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Lead Stories: Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Chris Derrick: Perseverance
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #1)

Posted May 13th, 2008 at 2:22 PM by Chris Derrick

Section: News & Results, Elite Athlete Blogs, High School, Chris Derrick

Welcome to the official blog of Chris Derrick; the 2007 Gatorade High School Cross Country Runner of the Year and 5k record holder! Make sure to bookmark chrisderrick.thefinalsprint.com and check back every other Tuesday for Chris’ latest entries as he completes his senior year of high school running and begins his NCAA career at Stanford!

I’d like to begin my blogging experience by sharing one of the most epic runs I’ve ever had, and one that encapsulates my team as well. First a little background. Like most distance runners, we at Neuqua Valley are pretty weird. One of our more minor quirks is our belief in the Interval Gods*. The Interval Gods hate us. They have cursed us and given us crappy weather at all of our meets and interval workouts this track season. What’s more they are trying to kill us: right after we left the NTN meet in Portland there were mudslides and now, just weeks after we left Arcadia, it is threatened by wild fires.

Fortunately we’ve managed to stay (for now) one step ahead of them. We only got a break from the interval Gods wrath at the Aracadia Invite. Arcadia doesn’t really count as we are fairly certain the Interval Gods live there. We tried to appease them by feeding some squirrels in a local park and it was going swimmingly until Danny Pawola offered them extra-sour-rye bread, which they hated. I’ll let that little tidbit set the scene for our tale…
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Bekele to Attempt 10,000m Record at Prefontaine Classic

Posted May 13th, 2008 at 1:30 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

He’s already owns the two fastest 10,000m times in history, but reigning world and Olympic 10,000m champion Kenenisa Bekele hopes he can go even faster at next month’s Prefontaine Classic meeting in Eugene, Ore. It would be his first outdoor appearance in the United States.

“The record (26:17.53) is not easy,” said Bekele’s Dutch manager, Jos Hermens, through a media release. “But this is an absolutely serious attempt. His training is going well, and he is 100% ‘go’ for the record.”

The 10,000m race will be held in the morning at 9:30 on June 8, well before the regular meet begins at 12:30. Organizers feel the weather will be good at that time for a record attempt.
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Kate O’Neill: Mother Whales and Human Mothers
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #8)

Posted May 13th, 2008 at 12:30 PM by Kate O'Neill

Section: News & Results, Elite Athlete Blogs, Kate O'Neill

Hi, this is my blog in TFS’s Elite Athlete Blog Series. Bookmark kateoneill.thefinalsprint.com and check back every other Monday for my latest entry as I strive for the 2008 Summer Olympics!

Happy belated Mother’s Day! On Sunday I went to a bookstore for story hour with my boyfriend and his mother. I had seen that the author of a book called Delta & Dawn: Mother & Baby Whales’ Journey would be coming to read aloud. The book tells the true story of two humpback whales that wandered into the Sacramento River last year. Humpback whales spend their winters off the coast of Mexico where they give birth and then travel along the coast up to Northern California for feeding during the warmer months. Somehow this duo got separated from the other whales and swam under the Golden Gate Bridge. Having lost their bearings, they continued swimming further up the Sacramento River toward the state capital.

This story hour was of course intended for children, but the event had caught my eye when I was looking at the bookstore’s list of visiting authors. My parents took me on whale watching boat trips when I was younger and the whaling industry had an enormous impact on the area in which I grew up. (Plus a whale played a very important role in a Seinfeld episode involving a golf ball, a little lie, and a walk on the beach. Seinfeld fans know what I’m talking about. All others should really rent the series DVD.)
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Note on the News: Impact of Kenyan Violence on Runners

Posted May 13th, 2008 at 11:30 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results

My colleague Jeré Longman has written a lenghty piece published in today’s NEW YORK TIMES on how the post-election violence in Kenya has impacted runners there.

The story, written in Eldoret, focuses on world marathon champion Luke Kibet, but also mentions and interviews athletes and officials at many levels, including Catherine Ndereba, Wesley Ngetich, Lucas Sang, David Okeyo, Moses Kiptanui and many others. Photos accompany the story.

