Run/Jump/Throw/Drive⏱

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Des is still good at running 🚙

“31 miles at 5:47 pace? My car doesn’t even go that fast!” —Your Uncle

If you are just joining us, welcome! Meet Des Linden: 2x Olympian, 2:22 PB and Boston Marathon Champ. She came into Tuesday with plenty of self-induced pressure and delivered ahead of schedule. Her 2:59 50K took down the previous World’s Best of 3:07 by a decent margin, but it was nothing but class and humor from the former record holder, Aly Dixon. And let’s leave the whole ‘World Record vs. World’s Best’ distinction to the statisticians. The point is no one has ever gone faster.

This was a ton of fun, an impressive accomplishment and the 7th cherry on top for her, but it was also sorta expected. (Send your hate mail to [email protected]). That’s not diminishing the run — It’s a compliment to the consistency that has become synonymous with Des’s career that we knew she was capable of this. Running 31 miles vs. 26 miles isn’t that different in terms of training or the engine required. I’m equally confident that Joshua Cheptegei would crush the 11k. The real question mark will be if/when she enters the world of trail running because that’s actually just a different sport than the roads.

Hasn’t even done speed work yet

Just days after her 21st birthday, Sha’Carri Richardson has immediately backed up all Twitter banter and her 2019 NCAA title with a new 100m PB of 10.72. The performance was good enough for #6 on the all-time list, but was additionally notable because not only was it her opener, it was the fastest time ever run in April. Her status as a potential Olympic favorite has been solidified by the fact that news outlets outside of the normal three covering T&F have taken notice.

But what’s her 40? 🏈

Last week I jokingly suggested the sport lean into the celebrity/influencer world to help us gain attention. But Chad Ochocinco was at the Miramar Invite live-tweeting (and Instagramming) to his 3.3 MILLION fans and now I’m ready to fully commit to this idea. Although we forget it at times, T&F is a business and brand marketing is part of it. We have to change the way our sport is perceived by the masses to strike a better balance between niche and cool. The goal would be to build hype and create FOMO for potential fans. New eyeballs on the track lead to more sponsorship dollars. Let’s begin with The Rock and Kevin Hart. It’s an investment!

Build it and they will still come…

…to Boston for indoor track meets. As if this small suburb of New York didn’t have enough places to break 4-minutes in the mile! New Balance is entering the game and wants to raise the bar for how fans experience the 200m oval going forward. The continuing deemphasis of the indoor season is a wasted opportunity. In comparison to outdoor tracks it’s much easier to fill and there are no bad seats (or camera views) in the house. And do you know how good a facility has to be to warrant calling it just The Track? That’s naming your daughter Olympia Lightning Bolt levels of confidence. But it seems warranted. Just check out the pictures!

Get an in on On ☁️

There will never be enough 15-30 minute documentary-style running videos on YouTube. The OAC may be the new kid on the block this year, but based off the roster and budget there are some lofty expectations. So far the new team has shown up and met them.

Despite only having 8 athletes on the team there are 6 different countries represented which frees up Coach Ritzenhein to dedicate individual attention to everyone without worrying about them kicking each other off Olympic teams.

My big question is whether the club will stick to this ideal roster size. Due to the combo of career longevity and brands having a propensity towards shiny new things, the turnover on teams can be relatively low while newcomers can be hard to turn down. A coach only has a finite amount of bandwidth. And from a marketing perspective, it’s much easier to sell a team’s identity and follow along when it’s not constantly changing. All this is to say that I enjoyed the intimacy of this video and I miss the optimism of being a young pro and not having to write this stupid newsletter.

Dropping the hammer 🔨

78.60 — The 2019 World Champ, Deanna Price, broke her own American Record in the hammer throw at a small meet in Missouri over the weekend. Brooke Andersen must’ve been inspired by that performance as she followed that up with a toss just .42 meters behind (or as I like to call it, “16.53 inches”). What should be a favorite event amongst fans often doesn’t get the attention it deserves, but Janee’ Kassanavoid is getting millions of views on TikTok so that may change soon.

Is it time for robo-umps? 🤖

When it comes to jobs, T&F officials have a truly unfavorable difficulty-of-task to appreciation for their task ratio. When done well (99% of the time) they should be virtually invisible, however, when the occasional mistake happens then they can become the storyline of a meet. Unfortunately the 2016 indoor world champ, Marquis Dendy, was on the receiving end of a bad call this weekend. Generally speaking, you know it’s an issue if even the 9x Olympic gold medalist is complaining. This is a reminder to thank the officials at the meets, especially when you forget they’re there.

Sound off in the comments! ✍️

It’s time to channel your inner Frank Costanza and air those grievances! World Athletics is asking fans of the sport to sound off in a survey and share their thoughts on making the sport more popular. It’s anonymous (so you can tell the truth) and global (because different parts of the world have their own problems). Consider the lack of racing opportunities for distance runners in the mountains of South America. In other parts of the world, fans would be happy to pay for streams if only they had faster internet access. And in the United States we like to complain about everything.

How’s it feel to run 49.91? 🦶

The 400 hurdles will be THE electric event of the Olympic Trials. You know who has never broken 50 seconds in the flat race? Dalilah Muhammad and Sydney McLaughlin. Fake fans may have forgotten that Shamier Little won US titles in 2015 and 2018 and I just remembered that I need to place a bet on that trifecta box to sweep in Tokyo.

You’re only making him stronger

I swore there wouldn’t be a Centro 800 take, yet here we are. The fact that he is healthy enough to race…ugh, no! I refuse to entertain the narrative that the Olympic Champ is an underdog!