20  Jul 2011

America’s ‘Big 4′ in Monaco 5000

Posted by Kane Peterson | Tags: 5000

In Monaco, Its Lagat and Rupp and Tegenkamp and Solinsky in 5000
Bernard Lagat, Galen Rupp, Matt Tegenkamp and Chris Solinsky are four of Americas best male distance runners perhaps the four best. Theyre all headed to the World Championships in either the 5000 or 10,000-meter run (and in Rupps  case, apparently both), and theyre all on the provisional list for Fridays extremely high caliber 5000 at the Herculis meet in Monaco.  Imane Merga of Ethiopia and Isaiah Koech of Kenya have the years best times in the field, a pair of 12:54s. The 5000 will also include Mo Farah of Great Britain, Rupps training partner and perhaps the breakthrough distance performer of 2011, along with Ethiopias Tariku Bekele and the resurgent Craig Mottram of Australia. (photo of Chris Solinsky by Photo Run) More (Monaco Start List)

The Young Ones from Oregon Take on the World in the 1500
Matthew Centrowitz, the surprise winner of the 1500 at the 2011 USATF Championships, and Andrew Wheating,  who clocked a sub-3:31 for the distance in 2010, are in the Herculis 1500 in Monaco, a severe test before heading to the World Championships. Theyll be racing with Kenyans Silas Kiplagat and Augustine Choge, Deresse Mekonnen of Ethiopia, Abubaker Kaki of Sudan, Nick Willis of New Zealand, Mehdi Baala of France, and Ryan Gregson of Australia. In the mens 800, Americans Nick Symmonds and Khadevis Robinson will race against David Rudisha, Asbel Kiprop, Boaz Lalang, and Alfred Kirwa Yego of Kenya.  

Nick Arciniaga Puts in a 130-Mile Week to Prepare for Daegu
Arciniaga will be running the marathon for the U.S. at the World Championships, and hes now in Flagstaff, which is warmer and more humid than normal. The humidity and heat is still nothing compared to what it will be like in Daegu, so I’m still wearing my long sleeve shirts and pants to warm myself up more, Nick Arciniaga tells us. His blog entry at More describes fartlek over hills that can get pretty tough after a couple of loops and a progressive long run (that) had no real specifications other than to continually run faster throughout the loop, which meant 39:50 for the last seven of the 21 miles while rocking full tights and 2 long sleeves. (photo of Nick Arciniaga by Photo Run) More

Scientists Now Say Blades Do Give Pistorius a Boost
South Africas Oscar Pistorius, who runs with carbon fiber prosthetics in place of amputated lower limbs, has now qualified to run the 400 at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea. Exercise physiology professors Peter Weyand and Matthew Bundle were among those who supplied scientific data that led the Court of Arbitration for Sport to clear Pistorius to race against the likes of Jeremy Wariner and Chris Brown. But Weyand and Bundle have now published findings calculating that Pistorius blades may give him a boost of as much as ten seconds over what he could have done in the 400 if he was running on lower legs, that he can turn over his strides 15.7 per cent more rapidly than five of the most recent former world record-holders in the 100m dash and that his blades reduce the muscle forces Pistorius requires for sprinting to less than half of intact-limb levels.  Is that a can of worms we hear being opened? More BBC Sports  asked past 400-meter stars Roger Black and Iwan Thomas about Pistorius. They lauded his courage and tenacity and achievement but Black, who was an Olympic silver medalist behind Michael Johnson, commented if he (Pistorius) gets down to 44.5 seconds then it changes the whole discussion .We dont know if Oscar is an amazing athlete, or a very good athlete with an advantage. Black added emotionally, I would love to see him race but If I had to go one way or the other I would say he shouldnt be able to race we are not seeing like against like. More

U.S. Quartet Runs Years Fastest Mens 4100 Relay
Before we get too excited, realize that not many world class relays  are contested outside of the World Championships. And, you know, the American men will be heavy underdogs to Jamaica in the 4100 at the Worlds. But the good news is that four Yanks did get the baton around the track and no handoffs were made outside the exchange zones. In Lignano, Italy on Tuesday, Trell Kimmons, Michael Rodgers, Justin Gatlin and Walter Dix clocked a time of 37.90. The changeovers were good, noted Gatlin. We ran a clean race. More

