Caster Semenya Wants To Run . Probably Has A Penis

Yesterday, 800m world champion Caster Semenya publicly announced he/she will be returning to the track and racing, forgoing results of the gender tests, which were started last August.

Today Athletics South Africa informed her that, no she will not. Not until the results of the tests are finalized in June.

I'm not sure what these tests consist of, since it all just creeps me out I avoid reading too much about it. But does it really take close to a year to test if someone has a penis? That just seems a little long.

This is really such a sad situation all around though.
Guys don't know if they can find her attractive without being called gay, and the lesbians can't find her attractive without being called straight. Everyone is being affected by this.

Ryan Hall Is Here To Help

Nissan has put together a pretty cool site that has a bunch of videos from Ryan Hall on all topics of marathon training. Workouts, recovery, strength, mechanics, ect. It's put together nicely, and Ryan sounds like he'd make a pretty good coach.

A lot of it won't be anything new to the highly knowledgeable, elite level runners that make up the Pre's Mustache reading audience(wink wink), but who knows, you might pick up something. And at the very least you will kill 10-15 min of your day spent not running.

http://www.mastertheshift.com/masters/hall/videos/index.asp?videoID=rh60

Zersenay Tadese Is A Bad Man

Four-time World Half-Marathon Champ Zersenay Tadese set a new world record for the half-marathon in Lisbon on Sunday, as well as the 20k world record in route.
His time of 58:23 broke previous mark of 58:33 set by Sammy Wanjiru.

Watch it happen here.

Own Your Own Alitidue Tent

Hypoxico, a New York based company, sells and rents home based altitude training systems.
For only $4,495 you can get the package deal; generator, tent for bed, and oxygen monitor.
Or you can rent it for $169/week. 4 week min.
Seems pretty reasonable.

http://www.hypoxico.com/

Live Blogging NYC Half

-Nick Arcianaga, resist temptation to lead! Resist!

-Deena on course record pace. Hey now.

-Deena is tearing shit up!! 180 meter lead at 3 miles.

-Wow. Men are not out that fast at 23:13 at 5 miles, but Fam and Abdi are already
gone. I got up to pee, they were there, came back and they were gone.
Lead pack down to 5

-Larry Rawson talking about Deena looking strong taking on the uphills as she is
obviously running DOWN the north hills

-Kamais and Geb starting to break

-Kamais(?who?) and Geb are gone. Trafeh trailing in 3rd by about 50 meters

-Deena still rolling fucking hard and still on course record pace. Big lead.

-Men onto 7th ave. Now on 4:26 pace? Is that what i saw?

-Geb DROPS OUT at 8 miles. Just stopped. NOOOOOOO.
Kamais gone.

-Geb back and running in 5th. What was that. Can he come back?

-This will be the most bad ass thing ever if he comes back now and wins. He's in 5th now

-NYC master Paul Thompson passes Deena

-Deena 5:22 pace at 8 miles

-Deena 30 sec. lead on 2nd female

-Oh great, tech. difficulties with lead mens camera. Go figure.

-Kamais, who I do not know at all, is now way out in front at 10 miles heading down West Side Hwy

-The lead motorcycle camera is out. Ugh. They are following Kamais with helicopter cam. This is what you get.

-What is happening behind Kamais? Nobody knows because they are not showing anything or giving updates. UGH.

-Mo Trafeh in 2nd

-Kamias looking really strong. He will win no doubt. Close to 60min pace.

-This is why tv coverage sucks: where is Fam, where is Abdi. Once they are dropped from lead they are forgotten. There is still a race for 2-10. Acknowledge that please.

-Wardian getting girled, as usual.

-Yamauchi and Perez now 100m behind Deena

-Deena's lead is shrinking FAST.

-Yamauchi takes over lead!

-They completely miss the mens finish. Cut back to Kamais kneeling at finish.
Trafeh 3rd.

-Yamauchi now has Deena by 50m. Still on course record pace.

-Yamauchi at 12 still leading. Deena is fading. She needs to hold off Perez yet.

-Yamauchi about 10sec. ahead of Deena. Perez is 5 sec. behind Deena with mile to go

-How the hell do you BLOW the mens finish?? Unforgivable and happens all too often.

-They showed and have shown NOTHING of mens race after top 3. Thanks.

-Yamauchi wins. Deena in 2nd with Perez in 3rd right behind her.

-What happened with Geb? Nobody knows. Thanks for the coverage Universal Sports.

-Nice that they are now showing the 1:13 finishers and we still have no idea of top 10 men. Great job.

-Haile out of top 10.

-Kamais was sub 60.

-Deena 1:09high. I have my hat ready to eat after London. Pffft.

