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Lead Stories: Friday, August 29, 2008

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

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/

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!
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Lemoncello Carries British Hopes into World Cross

Posted March 28th, 2008 at 7:07 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Cross Country, Track & Field

It’s not often that a major world championship comes to Great Britain, seemingly a prime opportunity for the host country’s best athlete’s to shine. However, only a handful of Britain’s best have answered the call to run for Queen and country, and an athlete with an American father and a Scottish mother who works part-time at a restaurant in Flagstaff, Ariz., will be the U.K.’s top man when the gun sounds for the senior men’s 12 km race here on Sunday afternoon.

Andrew Lemoncello, a talented steeplechaser who starred at Florida State University and won the ACC indoor titles at 3000m and 5000m last year, is excited to compete in Holyrood Park. Rooming with Irishman Martin Fagan in high altitude Flagstaff where he is coached by American Greg McMillan, Lemoncello has come through a snowy winter with some solid training under his belt.
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Hall and Wanjiru Added to London Marathon Field

Posted January 7th, 2008 at 12:30 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Race director David Bedford has beefed up his already robust field for the 2008 Flora London Marathon by adding two of the sport’s most promising marathon stars: Ryan Hall (Pictured) of Big Bear Lake, Calif., and Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya. The 28th edition of the race is scheduled for Sunday, April 13.

Hall, 25, is coming off of a dramatic victory at the USA Olympic Team Trials - Men’s Marathon held in New York City last November. The former Stanford University star ran a brilliant race, saving his strength during the first half of the hilly, five-loop course in Central Park before unleashing a seemingly effortless 62:45 for the second half. His finish time of 2:09:02 was a Trials record, despite the fact that he lost at least half a minute in the final miles celebrating his victory. Hall also ran 2:08:24 at London in his debut last April, a USA debut record.
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Lel Leads Stacked Elite Field for 2008 London Marathon

Posted December 12th, 2007 at 10:15 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Martin Lel, the only man to ever win the Flora London and ING New York City Marathons in the same year, headlines London’s field for next April, race director Dave Bedford announced today.

The 29 year-old Lel, who won both the London and New York races in sprint finishes over Moroccan Abderrahim Goumri, also won London in 2005. He has a personal best time of 2:06:41.

“I am very pleased to be able to defend my title.,” Lel commented through a media release. “I am training hard to make sure I am in top shape for my bid to win a third time. I know it will be tough, but I love running in London and am confident I can win again.”
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ChampionChip Develops New Permanent Timing System for Outdoor Sports in U.S.

Posted November 8th, 2007 at 4:03 PM by Martha Jones

Section: News & Results, Gear & Apparel, Miscellaneous

ChampionChip has developed a new permanent timing system that can be incorporated in any outdoor sports setting; such as a track or public park. Called TimePoint, the system is currently installed in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. TimePoint is now available for U.S. installations.

The TimePoint system comprises three parts: ground antennas, the housing and a scoreboard display that shows an athlete his or her time as soon as he or she passes the system. The display is optional, but certainly adds a huge “wow” benefit to the system as athletes can see their time instantly displayed.

Additionally, run times are sent to the Internet and athletes can check the www.mychampionchip.com Web site for laps and training progress. They can compare and share their data with other athletes around the world.
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Britain Makes First World Champs Team Selections

Posted July 31st, 2007 at 2:59 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field

UK Athletics released their first team selections this morning for the IAAF World Championships in Athletics which commences in Osaka, Japan, on August 25.

The first selections to the team are as follows (data courtesy of Tilastopaja Oy):

MEN -
800m: Michael Rimmer (Liverpool, Pembroke & Sefton), 03-Feb-1986, 1:45.23 PB.
1500m: Andy Baddeley (Harrow), 20-Jun-1982, 3:34.74.
5000m: Mo Farah (Newham & Essex), 13-Mar-1983, 13:09.40.
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Video: Solinsky runs impressive 3000m in Sheffield; 8th fastest American

Posted July 17th, 2007 at 11:30 AM by Martha Jones

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Chris Solinsky ran 7:36.90 - a 15-second PR - on a cold, rainy night in Sheffield, UK. His time, the 8th fastest ever by an American, was good for third place behind Kenenisa Bekele and Craig Mottram at the Norwich Union Grand Prix meeting.

Click To Play

Note: Click “Read the rest of this entry” for more information from KIMbia Atheltics about Solinksy’s impressive performance in England.

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Racing For Charity: Motivation On A Whole New Level

Posted November 1st, 2006 at 7:00 AM by Trish Monks

Section: Motivation, Columns, SPOTLIGHT

Last Sunday I did a race. Nothing surprising about that, I often race - and the distance, 10 kilometres, is a particular favourite of mine.

However, what was different this time - was that, for the first time ever in a race, I wasn’t ‘racing’.

I know - it sounds crazy – doing a race without ‘racing’ (and by that I mean going as fast as I can - trying to get a new PB [personal best], pass the lady in front with pigtails, not get overtaken by the chap in a banana costume - that kind of thing) . . . BUT at this event, my aim was something quite different.

The race was for Cancer Research UK, and I was there primarily to pace a friend of mine round what was his first (and hopefully not last) race, and make sure he met his goal of running all of the way round! Read the rest of this entry »

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