WORLD HALF MARATHON CHAMPIONSHIPS PREVIEW: Can Anyone Stop Cheptegei? Women's World Record Holders Clash!

Apologies for not sending out an edition of the newsletter last week. I was a bit tied up working on a project for Sports Illustrated that required a bit more time than anticipated.

Since the last newsletter, I can share how that one-mile time trial went at the Bakline x Trial of Miles meet in Jersey City. I unfortunately did not achieve my goal of breaking five minutes. However, I’m super thankful for the opportunity to experience a legitimate race for the first time in seven months and walking away with a four-second personal best. I ran 5:09.87 but really tried to give myself the best chance to get under my goal through 1,000 meters and then it got tough. Still have some work to do. I’m trusting the training and hopefully giving it another go soon.

Also, it felt great to get back behind the mic for some commentary and play-by-play for the first time in SIX years. Shout-out to my friend Ryan Welsh for an awesome debut. You can re-watch the entire meet on Youtube (if you go to the 1:02:36 mark our best call was definitely the women’s B heat of the 5,000m).

Here’s a highlight video from the meet, including my shortcomings :( :

I’m in Chicago from Oct. 18 to Nov. 18 so if anyone knows of any opportunities to race in the area, let your boy know!

PS: If you like the “Future is Female Coaches” shirt from Bakline that I’m rocking. You can get it here and use code CITIUS for 15% off.

Onto this week’s latest news from the running world...

World Half Marathon Championships Preview

Somehow, there’s a global championship taking place in 2020 as international stars descend upon Gdynia, Poland for Saturday’s World Half Marathon Championships. To my understanding, a lot of the CITIUS MAG readers are based in the United States and Canada so unfortunately there won’t be any local athletes to root for since their respective governing bodies have decided not to send teams due to concerns with the coronavirus. There are still some incredible matchups to watch for.

MEN’S RACE: Since the last newsletter, Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei added another world record to his resume by clocking a 26:11:02 for 10,000 meters in Valencia, Spain. He’s three for three with wins and world records in his three races of the year. Can he go four for four? That will be hard. The half marathon world record is 58:01 by Geoffrey Kamworor from Copenhagen last September. Kamworor is the reigning three-time champion but will not race on Saturday as he continues to recover from an injury sustained when he got hit by a motorcyclist in June. Cheptegei has never raced a half marathon. The longest race I was able to find on his athletic profile was a 10-miler in 45:15 from Zaandam, the Netherlands in Sept. 2018. There’s no denying whatever Cheptegei runs will be fast and he’s certainly the favorite.

We can pinpoint his toughest competition to three men. Kenya’s Kibiwott Kandie is the fastest man on paper with his 58:38 personal best from the Prague Half in September. That time puts him at No. 6 on the all-time list behind Kamworor, Abraham Kiptum (later busted for doping), Zersenay Tadese, Sammy Wanjiru and Jemal Yimer. The Kenyan championship streak could rest on his shoulders or Bernard Ngeno, who ran 59:07 for second place at the 2019 Valencia Half.

Cheptegei’s compatriot Jacob Kiplimo is just 19 years old but has electrified the track circuit with a 12:48 for 5,000 meters and 7:26 for 3,000 meters earlier this summer. The lone half marathon on his record is a 61:53 in Kampala in November 2019.

Ethiopia has five men entered with sub-60 personal bests so keep an eye out on their contingent led by Andamlak Belihu and his 59:10 personal best.

Prediction: No one is beating Joshua Cheptegei in 2020

WOMEN’S RACE: Remember how hyped up the world was for the clash between Kipchoge and Bekele only to get let down when Bekele pulled out of the race? Let’s bring some of that excitement to a showdown between two world record holders and a title defense by Netsanet Gudeta.

In one corner, we have Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir. She set the women’s-only half marathon world record of 65:35 in Prague in September and recently had it ratified by World Athletics. Jepchirchir has proven that she can win at the championship stage with her world half marathon title from 2016.