-Mo Trafeh mid 60. Surprised by that after the 15k two weeks ago.

Mo Trafeh and Brad Hudson: WTF

I was going to do a write-up on NYC Half-Marathon happening tomorrow, but I've been too busy trying figure out what the hell is going on with Brad Hudson and Mo Trafeh to focus on that. Geb is going to win anyway.

So let's focus on something much more interesting.

For those that don't know what I'm talking about, I'll start at the beginning.

In Nov. of '09 Brad Hudson announced on his Marathon Performance Training Group website that Mo Trafeh had joined.
Seen here: http://www.marathonperformance.com/2009/11/mo-trafeh-joins-marathon-performance/

On March 13th, after Mo won the Gate River Run, they posted this on the site:

Marathon Performance athlete Mo Trafeh won the 2010 US 15K Championship on Saturday morning..

Yesterday, in an interview with Running Times, Mo had this to say:

Brad Hudson coaches you, correct?

MT: No. I am self-coached.

Did he ever coach you?

MT: No. I talked to him a couple of times. He gave me some friendly advice.

On the Marathon Performance Web site, it says he is your coach and agent. It also says you run for their team.

MT: I was surprised to see that, actually. I got a message from a guy on Facebook asking me for a picture to put on the Web site. And I gave him a few pictures. I thought he was going to do a little profile on me for Marathon Performance. Next thing I know it looks like they included me in the group as if I was one of his athletes. He doesn’t coach me or represent me. He’s my friend as far as Facebook goes, but nothing further than that.

Brad has responded to that on his Facebook page saying:

Also to those emailing. I do not coach Mo Trafeh but am a advisor, supporter, agent. He joined Marathon Performance athlete representative agency last fall. We have coaching and representative services. Exclusive/Non-exclusive. Great guy deserves a contract.

Which doesn't address why Mo would say that he's not affiliated with MP in any way.

Brad also posted on Mo's Facebook(Mo is running the NYC Half tomorrow):

Best on Sun. Wishing you well.

What the hell?
I don't know. It's very strange.

Is Brad mistaking "facebook friend" for "agent", and posting on Mo's wall as "advising"? When Mo accepted Brad's friend request, was that "signing with Marathon Performance" in his mind?

Or is Mo Trafeh a pathological liar?
One of these guys is out of their minds. I think I know who...

Patrick Smyth Opens Up For Flotrack

I like Flotrack and everything, but why do every one of the interviewers have to say "talk about.."? They all do it.
Can't they just ask a question and get a response?
"You're running world cross, talk about it"....
Questions = Answers.

While I'm at it, the race commentary is no good. Rather than just list the order of the runners over, and over, and over(which we can see right there since we are watching it), just play some AC/DC over the footage.


There. You're welcome Flotrack. I just made you better.

Now check out Patrick Smyth:EXPOSED, on Flotrack.
Patrick reminds of a wild west gunslinger. He could be the Sundance Kid, to Ritz's Butch Cassidy. Gunnin' fools down. Assassins of the road.

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Runners Everywhere Are Being Killed

#4 on my list of "least favorite ways I'd like to die" is "hit by an airplane while enjoying a leisurely jog on the beach".
Lucky for me that hasn't happened, yet.
Unlucky for Robert Jones, who was hit and killed by an airplane making an emergency landing on a beach in Hilton Head, SC on Monday.

RIP

http://www.examiner.com/x-18134-AirlinesAirport-Examiner~y2010m3d17-Freak-plane-crash-kills-jogger

Happy St. Patty's Day

To the Irish readers.
Don't sleep on your back. Sleep on your side tonight.

Bad Doggy

Being mauled, ripped to pieces, and eaten by wolf while out for a run is one of my top 5 least favorite ways I'd like to die.
It's too bad it had to happen to Candice Berner in Alaska.

http://www.adn.com/2010/03/09/1175725/wolf-blamed-in-death-of-villager.html

VOTD

Carlsbad 5k from last year.
A great race with Fam taking the lead and gunning for road 5k AR.

Angela Bizzarri

Angela Bizzarri won the 3k indoor title at the NCAA Champs over the weekend after having already won an outdoor title, and cross country title.

And now she's probably wondering how things could get any better than that.

Well get ready Angela, cause all of your wildest dreams about to come true.
Yeah, I'm proposing to you.

Angela Bizzarri, will you marry me??

Lagat Wins Gold, $40,000

Bernard Lagat devastated the field in the men's 3000m final at the World Indoor Champs in Doha, Qatar on Sunday, bringing home gold for the good ol' US of A.

Lagat doesn't have the world records, or even a long list of American records, but has proven himself to be one of the greatest big meet competitors of all time, racing his best when it matters the most.... except for the '08 Olympics.

