Run to Win

A year ago, Haile Gebrselassie set the marathon world record in Berlin. This year, despite losing a week of training this month, he was able to break his own mark under near perfect weather conditions.

“Today, I’m so, so, so happy. Everything was perfect today,” Gebrselassie said. “I had a small calf muscle problem and I stopped for a week, and then I started again a week ago. Then today I had, you know, some doubts … but it was really very good.”

His final time of 2:03:59 is almost half a minute faster than last year’s world record pace. This was the 3^rd time he’s won Berlin.

That is not quite walking…

(More Info: ESPN)

Labor Day up here in Maine usually means a lot of traffic as tourists try to get up here for one last weekend, a cook out with family and friends before everybody’s kids go back to school (or right after they go back to school) and the official start of Autumn around here, which will last about a month and a half and then it will be Winter. (Yes, I know that the dates don’t match what the calendar says, but this is Maine.)

Well, Labor Day Weekend meant something different to Chuck Engle. For Chuck, it meant that it was a good opportunity to fly around the country winning marathons.

Chuck is no stranger to back to back marathons, having won 60 of his 100 top 3 finishes over the past 5 years. He’s been on the podium or in the money more than any other athlete in the marathon since the turn of the century. As far as I am aware, though, this is the first time that he’s attempted to win back to back to back marathons.
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The Back Cove Weekly Series is now down to the final 2 weeks with the conclusion of tonight’s race. It was a rather warm 82 degrees and sunny out this evening, although it cooled off fast as the sun went down after the race. The air was pretty dry, which led to a lot of stone dust getting kicked up on the trail, even by the dogs that were trotting along.

The University of Southern Maine sent it’s entire compliment of runners to the race this evening, which led to a much larger field up front than we usually see. There were 7 people under 17 minutes, and over 30 people under 19 minutes. They should send those guys out more often during the Summer, is my thinking! Tonight’s race had 123 finishers total.

Tyler Jasud (01:39:33) finished right behind Dan Franek, both clocking 16:22. As far as I can tell, 3 of the top 10 were Dirigo runners and the rest were USM runners.

The field was so deep tonight that it pushed the first place woman back to 49^th place. Lauren Lohmeyer won the race in 21:22, 62 seconds ahead of Carol Fanning.

There was not a whole lot of movement at the top of the leader board this week, and I don’t expect there to be for the rest of the season. There were 5 new additions to the board, bringing the total number of runners who have competed in at least 6 of the races to 109.

I was running a little late getting out of work since I wanted to finish what I was working on, but that didn’t leave me much time to get to the starting line. I went out at a warm up pace for a short time, but my warmup basically turned into a tempo run as I got to the Back Cove about 6 minutes faster than usual. I didn’t think it would be worth running intervals as a result and just extended the tempo run to 8 miles to include the race. With all of the USM runners, though, it would have been a great night to do intervals and have people to chase.

(Full Results - Leader Board)

Track coach Trevor Graham has been banned for life from any competition sanctioned by USATF, IAAF, or the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Graham is the person that broke open the BALCO scandal by mailing a syringe of “the clear” to USADA. Numerous athletes that he has coached have been caught doping or have admitted to doping in the past, and all claim that they got their drugs from Graham. He has been convicted in a federal court and is still awaiting sentencing.

“There has been a belief out there that coaches, doctors and other people who support athletes were somehow outside the long arm of the rules,” USADA CEO Travis Tygart said in a phone interview. “This is a strong reminder that they’re not, and that we’ll use our authority to hold coaches accountable if they assist and aid athletes in doping.”

Graham has been operating under a temporary ban for the past couple of years, but I can not imagine any athlete wanting to work with him even had he not received a lifetime ban. There have been numerous race organizations, especially in Europe, that have refused to allow athletes coached by him into their events for the past few years.

Hopefully this sets a good precedent for following the rules and competing cleanly, both from an athlete perspective and from their coaches and trainers.

(More Info: USATF - ESPN)

Were you watching the 800 meter race in the Olympic Trials the other day? If not, you missed a great show. I’ve included a video after the break of the race.

The first 2 and a half minutes are athlete introductions, and the gun goes off right at the 2:30 mark. The race lasts less than 2 minutes so if you are strapped for time start at that point:
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Here is a quick breakdown of races today throughout Maine. I will update this page as I find more results. If you know of any races that are missing, please let me know in the comments so that I can add it! Same goes for any photo galleries.

The current tally of the number of runners that competed today in Maine: 5152

The LL Bean 4^th of July 10k in Freeport is first this year, since I decided to go back and race there after taking a few years off.
Ethan Hemphill once again took top honors, finishing in 32:36 with a 15 second margin. Kristin Barry led the rest of the women by 68 seconds with a time of 35:12. There were 918 finishers. (Full Results - Photos)

Next up is the 32^nd Bridgton 4 on the 4^th. Stan Pyle was looking to go under 20 minutes today, but he missed the mark. He can’t be too upset, though, because he beat some very stiff competition to win the race in 20:26, winning by only 2 seconds. Carry Buterbaugh had about a half minute lead with her winning time of 23:26. There were 1670 finishers. (Full Results - Race Website - Photos: CD1 - CD2 - CD3 - CD4 - CD5 - CD6 - CD7 )

The York 4 on the 4th also had a pretty good draw, with 787 finishers. Bob Winn had a 19 second lead with his winning time of 21:10, while Amy Gosztyla had to fight for her 4 second winning time of 22:51. (Full Results)

The Goose Rocks Beach Association puts on an annual 5k in Kennebunkport, and it also had a large draw with 777 finishers. The entire field got “Huppeed” when Nathan Huppe crossed the line in 15:49, 13 seconds ahead of 2^nd place. Abby Iselborn had a similar lead over the rest of the women with her winning time of 18:22. (Full Results - Race Website)

The Walter Hunt Memorial 3k in Brewer was led by Ruben Sanca in 8:25, giving him a win by 7 seconds. Hilary Maxim had a 19 second lead with her winning time of 10:27. There were 472 finishers. (Full Results)

The Friends on the 4^th 5k, put on by the Friends of the Cobbosse Watershed in Winthrop, was won by 16 year old Luke Fontaine in 16:16. He won by less than a half second. Lauren Laroche had a slightly larger lead of 18 seconds to take the women’s title. There were 405 finishers. (Full Results - Race Website)

There were 107 finishers in the Firecracker 5k in Thomaston. Darren Winchenbach won the race in 19:45. (Full Results - Video - Photos)

There was a 5.1 mile race in Brooks called Let Freedom Ring. There were 16 finishers, led by Kevin Patrick who won with over a 4 minute lead in 28:34. (Full Results - Photos & Video)

There were 8 teams of 8 legs each in the 6^th Annual Mount Desert Island Relay, a 61.09 mile race. I have not yet had a chance to figure out how many people ran more than one leg but there are at least a few so there were less than 64 competitors. The Spudland Racers won by over an hour, setting a course record. (Full Results [pdf])

I am still awaiting the results of the Sebec Village 4th of July 5k.

Even with the results of at least 3 1 races still pending, there are over 100 500 more people hitting the streets for a race today than ran last year. This is great for the sport. I am looking forward to seeing what the final tally comes to; currently, we know that at least 4624 5152 people finished a race today.

Updates to follow.

After falling halfway back into the field in the 4^th heat of the opening round in yesterday’s 100m Olympic Trials, Tyson Gay had a lot of ground to make up. He did well for 70 meters, but then started to slow down. Only a late surge in the last 7 to 10 meters got him into the top 4 of his heat to allow him to continue on to the quarter finals.

In the quarter finals, he did not disappoint. Gay ran his second attempt in 9.77 seconds, breaking Maurice Green’s American record of 9.79 seconds and Olympic Trials record of 9.91 seconds. His performance also broke the Hayworth Field record of 9.81 seconds.

Jeff Demps followed Gay to the finish line in 10.01 seconds, breaking the American Junior record of 10.06 seconds and the American high school record of 10.08 seconds. He also tied the world junior record.

In the second heat, Travis Padgett broke the American collegiate record of 9.90 by running 9.89 seconds.

So far there have been 7 men who have run under 10 seconds. The US is going to have a formidable sprint team to send to Beijing in a month.

Update: Tyson Gay ran a wind-assisted 9.68 seconds today. He had a 4.1 meters per second tailwind. That’s a world’s fastest when disregarding wind assists.

(More Info: USATF)

This week last year was all about racing, specifically focusing on the New England Mile. Alas, the NE Mile no longer exists, but at least it went out with a bang. I also delved a little into politics and into cross training last year.

• Early in the week, it was announced that we had secured a $1500 bonus for breaking 4 minutes in the New England Mile. If it happened, then it would be the first time that a native Mainer had done so on Maine soil. Standout runner Louis Luchini and Pete Bottomley appeared on the Kid’s First radio show before the race, discussing the father/child competition and general running. Shortly after the show was announced, though, Pat Tarpy announced his intention to race. Not only did he intend to race, but Tarpy won the race in 3 minutes and 54 seconds, winning the race and taking home the prize money. After the race, he was asked when he knew that he was going to win the race. “Yesterday,” was his reply.
• In other racing news, the first Back Cove 5k Leader Board was announced. I expect that this year’s first leader board (which will be announced on Wednesday evening) will be much larger. Not only have there been over 100 runners every week, but there have been quite a few people that have run all 5 of the initial races so far.
• For cross training, I suggested that you pay attention to your lawn and do some yard work. You can get a good workout that way and your spouse will love you for it.
• Delving into politics, I tried to determine whether the NCAA had the right to kick a blogger out the baseball finals so that he couldn’t “scoop” the paid media sponsors. I never did see what agreements that he had to sign in order to get his press pass.
• This week two years ago I concentrated mostly on topical news, both local and national. I also shared my recipe for grilled catfish and tried to determine how many pushups I was capable of doing (46).