Marathon season sprint ⏱

Lap 30: Sponsored by Under Armour

How much faster can you get in one month? Join runners around the world to find out in the UA All Out Mile.

This isn’t just a race. You have until September 30 to set a benchmark time and then do it again — ALL OUT from October 1 to October 11.

With up to $30,000 in total prizes for the fastest individuals, fastest teams, and teams with the most participants.

I ran 4:26 in my benchmark. Want to be my teammate? Join The Lap Count team and register for free today at uaalloutmile.com

Berlin Marathon 🇩🇪 🍻

Just because you didn’t wake up at 3AM to watch this race doesn’t mean you’re a bad fan. Although, a few years ago, while in peak off-season mode, I had this brilliant idea to close the bars down before settling on the couch to watch. I fell asleep before the 5k split and woke up 8 hours later, but it’s the thought that counts!

In 2017, Guye Adola made his marathon debut in Berlin — the fastest debut ever, in fact! — pushing Eliud Kipchoge to the very end before ultimately finishing 2nd in 2:03:46. What a first day on the job! But a performance like that comes with expectations, and he’s largely fallen short of them in the four years since, outside of running 2:04 for third in Valencia in 2019. It’s a tough life when numerous 59 to 61-minute halves aren’t enough to satiate the harshest of critics, but such is the life of an Ethiopian distance runner.

Leading into this year’s race, all eyes were on Kenenisa Bekele and a potential WR attempt. But if there’s one thing we have failed to learn as a fanbase, it’s that you can’t force the perfect day. While super shoes are great, the weather is undefeated. Rather than adjusting for the warmer temperatures, the pack came through the fastest first half in marathon history: 60:48 — and almost immediately regretted that decision. Once fueling and hydration became a factor in the second part of the race, the wheels started to fall off everyone. In what became a war of attrition, and a race less about how fast you can run and more about how slow you won’t go, it was Guye who triumphed in a very painful-looking 2:05:45.

Bekele finished in 3rd (2:06:47), which is fine. But given some of the big talk prior, and his career accolades, it feels disappointing. He cited the pandemic as a reason his training hadn’t gone better and although I can’t speak to the current restrictions in Ethiopia — I know a Guye who made it work there. The 39 year old, who is in my opinion the GOAT, will be back to race New York in 6 weeks.

Ethiopia’s Gotytom Gebreslase had herself a debut on Sunday. In 2020, she finished 4th at the Houston Half Marathon in a time of 68:19, but given the conditions this was a nice step up in performance even with a 17:40 final 5k. With all 6 World Marathon Majors squeezed into a 6-week period there is a real opportunity for new names to introduce themselves to an international audience — at least in theory. Unfortunately the story here became the complete lack of television coverage for the women’s race. Maybe that was partially due to the lack of Americans participating? Speaking of, guess who the top US finisher was…

Only 131 miles to go

Real runners don’t retire, they just rearrange their priorities. Coach Shalane Flanagan caught the bug again and last week announced she’d be undertaking a new sort of challenge: competing in all 6 marathon majors.

Merely finishing 6 marathons in 6 weeks isn’t that impressive (says the guy who “ran one” in 3:18 for the NYC virtual race last year) but if she runs 2:38 in all of them — with a 7 minute negative split — then that’d be more interesting. The biggest challenge will come during the back-to-back races of Chicago and Boston, which would require a flight between them. Remember, Shalane’s last race was a 3rd place finish at New York in 2018 and she is only 40 years old, which according to Bekele is still a spring chicken.

Mary Keitany Retires

The greatest tragedy of Mary Keitany’s career will be in 20 years when the next generation looks back on her personal best and assumes she was propelled to it via super shoes. But no, she just missed out! As it stands, her women’s only WR of 2:17:01 at the 2017 London Marathon is arguably the most under-appreciated performance in the distance’s history. The seven time WMM champion had a knack for making races exciting and none stands out more than the 2018 New York City Marathon when she closed her second half in 66:58. SIXY SIX FIFTY EIGHT! That’s faster than the American Record for the half, for those keeping score.