The 12 years younger than Lagat, Galen "Ruppy" Rupp, ran a personal best and finished a very respectable 5th place in the race.

1 347 Bernard Lagat USA 7:37.97 (SB) $40,000
2 117 Sergio Sánchez ESP 7:39.55 . $20,000
3 221 Sammy Alex Mutahi KEN 7:39.90 . $10,000
4 119 Tariku Bekele ETH 7:40.10 .$8,000
5 358 Galen Rupp USA 7:42.40 (PB) $6,000
6 108 Jesús España ESP 7:42.82 (SB) $4,000
7 233 Hicham Bellani MAR 7:44.15 .
8 271 James Kwalia C'Kurui QAT 7:46.12 .
9 274 Essa Ismail Rashed QAT 7:47.94 (SB)
10 122 Dejen Gebremeskel ETH 7:48.69 .
11 217 Augustine Kiprono Choge KEN 7:53.42 .
12 104 Hais Welday ERI 8:04.10

Trafeh Now #6 on All-Time USA 15km List

All-Time Performances- 15 kilometers Road

USA Men
42:22 ( 1) Todd Williams (MI) 07 Mar 1969 11 Mar 1995 Jacksonville FL
42:40 ( 2) Steven Spence (PA) 09 May 1962 18 Jun 1989 Portland OR
42:42 ( 2) Paul Cummings (UT) 05 Sep 1953 26 Jun 1983 Portland OR
42:47.6 ( 1) Mebrahtom Keflezighi (CA) 05 May 1975 09 Mar 2002 Jacksonville FL USA
42:50 ( 1) Keith Brantly (FL)23 May 1962 11 Feb 1989 Tampa FL
43:01 ( 6) Mark Curp (MO) 05 Jan 1959 11 Feb 1984 Tampa FL
43:02 ( 2) Mark Curp- 2 05 Jan 1959 26 Jun 1988 Portland OR
43:03 ( 4) Todd Williams- 2 07 Mar 1969 29 Oct 1994 Tulsa OK
43:04 ( 3) James Cooper (NC) 06 Oct 1959 11 Feb 1989 Tampa FL
43:06 ( 4) Tom Wysocki (CA) 19 Oct 1956 09 Feb 1985 Tampa FL
10

Trafeh Trounces

Mo Trafeh took home the 15k USA 15k Championship title at the Gate River Run in Jacksonville, FL Saturday with a very fast 42:58 in warm weather.
Mo burned a 4:22 opening mile and never looked back. Well, he did look back at one point, but there was nobody close. Ever. He went through 5k in 14:04, 10k in 28:18, and won by close to a minute.

Mo aslo took the home the equalizer bonus of $5,000, given to the first person to cross the line as the women start 5min ahead of the men. He had caught up to the ladies a little after 10k.

A very nice run and great payday for Mo, who apparently doesn't even have a sponsor and races infrequently due to lack of money for traveling to races. Hopefully someone picks him up. Maybe I will. I need to get those Pre's Mustache singlets printed up.

Katie McGregor took the women's crown while Colleen DeReuck continues to show there is no depth to womens running in the US as she is 45 years old and is still one of the top runners in the country.

1 Mo Trafeh - Duarte, CA 24 M 42:58 $12,000 + $5,000
2 Tim Nelson - Corvallis, OR 26 M 43:52 $5,000
3 Antonio Vega - St Paul, MN 26 M 43:56 $3,000
4 Jason Lehmkuhle - Minneapolis, MN 32 M 44:00 $2,000
5 Sean Quigley - Philadelphia, PA 25 M 44:06 $1,000
6 Ryan Vail - Gresham, OR 23 M 44:37 $900
7 Patrick Smyth - Minneapolis, MN 23 M 44:42 $800
8 Nicholas Arciniaga - Fountain Valley, CA 26 M 44:51 $700
9 Charlie Serrano - Long Beach, CA 26 M 44:54 $600
10 Stephan Shay - East Jordan, MI 24 M 44:54 $500


1 Katie McGregor - Minneapolis, MN 29 F 49:51 $12,000
2 Jen Rhines - Mammoth Lakes, CA 35 F 50:27 $5,000
3 Magdalena Lewy-Boulet - Oakland, CA 36 F 50:39 $3,000
4 Colleen De Reuck - Boulder, CO 45 F 50:51 $2,000
5 Rebecca Donaghue - Happy Valley, PA 34 F 51:13 $1,000
6 Renee Metivier-Baillie - Boulder, CO 28 F 51:37 $900
7 Blake Russell - Pacific Grove, CA 34 F 51:46 $800
8 Amy Hastings - Mammoth Lakes, CA 26 F 51:55 $700
9 Lindsey Anderson - South Ogden, UT 24 F 51:56 $600
10 Kelly Jaske - Portland, OR 33 F 51:58 $500

Right On, Nick Symmonds

How the hell did this slip by my desk(two milk crates with a board across the them, covered with empty beer cans)??

