Well a fortnight is a long time in our running world based on weekly mileage and weekly podcasts. It was only last Issue that Jess Hull’s WR and 1500m NR were the talk of the town. Now the town is full of other Olympic headliners and the town is actually the Stade de France. Issue 37 contains some Olympic focus points plus some results from those still within Australia who are probably being inspired by their Olympic heroes and heroines. Enjoy and good luck keeping across all the athletics this next week!
FTK
#106. At the time of recording Brett was still expected to race and even mentioned a double run amongst some sauna and XT work. Joel took the reins for the running chat though and had everything in there; injury concerns, good training and of course, a race he was happy with.
#107. A few minutes in and Brett gets straight into the recap of how he came to his decision of handing his spot to Andy. ‘I’m kind of 3 weeks out from the Olympics, I have to do good running…I got five minutes in, and got off… got back on, did another 5 minutes…got to twenty minutes, I’m running 4:20-4:30/km can I run 42k’s in two weeks?' ‘I was a week or two short and that’s it’. The episode only builds from there… ‘why are people in Bendigo so suspicious of phone calls?’ Stay tuned to see if Brett is either helping with Andy’s bottles or Joel is commentating on the race. Andy will be on Episode’s 108 (pre-race) & 109 (post-race).
Andy’s face when he heard there was Spaghetti at the dining hall.
Spiked Up
#20. Sarah raced in Finland again and won. That’s now 5 countries she’s won a race in this year. Rose went to Lignano, enjoyed a relaxing beach day where Nic B’s new haircut got a mention and finished 6th in a PB of 4:06.33. Rose also unfortunately was at the wheel of the team car when it ‘broke’ so not everything is sunny in Hoyos in this episode.
#21. A final track session at Hoyos included a 2:41 all out k’ rep and some 400’s. Rose’s easy minutes were cut down as she found her sparkle again while Sarah logged her biggest week (115k’s). Izzi received her obligatory 32 mentions as the third unofficial co-host.
En Route to Paris
#8. Gen and Jess ticked over their biggest weeks of the block and said sayonara to high mileage. Sinead said sayonara to the podcast probably because she’s busy taking Eddie to all the new skateparks in France. Other training highlights you heard or missed if you’re not on Patreon; It costs 30 Swiss Francs for a sauna in St.Moritz (more expensive than $1AUD a minute), Gen’s long run was the exact Paris elevation and Dylan Stenson can carry the bags and take care of the kids exceptionally well but stops at fartleks.
#9. Gen left her voice in Andorra, Archer was eaten by Simba, Ellie made a cameo and Jess had a day off. Listener questions on; carb loading, toenail management and who would most likely be a candidate for an OnlyFans page. Some recording logistics were also discussed on air where Riley dropped the news about the next Patreon series.
Even before the Olympics got underway this week there was a final hit-out for some track stars at the London DL, most notably in the Men’s Emsley Carr Mile. Olli Hoare inscribed his name in the victor’s book at the end of a race that may have itself been a metaphor for what we’re about to see from the Olympics.
On the startline in London there were storylines everywhere. How is such a big field even allowed to race a mile? How as a spectator am I meant to be across all the different men’s and women’s favourites in each Olympic event? They all of course politely wave to the camera operator as they pan across their faces. It’s all for show and tell though. The gun goes and the argy bargy kicks off with Elliot Giles appearing to be Chief Wrestler. Niels Laros hits the deck via Neil Gourley’s lap. George Mills jumps Laros but then comes unstuck at Gourley. Both men furiously complain as to why there is no restart of the race. It’s as if we’re seeing a live pantomime of all the negative stories emanating out from the Olympics regarding selection, water quality on the Seine, the cardboard beds and Parisian’s being out of favour with their own Olympics.
Does that matter to any of the fourteen athletes still within the race? Doesn’t look like it. Laros of course dusts himself off, looks at Stewy McSweyn out in lane 5 and gets on with the race. The show goes on. In the end Olli Hoare won the race in 3:49.03 to claim his first DL win in 4 years. Norway’s second favourite son Narve Nordås was 2nd, Laros 4th, Stewy 5th, Cam Myers 6th and Adam Spencer 14th.
Meaning what exactly?
Well the favourites of these Olympics will still pull through in most scenarios. The unfortunate thing is that there is only room for one person on the top of the dais. Celebrating the medallists in the ensuing finals of this Olympics is important but for some of our Australians and even our friends of Grattan House a PB may be just as important. Take Andrew Coscoran’s own result in this very Mile, a 3:50.49 for 8th and an almost 5 second outdoor Mile PB.
