I just wanted to run around 6 minute pace, which I managed with a 5:35 starting mile followed by 5:52 and 6:08 2nd and 3rd miles for my 16th place 18:39 finish. I had gotten in my warmup with the 5:30 crowd behind Hannaford and then ran the race barefoot, but my form wasn’t the best it could have been and my feet were a little more tender this week than they were a few weeks ago after the race.

Dave Manz (01:46:35) and Heather Henningson (02:24:33) have both maintained their positions atop the leaderboard, both of whom managed to bring their times down with this week’s race. Dave cut 6 seconds off of his average time by replacing last week’s 18:57 with this week’s 18:23, and Heather cut 14 seconds off by replacing week 3′s 26:19 with this week’s 24:54.

I managed to improve my position on the leaderboard from 4th to 3rd by cutting an average of 36 seconds off per race after dropping my week 6 22:03 finish so that my accumulated time is now 1:53:12.

This week’s interesting stat: I won the series with a cumulative time of 01:42:29 in 2007, and last year’s winning time was 1:42:19 by Curtis Wheeler with Tyler Jasud winning in 2008 in 1:39:33. Right now it looks like Noah Schoneberg is on pace for the win if he can keep up his current efforts for at least 2 more races unless Dave can drop another 4 minutes off of his 6-race cumulative time.

More Info: Full Results – Leader Board – Complete Runner’s List

Will you be there? If so, keep an eye out for me.

I was hoping to get to the expo this weekend, and may still get there on Sunday, but I think that the best bet to catch me there is going to be late this afternoon or early this evening.

I won’t be able to make it to the expo tomorrow because I will be running the marathon down in Exeter.

Sunday is still open but I might not actually get into Boston at all, weather dependent.

And of course, on Monday I’ll be watching the race. Forecasts right now look pretty good for the runners, which tempts me to register for next year’s race solely to see if there’s really bad weather. When I run, it’s no good, when I don’t, it’s beautiful.

Either way, this year I’ll be cheering from the base of Heartbreak Hill, most likely, so if you’re going to be running then leave a comment and let me know what you’ll be wearing so I can try to keep an eye out for you. I’ll check in on Sunday at some point to see who is running.

Good luck, and fast times!

Volunteers will be given a T-Shirt and a coupon to attend a 2010 Portland Sea Dog’s baseball game, and all volunteers will be entered into a drawing for 1 of 25 Peak Performance gift certificates that will be raffled off.

If you’d like to volunteer, you can see what volunteer positions are still required and can sign up by visiting this page:
http://www.doitsports.com/volunteer/jobs-by-date.tcl?event_id=159487

(Don’t forget, Atayne will be doing a trash run as well if that is more your style.)

Nick Wheeler won the race in 17:02, followed a few seconds later by Stover Bedard, Andrew Clamence and Ross Nickerson.

Lilian Childress had a slightly larger lead, winning the women’s race in 21:42 with a minute cushion.

(More Info: Full Results – Photos)

Daniel Salvo led the way this evening, beating Seth Differ by 11 seconds in a time of 18:45.

Robin Metcalf had a slightly larger lead than Blue Butterfield in the women’s race, winning 20:10 to 22:20.

I chose not to go into town last night, as I needed to make up for losing a few hours in the middle of the day to visit the doctor’s office over a tick bite.

(More Info: Full Results)

Mike is going to attempt to run 500 miles over the span of 10 days starting next week, averaging almost 2 marathons per day as he runs around a 1 mile paved loop.

I recently did a coaching call with Mike where we discussed his fund-raising efforts for various non-profit organizations, including Camp Sunshine. (I’m still in the process of editing the recording and transcript.)

I’ll link up to the video tomorrow morning once it is available on WCSH6′s website.

(And don’t forget – after you get done watching the news tonight, head over to Maine Running Company to listen to Greg Meyer speak about Boston and running your first marathon or half marathon.)

http://www.competitiveaging.com

The site isn’t pretty right now, but it’s functional in terms of getting the sample tracks out there so that you can listen to them. The new site will get put together this weekend, and the CDs will be available on Monday. I am planning on giving the first 50 CDs away, so sign up now to make sure you get the info for when they are available!

