Welcome to the official blog of U.S. middle-distance runner Sara Hall. Sara’s list of running accolades include being a former NCAA All- American at Stanford, the 2006 USA 5K road champion, and the 2006 champion at the Continental Fifth Avenue Mile. Check back every other Friday for her latest entry at http://sarahall.thefinalsprint.com/
Part I: Last Week
During a recent visit to my hometown,Santa Rosa, CA, when Ryan and I were speaking at a local running shoe store, Ryan said to the crowd of young runners, “Someone once asked me ‘What describes an Olympian?’ and I said, ‘It’s the person who just keeps getting back up.’” I had heard him say this before, but this day it stuck with me. I’ve had my fair share of ups and downs in my professional career. This outdoor season has been no exception.
Read the rest of this entry »
Welcome to the official blog of U.S. middle-distance runner Sara Hall. Sara’s list of running accolades include being a former NCAA All- American at Stanford, the 2006 USA 5K road champion, and the 2006 champion at the Continental Fifth Avenue Mile. Check back every other Friday for her latest entry at http://sarahall.thefinalsprint.com/
Recently I came across some comments on a video of Ryan where people seemed confused as to what he means by “glorifying God”. I don’t normally look at people’s comments because I don’t really like criticism, but for whatever reason I started to read some this day.
Some people were vehemently anti-religion, some people held a strong in-your-face religious stance, and everything in between, debating what Ryan was talking about. It made me realize the ambiguity of this term, “glorifying God”, and so this blog is an attempt to extrapolate on what we mean when we say
we strive to glorify God when we run.
Read the rest of this entry »
Welcome to the official blog of U.S. marathon runner Josh Cox.
Check back every other Wednesday for his latest entry and for more information about Cox, also please visit: www.joshcox.com
In ‘97 Cox ran and won a 50-mile ultra, in ’99 he ran his first marathon making him the youngest Trials qualifier. The following year he clocked 2:13, which opened the door for him to train with the world’s best in Kenya. Cox has tried his hand at Reality TV, been all over magazine covers and is a fixture in the sport.
Ad Finem – The Dream Carcass
Ad Finem – Latin: To the end/towards the end (of a page, a chapter, or a three-part, Latin-laced blog at TheFinalSprint.com)
The heights by great men reached and kept,
Were not attained by sudden flight.
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Well, I wake in the morning,
Fold my hands and pray for rain.
I got a head full of ideas
That are drivin’ me insane.
It’s a shame the way she makes me scrub the floor.
I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more.”— “Maggie’s Farm” by Bob Dylan
“Don’t you let it all pass you by
Looking through life’s window pane
Don’t you sit around wasting time
That would be a crying shameThere’s a power that’s deep inside
And it burns just like a flame
Just believe and you’ll see that God
Will shower you like pouring rainIf you want it
You can change your world today
If you want it
Just break free and walk away”— “If You Want It” by Lenny Kravitz
It’s closing time. Clear the dance floor and move toward the exits. Club Latin is shutting down. The night was fun, the music was great but everything with a beginning has an end. Temet Nosce, Carpe Diem . . . Ad Finem. The music has stopped, the lights are on, but as the bouncers usher you out I hand you a promoter’s card—don’t worry, it’s nothing scandalous, I’m like Kix®, kid-tested and mother approved. Well, most mothers . . .
Read the rest of this entry »
Episode 122 of The Final Sprint Podcast features my interview with world-class distance runner Adam Goucher; whose long list of accomplishments include being a two-time U.S. Outdoor 5,000m champion (’99, ’00); 2000 USA 12km and 4km XC champion; 2006 USA 4 km XC Champ; 2007 USA Cross Country runner-up; 1998 NCAA 5,000m Outdoor champion; 1998 NCAA XC champion and 2-time NCAA 3,000 Indoor champion (’97, ’98).
In the interview Adam talks about his recent ankle surgery and the subsequent (and ongoing) recovery, his plans for competing at the marathon distance after the Olympic season, his victory over Kara in their Nike challenge, the excitement and challenges of the 5,000 and 10,000 meter runs at the Olympic Trials and his specific focus on the 5k.
