In this episode we bring you a run-down of the biggest running news from 2021 and tips on achieving your running goals in the new year!  Plus, Angie shares the top picks from her non-fiction reading list.

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Top Running Stories from 2021

Every Year we recap the biggest stories from the running world. Here’s what went down in 2021.

Some Races Were Cancelled
In 2021 some races were cancelled due to Covid (Steamtown Marathon, MCM, Mount Desert Island, New Jersey, Toronto, Milwakee, Beijing, Wuhan).

The Olympic Marathon in Tokyo
Olympic Marathon in Japan (held in Sapporo) : Men- 1) Eliud Kipchoge- Kenya, 2) Abdi Nageeye- Netherlands 3) Bashir Abdi- Belgium (4) ; Women- 1) Peres Jepchirchir- Kenya, 2) Brigid Kosgei- KEN, 3) Molly Seidel USA. Listen to our Olympic podcast episode here.

photo credit: Abdi Abdirahman

Tougher Olympic Trials Qualifying Standards in US

• Women who want to enter the race must have qualified with a 2:37 marathon or faster, or a 1:12 half marathon or faster. The marathon time is 8 minutes faster than the 2:45 required to get into the 2020 Trials. (The half marathon time in 2020 was 1:13.)
• For men, the times are 2:18 and 1:03, one minute faster at both distances than the 2020 times (2:19 and 1:04). The qualifying window for marathon times opens on January 1, 2022 and for half marathon times, January 1, 2023.(11)

Shalane Flannigan Runs All the World Majors
Shalane Flannigan did 6 WMM (Berlin, London, Chicago, Boston, Tokyo (virtual), NYC) in under 3:00 in 42 days after retirement and knee surgery. This is incredible considering she didn’t know if she’d be able to get back to running after surgery. (13)

21 Trail Racers Died at 100k Ultra in China
21 trail racers dead in China during terrible weather conditions at a 100k ultramarathon in Gansu province: About three hours after the start, a mountainous section of the race was hit by hail, heavy rain and gales, causing temperatures to plummet. Many runners reportedly lost their way as the weather affected visibility. (6)

87 Runner’s Rescued in Utah
DC Peaks 50, a 50-mile ultramarathon through the rugged Wasatch mountains of Utah. 87 runners had to be rescued when they faced extreme weather of 12-18 inches of snow and white out conditions. Search and rescue was mobilized and all racers were rescued. A few runners were treated for hypothermia and one had a minor injury from a fall. (10)

Tommy Rivers Puzey
Tommy Rivers Puzey, a beloved ultramarathoner completed the New York City Marathon in 9:18:57, barely one year after taking his first steps after an aggressive cancer treatment that had him in a coma and needing to relearn to walk.(21)

Dick Hoyt Passed Away
Dick Hoyt- longtime Boston Marathon runner and triathlete who pushed his son Rick Hoyt- died of congestive failure at age 80. Over 40 years, Rick and Dick Hoyt would compete in more than 1,000 races around the world, including 72 marathons and 257 triathlons. They became celebrities at the Boston Marathon, running the venerable 26.2-mile course 32 times between 1980 and 2014.(9)

Dick and Rick Hoyt. photo credit: Wikipedia Creative Commons

New Records Set in 2021

New World Record Half Marathon Times

• Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda shaved one second off the HM world record with a time of 57:31 at the Lisbon HM. (12)
• Women’s HM world record: Letesenbet Gidey has crushed the women’s half-marathon world record in her debut in the event on Sunday (24 October) as she raced to an amazing 1:02:52 in Valencia. (3)

NEW American 24 Hour Track Record
Nick Coury 173.015 miles in 24 hours! Since his first ultra in 2005 he’s placed 1st at 30 races. (14)

New 100 Mile American Track Record
Camille Herron set a new 100 mile American Track Record with a time of 13:21:51 (8:01/mile). She also set a course record back in Oct at Javelina Hundred with a time of 14:03:23. Herron also holds the world record in the 50 miles (5:38), 12 hours (92.66 miles), and 100 miles (12:42). (15)

New America NYC Marathon Record
Molly Seidel breaks U.S. record at New York City Marathon with a 4th place finish– with two broken ribs. She now holds the women’s American marathon record in only her 4th marathon. 2:24:42 (7)

New 50k World Record
Des Linden sets the 50k world record with a time of 2:59:54 (5:47/mile pace) (8)

Youngest Woman to Finish 100 Marathons
Jocelyn Rivas, age 24, is awaiting ratification from Guinness World Records for becoming the youngest woman (and youngest Latina) to finish 100 marathons. She’s an immigrant from El Salvador who ran her first marathon in 2014 and finished her goal by running 30 marathons in 2021.

Oldest Marathoners

• At 90 years of age, Stelios Prassas was the oldest athlete to participate in the 38th Athens Marathon in 2021. He said, “We will try to finish in order to glorify Greece.”
• Mathea Allansmith finished the 2021 Honolulu Marathon at age 91, becoming the oldest woman to finish this year. 10:38:59.(18)

Fastest Known Times

• Timothy Olson fastest known time on the 2,653-mile Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in the western United States. His time of 51 days, 16 hours, and 55 minutes. Olson started at the PCT’s southern terminus on June 1, hiking and running an average of 51.3 miles per day. (22)
• Karel Sabbe of Belgium set a FKT on the Via Alpino the long-distance hiking trail that connects the 8 Alpine countries: 1650 miles, with 100 miles of elevation change. He finished in 30 days, 8 hours, and 40 minutes. (25)

UTMB Women’s Record
Courtney Dauwalter breaking the women’s record at the 106 mile UTMB. The 36-year-old resident of Leadville, Colorado, established a new course record of 22 hours, 30 minutes, 54 seconds while finishing seventh overall. (23)

Pam Reed 100 Hundred Milers
Pam Reed joined an exclusive club by running 100 hundred milers just shy of her 60th birthday. She not only achieved the rare feat at the Grandmasters Ultra but she won the race. It was at least her 25th victory at an ultra. She truly lives by her mantra, “Keep putting one foot in front. Never stop.” (26)

Appalachian Trail Records
These are not running related but since we live 5 miles from the AT we find them impressive.

• Youngest person to through hike AT: Josh and Cassie Sutton recently completed a full-length hike of the Appalachian Trail with their son, Harvey who is 5 years old. The 2,100-mile trail that stretches across 14 states. (1)
• Oldest person to through hike AT: M.J. Eberhart, an 83-year-old retired eye doctor, hiked the distance in segments. Sometimes friends and supporters hiked with him or picked him up for overnight breaks of a warm bed and meal, driving him back the next morning to where he had dropped off the trail. (2)

DON’T MISS OUR DISCUSSION ON GOALS IN THIS PODCAST EPISODE!

To see Angie’s reading list from 2021 click here.