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Lead Stories: Saturday, August 30, 2008

Nick Symmonds: Teammates
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #11)

Posted April 22nd, 2008 at 12:45 PM by Nick Symmonds

Section: Elite Athlete Blogs, Nick Symmonds

Welcome to the official blog of elite American middle-distance runner Nick Symmonds. Be sure to check every other Monday at http://nicksymmonds.thefinalsprint.com/ for Nick’s latest entry! For more information about Nick, also please visit: www.nicksymmonds.com

Most mornings I wake up excited at the physical challenges I have planned for me that day. Whether it is an intense set of 200s, a grueling day of mile repeats, or just an easy jog followed by some lifting, I usually roll of out of bed anxious to start my workout. Today however, I woke up and was literally dreading my morning session. On the schedule I had a 5 mile tempo run averaging 5:05 pace. As an 800 meter runner this is a difficult workout, but I’m usually able to key off my teammates and literally let them drag me down the marked bike path that runs along the Willamette River. Today however, I did not have the pleasure of working out with any of them and was left tackle this 5 mile monster by myself.

I am part of a very unique training group here in Eugene, Oregon; there is no other running team in the United States as talented or as deep as the Oregon Track Club Elite. It is a group that has been carefully selected by the great coaching minds of Frank Gagliano and Vin Lananna as well as the higher ups at Nike. We have guys who have run 45 seconds for 400 meters, guys who can run well under 13:30 for 5000m and guy who can race the lights out of any distance in between. It is an honor to be part of this group and sometimes I forget just how important my teammates are to me and how much more difficult and less enjoyable my life would be without them.
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Nick Symmonds: Goin’ Home!
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry 10)

Posted April 7th, 2008 at 6:28 PM by Nick Symmonds

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Nick Symmonds

Welcome to the official blog of elite American middle-distance runner Nick Symmonds. Be sure to check every other Monday at http://nicksymmonds.thefinalsprint.com/ for Nick’s latest entry! For more information about Nick, also please visit: www.nicksymmonds.com

At the age of 18 I was applying to colleges and, though I wanted to stay in the Pacific Northwest, I also knew that I had to get out of Boise, ID. Boise had been my home for 15 years and while it was a great place to grow up, I needed a change of scenery and wanted to see what life was like in other cities. However, returning to Boise has always been extremely important to me. This Friday I will be going home for the weekend and this got me thinking about why I return home every few months.
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Nick Symmonds: The Last Bales of Hay
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #9)

Posted March 24th, 2008 at 6:15 PM by Nick Symmonds

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Nick Symmonds

Welcome to the official blog of elite American middle-distance runner Nick Symmonds. Make sure to check every other Monday at http://nicksymmonds.thefinalsprint.com/ for Nick’s latest entry! For more information about Nick, also please visit: www.nicksymmonds.com

If you have ever raced competitively and trained to peak for a specific race then you have heard the phrase “the hay is in the barn.” This, of course, refers to the months and years of training you have logged in preparation for that race. The race I am preparing for is the Olympic Trials and I have been accumulating hay for this one for about 10 years now. It’s amazing to think that in three months I will finally have my chance to realize this dream. However, a lot can happen in three months.

After taking five days off in Spain and just being your standard American tourist (i.e. not running a step and eating WAY too much) I returned to Eugene five pounds heavier and as mentally fresh as I’ve ever been. This is exactly where I want to be. I find that a few extra pounds help me stay healthy during the months of intense training and after an intense indoor season I needed that five day break from living the life of a professional athlete.
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TFS News Briefs: 3/21/08
Special NCAA Track & Field Edition

Posted March 21st, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

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

2008 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field: Week 1
The 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field season officially kicks off in fine style this weekend with 38 (count ‘em, 38!) meets throughout the country. The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association has links to all of them on their website. Schedules like this one are truly a track junkie’s dream come true.
Read more at: [USTFCCCA]

ASU Opens Outdoor Season At Home
ASU, the 2008 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Champions, will open their outdoor season at home this weekend at the Baldy Castillo Invitational. Both the men’s team and the women’s team won the NCAA national titles last weekend. The meet will be contested on the Joe Selleh Track at Sun Angel Stadium in Tempe, AZ.
Read more at: [Sun Devils]

Oregon Host First Meet At Revamped Hayward Field
The University of Oregon’s historic Hayward Field has had an $8 Million facelift in preparation for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials, and now the Ducks want to show her off to the world. Folks will get their first look at the freshly-reminted stadium by hosting the Oregon Preview on Saturday, March 22nd, 2008. Over 550 athletes from throughout the Northwest will be competing in the meet.
Read more at: [Go Ducks][Hayward Field]
Image courtesy of GoDucks.com.
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TFS News Briefs: 1/27/08