A mustachioed Nick Symmonds at USA indoors.

Ivory Williams Loves Weed

Ivory(ironic name) has been thrown of the USA indoor worlds team after testing positive for marijuana.

A: I don't know why weed is illegal
B: I don't know why smoking weed should disqualify you from competing
C: I don't know why a professional runner would want to smoke weed
D: Yes I do. Weed is awesome


So, Ivory williams and Xaxier Carter; future training partners??

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2010-03-10-2996809220_x.htm

Diug Logan Is Going To Make T&F Awesome

http://www.usatf.org/about/leadership/ShinSplintsBlog/

How the hell this guy became CEO of the USATF is anyone's guess.

His work history includes:

-Beer vendor at Yankee Stadium.
-Taxi driver.
-Worked for his family's construction engineering business.
-First commissioner of Major League Soccer.
-Formed a consulting firm.
-Helped form the National Rugby League.
-CEO of an animation technology company.
-"Director general" of a Mexican concert promotion company.
-Fought in Vietnam.
-Owned minor league basketball team the San Diego Wildcards.


MLS lost $250 million in it's first five seasons, and if you can name 5 MLS teams without looking, I'll send you a buck.

San Diego Wildcards went bankrupt.

National Rugby League??

Anything relating to the sport of T&F???

A lifelong competitive road runner at distances from 10 km to the marathon, Logan has clocked a marathon personal best under 4 hours

Ok. But I'd probably throw "competitive" out of there.

So this is the guy to take American T&F to the next level.?
A 66 year old with almost, lets just say no experience in track?
The guy whose idea of promoting his basketball team was to show up in multi-colored jesters glasses with dangling bells?

The man who just sent to the marathon trial to Houston, after NYC hosted the biggest, most watched, most exciting trials race ever??

HE'S going to change the way we watch track and field on TV??



This can't be good.

Webb Is Still Not Back

Most people have already completely forgotten about Alan Webb because he hasn't done shit since the monster year in '07. But those who haven't, remember him as mostly being a ninny with a giant head and hair plugs, i.e. me.

Webb got a major confidence boost in spring '07 when he showed up with a new, blooming head of hair(BEFORE/ AFTER), and went on a complete tear.
He was a new man

But then the mania wore off, and it's been a rocky road since.

The latest report is that hes had surgery on his achilles and is currently rehabbing in Portland, running only 3-4 miles a day.

So I just want to send a little positivity his way and say, keep your head up. I know it's hard, but keep plugging away. Don't wig out. You'll be weaving in and out of the track lanes soon enough. You were transplanted into a new program and it can take some time to adjust. You're rogaining fitness everyday now....

Alright, that's all I got.

http://www.theolympian.com/2010/03/05/1161910/running-legend-visits-oly.html

AJ Acosta

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

AJ(Ore.) ran 3:58:08, has a mullet, looks ridiculous.

Pretty In Pink

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Ruppy ran the mile and the 800 at the UW Last Chance meet, getting in a nice workout a before heading to World Champs in Doha, Qatar next this weekend. He won the 800 and finished 3rd in 3:58 in the mile. Why he was wearing the women's Nike kit, I don't know.

Kenya vs Ethiopia: RD TWO

The rivalry is really heating up again as Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele has been boasting to the press over the past two weeks his intentions of bettering Kenyan Daniel Komen's 3000m indoor world record before seasons end.

An offended Komen blasted back with a threat to reward Bekele with 5 acres of prime land in Eldoret should he take the record down, and added, “For me, I just attempted it while a young man, without telling the world. I prepared myself and broke it, and I will congratulate my friend Bekele if he does it.”


Whoa. Intense words. Let's just hope nobody gets hurt in this fracas.

http://www.nation.co.ke/sports/athletics/-/1100/873410/-/rcbj24z/-/index.html

Attn Victah Sailer

Enough with the "thumbs up" pictures already.
It's become slightly superfluous, if not gratuitous.

Just tilt the camera down, give a little disapproving shake of the head and grimace while mouthing, "no", when the thumbs go up from now on.





























View these and thousands more at http://photorun.net/

USA Rosters for Indoor World Champs

USATF press release

Gold medalists lead U.S. contingent to World Indoors

INDIANAPOLIS - Led by strength in the hurdles and field events and boasting six past World Indoor champions, Team USA fields a strong roster of 53 athletes for the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Track & Field championships, to be held March 12-14 in Doha, Qatar. Athletes will compete for a total of nearly $2.5 million in prize money, including $40,000 for individual champions.



