Latest news with #Linkletter
CBC
19-04-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Racing at 'new level,' Canada's Rory Linkletter aims for career-best marathon in Boston
Social Sharing While pondering his 2025 marathon schedule, mindful of what would prepare him best for the Los Angeles Olympics in three years, Rory Linkletter identified two spring races and not the World Athletics Championships later this year in Tokyo. He'll run Boston on Monday at 9:37 a.m. ET in the professional men's division, looking to redeem himself after an "atrocious" debut there in 2021 led to a 33rd-place finish after the Canadian was in the lead pack a little over halfway through the 42.2-kilometre race. On May 25, Linkletter will headline the Ottawa Marathon, believing it affords him a "great opportunity" to win his first of 12 races in the distance. "If I knock both of these out of the park, have awesome experiences and can run fast times, worlds might make sense," Linkletter, who boasts a two-hour eight-minute one-second personal best, said this week on a Zoom call with CBC Sports. "If I leave those races wanting to run something fast, we know Tokyo isn't going to be fast. It's going to be way too hot. "I want to try to run 2:06 or 2:05 in the next year or two and if I run Tokyo, that's taking away one opportunity. Where can I run fast this fall? It might be Chicago [Oct. 12], The Marathon Project [Dec. 19-21], Valencia [Dec. 7]. I can't say for certain until after [Boston and Ottawa] what will make the most sense for [my Olympic planning]." What isn't in question is Linkletter's fitness level entering the Boston Marathon The Calgary-born runner, who increased his volume in training and had a six-week stretch averaging over 200 km per week, is fresh off a 24-second PB on the track in the 10,000 metres at The Ten event in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., where he clocked 27 minutes 48.23 seconds for third place on March 29. "To have that big of a [PB] it would be close to scoring two hat tricks in a hockey game. It's rare," said Jon Green, who raced against Linkletter during their American college days and has been his coach since last fall. "It's proof in the pudding I'm ready and at a new level," Linkletter added. "Now, can I put it together on the day, performance on-demand, be the athlete I want to be?" Became U.S. citizen in 2020 That wasn't the case on Oct. 11, 2021 in Boston, where Linkletter clocked 2:23:34 in his third marathon and first of the Abbott World Majors. The 28-year-old recalled his preparation ranging from shaky to good, but he entered the race with confidence because there were some positives. "I was in the lead pack a little over halfway through the race, and then everything went wrong," said Linkletter, who became a U.S. citizen in 2020 and lives in Arizona with his wife and two children. "I cramped, my stomach was upset, my body was shutting down. First big stage of my marathon career and I was falling flat on my face." WATCH | Linkletter recalls 'brutal' 2021 Boston Marathon debut: Canadian runner Rory Linkletter discusses his 1st Boston Marathon experience 2 days ago Duration 1:06 In hopes of changing his fortunes this time around, the former Canadian record holder in the half marathon began his Boston build running two races at the 21.1 km distance over six days — in , Japan, where he ran a 60-minute 57-second PB on Feb. 2, and Mesa, Ariz. "To start a build in PB half marathon shape was a good indicator that if [I] build fitness week to week like I planned, there's a chance you're in breakthrough form by the end of the build. I had a seamless build from that point," said Linkletter, who was 47th (2:13:09) in his Olympic debut last summer in Paris. Linkletter has also sought advice from Scott Fauble, his former HOKA NAZ (Northern Arizona) Elite teammate who has placed top eight three times in Boston, and ex-coach Ryan Hall, who ran 2:04:58 in Boston in 2011. 'I have strength and speed' "I've watched it unfold on TV a dozen times and I've been able to race it once and talked with the experts," said Linkletter. "It gives me just enough information to feel confident I have a game plan. "To have the highest level of volume I've done in training and being in the best 10K shape of my career, I have strength and speed. Boston, because of the dynamics of the hills being a lot of up and down, you need to be able to access strength and speed you wouldn't normally. On a flat course, your pace variation is small." WATCH | Linkletter noncommittal about World Athletics Championships: Linkletter remains uncertain about running the marathon at this year's World Athletics Championships 2 days ago Duration 1:08 Canadian marathoner isn't sure if he'll compete at the World Athletics Championships this September in Tokyo, saying racing at the last 3 global championships wears on an athlete year after year. Runners in Boston are challenged by the Newton Hills, the most notorious stretch of the course. There are four of them and three before the well-known Heartbreak Hill and its 91-foot climb. "The common sentiment I've been told is that if you can survive Heartbreak Hill with some running left in your legs, there's a ton of momentum to be gained on the last 10K. I'm not scared of the hills in Boston. Having run New York and Paris, they throw punches throughout [the course] whereas in Boston you just have to survive one crucially hard part of the race. "I'm going to be aggressive, take the confidence I have from my training and racing this year against one of the best fields we'll see assembled this year. "A successful marathon is racing for the whole race and not getting into survival mode," continued Linkletter. "If I genuinely feel I'm racing to the [finish] line, I think top 10 is in the cards and I think a personal best, even on that course, is in the cards." Thomas Toth will join Linkletter in the men's pro division while Rachel Hannah, who ran Boston in 2017, returns to lead a Canadian team of three in the women's pro division that races at 9:47 a.m. Fellow Toronto native Kylee Raftis and longtime St. John's runner Kate Bazeley, who competed in Chicago in 2021 and Boston the following year, are the others.
