Anna Pierce, at Rbk BIG, February 2010, photo courtesy of PhotoRun.net. Since that 1,000m race, Anna Pierce has won her events with convincing tactics and just a hint of the power that she possesses. She continued this level of performance in Doha, Qatar, winning her 800m round in a perfect tactical race.

Well, sports fans, 149 countries applied to send teams to sunny Doha, Qatar, where the temp outdoors is a wonderfully uplifting 91 degrees. The air conditioning in the Aspire Stadium, however, keeps us at a nice 60 degrees, where my short sleeve shirt keeps me just warm enough! A good session this morning.
And now, powered by one double espresso, a pepsi light and a nice cheese & tomato sandwich, this writer will give you his highlights (in some order ) of the morning!

Most impressive performance? Anna Pierce! read on!

Aspire Stadium, Doha, Qatar, Friday, March 12, 2010, photo by RBR.

It is now 10 AM on Friday, March 12, local time, in Doha, Qatar. The 8,000 seat Aspire Indoor Stadium is a superb facility, one of the best I have seen anywhere in the world. One footwear marketer just told me, "If we had this in the U.S., it could house major events!"

I am off to find the perfect double espresso! I will check in soon!

For more on the sport, may we suggest that you check www.runningnetwork.com!

As this flyer notes, Allyson Felix will now have swoosh on her running shoes! After six years with adidas, probably the most versatile U.S. women sprinter of her generation, Allyson Felix will be running for Nike. This was confirmed in a note received from Nike PR last evening.

World Champions Allyson Felix & Kerron Clement are on US team in Doha, here to run in the women's and men's 4 x 400m!

Well, I arrived in Doha, Qatar after about twenty-two hours of real travel. Customs took a while, but WIC volunteers got us to the bus and on to our hotel. It is about 2 am local time in Doha, as I write this! Meet begins Friday about nine in the morning!

Steve Hooker, winning in Millrose, 2009, photo by PhotoRun.net.

Track and field is all about the minutae. Nine Beijing winners will be competing in Doha, 5 Men (Robles, Hooker, Saladina, Majewski, Clay) and 4 women (Campbell-Brown, Isinbayeva, Vili, Dobrynskay). From Berlin, it is 12 champs, five men (Rybakov, Hooker, Idowu, Cantwell, Hardee) and seven women (Cheruiyot, Vlasic, Rogowska, Reese, Savigne, Vili, Ennis). Add two more medalist if you count relay runners Kerron Clement and Allyson Felix. Can't wait to see three great days of global track & field!

Allyson Felix, WC 200 meter champ, photo by PhotoRun.net.

Vivian Cheruiyot, Berlin 2009, photo by PhotoRun.net.

Vivian Cheruiyot will be debuting at a world indoor champs in Doha, Qatar this coming weekend. Vivian ran a killer last 200 in the AVIVA Grand Prix in Birmingham on February 20, in the two mile, nearly catching She should prove to be a challenge for her Ethiopian challengers. Mbulaeni Mulaudz, who is the Berlin 800m champ, is focusing outdoors, and will not be in Doha. Mbulaeni's brilliant run in Berlin was overshadowed by the intrigues around another South African middle distance runner (still have some frustration over that story, and how it was represented in US and European media.) Note that Russian Federation Valentin Balakhnivchev encouraged the Russian team to reap medals, to help make up for the frustrating showing of Team Russia in the recent Winter Olympics! RBR is off to Qatar, arriving there Thursday night, Chicago time.

Nike has announced a new high school team championships, the Nike Track Nationals, to be held on July 2, the evening before the Nike Pre Classic, will have the top 12 boys and girls high school programs battling over ten events for national bragging rights!

This is a film clip from WinCatherine, a film being developed by Stefani L. Weiss. The nine minute clip gives one a glimpse of the amazingly inspiring life of Catherine Ndereba. I have been fortunate to see most of Catherine Ndereba's major efforts and consider Catherine to be one of the most important women marathoners of all times, but also, a tactician over 26.2 with few peers. Check out the website, winCatherine.com, to see how you can help Stefani make this film a reality. And watch for an upcoming interview with Stefani about the importance of documentary film and women's sports!
If you read a little farther, I have posted a letter from Stefani L. Weiss, telling readers about the film and her request for support for this superb film!

Galen Rupp, Bernard Lagat at Rbk BIG 5,000m, courtesy of PhotoRun.net.

Athletes are arriving in Doha, Qatar for the World Indoor Championships. The U.S. team is training there, as is Blanka Vlasic. Galen Rupp ran a 3:58.79 mile on Saturday and followed that up with a 1:50.64 800 meters as his final tune-up, before he headed to meet the U.S. team for Doha!
A hearty happy 80th birthday to Piotr Bolotnikov, the 1960 gold medalist at 10,000 meters! Mr. Bolotnikov is a spry 80 years old today!

Special thanks to Chuck Bartlett, who produces the Running Network photo galleries, and special thanks to PhotoRun.net for their photos! This is from last weekend's Tokyo Marathon! 40,000 runners picked from 260,000 lottery participants!

It is with a very heavy heart that I pass on the news that Douglas Speck passed away at 10:07 p.m. on Thursday, March 4th.

Rich Gonzalez, co-founder, DyestatsCal.com

From the Speck Family,
UPDATE ON DOUG'S PASSING:

It is with heavy hearts that we inform everyone that Doug Speck passed away at 10:07 p.m. on Thursday, March 4th. He passed very peacefully in his sleep with several loved ones nearby. Once details are known on plans for services, they will be shared here.

The Angeles Clinic Foundation

Thank you.

The Speck Family

Ivan Ukhov at Nike Prefontaine Classic, 2009, photo by PhotoRun.net.

With about one week before the World Indoor Champs in Doha, Qatar, Ivan Ukhov cleared a world leading 2.38m in Banská Bystrica at the 17th Europa Shopping Center high jump competition. Blanka Vlasic wowed the crowd with her 2.04 clearance and good jumps at 2.09m! On to Doha!

Blanka Vlasic, Greece 2009, photo by PhotoRun.net.

Phil McCartney, Nike Lunar Glide launch, April 2009, photo courtesy of Larry Eder's I-phone.

Phil McCartney is a native of Newcastle, England. Starting life as a footballer, he found a proper sport-athletics, early in life, and developed into quite the runner, running 14:00 for 5k on the roads. As he developed into a runner, he also developed a love for tinkering on running footwear. For someone like McCartney, who loves running, his job, as the Global Running Product Director at Nike, is the dream.