Defending World Indoor gold medalists Christian Cantwell (SP), Bryan Clay (Hep) and Lolo Jones (60mH) are joined by two-time World Indoor 60m hurdle champion Terrence Trammell, 2004 World Indoor 3,000m champion Bernard Lagat and 2006 World Indoor triple jump champion Walter Davis. Outdoor World champions on the team include reigning women's long jump champion Brittney Reese, also the current world leader and 2009 decathlon champion Trey Hardee and2005 400m hurdle champion Bershawn Jackson, who will be running the flat 400m. Three-time World Outdoor 200m champion Allyson Felix will run on the women's 4x400m relay and two-time World Outdoor 400m hurdles champion Kerron Clement is on the men's 4x400m.



Prize money at the IAAF World Indoor Championships



Individual events:



First: $40,000

Second: $20,000

Third: $10,000

Fourth: $8000

Fifth: $6000

Sixth: $4000



Relays (per team):



First: $40,000

Second: $20,000

Third: $10,000

Fourth: $8000

Fifth $6000

Sixth: $4000



World record bonus: US $50,000 - for any athlete setting a new World record.



Team USA Roster, 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships



Men



60m: Ivory Williams (Liberty, Mo.), Michael Rodgers (Round Rock, Texas)

400m: Bershawn Jackson (Raleigh, N.C.), Jamaal Torrance (Raleigh, N.C.)

800m: Nick Symmonds (Eugene, Ore.), Duane Solomon (Los Angeles, Calif.)

1500m: Will Leer (Eugene, Ore.), Garrett Heath (Palo Alto, Calif.)

3000m: Bernard Lagat (Tucson, Ariz.), Galen Rupp (Portland, Ore.)

60mH: Terrence Trammell (Atlanta, Ga.), David Oliver (Kissimmee, Fla.)

Long jump: Jeff Henderson (North Little Rock, Ark.), Randall Flimmons (Atlanta, Ga.)

Triple jump: Brandon Roulhac (Tallahassee, Fla.), Walter Davis (Baton Rouge, La.)

High jump: Jesse Williams (Eugene, Ore.), Dusty Jonas (Lincoln, Neb.)

Pole vault: Tim Mack (Cleveland, Ohio), Derek Miles (Tea, S.D.)

Shot put: Christian Cantwell (Columbia, Mo.), Cory Martin (Bloomington, Ind.)

Heptathlon: Trey Hardee (Austin, Texas), Bryan Clay (Glendora, Calif.)

4x400m relay: Greg Nixon (Lubbock, Texas), Tavaris Tate (Starkville, Miss.), Kerron Clement (Los Angeles, Calif.), LeJerald Betters (Waco, Texas)



Women



60m: Carmelita Jeter (Los Angeles, Calif.), Miki Barber (Los Angeles, Calif.)

400m: Debbie Dunn (Raleigh, N.C.), DeeDee Trotter (Knoxville, Tenn.)

800m: Anna Pierce (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.), Alysia Johnson (Los Angeles, Calif.)

1500m: Erin Donohue (Haddon Heights, N.J.), Sarah Bowman (Knoxville, Tenn.)

3000m: Sara Hall (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.), Desiree Davila (Rochester Hills, Mich.)

60mH: Ginnie Powell (Los Angeles, Calif.), Lolo Jones (Baton Rouge, La.)

Long jump: Brittney Reese (Gulfport, Miss.), Brianna Glenn (Chula Vista, Calif.)

Triple jump: Erica McLain (Menlo Park, Calif.)

High jump: Chaunte Howard Lowe (Decatur, Ga.)

Shot put: Jillian Camarena (Tucson, Ariz.), Michelle Carter (Ovilla, Texas)

Heptathlon: Hyleas Fountain (Kettering, Ohio)

4x400m relay: Allyson Felix (Los Angeles, Calif.), Natasha Hastings (Columbia, S.C.), Shareese Woods (Charlotte, N.C.), Jessica Cousins (Seneca, S.C.)



For more information on Team USA and the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, visit www.usatf.org.
About USA Track & Field

USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States.

For more information on USATF, visit www.usatf.org

"Why Do You Run?"

It's the question I get the most, that I hate the most. Because I don't know how to answer it. Maybe because I don't know.
Jeff Johnson helped me understand why I hate that question, and why I love to run. Maybe he can help you too.

Jeff Johnson remarks @ Border Clash Banquet

Season's Greetings: This was forwarded by Dave Frank who now coaches up in Portland. Jeff Johnson came out to speak to the HS runners in the Washington/Oregon Border Clash. (An XC duel between the two states sponsored by Nike.) Jeff is a low-key humble man who resides in New Hampshire. He was Nike's first paid employee, developed the concept of the swoosh, retired in 1985. He came out here to coach the Farm Team (for free) to Nat'l prominence for 6 yrs.

