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: Wednesday, December 3, 2008

TFS News Briefs: 2/12/08

Posted February 12th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

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

UK Athletics Allows Chambers to Compete But Is Not Happy About It
UK Athletics, the governing body of British Track & Field will allow previously-banned sprinter Dwain Chambers to compete in the IAAF World Indoor Championships. The relented after Chambers threatened a lawsuit; however, they are not happy about it and have issued a strongly-worded statement expressing their displeasure.
Read more at: [Yorkshire Post, UK]

Hall Won’t Compete in World X-C Championships
Ryan Hall, in a phone call to the New York Track Writers Association, told them that he would not compete in the IAAF World Cross-Country Championships (Edinburgh, Scotland, March 30th) if he were to qualify, saying,” I don’t think I would go because I don’t think it would fit into my [London Marathon] buildup.” Since Hall was probably a shoe in, that leaves one extra slot for a determined runner who might not otherwise make the team.
Read more at: [NY Times]

WCSN Has Impressive 2008 Schedule
WCSN has an impressive lineup of track & field and cross-country events, including the IAAF World Track & Field Indoor Championships (3/7-3/9 in Valencia, Spain), the IAAF World Cross Country Championships (3/30 in Edinburgh, Scotland) and a host of IAAF Super Grand Prix, Grand Prix and Permit meetings throughout the year.
Read more at: [WCSN]
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

TFS News Briefs: 11/21/07

Posted November 21st, 2007 at 11:50 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Cross Country, Track & Field, Olympics, TFS News Briefs

China Withholding Beijing Pollution Data
Physicians for Australian Olympic athletes have requested data about Beijing’s pollution readings from August 2007, measured exactly one year before the 2008 Olympic Games, but to no avail. The readings were taken while a number of pollution-reduction measures were in place in Beijing, including banishing nearly half of the city’s 3 million automobiles from the streets. The Chinese have claimed that these measures reduced smog by 15-20%. Australian officials doubt these claims. Read more at: [The West Australian]

Galen Rupp is Team Player
Galen Rupp, even though he lost to Liberty’s Josh McDougal by 1 second in the NCAA Cross-Country Championships, is thrilled that his 2nd place finish was able to propel the Oregon Ducks men’s team to their first NCAA team championship since 1977, saying “It’s a great day for Oregon. This is the reason why I came back so quick after running (the World Championships) in Osaka. For the team. We have such an unbelievable group of guys and we have so much fun together.” Read more at: [The Register-Guard, OR]

Turkey Trotters and JFK Conspiracy Theorists Converge in Dallas on Thanksgiving
This year Thanksgiving Day happens to coincide with the 44th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas TX. Runners, tourists, presidential historians and conspiracy theorists will converge in downtown Dallas tomorrow to stuff downtown Dallas like a Butterball turkey. Over 30,000 runners plus another 20,000 volunteers and spectators in Dallas for the 40th Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot will be competing for parking space with an expected 2,000 people who plan to make their way to Dealey Plaza, the site of the assassination in 1963. Dealey Plaza is located just a few blocks away from the race course of the largest turkey trot in the country. Read more at: [Dallas Morning News][Wikipedia]
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

Interview with Liberty’s Josh McDougal on the upcoming NCAA XC season

Posted September 5th, 2007 at 8:45 AM by Jeanie Rebb

Section: News & Results, Cross Country, Special Features, Interviews

Liberty’s Josh McDougal has developed into one of America’s finest distance runners. With 4th, 13th, and 27th place finishes at the NCAA Division 1 Cross Country Championships, McDougal looks to be the top finisher this upcoming season.

Q. Can you explain how you first got starting in the sport of track and field?
I grew up running a few miles a week with my parents. They were trying to stay in shape, and I was always an active kid so it was always fun to go out and run.

A. When I was 10 my family moved a town over to Peru to be closer to where my Dad worked. One of our new neighbors was the high school cross country and track coach. She saw us out running and suggested we do the Junior Olympic series. That first year we did the JO’s Jordan and I just showed up and ran, no real preparation whatsoever. It was really hard, we both puked after our first race, and Mom and Dad were sure we would never want to do anything like that again. We both loved it though and have been serious ever since.

To read the rest of this interview conducted by our friends at Joffroi Running, please CLICK HERE.

Comment on this post | Permalink

Week 6 XC Rankings: Badgers & Cardinals Lead Again Following “Conference Week”

Posted November 1st, 2006 at 2:30 PM by Martha Jones

Section: News & Results, Announcements, Cross Country

Following an exciting “Conference Weekend”, the Wisconsin men and Stanford women easily retained their #1 rankings in the Week 6 USTFCCCA Division I polls.

The Wisconsin men won its 8th consecutive Big Ten Conference title and the Stanford women won its 11th straight Pac-10 Conference Championship - showing once again why they are the top teams in the nation.

The teams making the biggest jumps in the men’s polls Michigan (18th to 11th), Providence (20th to 12th) and BYU (21 to 14).

Following Stanford, the following top-ten women’s teams also won their own conference meets: NC State, Michigan, Arkansas, UC Santa Barbara, Colorado and Providence.

With the November 20th NCAA Division I men’s and women’s cross country championships on their minds, the top teams really demonstrated why they are a force to be reckoned with.

For complete rankings, go to the official USTFCCCA Division I site.

Comment on this post | Permalink