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This blog has a lofty goal-to change the way you see, read, and experience the sport of athletics! Over the next several months, we will introduce to you blogs from several key players in our sport. They will have different opinions, positions and even specialties, however, they will have one theme in common: they want to change our sport for the better!

In all honesty, if done well, media, whether it be in print, electronic, radio, broadband tv or television are acts of sedition. Their goals are to challenge you, entertain you, inform you, but most of all, the dream is to get you to act.

For the next several weeks, you will see daily notes from me on our sport, my commentaries, observations, thoughts, and we ask that you consider them and respond.

So, to begin, my name is Larry Eder. I publish a group of athletics publications under the company name, Shooting Star Media, Inc. I am a former athlete, coach, and still a fan of the sport. From my vantage point in the sports publishing world, I believe that I see some of the reasons why our sport does not get the headlines, tv coverage or sponsorship many think it deserves.

Your responsibility, if you choose to get involved in this dialogue, is to read, comment, and if something makes sense, act locally.

Thanks for reading my first entry, and I look forward to writing for you
tommorow!

As luck would have it, I have been one of the few to see Jenn Stuczynski's two American records this season upclose and personal.

At the adidas Track Classic, on May 20, 2007, I was standing at the fence, speaking to meet official Jan Johnson, the 1972 bronze medalist in the pole vault and the chairman of the Pole Vault Safety Standards Committee, and Dave Nielson, the coach of Stacy Dragila. We noticed that the officials were measuring the bar for a record jump. Jenn was attempting 4.84, or 15-10 1/2 inches, one half inch higher than the current AR held since 2004 by Stacy Dragila.

As Jenny's coach, Rick Suhr, would describe later, this was an iconic moment in the sport. Stacy Dragila has been the icon in the pole vault since 1996 in North America. Her wins in 1999, 2000, 2001 at the world's and Olympics were monumental in developing a following for the event. As Stacy dealt with injuries over the past few years, the event started to loose its standard bearer.

Now, Stacy is on a comeback and Jenn Stuczynski is about to clear heights surpassed by no other American. When Jenn Stuczynski cleared 4.84, or 15-10 1/2, she became the third best performer in the world and the American record holder.

Only Svetlana Feofanove, who cleared sixteen feet, 4.88 meters in 2004, and Yelena Isinbayeva, who cleared 5.02, or 16-5 1/4 in 2006, have jumped higher.

In speaking to Jenn right after the AR in Carson City, she said, " I was lethargic today in my warmup. I did not feel that good. I had no idea it would be a record day!" The look on her face was of surprise, but also, it was clear that this young women was developing some confidence in herself and the training program of her coach, Rick Suhr.

Then comes the Reebok Grand Prix on June 2. Shuyin Gao, of China, cleared 4.64 meters or 15-2.5 for a new Chinese Record. " I did not want to go out at 4.64 meters, " noted Jenn Stuczynski to the press afterwards. So, she let her clearances do the talking. Stuczynski had the bar raised to 4.88 meters, or sixteen feet.

Her first two attempts should have been clearances, but, there were small technical glitches, and the winds in Icahn were troublesome. Her third attempt, under the lights provided by the stadium, was witnessed by the entire crowd as Jenn Stuczynski became the second equal performance ever and the second best performer in 2007 with her clearance of sixteen feet!

The signifigance of these two American records is that they happened in absolutely unkind conditions. Normally, all is perfect for records - good winds, cool, and this was just the opposite.

Rick Suhr and his athlete have created a training platform where the athlete succeeds in difficult conditions. In the old days, we called that callousing. She trains in a small quonset style barracks, with a few lights, a roll up runway and a few friends. How lucky she is...

On May 20, 2007, after tiny Meseret Defar broke the world best for two miles, with her solo 9:10.57, she commented, "I am in good shape. I am focusing my training on Osaka and Beijing." Well, Ms. Defar is in fantastic shape.

On Friday evening, June 15, 2007, on a cool Scandanavian evening, Meseret Defar of Ethiopia destroyed her own world record for 5,000 meters, set one year plus one week ago in Reebok NY Games, by nearly eight seconds! Her final time was 14:16.63, to the delight of the Oslo Bislett Games fans, the first stop on the IAAF Golden League this year! What a start to the Golden League!

Defar won by six seconds over Kenyan runner Vivian Cheruiyot, who ran 14:22.51, also under the old standard of 14:24.53, set 53 weeks ago. Defar, who runs focused and with a ferocious stare, took no prisoners in this race as she raced the clock becoming the first women under 14:20 for 5,000 meters!

How monumental is Defar's world record? Meseret's time would have won every 5,000 meters in the Olympics up to and including the 1948 London Games! The 2004 5,000 meter gold medalist and 2005 silver medalist is going strong and looking amazing for Osaka!

Visit IAAF Golden League for complete results on the first of the IAAF Golden League meetings.

For more information on the Oslo Bislett Games and results, please check www.iaaf.org!