BORDER CLASH, 2001: REMARKS

Jeff Johnson

Thank you. Good evening.

It's a real pleasure for me to be with you tonight.

It seems to me that I've spent my entire life surrounded by winners. First, on my own high school and college teams, then later working here at NIKE, and finally in coaching. It is a privilege to be back in the company of winners once again.

I come to you tonight with a question. It's a rhetorical question, so don't raise your hands.

Here's the question: Why do you run?

You've probably been asked that question before. It's not an easy question to answer, is it? If someone has to ask, they'll probably never understand.

A man once came to Mozart and said: Teach me to write a symphony.

Mozart answered: I can't teach you.

The man said: Why not? You were writing symphonies when you were 4 years old.

To which Mozart replied: Yes, but I didn't have to ask how.

To write timeless symphonies requires a genius that running does not demand, lucky for us, but the problem of explanation is much the same:

If you have to ask, you just don't get it. And you probably won't get it.

But you get it, don't you? You would never ask someone: Why do you run? (Except maybe rhetorically.)

Nevertheless, even you who "get it" have a hard time articulating your passion. I think that is because running is a passion of the spirit. And explaining the spirit is never easy. Running is the expressway to self-confidence, self-awareness, self-discipline and self-reliance. From running, you learn the harsh realities of your physical and mental limitations. From running, you gain strategies for extending those limitations, that you might run farther, run faster, and run tougher. You learn that personal responsibility, commitment, sacrifice, determination, and persistence are the only means of improvement. Running, you come to understand, is a profound, far-reaching and never ending contest of the runner with himself, or herself. And you learn that runners only get promoted through self-conquest.

Running asks a question of you, and everyday it's the same question:

Are you going to be a wimp, or are you going to be strong today?

And when you answer that question in the way that you people in this room have answered it, you become a better, stronger, more confident animal, with a capacity for achievement greater than before, and a formula for success that is forever engraved on your brain. (It is no accident! I think, that this place was founded by runners.) The single, most outstanding characteristic of the runner is independence. Through your own will, you present yourselves to the fire; and the fire changes you, permanently and forever.

Body and spirit
I surrendered whole
To harsh instructors - -
And received a soul.


Rudyard Kipling wrote those lines nearly a century ago. It's unrecorded what Kipling's PR was for 5K, but I suspect that he had one.

Why do you run? Each of you may articulate it differently, but perhaps we can agree that running touches us spiritually, it forms us, and it strengthens us. It makes us who we are, and at some level, it is who we are. But you can be a runner without being a racer.

So here's another question for you: Why do you compete? Why do you race 3.1 miles? That's gotta hurt. Why do you do it?

For most of you, I imagine that you race for the challenge, the danger, the 'rush' of putting yourself in a place where you must do your absolute best. Because the race requires it. To give your best is to honor your fellow competitors, your teammates, your coach, your school, your family, your community, and all the good people who have worked so hard to put on the race. To give your best in a race is a matter of honor, and duty, and you know that going in. You know, also, that the course will challenge you, that your competitors will challenge you, and that you will challenge yourself. You know, too, that there will come a critical moment in the race where you must make the decision to lay it on the line, to take your shot, or to fall back and regroup. And you hope you'll be up to the challenge, but you're never entirely sure, and it's that uncertainty that calls to you, because it is there, at that moment, that moment of decision, that you offer yourself up to be measured: by the clock, by your legs and lungs, by your guts, and by your heart. And if you want to win the race, in that moment of decision, you're going to have to go a little crazy.

You race, then, because races are a big deal. (In fact, speaking from the vantage point of both experience and hindsight, I dare say that at this time in your lives, the race may be the most important thing that you do. A girl on one of my high school teams came up to me on the day of her graduation and said, " I learned more in cross country, than I learned in high school." "I'm glad," I said, "so did I".

Races are a big deal. Races are the culmination of all the forces that have brought you here:

desire, commitment, focus, sacrifice, suffering, self-discipline, hard work, responsibility. You race because you are invested in effort, and you are invested in success. Moreover, you are invested together.

Look around you. Go ahead. Do it. Look around.

Who are those people you see? Do you think they are your opponents? People who oppose your quest for excellence? Well, they aren't. They are not your opponents. They are your fellow competitors. In fact, they are your co-conspirators, for to compete is to enter into a conspiracy. The conspiracy is revealed in the word itself: compete, which comes from two Latin roots, com (CUM) and petere (PET-ER-AH), which mean "to strive together".

