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Lead Stories: Friday, May 16, 2008

Bekele to Attempt 10,000m Record at Prefontaine Classic

Posted May 13th, 2008 at 1:30 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

He’s already owns the two fastest 10,000m times in history, but reigning world and Olympic 10,000m champion Kenenisa Bekele hopes he can go even faster at next month’s Prefontaine Classic meeting in Eugene, Ore. It would be his first outdoor appearance in the United States.

“The record (26:17.53) is not easy,” said Bekele’s Dutch manager, Jos Hermens, through a media release. “But this is an absolutely serious attempt. His training is going well, and he is 100% ‘go’ for the record.”

The 10,000m race will be held in the morning at 9:30 on June 8, well before the regular meet begins at 12:30. Organizers feel the weather will be good at that time for a record attempt.
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TFS Running Podcast 128: 2004 Olympian DAN BROWNE Sets His Sights on Eugene

Posted February 25th, 2008 at 3:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Olympics, Special Features, Interviews, Podcasts

Welcome to Episode 128 of The Final Sprint Podcast, the most listened to running podcast in North America. Today we’re joined by Dan Browne, a 2004 Olympian in the marathon and the 10000m and a graduate of West Point.

In this interview, Dan walks us through his gutsy performance at the Olympic Trials marathon and talks about how things have gone since he hooked up with his new training group, Team Running USA. He splits his time nowadays between the US Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA and Mammoth Lakes, CA for his altitude training. He also talks about his recent illness and his plans for the rest of the 2008 season, including running the USA 15 km Championships that will be held on March 8th in Jacksonville, FL.

Download the podcast to listen to Dan talk about this year’s Prefontaine Classic 2 Miler, his fondness for the Army 10 miler and his military service with the Oregon National Guard, the strong faith he shares with his teammates and much more.

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Host: Jimmie R. Markham | Guest: Dan Browne
Executive Producer: Adam Jacobs
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Musicians: Ryan Ahlwardt, Darnell Perkins
File Size: 11.6 MB | Length: 17:01 MIN

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TFS News Briefs: 2/14/2008

Posted February 14th, 2008 at 1:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, TFS News Briefs

Three Sub 2:07 Marathoners Added To Rotterdam Marathon Entry List
Organizers of the Rotterdam Marathon have ensured another fast race in 2008 by adding three sub 2:07 marathoners to the entry list. The three runners, Robert Cheboror, William Kipsang and Joseph Riri, are Kenyans, of course. The race will be held on Sunday, April 13th, 2008.
Read more at: [IAAF]

Another Strong Women’s Field For 2008 Boston Marathon
Boston Marathon organizers have announced that thee of the top women marathoners in the world will be running in the 112th Boston Marathon to be held on April 21st, 2008, the same weekend as the US Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials. Lidiya Grigoryeva, the defending champion, will race 2006 winner Rita Jeptoo and two-time runner-up Jelena Prokopcuka.
Read more at: [Earthtimes, UK]

Maria Mutola Award Created At Pre Classic
Tom Jordan, the meet director at Eugene, Oregon’s Prefontaine Classic, has created a new award to honor the meet’s outstanding athlete. Fittingly, it will be called the Maria Mutola Outstanding Athlete Award. After all, Mutola has won the Pre Classic 800m an astonishing FIFTEEN TIMES!
Read more at: [The Register-Guard, OR]
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Lagat looking for strong Osaka tune-up in London

Posted August 3rd, 2007 at 8:50 AM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

With just over three weeks remaining before the start of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Osaka, American 1500m record holder Bernard Lagat will be looking for one last high profile tune-up tomorrow night at the Norwich Union London Grand Prix in the British capital.

Lagat, who won the 5000m and finished third in the 1500 at the U.S. championships in late June, will be aiming for his first solid outing over the shorter distance since his runner-up finish in the Prefontaine Classic mile on June 10. In his most recent 1500m races, Lagat was a distant seventh at the Golden League meet in Paris on July 6, and a well-beaten third at the Norwich Union International on July 15.

Alan Webb, who’s been on a tear over the past month after his world-leading 3:30.54 victory in Paris, his U.S. record in the mile and a sub-1:44 career best in the 800 last week in Heusden, Belgium, has opted out of the London race to nurse a sore hamstring.
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Shaheen to miss IAAF World Champs with knee injury

Posted July 10th, 2007 at 1:00 PM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Injury will force Saif Saaeed Shaheen, the two-time defending world champion in the 3000m steeplechase, from retaining his title at next month’s IAAF World Championships in Osaka.

Shaheen, 24, sustained a knee injury just prior to the Prefontaine Classic early last month, forcing him out of races in Ostrava, Czech Republic, and Athens in June. In a statement today, the Kenyan-born world record holder in the event confirmed he’s lost too much training time to compete in Osaka, where he had also planned to contest the 5000 meters.
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Podcast 61: Two-mile American record holder
MATT TEGENKAMP

Posted June 26th, 2007 at 2:00 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Special Features, Interviews, Podcasts

Episode 61 of The Final Sprint Podcast features my interview with MATT TEGENKAMP; the newly-crowned two-mile American record holder.