The current landscape of marathoning sets athletes up to compete in an arena more akin to a boxing ring. We are given head-to-head matchups among the best, yet it’s rare to have all the greats line up on the same day. Part of the reason for that is money — you run the major that is offering the best payday and with 6 to choose from the overlap isn’t always there. And at other times it’s politics. The missing line in Keitany’s resume is an Olympic medal, which she did not receive in 2012 (she finished 4th), and never had the opportunity to go after in 2016 following a non-selection. It’s not fair to judge an entire career based on one performance. We can argue if she’s the best to ever do it, but Mary Keitany is my first round draft pick in Fantasy Marathon.

Kipchoge’s Essentials 📱

I thought the similarities between myself and Kipchoge stopped about 5 kilometers into his marathon, but when he says he loves Kelly Clarkson and his number one essential thing in life is his phone — hey, maybe we aren’t that different after all! I wonder if the Nike legal department signed off on the line, “if you use this shoe for your long runs, even if you ran for four hours, the recovery of your muscles is actually unbelievable.”

Even if this whole segment was a giant commercial, I still loved it. And the fact that Kipchoge only sleeps for 6 hours a day is incredible. Has he tried decaf tea or consuming less sugar? Or maybe — if our phone habits are really that similar — he just needs some blue light glasses?

Interested in supporting athletes? On Friday morning we will be publishing a conversation with Jacob Thompson in our premium newsletter, The Victory Lap. We’ll be hearing about the preparation ahead of his marathon debut in Chicago. Sign up to read as this initiative has now raised over $12,100 with all proceeds going towards the elite athletes.

New Podcast: COFFEE CLUB ☕️

I’ve said it before: If there’s one thing this world needs it’s for three white dudes to make another podcast about running!

I’m a diehard Morgan McDonald YouTube fan so when I saw a 46 minute video pop up it was like my prayers had finally been answered. Although the name of the show won’t perform too well in terms of SEO, the opening title definitely grabbed my attention. Joined by his OAC teammates, Ollie Hoare and Geordie Beamish, the Oceania boys came out hot with some spicy takes — like saying that Bowerman is no longer the desirable team to be on coming out of college following the Shelby case. (Is September suddenly Rivalry Month?)

There admittedly have been a few departures from the club (with more rumored to come), but it’s also a huge team and not an uncommon occurrence for athletes to change it up following an Olympic year. As someone who regularly has to write about people they know and will see off the Internet, I am glad the new podcasters acknowledged how awkward this recording may make for some future interactions. It’ll make for some fun racing too if someone hits back…

Pete’s Dragons? 🐉

After one year with Bowerman, Sinclaire Johnson, the 2019 NCAA Champ, made the switch to Pete Julian’s unnamed squad. The team continues to fill out its roster, also announcing the addition of Stanford’s 7x All-American and 4:09/15:29 stud, Ella Donaghu. And as badly as I want to be T&F’s Adrian Wojnarowski (#MerbBomb!), it’s not my place to break news. But expect 2-3 more new signings to the squad to be made public shortly. Now please just tell us what this team’s stupid name is!

For the love of the game ⚾️

You’d be hard pressed to find an athlete who’s covered more race distance as of late than Eilish McColgan. To keep the season going this long she must be staying off Instagram — or is at least able to stifle any jealousy over all of her Olympic competitors now enjoying beach side vacations. But her 30:52 at the Great Manchester 10k shows that she still had some mana left in the reserves. Eilish checks every box when it comes to being a runner worth rooting for. She’s constantly competing and taking risks to push herself. But if you need one more reason, then may I suggest reading this post about her dealing with comments about her body. And on the men’s side it was Marc Scott rounding out his triple crown of the Great Run series with a 28:03 road PB.

The worst race you’ll ever hear about

Good luck nabbing the Strava Local Legend crown for this segment! This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race, held entirely on a half-mile city loop in Jamaica, Queens. The runners have 52 days to complete the race, competing between the hours of 6AM to midnight, and must average just under 60 miles per day to finish before the deadline. Sri Chinmoy was a popular Indian spiritual leader who came up with this cruel challenge for masochists to find their inner peace — and hey, what better place to do so than Queens, the borough whose unofficial slogan is “Hey, I’m findin’ inner peace, here!”!

