TheFinalSprint.com | Premier Running Destination for Marathons, Track and Field, Race News, Podcasts, Training Advice and More!

Lead Stories: Saturday, May 17, 2008

Ryan Hall:
More Precious Than Gold
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #9)

Posted May 10th, 2008 at 6:15 PM by Ryan Hall

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Ryan Hall

Welcome to the official blog of top U.S. distance runner Ryan Hall as he begins his quest for Olympic gold! Check back every other Friday for Ryan’s latest entry at http://ryanhall.thefinalsprint.com/

With three months to go before the Olympics begin I am now putting the finishing touches on a vision that birthed 10 years ago during a long, slow, painful, fifteen-mile run around the lake. Now, after all I have been through I have just 105 days to pour myself into my training and prepare for the biggest opportunity of my life. All the training, all the discipline, all the depression, all the sacrifice, all the joy, it was all part of the journey that has prepared me for August 24th.

I love the Olympics. I always have. Growing up I had Olympic rings scribbled all over my text books. I find the symbolism of the rings to be quite dramatic with the five rings representing the unity of man from each of the five continents. There is something powerful about the unity of man.
Read the rest of this entry »

8 comments, add yours | Permalink

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

brian sell finishing 2007 u.s. olympic men's marathon trials 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.

Read the rest of this entry »

One comment, add yours | Permalink

Sara Hall: In Definition
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #8)

Posted May 2nd, 2008 at 12:58 PM by Sara Hall

Section: News & Results, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Sara Hall

Welcome to the official blog of U.S. middle-distance runner Sara Hall. Sara’s list of running accolades include being a former NCAA All- American at Stanford, the 2006 USA 5K road champion, and the 2006 champion at the Continental Fifth Avenue Mile. Check back every other Friday for her latest entry at http://sarahall.thefinalsprint.com/

Recently I came across some comments on a video of Ryan where people seemed confused as to what he means by “glorifying God”. I don’t normally look at people’s comments because I don’t really like criticism, but for whatever reason I started to read some this day.

Some people were vehemently anti-religion, some people held a strong in-your-face religious stance, and everything in between, debating what Ryan was talking about. It made me realize the ambiguity of this term, “glorifying God”, and so this blog is an attempt to extrapolate on what we mean when we say
we strive to glorify God when we run.
Read the rest of this entry »

20 comments, add yours | Permalink

TFS Running Podcast 139: Gatorade XC Runner of the Year CHRIS DERRICK

Posted May 1st, 2008 at 1:30 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Cross Country, Track & Field, Special Features, Interviews, Podcasts, High School

chris derrick 2007-2008 gatorade cross country runner of the year On Episode 139 of TheFinalSprint.com Podcast, the most listened to running podcast in North America, I had the pleasure of being joined by Chris Derrick of Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville, Illinois.

In January Derrick was named the 2007-2008 Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year. He also finished second behind TFS Elite Athlete Blogger Michael Fout at the national Foot Locker Cross Country Championships and most recently ran the fastest 5k ever (13:55:96) in a high school race at the Arcadia Invitational.

In the interview, Derrick talks about his recent successes and why he’ll head to Stanford this fall instead becoming an Illini. Download the podcast to hear Derrick discuss these topics, as well as, whether the current crop of elite high school runners (Derrick, Fout, Puskedra, Lowe, Fernandez, etc) could match the level of success already achieved by Hall, Webb, and Ritz, his answers to our new “Rapid Fire Questions” segment, and much more!

TO DOWNLOAD: Right click here and select “Save As”

Host: Adam Jacobs | Guest: Chris Derrick
Producers: Greg Cherniet, Adam Jacobs
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 13.6 MB | Length: 00:19:56

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

TFS Running Podcast 137: 2007 Foot Locker High School XC Champ Michael Fout

Posted April 30th, 2008 at 12:30 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Cross Country, Track & Field, Special Features, Interviews, Podcasts, High School

Today on Episode 137 of TheFinalSprint.com Podcast, the most listened to running podcast in North America, I had an opportunity to speak with LaPorte, Indiana High School senior Michael Fout, the winner of the 2007 Foot Locker High School Cross-Country Champs.

In the interview, Fout talks about his goals for the 2008 for track season, which include breaking Rudy Chapa’s state record in the 3200 meter run and to repeat as state champion in the 3200. Since he is just coming of an injury, Fout talks about what he’ll need to do to get ready for the upcoming sectional, regional sand state meets.

He also talks about what it’s been like to blog alongside his running heroes Ryan Hall and Dathan Ritzenhein,his long-term running goals, his faith, and he also answer some of the questions the readers of his blog have asked him. Not only that, but we introduce a new feature on the podcast, a series of rapid fire questions in which Fout reveals, as the old song goes, a few of his favorite things.