In the other corner, we’ve got Ethiopia’s Ababel Yeshaneh. She is one of only six women to have run faster than Jepchirchir with her 64:31 at the Ras Al Khaimah Half in February. It’s her lone race of the year and she beat marathon world record holder/London Marathon champion Brigid Kosgei by 18 seconds.

Because of how fast the women’s half marathon has been in recent years, Joyciline Jepkosgei has been bumped down to No. 3 on the all-time list and hasn’t run a half marathon since the NYC Half in March 2019. The last time many of us heard of her was when she won the 2019 New York City Marathon in 2:22:38 in a Central Park sprint against Mary Keitany. Just don’t be surprised if she’s in the mix for the win and tries to improve upon her world half marathon championships silver medal from two years ago.

For those wondering where’s Sifan Hassan after her one-hour record and after she ran 29:36.67 for a European Record in the 10,000 meters in Hengelo last week: Hassan scratched from the race saying that she has opted “to give myself some rest and focus for next year.”

Prediction: I’m going with Peres Jepchirchir for the win over Ababel Yeshaneh simply due to the recency of their standout performances and her experience on the championship stage.

So how can you watch it? The races will be broadcast live on The Olympic Channel from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Catch me on Twitter at that time with a few live updates.

NCAA Championships Scheduling Announcements

Mark your calendars! The NCAA has announced the following locations for upcoming NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships: 2022 in Stillwater, OK hosted by Oklahoma State; 2023 in Charlottesville, VA hosted by Virginia; 2024 in Madison, WI hosted by Wisconsin 2025 in Columbia, MO hosted by Mizzou. A reminder that the 2020 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships will be contested on March 15, 2021 in Stillwater and the 2021 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships remain on schedule for next November in Tallahassee, Florida. It’s going to make for awkward anniversaries later on for those respective champions.

If you enjoy college track then plan on many more visits to Hayward Field with the Ducks slated to host the 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027 NCAA Championships. Austin, Texas will host in 2023 after doing a good job in 2019.

A Professional Ekiden Comes to the USA!

I’ve always said to friends of mine that Ekiden races should be more popular in the United States. For those unfamiliar with the ekiden, it’s a multi-person and multi-distance relay race. There’s no set distance or set number or team members. Each runner hands off a sash called the Tasuki.

Last year, I ran the Tokyo Marathon and then paid a visit to Hakone. That’s the site of the finish for one of Japan’s biggest ekiden. They have a museum that has all the sashes, uniforms and race highlights from past races. From watching old videos (and I recommend doing this on YouTube) you can see the hype is real when they mention that more people turn out and watch the Hakone Ekiden than people watch the Super Bowl in the United States. Thrilled to see what comes next as Hansons-Brooks Original Distance Project announced the MICHIGAN PRO EKIDEN will take place on Oct. 21.

Our own Jesse Squire will be on hand to cover the race. The teams committed include the Atlanta Track Club, the Hansons-Brooks Original Distance Project, Rots Running, Bowerman Track Club, Team Boulder, Minnesota Distance Elite and Northern Arizona Elite.

I’ve also been told by people to watch the “Run With The Wind” anime series to get even more excited for this so I’ve got some time to do that.

David Melly wrote a short post on his experience competing in the Izumo Ekiden as a member of the Ivy League team. He said, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Marathon Project Continues to Add More Stars

Kudos again to Josh Cox and Ben Rosario for their efforts to put together another star-studded marathon to the United States before the year is up. The Marathon Project, which I mentioned in the last newsletter, will now also include Sara Hall – fresh off that 2:22:01 second-place finish at the London Marathon. Hall just loves racing and this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to us. I wrote about her for Sports Illustrated last year on why she chooses to double up on marathons in such a short time span.

Cam Levins, who told the media that he was in great shape before the London Marathon but ultimately dropped out due to the cold conditions, will chase the Olympic standard to try and get a spot on Canada’s team for Tokyo.

