#1. Mens and Womens 5k World Records Broken

(According to World Athletics)

• Barcelona on NYE
• Pending ratification 
• Women’s Record
  • Ethiopia’s Ejegayehu Taye obliterated the previous 5k mixed race record clocking a blazing 14:19, bettering the record by 24 seconds on New Years Eve
  • Taye, 21, had set an Ethiopian 3000m record of 8:19.52 earlier this year, and was the second-fastest woman in the world over 5000m this season, but tonight in Barcelona she was contesting just the second international road race of her career.
• Men’s Record
  • Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi broke the men’s world 5km record in 12:49.
  • Aregawi had a pacemaker for company for the first kilometre or so, but after then was out on his own. The Diamond League 5000m champion stormed through the finish line in 12:49, taking two seconds off Cheptegei’s world record. Peter Maru was a distant runner-up in 13:30.
• Video of finish: https://youtu.be/H0b4jtAFpJ8

#2. Madrid 10k

• NYE race
• World Athletics Elite Level Road Race
• Men’s Race
  • Spain’s Mohamed Katir became the first Spanish man in 18 years to win in Madrid in a commanding time of 27:45.  Women’s Race
• Women’s Race
  • Ethiopia’s Degitu Azimeraw ran her first race since her 2:17:58 runner-up finish at the London Marathon in October, won in 30:26, the third-fastest winning time in the event’s history. 
  • Two-time world 5000m champion Hellen Obiri had been due to compete but she tested positive for Covid-19 and had to pull out on the eve of the race.

#3. Faith Kipyegon on Coming Back from Baby

(According to RunnersWorld)

• While childbirth is not relatable to all, coming back from a period of time where we cannot run might be relatable to most.
• She had taken about 12 months off before she ran again. 
• When she started back to exercise, she began on the stationary bike.
• She built up to the Zero Runner and Elliptical.
• When she started back to running she did the run walk.
• Her 1500m training is as follows: A track session on Tuesdays, a long run on Thursdays, and a fartlek session on Saturdays. When she’s sharpening her fitness coming into the summer track season, the fartlek is replaced with a second track workout. 
• “Many athletes think it is something that will end your career, but I see it’s just the start of your career.” -Faith Kipyegon
• A little history: In June of 2019, 12 months after giving birth, Kipyegon made her racing comeback, surprising everyone by winning the 1500 meters at the Prefontaine Classic in Palo Alto, California, in 3:59:04. Later that year, she lowered her Kenyan record to 3:54.22 and won silver at the 2019 World Championships. Since then, Kipyegon has been virtually unbeatable. In 2020, she went unbeaten in six races, and ran the second-fastest time ever in the 1,000 meters in August of that year. She smashed the Kenyan 1500-meter record in Monaco in July 2021, clocking 3:51.07, and weeks later she powered away from the world’s best in Tokyo to retain her Olympic title in the 1500 meters.

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