After two years of unusually high heat and humidity, it appears as if the weather gods may smile on the 32nd running of Grandma’s Marathon and the Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathon here tomorrow.
Of course in Duluth, where it’s jokingly said bad weathermen are sent for punishment, anything can happen, depending on how the wind shifts off of Lake Superior, along whose shores both races are run. Last year, for instance, race day dawned with high temperatures and humidity that dashed many runners’ hopes for Boston or Olympic Trials qualifiers; the next day, the weather changed radically, with temperatures in the upper 50’s (F) and a strong tailwind.
Read the rest of this entry »
Brian Sell (Rochester Hills, Mich.) successfully defended his men’s national title running 1:15:08 while Paige Higgins (Littleton, Colo.) won her first USA road title in 1:30:49, Saturday at the USA 25 km Championships in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Sunny skies and ideal conditions of 42 degrees and calm winds met athletes for the 15th running of the championships with the Fifth Third River Bank Run as Sell and 2006 champion and 25 km American Record holder Fernando Cabada (Boulder, Colo.) led a lead pack of 11 men including open division contenders Wellay Weldegiyorgis (ETH) and Rueben Chebii (KEN) through the first mile in 4:58.
Read the rest of this entry »
Today on Episode 140 of TheFinalSprint.com Running Podcast, I had an opportunity to chat with Brian Sell, the third place finisher in the US Olympic Trials Men’s Marathon who, along with Ryan Hall and Dathan Ritzenhein, will represent Team USA at the Olympic Marathon in Beijing.
Brian talks about the adjustments he has had to make after turning 30-yrs old in April, future plans for his running career - including what he hopes will be continued success in the marathon, why that is his ideal distance, the importance of not dwelling on his qualifying performance at the Trials, and how the conditions in Beijing ‐ especially the heat and humidity ‐ are going to affect his training and racing.
Download the podcast to hear Brian discuss these topics, as well as, competing on Saturday for his third title and trying to gauge the progress of his Olympic preparations at the USA 25k Championships, his teammates at the Hanson-Brooks Distance Project, his hobbies, advice for young runners and much more!
TO DOWNLOAD: Right click here and select “Save As”
Host: Jimmie Markham | Guest: Brian Sell
Producers: Greg Cherniet, Adam Jacobs
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 19.5 MB | Length: 00:28:25
Episode Sponsored By: U.S. Army Special Forces
If your measure of success goes way beyond the mainstream, if you think limits are something to be pushed, if your greatest motivation is doing the impossible, we may have a career for you.
U.S. Army Special Forces.
Visit goarmy.com/specialforces.There’s strong and then there’s Army Strong.
Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot won his fourth Boston Marathon and Dire Tune her first in a memorable 112th edition of America’s oldest and most historic marathon race.
Cheruiyot, the 29 year-old Kenyan who is the reigning World Marathon Majors champion, made a run at his own course record, leading a pack of six through the half-way in a brisk 1:03:07. Compatriots James Kwambai and James Mwangi Macharia joined him along with Moroccan Abderrahime Bouramdane and Ethiopians Kasime Adillo and Tesfaye Girma.
“As usual the course was very difficult and I tried to push harder this year to achieve my personal goal of running a 2:07,” said Cheruiyot.
Read the rest of this entry »
Profile of Hansons-Brooks Distance Project
All five members of the Michigan-based Hansons-Brooks Distance Project women’s team have qualified for Sunday’s Olympic Marathon Trials in Boston. Dot McMahon, Melissa White, Yolanda Flamino, Desiree Davila and Lori Stich are profiled in an article on the Detroit Free Press website.
Read more at: [Detroit Free Press]
Polish Immigrant Will Run for 9/11 Victims at Trials
Magdalena Lewy, a Polish immigrant who became a naturalized US citizen on 9/11/01, the same day thousands of her compatriots were killed in a senseless act of terrorism, will run in honor of those Americans this Sunday as she tried to make the US Olympic Marathon Team. The assistant coach at Cal was profiled in an article on the San Francisco Chronicle website.
Read more at: [San Francisco Chronicle]
Emily LeVan Will Run Trials In Celebration Of Her Daughter
Three-year-old Madeline Johnson has Leukemia. Her mother, Emily LeVan, will be running the US Olympic Marathon Trials on Sunday in celebration of her special daughter.