Matt was able to harness the momentum he created when he broke Alan Webb’s two-mile record at the June 10th Prefontaine Classic and continued his recent success with an impressive and gutsy performance at the USA Outdoor T&F Championships; finishing second in the 5000m and earning the right to compete for the United States at the IAAF World Championships in Osaka.

In the interview, Matt talks about his excellent performances at Prefontaine and Nationals, the U.S.’s prospects for success in Osaka, the compliments offered by Bernard Lagat at Nationals, and how he feels when some of the major, broadcast media outlets portray him as being on a “lower level” than other young stars like Webb and Ryan Hall.

Download the podcast to hear Matt discuss these topics, as well as, why he is uninterested in altitude training, the decision to stay in Madison, the “brother-like” relationship among his training partners, the dynamic that has developed between himself and Coach Jerry Schumacher, trying to set an example for younger generations of runners, and much more!

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Host: Adam Jacobs
Guest: Matt Tegenkamp
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 14.4 MB
Length: 21:00

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Famed Hayward Field prepares to continue legacy at 2008 Olympic Trials

Posted June 15th, 2007 at 2:20 PM by Courtney Albon

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

Ground was broken on Monday at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field, which hosted the legendary Prefontaine Classic last weekend in Eugene, OR; initiating the venues’ transformation as it prepares to host the fast-approaching 2008 Olympic Trials.

The first phase of renovations that will, when completed, amount to $7.39 million began with the excavation of the track’s infield which will be leveled and equipped with two pole vault runways, long jump and triple jump runways, side-by side shot put rings and high jump pits.

With a November deadline, officials have outlined a strict schedule for the renovation of the facilities. After the first phase is completed in mid-July, workers will put the final touches on the infield and insulate the stadium with bleachers that will seat 15,000 spectators. In September, the track’s surface will be laid out and, later in the year, a top-quality video scoreboard will be installed.
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Stuczynski, Gay keep Visa Championship Series leads

Posted June 12th, 2007 at 6:27 PM by Jamal Walker

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Jenn Stuczynski and Tyson Gay held onto their respective leads in USA Track & Field’s Outdoor Visa Championship Series following Sunday’s Nike Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore.

Michelle Perry moved up from fifth to third in the women’s standings with her win in the women’s 100 meter hurdles. Her time of 12.51 seconds is worth 1,207 points using IAAF scoring tables. Sheena Johnson, Sanya Richards and Alice Schmidt all entered the standings with their performances at Pre, but Stuczynski’s 1,218 points from her American-record pole vault of 4.88m/16-0 at the Reebok Grand Prix on June 2 keeps her atop the standings.
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Prefontaine Classic: Recap of middle & long distance events

Posted June 11th, 2007 at 1:57 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

If the late Steve Prefontaine was watching this meeting from above his beloved Hayward Field, he surely had a smile on his face as gutsy performances in the middle and long distance events dominated this meeting.

For the second year in a row, the meet was held in cool and sometimes rainy conditions, and that was just perfect for the rollicking two-miler which was won by Australian Craig Mottram in the fastest time every on U.S. soil. John Jefferson and Bernard Kiptum set the early pace, and Tariku Bekele and Mottram were running 1-2 when Kiptum left the track after about 2000 meters.

Bekele led out of turn-2 on the final lap, but Mottram started his long sprint with more 250 meter to go. Bekele just couldn’t answer, and the big Aussie motored to the line in a sparkling 8:03.50, blowing through Eliud Kipchoge’s U.S. all-comer’s best of 8:07.68 set at the same meet in 2005.

“It comes down to the size of your balls, really,” said Mottram on live television after the race.

Bekele ran a personal best 8:04.83, while a hard-charging Matt Tegenkamp broke Alan Webb’s U.S. best of 8:11.48 with a terrific 8:07.07 clocking. Dathan Ritzenhein nearly got under Webb’s mark, finishing in 8:11.74 in fourth place. As for Webb, he finished a disappointing 9th, surely a letdown after his commanding victory over Bernard Lagat in the Reebok Grand Prix last Saturday.
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Runners wow Hayward Field crowd at 2007 Nike Prefontaine Classic

Posted June 11th, 2007 at 8:04 AM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

2007 USA Indoor 3,000m champion Matt Tegenkamp set an American record in front of a standing room only crowd Sunday at the 2007 Nike Prefontaine Classic at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., which is the fourth event of USA Track & Field’s 2007 Outdoor Visa Championship Series.

Tegenkamp finished third in men’s two mile race in the American record time of 8 minutes 7.07 seconds, which betters the previous American standard of 8:11.48 set here in 2005 by Alan Webb. Tegenkamp was led to the finish line by Australia’s Craig Mottram, who won the race in 8:03.50, which is the sixth-fastest performance all-time in the two-mile. Ethiopia’s Tariku Bekele was the runner-up in 8:04.83, which is the eighth-fastest time ever.

Komen wins amazing Bowerman Mile

Kenyan Daniel K. Komen ran the fastest time ever on American soil to win the signature event of the Nike Prefontaine Classic, the Bowerman Mile. In a race that saw nine competitors finish under the 4-minute barrier, Komen was victorious in a blistering time of 3 minutes 48.28 seconds, which is the fastest time in the world this year. Two-time Olympic medalist Bernard Lagat was the runner-up in 3:50.56, which is the fastest time by an American this season.
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