Forbes
17-04-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Why Rory Linkletter Could Be Canada's Next Marathon Legend
There was a brief time, right after his Olympic performance in the marathon for Canada, when Rory Linkletter considered returning to Utah. Who would have blamed him? The 28-year-old from Calgary had come of age in Utah, had graduated from high school in Herriman, and even starred at Brigham Young University, where he was among an esteemed crop of athletes like Clayton Young and Conner Mantz who built the Cougars into a modern-day distance running powerhouse. His coach at the time, the former American record-holder in the half marathon Ryan Hall, had decided to step away, so there was a small opportunity for Linkletter, who had built a life in Flagstaff, Arizona, to link up with his former teammates at the Run Elite Program (REP), a professional training group based out of Provo, Utah. Linkletter gave it a long, hard thought. And then he made the biggest decision of his professional life. 'I kind of felt like that part of my life was behind me, and it would have felt like moving backwards instead of moving forward,' said Linkletter, who is married to a former BYU gymnast, with whom he has two kids. 'So I considered a lot of things in that brief period where I was considering my future and coaching and training after the Olympics. But I was pretty sure I wanted to try to figure out how to stay in Flagstaff.' Instead, he hired Jon Green, a former collegiate athlete at Georgetown University who coached Molly Seidel through breakthrough marathon performances in 2020 and 2021, and then he joined the Verde Track Club, signaling the next phase of his career. It's pretty much been six months since, and now Linkletter, who is Canada's second-best half marathoner and marathoner in history, will put that decision to the test. On Monday, Linkletter will return to the Boston Marathon, where he last raced in 2021. Unfortunately, his last performance on the course did not go well. He blew up and finished 33rd in 2:23:34. 'It was like, what could go wrong did go wrong in the race,' said Linkletter, who will be racing in a new Puma supershoe. 'I cramped, I felt all sorts of glycogen depletion. I missed on fueling, I missed on pacing, I missed on the mental energy I expended. Like, I made a lot of rookie mistakes.' Luckily for him, the race was just his third professional marathon. Linkletter's return will mark his 12th marathon overall, and he is fast becoming very proficient at the 26.2 mile distance, with six performances under 2:13 and his second best mark at 2:10:24 – Linkletter has also featured in two World Championships for Canada at the marathon. A more confident Linkletter will toe the line in Boston with aims on shattering his former mark on the course, which tails its way from Hopkinton to downtown Boston in a point-to-point race that will have $705,000 in prize money up for grabs. The 2019 BYU graduate also isn't far removed from his career best marathon time of 2 hours, 8 minutes and 1 second, which he achieved in Spain at the Zurich Seville Marathon in February of last year. That effort was part of a busy year at the distance – Linkletter ended up running the marathon four times in 2024, adding Chicago and New York to his calendar following his 47th-place finish in the Olympics in 2:13:09. His 26.2-mile PB was a career-making performance that, in fact, qualified him for the Olympic marathon, dipping just nine seconds under the standard. 'You know, the whole race I was just focused on following this pace, following this group that was set up for the Olympic standard,' Linkletter said of his performance in Spain. 'And I was the most locked in I've ever been. I had just one objective.' Linkletter was experienced enough at that point to understand what he needed to do. 