With all that prefacing in mind and 12 events to be across as a middle-long distance running fan of the Olympics the best impartial previews I could find to direct your attention too were published by World Athletics. They contain the timetable, hyperlinks to the rankings list and even a little ditty for each event about ‘how it works’.
800m
World Athletics Preview.
Aussies: Catriona Bisset, Abbey Caldwell, Claudia Hollingsworth & Peter Bol, Joseph Deng, Peyton Craig.
Favourites: Keely Hodgkinson & Emmanuel Wanyonyi/plus others.
Defending Champions: Athing Mu (fell at the US Trials, not selected). Next best is Keely Hodgkinson who won Silver at Tokyo. Emmanuel Korir for Men’s.
1500m
World Athletics Preview.
Aussies: Jess Hull, Georgia Griffith, Linden Hall & Olli Hoare, Stewy McSweyn, Adam Spencer
Favourites: Faith Kipyegon & Jakob Ingebrigtsen/Josh Kerr
Defending Champions: Faith Kipyegon & Jakob Ingebrigsten
3000mSC:
World Athletics Preview.
Aussies: Amy Cashin, Cara Feain-Ryan & Matthew Clarke, Ben Buckingham
Favourites: Peruth Chemutai & Soufiane El Bakkali/Lamercha Girma
Defending Champions: Periuth Chemutai & Soufiane El Bakkali.
5000m:
World Athletics Preview.
Aussies: Rose Davies, Izzi Batt-Doyle, Lauren Ryan & Stewy McSweyn, Morgan McDonald
Favourites: Too hard. Faith Kipyegon, Beatrice Chebet and Sifan Hassan in Women’s. Jakob Ingebrigsten, Joshua Cheptegei, Jacob Kiplimo and Hagos Gebrhiwet in Men’s.
Defending Champions: Sifan Hassan & Joshua Cheptegei.
10,000m:
World Athletics Preview.
Aussies: Lauren Ryan
Favourites: Beatrice Chebet and Sifan Hassan & Yomif Kejelcha, Cheptegei, Selemon Barega and Berihu Aregawi.
Defending Champions: Sifan Hassan & Selemon Barega.
Marathon:
World Athletics Preview.
Aussies: Sinead Diver, Gen Gregson, Jess Stenson & Pat Tiernan, Liam Adams and Andy Buchanan
Favourites: Too hard. Read the preview!
Tokyo Podium: Women’s 1-2-3. Peres Jepchirchir (KEN), Brigid Kosgei (KEN) and Molly Seidel (USA).Men’s 1-2-3. Eliud Kipchoge (KEN), Abdi Nageeye (NED) and Bashir Abdi (BEL)
Come next weekend, arguably the most watched marathons of 2024 will kick off. You, as an assumed purveyor of all things Australian marathoning will be of course hanging onto every k-split and ten second camera pan of those in the green and gold. You will not be alone in your viewing though and just how every second Tuesday in November we all become honorary members of the Saddle Club with our horse racing knowledge it’s time to arm yourself with your very own Australian Olympic Marathoner’s Form Guide. Solidify what you already know, spread the content to your uneducated but passionate co-worker or significant other who has suddenly been gripped by Olympic fever.
Women:
Patreon listeners will have the inside knowledge of how each lady is going to some extent. What the weekly recaps do sometimes lack is a ‘big picture’ of their last six months. In that big picture view, it’s not all in crystal clear HD. Jess can claim she has had the most progression in form in the last six months and her 70 minute half at Gold Coast just over a month ago shows she hasn’t stopped progressing. Back in Rio in 2016 she only had a 71 minute half to her name and ended up finishing 22nd in the marathon. Does an extra minute keep her competitive in an improved standard of women’s marathoning? Or will she find a few extra places? Sinead did battle some injury issues early in the year with a DNS at Marugame the most notable omission from her resume this year. 72:10 at Launceston, for 1st, indicates she was fit then and without much news since early July assume she still is. Gen’s own performance in Launceston was only a month after her own 71 minute half in Gifu after some strong, but arguably uncompetitive 5000m performances (15:22 at Maurie Plant isn’t competitive? Well, not when the standard is sub-15 now). With this being Gen’s third marathon and first Olympic one, it provides an interesting point of difference to the other two ladies. The intriguing battle for top Australian could be made for each athlete; Sinead has the fastest PB, Gen has the fastest time within the last 12 months and Jess has the best form on paper in the last 3 months. Flip a coin to pick your favourite.