One race to rule them all

Just when you thought Foot Locker Nationals had lost its grip on the high school distance running market, they’re handed a proverbial bottle of talcum powder to regain their traction and grab hold of a little bit of relevance.

Nike Cross Nationals will not be hosting a final in Portland this year, which gives New Balance a great opportunity to lure all of the nation’s fastest individuals to San Diego. Ever since the first Nike Team Nationals event was held in 2004, the race has steadily gained more attention and slowly attracted the top talent away from the historic Balboa Park.

But for powerhouse squads, there’s also a big push for teams to head to Alabama to compete in the Running Lane Cross Country Championships. And with Newbury Park already committed, there’s plenty of credibility behind the event.

Regardless of which non-NXN event kids may favor, this is the years for New Balance to pull out all the stops and make the backpacks with the most complicated patterns these runners have ever seen!

Rapid Fire Headlines 🔥

- The 2022 World XC Championships that were supposed to be held in Bathurst, Australia, were postponed for another year. Is it too late to add cross country to the Winter Olympics? (Article)

- The hip injury that caused 2020 Trials Champion, Aliphine Chepkerker Tuliamuk, to drop out of the Olympic Marathon did not heal in time and she has withdrawn from the NYC Marathon. (Instagram Post)

- Ed Cheserek (28:25) and Nell Rojas (31:52) were your winners at the 44th Cooper River Bridge Run 10k in South Carolina over the weekend to bag $8000.

- Emma Coburn hosted her 5th annual Elk Run 5k in her hometown of Crested Butte, Colorado. Lauren Hurley (16:34) and Cameron Griffith (14:44) won the event, which is held at 8900ft. Her efforts have raised $215K for Living Journeys!

- Brooks shared a great behind the scenes look at Des Linden’s 50k WR in April. (Video)

- The Trials of Miles hosted Project 13.1 was this weekend in NY and won by Mexico’s Patricio Castillo (62:14) and Susanna Sullivan (70:49).

- After one year, Spencer Brown (“The Athlete Special”) shared on his popular YouTube channel that he is no longer training with the Brooks Beasts. (Video)

- The 2020 Olympic Silver Medalist and 2x NCAA Champ, Chris Nilsen, can offer a lot of insight into the current landscape and competitiveness of the pole vault. (Interview)

- In love news: 2020 5k Olympian, Rachel Schneider tied the knot with Coach Mike Smith of NAU, OAC teammates and former Buffs, Joe Klecker and Sage Hurta were engaged and Tara Davis said yes to Hunter Woodhall’s proposal!

- The Atlanta Track Club has quietly been boosting their roster this off-season most recently with the additions of Olivia Baker (2:00), Gemma Finch (2:02) and Sadi Henderson (1:58).

- The Philadelphia Distance Run was full of great results, but the most notable performance was by meet organizers who offered participants the option to compete in the non-binary division with equal prize money.

- Debate of the week: Where do you stand on sub-elite men racing elite women at the end of a road race?

Should we vilify a dude who runs 2:25 for ruining the finish line photo, if he’s trying his best at the end of a race? Or should race directors be competent enough in their planning to implement methods for avoiding this disaster?

Under Armour All Out Mile Check-In

September 2020 to September 2021 — 35 to 50 mpw of easy running with the occasional session here and there to stay in touch, but nothing substantial.

9/3 - 4:26 benchmark road mile in Ireland 

9/7 - 7 x 800 @ 2:26 + 4 x 200 @ 30 w/ 200 jog

9/10 - 10 x 30 second hill sprints + 5 x 200 @ 28 w/ 90 sec

9/14 - 5 x 1000 @ 2:58 + 3 x 300 @ 44 w/ 200 jog

9/20 - 3 x Mile @ [456- 444- 435] w/ 90 sec 

9/22 - 10k tempo @ 5:17

9/26 - 4 x 400 @ 62 + 3 x 300 @ 45 + 2 x 200 @ 28 w/ 90 sec

The plan is to do the UA All Out Mile at the end of the window and I’m feeling pretty good about getting into ~4:05 shape. I probably need to do some specific mile workouts at some point, rather than just continuing to do the stuff I enjoy. Overall, it’s come back about as quickly as I expected. I’m not that far removed from training seriously and it’s not like I ever stopped running. Any predictions?

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