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Lead Stories: Monday, October 6, 2008

Event Report: USATF Junior Track Championships

Posted June 23rd, 2008 at 4:00 PM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, High School

This past weekend in Columbus, Ohio, 22 athletes punched their tickets to the World Junior Championships (pending meeting qualifying standards).

The marquee matchup of Friday was the men’s long jump, in which the champions of the two major high school indoor national championships, Marquise Goodwin (Rowlett, Texas) and Christian Taylor (Goodwin, Georgia) met up against each other. The former won with a national high school leading mark of 25′ 0″, while the latter lost out on the precious second spot to Fresno State freshman Gary Lee.

The performance of that day was in the men’s hurdles. High school junior Booker Nunley (Garner, North Carolina) beat two college freshmen by .41 seconds and tied the stadium record for the high school (39″) hurdles with 13.40. This ties for 8th on the all-time high school list, and the stadium record he shares with Miami Dolphins reciever & kick returner Tedd Ginn Jr.
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Logan Peak Run: Recap of my first trail racing experience

Posted July 17th, 2007 at 5:12 PM by Paul Petersen

Section: Running & Training, Columns

logan peak trail run I have lost count of the total number of road, track, and cross country races I have participated in since I began running at age 12. My best estimate is somewhere between 250-300 races. However, my total number of trail races is a bit easier to tally: zero. Yes, although I frequently do training runs on dirt single-track, I have to admit that I was still a trail race virgin at age 28.

That changed a few weeks ago when I completed the inaugural Logan Peak Run, a trail marathon in the local Bear River Range outside of my town in northern Utah. I convinced my training buddy Cody to sign up for the race with me, and our plan was to run together the whole way and simply finish (while hopefully having some fun in the process).

I picked a tough course for my indoctrination into trail racing. Initial measurements reported the route to be 25 miles in length, but the race director suspected it was actually longer due to switchbacks and other features that are difficult to measure on a topographic map or even with a GPS unit. The course starts at 4900′ elevation and maxes out at over 9700′ on Logan Peak. The cumulative total of climbing and descent was over 7200′. I suspected that I might be a little in over my head.

Read the rest of this recap at our partner site: TrailFit.com

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Race Recap: 2007 Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay

Posted July 11th, 2007 at 10:25 AM by Paul Petersen

Section: News & Results, Running & Training, Cross Training

Once you’ve been bitten by the “relay bug”, it’s hard to keep away from team running events. My first overnight relay experience was the Wasatch Back Relay (Utah) in 2005, and I had a fantastic time. Since then, I’ve gone on to run the Wasatch Back two more times, and also the Wild West Relay (Colorado) and Relay Del Sol (Arizona).

The Wasatch Back is a particular favorite of mine; the fact that it starts in my “back yard” and traces its way through some of the most beautiful areas in Utah keeps me coming back again and again. For the 2007 race on June 22-23, I rounded up my MarathonGIS.com team again, fresh off of our 2nd place finish at Relay Del Sol this past March. Our goal for Wasatch Back: Top 3 and a finish time under 18 hours.

Read the rest of the race report at our partner site: TrailFit.com

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Redemption: A runner’s inspirational quest for Boston

Posted February 28th, 2007 at 1:00 PM by Jim Fortner

Section: Motivation, Success Stories

Jim Fortner is a weekly, guest contributor to TFS. Also check out his own personal running and advice site: “Jim2’s Running Page”.

Monica Cassier, of Midlothian, VA, was seeking to qualify for the Boston Marathon for the first time. Her extraordinary report of her journey to her goal is inspirational and a “must read”. It has been re-published on my personal site and below on TFS with her permission.

REDEMPTION, by: Monica Cassier

I can’t help but ask myself: “How can I be here?” It is an early December day in Charlotte, NC, the temperature is hovering in the low 20’s, and I’m minutes away from the start of the Thunder Road Marathon. I’m a couple of hundred miles from home. I’ve stayed with my brother-in-law and his family, but at race start I am alone, and I expect no familial support during this endeavor. I’m wearing shorts, a long-sleeve shirt layered over a short-sleeved shirt. And I’m freezing. What a difference a few weeks make. I rewind my mind. It’s a day a month earlier in Richmond, VA.

“How can I be here?” This is all I can think to myself. “This isn’t happening. This can’t be real… this is a bad dream.”
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