Men:
The men’s team is just as interesting. Pat’s qualifying time of 2:07:45 was a massive 3 minute PB at the time. Since then though, he’s raced the World XC and the Great Manchester Run 10km recording great results at both. Could the big Queenslander, who runs like a majestic stallion, give the ordinary media something to write home about and avenge his 10,000m stumbles in Tokyo? His form indicates a strong possibility. Liam Adams is also another storyline in waiting again. 2nd place to Brett at Launceston, a nose in front of Pat at World XC, he has been consistent since Gold Coast 2023, his only stumbles coming in Berlin ‘23 where he fell off the qualifying pace and then subsequently Melbourne a few weeks later where he went out ungodly fast and was swallowed up by Reece Edwards and Ryan Gregson. Famously went out too fast at Birmingham Comm’ Games claiming to not know how hilly the course was in the back end so hopefully someone showed them to him this time. Someone who did finish strongly at Birmingham in the baggiest shorts you ever saw, Andy Buchanan is the proverbial Man from Snowy River Bendigo. He’s hard, tough and wiry of course and his 62:25 at Goldy followed by a decent long run the next day showed he was aiming to peak at more than just XCR at Bundoora. His PB is less than twenty seconds behind Liam’s so the race between these two Victorians will be an interesting battle in itself. Even though Pat will be running his first Olympic marathon his form on paper looks strong enough to go in as favourite for top Aussie with Liam and Andy close behind.
The Men’s Marathon will be held at 4pm AEST on Saturday the 10th of August and the Women’s at 4pm AEST on Sunday the 11th August. If you want to refresh your memory on the intricacies of the course, revisit Issue 25.
With the Olympics front of mind and front of Issue 37 you could be forgiven for missing these domestic results within the last fortnight. That’s if you’re not a reader of TBL, because here they are front and centre for you in Headliner form.
Cocks Overcomes Premature Disqualification
At South Australia’s State XC Championships we had reporter Fraser Darcy on the ground and this is what he told this publication about the event on July 20th…’yeah well, you see, Jacob Cocks and Poppy Austin (2023 National U20 XC Champion) didn’t highlight their names on the start list to check-in as per the official rules and both were informed of being DQ’ed on the start line. Everyone else in the race thought the official was joking so off we all went with belly’s full of laughter. Jacob knew it wasn’t a joke, ran like a man possessed and finished in just over 30 minutes for just under 10 km's of solid terrain. Some negotiating from the professional English teacher post-race allowed him and Poppy, who comfortably won the women’s race, to reinstate themselves back in the race and claim their rightful trophies. Second place Male finisher, yours truly, thought about launching a protest, and quoting my intrusive thoughts here, ‘rules are bloody rules, without rules we’ll fall for anything’ but for the sake of his image within state borders withheld his intrusive thoughts. Sounds like an exciting day for the almost thirty odd runners that turned up!
It’s called Cross-Country for a reason!
At Victoria’s much more well-attended and muddier event, 2023 World XC reps Melissa Duncan and Haftu Strintzos claimed the wins. Haftu’s win over Andy Buchanan (2nd place) showed he’s a bit stiff to not get the call-up from Brett Robinson’s replacement selection panel but will have to use that as motivation for another time. Joel’s own performance of 10th was pleasing for those dedicated listeners who refreshed the Athletics Victoria Results Hub with one young punter interstate calling it ‘a solid result’.
As a subscript to Athletics Victoria’s XCR season the Bendigo Bats sit atop the ladder in Men’s Premier Division but Western’s victory at Sandown and subsequently Bundoora has them sitting 2nd. A reddit conspiracy theory surfaced earlier this week that Brett has actually been paid by Western’s to call Andy over to Paris to weaken the Bendigo team. At the time of writing no evidence of this reddit thread could be found on the internet or dark web…
Tom Do Canto more like Tom Do Lots of Races
Over in NSW TDC showed the best way to beat the post-marathon blues is much like a hangover. Don’t stop and the DOMS won’t hit. TDC not only raced the GC marathon in a time of 2:15, only a fortnight later he won the Sutherland 2 Surf 11km by 3 seconds in front of a man with just as long a name (Arron Spiessberger-Parker) and then backed it up the following weekend too with 2nd at the Sydney Harbour 10k behind Ed Goddard.
TDC wasn’t the only S2S winner backing up. Paige Campbell had the exact same set of results as TDC showing it’s actually not that hard to run two races in two weekends. In front of Paige at the Sydney Harbour 10k was Leanne Pompeani who’s 32:01 confirms her GC half result that she is very, very fit.
