Another fortnight down in the books for 2024 and another fortnight of results to analyse in the world of running. Hot off the press there is a big Maurie Plant recap in addition to commentary on the Adelaide Invitational and what it all means going forward. The Enhanced Games goes under the microscope and the Hey, Did You See segment covers off on mostly everything else of course. Enjoy and if this issue finishes abruptly in your inbox, read it in full on Substack!
Main Show
#84. Jake Wightman. Brett’s Marugame Recap. Joel’s progress. If you haven’t listened yet, the important timestamps are… Jake’s interview (44:28) , Brett’s recap (24:00), Joel’s week (9:50). Of course in order of importance. Sydney Marathon team password: FTKSM24 (first 200 people, 10% off). Jake’s Youtube channel is here too.
#85. Cam Myers. Joel’s training week probably takes the cake in this one too so don’t skip through it! Brett struggled off the back of Marugame but after last night’s pacing duties looks ready to go for Run the Bridge this weekend.
Chasing Paris UK
#04. I tell ya, the exotic international information dropping in these episodes is worth your Patreon subscription alone. Kenyan XC details and honest thoughts about travelling on the European circuit from Marc and Phil.
#05. Pre-Barcelona Half taper chat (Marc ran 62:06 for 14th, one off his supposed seed position) along with Marc raising eyebrows at a WR that hasn’t been ratified yet, nor has prize money been paid out for… Phil is happy to be at home and talked through a learning experience from one of his tapers before The Big Half. He too is of course tapering for Seville Marathon this Sunday! Go Phil!
Hot Takes
#05. The USA Marathon Trials preview were a feature (no they didn’t pick Fiona O’Keefe either), as were previews of Adelaide and Maurie Plant. Finally, another story to add to the aura of Nic Bideau…
#06. Yours truly debuted on the airwaves and helped provide an extensive Adelaide recap. No negative feedback so far has been received so it must all be positive right? This is the Peter Bol treadmill video I was referring to as well if any treadmill runners want a friend to run next to.
Amateur Hour
Episode 8 with Dale Erdmier. Riley chats with Dale about what it was like transitioning into Australia as a foreigner, how running made that easy and what life is like stringing together multiple marathons a year.
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It may have officially started with the Zatopek meet but after Adelaide and Maurie Plant last night, the summer series is in full swing. Adelaide’s Episode saw a host of younger characters take centre stage. The winners of the 200’s, the 800’s and the 1500’s were all aged 22 or below along with Ellie Beer in the women’s 400m. With those results came Australian U20 records for Peyton Craig in the Men’s 800m (1:45.41) and Claudia Hollingsworth in the Women’s 1500m (4:04.45). Could these younger characters including Peyton, Claudia, Cam Myers, Bendere Oboya, and Torrie Lewis continue their impressive starts? Or would those who’ve been around the track a while longer stamp their authority? That was the question on most athletics fans' lips as they sat down to watch last night’s Maurie Plant meet either at home or with the bumper crowd at Lakeside.
There wasn’t a long wait to find out how the young guns would fair in Episode Two. Claudia Hollingsworth sensationally got the win in the women’s 800m over her more experienced rivals in what was another U20 Record (1:59.81) and only 0.51 off the automatic qualifier for Paris. There was a race within the race to start with as Bendere Oboya shot off in front of the pace maker to run 57 seconds for the first lap. Claudia was neatly positioned at the head of a chasing pack until Catriona Bisset and Abbey Caldwell moved forward. Abbey got the win in Adelaide through a strong move between 500-600 metres but Bisset wasn’t letting her get past as easy this time though. Abbey did eventually get around at the bend however, instead of being by herself, Claudia had tagged along, kicked home for the win and improved her head to head record with Abbey over the 800m to 4-0 in her favour.
The scene was set then for some fast times despite the windy conditions affecting the sprinters. Could the more experienced field listed in the women’s 5000m live up to their credentials? Another interesting pacemaker scenario (the second pacemaker got stuck in the pack trying to run 6:00 for 2km) almost threatened to ruin the race but thanks to Ethiopia’s Aynadis Mebratu holding down some consistent 72 second laps the field settled. Mebratu, Izzi Batt-Doyle, Rose Davies, Holly Campbell and Gen Gregson broke off around the 6 minute mark and held together until 1200m to go. With 2:55 needed for the last km to get under 15:00, Izzi and Rose picked up the pace. A 70 second penultimate lap had Izzi and Rose going 1-2 at the bell with a 69 second lap needed. Izzi had been doing the bulk of the leading so when Rose kicked past with 200m to go Izzi did her best at holding on. Rose may have avenged some personal demons following her Zatopek loss at the same venue a few months earlier when she crossed to take the win in 14:57.44 (a meet record) while Izzi was just as pleased to sneak home in 14:59.18. They are the fourth and fifth fastest times ever by an Australian and puts the cherry on top of a successful block of training at Falls Creek for both ladies.
