Run to Win

Kenenisa Bekele, Haile Gebrselassie, and Paul Tergat have written an open letter to IOC President Jacques Rogge in an effort to return cross country running to either the Summer or Winter Olympics. Here’s a copy of that letter:

AN OPEN LETTER to the

President of the IOC, Mr. Jacques Rogge and president of the IAAF, Mr. Lamine Diack

We the undersigned global champions and record breakers would like to invite your two highly esteemed federations to consider the re-introduction of cross country running into the Olympic Games programme, either as a summer or a winter sport.

Cross country running is of course the most natural, indeed elemental of all sports. It is a fascinating discipline whose roots are lost in the earliest history of mankind.

In the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, cross country running was so far seen for the last time with the victory of one of the greatest ever Olympians, Finland’s Paavo Nurmi.

The official report at the time noted that a combination of unseasonal hot weather and the effects of the heat of a near-by industrial chimney – yes we had global warming in those days too! – meant that the air temperature on the course was as high as 36 degrees Centigrade (96.8 Fahrenheit). As such, of the 38 starts, 23 failed to finish. The problems of 1924 were certainly unique.

So we humbly and respectfully ask, what is your opinion about returning cross country running to a future Olympic Games, either on the programme of a summer or winter celebration?

We think it would be wonderful to give the worlds best cross country runners the chance to compete in the greatest of all sporting festivals, and are hopeful of a positive response.

Yours in sport,

Haile Gebrselassie, Kenenisa Bekele, Paul Tergat

I would love to see cross country in the Olympics, as well as some event such as a 24 hour or 100 mile trail race. I think that those sorts of sports lend themselves well to not only the Olympic Spirit but also to the Olympic Marketing Machine. Right now, the only foot race off of the track is the marathon, and I would love to see some other races that took to the streets (or preferably, the fields and woods.)

Realistically, I don’t expect to see an ultra- event in the Olympics, but I could see cross country being added in 12 or 16 years or so. I certainly hope to see it, and would make it a point to watch as long as whoever is providing the coverage deigned to allow it.

(More Info: Original Letter [PDF] – Hat Tip: Runner Vision)

This week last year was a busy one, with a lot of quality articles on a wide range of topics. News bites were mixed in with training advice, and a good description of toys was mixed in with reader questions.

• The week began with a discussion of a number of different types of toys that runners use when then are training. I covered watches and pedometers to GPS receivers to technical fabrics and water bottles. This article was a continuation of on the Equipment series between Run to Win and Straight to the Bar.
• I posed the question, “When does your week begin?” My week begins on Monday and ends on Sunday. It makes it easier to plan my workouts and gives me a better idea about how to interpret my weekly mileage in a more useful manner.
• I offered one of my favorite racing tips, which I coincidentally included in my new book that I am publishing next week. This tip teaches you how to race with courtesy while gaining a competitive advantage over the other runners.
• Wes was getting ready for a new racing distance, and wanted to know how to hydrate for a half-marathon. He has since moved on to running full-length marathons and is actually running tomorrow morning at Walt Disney. Good luck, Wes!
• Is it possible to run under 2 hours in the marathon? This was a question that I was pondering a year ago when Paul Tergat still held the world record. Now that Haile Gebrselassie has run 2:04:26 and may make another run for a new record in Dubai this Friday, the sub-2 hour mark looks like it is becoming more of a reality. I really hope that we get to see it in the next decade or so.
• This week two years ago, I demonstrated how to use a machine that I don’t even plan to bother with again, the leg press sled. I just stick to doing squats these days. Tomorrow is also the 2 year anniversary of the death of Frank Fixaris. He was a Giants fan, so if he can he’ll be looking over them in their game against the Cowboys.
• This week two years ago was also when I had a great run in an unseasonably warm January, which was not unlike what the weather has been like for the past week here. If I can avoid it, though, I’d like to avoid breaking my neck again. Not that I did, but when I first sprained my neck getting out of bed on my birthday, it sure felt and sounded as though I had broken it.

Haile Gebrselassie won the Berlin Marathon this weekend in a world record time of 2:04:26! He surpassed Paul Tergat’s time of 2:04:55 from 4 years ago at the same race. With his win, he moves into second place in the world marathon majors for the 2006/2007 scoring year, and is tied for first place in the 2007/2008 standings. The conditions were near perfect, reaching a high in the low 60s at the end of the race and with very little wind.

Gete Wami moved into 1^st place after her win in the women’s race in 2:23:17.

I thought that Gebrselassie was going to break Paul Tergat’s record, but I did not expect to see it until next year or the year after. It turns out that he was able to break the record much earlier than I had given him credit for. While it is not likely, I hope that this record spurs on a series of world record runs in the next couple of years, because I would like to see the record get down below 2 hours. I do not know if anybody will ever be able to do that, but it would be something to see!

(Source: World Marathon Majors)

This week last year I had settled into the house and had time to write quite a bit. All of the news had to do with running, and there were various tips on working out and weight lifting.

• I finally got back to my animated series this week last year. This time, the animation was of my photographer performing a bridge rather than of myself. In general, he’d do the exercise while I set up the camera, and then we would swap positions and he’d snap the pictures. We didn’t get any good ones of myself, so I used the ones of him. I also discussed the benefits of doing bridges after a query from Bud Gibson on the subject.
• The Patriot’s Day 5 Miler is always on the same day as the Boston Marathon (except this year when it got cancelled). Last year was the first time that I ran the race here in Portland.
• I recommended that you always run facing traffic, unless there are local laws to the contrary.
• In marathon news, Paul Tergat got injured and had to scratch the London Marathon, and Lance Armstrong announced he’s running the New York Marathon. Rumor has it that he is running it again this year, as well.
• I continued my thoughts on the New Rules with New Rule #12 (fast vs slow lifting) and New Rule #13 (warm ups may not make you warm).

Paul Tergat won the New York City marathon last November, and has been training really well in the lead up to next weekend’s London Marathon. Tergat had to pull out of the London Marathon at the last minute, though, due to a calf injury.
(Click here to continue reading…)

The New York City marathon was this morning. Susan Chepkemei from Kenya had some problems a few miles from the finish, and lost by about 15 seconds to Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia. I am sure the sports highlight shows will show Chepkemei vomiting as she ran before showing the finish. The men’s finish was very exciting; Meb Keflezighi (USA) could not stick with Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa or with Paul Tergat of Kenya, and finished 3rd in 2:09:56. Ramaala took the lead early and pushed the pace hard in the middle miles, even forgoing his water bottle around 16. Tergat stuck right with him and was not going to give up an inch, and the two had one hell of a sprint finish. About a half mile from the finish, maybe 2/3, Tergat took the lead and Ramaala looked like he was finished and wouldn’t be able to fight for the win. He did, though, and the two were even right up into the final seconds of the race. Tergat won by 1 second in 2:09:30; Ramaala is going to make the highlight reels with his dive after finishing. He was hurting, and perhaps I am a bad person for thinking so, but the drama of it made me giggle while I watched it.