Mike Long, the long time elite athlete coordinator for the Elite Racing,
was found dead at his home on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 at the age
of 65. Mike, a former stockbroker, who discoved running an ran a
nice 2:54 marathon, loved the sport, loved the athletes-especially
his friends from East Africa, and made the sport a better place, In
the end, he was loved, and he will be missed.

The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing is exactly one year away. As a member of the credentialed media, I already have accomodations and also have my credentials approved for 2008.

The world is fascinated with China. A country with five thousand years of history, a country that has withstood wars, famine, natural disasters, yet, still, for many, is clouded in mystery. How will the no longer Communist, but pragmatist nation of China deal with the Olympics? We look at some hints here.

The National Federation of High School Sport Associations issues a year report on the state of the high school sports participation. Approximately 15 million 14-19 year olds are in high school in 2006-07, and over seven million of them competed in high school sports. Athletics ( track and field, indoor and outdoor, plus cross country) is still the largest sport on the high school playing field....

Cal International has been one of those best kept secrets for years. When a runner in Northern California wanted to run fast, they went to CIM. The race, under the watchful eye of John Mansoor and his team, has grown this event into one of the most important in the country!

The press release below, from Bob Burns, one of the real sports writers in the Sacramento area, tells it all!

The truth is, our sport continues to grow, and it is because of races like the CIM!

As the Running Event ended its third day, the highlight of the evening was the top 50 Running stores of America event. The night announces the best stores in the Northeast, South, West and Midwest, IRRA's top vendor and top product, the Ubutu Award, from Balega and the best store in America award.....

This story hit the newswires middle or end of last week and the new story showed up on the New England Runner enewsletter. An employee of a printer somehow found a copy of a Nike Catalog, and tried to sell it to several of Nike's competition...it did not work out how he expected..

On Friday, November 23, 2007, the IAAF announced their deliberations regarding Marion Jones. I have included the complete decision, in english and french, in a link at the end of my blog today....

Pat Butcher is one of the best travelled correspondents in our sport, as well as one of the most insightful and articulate. (Yes, Mr. Butcher will owe me a beverage at our next meeting). As he travels to events, he provides us with some colorful columns on the stories that we would not expect from the marathon circuit. This is one of those stories...

In the past few years, Nike has purchased Converse, Starter and Umbro, the soccer apparel manufacterer. Reebok was purchased by adidas two years ago. Majority shares in PUMA AG were purchased by PPR of France, a high end couture company that owns Gucci, Yves St. Laurent among others.

In the very lucrative running footwear businness, where 2007 sales should total just over $7.5 billion globally, footwear brand consolidation may make some sense. But,

In my nearly thirty years in running publishing, one of the most memorable people that I have had the pleasure to meet, to interact with, to admire is Kirk Richardson, now president of Keen Footwear. I met Kirk in the early nineties at the old Atlanta Super Show. At the time, he was the running director at Nike. He had been there at Nike for fifteen years by then.

Kirk always liked a good challenge, and still does. I saw him this past Outdoor Show in Salt Lake City, Utah, and he had his outdoor uniform on--short sleeve shirt, khaki slacks and Keen shoes. He looked relaxed and happy.

I enjoyed our repartee. There were notes, like " Why did you give that brand a gold medal? " ...I would respond with some thoughtful comment, to which he would fire back another good jibe.

When word got out last winter that Fritz Taylor was leaving Nike, many jaws dropped. Fritz had been a lifer at Nike and his work was well respected, as was his prodigious work ethic. The next question was, where would Fritz go next? Would he return to Europe, or would he find something new to focus on? Well, Fritz Taylor has landed, and a great landing it is, as he is now heading up the Brooks footwear team!

New Balance picked up Vital Apparel Group, a company that was doing licensing for New Balance for over a year. The jewel in this is Insport, which is owned by Vital and was aquired by them about 18 months ago.

Why would New Balance bring on such a company with its own apparel group? Well....

One of the phenomenon that a seasoned reader of this blog will notice over and over is that this blog does not not a break news, nor is this blog the first place to read a story. That job is held for sites that are more concerned about being first rather than accurate. My responsibility, to you, our readers, is to be as accurate as possible. If, in the pursuit ...

Each and every year, since 1996, this blogger has sent out, as part of his Holiday wishes, a list of suggested gifts, in many categories, for the last minute shopper, the gift giver who goes through great pains to find something unusual, and for a bit of reading while one is stuck in any of the major airports in this great country.....

Here is the release that USATF put out last night. Word is that it was a little earlier than they wanted to announce, but there had been, as there always is in situations like this, a leak. More on Craig's legacy and this story as it develops.

The modern day morality play that became the life of Marion Jones continued today with the decision from the U.S. district court in White Plains, NY. Bob Ramsak, our intrepid global track observer, wrote this column today on Track Profile.

Just the facts. Jones greatest value may be, as she has said, that people learn from her mistakes. The noose has tightened and Marion Jones continues to fall. Please note that we expect additional sentencing decisions in a short time. More comments soon!