Al Oerter, the 4-time Olympic gold medallist in the discus, once said: "I've never competed against anyone in my life. I've always competed with people. To compete against people is a negative thing. To compete with people is a celebration, a celebration of human capability."

And so it is. The worthy competitor is essential to the race, not as an enemy, but as a co-conspirator. The race, you see, is a secret form of cooperation. The race is simply each of you seeking your absolute best with the help of each other.

Steve Prefontaine said: "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." What gift do you think he was talking about? The gift of your talent, surely. But perhaps also the gift of opportunity, and the gift of youth, perhaps even the gift of life itself.

In any case, you give your best to the race as a matter of honor? You can do no less, because your competitors are giving their best to you. Now, not all races justify all out, total effort. For some races, your have lesser goals - - to score points for your team, to qualify for a more important race later on - - or just to have fun.

I offer that qualifier to my remarks tonight because I know that all of you are coming off a long, hard season. For some of you, tomorrow's Border Clash is not another test but, rather, a fun, end-of-season reward. For others, it may be a tune-up for the Footlocker Regionals still to come. For all of you, your goals for tomorrow's race are a matter between you and your coaches. We understand that. It isn't my intention tonight to try to get you "fired up" for a race where an all out effort may be inconsistent with your goals. The Border Clash is held solely to honor you, the best cross country runners of two states, and in the hope that you will all gain something joyful and positive from the experience of meeting and competing with each other. But the next time you step to the starting line of an important race, the conspiracy of striving together for excellence will be about to unfold! That white line on the ground before you, and that other white line five kilometers away, will define a sacred place, rife with potential, an arena in which excellence and ultimates are the only acceptable, indeed, the only honorable standards - - and an arena into which only a few, special people ever venture. There - - between those white lines, in a race that matters - - you will give your best to each other. And there - - between those white lines, on that sacred plain, you will learn who you are, of what stuff you are made, and what you can endure, which is essential knowledge, for it will inform your whole, entire life.

Billy Joel wrote: "I won't hold back anything; and I'll walk away a fool, or a king."

For my money, if you've done your best, fool or king, there's equal honor in both. Doing your best is much more important than being the best.

A friend came to visit me last weekend, and he looked over my intended remarks for tonight.

"What are your goals for this speech?" He asked me.

I told him: "I want to tell these kids that they have chosen a sport that ennobles them."

"So many runners are thought of as loners or geeks. I want these kinds to recognize themselves as people who are learning to take responsibility for their lives, people who are learning to control their own destinies."

"I want them to know that the lessons they learn as cross country runners will stay with them their whole lives, that as a result of being cross country runners they will gain the habits of winners: setting goals, working hard, doing their best, being patient, persistent and focused."

"I want them to see that making a commitment, laying it on the line, and taking a chance, pays off more often than not."

"I want them to understand that competition is not an anti-social act, but a social one, and that to give their best is part of the social contract."

"I want them to know that whatever else they do in life will always be secondary to having been an athlete. That from being an athlete first - - and especially a long distance runner - - they are already fundamental victors."

"They don't know it yet - - and they certainly don't understand it - - but the sport they have chosen will never leave them. It will lead them down avenues of achievement and success that they cannot yet imagine."

Those are my goals for this speech.

"Then say that," my friend said.

Good idea, I thought. So I just did.

Thank you for listening to me tonight. I have the greatest admiration and respect for cross-country runners, and it's been a genuine honor for me to be with you.

May you all have a safe race tomorrow, and may you all reach your goals.

Thank you.

GD

It's really hard to find flattering pics of runners. I'm talking females particularly here.

I was just sitting around googling Amy Hastings and Katie Follett, and there's nothing worth looking at.
These are pretty much the best I could find.









Maybe they aren't even that attractive. I can't tell.

If Amy, Katie, or anyone else out there can send me some more flattering pics so I can properly judge, I would appreciate that.

2012: Houston?

1980: Buffalo, N.Y.
1984: Buffalo, N.Y.
1988: Jersey City, N.J.
1992: Columbus, Ohio
1996: Charlotte, N.C.
2000: Pittsburgh, Pa.
2004: Birmingham, Ala.
2007: New York

Take out NY and that reads like a list of Americas dullest cities. So Houston is a natural choice for a the next host of the men's Olympic marathon trials in that regard.

http://www.usatf.org/news/view.aspx?duid=USATF_2010_03_01_06_18_01

Coach Joe Newton

Joe Newton is everything I'm not. And that is good in every way for him.

You don't accidentally win 26 state titles.
He is the epitome of what a coach should be.

He delivered this brilliant speech at a coaches meeting at Nike headquarters in LA last week.
You better watch it. And if you have kids, make them watch it.
If they refuse, spank them. I hear that works.

