Well, this weekend happened to be a very busy one, but I took it off and spent some time with friends instead of paying attention to the running world. I was not able to score a Red Sox playoff ticket, although I did get to go to the circus across the street from Fenway. They were traveling out west at that point, so there wasn’t much to see.
For those of you who (like me) had their head in the sand last weekend and haven’t paid much attention, here’s a quick round up of the happenings and goings on:
- The Chicago Marathon was a fiasco when a heat wave caused the race to close down halfway through. The organizers knew that it was going to be hot well in advance, and did stock extra water and gatorade at the aid stations. However, they did not stock enough, and they did not increase the frequency of those aid stations. The race had to be closed off due to the high number of hospitalizations and the lack of resources to handle the folks who were overheating. Runners were told to stop and cut the course short if they hadn’t made it through the half marathon within a certain time frame. One gentleman died, a cop named Chad Schieber from Michigan, but it was determined that the heat did not play a major role in that due to his existing heart condition. The race conditions were much worse than people expected, but all in all there have certainly been worse and some races take pride in their extreme conditions. I still plan to run the race in a few years once my wife has the time in October to spend a week or two out there with me (she already has at least 8 or 9 days worth of places to eat planned out for us when we go!) (More Info: Washington Post and just about every other newspaper in the country.)
- Roberto Madrazo, a former governor and Mexican presidential candidate, has a history of cheating in political campaigns. Now, he has a history of cheating in races as well. He managed to run a 9 mile section of the Berlin Marathon in about 21 minutes, which is about half of the time that it took Felix Limo to set the 15 kilometer world record. A photographer became suspicious when Madrazo came through the finish line way over dressed for the conditions and with a big smile on his face. I doubt that he would try, but I would not let this man register for any of the races that I direct, and I hope that he is banned from other events as well. (More Info: Sports Illustrated)
- Marion Jones plead guilty last week to doping back around the turn of the century. This weekend, she gave back her Olympic medals from the 2000 games in Sydney. Her relay teammates are also encourages to forfeit their medals, even though they were not caught cheating. This is really unfortunate, and if I were them I would hate Jones for the scandal that she has caused and for putting a cloud over her teammates heads. I am glad that her records are being stricken, and if she does ever compete after her two year ban is over then I hope that she does it cleanly. What I am wondering is whether any of her sponsors will sue her for defrauding them in an effort to regain any of their sponsorship money. (More Info: BBC)
What are your thoughts on any of these stories?
The Chicago Marathon was indeed a fiasco. And it’s good that the sports photographer had the good sense to question the Mexican politician’s attire since no one else apparently thought it strange. As for Marion Jones, I’ve read the Olympic Committee is strongly suggesting her relay teammates return their medals as well. This would be hard to take, especially if you were an honest runner on that team. Will be interesting to see if they comply.
The images from Chicago had me very upset. Just shows you have to be extremely careful about pushing yourself beyond your limits…
A Mexican politician was cheating? No?!?!?!?!
This steriod thing is outta control. I used to think athletes were some of the most honest, decent people in the world. I guess they are mostly “normal” 🙂 LOL….
Marion Jones is a sack of crap. She has been lieing about this for years and continues her “flax-seed oil” defense even now. I hope her sponsors sue, even if it just serves as an example for other athletes considering juicing. It would probably take years to resolve the lawsuit, but she doesn’t deserve to sit on the millions she made lieing and cheating through the Olympic’s.
The sponsors have a legitmate case, they certainly will see at least some bad publicity from sponsoring a convicted doper, lier and cheater.
Sorry, not a very big fan of this sort of thing, I hope they go after everything she illegitimately earned. I think anyone who has tried to compete legitimattly would be angry at someone who took so much by cheating.
Chicago Marathon
It sounds like it was crazy out there. I have read all kinds of stuff about it this week. Fingers are pointed everywhere about lack of fluids on the course. People who were early on in the race said there was plenty. I read about one person who said they grabbed 20 cups at each station because it was so hot. If a lot of people did that, no wonder they ran out.
Roberto Madrazo
This is exactly the kind of garbage that kept his political party in power in Mexico for 70 years. Fortunately, the state I live in was not sad to see him lose the election. We were spared the riots.
Marion Jones
I think that the sponsors ought to work tenaciously to get their money back out of her. I know they cannot get it all, but it seems that they sponsored her with the idea that she would play fair. On the plus side (for the sponsors), who really knows who sponsored her? And if you do know, does it really change your buying decisions today? Probably not. I think the sponsors will not be too badly damaged in this deal, however, I also believe they are entitled to get as much of their money back as they can.
Tough call on her relay teammates. My initial reaction is that, even though it is tough, they should give their medals back. But, as I think about it more, they did not cheat. They should be lined up behind the sponsors trying to get some compensation.
I do not know anything about Marion Jones other than she is a cheater and that I have heard her name (therefore, I have no ax to grind). I also am not in favor of suing people. But, she willingly went out there and damaged the reputation of other people and sponsors just to make herself look good. That is despicable.
Two year ban? Is that all? She has ruined the family heritage of these other ladies who ran with her. “Yes grand children, I won a medal in the 2000 Olympics but I cannot pass it on to you because my teammate effectively destroyed it willingly without any care to me or my other team members.”
(Blaine, you have brought out the cynic in me tonight.)
regarding jones: its so unfortunate that athletes feel they need to cheat. she apologized and gave up her medals. i dont think her teammates should have to give up theirs, since they didnt cheat.