In the John Landy Mile there was almost as many storylines as there were runners. Stewy McSweyn showed us he only knows his story though and that’s the best there is in Australia (at the moment). A typical slow Stewy start saw him only settle in behind the pacemakers at the 1300m to go mark. Perhaps a tactical move or just admiration, Cam Myers was right behind the ‘King of King Island’. At the bell lap there was six of the best there including Stewy, Cam, Jake Wightman, and Sam Tanner. At 200m to go Stewy was still in the lead but was grimacing. Wightman, the 2022 1500m World Champion mind you, rounded his shoulder at the bend with Cam Myers looking to get on the inside. Whether it was Stewy’s fitness or his determination to get a win for Maurie Plant he outlasted the Scotsman and Cam to start his season with a 3:52.00. Cam, who appeared to almost trip with 30m to go, ran third for 3:52.44, only 0.16 off Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s world best time as a 17yr old.
For the final distance event of the night, Jack Rayner returned to racing after a bit of a longer break than usual. Not that the break seemed to put a dent in his chances of winning races on Australian soil. After starting in the middle of the field Rayner moved up towards Belgium’s Robin Hendrix at the 1000m mark. Japan’s Yuta Bando had stuck to pacers Ryan Gregson and our own Brett Robinson’s backs like glue but eventually got passed by Rayner, Hendrix and Matt ‘Rambo’ Ramsden just after the first mile. Being right on 13:20 pace the trio were throwing down 63 second laps fairly consistently until Hendrix dropped to 66 second lap pace with 5 laps to go. Rayner and Rambo then went 64 seconds for a lap followed by 62 seconds. As discussed on Hot Takes it was suggested a 13:teens time would be a great season-opener for both men as they looked to build their Road to Paris ranking and at three laps to go it was on the cards. With 1000m to go, Rayner got his break from Rambo and collected another 63 second lap. At 300m to go Rayner had at least 20m on Rambo but that doesn’t mean the big West Australian was in the oven. Rambo reminded us of his finishing kick from the 3000m at Zatopek a few months earlier as he closed the gap on Rayner and almost looked to repeat his December heroics. It wasn’t to be though as Rayner found an extra gear and continued his terrific form on home soil to record a win in 13:16, a time that is his second fastest ever and the fastest by an Australian on Australian soil in almost three years.
For Episode Three and Four of the Summer Series we now look to Canberra first and then Sydney. Canberra, the site of Torrie Lewis’s Australian record, is playing host to 100’s, 400’s, 800’s and 1500’s. Will Torrie get one back over the New Zealander Zoe Hobbs who beat her at Maurie Plant last night? Can Cam Myers continue his form in front of his hometown or will that thing that fills his time between running (schoolwork) start to build up as well?
While in Sydney at the end of March, there is a larger range of middle-long distance events across two nights of competition to whet the appetite in. If Episode One in Adelaide was the younger generation putting their foot down first on the Australian season, then last night’s Maurie Plant Meet was certainly a mixture of both young and experienced athletes showing their wares and athletics fans will only be hoping that continues. The athletes will be hitting the training track for a fortnight until Canberra (March 1 for XC Trials and March 2 for Canberra Track Classic) when it all happens again. Let’s hope the sequels continue getting better because I can’t wait for The Next Episode…
Anytime you received a new toy at Christmas or on your birthday your friends always wanted to have a go with it. Some would play with it like you did while others wouldn’t bother with the instructions. Well, this fortnight’s new toy is the Enhanced Games and while the main media outlets across the world had their play it’s time for yours truly to throw away the instructions on what journalism is and have my go.
At first the toy is very exciting and new. Wow, backed by the world’s top venture capitalists! 1 Million dollars for a performance better than a World Record! 44% are already doping apparently?! All of this information comes straight from the website. Which is also where we find the following sample of a list* of supposedly enhanced distance running world records. More accurately though, this list is just a collection of performances that have been crossed out due to doping or at least are very suspicious. Some are still listed as legitimate times.