Read more at: [Boston Herald]
Read the rest of this entry »
Interesting article in The Detroit News today about the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, whose team members will make up about 10% of the U.S. Olympic Trials Men’s Marathon field tomorrow. This elite running team from Michigan was created with some lofty goals in mind:
1. Create an opportunity for successful college athletes to continue training beyond their college years.
2. Provide an environment in which training can be the focus of those post-collegiate athletes (without the financial necessity of working full time or chasing after money in road races).
3. Develop a center for those athletes to train together as a team.
4. Incorporate the team members in local community activities to foster an excitement in the sport of distance running, and motivate future distance runners.
Read the rest of this entry »
Episode sponsored by: Bill Rodgers Sportswear
After 21 years BR Sportswear is closing out their line of high -quality running apparel. Visit shopfest.com to take advantage of an unprecedented 50% discount on all in-stock items!
Episode 81 of The Final Sprint Podcast, the most listened to running podcast in North America, features my interview with PETE REA: a former University of Connecticut stand-out and head coach of the ZAP Fitness Elite Athlete Program.
Rea’s been with ZAP, a non-profit training center for post-collegiate, Olympic hopeful distance runners, since its inception in 2002 and has helped 10 ZAP Fitness athletes to Olympic Trials qualifying times at distances from 1500 meters to the marathon.
In the interview Pete talks about the strides made by ZAP athletes and lessons they’ve learned over the past year, which of his athletes, like Joe Driscoll, are on the cusp of reaching the next level, the role of post-collegiate running groups in the recent U.S. distance running “revival”, a comparison of ZAP to other groups like Hanson-Brooks and Team USA Minnesota
Download the podcast to hear Pete discuss these topics, as well as, how he got into coaching, his coaching philosophies (including an explanation of periodization and his individualized and Lyrdiard-oriented approach), his own running/coaching heroes, advice for young athletes and their coaches, 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: Pete Rea
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Musicians: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File Size: 14.1 MB | Length: 20:31 MIN
Episode sponsored by: Bill Rodgers Sportswear
After 21 years Bill Rodgers Sportswear is closing out their line of high-quality running apparel. Visit shopfest.com to take advantage of an unprecedented 50% discount on all in-stock items!
The Hansons-Brooks Distance Project reclaimed the men’s title and the Boulder Running Company/adidas won the women’s crown at the USATF National Club Marathon Relay Championships in Denver, Colorado, on Sunday.
Hansons-Brooks took the lead during the first mile before cruising to their second marathon relay title since 2003, running 2 hours 15 minutes 36 seconds to overcome a late rally by the Wisconsin Runner Racing Team and win by 1:44. The men of the Boulder Running Company/adidas finished seven seconds behind Wisconsin Runner in 2:17:27, while defending champion Boulder Distance Project was fourth in 2:21:09. The Philadelphia Runner TC/Puma completed the top-five in 2:21:54.
In the women’s race, the Boulder Running Company/adidas team took over the lead after 10 km before going on to win their first marathon relay championship in 2:37:34.
Read the rest of this entry »
The fourth edition of the USATF National Club Marathon Relay Championships will be hosted for the second consecutive year by the Post-News Colorado Colfax Marathon in Denver, Colorado, on Sunday. With $30,000 in prize money at stake, clubs will be competing for national titles as well as unprecedented prize money for a club competition.
Clubs from Colorado, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are entered, including the men’s defending champion club, The Boulder Distance Project (formerly Boulder Express “BX”). The marathon relay event is the first of three club championship events in the 2007 USATF Club Championship Series.
Read the rest of this entry »
I sat down for a video interview with Kevin and Keith Hanson; owners of Hansons Running Shops and coaches of the Hansons- Brooks Distance Project.
In the interview we discuss this weekend’s Boston Marathon, the USA Women’s Marathon Championship, the Distance Project, the new $100,000 running salaries, being sponsored by Brooks and now Saturn as well, Brian Sell (aka the working man’s hero), and the blue-collar work ethic exhibited by the Hansons and all of their athletes.
Click on the image to watch Part 1 of the interview.
© 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