January 2009 Track and Field Articles

Syracuse Orangeman Brad Miller recently finished a hair over four minutes in the mile. He's looking to get under the historic mark this indoor season and also win all of his races. Without breaking your balls, what's it like to get as close to four minutes in the mile as you did this past weekend without breaking it? I knew coming around the last turn, I saw the clock right near the finish, and saw 57, 3:58, 3:59. Then right when I passed the line I was pretty sure I didn't have it. I knew it was going to be… more »

Fife and Scott attempt to break 4:00 mile Friday --Brooks Team Indiana's Jordan Fife and Derek Scott will make an attempt to break the four minute mile at the Indiana Relays this Friday at Gladstein Fieldhouse.  The Invitational Mile race is scheduled for 7:05pm.  The attempt will be paced by Sean Bowman, who will look to take the race out at a four minute clip of 2:30 for 1000m.  Fife ran 4:00.13 at this meet last year, then became the 305th US born athlete to break four minutes for the mile the following week in South Bend, Indiana, where he ran 3:59.75.  Scott ran 4:00.20 in… more »

Carrying The O2 by Danny Mackey M.S.   I was talking with a few athletes the other day about sicknesses and injuries in the pool (the reason it was the pool is because I still have achilles tendonitis and the other guys were injured, there is no other reason to be doing the annoying task of aqua jogging).  Through the sob stories, anemia came up quite a bit.  I originally had planned on discussing the “normal” structural running injuries, but figured the “not so normal” ones would fit better.  One of the interesting trends I noticed, and you would to,… more »

MILLROSE GAMES INFORMATIONWhat: 102nd Millrose Games (America's oldest indoor track meet)Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA (7th Ave at W. 33rd St)When: Friday, January 30, 5:45 p.m.Official Website: http://www.millrose-games.com (be sure to put in the hyphen) Flotrack Coverage: http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view/234562-2009-millrose-gamesTickets (priced from $15 to $100):General Public: http://www.ticketmaster.com, 212-307-7171, or Madison Square Garden box office2009 USATF Members ($10 discount): https://www.usatf.org/members-only/index.asp?page=/members-only/benefits/fulfillment.asp (enter 2009 membership number and password)High School and College Teams: Exclusive discounts available.  Contact Jamie De Four at 212-923-1803 (ex. 15) or  jamie@armorytrack.com (be sure to ask for $10 tickets)Schedule of Events:http://www.millrose-games.com/events-results/ (Wanamaker Mile at 10:15 p.m.)Key Athletes Competing:Bernard Lagat, Nick Willis, Kara Goucher, Terrence Trammell, Shawn Crawford,… more »

By David Monti(c) 2009 Race Results Weekly, all rights reservedAfter two-time Olympic medalist Bernard Lagat won the Wanamaker Mile last year for the sixth time, he immediately shifted his attention to the 2009 race where a seventh victory would tie him with Irish legend Eamonn Coghlan for the most Wanamaker titles in meet history.  As his manager, James Templeton looked on, Lagat issued --and accepted-- his own invitation to the 2009 Millrose Games."We'll share the Chairmanship of the Boards," said Lagat of Coghlan.  "I'm confirming it.  Right now, it's official."Templeton winced, then smiled.  He knew that Lagat had to fulfill… more »

For Immediate Release: January 28, 2009 Saucony, Inc. SAUCONY SIGNS ENDORSEMENT DEAL WITH TWO-TIMEU.S. OLYMPIAN ANTHONY “FAM’ FAMIGLIETTI “Fam” to make brand debut at 2009 USA Cross Country Championships, presented by Saucony LEXINGTON, MA (January 28, 2009) – Saucony, Inc., a leading global supplier of performance athletic footwear and apparel, today announced the signing of two-time U.S. Olympian Anthony Famiglietti to a multi-year endorsement contract. Famiglietti, the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials champion, competed for the U.S. in the 3,000 meter steeplechase at both the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Famiglietti, who’s versatility extends to the… more »

(c) Copyright - 2009 - Christopher Kelsall   Keith Livingstone, from New Zealand recently published a new book about an old training method, writing it in today’s language. He has taken the famous training method of the late and incomparable Arthur Lydiard and modernized it so everyone can understand the theory and application fully in a book he calls, Healthy Intelligent Training or H.I.T for short.   The Lydiard method may have produced dozens of international medals for New Zealand, Finland and several other countries, the method also is the training practise of many times that number of runners who wish to… more »

It has been a week of change:  new President, new administration, and new marks for many DII runners. In meets from coast to coast, there were with some top athletes competing for the first time since before break. January is coming to close and we are inching ever closer to the DII Indoor National Championship. I have tried to cover as many meets as possible. If there is anything I have missed, go ahead and leave a comment. Boston University Terrier Invitational- UMass Lowell’s Haley Catarius ran to a seventh place finish in the women’s 800 meters with a provisional… more »

