Cam Myers wins, Ingebrigtsen calls the field cowards
A 20-year-old Australian kicked past a shoving Diamond League 1500 final, Jakob Ingebrigtsen called the field cowards and then half took it back, and the AIU sidelined a 26:39 10K runner and banned a 2:18 marathoner.
The big stuff
Cam Myers wins Brussels 1500 as Ingebrigtsen calls the field 'a bunch of cowards'
Cam Myers, 20, picked his way through traffic in a pushing, shoving, kicking Diamond League 1500 final in Brussels to beat 19-year-old Phanuel Koech 3:30.14 to 3:30.18, with Ethan Strand third in 3:30.50 off the fastest close in the field (53.60 for the last 400). Jakob Ingebrigtsen dove for the line and got fourth in 3:30.52, Cole Hocker ran out of gas for seventh in 3:30.80, and Koech's second place bumps Vince Ciattei out of the World Ultimate Championships quota if everyone accepts their spots, per Chris Chavez's full results. Ingebrigtsen said afterward that nobody went with the pacemaker and he was 'racing a bunch of cowards', then told Dagbladet a day later that he should not have called anyone losers but stands by his claim that Hocker's team told organisers they were bringing their own pacemaker to set a specific pace and then did something completely different.
Very disappointed in the race and result racing a bunch of cowards.
I shouldn’t have called anyone losers. I apologise for that. It was beneath me, regardless of the adrenaline and emotions. But I stand by what I said about Cole and his team acting cowardly.
Cam Myers is the first Australian to become Diamond League champion in a distance event.
Races and performances
Werro holds off Broeders-Bol by 0.06, Kazimierska and Balew win big in Brussels
Audrey Werro front-ran the 800 in 1:54.75 to keep her Diamond League title, with Femke Broeders-Bol closing to 1:54.81, 0.06 back, the second time in their last three races the margin was under a tenth. Klaudia Kazimierska, a year into pro running, took the lead with 200 to go and won the 1500 in a Polish record and world lead of 3:54.05 (59.25 last lap) over Dorcus Ewoi (3:54.72) and Jess Hull (3:54.73), after starting the year with a 3:57.95 best and a string of second places. Birhanu Balew closed a 12:45.70 5000 with a 53.4 final lap, which LetsRun calls the fastest last lap ever in a race won in 12:45 or faster, with Graham Blanks sixth in a 12:47.98 lifetime best. LetsRun's day two recap has the rest.
I’m like 99% happy, 1% frustrated when you get that close.
Bahrain's Birhanu Balew just closed out a 12:45.70 for 5000m with a 53.4 last lap to win the DL title in Brussels.
[Jerry Schumacher] was saying that he has never seen an athlete do things that I do in training.
Rudel and Hicks win USATF 20K titles at a race with no live results
Rachael Rudel won her first USATF title at Monday's Faxon Law New Haven Road Race, running 1:04:58 for 20K to win by over a minute, 29 seconds off the course record. Charles Hicks took the men's title despite finishing 3 seconds behind his Oregon Track Club teammate Kieran Tuntivate, who represents Thailand and won the race in 58:03, per LetsRun's report. Gault says the race doubled as the US half marathon selection event for the 2027 World Roads in Yangzhou, China, so Hicks and Rudel will be offered team spots; the 2026 edition runs next weekend in Copenhagen after the 2025 champs in San Diego were cancelled.
It's a pleasant little surprise when you get the title.
Not having tracker or live results… in this day and age… at a @usatf championship… is comical.
Shoes, gels and gear
Run Testers pick Clifton Pro over Clifton 11, Doctors of Running rave about TYR racer
Doctors of Running's Matt says the ASICS Sonic Blast 2, a 46mm stack (how much foam is under the foot) super trainer at about 8.5 ounces, is a better evolution of what people wanted from the Superblast 2, and the pair call the TYR Valkyrie Elite 2, a 40mm 5K and 10K racer, 'the most insane improvement of any super shoe ever'. The Run Testers put the Hoka Clifton Pro ($165) over the Clifton 11 ($155) as the clear winner for its bouncier ProFlyte Plus foam and worth the extra ten dollars, say the Saucony Hurricane 26 (274g, 41/35mm stack, £170) is one of the springier stability shoes they have tested but 'not a shoe for faster runs', and say the Puma Velocity Nitro 5 ($140) is now overshadowed by better daily shoes at the price. Doctors of Running would 'buy this shoe all day' on the $130 FILA Speedtempo Plus over the Puma Deviate Pure Nitro on value alone, and kofuzi says the 51mm, 242g Craft Atmosfär 1 ($190) is the tallest shoe he has tested, fine for easy days and too soft for speed. Two r/RunningShoeGeeks posters are pushing the Saucony Endorphin Elite 2 now that it is around $128 to $130, one calling it 'one of the most unstable super shoes on the planet' and still a joy over an 18-mile run.
the Sonic Blast 2 is a better evolution of what I think people would want from the Super Blast 2, but it's got a smoother transition and a better fitting upper.