TO DOWNLOAD: Right click here and select “Save As”

Host: Jimmie Markham | Guest: Michael Fout
Producers: Greg Cherniet, Adam Jacobs
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 20.9 MB | Length: 00:30:29

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

Sara Hall: Success in London for Ryan, Now On To Mt. Sac (Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #7)

Posted April 18th, 2008 at 4:00 PM by Sara Hall

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Sara Hall

It’s over. I am definitely running a little lighter these days now that London is behind us, successfully completed! There is so much buildup going into marathons, especially for Ryan since he usually doesn’t race too much leading up to it. Just one shot, make or break, all that training and dreaming coming down to one day.

This year, Ryan seemed a lot less nervous than last year and at the Trials, which helped me stay relaxed too. I take Ryan’s races very personally, because we are a team- whether playing Poker with our teammates (much to the frustration of Ian [Dobson] frustration) or cheering each other on in workouts, we are “Team Hall” and try to do it together and support each other to the point where his races seem like my races, his victories my victories, and his failures mine as well. The Bible puts it well when it says, “a man shall leave his father and mother, be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh”. Since we’ve been married, I definitely feel like we are “one”, so it was great to be able to be there the whole trip to London and experience it all together!
Read the rest of this entry »

3 comments, add yours | Permalink

Josh Cox:
Forgotten Number Four
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #7)

Posted April 17th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Josh Cox

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Elite Athlete Blogs, Josh Cox

Welcome to the official blog of U.S. marathon runner Josh Cox. Every other Wednesday visit http://joshcox.thefinalsprint.com for Cox’s latest blog entry and for more information, also please visit: www.joshcox.com

“Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust.”
–Jesse Owens, 4 time Track and Field Gold Medalist at the 1936 Olympic Games

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.”
–C. S. Lewis

“You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what’s a life, anyway? We’re born, we live a little while, we die. A spider’s life can’t help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone’s life can stand a little of that.”
–Charlotte the spider in EB White’s “Charlotte’s Web”

I get loads of email from strangers. When you write blogs, have Myspaces, Facebooks and a contact button on your website, it comes with the territory. My latest “Miracles” installment solicited a Santa sized bag of digital mail. For every public comment I receive, another five appear in the inbox. If a common theme arises I address it in the comments of the blog – years of blogging tells me this is the best course of action. This way the popular, pertinent issues get addressed. If I’m busy this doesn’t always happen. So before diving into this entry I’ll let the mail senders know I’ll be answering their questions and keeping the comment section of the last blog alive and kicking.
Read the rest of this entry »

11 comments, add yours | Permalink

TFS News Briefs: 4/16/08

Posted April 16th, 2008 at 2:50 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

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

TFS News Briefs Liu Campbell and Williams to Headline Reebok Grand Prix
Lauren Williams will square off against Veronica Campbell-Brown and Liu Xiang will defend his hurdles title at the Reebok Grand Prix on May 31st, 2008 at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in New York. All three are expected to contend for gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Read more at: [Reebok Grand Prix]

Ryan Hall Earns USA TODAY Olympic Athlete of the Week Award
Ryan Hall seems to have won the hearts and minds of the mainstream media after his dazzling 2:06:17 PR at the London Marathon this past weekend. Hall won out over “soccer player Natasha Kai, swimmer Ryan Lochte and beach volleyball tandem Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh.”
Read more at: [USA Today]

New Zealand Selects Lean & Mean Beijing Track Team
Two Kiwi marathoners who have met the Olympic “A” standard have not been selected for the New Zealand Olympic team. Athletics New Zealand secretary-general Barry Maister defended the decision, saying that they “would only select athletes who made the A standard and not only that but meet it consistently and in major events.”
Read more at: [New Zealand Herald]
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

TFS Running Podcast 135:
Kate O’Neill on this Sunday’s USA Olympic Women’s Marathon Trials

Posted April 15th, 2008 at 6:30 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

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

Kate O'Neill On Episode 135 of TheFinalSprint.com Podcast, the most listened to running podcast in North America, I had the pleasure of speaking with 2004 Olympian Kate O’Neill who will be running in her first US Olympic Marathon Trials this weekend in Boston. Kate is the 2008 US Half-Marathon champ and goes into the trials with an impressive debut marathon time of 2 hours 36 minutes and 15 seconds (Chicago, 2007).

In the interview, we talk about her goals and thoughts on the Trials and her preparation at altitude in Mammoth Lakes, CA alongside her Team Running USA teammates Deena Kastor and Ryan Hall. We also talk about fellow Yale Alumnus Frank Shorter and about her blogging for The Final Sprint’s Elite Athlete blog series.

Download the podcast to hear Kate talk about getting used to training at altitude, the similarities of her training to Deena Kastor’s, the possibility of running the 10k in Eugene at the USA Olympic Track & Field Trials and much more!

TO DOWNLOAD: Right click here and select “Save As”

Host:Jimmie Markham | Guest: Kate O’Neill
Producers: Greg Cherniet, Adam Jacobs
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 19.3 MB | Length: 00:28:11

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink