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: Saturday, August 30, 2008

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.
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

Sara Hall: Success in London for Ryan, Now On To Mt. Sac (Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #7)

Posted April 18th, 2008 at 4:00 PM by Sara Hall

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Sara Hall

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/

It’s over. I am definitely running a little lighter these days now that London is behind us, successfully completed! There is so much buildup going into marathons, especially for Ryan since he usually doesn’t race too much leading up to it. Just one shot, make or break, all that training and dreaming coming down to one day.

This year, Ryan seemed a lot less nervous than last year and at the Trials, which helped me stay relaxed too. I take Ryan’s races very personally, because we are a team- whether playing Poker with our teammates (much to the frustration of Ian [Dobson] frustration) or cheering each other on in workouts, we are “Team Hall” and try to do it together and support each other to the point where his races seem like my races, his victories my victories, and his failures mine as well. The Bible puts it well when it says, “a man shall leave his father and mother, be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh”. Since we’ve been married, I definitely feel like we are “one”, so it was great to be able to be there the whole trip to London and experience it all together!
Read the rest of this entry »

3 comments, add yours | Permalink

Pavey To Defend Great Manchester Run Title

Posted April 15th, 2008 at 2:45 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Road Racing

Briton Jo Pavey plans to defend her title at the BUPA Great Manchester Run set for Sunday, May 18, in Manchester, England, organizers announced today.

Pavey, fourth over 10,000m at last summer’s IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Osaka, will again face road running specialist Anikó Kálovics of Hungary, whom she beat by just one second at last year’s Great Manchester Run, 31:47 to 31:48. Pavey is currently warm weather training in Dullstroom, South Africa, and will come down from altitude several days before the Manchester race.

Race organizer, Nova International, reported that two-time world marathon champion, Catherine Ndereba, would also compete.
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

Lemoncello Carries British Hopes into World Cross

Posted March 28th, 2008 at 7:07 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Cross Country, Track & Field

It’s not often that a major world championship comes to Great Britain, seemingly a prime opportunity for the host country’s best athlete’s to shine. However, only a handful of Britain’s best have answered the call to run for Queen and country, and an athlete with an American father and a Scottish mother who works part-time at a restaurant in Flagstaff, Ariz., will be the U.K.’s top man when the gun sounds for the senior men’s 12 km race here on Sunday afternoon.

Andrew Lemoncello, a talented steeplechaser who starred at Florida State University and won the ACC indoor titles at 3000m and 5000m last year, is excited to compete in Holyrood Park. Rooming with Irishman Martin Fagan in high altitude Flagstaff where he is coached by American Greg McMillan, Lemoncello has come through a snowy winter with some solid training under his belt.
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

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]
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

Great North Run Poised to Join One Million Entries Club

Posted January 23rd, 2008 at 9:16 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Road Racing

The BUPA Great North Run, the world’s largest half-marathon, is poised to join the exclusive one million entries club, the handful of running events which have recorded one million race registrations over the life of the race. The event is easily the largest running race in Great Britain, and is run on a point-to-point course from Newcastle to South Shields. The 2007 edition saw 35,719 runners gather on the starting line.

Founded in 1981, the Great North Run will accept 52,000 entrants this year, putting the event over the 1,000,000 barrier, according to Brendan Foster of Nova International, the race chairman.
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

Hall and Wanjiru Added to London Marathon Field

Posted January 7th, 2008 at 12:30 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Race director David Bedford has beefed up his already robust field for the 2008 Flora London Marathon by adding two of the sport’s most promising marathon stars: Ryan Hall (Pictured) of Big Bear Lake, Calif., and Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya. The 28th edition of the race is scheduled for Sunday, April 13.

Hall, 25, is coming off of a dramatic victory at the USA Olympic Team Trials - Men’s Marathon held in New York City last November. The former Stanford University star ran a brilliant race, saving his strength during the first half of the hilly, five-loop course in Central Park before unleashing a seemingly effortless 62:45 for the second half. His finish time of 2:09:02 was a Trials record, despite the fact that he lost at least half a minute in the final miles celebrating his victory. Hall also ran 2:08:24 at London in his debut last April, a USA debut record.
Read the rest of this entry »

2 comments, add yours | Permalink

Lel Leads Stacked Elite Field for 2008 London Marathon

Posted December 12th, 2007 at 10:15 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Martin Lel, the only man to ever win the Flora London and ING New York City Marathons in the same year, headlines London’s field for next April, race director Dave Bedford announced today.

The 29 year-old Lel, who won both the London and New York races in sprint finishes over Moroccan Abderrahim Goumri, also won London in 2005. He has a personal best time of 2:06:41.

“I am very pleased to be able to defend my title.,” Lel commented through a media release. “I am training hard to make sure I am in top shape for my bid to win a third time. I know it will be tough, but I love running in London and am confident I can win again.”
Read the rest of this entry »

2 comments, add yours | Permalink

Team USA departs for International Chiba Ekiden

Posted November 19th, 2007 at 10:24 AM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Team USA departs for Chiba, Japan today for the 2007 Chiba International Ekiden, to be held this Friday, November 23. In addition to Team USA, the marathon relay will feature teams from Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, France and Great Britain.

Ed Moran (Williamsburg, Va.); Ryan Sheehan (Rochester Hills, Mich.) and Josh Moen (Waterloo, Iowa), all members of last year’s third-place men’s team, along with 2006 women’s team-member Desiree Davila (Rochester Hills, Mich.) will return to Chiba to lead Team USA’s combined team.

Other members of the 2007 squad include Melissa White (Rochester Hills, Mich.); Stephanie Rothstein (Eugene, Ore.); Casey Owens (Des Moines, Iowa); and Scott Bauhs (Danville, Calif.).
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

Olympian Jon Brown Changes Allegiance to Canada

Posted November 14th, 2007 at 6:30 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics

Jon Brown, twice fourth at the Olympic Marathon wearing the vest of Great Britain, has switched his allegiance to Canada. A long-time resident of British Columbia, Brown had already possessed a Candian passport but still ran for Britain.

“I no longer will be representing Great Britain in athletic competition,” said the 36 year-old athlete in an e-mail message sent to the Race Results Weekly office. “Instead I will now be running for Canada.”

A three-time Olympian for Britain, Brown still holds the British record for 10,000m, 27:18.14, set in Brussels in 1998. His best times at the standard distances are 7:45.41 for 3000m, 13:19.03 for 5000m, 61:49 for the half-marathon and 2:09:31 for the marathon.
Read the rest of this entry »

One comment, add yours | Permalink