What Has ‘Fam’ Been Up To?
What Has Anthony Famiglietti Been Up to Lately?
The iconoclastic Fam has been an Olympic steeplechase finalist, often known for daring front-running tactics. His 13:11 was actually the fastest 5000-meter time by an American-born 
runner on U.S. soil when he did it in 2007. Famiglietti has excelled on the roads and been a USA 15K and 8K champion. And he has myriad other interests, too, as an electronic musician and abstract painter and producer of documentary and instructional films. Butwhats been up with his running lately? I basically hit the reset button recently and kind of restarted from scratch in a build-up towards the 2012 Trials and ultimately the Olympic Games, explains Famiglietti, now 32. I’ve developed so slowly over the yearsso I’ve got a lot of longevity and I’m trying to make the most of it. I’ve faced different obstacles over the years that have kind of gotten in the way of me reaching my full potential, so I am saying, What do I need to do to be a medalist? He adds sometimes you have to sit down and really examine what it is you really want to achieve and what you have to do to get there. Hes concluded I think I was born for the steeple. I can not run over hurdles for eight months and then go over hurdles and it feels like I did it yesterday, so the steeplechase is likely to be his 2012 focus but I never like to put anything in stone, because I tend to change my mind. And Famiglietti is pretty sure he knows why a lot of top American distance runners dont try the steeplechase: It is dangerous. (photo of Anthony Famiglietti by Victah Sailer) More
Now Linet Masai Is Talking About a Daegu Distance Double, Too
The womens 10,000 and 5000 at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, could get extremely crowded with very busy world-class contenders. Weve already told you that Ethiopias Meseret Defar, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist and 2007 World Champion in the 5000, and Vivian Cheruioyot, Kenyas 2009 World Champion in the 5000, are taking steps to do both long distance track events in Daegu. Now Linet Linet Masai, the 2009 World Champion in the 10,000, aspires to do the same. I feel my body is in good shape to handle both races, declares Masai, who has also won the last two NYRR New York Mini 10Ks. More
First Day of Kenya National Championships Yields Few Surprises
The two 2008 Olympic 1500-meter gold medalists, Asbel Kiprop and Nancy Langat, advanced easily out of the first round in the Championships in Nairobi, with Kiprop taking a first and Langat a second place. This is the year that Kenya will win the men’s 
1500m gold at the World Championships, promises Kiprop. “I believe the team that will be selected, and I want to be in it, will bring the title home. There are about nine of us who are capable and the final will be tough. Augustine Choge, Nixon Chepseba, and Silas Kiplagat were among the others who advanced in the mens 1500. Eliud Kipchoge, the 2003 World Champion in the 5000, advanced to the finals in that event as he looks to make his fifth straight Worlds team. David Rudisha won his heat of the 800 to move to the semis although he said I twisted my right ankle in training slightly on Monday and I feel a lot of pain. Eunice Jepkorir, a 2008 Olympic steeplechase silver medalist coming back from a maternity break, had a struggle on her hands but did, just barely, qualify for the final in her specialty. It feels good to be back and my aim is to take each race one at a time, Jepkorir affirmed. (photo of Nancy Langat by Victah Sailer) More
Allyson Felixs Decision on a Daegu Double Is Coming Soon
She won the 400 at the USATF Championships in June and has an automatic bye to the World Championships in the 200 as a 
three-time gold medalist in that event. After a 4100 relay with the U.S. team in Lignano, Italy, Allyson Felix will do a 200 at the Herculis meet in Monaco on July 22. I am returning to the U.S. the day after the Herculis meeting. I wont be taking a training break at all, Im back into intense training and am completely focused on Daegu, writes Felix. My coach and I really want to work on speed and maintaining strength. Her decision on whether to do two events in Daegu will come within the week. (photo of Allyson Felix by Lisa Coniglio/Photo Run) More
Rock n Roll Savannah Marathon May Need to Be Capped
