Run to Win

Jeff Galloway recently came into the Maine Running Company for the evening to share some of his experience. This is a continuation of my write-up based on the notes that I took during the event. All of the articles will be linked to down at the end of the article as they appear on the website.

The Magic Mile

“You’ve gotta remember, I’ve only been running for 50 years.”

The Magic Mile is Jeff’s way of getting a handle over what is a realistic goal and to know what your current potential is for any given race distance. He has now collected over 15,000 Magic Mile times and the resulting marathon times that were run afterwards, giving him a very good idea of what the different times can mean. It also allowed him to sort his training groups based on their latest mile time so that people would always be training with others that are in approximately the same shape.
(Click here to continue reading…)

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).

What did Alan Webb have to say to the Americans back home after breaking Steve Scott’s mile record in Belgium?

“Dreams come true, man!”

Flotrack has some great videos of Alan Webb’s record-setting mile:

• Video of the Race (low resolution version)
• Post Race Interview

The interview is about 7 minutes long while the refs are waiting for him to take a drug test.

Thanks to Amby Burfoot from Runner’s World for bringing the interview to my attention.

Photo by Erik R. BishoffTwo weeks ago, Alan Webb ran a 3:30.54 in a 1500 meter race in France, the fastest so far this year. Yesterday, he ran the fastest mile this year and broke the American record by running 3:46.91 at the Atletiek Vlaanderenmeet in Belgium. There were less than 1000 people there to see the race.

Webb is having a great year, having already set some fantastic marks in the 800m as well as the 1500m earlier in the season and winning a few meets. Steve Scott, who set the previous mile record of 3:47.69 in 1982, was not surprised that his record was broken.

“I want to personally congratulate Alan,” Scott said. “I anticipated it being broken. After his 1:45 and his 3:30, you knew he was capable of it. It was just a matter of having the right pace and conditions. Even if conditions weren’t perfect, he’s so strong, I knew he could do it. I had a prediction of 3:46.5 for him.

“I’m happy that it was Alan who broke it, and I believe at the end of the day, when all is said and done, that people will consider him the greatest distance runner America has ever had. He has such range, he’s so young and he’s accomplished so much. I have nothing to be ashamed of, losing the record to him.”

The USATF has published a transcript of excerpts from the teleconference with Webb after the run on their website.

Update: There are also videos available of the race itself and his post race interview.

(Sources: USATF - LA Times)

Update: All of the results for races I knew about are now accounted for, as well as the results for a race I hadn’t previously been aware of. There were at least 4561 people who finished a road race on Wednesday.

It is the Fourth of July today, one of the more popular days for a road race in the country. Here is a short recap of the Bridgton Four on the Fourth, the L.L. Bean 10k in Freeport, the York Four on the Fourth, the Winthrop Friends on the Fourth 5k, the Walter Hunt Memorial 3k in Brewer-Bangor, the Kennebunkport Goose Rock Beach 5k, and the Around Mount Desert Island Relay. Updates will appear as I find the results for each race, and I may add more races that I was not aware of, such as the Thomaston 5k.

The first race is the Bridgton Four on the Fourth. This is the one that I decided to run, and the weather was absolutely perfect for a fast, short race on a course with plenty of shade. Erik Stanley broke 20 minutes for the first time in quite a few years, winning the race in 19:57. Carry Buterbaugh ran just over 6 minute pace to win the women’s race in 24:08 on her first attempt at the course. There were 1411 finishers, about 30 shy of last year’s numbers. (Full Results - Photos)

The York Four on the Fourth was won by the local Anthony Balkier in a time of 20:52. The women were led in by Kelsey Smith in 26:50. There were 780 finishers, a healthy growth over last year. (Full Results)

The L.L. Bean 10k in Freeport was won by Ethan Hemphill in 32:33, half of a minute faster than his winning time from last year. Emily Levan had a strong showing to win the women’s race in 36:15, almost a minute faster than second-place Sheri Piers. Joan Samuelson fell back about a minute from last year’s winning time and was the fifth woman to finish. The race grew quite a bit this year, with nearly 200 extra finishers from last year to bring the total to 711. (Full Results - Race Video)