You can read the story at this link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/sports/othersports/13runners.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin

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BUPA Great Manchester Run Set for Sunday

Posted May 13th, 2008 at 10:30 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Road Racing

The BUPA Great Manchester Run boasts the fastest 10-K course in Great Britain and organizers have assembled a top-flight field of athletes to take advantage of it. Elite athletes manager Andy Caine has invited world marathon champion, Luke Kibet of Kenya; seven-time European cross country champion, Sergey Lebid of Ukraine; and former European 10,000m champion, Chema Martinez of Spain, to lead the men’s field.

The women’s field is just as strong, featuring three-time European Cup medalist and defending champion Jo Pavey of Great Britain; two-time world marathon champion, Catherine Ndereba of Kenya; two-time Olympic gold medalist Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia; and road running ace Anikó Kálovics of Hungary, who finished second in Manchester last year.
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Led by Kiplagat, Strong 10,000m Race Developing
in Utrecht

Posted May 13th, 2008 at 9:30 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

Double world record holder Lornah Kiplagat (Pictured) and her cousin Hilda Kibet plan to compete at the 2008 Utrecht Night of the 10,000m in the Netherlands on 30-May so they can qualify for the Beijing Olympics, event organizers announced yesterday.

Both Kiplagat, who holds the IAAF world records for both 20 km and the half-marathon, and Kibet need to run 31:22.00 or better in order to qualify for the Dutch Olympic team for Beijing, much faster than the IAAF Olympic Games “A” standard of 31:45.00. Both athletes had hoped to achieve the Dutch federation standard at the European Cup 10,000m in Istanbul last April, but fell short. Kiplagat finished second in 31:53.72 and Kibet third in a personal best 32:05.49.
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Marathon Ace Goumri Added to Healthy Kidney 10-K

Posted May 12th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Road Racing

One of the world’s top marathon runners, Abderrahim Goumri of Morocco, has been added to the field of next Saturday’s Healthy Kidney 10-K, the New York Road Runners announced today. Goumri, who turns 32 on May 21, was the #2 ranked marathoner in the world last year according to Race Results Weekly, finishing second at both the Flora London and ING New York City Marathons.

“Abderrahim returns to New York and the center stage against this formidable field for another step in a career that has been steadily on the rise the past few years,” said NYRR president and CEO Mary Wittenberg through a prepared statement.

Goumri was added to the field in the wake of defending champion Dathan Ritzenhein’s withdrawal due to injury. The speedy Moroccan hold’s his nation’s record for the marathon which he set last April when he finished third at the Flora London Marathon in 2:05:30. He’s no slouch at the 10 km distance, either, also holding his nation’s 10,000m record of 27:02.62. He’s also run 28:34 on the road.
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Ryan Hall:
More Precious Than Gold
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #9)

Posted May 10th, 2008 at 6:15 PM by Ryan Hall

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Ryan Hall

Welcome to the official blog of top U.S. distance runner Ryan Hall as he begins his quest for Olympic gold! Check back every other Friday for Ryan’s latest entry at http://ryanhall.thefinalsprint.com/

With three months to go before the Olympics begin I am now putting the finishing touches on a vision that birthed 10 years ago during a long, slow, painful, fifteen-mile run around the lake. Now, after all I have been through I have just 105 days to pour myself into my training and prepare for the biggest opportunity of my life. All the training, all the discipline, all the depression, all the sacrifice, all the joy, it was all part of the journey that has prepared me for August 24th.

I love the Olympics. I always have. Growing up I had Olympic rings scribbled all over my text books. I find the symbolism of the rings to be quite dramatic with the five rings representing the unity of man from each of the five continents. There is something powerful about the unity of man.
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Brian Sell Wins Third USA 25km Championship

Posted May 10th, 2008 at 1:45 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Road Racing

Brian Sell (Rochester Hills, Mich.) successfully defended his men’s national title running 1:15:08 while Paige Higgins (Littleton, Colo.) won her first USA road title in 1:30:49, Saturday at the USA 25 km Championships in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Sunny skies and ideal conditions of 42 degrees and calm winds met athletes for the 15th running of the championships with the Fifth Third River Bank Run as Sell and 2006 champion and 25 km American Record holder Fernando Cabada (Boulder, Colo.) led a lead pack of 11 men including open division contenders Wellay Weldegiyorgis (ETH) and Rueben Chebii (KEN) through the first mile in 4:58.
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Obama Tries the Hurdles at Oregon Twilight

Posted May 10th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Illinois senator and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama visited the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field yesterday for the Oregon Twilight meeting.

In this short video by RunnerSpace’s Ross Krempley, you can see Obama take a stab at the hurdles:

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