The new Georgia race, set for November 5, may join a growing list of races which fill up months in advance of post time. Currently, there are 15,000 entrants for the marathon and half-marathon, which surpasses the original estimate of 10,000 to 12,000. More
Robles and Oliver Will Hurdle Again in Stockholm
Unlike male sprinters, the worlds elite hurdling men have a long tradition of actually racing against each other often. The two top 110-meter men in the world, Cubas Dayron Robles and American David Oliver, will face off again at DN Galan, a Diamond League meet in Stockholm on July 29. Robles has the world record of 12.87 seconds and also the Stockholm stadium best of 12.91. At the pairs most recent match-up in Paris, Robles came out on top in what was very nearly a dead heat. More
Norwegian Triumphs in 10,000 at European U23s
The European U23 (Under 23) Championships have begun in Ostrava in the Czech Republic. One of the winners on the first day was Sondre Norstad Moen of Norway, who triumphed in the 10,000-meter run in 28:41.66. The fastest time in the first round of the mens 800 came from Spain’s Kevin Lopez, who ran a 1:47.43. More
Law Student Jeremy Dodson Will Run the World Championships 200
Dodsons first year at the University of Colorado Law School is going better than I thought, he reports, and so is his track career; he was third in the 200-meter dash in 20.07 seconds at the USATF Championships and will compete in the World Championships. His Colorado sprint coach, Drew Morano, says Dodson had to ask himself if he really wanted to make a career out of it or did he just want to run at the collegiate level? I saw big changes in him. Dodsons making the Worlds team was a matter of him finally just taking all the right steps, doing all the right things to get himself in a great position, states Morano. As Dodson put it, finally everything clicked and now Im on to the next level. More
Texas AMs Jessica Beard Is Bowerman Award Finalist
The award for the top male and female collegiate track and field athletes will be presented at the USTFCCCA Convention on 
December 14 in San Antonio. Beard was the NCAA 400-meter champion and ran on winning 4400 relays both indoors and outdoors. The other finalists are Kimberlyn Duncan of LSU, an NCAA champ indoors and outdoors in the 200, and Tina Sutej of Arkansas, the collegiate pole vault record-holder. As we mentioned earlier this week, the finalists for the mens Bowerman Award are Jeshua Anderson (Washington State), Ngoni Makusha (Florida State), and Christian Taylor (Florida). (photo of Jessica Beard by Victah Sailer) More
Heather Kampf Wins Two 800s in Europe
The Team USA Minnesota athlete was first at the Kortrijk Meeting in Belgium on July 9 with a time of 2:03.48, and first again at a meet in Nuoro, Italy, on July 13 in 2:01.96. Her teammate Gabriele Anderson was also at the Kortrijk Meeting, taking third in the 1500 in 4:14.54. Next up for both runners will be a track meets in Italy in Padova on July 16 and in Lignano on July 19.
Rae Baymiller Is Back for Another Round of Record-setting
Baymiller didnt take up running until age 49, when she trained to run a marathon with her daughter. She clocked a 3:18 even though she didnt feel physically pushed at all. The marathon just felt easy, she recalls. She ran a 2:51:44 marathon at age 51 and a 2:52:12 at 55, and was setting American age group records at shorter distances, too. Subsequently, Baymiller took more than a decade away from the sport, but since returning in 2010, shes set the 65-69 age group world record for 5K (20:44) and American bests for 15K and the half-marathon. Now 67, Baymiller notes running refines your values and teaches you to pick yourself up and do it again and again. I have learned so much. More
Emily Sisson Will Compete for Providence This Fall
Sisson began her college running career at the University of Wisconsin and was 14th at NCAA Cross country as a freshman. A former USA Cross Country champ, she bolsters a Providence College squad that was ninth in NCAA Cross Country last fall and returns four of its top five runners. Sisson could turn them into serious championship contenders. More
Heres Todays Running Song of the Day
The band best known for the insufferably cute Bread and Butter (the first lyrical couplet of which is forever etched in my mind) also came up with todays selection, which sounds like what would result if Frank Valli sang with the Four Tops backup band. More
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