Been thinking about Cheptegi’s assault on the 10K WR of 26:17 today in Valencia — Here is roughly how good you’d have to be to rabbit some part of the race at 63.0:

Mile – HS State Champion
2 Mile – NCAA All-American
5K – Olympian
7K – Olympic medalist
8K – Kenenisa Bekele

— Kyle Merber (@TheRealMerb) October 7, 2020

May 30, 2014: Pre Classic. First meet I ever covered for https://t.co/mBLfQPyci8. Galen Rupp runs 26:44.36 to break the American record at 10,000 meters.

No one has run faster since. I expect that to change today.https://t.co/rhfp0wX7AK pic.twitter.com/O2gc3xobdO

— Jonathan Gault (@jgault13) October 7, 2020

Today is #NNValenciaWorldRecordDay. Will @joshuacheptege1 break @KenenisaBekele's 10,000 WR of 26:17.53? Watch it live at 3:30 pm ET. https://t.co/LcKl9cN8ck

— LetsRun.com (@letsrundotcom) October 7, 2020

Joshua Cheptegei just ran 26:11.00 to break the 10,000m world record, for an average of 13:05.50 per 5,000.

A few notable Americans who have never run faster than 13:05.50 for 5,000:
-Ryan Hill
-Alan Webb
-Meb Keflezighi
-Tim Broe
-Alberto Salazar

— Jonathan Gault (@jgault13) October 7, 2020

Rough week for Kenenisa Bekele. Withdraws from London Marathon on Friday, loses his 10,000 world record on Wednesday.

Bright side for Bekele is he held the 10k WR longer than anyone in history — 16 years, 3 months, 29 days.

— Jonathan Gault (@jgault13) October 7, 2020

Would be cool but someone would have to be close but Hicham El-Guerrouj’s 3:43.13 is a tall order.@tim_cheruiyot is the reigning world champion at 1,500 meters and his mile PR is 3:49.64 https://t.co/gLpcGaXwkx

— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez) October 7, 2020

In other news: On a post-London Marathon @USATF Zoom press conference call, @SaraHall3 says that she plans on giving the 2021 U.S. Olympic Track Trials a shot.@jwardy21 says “We’ll see” but he thinks he’s too old for the track. (He’s 32.) Right now, he leans toward no. pic.twitter.com/rv3mfceNiP

— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez) October 7, 2020

Remarkable run today by Letesenbet Gidey, who took almost 17 seconds from her PB to set the WR in Valencia.

Perhaps the craziest stat? Before today, Gidey had been beaten in her last 12 races at 5,000m. Her last win came at the Catalan Championships on June 30, 2016. https://t.co/lFDf2g5hu6

— Jonathan Gault (@jgault13) October 7, 2020

Respect to Nicholas Kimeli, who, after pacing Cheptegei through 5k, stayed in the race and ran 27:12 the hard way (13:07-14:05 splits).

That's only 14 seconds off his pb — and he did it just four days after running 13:08 at altitude in Nairobi on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/lSwe3OUStK

— Jonathan Gault (@jgault13) October 7, 2020

Kenenisa Bekele’s 5,000m world record stood for 16 years, 2 months, 14 days (May 31, 2004 to August 14, 2020)

His 10,000m world record stood for 15 years, 1 month, 11 days (August 26, 2005 to October 7, 2020)@joshuacheptege1 now owns both. https://t.co/vYsLvQTB4A

— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez) October 7, 2020

some exec over at nbc sports is watching this and losing their shit trying to figure out how they’re able to broadcast this whole 10k without cutting away to pole vault highlights or a commercial for the usatf online store

— DUMBFLOTRACK (@DumbFlotrack) October 7, 2020

Cheptegei now just the 11th man to hold both the 5000 and 10,000 world records.

— Jesse Squire (@tracksuperfan) October 7, 2020

His three races in 2020:

Feb. 16: Road 5K world record of 12:51 in Monaco

Aug. 14: 5,000m track world record of 12:35.36 in Monaco

Oct. 7: 10,000m track world record of 26:11.00 in Valencia, Spain

That’s pretty good.

— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez) October 7, 2020

"By cutting their men’s track team, the University of Minnesota has cut 85% of their nonrevenue producing Black athlete roster spots while only cutting 48% of their nonrevenue producing roster spots overall. That’s functionally racist.” – @DancingDinkshttps://t.co/SjGo3fqDh4

— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez) October 8, 2020

"Anywhere you are in the Bronx now, you’re going to catch someone running by. It’s no longer a thing that’s looked at as something weird."

How Lenny Grullon is making a difference in his community with the Boogie Down Bronx Runners

New @RunnersOfNYC: https://t.co/CNV784X2I2 pic.twitter.com/kEfTf44wYt

— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez) October 8, 2020

Who is your 2020 men's track & field MVP?

— Jonathan Gault (@jgault13) October 8, 2020

"I tell people, follow your dream, follow your heart, follow your passion, run your own race and believe in yourself. I think anybody who wants to succeed has to have passion."
-Joan Benoit Samuelson
2x @bostonmarathon champ@ChiMarathon champ @Olympics gold pic.twitter.com/TuvBWK1toP

— Boston Marathon JH (@jhboston26) October 8, 2020

"Cheptegei and his colleagues are more of track athletes than road racing. We shall teach him a few tips in road racing.” — Kenya's Bernard Kipkorir Ngeno ahead of next week's World Half.

Apparently he missed Cheptegei's 5k/10k/15k road WRs?https://t.co/M2fnUJJTQf

— Jonathan Gault (@jgault13) October 8, 2020