2008. Rashid Ramzi. 1500m. 3:32.94. Beijing Gold Medallist who was later stripped of his result for testing positive to CERA.
1993. Qu Yunxia. 1500m. 3:50.46. A WR that beat Tatyana Kazankina’s record and was only broken itself in 2015.
1993. Wang Junxia. 10km & 3000m. 29:31.78 & 8:06.11.
1980 & 1976. Tatyana Kazankina. 1500m and & 800m. 3:52.47 and 1:54.96.
*When I first started digging into this list, Wilson Kipketer, a former 800m WR holder, had his 1:41.11 PB listed twice. Now it doesn’t even appear on the website. If that doesn’t ring alarm bells for the legitimacy and fact-checking capabilities of an organisation that is going to inject illegal substances into perfectly healthy humans then ah… ok. Go right ahead James Magnussen. The whole venture stinks of a university group project gone mad.
On paper the times in the list above, maybe except for Rashid Ramzi’s, are all eye-catching performances that would be exceptional performances today. In particular, Wang Junxia’s 3000m time of 8:06.11 came in a race where Qu Yunxia also ran 8:12.18 and Linli Zhang ran 8:16.50. They are the top three 3000m times of all time. In the one race. In 1993 if you need a reminder! These athletes were all part of the friendly sounding Ma family army coached by Ma Junren. So of course, results like these ring alarm bells for the history books but if these results have already been set using performance enhancing drugs, will the Enhanced Games validate them and make them legitimate or just bring more scrutiny towards records books and clean athletes?
Consider the case where the Enhanced Games finds athletes who are willing to donate their bodies to ‘science’. They might be athletes who are enticed by the prize money and appearance fee and know they will never crack the times needed to represent their country. It’s not like it’s hard to find a poor distance runner. These runners then train up, dope up and race. If they can’t break the times listed above or any other of our WR’s then what will that mean for clean sport? Will clean athletes everywhere lose their validity. I can hear it now in a local cafe, ‘hang on mate, you’re telling me a bunch of EPO using athletes can’t run 2:04 but supposedly clean blokes can? Yeah right, this sounds like Lance Armstrong all over again…’.
Alternatively, these dirty athletes do break the world records. What then? ‘Hang on mate, why do I care about old mate running 2:07 when there’s another guy doing it in 1:57’. Either way, it’s a lose-lose situation for clean athletes which has initially got me worried about this whole venture. Clean athletes either lose their own validity or their own relevance, all due to a few venture capitalists looking to make a better return on their investments. Once again, clean athletes are getting shafted by others ruining their sport except this time it’s not dirty athletes doing it, it’s rich people foolishly spending their money!
Despite these issues, I believe there is a way out of letting the Enhanced Games ruin the ideals of clean sport that we all believe in. Back when you were a kid with that little toy you got for Christmas, chances are Space Jam was also on your mind or on TV. One of the morals of Space Jam is that even if you are a small pathetic little alien who illegally steals the powers of some of the top NBA basketballers you’ll never beat a team made of the Looney Tunes and Michael Jordan. Especially after they’ve had Michael's Secret Stuff. We’ve seen this play out in real life already with the running equivalent of MJ, Eliud Kipchoge, powering his way to marathon success with Bottle Claus. So, expect the Enhanced Games to continue to fester in the media for a little while longer but in the end, the good guys and clean athletes will always win as long as we keep believing.
Ky Robinson recorded a 7:36 over 3000m for first place at a meet in Seattle, Washington which netted himself his third best World Athletics score (1197) and takes him to 6th all-time on the Australian list. On the other side of the US, Lauren Ryan also finished first, in 8:42 over 3000m, recorded her best ever World Athletics Score (1189), and went to fourth all-time on the Australian list to continue her great start to her season!
Still in the US for Millrose Games snippets. Jess Hull (4:19) had the tables turned on her by Ellie St. Pierre (4:16) in the women’s mile to finish second but did improve the Australian record (short track). That’s her second record in the past fortnight to go with her 8:24 a week before where she beat Elli St. Pierre. Morgan McDonald also broke the 2-Mile short track record for Australia in running 8:12.01 for 5th place (and claimed his best result, 1241, according to World Athletics scores) in the race where Josh Kerr broke the World Record with 8:00.67. For a full recap, try this one.