'I was just able to get really tough and gritty and just focus on finishing,' he said. Perhaps a tip of the cap has to go to BYU, where Linkletter developed as a runner and notched a handful of championship performances under head coach Ed Eyestone, including a runner-up finish in the 10,000 meters on the track in 2017. He qualified for the NCAA Championships nine times and was a two-time All-American in cross country, helping the Cougars score a third-place finish in 2017. Surprisingly enough, though, Linkletter opted against a professional track and field career following graduation. He instead ran his first marathon in 2019 in Toronto at the age of 23. 'There's two reasons I became a marathoner,' said Linkletter, who began his career with HOKA's NAZ Elite. 'The cooler one is that I just really liked the idea of being a marathoner and was fortunate enough to be around Jared Ward's ascent while he was in Provo and training with Coach Eyestone.' The second reason never came to fruition. Linkletter's aspirations were to qualify for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. While he came up short there, the Canadian's decision did prove to be fruitful, because it jumpstarted a career that might now see him chase after the country's national record of 2:05:36, which is owned by Cam Levins. 'For a while, I was like, 'That record is so hard, I don't know how I'm going to get that,' Linkletter said. 'It's one of those times where it used to feel untouchable. But like I said before, I had only run 2:10 and now I've run 2:08 and I feel like I can totally taste a 2:06. And then it's like, once you've done something like that, then it's like, 'What's 2:05:30, right?' Marathon times have changed drastically in recent years. A total of 28 men globally broke 2:05 a year ago, while the late Kelvin Kiptum broke the world record in 2023, clocking a time of 2 hours and 35 seconds at the Chicago Marathon – for reference, Eliud Kipchoge broke two hours in the marathon in 2019, securing a time of 1:59:40 during a project orchestrated by Nike, but that record is unofficial. Supershoes have also helped. Globally, brands are developing high-level racing shoes at breakneck speeds, all vying to outdo one another on course. Linkletter will put a new pair under the microscope on Monday, too. So, there's no shortage of intrigue there. But he says he's also not getting swept away by those ever-changing dynamics. 'You know, the whole race I was just focused on following this pace, following this group that was set up for the Olympic standard. And I was the most locked in I've ever been. I had just one objective.' 'I think the No. 1 thing is to focus on racing,' he said. 'Like, if you just think about times that have been run and times that you've run, you'll get trapped in what you've done before.' Linkletter instead has narrowed a singular focus on training and his marathon block. In Flagstaff, where he refined his approach at 7,000 feet of elevation, he found a steady rhythm under Green, logging some of his best weeks over the training cycle. Recently, he finished his last major session and says 'it's like fine-tuning to make sure I'm not flat on race day.' All signs point to a potentially career-effort. In March, Linkletter claimed a personal best time in the 10,000 meters at The Ten in California, getting under 28 minutes for the first time. That performance followed career highs in the 3K and mile over the last two years. 'That's one of the big misconceptions,' Linkletter said, 'is people think once you start your marathon clock, you're done on the track.' Now what's left is a chance at digging in and going after a big finish at Boston. Linkletter's teammates from BYU, Young and Mantz – the top two Americans at the Olympics in Paris – will both be in the race. While Linkletter didn't ultimately steer his life back to Utah, his burgeoning marathon career will continue to put him in touch with his former teammates, who are currently among the U.S.'s top athletes at the distance. And if you're wondering, there are no casual text groups between friends. 'I think they're almost too much of a competitor at this point,' Linkletter said of his Boston Marathon plans. 'At this point it's a friendly rivalry where I'm like, 'Oh man, I really want to beat those guys.''