Thanks to a thoughtful reader, though, it appears as though Nike might be changing their minds. Here’s the reply he received through their help desk system:

Hello,

Nike is announcing today that it recognizes Arien O’Connell as a winner in last weekend’s Nike Women’s Marathon with the fastest chip time, completing the full race in 2:55:11. She shattered her previous time and achieved an amazing accomplishment.

Arien will receive the same recognition and prize, including a Tiffany bowl, the full marathon elite group winner received. Arien was unfortunately not immediately recognized as a race winner because she did not start the race with the elite running group, which is required by USATF standards. Because of their earlier start time, the runners in the elite group had no knowledge of the outstanding race Arien was running and could not adjust their strategies accordingly.

Learning from the unique experience in this year’s race, Nike has decided today to eliminate the elite running group from future Nike Women’s Marathons. Next year, all runners will run in the same group and all will be eligible to win.

Nike has a proven track record of supporting athletes and we’re proud to be able to honor Arien and other athletes who surpass their goals and achieve great accomplishments.

Sincerely,
Nike+ / Nike Running

So Nike is going to own up to their not overly well thought out system and change things next year, and will recognize Arien for the great race that she ran this weekend.

They are not going to take away the win from Nora Colligan, since she did in fact win the race, but are going to have a dual prize to recognize that Arien was the first woman to cross the line that started with the main pack.

I’ll update with a link to the press release when (and if) this becomes official.

Update: Still no official word, but there is an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about it that was published about an hour after my article.

His latest set of woes was set in place by his guilty plea last July to distributing heroin in Virginia. His recent hearing in that case resulted in an additional 5 year prison term once he finishes serving his current 4 year prison term.

I’m not sure what I can add to that story, other than that I hope that he can find something useful to do with his life after nearly a decade in prison. It’s a long fall for a former world record holder, which all began with having to cheat in order to attain that record.

(More Info: ESPN)

“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)

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)

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)

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:

That was an amazing come from behind performance from Nick Symmonds. He just left everybody in the dust and didn’t even look like he was trying. All 3 Oregon runners came from the back of the pack in the last few hundred meters to take over that race.

Hats off to Christian Smith, who didn’t have an Olympic qualifying standard run before the race and who literally dove at the finish line to nick 3^rd place in a time that is going to send him to Beijing as well.

What a great race.

(Hat Tip for the video: Steve Speirs)

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. (Update: 31 people finished – Full Results)

Updates to follow.

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)

• 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).

When you cross the finish line after all the labor your body has prepared months for, it is an incredible experience. You forget all the pain you felt running the race as you cross the finish line and look into the eyes of victory. I did the impossible; I ran a marathon. It really was similar to the moment of joy and elation I had when I first held Allison and looked in her eyes. Something you cannot describe. The tears and emotions would not stop.

I had a c-section and I have to say that giving birth was a thousand and one times easier than running a marathon. Mostly because of the prescription medication they give you after child birth. I am taking Tylenol 8 Hour and really, they are not enough.

Having never given birth and having no prospects of ever giving birth, I just can’t imagine the marathon being tougher. I can see where she is coming from with her comparison of having to spend a good chunk of the year training and that you have to make a lot of sacrifices for a marathon, but the end results are very different. The marathon is a very in the moment thing. You can reflect on past marathons, but once it is over and you have recovered you move on to the next one. Having a child is anything but a momentary experience.

Maybe I think this way because I am a man and do not have any children yet. It is just a little hard for me to draw the comparison. It was still fun to read Laura’s article, though. She wrote up her marathon race report a few hours after, if you are interested in reading that.

I heard on the radio this morning while I was at the gym that they are thinking of going Atlantic Maritime. It is in today’s newspaper as well. I am very excited.

The cynic in me assumes that the referendum is going to fail, though. Why? When we save on our energy bills, don’t get as depressed because it is so dark in the wintertime, 90% of us don’t have to worry about the change of time zones anymore, and we can accomplish more during the day than previously?

It will fail because people’s tv schedules will be off by an hour for less than half of the year. Things will be a little more confusing for commuters who go to Boston or one of the other New England states, and things will be a little more confusing for people who come to visit Maine in the winter (of which there aren’t nearly as many as those who visit in the Summer and Autumn). It is not going to affect enough of those people however (and the visitors can’t even vote on it anyway). Just the fact that somebody’s favorite tv show would start at 9pm instead of 8pm is going to be enough that they will vote against this. I hate the babble box.