Download the podcast to hear Adam discuss these topics, as well as, the role of faith in his religiously-eclectic training group, coach Alberto Salazar’s recovery, and much more!
Listen In
[PLAY] (To Download: Right click and select “save as”)[RSS] Add The Final Sprint Podcast RSS feed to your RSS reader to have the show delivered to you
Host: Adam Jacobs | Guest: Adam Goucher
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Musicians: Ryan Ahlwardt, Darnell Perkins
File Size: 13.1 MB | Length: 19:09 MIN
Episode Sponsored By: Nike +
Long Live Running!
Nike Plus will improve the way you run. Get feedback from your iPod on pace, time, distance and calories burned.Log into Nikeplus.com to track your progress,
set goals and challenge friends.
Interested in featuring The Final Sprint Podcast on your site, blog or My Space page? Click here to learn how!
Running gracefully up and down the hills of Central Park at last November’s USA Olympic Team Trials - Men’s Marathon, Ryan Hall’s run to victory looked effortless. Although his 2:09:02 clocking was a Trials record, he surely would have run faster had he not spent most of the final mile celebrating. Nonetheless, he still won by more than two minutes, breezing through the final half of the race in 62:45, the fastest half-marathon ever run in Central Park.
But the Trials was only the first of three major marathons Hall will run over a period of less than ten months. Instead of sitting out the spring marathon season to rest his legs for the Olympic Marathon in Beijing on August 24, Hall has instead decided to contest the Flora London Marathon. In the April 13 race, the most competitive spring marathon in the world, Hall will be up against marathoning heavyweights like Martin Lel, Abderrahim Goumri, Felix Limo, Jaouad Gharib, and Stefano Baldini. He finished seventh there last year in 2:08:24, a USA debut record.
When asked in an extensive interview conducted by e-mail if he was concerned about packing three marathons into a relatively short period of time, Hall quipped: “Practice makes perfect.”
Read the rest of this entry »
U.S. Olympic marathon hopeful Ryan Hall, a devout Christian, takes us through a 15-mile altitude-training run in 1:16:47 (a 5:07 per mile pace!) at Mammoth Lakes, CA (elevation: 7,000 feet).
The interview was originally posted on GodTube, what Josh Cox - who also produced this video - calls ‘The Christian answer to YouTube”.
The situation around Bahraini runner Mushir Salem Jawhar, which seemed resolved, is once again in flux.
In the past two weeks, it has been reported that Jawhar’s Bahraini citizenship was revoked due to his participation in a marathon in Israel, a country Bahrain refuses to recognize. Conflicting reports now indicate that Jawhar was never stripped of his citizenship, but has been banned from participating in athletics competition for two years as punishment for his time in Israel.
Read the rest of this entry »
Two weeks ago, The Final Sprint reported that Bahrain revoked the citizenship of runner Mushir Salem Jawhar due to his participation in the Tiberias marathon in Israel, a country Bahrain refuses to recognize.
Jawhar can now breathe a sigh of relief and has returned home. After he formally apologized last week to the government in Manama for breaking the country’s laws by competing in Israel, Bahrain reversed its decision to revoke the citizenship of the Kenya-born athlete. Yousif Ahmed Abdul Qadar, general supervisor of the Bahraini Athletics Association, confirmed:
Read the rest of this entry »
Imagine that you sprint your way across the finish line; achieving an exhilarating marathon victory. Naturally, you’re ready to celebrate and to return to your home-country as a hero.
However, your joy comes to an abrupt halt and your world comes crashing down as you learn that your passport and citizenship has suddenly been revoked by your country. Unfortunately, this was no dream - but rather an unthinkable and sad reality for Bahrain’s Mushir Salem Jawher.
Read the rest of this entry »
© 2006-2008 The Final Sprint, LLC | Privacy Policy | Design by The Blog Studio
The Final Sprint, LLC is owned and operated by Adam Jacobs
The Final Sprint