John McDonnell To Retire After 36 Years, 42 Titles
Thirty-Six years, 25 Olympians, 42 NCAA National Titles, 181 All-Americans who have earned 643 All-America honors. That’s just some of the legacy the incomparable John McDonnell leaves behind when he retires from his head coach position at the University of Arkansas at the end of the 2008 season.
Read more at: [Google News]
No Positives at the 2008 World Indoor Championships
We all know what kinds of positives I mean, too. Positive tests for steroids, juice, gym candy. Whatever you want to call it, there was none of it at the 2008 IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Valencia, Spain. Has our sport managed to clean itself up? This is certainly a good sign. Now we’re just left with the unenviable task of cleaning up our image. (Perhaps even more remarkable is the fact that ESPN is covering the sport of Track & Field!)
Read more at: [ESPN]
“Bird’s Nest” Architect Discusses Efforts To Fine-Tune Beijing Olympic Stadium
Li Xinggang, the chief architect of the Beijing Olympic Stadium (dubbed the “Bird’s Nest” because of its shape) discusses the fine points of getting his creation ready of the Olympic Games, which begin on 8/08/2008. “We did find some minor problems. For instance, we designed duo doors for the washrooms. Users were meant to enter and exit from different doors, but Chinese users are not accustomed to this and they just turned back and exited from the same door. Now we have to rethink the design: do we revise it and yield to conventional practice or insist on our own design and ask users to learn a new way?”
Read more at: [Beijing08]
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Gebrselassie, running alone now, passed 33Km in 1:37:35. He was back on pace for a world record. He led by about a minute.
At 34Km, he was on pace for a 2:04:53, tantalizingly close to, but still ahead of, the world record.
Coming up on 35Km, Gebreselassie was looking like he was starting to pick up the pace. His stride was bouncier and he made it through the marker in 1:43:38, a 2:04:56 pace. The gap was now 1:14 between him and the trail pack.
With about 18 minutes to run in the race, he drank some water, making sure to stay hydrated even at this late stage in the race.
Abel Kirui of Kenya, the least heralded runner in the trail pack, began to break away. He was running like a track runner with his heels kicking his backside.
Philip Manyim, an early favorite, was still in contention for one of the top three places.
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The 25Km mark was passed in 1:14:05. Gebrselassie was headed for a 2:05:02 pace. They had slipped just a bit off the pace over the past 5Km.
The trail pack passed 25Km in 1:15:23, 1:17 back. They were still on track for a 2:07:14 marathon.
By 26.5 Km, the pacemakers were down to two. By now the weather was as follows:
55°F
Clear
Wind: S at 10 mph
Humidity: 82%
At 1:21:00, the lead pack ran through a huge crowd of noisy spectators. Drum corps were keeping a samba beat for the runners’ pleasure while cheerleaders shook pom-pons. It was a party atmosphere in Berlin. Gebrselassie was wearing his “dry” racing shoes, with a rubber composite similar to Formula 1 racing tires. He had brought two pair of shoes and had been hoping he wouldn’t have to wear the “wet” pair. He got his wish today.
Gebrselassie and his two pacemakers went through 30Km in 1:28:58. He was on pace for a 2:05:08 marathon. He had some work to do over the last 12Km if he was going to break the world record.
The trail pack passed 30Km in 1:30:00. They had closed slightly on Gebrselassie and were on track for a 2:06:35.
At 13K, the trail pack of about 15 men was on pace for a 2:06:30. That time would be a huge PB for most, if not all, of them. They were certain to have to back off from it further in the race. The weather conditions were ideal, however, so they were going for it.
Up front, Haile Gebrselassie and his circle of pacemakers were still running like clockwork. The 15Km mark was passed in 44:14, on track for a 2:04:29. They had slowed down, but not by much. He was ahead of the trail pack by about one minute.
By 20Km, passed in 59:10, the pace had dropped off to 4:48 per mile. Gebrselassie was on pace for a 2:04:50 marathon. The trail pack was 1:05 back.
The halfway mark was 1:02:29, a 2:04:58 marathon pace, just off the world record.
The 2007 Berlin Marathon will feature several of the world’s finest distance runners racing on a historic downtown route through the German capital. The lightning fast course has produced two men’s world records in the last 9 years, Brazilian Ronaldo da Costa’s 2:06:05 in 1998 and Kenyan Paul Tergat’s still standing 2:04:55 in 2003. The race also represents the first contest of the final season of the Inaugural World Marathon Majors, a conglomeration of five of the world’s top marathons aimed at generating unparalleled competition.
Headlining the men’s field this year will be Haile Gebrselassie, the Ethiopian legend who cruised to victory in a national record 2:05:56 here last fall. “Geb” has an impressive track and marathon resume, including two Olympic and four World Championship 10,000 m gold medals and 23 world records or world bests. He is undefeated at the half marathon distance since 2001, including a blistering 59:24 effort on a hilly New York course earlier this fall. However, Gebrselassie has not been without adversity this year as he was forced to drop out of the 2007 Flora London Marathon due to shortness of breath.
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