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Lead Stories: Friday, November 21, 2008

Olympic Marathon Trials ‘07:
The Race Has Begun!

Posted November 3rd, 2007 at 7:35 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results

The U.S. Olympic Trials Men’s Marathon has begun! The weather at race time:

46°F
Cloudy
Wind: NE at 12 mph
Humidity: 61%

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Team Tactics To Decide Olympic Marathon Team?

Posted November 2nd, 2007 at 8:45 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Interesting article in The Detroit News today about the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, whose team members will make up about 10% of the U.S. Olympic Trials Men’s Marathon field tomorrow. This elite running team from Michigan was created with some lofty goals in mind:

1. Create an opportunity for successful college athletes to continue training beyond their college years.
2. Provide an environment in which training can be the focus of those post-collegiate athletes (without the financial necessity of working full time or chasing after money in road races).
3. Develop a center for those athletes to train together as a team.
4. Incorporate the team members in local community activities to foster an excitement in the sport of distance running, and motivate future distance runners.
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A Cornucopia of Running News

Posted November 2nd, 2007 at 7:30 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons

It’s a great weekend to be a running fan, what with the U.S. Olympic Trials Men’s Marathon and the ING New York City Marathon both taking place. The media has noticed, too, because there is a cornucopia of news coverage and blogging about both events that are taking place in the Big Apple (no pun intended).

U.S. Olympic Trials Men’s Marathon
News | Blogs

ING New York City Marathon
News | Blogs

Sources: [Google News][Google Blog Search]

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Could Tomorrow’s Trials Be The Slowest Race Ever?

Posted November 2nd, 2007 at 6:30 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Here’s a look at the U.S. Olympic Trials Men’s Marathon winners since 1968 when a single race determined the composition of the U.S. Olympic Team. The list is sorted from the slowest winning time (George Young’s 2:30:48 at altitude in 1968 in preparation for Mexico City’s altitude) to the fastest winning time (Tony Sandoval’s 2:10:19 in 1980). Tomorrow’s wicked weather (rain with wind speeds of 25 to 35 MPH and gusts of up to 45 MPH) could play a key role in making it the slowest marathon in nearly 40 years:

1968 George Young 2:30:48 Alamosa, CO 08/18/68 (altitude)
1971 Kenny Moore 2:16:49 Eugene, OR 06/06/71
2000 Rod DeHaven 2:15:30 Pittsburgh, PA 05/07/00
1996 Bob Kempainen 2:12:45 Charlotte, NC 02/17/96
1992 Steve Spence 2:12:43 Columbus, OH 04/11/92
1988 Mark Conover 2:12:26 Jersey City, NJ 04/24/88
1976 Frank Shorter 2:11:51 Eugene, OR 05/22/76
1984 Pete Pfitzinger 2:11:43 Buffalo, NY 05/26/84
2004 Alan Culpepper 2:11:42 Birmingham, AL 02/07/04
1980 Tony Sandoval 2:10:19 Buffalo, NY 03/24/80

Source: [Runner’s World]

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Mother Nature Imposes Upon NY Marathon Weekend

Posted November 2nd, 2007 at 5:25 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Here is the weather forecast for New York for this weekend, which threatens to put a damper on the U.S. Olympic Trials Men’s Marathon. Pay particular attention to the expected wind strength on Saturday (25-35 MPH with gusts up to 45 MPH). Sorry about the all-caps thing. That’s how our government does things:

TODAY
SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 50S. NORTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH.

TONIGHT
MOSTLY CLEAR IN THE EVENING…THEN MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN AFTER MIDNIGHT. BREEZY WITH LOWS IN THE LOWER 40S. NORTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 30 MPH…INCREASING TO 20 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH LATE. CHANCE OF RAIN 30 PERCENT.

SATURDAY
PARTLY SUNNY. A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE MORNING…THEN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON. VERY WINDY WITH HIGHS IN THE LOWER 50S. NORTH WINDS 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH. CHANCE OF RAIN 30 PERCENT.
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TFS News Briefs: 11/02/07

Posted November 2nd, 2007 at 2:38 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: Marathons, Track & Field, Olympics, Drugs In Sports, TFS News Briefs

Day in the Sun for U.S. Olympic Trials Men’s Marathon
Google News, like most news sites, is not know for covering running or track & field on most days. So when the U.S. Olympic Trials Men’s Marathon makes their sorts page, that’s news in itself. As of publication time, the number of stories devoted to the trials is 41.
Read more at: [Google News]

Former Olympian Disagrees with Headphones Ban
Former Olympian and world championships marathon bronze medalist Steve Moneghetti disagrees with the newly-imposed headphones/mp3 player ban, saying, “I find that bizarre they would be banning them.” Read more at: [Sydney Morning Herald]

Jones’ Medals Set To Be Redistributed
The IOC is deliberating about the redistribution of Marion Jones’ 5 Sydney medals (3 gold, two bronze), including whether or not to award doping suspect Katerina Thanou of Greece the 100m gold. Read more at: [BBC Sport | Athletics]
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Note on the News: U.S. athletes miss payday to run Olympic marathon trials

Posted July 16th, 2007 at 7:09 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics

Writing for the New York Times, reporter Liz Robbins explores how American marathoners must bypass potentially lucrative appearance fees in order to compete in their respective U.S. Olympic Team Trials marathons. You can read the story here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/14/sports/othersports/14marathon.html

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