Weekly RunDown #15

Not sure how many of you remember Miruts Yifter, aka Yifter the Shifter, the Bronze medalist In the 72' Olympic 10,000 and winner of the 10,000M and 5,000M at the 1980 Olympics.  At 72 he is in the hospital and not doing well:  Celebrating a Living Legend: Miruts Yifter.  There are a couple videos below of Yifter and when you see him take off you will know why they called him "Yifter the Shifter."

What do you think; a publicity stunt or are they actually looking for this to be done? - Nike’s Audacious Plan: Break the 2-Hour Marathon Barrier in 2017 - Sure would seem the three would need to work together and leave it to one of them to get it, sort of like having super pacers.  That said I am not really for this idea.  Sure I would like to see someone go under the mythical 2 hours and I realize this is what was done, in some respect, to go under 4:00 in the mile by running a set up race.  But that is track and this is a marathon and what I think is missed, well I miss it, is the element of a race to the end.  While I like to see how fast one can go in the marathon I would personally rather see a 2:09 where the guys are duking it out to the end than a guy run alone for the last 10K to run a 2:02.  There is just something about the marathon and the element of survival and seeing who can win that makes a good race, not just a fast time.  Also, here are comments by Toni Reavis on the subject of a Sub 2 Hour Marathon as Nike is looking to do.  I like his referring to it as more of a Lab experiment than a race.

Phil Maffetone also writes on the 1:59 Marathon.  He has written a couple books on this subject.  One is  1:59: The Sub 2-Hour Marathon is Within Reach and the other is a short story called  Million Dollar Marathon.

Nice story about a guy, Gary Allen, who puts on a free marathon in Maine to help a town: “Who wants to run 26.2 miles through the Maine North Woods in the middle of December? And who really believes that doing so will make a lick of difference for a mill town on the ropes? This guy does.”

And here is an article on this years race: The Magic of Millinocket: Runners Get Warm Welcome on Cold Maine Weekend

Last weekend was a big one for women as Caroline Boller ran the fastest 50 mile trail run for a women at the Brazos Bend 50 in 5:48:01.  Meanwhile Gina Slaby ran a (pending) world record 100 mile at Desert Solstice in AZ.

As I contributed to this Kickstarter Campaign looking forward to see how they turn out in April - Enda shoes

Atsede Baysa and Lemi Berhanu Hayle of Ethiopia to return to defend their titles at the 121st running of the Boston Marathon on April 17, 2017 - also at the link is a short video

Steve Speirs' recap of his 2106 Cayman Island Marathon marathon win


Miruts Yifter's win in 1980 Olympic 10000M



Miruts Yifter's win in 1980 Olympic 5000m



The Ginger Runner talks to Caroline Boller about her 50 Mile best at Brazos Bend


2016 Girls Footlocker X-Country National Championship Race (Dec 10, 2016)


2016 Boys Footlocker X-Country National Championship Race  (Dec 10, 2016)

2016 Nike Cross Nationals Boys Championship Race (Dec 4, 2016)

2016 Nike Cross Nationals Girls Championship Race (Dec 4, 2016)