Asics Athletes Single Handedly Raise Profile of Run Melbourne
But wait, didn’t Leanne race the weekend before as well? Yes that’s right at Run Melbourne! Leanne and a couple other Asics sponsored athletes got in on the charity spirit of Run Melbourne and single handedly helped raise the profile of the lesser-known event. Leanne and James Hansen won the 10k while Gemma Maini won the half. The men’s half winner, Dave Ridley of Mango Boys Racing, isn’t sponsored by Asics (Nike man instead) which ruined the potential of another great conspiracy theory that Asics had just paid off all other elites that day to not enter such were some of the winning margins.
The Chicago Marathon Elite Fields were released. Held on October 13th, the same day as Melbourne Marathon, the biggest name is Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich (2:14:18 PB from Chicago ‘22) while a host of big name American’s including Keira D’Amato, Betsy Saina, Emma Bates, CJ Albertson and Zach Panning also creates a lot of excitement. And subsequently wonder too, if they’re all at Chicago, who will be gunning for top American at New York? Returning Olympians?
In our own little bubble keep an eye out for the National Half Marathon Championships fields. Athletics Victoria announced their team which includes Lisa Weightman who will be running only hours before the Women’s marathon at the Olympics.
Sisay Lemma, 4th fastest Marathoner of all-time after his 2:01:48 at Valencia (2023) dropped out of the Olympic marathon team for Ethiopia. His replacement was not a Bendigo teacher, instead, 2022 World Champion Tamirat Tola received the call up. Handy replacement.
The Australian Athletics team doesn’t have an official name like the Hockeyroos or the Kookaburras for the Women and Men’s Hockey teams respectively but instead of locking in a team name for eternity, wouldn’t it be cool to follow the USA’s women’s gymnastics team lead? The gymnasts themselves pick a nickname for the five-strong team each Olympics and this year have gone with ‘F*** around and find out' or FAAFO. Each athletics team would get to put their own spin on it, maybe make a casual t-shirt, turn it into a bit of team bonding, you get the picture.
Finally, World Athletics released the entry standards for World Indoors (Nanjing, 21-23 March 2025) and World Champs (Tokyo, 13-21 September 2025). From a distance point of view, there’s a few seconds cut off the 5000m standard and a minute off the men’s marathon (2:06:30) and several off the women’s marathon (2:23:30) from the Paris standards. Focusing on the marathon, the men will have to break Brett’s record or chase serious points to qualify while we have 4 women with PB’s quicker than that standard so it’s far more likelier we’ll have a plethora of women once again fighting for selection. For interest’s sake, 33 Men and 33 Women qualified for Paris with a time under 2:06:30 and 2:23:30 respectively. The target number of entries for World Champs, 100, is also twenty more than the Olympics field so that should allow more athletes to enter on points.
There’s only one opportunity every four years to pump out an Olympic based fact in this segment and here it is.
We all know Kenya and Ethiopia are the big powerhouses of distance running, Jamaica has the sprints sewn up and who knows what happens in the field events, but out of all the countries who has won the most medals in athletics across all Olympics and how many?
Say can you see, by the dawn’s early light, it’s the American’s of course! They have been the best nation at every Olympics ever except for 1972 (Soviet Union), 1976 (East Germany) and 1980 (Soviet Union again but the US did boycott). Across the different Olympiads, the USA have won 827 medals including 344 golds. The gold medal count alone is more than any other nations total medal haul.
For context, Kenya sit 6th with 34 golds, Jamaica 8th with 26 and Ethiopia have pipped Australia by one spot to claim 10th with 23 golds to our 21.
August 1st: The Athletics program starts at the Olympics. Once again, thanks to Andrew Pryn for this image courtesy of everyone’s favourite Facebook group ‘Athletes Australia’.
August 10th: IN BIG WRITING, MEN’S OLYMPIC MARATHON 4pm AEST.
August 11th: WOMEN’S OLYMPIC MARATHON 4pm AEST
August 11th: National Half Marathon Championships @ Sunshine Coast. 6am.
August 22nd: Lausanne DL. Men’s 800m, 1500m, Women’s 800m, 3000m.
August 25th: Silesia DL & Adelaide Marathon Festival.
The Sydney Marathon is also now only 1.5 months away. Click here to join the FTK Team provided you’ve already got an entry.
This division of Grattan House welcomes any and all reader feedback.
If you want more or less of something or want something investigated then please enquire at theblueline@grattanhouse.com with an email starting with ‘Dear Fraser Darcy,’.
That’s it for Issue 37, enjoy the next week of athletics! Subscribe below if you haven’t already.
If you have scrolled to the very, very bottom here is another reminder of the Pillar Performance Code: FTK. For first-time purchases only.