Fan favorites Beverly Ramos, Diane Nukuri, Noah Droddy and Alexi Pappas have also been added to the fields. You can find the women’s accepted entries and men’s accepted entries here.

Welcome Social Sport

The CITIUS MAG Podcast Network is pleased to bring on Emma Zimmerman and the Social Sport Podcast to our lineup of shows.

In the past couple of months, the show popped onto my radar and I’ve listened to several episodes. I was impressed with Emma’s careful research and care into amplifying and telling the stories of these people with strong passions for social change across all endurance sports. I know a lot of people who follow CITIUS MAG do so for our running coverage but I think there’s a place for these conversations with our audience, especially since it’s been made clear that there’s no line between sports and activism in 2020. Athletes know and embrace that sports are their stage to call for change that they want to see in the world. I think this podcast does a great job of addressing the issues and possible solutions with notable people.

For runners looking to get into the show, you’ll have several episodes featuring Amir M. Figueroa of Harlem Run in New York City, Jacqueline Alnes, Ph.D. (whose TinyArt drawings are an Instagram hit), Alison Wade of the Fast Women newsletter, Kamilah Journet (now the Tracksmith Marketing Manager), and Therese Haiss (former professional runner and now coach) to go back and listen to. Those are just some of the runners featured but the whole archive of episodes is great.

In the most recent episode, Emma catches up with Coffey (a guest on the Runners of NYC Podcast in May) about his work in starting the Running to Protest movement in New York City. I’ve personally attended three of the protest runs and it’s moving to see 700+ people shut down the Brooklyn Bridge and call for justice regarding the murder of Breonna Taylor or listening to first-hand accounts of mistreatment with police in the city. I come on in the second half of the show to share some of my observations and thoughts about the power protesting has through running.

Subscribe to Social Sport now. | Follow Social Sport on Instagram.

CITIUS MAG PODCAST NETWORK LATEST

In recent editions of this newsletter, I’ve provided a few updates on the efforts to save the University of Minnesota’s men’s track and field team from being cut. The decision was left to a vote by members of the Board of Regents last week. The proposal to eliminate men's indoor track and field, men's tennis and men's gymnastics teams at the end of the 2020-21 school year was passed on a 7-5 vote. Men’s outdoor track and field was kept after a revised proposal was submitted on Friday and approved. It was still a very heavy day for members of the Gopher community because this puts them in a very weird spot. I decided to chat with Obsa Ali, the 2018 NCAA steeplechase champion, about his feelings regarding the decision, what challenges this presents for recruiting and the women’s team as well as what happens next.

You can catch the latest episode of the podcast on iTunes so subscribe and leave a five-star review. We are also on Stitcher, Google Play and Spotify!

Full show notes and quotes can be found here.

– On Runners of NYC, Leigh Anne Sharek and I spoke with Lenny Grullon. He is one of the founders of the Boogie Down Bronx Runners. If you’ve ever run the New York City Marathon, there’s a part when you cross into the Bronx and you’re greeted with some super loud cheers from a running crew decked out in black and white. That’s his group and it wasn’t always that loud on that part of the course. When Lenny decided to start the group, no one showed up for the first run. However, he kept at it and wanted to get the Bronx community active and it’s paid off. Listen to his whole story here.

– Just wanted to give a quick shout-out to Joshua and Aaron Potts for having me on Two Black Runners. If you’re not familiar with their show, they’ve brought on some pretty high-profile guests from the pro running circuit on their podcast over the past six months. They bring the type of energy to the sport that you’d get from watching ESPN analysts debate over NFL and NBA performances. We discussed some of the 2020 track season but also the lack of diversity in the track and field media landscape. Love what these guys are doing and I’m looking forward to sharing the mixed zone with them at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials.

That’s all from me this week. If you enjoyed this edition of CITIUS MAG and think your friend would too, forward it to them encourage them to subscribe. Let me know if you have any comments, feedback or thoughts on anything discussed.

Enjoy your weekend!