Months After a Major Accident, Paul Tergat Races Again
Tergat, the five-time World Cross Country champion and former marathon world recordholder, was in a devastating car crash eight months ago and spent several weeks on crutches. On Wednesday, he joined four-time Boston Marathon titleist Robert Mwafrika Cheruiyot  and others in a run in the Nairobi suburbs with Dennis Nally, chairman of the global accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, whose firm subsequently gave the Paul Tergat Foundation money to help construct a classroom for special needs children at a school in Marakwet District a school that has already produced a Special Olympics gold medalist. More

Sage Canaday Authors Book About Hansons-Brooks Team
Running for the Hansons is Canadays volume about his experiences training with the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project team that developed standout marathoners Brian Sell and Desiree Davila. According to a press release, the book provides a framework for how the team operates, including training, racing, and living a lifestyle centered around running.  Along the way, Sage discusses how he became a member of the program, profiles his teammates and team founders Kevin and Keith Hanson, and gives unparalleled insight into the unrelenting training it takes to compete at the highest levels of the sport. The book even includes a complete three-month training log. Canaday is from Oregon and attended Cornell University, where he was an Ivy League 10,000-meter champion. At 21, he was the youngest qualifier for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in November of 2007.  Hes a 2:16 marathoner. (photo of Saga Canaday by Victah Sailer) More

You Can Ask Sebastian Coe Questions About the 2012 Olympics
Lord Coe is the two-time Olympic 1500-meter gold medalist who led Londons efforts to host the 2012  Games and is now the leader of the organizing committee. CNN will be speaking to him on Monday and at More, youll find out how to put your own questions to Coe. More

Katie McGregor and Emily Brown Enter Heart of Summer 10K
The two members of Team USA Minnesota will be part of the elite women’s field at the eighth annual Boston Scientific Heart of Summer 10K in Minneapolis on July 23.  The race, with proceeds helping to fund local heart health initiatives, begins at 7:30 a.m. on a course around Lake Nokomis. This will be McGregor’s fourth appearance at the race; she won the event in 2005 and 2006 and finishing second in 2008 and holds the course record of 32:16. Brown won the Heart of Summer 10K in 2009. (photo of Emily Brown by Victah Sailer) More

The Future for Jeff Demps: Track or Football, or Both?
The University of Floridas Demps has been an NCAA champion for 60 meters indoors and 100 meters outdoors but hes also a running back with NFL potential. Theres speculation he may dump football and become a professional track runner. Hes been racing in Europe, and Will Muschamp, Floridas football coach, isnt saying for sure what Demps plans  are for the fall specifically, whether Demps will be on the Gators football roster. I dont deal in rumors and I dont deal in message boards, I dont know any good coach who does, Muschamp asserts. I deal with people eyeball to eyeball, and I aint ever been to Italy, where Demps was recently sprinting. More

British Coach Criticizes Underperforming Athletes
Charles van Commenee, Head Coach of UK Athletics, wants at least 15 of his runners, throwers, and jumpers to be capable of winning a medal at the 2012 London Olympics and  insists we are not ready to do the Games now . We still have athletes underperforming at the moment. We need those 12 months to turn things around. Van Commenee contends we still have athletes underperforming in 2011, mentioning Michael Bingham and Martyn Rooney, medalists at the 2010 European Championships who arent  yet scorching the track in 2011. They should have run faster by now. We are not perfect yet, states Van Commenee, who explains I dont have a buddy-buddy relationship with athletes. With almost all athletes and staff members I have a businesslike relationship. It is not a friendship or anything . If you keep a distance you probably see things clearer. Uh boy. Click on More to read more from Van Commenee, who appears to be a Tough Love guy, minus the love. Not the kind of guy I would ever have wanted to run for. More 

Heres Todays Running Song of the Day
Weve posted cover versions of this one all week, but heres the original. The video, umm, is for fans of modern dance. The song is by one of the two greatest female pop/rock singer/songwriters of, oh, the last 50 years, and its nice to go out on a high note.  More This is our last Running Song of the Day. Its been fun, hope you liked a few of them, but this feature has run its course, as it were. Cherish the memories. For an exit bonus, heres the best song ever written by the other one of the top two female singer/songwriters. The verses beginning at 3:44 are the strongest get it together and get moving imprecation I know in music, and while theyre not specifically about getting out for a run, theyve gotten me out the door more than once. More

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