Posted January 27th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Olympics

Hayward Field Face lift Almost Finished
The renovation of historic Hayward Field, the site of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials, is nearly complete. Included in the $8 Million face lift are an improved infield and press area, a new hammer cage, dual high-jump and long-jump stations, new sound system and a $1.5 Million scoreboard.
Read more at: [ESPN]

Liu Xiang Elected to Communist Party Advising Council
110m Hurdle world-record holder, world champ and Olympic champ Liu Xiang has been elected to sit on an advisory council to the Chinese Communist Party. Now we’ve got even more reason to cheer U.S. hurdler Terrence Trammell this season as he tries to dethrone Xiang in Beijing.
Read more at: [Guardian Unlimited]

Impressive Wins by Defar, Mottram at Boston Indoor Games
Meseret Defar ran a world-best (it would be a world-record, but the IAAF doesn’t recognize this distance) time of 9:10.50 in the women’s two-mile at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games. Craig Mottram, not to be outdone, ran an all-comer’s (best time ever on U.S. soil, regardless of nationality) record of 7:34.50 in the men’s 3000m, surpassing Haile Gebrselassie’s previous record of 7:35.24 at the same meet in 2004.
Read more at: [IAAF]
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TFS News Briefs: 11/12/07

Posted November 12th, 2007 at 1:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Cross Country, Track & Field, Olympics, TFS News Briefs

Galen Rupp: “I’m starting to come around”
Galen Rupp, in only his second cross-country race of the season (he had started his training cycle again after competing in the World Championships), finished 1st to lead the Oregon Ducks to a 1st-place team finish at the NCAA West Regional cross-country championships. He is considered to be a favorite to win NCAA Championships this coming weekend. Read more at: [The Register-Guard, OR]

Craig Masback: “All signs point to [’08] being the best Olympic Trials ever”
Craig Masback has written a guest article on Oregon’s The Register-Guard website, explaining how the preparations for the 2008 Olympic Trials are coming along. Set to begin on June, 27th 2008 and lasting until July 6th, 2008, Masback writes that, “The pieces are falling into place to meet the Eugene ‘08 objective of making this Olympic Trials the most athlete-friendly and fan-friendly in history.” Read more at: [The Register-Guard, OR]

IAAF Ratifies New World Records
Haile Gebrselassie’s 2:04:26 marathon at the September 30th Berlin Marathon and Lornah Kiplagat’s 1:06:25 half-marathon (as well as her 1:02:57 20K en route to the half-marathon in Udine, Italy on October 14th at the 2nd IAAF World Road Running Championships) along with several other world records, have been ratified by the IAAF. Read more at: [IAAF]
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TFS News Briefs: 11/08/07

Posted November 8th, 2007 at 2:23 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Cross Country, Track & Field, Olympics, TFS News Briefs

Craig Masback on Ryan Shay: What More Can We Do?
In a USA Today article Christine Brennan asks USATF CEO Craig Masback the question: What responsibilities, if any, do sports governing bodies have in preventing tragedies such as this? And now that this has happened, a death in the Olympic marathon trials, should anything change?
Masback answers: “We’re really looking to the medical community to answer that question. If there’s something we can do that would reliably stop something like this from happening, we would absolutely do it. Read more at: [USA Today]

Oregon X-C Coach Lananna on NCAA West Regionals: Top Two For Both Men and Women
University of Oregon Cross-Country coach Vin Lananna has an ambitious goal for his Ducks this coming Saturday: “We’ll run what we have to run in order to be in the top two for both the men and women.” A top-2 finish would guarantee both the men’s a women’s team a slot in the upcoming NCAA Cross-Country Championships. Read more at: [The Register-Guard, OR]

Honor System for 2,300 NYC Marathoners
A timing glitch caused by 3 minutes of frequency interference affected 2,300 participants (some 5.8% of the total runners) in last Sunday’s New York City Marathon. Organizers are now relying on the honor system to get the affected runners to tell them how long it took them to cross the starting line. Read more at: [Bloomberg.com]
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Ritzenhein Becomes a Father

Posted September 29th, 2007 at 12:15 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

One of America’s top contenders in the Nov. 3 Olympic Trials marathon, Dathan Ritzenhein, became a father for the first time yesterday. His wife, Kalin, gave birth to a daughter, Addison Lee Ann Ritzenhein, born at 1:14 p.m. Pacific time.

“Kalin did great and is recovering,” Ritzenhein wrote in a text message to friends.

Ritzenhein, 24, made his marathon debut at the ING New York City Marathon last November in 2:14:01, struggling in the final miles. However, his 27:35.65 10,000m best certainly shows he can run significantly faster for the longer distance.
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