David Rudisha Wins His Melbourne 800 While ‘Just at 80 Percent’ The tall Kenyan lowered the world 800-meter record twice in 2010, to 1:41.01, so his comfortable victory in Melbourne, Australia on Thursday night in 1:43.88 is a somewhat modest achievement by his extraordinary 
standards. He’s speaking openly about going under 1:40. “It’s not something easy, but we’re very focused that we can do that. We can try to do that,” Rudisha explains. “I just feel like right now, I’m just at 80 percent. There’s a lot more improvement before London (2012 Olympics).” But his major emphasis right now is a gold medal at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea this summer. “Your name will never be forgotten. Having the world record sometimes, someone can come along and break it,” he points out, “but if you get the World Championship medal or an Olympic medal nobody comes to take that from you.” (photo of David Rudisha by Giancarlo Colombo/Photo Run) More
Nick Symmonds Takes an Encouraging First Step in 2011 The Oregon Track Club Elite athlete was second to David Rudisha in that 800 in Melbourne, but his 1:45.09 is the fastest season opener he’s ever had in the event and he did accomplish his chief goal, getting an “A” qualifier for the World Championships. “To have Nick to do the (‘A’ Standard) his first time out, is just nice to have in the bag. That was great,” asserts Symmonds’ coach, Mark Rowland. Another American running for the Oregon Track Club Elite, Tyler Mulder, took fourth place and broke 1:46 for the first time with a 1:45.73. More
Brett Gotcher Joins Boston Marathon Field Gotcher’s 2:10:36 in Houston in 2010 was the fourth fastest U.S. marathon debut ever. He’ll race from Hopkinton to Boston on April 17. He was a 2009 USA 20K titleist and represented the United States at the 2009 World Half Marathon Championships and the 2009 World Cross Country Championships. A former teammate of Ryan Hall’s at Stanford, Gotcher is now part of the McMillan Elite team in Flagstaff, Arizona. It has also been announced that Antonio Vega, the 2010 USA Half Marathon champ, has been unable to train properly due to a stress fracture in the pelvis and has withdrawn from the Boston Marathon. “As tough as it is to have to sit out this year’s race, I look forward to coming back and running the Boston Marathon in future years,” states Vega. More
Is Jeff Riseley Leading an Australian Running Revival? For the second year in a row, the starstudded men’s 1500 at the Melbourne Track Classic went to local lad Riseley, who picked up speed at the top of the 
straightaway and defeated Olympic gold medalist Asbel Kiprop, Alan Webb, and Nick Willis with a 3:36.71 on Thursday. “I gave it everything in the straight and I think he (Kiprop) was surprised that there was still someone there,” states Riseley. “I have beaten him twice, I have beaten (Bernard) Lagat and I have beaten the World Champion (Yusef Kamel of Bahrain) so I know I can do it.” Thursday was also a night on which Australia’s Ben Lt Lawrence closed quickly and took second behind Bernard Lagat (and ahead of Chris Solinsky) in the 5000 in 13:10.08, a personal best by 15 seconds. (photo of Jeff Riseley by Kazu Eguchi/Photo Run) More
Chicago Marathon Registration Closes in Record Time Registration for the 2011 Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 9 has closed in record time as the maximum 45,000 participants signed up in 31 days for the 34th annual event. And a record $12 million was raised by runners during the 2010 marathon for local, national and global charitable causes. “We are no strangers to records at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon where numerous world class athletic performances were achieved over the years; but these two records are truly meaningful as they speak to the enthusiasm from runners around the world who want to be a part of our event and the thousands who use the race to make a difference in their communities,” said Bank of America Chicago and Illinois Market President Tim Maloney. Entry into the sold-out event can still be obtained through the Bank of America Chicago Marathon’s charity program, which has generated nearly $60 million since its inception in 2002. More than 90 affiliated non-profits have available entries for the 2011 race. Visit www.chicagomarathon.com for charity program details and information on how to register by joining a charity team.
After Giving Birth, ‘No Hill Will Be Too Steep,’ Blogs Deena Kastor She also believes there will be “no interval too taxing and no long run too enduring.” Thanks to baby daughter Piper, Kastor finds “my typical days of 12 hours sleep are long gone, but I have this new surge of hormones to keep me on cloud nine, at least for the time being.” She reports “Piper has all her dad’s features with the exception of having acquired my large, protruding rib cage. I’m not saying she’ll be a distance runner, because she may be may be a flutist, a balloon-blowing circus clown or anything else requiring a large lung capacity.” The American recordholder in the marathon is, of course, “itching to run again once we get this parenting thing down.” More
So What HAS Josh McDougal Been Up To? McDougal was a homeschooled runner – with an 8:48 two-mile time – from a very small New York State town near the Canadian border. But his work 
ethic became legendary, and he went on to become a 2007 NCAA Cross Country champion for Liberty University, defeating Galen Rupp. McDougal is the reason Sam Chelanga, the reigning two-time NCAA titleist, transferred to Liberty. But McDougal’s own running, partly due to overtraining, turned sour. “I spent the summer sleeping on the floor of the bedroom I grew up in because I couldn’t sleep on a bed,” he recalls. “I couldn’t use a pillow. I just slept in the crucifix position because of the pain that had built up. I could barely walk. I would limp around the house. The muscles of my leg, you could literally pick them up. You couldn’t squeeze them; they were rock hard. I had just run on them so hard.” The article by Phil Latter at “More” is subtitled “the rise, fall, and rebirth of Josh McDougal,” but it’s still somewhat unclear what role top tier running could play in that rebirth. (photo of Josh McDougal by Victah Sailer) More
Kipsang and Merga Could Threaten Lake Biwa Course Record Wilson Kipsang of Kenya has a career marathon best of 2:04:57. Merga’s best is 2:06:39; he also won the Houston and Boston Marathons in 2009 and
is coming off a 59:24 performance at the RAK Half Marathon in the United Arab Emirates. With a good pace and decent weather, they could take the 2:07:34 course record at Sunday’s Lake Biwa Marathon in Japan. There’s another record these two guys can chase; it turns out the fastest marathon ever run in the month of March is a 2:06:49 by Sylvester Teimet in the 2010 Seoul Marathon. If the top two contenders falter, the Lake Biwa Marathon could go to Mohamed El Hachimi of Morocco, Iaroslav Musinschi of Moldova, Yared Asmerom of Eritrea, or Moses Kangogo of Kenya, all of whom have run 26.2 miles in 2:08 and change. (photo of Derbia Merga by Victah Sailer) More
Running Won Out for Heather Kampf – But It Had Rivals The former Heather Dorniden recently placed third in the 800 at the USA Indoor Championships. In high school, she’d been a salutatorian, a gymnast, and an accomplished flutist. “I had been practicing scholarship audition pieces and had intended to play in college, until I started getting scholarship offers for running as well,” explains Kampf, who was an NCAA Indoor 800 champ for the University of Minnesota. “I knew both running and music would demand quite a bit of my time – especially on top of academics – so I decided that running was the thing that made me happiest, and I could continue to play the flute on the side if I had time.” The multifaceted Kampf is now with Team USA Minnesota, and emphasizes that she “didn’t want people to think I put my “real life” pursuits (going to grad school to become a physical therapist) on hold to chase an unrealistic dream. Now just over a year into my pro running career, I have settled my past worries, but still wonder what I need to do to become a true contender for World Championship and Olympic rosters.” Third in the nationals at a tender age is a start. More
Bolt Will Help Celebrate 25th Anniversary of Herculis Meet in Monaco Herculis is one of the European track tour stops most beloved by world class athletes. Monaco’s Stade Louis II is gorgeous and track is supremely 
quick. Usain Bolt, who’ll be looking to defend his World Championships 100 and 200-meter gold medals in South Korea this summer, will be doing a 100-meter dash at the silver anniversary edition of Herculis on July 22. “I am really looking forward to running for the first time in Monaco. I have been there several times at the IAAF Gala but have never actually competed there,” notes Bolt. “Monaco is a beautiful place and when Prince Albert extended the invitation I could not say no. I like the warm weather and the fast track and hope to perform well in the Herculis meeting for its 25th anniversary.” (photo of Usain Bolt by Jiro Mochizuki/Photo Run) More
At Team USA Arizona, Community Service Is ‘Part of the Deal’ And the athletes and coaches are gladder and richer for it. Assistant Coach Trina Painter wrote a blog, addressed to the athletes, about a recent event an elementary school, when she watched “an unending line of kids from kindergarten to fifth grade happily running laps with the reward being an opportunity to run through Team USA Arizona’s ‘tunnel’ for a chance to slap your hands …. Some were sprinting, some were jumping to catch as many high fives from you as possible, or running hard to see how many times they could dash through the tunnel. ” Painter remembers “I saw happiness on the faces of students who come from broken homes, including a student who was homeless for many months. He was so excited to slap hands with you as he ran through your tunnel. I saw several students who have felt the pain and suffering of losing a parent or family member running with such joy and freedom, all because you chose to visit their school. I saw students who struggle to sit still in class (and who are forever getting into trouble) discover that maybe their energy could fuel them to become super-star distance runners like you someday.” And she continues – and it’s deeply moving - saluting the runners who make “an impact on all of those kids whether you know it not.” More
Here’s Today’s Running Song of the Day This selection was a staple of classic rock radio (is there still such a thing?) and should have some resonance for folks who prefer group workouts, or who always find themselves surrounded during road races. Anyway, it’s got “Running” in the title. More
The Lure of ‘Destination’ Races Increases You like to run, you like the exoticism and adventure of visiting new locales, so why not combine both activities? Rocket scientists can figure this stuff out, and so can a lot of other folks. Our own “Runner’s World” stalwart Bart Yasso has done the Everest Marathon and Death Valley’s Badwater Ultramarathon and, more recently, Comrades Marathon in South Africa – which is actually 56 miles. “It’s fun to do the big race, to live off of that energy from the crowds along the New York City streets, but there is a very nice feeling to running through a smaller-scale, off-the-beaten path destination, too,” notes Yasso. Kelly Allen of Marathon Tours and Travel points out that for many sojourners “the marathon is the catalyst, but it’s about the travel and the experience in the place or the country, so the runner can customize the trip around the marathon” like the Great Wall Marathon in China and the Safaricom Marathon in Kenya. More
Similar Posts:
- Moses Mosop in Chicago Marathon
- Palmiero-Winters’ Historic Badwater
- David Rudisha Plans His Peak
- Anna Pierce in Boston Mile
- Jenny Simpson in USA 3000
