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Lead Stories: Monday, October 13, 2008

Olympic Marathon Trials ‘07:
The Race Has Begun!

Posted November 3rd, 2007 at 7:35 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results

The U.S. Olympic Trials Men’s Marathon has begun! The weather at race time:

46°F
Cloudy
Wind: NE at 12 mph
Humidity: 61%

Event Coverage Sponsored By:
Camelbak - the originator and leader in hands-free hydration.

To learn more Camelbak Elixir, their effective, easy-to-use and portable electrolyte beverage, as well as Camelbak’s running specific hydration systems, please visit www.camelbak.com.

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TFS Poll Results: Readers Predict Hall, Meb, and Abdi Will Qualify for Olympics

Posted November 3rd, 2007 at 6:20 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics

Several thousand votes from TheFinalSprint.com readers from been tallied-up and the results are in!

Ryan Hall, Meb Keflezighi, and Abdi Abirahman have been selected by TFS readers as most likely to qualify for the Beijing-bound U.S. Olympic Team!

Full TFS Prediction Survey Results:

Ryan Hall - 38%
Meb Keflezighi - 19%
Abdi Abdirahman - 15%
Khalid Khannouchi - 6%
Brian Sell - 6%
Alan Culpepper - 5%
Someone Else- 4%
Dathan Ritzenhein - 3%
Dan Browne - 2%
Peter Gilmore - 2%

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Team Tactics To Decide Olympic Marathon Team?

Posted November 2nd, 2007 at 8:45 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons

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.
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A Cornucopia of Running News

Posted November 2nd, 2007 at 7:30 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons

It’s a great weekend to be a running fan, what with the U.S. Olympic Trials Men’s Marathon and the ING New York City Marathon both taking place. The media has noticed, too, because there is a cornucopia of news coverage and blogging about both events that are taking place in the Big Apple (no pun intended).

U.S. Olympic Trials Men’s Marathon
News | Blogs

ING New York City Marathon
News | Blogs

Sources: [Google News][Google Blog Search]

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Could Tomorrow’s Trials Be The Slowest Race Ever?

Posted November 2nd, 2007 at 6:30 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Here’s a look at the U.S. Olympic Trials Men’s Marathon winners since 1968 when a single race determined the composition of the U.S. Olympic Team. The list is sorted from the slowest winning time (George Young’s 2:30:48 at altitude in 1968 in preparation for Mexico City’s altitude) to the fastest winning time (Tony Sandoval’s 2:10:19 in 1980). Tomorrow’s wicked weather (rain with wind speeds of 25 to 35 MPH and gusts of up to 45 MPH) could play a key role in making it the slowest marathon in nearly 40 years:

1968 George Young 2:30:48 Alamosa, CO 08/18/68 (altitude)
1971 Kenny Moore 2:16:49 Eugene, OR 06/06/71
2000 Rod DeHaven 2:15:30 Pittsburgh, PA 05/07/00
1996 Bob Kempainen 2:12:45 Charlotte, NC 02/17/96
1992 Steve Spence 2:12:43 Columbus, OH 04/11/92
1988 Mark Conover 2:12:26 Jersey City, NJ 04/24/88
1976 Frank Shorter 2:11:51 Eugene, OR 05/22/76
1984 Pete Pfitzinger 2:11:43 Buffalo, NY 05/26/84
2004 Alan Culpepper 2:11:42 Birmingham, AL 02/07/04
1980 Tony Sandoval 2:10:19 Buffalo, NY 03/24/80

Source: [Runner’s World]

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Mother Nature Imposes Upon NY Marathon Weekend

Posted November 2nd, 2007 at 5:25 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Here is the weather forecast for New York for this weekend, which threatens to put a damper on the U.S. Olympic Trials Men’s Marathon. Pay particular attention to the expected wind strength on Saturday (25-35 MPH with gusts up to 45 MPH). Sorry about the all-caps thing. That’s how our government does things:

TODAY
SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 50S. NORTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH.

TONIGHT
MOSTLY CLEAR IN THE EVENING…THEN MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN AFTER MIDNIGHT. BREEZY WITH LOWS IN THE LOWER 40S. NORTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 30 MPH…INCREASING TO 20 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH LATE. CHANCE OF RAIN 30 PERCENT.

