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Lead Stories: Tuesday, December 2, 2008

USA Olympic Marathon Trials: Women’s Preview

Posted April 16th, 2008 at 4:45 PM by Jared Markowitz

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics

This weekend the women’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials will be held on a specially designed loop course through downtown Boston and Cambridge, MA. The race will feature 162 of America’s finest distance runners in a battle for the three coveted spots on the U.S. Olympic Team. With the famously unpredictable Boston weather expected to be nearly ideal and the course that is considerably flatter than the traditional Boston course, fast times and stiff competition are expected.

Leading the way will be reigning Olympic bronze medalist and top qualifier Deena Kastor (Mammoth Lakes, CA). Kastor conquered the heat of Athens in 2004 to help put U.S. distance runners back on the map and since then has continued her meteoric rise to the top of the marathon world. Her qualifying time of 2:19:36 is over 12 minutes faster than anyone else in this Trials race and is an American record. She is clearly the favorite and should be one of the top contenders in Beijing as well.
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Track & Field: Weekly Preview

Posted January 26th, 2008 at 10:30 AM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

With three major international invitationals set for this weekend –Saturday’s Reebok Boston Indoor Games, Saturday’s Norwich Union International in Glasgow, and the Russian Winter meet in Moscow on Sunday– TPR begins its peak-season weekly previews. Some of the expected key highlights:

In the Sprints…

Thus far in 2008 the major news in the sprints has been off the track, beginning with the New Year’s Day announcement by the US Anti-Doping Agency that Olympic 100m champion Justin Gatlin would have to sit out a four-year ban. (How’s that for setting the tone for the year?) Gatlin is appealing the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. [For a recent interview Gatlin gave Reuters, please click here]

The most solid field of the weekend will be in Boston, where reigning world indoor champion Leonard Scott makes his ‘08 debut. Reigning US indoor champion DaBryan Blanton, and Leroy Dixon [Pictured], a 400m relay gold medallist last summer in Osaka, are also in the field.
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2008 Previews & Predictions: Men’s Marathon

Posted January 24th, 2008 at 1:38 PM by Jared Markowitz

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics

The marathon promises to be one of the most exciting events in the track and field world this coming year. From marquee matchups to record attempts, the Olympic Games to another Marathon Major Contest, 2008 should be another fantastic year for this historic distance. In the following paragraphs I will outline the cast of characters who will seek to etch their names in the history books in 2008. I will also offer one journalist’s thoughts on what could happen in the big races. It has been said that marathons are tremendously difficult to forecast, but rest assured that this former mediocre DIII runner has all the answers.

The first major (at least in the financial sense) marathon of 2008 was the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon, held this past Sunday. The big news from this race was the world record attempt by Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie. Fresh off his 2:04:26 world record in Berlin this past fall, “The Emperor” struck back with a 2:04:52, the second fastest time ever. Gebrselassie’s only fault was a blistering first half that left him a bit overextended and unable to hang on for the record. His time did serve notice, in case anyone wasn’t already convinced, that Geb will be a force to be reckoned with in this Olympic year as long as he can overcome the interaction of Beijing pollution and his severe allergies.
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Video: Preview the Highly-Anticipated Third Season of chasingKIMbia

Posted September 20th, 2007 at 6:30 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics

40K at Magnolia. Ugali and Chicken. Table Mountain. CNN and Fox News. Trips to Wal*Mart. Yep, it’s that time of year again. Welcome to Season Three of chasingKIMBIA; a video blogumentary detailing the lifestyle and training of some of the world’s best marathoners.

The Chicago and New York City Marathons are fast approaching, and the athletes have been getting fast. Season Three kicks off next Monday from Boulder. You’ll meet some new athletes this season, like Christopher Cheboiboch, who has a PR of 2:08 and has finished second in both New York and Boston. You’ll also see some old faces, like Baba (New York) and James Koskei (Chicago).

But the biggest change this year will be the addition of an American to the group. Fasil Bizuneh is an up-and-coming American marathoner. His half-marathon PR of 1:02:20 came in the US Championships where he finished second to Ryan Hall, and ahead of Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi and he’s been training with the guys in Boulder since the end of August in preparation for the November 3rd US Olympic Marathon Trials in NYC.

Play the video trailer below for a sneak-peak of chasingKIMBIA’s highly-anticipated third season!

Click To Play

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AT&T USA Outdoor T&F Champs: Sunday event previews

Posted June 24th, 2007 at 12:00 PM by Allyson Rosen

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

WOMEN’S 20K RACEWALK FINAL

Key Athletes: Teresa Vaill, Sam Cohen, Jolene Moore

Vaill won two in a row before yielding to Joanne Dow last year. Dow is not competing this time, so look for the 44-year-old Vaill to win here based on her victory at the Pan Am Cup Trials in March.

GILL WOMEN’S POLE VAULT FINAL, 12:00 p.m.

Key Athletes: Jenn Stuczynski, Jillian Schwartz, Niki McEwen

Stuczynski has been the dominant US vaulter since bursting onto the scene in 2005, setting her latest American record with the nation’s first 16-0 clearance at the Reebok meet June 2. She is best in the world so far this year. Schwartz was the USA runner-up 2006, and McEwen was third at the Reebok meet with a 14-10 3/4 vault.

AT&T MEN’S 200 SEMIFINAL & FINAL, 12:00 p.m. & 2:20 p.m.

Key Athletes: Tyson Gay, Wallace Spearmon, Xavier Carter

All of the major players who showed up for the prelims advanced easily to the next round, led by Gay’s 20.66 in the fourth heat. Spearmon won last year and went on to record the third-fastest time ever at 19.65. Carter zipped to the #2 time ever at Lausanne in ‘06, clocking 19.63, and he won this year’s Pre Classic with a season-best 20.23.
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