The Clifton Pro is the clear winner for me this year
Really enjoying the simplicity, yet high performance of the shoe, and the price point is kind of hard to beat in today's market
Training and fueling
2:09 marathoner Tom Nobbs fuels at 114 to 120 grams of carbs an hour
Nobbs, a Canadian pro with a 2:09 best training for Chicago, lays out his numbers on Zach Bitter's podcast: roughly 137 to 145 miles a week, easy days in the high 7s to 8:00 per mile with strides, a polarized approach (mostly easy running with a few protected hard sessions), long runs up to about 47 km, and 114 to 120 grams of carbs an hour on long runs and quality sessions, which he says has noticeably improved next-day recovery. Believe in the Run's Fuel for the Sole hosts say the idea of going keto for three days before a carb load rests on 1960s research since debunked, that bread is fine during a carb load, and told a listener targeting 60 to 90 grams an hour for a sub-3 at Berlin to bring their own electrolytes because the course has Maurten stations but none. At the amateur end, kofuzi hit a personal high of 268 grams of carbs in a 2:26 long run in his Berlin build, while one r/Marathon_Training poster who blew up at mile 21 of a 2:57 debut on about 50 grams an hour still thinks the body can only absorb 60 grams an hour.
Fueling has shifted to high-carb: 114–120 g/hour on long runs and quality sessions with good tolerance and noticeably better next-day recovery.
You've got to spend a lot of time doing the thing if you want to get good at just about anything.
268 grams of carbs consumed in two hours and 26 minutes, this was a high carb PB for me
Rules, records, business
AIU suspends 26:39 10K man Kibet, bans 2:18 marathoner Mesfin three years
The Athletics Integrity Unit provisionally suspended Uganda's Harbert Kibet (sidelined while the case is decided) for triamcinolone acetonide and exogenous steroids confirmed by IRMS (a lab test that separates synthetic steroids from the body's own); CITIUS MAG notes the 21-year-old ran a world-leading 26:39 at the Castellón 10K in February, No. 4 all-time on the roads, and has not raced since May. The AIU also banned Ethiopia's Tiruye Mesfin, who ran 2:18:35 for third at the 2024 Valencia Marathon, for three years after she admitted a violation based on her Athlete Biological Passport (a long-term record of blood values used to spot doping without catching the drug itself); an expert panel found a pattern consistent with an EPO-type agent or a recent transfusion, and she loses third at last year's Shanghai Marathon and fifth at this year's Seoul Marathon. Kenya's Caren Chelagat got four years for norandrosterone, and Canadian Running reported two rising road racers facing doping allegations in two days.
The AIU has provisionally suspended Harbert Kibet (Uganda) for Presence/Use of a Prohibited Substance
Their conclusion was that the pattern was highly likely to be caused by a supraphysiological increase in red cell mass, consistent with the use and then discontinuation of an EPO-type agent or a recent blood transfusion.
Steroids. Distance running. Yep.
Quick hits
Kiplimo's 57:20 half marathon record ratified after Kejelcha already ran 56:51
World Athletics has finally ratified Jacob Kiplimo's 57:20 from the Lisbon Half on March 8 as the world record, David Monti reports, after Yomif Kejelcha already ran 56:51 in Buenos Aires on August 23, a mark not yet ratified. Doctors of Running's podcast argued whether Kejelcha, No. 2 all-time in the marathon and one of two men under 2:00, is now the greatest distance runner ever, with David still giving it to Kenenisa Bekele for his eight championship golds.
Adios Pro 5 hits World Athletics approved list, Skechers says Aero Elite lands October 1
The adidas Adizero Adios Pro 5 is now on World Athletics' approved shoe list, per one r/RunningShoeGeeks poster, and another posted a Canadian pre-order. A third poster says Skechers replied to them on Twitter that the Aero Elite releases October 1, and a fourth shared leaked specs from an Instagram account for a Mizuno Sky Prime at 295g with a 47/41mm stack, due September 11.
Battocletti skips Diamond League final and Worlds, leaving up to $180,000 behind
Nadia Battocletti is skipping both the Diamond League final and the World Ultimate Championships to end her season at a home meet in Italy, with Jonathan Gault putting the potential prize money at $180,000 and LetsRun's article at a likely $150,000. Her agent told LetsRun this has been the plan for months.
Alisa Vainio adds Berlin six weeks after European marathon title
Six weeks after a solo 2:22:26 to win the European marathon title, Alisa Vainio has entered the Berlin Marathon on September 27 and plans Valencia on December 6, per Steven Mills, quoted by David Monti with a 'Whoa!'. Mills counts that as eight marathons in 15 months.