Delegates to the USATF convention who attended the open session of the Long Distance Running Division chaired by Fred Finke were anxious to debate the ban on headphones in road races which was imposed by USATF at last year’s convention.
“We realize this issue has caused a great deal of angst,” said Finke, who has received hundreds of e-mails on the subject. “It seems to be a hot button issue.”
USATF enacted the ban in accordance with a rule put in place by the IAAF which banned the use of headphones in championship events. The IAAF ban was intended to prevent athletes from receiving information via radio about the whereabouts of their rivals, a practice which is permitted in the big bicycle tours, like the Tour de France.
But in practical application, it has meant that recreational runners are not allowed to wear MP3 players, like Apple’s iPod, and listen to music during road races. Only a handful of U.S. races have actively enforced the ban.
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A Medtronic Twin Cities marathoner is recovering in intensive care after collapsing and nearly dying during Sunday’s race in Minneapolis, MN.
In the following video, CBS4 Wisconsin’s Esme Murphy reports on the runner’s current condition, how she is thankfully and lucky to be alive, and more:
After leading the pack from the start, Mykola Antonenko increased the overall pack pace by mile two. Ed Eyestone called the race for the elite men in the lead vehicle ahead of the pack. According to Eyestone, Augustus Kavutu Mbusya put on the heat between miles 5 and 6, but Antonenko broke away at mile 7. By the half-marathon mark, race officials say he maintained at least a minute lead ahead of the rest of the pack, finishing with a time of 2:13:54.
Antonenko said he was happy with his race, but didn’t achieve his goal today. “Psychologically it’s hard to do your goal time by yourself. If I had a group of people pulling me, I could have reached my 2:11 goal,” he said.
“It was a gutsy, courageous effort on his part to go for it on day that was a bit warm,” said Eyestone. Joseph Mutinda finished second with a time of 2:20:12 and Mbusya was third with a time of 2:21:13.
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Abdi Abdirahman, the two-time Olympian from Tucson, Ariz., confirmed his status as a favorite for the upcoming U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials with a strong win at the USA Men’s 10 Mile Championship held in conjunction with the Medtronic TC 10 Mile on Sunday morning.
Abdirahman, who won his third straight national 10 mile title and $10,000, clocked a course-record of 47 minutes, 34 seconds to out-last Minnesota favorite-son Jason Lehmkuhle, the national runner-up at 47:48. James Carney ran a well-paced effort to take third in 48:03.
Olympian Dan Browne, who won the 2002 Twin Cities Marathon over some of the same roads, finished 21st after running near the front through five miles.
The race was contested in unseasonably warm conditions and high humidity. The race started under 72 degree skies with 87% humidity and a 68 degree dew point.
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Past Twin Cities Marathon champions Augustus Kavutu, Kim Pawelek, Irina Bogacheva, women’s course record holder Zina Semenova and two-time defending USA Masters champion Susan Loken are set to return to compete for more than $300,000 in prize money at the 26th Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon on Sunday, October 7, 2007.
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The Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon, scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 7 in Minneapolis, announced that they had expanded their partnership with Team USA Minnesota, an Olympic develop training group which is also based in Minneapolis.
Organizers of the event reported that it had increased its financial support for the training group, coached by Dennis Barker, who is also the head cross country and track coach at nearby Augsburg College. In return Team USA Minnesota athletes would increase their involvement in Medtronic TCM events, including the marathon, USA 10 Mile Championships, the TC 5-K and the Medtronic TC 1 Mile.
Members of Team USA Minnesota, which include Katie McGregor, Carrie Tollefson, Jason Lehmkuhle, Matt Gabrielson, Sara Wells and others, would also participate in the Target Pharmacy Health & Fitness Expo panel discussion during the TCM weekend, Oct. 5-7.
Specific terms of the increased financial support were not disclosed. Team USA Minnesota also receives financial support from Life Time Fitness, its principal sponsor, and and the New York Road Runners, through the USA Distance Project.
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