TheFinalSprint.com - Track & Field, Marathons, Racing News, Training Advice, Elite Athlete Blogs, Interviews, Podcasts, Videos and More! - TheFinalSprint.com is the Premier Destination for Track & Field, Marathon, Cross Country, Olympic and Road Racing Enthusiasts.

Lead Stories: Friday, August 29, 2008

The Other Lagat

Posted May 29th, 2008 at 3:30 PM by Stephanie Lowe

Section: News & Results, Motivation, Success Stories, Track & Field, Olympics, Interviews, College, Road Racing

It may seem odd that a city in west Texas is similar to an east African country, but that is why Haron Lagat, from Eldoret, Kenya, lives and trains in Lubbock. Lagat, 24, said the stable weather and friendly community remind him of home, but with more opportunities.

“I think I’ll live here for a while,” Lagat said. “If there’s a place where you can make your life better, why not go there?”

The former Texas Tech athlete-turned-volunteer assistant coach runs for the AmeriKenyan Running Club, based in Santa Fe, N.M. His manager, Scott Robinson, convinced Lagat to forgo his last year of NCAA eligibility to run professionally in 2006, despite never winning a national title. Lagat mentioned that most people had never heard of him while he ran in college.
Read the rest of this entry »

2 comments, add yours | Permalink

TFS News Briefs: 4/07/08

Posted April 7th, 2008 at 4:37 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, TFS News Briefs

Ethiopian Wins Carlsbad 5000
Terefe Maregu Zewdie of Ethiopia did what Alan Webb was hoping to do. He outkicked everyone to win the 2008 Carlsbad 5000. His winning time was a slow 13:34, one second ahead of Mo Farah. Kenyan Vivian Cheruiyot won the women’s race in 15:14.
Read more at: [IHT]

Webb DNFs at Carlsbad Debut
Already hurting just 800m into the race at the 2008 Carlsbad 5000, Alan Webb walked off the course at 2 1/2 for his second straight DNF. These recent performances may have been caused by his more-intense training regimen in 2008. “I’m always trying to push deeper and go harder and get better. I might have dug myself a little hole I’ve got to slowly get out of,” said Webb.
Read more at: [San Diego Union Tribune]

800m Olympic Gold Medalist Critiques Kenyan Selection Process
Paul Ereng, the 1988 Olympic gold medalist in the men’s 800m and now head cross-country coach at UTEP, offers his critique of the Kenyan teem selection process. He has some harsh words for Athletics Kenya, writing that “either [Athletics Kenya] does not understand the facts about training adaptation or they just want to harvest from where they did not sow.”
Read more at: [AllAfrica.com][UTEP]
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

Alan Webb Highlights 23rd Annual Carlsbad 5000

Posted March 27th, 2008 at 5:04 PM by Jamal Walker

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

After breaking Steve Scott’s quarter-century old American mile record last summer in Brasschaat, Belgium, 25-year-old Alan Webb will have an opportunity to take down San Diego native Marc Davis’ 1996 American road 5k record of 13:24, also set at the Carlsbad 5000. Webb has chosen to open his 2008 Spring campaign in Carlsbad as he prepares for an Olympic bid. The Southern California race, set for Sunday, April 6, 2008, was made famous by Scott 23 years ago as both the course designer and champion of the first three events.

“I’m really looking forward to my first trip out to Carlsbad,” said Webb, a Reston, Virginia native. “I’ve always heard about what a great course and event it is, and how fast people have run there. Plus, Steve Scott has been something of a mentor to me over the years, and to run on a course he designed and won on three times just makes it that much more special.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

Elite Racing Names Turnbull New Elite Athlete Coordinator

Posted December 12th, 2007 at 9:15 AM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Elite Racing, Inc., announces Matthew Turnbull has been hired as the company’s new elite athlete coordinator.

Turnbull replaces Mike Long who died in July. Long served as Elite Racing’s athlete coordinator for 16 years.

Turnbull, 30, from Stocksfield, Northumberland in England, is now responsible for recruiting and managing the professional and elite amateur athlete fields for Elite Racing’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series and the Carlsbad 5000.

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series includes seven major marathons and half marathons throughout the U.S. The Carlsbad 5000 is home to 16 world records and is known as the “world’s fastest 5K.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

Long distance running enthusiast Mike Long dies

Posted July 20th, 2007 at 7:30 AM by Martha Jones

Section: News & Results

One of America’s greatest long distance running enthusiasts and the face of San Diego’s Elite Racing, Mike Long, died Wednesday at his home in Mission Beach, Calif. Long, who friends and family believe died of a heart attack, was 65.

Well known for traveling the world to recruit professional runners to compete in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon series and the Carlsbad 5000, at times Long would have so many runners staying in his home that he would be left sleeping on his couch.

Although Elite Racing could not afford the customary fees paid to recruit the world’s best runners to compete in its events, through the years Long built relationships with many top agents and athletes, which enticed many world class runners to compete.
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

Defar, Ndirangu win Carlsbad 5000; Rono returns to racing

Posted April 1st, 2007 at 9:53 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results

Meseret Defar, making her fifth appearance at the Carlsbad 5000 (also known as the “world’s fastest 5-K”), became the first woman to successfully defend her title in the race’s 22 year history.

Although she did not threaten her world record from last year of 14:46, she got a comfortable victory over Jen Rhines who set a personal best time.

The men’s winner, Simon Ndirangu of Kenya, won his first-ever race in the United States. The 26 year-old, whose full name is Simon Gichuki Ndirangu (b. 01-Nov-1985), was the bronze medalist at the 2005 World University Games at 5000m in 2005, before migrating to Japan where he attended university, then moved to the corporate system.
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

World record holder Defar to lead elite field at Carlsbad

Posted March 29th, 2007 at 11:17 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results

Meseret Defar, the Race Results Weekly Runner of the Year for 2006 and the world record holder for both 5000m on the track and 5 km on the road, will return to Carlsbad this Sunday to defend her title.

The event, which will be the 22nd annual, has hosted 16 world records, including Defar’s 14:46 from last year.

“I am coming back to the Carlsbad 5000 to break my record,” Defar said in a prepared statement circulated by event organizers, Elite Racing. “I feel I can run closer to 14:40.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

Rono makes his return to racing at Carlsbad 5000

Posted March 27th, 2007 at 3:14 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results

With his four world records in 81 days (still one of the greatest feats in distance running history), Henry Rono will celebrate and even greater achievement when he lines up for the Carlsbad 5000 road race on Sunday: his return to sobriety.

Rono, 55, who now lives in Albuquerque, N.M., was brought low by his dependence on alcohol, and slipped quietly off of the world stage into poverty. He moved throughout the U.S. from city to city between 1986 and 1996, at times living in homeless shelters, before settling in Albuquerque.

Contributing to his downfall was Kenya’s boycotts of both the 1976 and 1980 Olympic Games, meaning one of the greatest figures in Kenyan athletics never represented his nation on the biggest stage in the sport. He also said, in a statement on his website, that he was taken advantage of by “greedy agents and meet directors as well as the corrupt Kenyan athletic officials…”
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink