November 26, 2008

Radcliffe said she’s happy to give youngsters an insight on her unrivalled work ethic by guiding them round the trails in the Pyrenees that have helped her become the world’s finest marathon runner.

The reason it hasn’t happened before? No one ever asked.

Radliffe told the Telegraph:

“I am in Font Romeu, on and off, for six months of the year and I would love to show people round, to co-ordinate squad training sessions and see British distance running get somewhere.”

Radcliffe is a member of the superstar panel advising Ian Stewart as UK Athletics’ new head of endurance. One of Stewart’s plans to inject new enthusiasm into Britain’s prospects for London 2012 is to return to the squad training system that worked so well in the Seventies and Eighties.

Asked about her own chances at the next Olympics, Radcliffe believes age will be no barrier to marathon success in London 2012. After a year of contrasting fortunes in which she eased to victory in the New York marathon but saw her Olympic dream shattered in Beijing, Radcliffe, who will be 38-years-old in 2012, is confident home support and her incredible levels of fitness means a gold medal is hers for the taking at the London Games.

Watch out world - the British are coming! 

November 7, 2008

The 2007 World Outdoor 10,000m bronze medalist, Goucher crossed the line in 2 hours 25 minutes 53 seconds bettering the 2:26:58 run by Deena Kastor in 2001. It marked the first time since Anne Marie Letko in 1994 that an American woman placed in the top three at the New York Marathon.

Goucher grew up in Minnesota and made her mark as part of the the track and cross country teams of Duluth East High School. As a runner for the University of Colorado, she was the NCAA Outdoor Champion in a number of long distance events. Goucher competed in the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics 10000m final where she placed 10th with a personal best time of 30:55.16, and the 5000m where she placed 9th with a time of 15:49.

The New York Marathon was Goucher’s marathon debut.  Based on her result this year, we look forward to many more great races.

Hasay’s gap on the field at the mile was about 12 seconds, amazing considering the quality of the chase group – led by San Clemente CA sr Alex Dunne, Rancho Bernardo CA soph Molly Grabill, and Xavier Prep AZ jr Jessica Tonn. Coming down to the crossover, Dunne had separated herself from the others and cut that gap almost in half. The race was clearly not over and Hasay’s pursuers looked ready and eager to try and reel her in.

Hasay reached two miles in 11:05, with Dunne just four seconds back at 11:09. Downhill running has never been one of Hasay’s big strengths and Dunne was catching her on each one. Not only did a record look out of reach, but CA’s top-ranked D1 runner, who had clearly been California’s best all fall while Hasay kept a low profile, was a real threat to win the race.

Except … except the third mile showed that Hasay still had something left, or was able to get it back … and Dunne had gone too deep in the well trying to catch her. Hasay pulled away again and Dunne dug deep to hold on to second. As she got to the airstrip, it was clear that Trotter’s record was safe, but Hasay had a good shot to break 16:30 and get the #2 spot on the all-time Mt. SAC list – a spot held by Marie Lawrence from 2005, when she ran 16:29 in the Team Sweeps and Hasay 16:48 as a frosh in the Individuals. She did just that, crossing in 16:27, with Dunne holding on to a very good 16:48, followed by Grabill (at left) under 17:00 at 16:54 and Tonn settling for matching her time last year with 17:05.

Hasay now has three sub-17s in this meet, tied with “Mel” for the most of anyone, and four straight Individual Sweeps wins (though the 2007 version was called the SuperSweepstakes). Dunne’s time is =#7 all-time for the course (6th fastest girl ever), while Grabill is #7 with the 12th-best time. Never had two girls broken 17 in the same race here, let alone three.

Watch the video of the race here:

http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/234116/76476

Coach Karen Harvey arrived at FSU last year and led the team to a 3rd-place finish at NCAA’s. The team is currently ranked #3 behind Washington and Oregon. Harvey was an accomplished runner herself: she was ranked #1 in the world in the steeplechase in 1998. Assistant Coach Kevin Sullivan is a world-class runner himself who holds the Canadian national record in the Indoor 3000m.

See how some of the best collegiate runners in the nation run:

October 7, 2008

Flanagan shattered her own American Record in the process, running 30:22.22. That’s 4:53 per mile, for more than 6 miles in a row. She crossed the finish line absolutely dumbfounded, asking “Did I do it?” and covering her mouth with her hands as she watched the big screen and learned that she did, in fact, do it.

Flanagan has been known to keep to herself; she trains mostly alone or with her husband, unlike many professional women runners who live near each other and train together. You don’t see her writing blogs, showing up in commercials, or giving speeches. The only commercial I’ve seen her in is a Johnson & Johnson one that honored mothers; Shalane looked into the camera and thanked her mother for all of her support.

Watch Shalane open up a bit to Runners World, below:

October 5, 2008

Golf: Paula Creamer calmly won her biggest LPGA Tour title yet, holding off a large pack to win the Samsung World Championship on Sunday near where she grew up in the Bay area.

Snowboarding: U.S. rider Jamie Anderson claimed the final Slopestyle Title of the Southern Hemisphere portion of the Swatch TTR World Tour  and finished the southern hemisphere season as tour leader.  

Surfing: Silvana Lima has claimed the Billabong Ladies Pro in Costão do Santinho against fellow Brazilian Tita Tavares along with ASP South American title.

T&F: Yelena Isinbayeva, often called the Queen of Pole Vaulting, has capped another tremendous year by being voted the female Waterford Crystal European Athlete of the Year 2008.
 

August 20, 2008

Set to take place August 31, 2008, The Nike+ Human Race 10K is truly a global event.  Individuals can either join large groups of runners in 25 different host cities around the world or choose to run where they are and upload their stats via Nike+.

When signing up for the event through the Nike+ website, runners are given the option of choosing a charity they would like to run for including the UN Refugee Agency, the Lance Armstrong Foundation or the WWF.

Registered runners have access to a free Nike training mix that can be downloaded from iTunes. All participants will also recieve an official Nike+ Human Race Day tee (woo hoo), as well as entrance to a free concert (sweet) at the finish line. Performers include the All American Rejects (New York), Kayne West (Los Angeles), Fall Out Boy (Chicago) and Pendulum (London).

Join a million runners for a worldwide 10K like no other. Just do it!

August 16, 2008

Erica has an inspirational story and it’s worth telling. She lost her right eye in a freak car accident as an infant (a pair of freshly sharpened trimming shears slid across the dashboard into her eye - yikes!). Doctors tried to save Erica’s eye but the prognosis wasn’t good and she was eventually fitted with a prosthetic eye.

Her parents wanted Erica to fit in and be as normal as possible. In time, Erica grew to embrace her uniqueness but her hand-eye coordination was limited, making sports a challenge. Softball and volleyball particularly were difficult.

Track and field was another matter.

Erica took up pole vaulting as a 14-year-old high school freshman and compensated for her limited vision with an innate sense of timing, honed intuitively over the years.

Like everything, Erica tackled the sport with obsessive zeal. She developed into one of the top pole vaulters in the state at Philomath High and earned a scholarship to Texas A&M. At A&M, she was the first female pole vaulter in school history and won two Big 12 Conference titles.

During her first two years as a pro, Erica gradually improved her marks, finishing ninth at the Olympic Trials in 2004 and fourth at the 2005 USA Indoor Championships.

Just when it seemed Erica was poised for a breakthrough she suffered another fluke injury and dislocated her hip and fractured two vertebrae in her back.

Coached by her husband, Mike, Bartolina returned to the track in the winter of 2007 with renewed vigor. Finally healthy, Bartolina started vaulting with more consistency, and her confidence grew.  In practice, she started to clear heights above her personal best mark of 14 feet, 5.25 inches. 

Buoyed by a small group of  friends and family (she grew up in Oregon, an hour away from the Eugene Trials), Bartolina enjoyed the meet of her life, clearing personal-best marks not once but twice.  She eventually finished third at 14-11 and joined Team USA to compete in China at the Summer Games.

Heading to Bejing, Bartolina’s goals were modest. She wanted to make the finals and give herself a shot at a medal. World-record holder Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia and American record-holder Jennifer Stuczynski are heavy favorites for the gold and silver medals. But after that, the competition appeared wide open.

A pair of Americans will be in the women’s pole vault final Monday night but Bartonlina won’t be one of them.  Stuczynski cleared 4.50m/14-9 on her first attempt to advance, while April Steiner also cleared 4.50.  Unfortunately, Bartolina failed to make her first height of 4.30/14-1.34 and will not be in the final

Regardless of her Olympic results, Bartolina’s career has elevated to a new level and we’re confident this competitor will continue to perform well on sport’s grandest stage.

Visit — www.ericabartolina.com — for more info on this amazing athlete and be sure to order a copy of the calendar she sells online to help fund her career.

Congratulations Erica - Stay Pretty Tough!

But the first athletes to secure their Olympic team berths came in the women’s 10,000 at the end of Friday’s session, led by winner Shalane Flanagan in 31 minutes, 34.81 seconds, breaking the Hayward Field mark set by Mary Slaney in 1982. Kara Goucher and Amy Begley also earned trips to Beijing.

Begley barely made it, though, finishing 1 1/2 seconds inside the Olympic qualifying standard. She received pats on the back from 2004 Olympian Flanagan and 2007 world bronze medalist Goucher, then joined them for a celebratory trot around the track.

“It still hasn’t hit me that I’m going to Beijing, because I thought I was off 1 or 2 seconds,” Begley said.  “This is probably the best day ever.”

Name:

Competitive Highlights:

• Placed in the top three at the Oregon state championships all four years of high school.
• Was the first female pole vaulter at Texas A&M.
• Two time Big 12 Conference champion.
• Three time NCAA Championship qualifier.
• Still holds the Texas A&M school record at 4.06m (13’3.75”) and holds the top ten marks ever achieved in the pole vault at Texas A&M
• Personal Best 14′6″ 
• Placed 4th at 2005 USA Indoor Championships.
• 2007  5th place finish at the USA Indoor Championships.   
• Finished 2007 ranked #47 in the world.
• Team USA - Beijing Olympics - 2008 - Seasonal Best 4.55m (14′11″).
  3rd at 2008 US Olympic Trials