Continuing the theme of AUS in the USA. Jack Anstey continued his strong start to the season. Last week he ran 3:52 for the Mile at Boston (a World Athletics PB score) and this week he ran 2:16 for 1000m at Boston for the Area and National Record. 6 of Jack’s top 10 results have all come from races in Boston with the other 4 being all in the US so I don’t blame you if you’ve been sleeping on Jack.
The USA Olympic Trials were a great event like always and there was a mix of expected and unexpected results. Two stats to add my two cents two weeks after the race finished: in the men’s it was the tightest top-5 (62 seconds difference) since 1984 and in the women’s the time from 1st and 2nd was just under three minutes quicker than the fastest time ever at the trials before this years event.
A list of all the athletes who recorded PB’s in events at Adelaide and Maurie Plant Meet was going to be added here but it was just getting a bit ri-goddam-diculous! Instead, kudos to Jesse Hunt (1500m & Mile), Jude Thomas (1500m & 5000m) Maudie Skyring (1500m & 5000m), Claudia Hollingsworth (1500m & 800m) for setting PB’s at both and lastly, to Holly Campbell for wiping 50 seconds off her World Athletics listed 5000m PB last night.
The news that Kelvin Kiptum passed away was, like any death, very sad. At least we were fortunate he was able to showcase his talents in the marathon for a couple of years and provide inspiration for the current and next generation of runners around the world.
I’m in between bites of the crow I’m eating* for dinner as I write this but I thought I have to pump up Adelaide’s tyres while I’ve got the chance. Last week’s Adelaide Invitational had a total World Athletics Competition Score of 80,389 making it a World Lead for 2024 at the time until last night’s Maurie Plant Meet knocked it off with 81,074. However, Adelaide’s figure was a big improvement on 2023’s Adelaide event which only received 76,615 ranking points.
Knuckling down on the comparison even further between 2023 and 2024, one of the flagship events, the Women’s 800m improved by 115 points (5,488 to 5,603). That event this year was only the 4th highest ranked event for 2024’s edition though with the Men’s 1500m taking out the top spot receiving 5,787 points.
For the Men’s 1500m to rank so high without any big name internationals is extraordinary. Last night’s John Landy Mile recorded 5,830 points and that had Stewy, Jake Wightman and Sam Tanner.
So, in essence, the Adelaide Invitational of 2024 was probably one of the best Adelaide events ever with a ranking that close to the Maurie Plant Meet AND the Men’s 1500m was one of the fastest overall 1500m’s we’ve seen in Australia. You have to go back to 2021’s National Champs where the Men’s 1500m received 5775 points (still not enough to beat Adelaide’s score!!!) due to a field containing Jye Edwards, Stewy McSweyn, Rorey Hunter, Ryan Gregson and Matt Ramsden. Adelaide’s top 5 was Cam Myers, Jesse Hunt, Jye Edwards, Callum Davies and Jude Thomas in comparison. So if the 10 different PB’s or SB’s achieved in Adelaide’s Men’s 1500m didn’t ram home the point how good the Men’s 1500m was in Adelaide then hopefully this does!
*For international readers Adelaide is in the state of South Australia who are colloquially known as croweaters by the other states. Our early non-convict settlers allegedly ate crows during a shortage of red meat. It tastes pretty good.
February 18: Run the Bridge in Hobart (international field listed here) and Seville Marathon (Phil’s PB is outdated on this deep deep list that also includes one Australian, Vanessa Wilson).
February 25: Osaka Marathon. Full entry lists here or read Brett Larner’s preview which covered it all except for the fact that Elise Beacom will be lining up. Elise has been training at low 2:50’s (4:05/km) pace which gives her a good buffer on her 2:57:06 PB from Gold Coast last year.
March 1st: XC Trials.
March 2nd: Canberra Track Classic.
March 3rd: Tokyo Marathon.
This division of Grattan House welcomes any and all reader feedback. If you want more or less of something, want something investigated, or Jordy Williamsz hasn’t dealt with your complaint in a timely manner, please enquire at theblueline@grattanhouse.com.
Lol. Thanks Fraser :)
Thanks for another great issue. One point though, a number of the articles refer to the author in the first person, however there are no bylines. It's nice to see who wrote what...