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Yahoo
Both sides rest, close after experts in Michael Carlson trial
WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — After experts took the stand for the prosecution and the defense, both sides rested and closed in the trial of a former Knox County sheriff, setting the stage for closing arguments on Thursday morning. Michael Lloyd Carlson, 65, of Truscott in Knox County, faces a charge of manslaughter stemming from a three-vehicle crash on US 287 near Electra on May 17, 2023, that led to the death of 22-month-old Aveline Hill, of Dallas, at Cook Children's Hospital. READ MORE: State rests case in trial of former Knox County sheriff Carlson served as the sheriff of Knox County about 25 years ago, according to Knox County officials. Records show he was on probation for deadly conduct at the time of the fatal crash. Testimony began on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in the 78th District Courtroom, with Judge Meredith Kennedy presiding. The Wichita County jury of 10 women and 2 men was sworn in on Monday, April 7. Lead prosecutor Chelsea Carlton called a handful of witnesses on Wednesday morning, April 9, 2025, including an expert in accident reconstruction, before resting the state's case. After the jury left the courtroom for lunch, Carlson invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify. When testimony resumed Wednesday afternoon at around 1:15 p.m., Mark Barber, Carlson's defense attorney, called their own expert in accident reconstruction, Scott Linkletter, one of over a hundred available forensic experts with Aperture, LLC. THE LATEST: Toddler's mother recalls fatal wreck in trial of Michael Carlson Linkletter testified regarding looming, or a driver's perception of its closing speed as it approaches a vehicle rapidly. Looming is a term often used when describing rear-end collisions. Linkletter testified that a looming threshold is the point at which a driver can perceive they're closing in on a vehicle too fast. He testified that for an average driver, the perception-reaction time is 2.1 seconds. He testified that, adding the time it took Carlson to apply the brakes, he determined Carlson's perception-reaction time was 2.7 seconds. Linkletter testified that research shows that 85 percent of drivers fell within the percentile that Carlson fell into. He testified it takes some time for a driver to fully appreciate their closing speed if a vehicle is in front of them, especially on open roads, in free-flowing traffic, and rural areas. Carlton then cross-examined Linkletter, who testified that while he's testified in several depositions, this trial was the first time he'd testified in court. Carlton asked Linkletter why no more wrecks occurred at the same time if many more cars were behind Carlson. Linkletter testified that he had no specific answer. He testified that he had no idea what Carlson was doing in his pickup before the crash, and that he was not able to definitively if the looming effect occurred or if Carlson was distracted while driving. 'I don't have any opinions on whether he was or was not distracted,' Linkletter testified. Before Linkletter left the stand, Carlton asked if a looming effect could occur if a driver was not looking at the road. Linkletter testified that it could not. The prosecution then reopened its case and recalled James Evans, an expert in accident reconstruction who testified on Wednesday morning, to testify as a rebuttal witness. Evans testified that most of the research on the looming effect has to do with driving at night because tail lights are the only real source of light for those driving after dark. He testified that research in that area doesn't really apply to driving in the daytime. READ MORE: 1-year-old dies following three-car crash near Electra Evans then testified that Linkletter didn't really calculate a perception-reaction time, but instead, just created a possible range. He testified that regardless of the range Linkletter testified to, there was still no evidence of Carlson reacting until less than a second before impact. 'Perception-reaction time and stopping depends on what you see and when you see it,' Evans testified. Evans testified that most people can see and recognize when traffic is ahead of them on the highway, and that other drivers on U.S. 287 on May 17, 2023, were slowing down due to the detour ahead of them. During cross-examination, Barber questioned Evans on the difference between looming in the daytime and at night. Evans testified that in the daytime, a driver has more visual cues than just tail lights to perceive. Evans testified that he didn't know what Carlson was doing in the pickup before the crash, and that he wasn't aware of his state of mind at the time of the crash. He also testified that he wasn't speeding when the crash took place. 'All that time he was driving down the roadway, why did it take so long before he saw there was a problem?' Evans asked. After cross-examination, Carlton indicated she had no further questions. Evans was excused from the witness stand. Carlton once again rested the prosecution's case, then closed it. Barber, on behalf of the defense, closed the case as well. After Evans was again released from the stand, Carlton again closed the prosecution's case. Barber then closed the case on behalf of the defense. Attorneys for the prosecution and the defense remained in the courtroom after the jury was dismissed in order to work on the charge that will be read to the 10 women and 2 men to begin proceedings on Thursday, April 10, instructing them on their deliberation. After Judge Kennedy reads the charge, both sides will have the opportunity to make final arguments to the jurors, beginning with the prosecution, followed by Carlson's defense, and finished after the prosecution gets another opportunity to address the jury. READ MORE: Texoma courtrooms busy during spring, summer months After that, the jury will begin deliberating until a unanimous verdict is reached, either convicting Carlson of manslaughter or acquitting him of the charge. If the jury finds Carlson guilty, the punishment phase of the trial will begin. Both sides will again present witnesses and evidence to the jury, followed by closing statements. The jury will again deliberate to determine Carlson's sentence. Both Carlton and Barber indicated to Judge Kennedy on Wednesday afternoon that they expect to call a handful of witnesses in the punishment phase if Carlson is found guilty by the jury. If convicted, Carlson faces up to 20 years in 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. 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