By David Monti(c) 2009 Race Results Weekly, all rights reservedNEW YORK (24-Jan) -- Reigning USA indoor 1500m champion Rob Myers got his season off to a solid start with a come-from-behind victory in the invitational mile at the 14th annual New Balance Games at the Armory Track & Field Center here in Upper Manhattan.Myers was well off of the lead as pacemaker Max Smith took his New Zealand compatriot Adrian Blincoe through the first quarter in about 57 seconds.  The pair quickly built a 20 meter lead, and were on pace to break Mark Carroll's meet and Armory record of… more »

By David Monti(c) 2009 Race Results Weekly, all rights reservedNEW YORK (20-Jan) -- Nick Willis's storybook Olympic year ended here last September when he outleaned Bernard Lagat to win his first Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile.  Willis, 25, a New Zealander who lives in Ann Arbor, Mich., will begin his 2009 campaign here at the 102nd Millrose Games on Jan. 30, and is looking for the same result in the meet's signature Wanamaker Mile.  Lagat has won the Wanamaker six times and will be trying to tie Eamonn Coughlan's meet record of seven Wanamaker victories."I'm really, really exited to open… more »

By David Monti(c) 2009 Race Results Weekly, all rights reservedThere is sure to be some fast running at the World's Best 10-K in San Juan, P.R., on Sunday, March 1, as organizers have signed both three-time IAAF world road running champion Lornah Kiplagat and Olympic bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan to this year's race.Kiplagat and Flanagan are both represented by their husbands, Pieter Langerhorst and Steve Edwards, respectively, and each man has confirmed their wife's participation in the race.  Held on an out-and-back course on the Teodoro Mosco Bridge, the race is the home of the women's world record of 30:21… more »

By David Monti(c) 2009 Race Results Weekly, all rights reservedMarathoners Ryan Hall and Deena Kastor were re-signed by their primary sponsor, the Asics America Corporation, through 2012, the company announced yesterday.In the case of Hall, 26, it's a particularly critical signing for Asics because the 2:06:17 marathoner will be running the Boston Marathon on April 20, a huge media exposure opportunity for the shoe and apparel company based in Irvine, Calif.  Industry insiders had reported to Race Results Weekly that Adidas, the shoe company sponsor of the Boston Athletic Association and the Boston Marathon, had shown serious interest in signing… more »

By David Monti(c) 2009 Race Results Weekly, all rights reservedOrganizers of the Reebok Boston Indoor Games on Saturday, Feb. 7, announced today that the fastest prep milers from both the 2008 outdoor and 2009 indoor seasons would be running their Boys' Junior Invitational Mile.Andrew Springer (Westerly H.S./Westerly, R.I.), is the top entrant with a 4:10.61 to his credit during the 2009 indoor season.  Brett Johnson (Ocean City H.S./Ocean City, N.J.), who ran 4:11.22 at the Nike Outdoor Nationals last year, is also entered, along with Trevor Dunbar (Kodiak H.S./Kodiak, Aka.), who finished second at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships… more »

By David Monti(c) 2009 Race Results Weekly, all rights reservedAlthough Track & Field News ranked her as the #1 USA marathoner in 2008 after her American debut record at the ING New York City Marathon last November, the reigning USA 5000m champion has decided to defend her title in the mile at the 102nd Millrose Games one week from tomorrow.Goucher, 30, used this event to open her season in 2008, the best of her career.  Running on a banked track for the first time since 1999, she went low and inside on the final turn to narrowly defeat race leader… more »

By David Monti(c) 2009 Race Results Weekly, all rights reservedIn a speech today in Scottsdale, Ariz., at a gathering of the dietary supplement and healthy food industries, USA Track & Field CEO Doug Logan took a hard line with supplement makers over performancing enhancing drugs."Performance-enhancing drugs are threatening to choke the life out of the sport that I serve and love," said Logan.  "And in many ways, the supplement industry has been assisting in braiding the noose."Logan explained that unlike professional U.S. sports like baseball and football, where fans and journalists go lightly on doping offenders, athletics can't afford drug… more »

By David Monti(c) 2009 Race Results Weekly, all rights reservedSeveral top Americans, including defending men's champion Dathan Ritzenhein, have entered the U.S. Cross Country Cross Country Championships in Agriculture Farm Park in Derwood, Md.  The meet is scheduled for Saturday, February 7.Ritzenhein, 26, romped to victory at last year's championships, covering the 12 km course in San Diego, Calif., in 35 minutes and 3 seconds."I have a knack for cross country after these years," Ritzenhein told Race Results Weekly in a recent telephone interview.  "I've kind of figured out what my race effort is there.  I think that I just… more »