The Kennebunkport Goose Rock Beach 5k was won by again by Mike Griffin, running 6 seconds faster than last year with a winning time of 15:51. He was 50 seconds ahead of second place; a slightly smaller lead than he had last year but still a commanding one. Christine Reaser also repeated last year’s performance, finishing in 18:26. There were 644 finishers, about 30 less than last year. (Full Results)

The Walter Hunt Memorial 4th of July 3K in Brewer/Bangor was won by Steven DeWitt in 8:37. Hilary Maxim led the women in 10:54. Both runners won by less than 10 seconds. There were 490 finishers this year. (Full Results)

The Winthrop Friends on the 4th 5k was won by Gabe Rivard in a speedy 15:07. The women were led by Donna Harriman in 18:31. The race increased by over a third this year, with 407 finishers! That is some huge growth. (Full Results)

The Thomaston 5k was won by Mike Hersom in 19:07. In fourth place over all, Caity Tully won the women’s race in 20:41. There was also a 1 mile kid’s race which was won by Abby Hersom and Keenan Hendricks in 6:33. There were 89 finishers in the 5k, and 58 children in the 1 mile race. (Full Results [5k only] - News Story - Video [start line] - Winner Photo)

The Around Mount Desert Island Relay consisted of 9 teams, 8 of whom finished. The race is comprised of teams of 8 people each, although 11 people ran at least 2 legs of the race; 3 of those 11 ran 3 legs. Team Mules, from Maine, set a course record of 6 hours, 16 minutes and 29 seconds. Crow Athletics was a little over a half hour behind them in 6:52:23. Each team was given a Barbie or Ken doll with a matching bib to use as a baton. There were 68 legs of the race completed by 54 people. (Full Results [pdf])

There were at least 4561 people who finished a road race in Maine today.

Patrick Tarpy absolutely dominated the field at the New England Mile this morning, coming in at an impressive 3 minutes, 54.8 seconds. His excellent race was the first sub-4 minute mile run by a Maine runner on Maine soil, and earned him a $1500 bonus that was generously donated by Smith Barney. When the race was over, he was asked at what point he knew that he was going to break 4 minutes. His reply? “Yesterday.”

Congratulations to Pat, and to the rest of the great field of around 300 finishers this year. Official results will be available later this afternoon.

This week last year saw a good mix of workout and race news, along with a great recipe and some news on the moron of the day.

• The second New England Mile road race was won by Dereck Treadwell, but he was unable to bring home the sub-4 prize money. Let’s hope that somebody manages to break the barrier tomorrow morning in this year’s race!
• In other racing news, it was week 6 of the Back Cove 5k race series. That meant that there was an official leader board, although it was not announced yet. This year the leader board will be available every week as soon as the results are entered into the website.
• Ben Roethlisberger made the news when he crashed his motorcycle and split his head open. He recovered quickly, but not before somebody tried to sell a replica of his helmet on eBay. (The guy was selling an empty box.)
• The New York City marathon sent out their welcome letters to everybody who made it through their lottery system.
• I haven’t had grilled catfish for a year now; I should start leaving more recipes on the site.
• I tried to see how many pushups I could do but wrists began hurting before I got fatigued so I stopped at 46. I should grab a couple of dumbbells and see what I can do this year as a good comparison. Most of my pushups lately have been with my hands on medicine balls.

Louie Luchini is going to have his work cut out for him on Sunday at the New England Mile, because Patrick Tarpy has just announced that he will be joining the field. The $1500 prize for the first sub-4 minute mile on Maine soil is really up for grabs. Pat Tarpy has recently run a 23:15 8k. He ran a 3:41.28 in the 1500 in Boston last week, the equivalent of a 3:59.3 mile. The last time that I raced him, he beat me by over 2 minutes at the Elliott Festival 5k with a time of 14:16. There may very well be 4 or 5 people below the course record of 4:05.

Whether you can run or not, I recommend getting out to at least watch what is going to be a spectacular race.