SATURDAY
PARTLY SUNNY. A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE MORNING…THEN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON. VERY WINDY WITH HIGHS IN THE LOWER 50S. NORTH WINDS 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH. CHANCE OF RAIN 30 PERCENT.
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TFS News Briefs: 11/02/07

Posted November 2nd, 2007 at 2:38 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: Marathons, Track & Field, Olympics, Drugs In Sports, TFS News Briefs

Day in the Sun for U.S. Olympic Trials Men’s Marathon
Google News, like most news sites, is not know for covering running or track & field on most days. So when the U.S. Olympic Trials Men’s Marathon makes their sorts page, that’s news in itself. As of publication time, the number of stories devoted to the trials is 41.
Read more at: [Google News]

Former Olympian Disagrees with Headphones Ban
Former Olympian and world championships marathon bronze medalist Steve Moneghetti disagrees with the newly-imposed headphones/mp3 player ban, saying, “I find that bizarre they would be banning them.” Read more at: [Sydney Morning Herald]

Jones’ Medals Set To Be Redistributed
The IOC is deliberating about the redistribution of Marion Jones’ 5 Sydney medals (3 gold, two bronze), including whether or not to award doping suspect Katerina Thanou of Greece the 100m gold. Read more at: [BBC Sport | Athletics]
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Podcast 43: Post-London Interview with Ryan Hall

Posted April 27th, 2007 at 8:05 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Special Features, Interviews, Podcasts

In a fitting conclusion to our continuous, three week coverage of the 2007 Boston and London Marathons, today’s episode of The Final Sprint Podcast (#43) features my interview with Ryan Hall.

Ryan, who last joined me for Episode 6 a few days after breaking the North American Half-Marathon record, is once again coming off of an inspiring and record setting performance.

Last Sunday at the Flora London Marathon, a day when the brutal weather forced many elites to drop out of the race, Ryan made a strong statement about his future in the marathon when he crushed Alberto Salazar and Alan Culpepper’s American debut record.

In the interview Ryan talks about successfully battling the heat, how he is feeling now, running alongside Meb (who Ryan says has become like a big brother to him) as a for the first half of the race, thrusting himself to the front of the packing to run with the leaders, and the excitement of running his first marathon and setting the new American debut record.

Download the podcast to hear Ryan discuss these topics, as well as what he learned from the race; setting his sites on October’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials and the star-studded field expected to be there; if he and Sara are planning to join Dathan Ritzenhein and his wife Kalin Toedebusch as expecting parents anytime in the near future; the other races he plans to enter in 2007, 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: Ryan Hall
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 12.2 MB
Length: 00:17:50

Check out every episode of TFS’s Podcast in iTunes!

Interested in featuring The Final Sprint Podcast on your site, blog or My Space page? Click here to learn how!

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Podcast 41: Post-London Interview with Meb Keflezighi

Posted April 23rd, 2007 at 1:55 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Special Features, Interviews, Podcasts

Episode 41 of The Final Sprint Podcast features my exclusive post- London Marathon interview with 2004 Olympic marathon Silver medalist Meb Keflezighi. Meb, who also joined us a few days ago for Episode 40, was an American favorite at yesterday’s London Marathon and ran among the leaders until an injury forced him to withdraw from the race.

In the interview Meb takes us through his race: from the pre-race prayers with Ryan Hall and his family - to what went wrong, trying to fight through the pain and the disappointment of being forced to withdraw in order to prevent serious injury.

Download the podcast to hear Meb discuss these topics, as well as, the effects of the warm weather; why so many other elites were forced to drop out (i.e. - Stefano Baldini [hamstring], Khalid Khannouchi [foot] and Haile Gebrselassie [breathing/chest]); the record-setting, debut performance of young teammate Ryan Hall; and turning his focus to the 2007 Olympic Marathon Trials!

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: Meb Keflezighi
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 11.1 MB
Length: 00:16:10

Check out every episode of TFS’s Podcast in iTunes!

Interested in featuring The Final Sprint Podcast on your site, blog or My Space page? Click here to learn how!

Read the rest of this entry »

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Goucher looks to break coach’s record in New York

Posted February 14th, 2007 at 9:30 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Cross Country

When Adam Goucher lines up for the U.S. Men’s 8-K Championship on Saturday, March 17 in New York City’s Central Park, he’ll not only be trying to win his second national road racing title, but also knock off one of the country’s oldest national records, which happens to be held by his coach: marathon legend Alberto Salazar.

“It would mean a lot,” said Goucher yesterday of breaking Salazar’s record. “I’d like to have an American record.”

Salazar set the U.S. 8-K record of 22 minutes and four seconds over 26 years ago in Los Altos, Calif., in a race held at night. He recalled that it was hard to judge his speed in the darkness, and that for a few years he doubted the legitimacy of his own mark.
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