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Lead Stories: Saturday, May 17, 2008

Kate O’Neill: Mother Whales and Human Mothers
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #8)

Posted May 13th, 2008 at 12:30 PM by Kate O'Neill

Section: News & Results, Elite Athlete Blogs, Kate O'Neill

Hi, this is my blog in TFS’s Elite Athlete Blog Series. Bookmark kateoneill.thefinalsprint.com and check back every other Monday for my latest entry as I strive for the 2008 Summer Olympics!

Happy belated Mother’s Day! On Sunday I went to a bookstore for story hour with my boyfriend and his mother. I had seen that the author of a book called Delta & Dawn: Mother & Baby Whales’ Journey would be coming to read aloud. The book tells the true story of two humpback whales that wandered into the Sacramento River last year. Humpback whales spend their winters off the coast of Mexico where they give birth and then travel along the coast up to Northern California for feeding during the warmer months. Somehow this duo got separated from the other whales and swam under the Golden Gate Bridge. Having lost their bearings, they continued swimming further up the Sacramento River toward the state capital.

This story hour was of course intended for children, but the event had caught my eye when I was looking at the bookstore’s list of visiting authors. My parents took me on whale watching boat trips when I was younger and the whaling industry had an enormous impact on the area in which I grew up. (Plus a whale played a very important role in a Seinfeld episode involving a golf ball, a little lie, and a walk on the beach. Seinfeld fans know what I’m talking about. All others should really rent the series DVD.)
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TFS Podcast 140: Brian Sell Looks to 25k Title Defense for Barometer of Olympic Fitness

Posted May 9th, 2008 at 6:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics, Special Features, Interviews, Podcasts, Road Racing

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.

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TFS News Briefs: 5/09/2008

Posted May 9th, 2008 at 1:30 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Olympics, TFS News Briefs, Road Racing

Tyson Gay To Face Usain Bolt In May
Now that Usain Bolt is the owner of the 2nd fastest 100m time in history, he is set to race world champion Tyson Gay. They will compete on May 21st at the Reebok Grand Prix. Now if the organizers could only get Asafa Powell…
More: IAAF

Athens Bronze-Medalist To Miss Beijing Marathon
Brazilian marathoner Vanderlei de Lima will not defend his Olympic Marathon Bronze medal from Athens in Beijing. Because of injuries, the 38-year-old will not be able to run in Prague this weekend in a last-ditch effort to get a top-3 qualifying time for Team Brazil.
More: guardian.co.uk, UK

Michigan Journalist Lists Favorites for US 25K Championships
Howie Beardsley of the Grand Rapids Press lists the favorites for the 31st edition of the Fifth Third River Bank Run, which also serves as the USA Track & Field 25K championships. Among the favorites are Brian Sell and Peter Gilmore. Katherine Koski wears the #1 bib for the women.
More: The Grand Rapids Press
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Spring Marathon Season Comes To A Close In Prague On Sunday

Posted May 9th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

The traditional spring marathon season comes to a close this Sunday in Prague with the 14th annual Volkswagen Prague International Marathon in the Czech capital. Runners from 73 countries are expected to start the race, organizers reported today, including elite athletes from 20 nations. More than 5,000 runners will take part in the full marathon with an additional 7,000 in companion events, including an in-line skate.

At the front of the race, men from Kenya are the strongest athletes. David Makori Omiti, who has a personal best time of 2:08:49 from Venice in 2002, leads the field. Benjamin Pseret, who won the Treviso Marathon last year in a personal best 2:10:18, is also competing along with Kenneth Mungara, who ran 2:17:38 at high altitude in Nairobi in 2006.
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TFS News Briefs: 04/23/2008

Posted April 23rd, 2008 at 10:30 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

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

Haile Chooses Berlin Over Beijing
Haile Gebrselassie will run in the Berlin Marathon, not the Olympic Marathon in Beijing. The reason? He wants to run a sub 2:04 and “no athlete has ever broken a world record for the marathon at the Olympics.”
Read more at: [Xinhua, China]

The Long Green Line Wins Award
The documentary The Long Green Line was awarded the best feature documentary award at the Lake Forest Film Festival. The film documents a season in the life of the York High School Cross Country team - the most successful cross country team in history. Head Coach Joe Newton is coaching in his 50th season, and his team is going for their 25th state title.
Read more at: [LongGreenLineMovie.com]