<!-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> Minnesota's top pole vaulter just cleared 14 feet, four inches at the Minnesota Open last Saturday. The Gopher junior bettered her own school record and looks to get her own NCAA Championship this indoor season.   You got 14'4 this early in the season, how high can you go? I don't know. My goal for the year was to jump 14'6. I'm heading in the right direction. I didn't expect to be jumping this high this early in the year, but I'm really happy with… more »

The 2009 indoor track season is back in full stride. There were many meets from coast to coast, many of which I cover below. As usual, I urge you the reader to comment if there is anything I have missed. Air Force Academy All Comers Meet- Colorado School of the Mines’ Kiera Benson placed third in the women’s 60 meters with a provisional qualifying time of 7.71. University of Colorado at Colorado Spring’s Melissa McKinley (2:23.08) and Kelsey Barry (2:23.40) took second and third in the 800 meters. Mesa State’s Esmeralda Martinez-Ramos took third in the 3000 (11:28.30). In the… more »

Photo Courtesy of Image of Sport   Zsofia Erdelyi is a USC Trojan sophomore. She's been an international runner since her high school days back in her native Hungary. She's got a steeplechase chase personal best of 10:01 and looks to drastically lower it in 2009.   How is your fitness right now? Are you in really good shape? No, I don't think so because I just got back home from Hungary. It was really cold and I couldn't really run. It was really, really cold. I just got back and began to practice. I don't feel really good right… more »

Will Run For Food By Danny Mackey M.S.    I hope everyone enjoyed the downtime from training, racing and had fun with their friends and family over the Holidays.  Now that we are getting back into the routine of work and school, most of us look at 2009 and set performance goals.  If you are anything like me, the Holidays put a little damper on starting 2009 “fit”.  Personally, after a very frustrating 2 years, I began to come around slightly in November and December so I wanted to carry this through to January (as most of us want to). … more »

(C) Copyright - 2009 - Christopher Kelsall With a Commonwealth Games appearance and a 2:32 marathon personal best, Nicole Stevenson has been one of Canada’s elite marathon runners since 2002. Coached by Hugh Cameron, Nicole transitioned from a middle distance runner to a marathoner smoothly, able to maintain fairly low-mileage training while working full time for a Pharmaceutical company in marketing. Coach Hugh is the head coach with the Brooks Canada Marathon Project in Ontario, which enables Canada’s best runners to maintain their focus on their training and he is doing so with good success. Martin Goulet, Chief High Performance… more »

Jack Frost has begun his torture, bringing freezing temperatures and white precipitation to much of the United States. The spring semester has begun, making the days of sleeping late during winter break seem like a distant memory.  For many, this past weekend marked the chance to test out their legs after winter break to see if their training was effective. As usual, I encourage readers to comment and post any other results.  After all, Flotrack is a community! Carthage Opener- University of Wisconsin-Parkside (UW-Parkside) finished third in the Women’s team competition with 39 points behind North Illinois (212) and Carthage… more »

RACE FOR RYAN SHAY IN FRANCE More info on the event (links updated): http://granville.athle.com (Club Site) | French Version http://frenchrunner.sport24.com (Blog) | French Version   more »

<!-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> Northern Iowa's Tyler Mulder won the 800 meter National Championship last indoor track season. This time around he's looking for a faster time, but the same result.   How is your fitness right now? It's going pretty well right now. I just got the flu, but it's been pretty good.   What are your goals for this indoor season? My goals for this indoor season would be to win Nationals again, but also to improve on all my times from last year. The 600, I'd… more »

(c) Copyright - 2009 - Christopher Kelsall The first of two long runs I had done with Kelvin Broad were over 20 miles and included a group of fellow runners of varying abilities (I was the most variable of all). We ran through the mossy rain forest outside of Victoria, British Columbia over hills and through chest-deep Salal. I think we crawled through a blackberry bush and witnessed the collapse of a bridge, while our run leader (Bob) stood knee-deep in the creek wearing an ear-to-ear smile. Later in the run, sometime after the 17 mile mark or so and… more »

<!-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> Jeff See is a senior at Ohio State, a sub-four minute miler, and a multi All-American. Follow Jeff as he makes his bid for a National Championship this indoor season. Did you get a run in on Christmas Day? Yeah. I took an easy day that day. It wasn't too bad. My oldest brother has kids, so we do a Christmas with them. I do a run in the morning.   Overall, how would you say your 2008 year went? It was a B+ or… more »