Ruppy

Galen Rupp took second to B. Lagat again, this time in the 3000m at USA Indoor Champs over the weekend.
Rupp supposedly had a bad stomach virus that caused him to lose 8lbs in the four days prior to the race.
Why is Galen Rupp sick all the time? With all the amenities at Camp Nike, have they overlooked anti-bacterial soap and hand sanitizer?

http://www.oregonlive.com/trackandfield/index.ssf/2010/02/galen_rupp_finishes_second_in.html

Katie Follett

href="http://www.flotrack.org">Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Katie Follett of Washington U. is fast, seems smart, and more importantly than that, is hot.
Here she talks about writing her senior paper on banana workers. And if you think I'm going to make some cheap joke now about "working my banana", it's not happening. How dare you even think that. Sicko.

Matt Fitzgerald and His Giant Microphone

Is that the biggest one you could find?

I Like It

Sammy Wanjiru sporting a stache.
As if he wasn't having an easy enough time with the ladies already.
Save some for the rest of us Sammy.

Mardi Gras Half-Marathon

If you are like me, you drank too much Saturday night, slept in, and completely missed the coverage of the Mardi Gras Half-Marathon.
Give me a break though. I'm not a professional. I just do this in my spare time. Which I happen to have a lot of.

But it's ok anyway because you can always go to right to the race website for accurate splits and results. Right?

Top 10 Men @ 5k
- -
Bib Name Time
205 Shadrack Biwott 14:40
202 Martin Lel 14:40
200 Abebe Yimer 14:40
204 McDonald Ondara 14:40
260 Mike Morgan 14:49
208 Robert Scribner 15:27
209 Neil McDonagh 15:27
206 Anthony Gallo 15:38
1732 Patrick Hunt 15:40
207 Joseph Sitienei 15:48

Top 10 Men @ 10k
- -
Bib Name Time
4539 Robert Powderly 22:32
202 Martin Lel 29:08
204 McDonald Ondara 29:08
205 Shadrack Biwott 29:09
260 Mike Morgan 30:03
200 Abebe Yimer 30:09
208 Robert Scribner 30:54
209 Neil McDonagh 30:55
206 Anthony Gallo 31:19
1732 Patrick Hunt 31:48

Top 10 Men @ 10 mile
- -
Bib Name Time
6203 Scott Quigley 46:14
202 Martin Lel 46:49
205 Shadrack Biwott 46:49
203 Martin Fagan 46:59
204 McDonald Ondara 46:59
260 Mike Morgan 48:57
208 Robert Scribner 49:52
200 Abebe Yimer 49:59
209 Neil McDonagh 50:27
206 Anthony Gallo 50:35

Top 10 Men @ 11.9 mile
- -
Bib Name Time
202 Martin Lel 55:39
205 Shadrack Biwott 55:57
204 McDonald Ondara 56:23
208 Robert Scribner 59:38
206 Anthony Gallo 1:00:23
200 Abebe Yimer 1:00:23
209 Neil McDonagh 1:00:42
1732 Patrick Hunt 1:03:12
1403 Andrew Huston 1:03:13
210 Jason Flogel 1:03:13

Top 10 Men @ finish
- -
Bib Name Time
202 Martin Lel 1:01:07
201 Sammy Wanjiru 1:01:33
205 Shadrack Biwott 1:01:40
203 Martin Fagan 1:02:11
204 McDonald Ondara 1:02:26
260 Mike Morgan 1:02:56
208 Robert Scribner 1:05:43
206 Anthony Gallo 1:06:17
200 Abebe Yimer 1:06:34
209 Neil McDonagh 1:06:51


Wow, Wanjiru really came out of nowhere to grab second, while Fagan utilized a serious relax and surge, relax and surge technique in the second half.

Seriously though, is that the best they can do?
I can only imagine how much they spent to get Lel and Wanjiru in their race and then they can't even provide proper splits and separate the full and half runners on their website?
Thanks for nothing.
For one half of one percent of Wanjiru's appearance fee, I will handle this in the future. Email me.

Anyway, the slowish times from Lel and Wanjiru are not real surprising as they are deep into marathon training and smart enough to not care about running a fast half in build up. Wanjiru was running close marathon pace.

The woman were more interested in running fast as Kim Smith of New Zeeland ran a PR and National Record 1:07:55, but finished second to some old Kenyan woman. Life can be a mother fucker like that.
That's obviously a great time for her though and translates to a 2:23 marathon. We'll also be seeing her in London in April.


Did anyone actually catch the coverage? How was it?

Runners Are Such Dorks

Exhibit A:
Photo: PhotoRun.net

Exhibit B:
Photo: PhotoRun.net