Gaffigan Ready To “Re-calibrate Some Gauges”
Ann Gaffigan, in her new blog entry on Steeplechics.com, discusses the effort that gained her entry into the Olympic Trials. After a long, mysterious illness that has wreaked havoc on her confidence, the former American record holder is ready “to do it over again after re-calibrating some gauges” and wants to “take more risks to test my limits without paying so dearly for it.”
Read more at: [Steeplechics.com]
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Dathan Ritzenehin: The Not-So-Casual Life Of A Professional Runner
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #4)

Posted April 22nd, 2008 at 7:30 PM by Dathan Ritzenhein

Section: Elite Athlete Blogs, Dathan Ritzenhein

Welcome to the official blog of top U.S. distance runner Dathan Ritzenhein! Check back every other Tuesday for Ritz’s latest entry at http://dathanritzenhein.thefinalsprint.com/ as he prepares to represent the United States at the 2008 Beijing Olympics!

This week I went looking to trade in our truck for a more eco-friendly, family-friendly vehicle. While I thought I found something I liked, it wasn’t quite what my wife had in mind. Apparently a coupe isn’t as practical as a sedan when kids are involved. While we were there I was asked my occupation by the salesman. I always hesitate when answering this question because responding with “professional runner” isn’t a typical, run-of-the-mill occupation. Even here in Eugene, track town, USA, I still get odd looks and unusual responses to that answer. Such as, “You run for fun? What kind of job is that?” or “Wow! You must have a lot of time on your hands if all you do is run!” Well, I thought I would answer that response first by saying, I’m actually very busy, and secondly I will give a common play-by-play of my daily life.
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TFS News Briefs: 04/22/2008

Posted April 22nd, 2008 at 7:04 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

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

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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Kate O’Neill: Make Way for Ducklings and Runners
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #7)

Posted April 22nd, 2008 at 1:22 PM by Kate O'Neill

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Elite Athlete Blogs, Kate O'Neill

Hi, this is my blog in TFS’s Elite Athlete Blog Series. Bookmark kateoneill.thefinalsprint.com and check back every other Monday for my latest entry as I strive for the 2008 Summer Olympics!

For the first time in my life, I dropped out of a race yesterday. I had been eagerly anticipating the Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials since October 8th. That was the day after the Chicago Marathon. For the first 24 hours after the race, I was too exhausted to even contemplate running another marathon, but once I had had a full day to recover, I began dreaming of the possibilities and felt eager to test myself over the 26.2 mile distance again. The thought of racing at the Trials in my hometown in front of my family and friends made me even more excited. I struggled for the first few months of training after Chicago, but by Christmas time training was on an upswing and I could see improvements every week.
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Negative and Even Splitters in Olympic Trials Marathon Deserve “Runner Know Thyself” Award

Posted April 21st, 2008 at 5:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons, SoundOFF, Columns

Of the 124 women who finished the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Women’s Marathon, only 4 had negative splits. The most notable one, of course, was Deena Kastor who ran the second half of her race 2.28% faster than the first half. The other three were Megan Hepp (-0.48%), Casey Smith (-0.24%) and third place finisher Blake Russell (-0.22%). Since two of the three women who made the Olympic team had negative splits, this would seem to be the wisest strategy to have had going into the race. Another twenty women, including the now-famous trail blazer Magdalena Lewy Boulet (+0.70%), ran “even” splits, meaning the 2nd half was no more than 1% slower than the first half. The incomparable Joan Samuelson ran her 2nd half just 0.63% slower than her first half.
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The Fan’s Perspective on the USA Olympic Women’s Trials Marathon

Posted April 20th, 2008 at 6:15 PM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Marathons, SoundOFF, Columns

I’m a new contributor to The Final Sprint. Most of my writing has been at my blog under the moniker of “The Track & Field Superfan”, and that’s the perspective I’ll bring to TFS Media Network. So here are my thoughts on this morning’s Trials race…

#1. Put It On (Live) TV

I’m part of a relatively narrow age group that always saw marathons on TV. Not just the races in the Olympics and the Olympic Trials, but also ABC’s annual live coverage of the New York City race. I’d have to say it had a great influence on who I became; seeing thousands of people run through the streets of New York made distance running seem right at home in the gritty urban environment where I grew up. And for years, whenever it was a cool rainy day and I was running in the local city park, I imagined I was Rod Dixon chasing down Greg Meyer. In fact, I have to admit I still do that.

There are thousands of young American girls who could have been inspired by today’s race, and likewise pretended to be Deena Kastor chasing down an imaginary Magdalena Lewy-Boulet…if only they had seen it on television.
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