In this week's Top 5 pod, we break down the following stories:

1. Michigan becomes hub for pro running events

Over the last week, Hansons-Brooks Original Distance Project hosted two major races in Shelby Township, Michigan, which produced world class fields: The Michigan Pro Half-Marathon and the Michigan Pro Ekiden.

2. Syringes found in Olympic champion Taoufik Makloufi’s equipment bag

Algerian 2012 Olympic Gold medalist Taoufik Makloufi has found himself in an incriminating situation.

3. Courtney Dauwalter wins Big at Big’s Backyard Ultra

Last week, in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, U.S. ultra runner Courtney Dauwalter ran 283 miles/456 km to claim the 2020 Big’s Backyard Ultra. The annual event requires runners to complete one 4.16667 mile (or 6.7km loop) every hour. The event continues until only one runner is standing. To win, Dauwalter ran 68 loops, tying the record set in 2018 by Johan Steele of Sweden.

4. Is this 60-year-old Irish guy our greatest living marathoner?

60-year-old Irish marathoner Tommy Hughes clocked another world record this week. The former Olympic marathoner already held the world record for fastest combined marathon for a father and son (take note that Hughes ran the faster of the two times) and the over-60s half marathon world record (1:11:09, run in September at the Antrim Coast Half Marathon). He can now add the over-60s marathon world record to his list of accolades. Running in the Down Royal Marathon, Hughes took six minutes off the previous record clocking 2:30:02.

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In this episode of The XC Podcast, Alex Cyr talks with Rory Linkletter, a Canadian-American sponsored by Hoka One One, a member of the NAZ Elite squad, and running's equivalent to the Dos Equis' Most Interesting Man in the World.

When Rory Linkletter ran 61:44 at the Houston Half Marathon in January, we all thought he was a shoe-in for making his first Canadian Olympic team. The, of course, COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic and the Games in Tokyo were postponed.

Instead of packing it in for the year, the 24-year-old undertook several projects and challenges to outrun boredom.

He started a podcast, he attempted to break Canada's one-hour run record, he bought a truck, he raced several virtual and in-person relays across the United States, he ran 2,000 feet up a mountain as hard as he could, he became a U.S. citizen, and now, he trains for his second-ever marathon.

In this episode, Alex and Rory touch on several of these topics and more.

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Hosts John Lofranco and Michael Doyle discuss who each feels "won" and "lost" at the 2020 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships, which took place over the weekend in Gdynia, Poland.

John's winners: Women's champ (and world-record holder) Peres Jepchirchir, the concept of watching a race, and "the running media."

Michael's winners: Jepchirchir, World Athletics, the country of Uganda

John's losers: the very idea of safety, high stack height shoes, sport bureaucracy

Michael's losers: host country Poland, pre-race favourite Joshua Cheptegei, 2018 champ Netsanet Gudeta

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Hosts Alex Cyr and Michael Doyle unpack to massive races from Gdynia, Poland at the 2020 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships. The women's race saw a women's-only world record by Peres Jepchirchir, as well as lots of drama. The men's race featured a 19-year-old breakout star from Uganda (and it wasn't Joshua Cheptegei).

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Alex Cyr and Michael Doyle unpack a stacked women's race, which features the last four world record holders in the half marathon. On the men's side, Joshua Cheptegei, who has had perhaps the single most dominant year in track history, is running his debut half marathon. Can he do something special (perhaps one last world record in 2020), or will there be a surprise champion?

And finally, we discuss the situation in Poland, with an escalating COVID-19 public health crisis, and several nations opting to sit out these championships. Is this a preview for larger competitions to come, where certain countries opt to pull their athletes, while others go ahead with the competition?

Be sure to follow @theXCorg on race morning (5 a.m. ET) for live coverage. We'll also be posting our instant reaction podcast immediately following the races in Gdynia, Poland.

Today's "World Record Day" special one-off track meet in Valencia, Spain really lived up to its namesake.

Breakout superstar Joshua Cheptegei took on the 10,000m world record, set way back in 2005 by Kenenisa Bekele. Meanwhile, 22-year-old phenom Letesenbet Giday delivered arguably the most surprising performance of this very strange track season by crushing the women's 5,000m world record.

NN Running Day was a weird and wonderful event, featuring just these two staged world record attempts. Alex Cyr and Michael Doyle unpack all the action, and discuss legacies, witnessing history in the making, and if running should stage more of these sorts of events in the future.

We break down a wild 2020 London Marathon, which saw Eliud Kipchoge, arguably the greatest runner of all-time, do the unthinkable — lose.

We look at how this previously unfathomable defeat unfolded, and potentially what went wrong for Kipchoge, along with the standout performances from both the men's and women's races in London.

We also go deep on the rest of what turned out to be a dramatic and eventful (and rainy) London Marathon.

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Alex Cyr and Michael Doyle break down what's surely to be the most unusual and important marathon of 2020. They discuss the impact of Kenenisa Bekele pulling out of the race on Friday, and whether or not that will affect how Eliud Kipchoge will perform. They analyze an equally intriguing women's race, featuring world-record holder Brigid Kosgei, and evaluate if she'll be able to lower her own astonishing mark, or if an upset is in the making.

They also discuss the unique aspects of this event, including how the "biosphere" operated this week around St. James Park, and how to live stream Sunday morning's event.

The COVID-19 pandemic has wiped out pretty much every road race on the 2020 calendar. We're forced to make do with "virtual races," running a time trial alone, with nothing to battle but our watch and that little voice in our head suggesting we just slow down.

As a top-level marathon runner, Dylan Wykes knows how tough it is to race alone. That’s why he’s hoping to create something different for the running community on July 1.

Now the elite athlete coordinator for Ottawa Race Weekend, when Wykes faced the cancellation of his event in late May, he started thinking about what could be done to make a truly high calibre virtual race.

Wykes has crafted what he hopes will be one of the first major competitive road races of consequence to be held since the onset of the pandemic. The Canadian 10K road championships will be held July 1, all around the country, and promises to be a dynamic experience for runners, as well as those following along on social.

Michael Doyle chats with Wykes about how the idea came to be, some of the wish-list items he hoped to include, and if this format could actually be exciting for runners and fans of the sport alike.

After a little hiatus, Alex Cyr, Andrew Cruickshank and Michael Doyle return to discuss:

If virtual races are going to be enough, and if so, how to put on a great one

If any of the big fall marathons will even happen, and if so, how they could be done safely

What the heck we've been up to during the pandemic