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Lead Stories: Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Tollefson Confirmed for Medtronic TC 1 Mile

Posted May 7th, 2008 at 4:30 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Road Racing

Despite missing last Sunday’s Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational meeting at Stanford due to an illness, Team USA Minnesota’s Carrie Tollefson will line up for tomorrow evening’s Medtronic TC 1 Mile in Minneapolis, her manager Rich Kenah confirmed.

“Yes,” wrote Kenah in a short text message from his BlackBerry. “She is running.”

Tollefson’s key rivals will be Tiffany McWilliams, Emily Brown, Marina Muncan, Rose Kosgei, and Meskerem Legesse. A $4,000 check awaits the race winner with the chance to earn an additional $10,000 bonus for a sub-4:28.00 finish time.
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Fast Milers Headed to Minneapolis

Posted May 6th, 2008 at 2:15 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Road Racing

Thursday’s Medtronic TC 1 Mile will give 2600 citizen athletes a chance to test themselves at the sport’s classic distance, while a much smaller group of elite athletes will be running all-out for significant cash prizes. It will be the fourth annual edition for Minnesota’s most important road mile.

The venue will be Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. A mass wave of about 1000 runners will start things of at 6:50 p.m., followed by age-group and championship waves beginning at 7:53 p.m. The elites, running for a $25,000 prize money purse, will bring the show to a rousing close. A special $10,000 bonus is on the line for the first man to break 4:00.00 and the first woman to break 4:28.00.

Steve Sherer (Pictured)leads the men’s entry list. The 27 year-old athlete and former Michigan State Spartan, ran 3:56-flat during the indoor season, and finished third in the AT&T USA Indoor Championships at 1500m.
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American Record for Flanagan At Cardinal Invitational

Posted May 5th, 2008 at 12:30 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

She’d never run a 10,000m race before, but Shalane Flanagan can safely say that she’s already mastered the distance on only her first try at Sunday’s Peyton Jordan Cardinal Invitational. Helped by excellent pacemaking provided by Kenya’s Rose Kosgei and a spirited battle with New Zealand’s Kim Smith which went right to homestretch, the 26 year-old Olympian toppled Deena Kastor’s American record with a sparkling 30:34.49 clocking.

“Thanks to the New York Road Runners, they set me up with a rabbit and that gave me a cushion,” Flanagan told a clutch of reporters after the race. “It really worked out very well.”
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Star-Studded Meet At Stanford Tomorrow Night

Posted May 4th, 2008 at 11:30 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Just 18 miles north of this San Jose suburb, one of the most important meets for distance runners held in the United States will take place at Stanford University. Packed with talent, the Peyton Jordan Cardinal Invitational turns the running industry on its head: top stars actually pay entry fees to compete and there are no appearance fees or cash prizes.

So what’s the draw? Perfect weather for achieving all-important Olympic Games qualifying times. When the sun sets at this time of year in Palo Alto, the winds calm down and the temperature drops, becoming comfortably cool. There is already very low humidity.

The key races are the top sections of the men’s and women’s 5000m and 10,000m, led by double world champion Bernard Lagat. Although he won the world titles last summer at both the 1500m and the 5000m, he doesn’t have an Olympic Games “A” standard time in the longer distance: 13:21.50. Working with other coaches, managers and the New York Road Runners, the men’s 5-K will be set-up by pacemaker Christian Hesch for a 13:10 to 13:20 finish time.
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Flanagan & Ritzenhein Dominate U.S. XC Champs

Posted February 16th, 2008 at 8:00 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Cross Country

Shalane Flanagan and Dathan Ritzenhein each brought their “A” game to Mission Bay Park here today, running away with their first long-course U.S. Cross Country titles in commanding fashion.

Flanagan, who struggled with the high altitude in Boulder at last year’s championships where she was soundly beaten by Deena Kastor, jumped quickly to a five second lead after 2 km of the 8 km race, and expanded it with each lap. She was unrelenting, pressing all the way to the finish line to win by a whopping 70 seconds in 25:26.

“I had a blast,” said a beaming Flanagan who liked the grass course and the warm conditions. She added: “If we could have venues like this I would be coming every single year.”
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TFS News Briefs: 2/13/2008

Posted February 13th, 2008 at 1:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Cross Country, Track & Field, Drugs In Sports, TFS News Briefs

Pistorius Launches Appeal
Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee (both legs below the knees) who was banned from competing against able-bodied athletes by the IAAF because they were said to offer him a physiological advantage, has launched an appeal with the Court of Arbitration of Sport. His goal is to qualify for the Olympics in the 400m dash.
Read more at: [The Press Association]

British MP’s Say Cheats Should Be Banned For Life
Members of the British Parliament are weighing in on the recent decision to allow Dwain Chambers to compete again after a two-year suspension. MP Hugh Robertson said, “once somebody has taken drugs and been found out, that should be it.”
Read more at: [Kent Online, UK]

Coe: Cheats Aren’t “Sucked In” But Are “Absolutely Complicit”
Lord Sebastian Coe, twice an Olympic gold medalist for Great Britain, doesn’t buy cheating athletes’ arguments that they weren’t aware of what they were doing when they took drugs, sating, “I do not accept there are any circumstances where athletes like Dwain Chambers are sucked into something without being absolutely complicit.”
Read more at: [Times Online, UK]
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