is looking for redemption. Her third place finish in Beantown in 2019 was her last truly exceptional result, but since then she’s made some coaching changes and is now training under Pete Julian. Jordan is a dedicated weekly reader to The Lap Count (yeah, we can see who reads this!) and for that reason alone she is worth cheering for! (Then of course there’s her 2:20 PR, the fact that she’s been a fan favorite since she won Footlocker as a freshman in 2005, and who doesn’t love a story of redemption?)

The 28-time US Champ, Molly Huddle, will be toeing the line for her first marathon since the Olympic Trials — given her American Record half, Molly’s current 2:26:33 PR from London may be on borrowed time. And although she’s been in the game long enough to start collecting her pension, the 2018 Boston Champion, Des Linden, keeps showing up with a lifetime of fitness under her belt. And then there is Nell Rojas, who at 33 is somehow new to the game following a hiatus from the sport to compete in triathlons and obstacle course racing. After winning all three of her tune-up races at the San Diego Half, Cooper Bridge Run, and US 10 Mile Champs — there will be no shortage of confidence when she lines up against a fleet of studs

On the men’s side, there are sixteen men with personal bests under 2:09 with Kenya’s Reuben Kipyego (2:03:55) having the quickest time. But if we want to go off people who know the course and have proven themselves here before then let me introduce you to the three previous champs: Lemi Berhanu (2016), Geoffrey Kirui (2017), and Yuki Kawauchi (2018). The thing to love about Boston is its unpredictability, and how tactics and timing play a role in the game. This will be the last time I mention the fact that I prefer marathons without rabbits, but that gives the Americans a shot!

What would a race featuring Abdi Abdirahaman be without the five-time Olympian being counted out before he even toes the line? However, it’s a quick turnaround from the Games and so the country’s hopes may fall on the shoulders of guys like Scott Fauble (2:09), who was 7th in 2019. Colin Bennie and Scott Smith both ran 2:09 during the Marathon Project, which was a relatively controlled race environment vs. the potential chaos that will ensue on Monday. And if you’re a fan of white shoes, loud music and well-curated training videography then join the legion of Parker Stinson stans.

This is the Boston Marathon — a race that once inspired me to email a professor to inform her that I would not be showing up to class because I’d be watching it instead.

Rapid Fire Headlines 🔥

-At the San Jose Half Marathon NAZ Elite’s Kiwi, Matt Baxter won the men’s race in 1:02:38 and Laura Thweatt took the women’s in 1:10:25.

-Michael Sheridan ran 2:59:37 and Jeannie Rice ran 3:38:38 at 72 and 73 years old respectively in the London Marathon.

-Abbey Cooper gives some insight into her inspiration and mindset that helped propel her to a successful season. (Blog)

-The Japanese high school 5000m record was broken by Keita Sato who ran 13:31.19 at the National Championships.

-Val Constien opened up about her struggles with mental health and anxiety (Interview)

-Read this wild recap of the Yellow River Stone Forest Ultramarathon in China where 21 lives were lost. (WSJ)

Thanks again to ArtiKen for sponsoring this week’s newsletter — buy a bracelet to show your appreciation! And if you haven’t yet, SUBSCRIBE!