The fifteenth anniversary of the WDW Marathon and Half Marathon has started off 2008 without a hitch. As always, the WDW is a litmus test of the health of the sport. Consider this for a moment, on the very weekend of the WDW, where 34,000 plus are signed up for the half marathon and marathon, over 35,000 are at the PF Chang's RNR Arizona, and the Chevron Houston Marathon has nearly 20,000! All on the same weekend!

The worst kept secret in footwear business is that consolidation is de rigeur for the marketplace. Last year, it was Saucony, the year before Reebok and Etonic, and now, Pearl Izumi.

Pearl's running product has come along way and last year, their ad campaign, branding Pearl as a real running product, and branding the Run Like an Animal caught on with opinion leaders in the sport. We have attached the entire press release:

Due to a toe injury, Paula Radcliffe is out of FLORA London. In my mind, that puts her higher on the food chain for a medal in Beijing. The truth is, an Olympic championship or world championship is a whole different kind of race, and Beijing will be quite difficult. From the muggy conditions, to the challenging air, the marathon will be more than putting one foot in front of another for 26. 2 miles. It will be making one's move at the right time, in the right place and holding on for dear life.

We wish Paula Radcliffe a very speedy recovery.

Big news on the world front is Walter Dix with strep throat. The Florida superstar may not make the NCAA Indoor Champs this weekend.

Nice phone call from Bank of America Chicago Marathon stalwart Mike Nishi, excited about the new sponsors and renewed excitement B of A is bringing to this most important event! Watch for some upcoming interviews!

Bob Ramsak reports that the Slovenian Federation upheld their superstar Jolanda Ceplak's two-year doping ban. This is a huge decision. It also shows that, more and more, the Federations are seeing the hard stance that must be taken to save the sport.

A special treat for track and field geeks are athlete posters. TFN News does them every issue, and I published a series in American Athletics and American Track & Field over the past sixteen years. American Track & Field did a nice one with Brian Sell, courtesy of Brooks this past Winter, and now, ASICS has joined Shooting Star Media, Inc. to put out a great poster, with Deena Kastor on one side and Ryan Hall on the other!

A suicide bomber, dressed as a marathoner, killed 12 people, including a Sri Lankan Minister and a 1992 Olympic marathoner this morning.

Runblogrun.com still believes that sports is supposed to be an activity that brings us together, and does not condone the blatant politicization of sports. This type of message does do honor to any cause. The dead and their families are in our thoughts and prayers.

The Nike Innovation Summit brought together 300 plus media to the Nike campus in Beaverton, Oregon. Cregg Weinmann and I represented the Running Network at an event that celebrates the athlete and a culture that focuses on the minutae of sport.

The lone stop for the Olympic Torch Relay is in San Francisco, California today, April 9, 2008. And with the number of protests planned, the USOC and IOC are announcing the highest level of security for this event ever. Why is this such a surprise?

The press release below, announces the worst kept secret in our sport-Nike and Bank of America are the new sponsors of the Chicago Marathon, now known as the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

How things have changed. It was not that long ago that Nike folks would comment how Nike would NEVER sponsor the Olympics. But, times do change. Nike could not achieve what they wanted after 1996, without considering Olympic sponsorship. In 2005, Nike made a deal with the USOC to become a footwear and apparel sponsor. Now, they have renewed for 2012, and there is an addition to their program..

The 35,000 plus runners who were at the start line of FLORA London Marathon got across the line without incident. The elite races were off and now the questions would be answered--World record, course record? We would see in two plus hours....

The 2008 FLORA London marathon is shaping up, in its second hour, as two very different races. The women's race was a very consistent, 2;25 pace, and it looked to be lining up for the kickers. The men's race, after having been sub world record, lined up as a good shot at the course record and as the athletes tired, they knew that they were still running fast...Ryan Hall had some problems, but came back...could the leaders hang on?

Andy Hersam, VP and managing director of the Runners World Group at Rodale Press, is leaving the position he has held for five years on May 9. Andy was given great credit over the last five years for building the Runners World brand and for, in 2007, championing the acquisition of Running Times, the last independent national road running title in the genre.....

On the Friday preceding the London Marathon, David Bedford, the race director for the London Marathon always introduces the London marathon as "the best marathon in the world." This is done in front of his sponsors, members of the media and representatives of the Five World Major marathons. Bedford is considered a bit of a character, but his utter brilliance, and that of his team in assembling a top notch elite field and having all of the UK behind his race should not be underrated.

Well, the team at London has done it again. Thanks to the support of Sir Richard Branson, at Virgin, the marathon, after 2010, will become the Virgin London Marathon! London was able to find a sponsor to replace Flora, which had supported the event for over one decade. This announcement will be made on Friday, May 16, in London, England. Here is the release on the new sponsorship:

Justlin Gatlin's appeal to be reinstated in order to compete in the Beijing Games has been rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport-CAS. Justin Gatlin tested positive for a second time in April 2006, but it was not officially announced until July 2006. Gatlin had an earlier conviction over some drugs used for Attention Deficit Disorder, which he had taken much of his early life, but which he did not know that they were among the banned substances by the IAAF.

The IAAF issues a response below, supporting the rejection of Gatlin's appeal. Justin Gatlin will be unable to compete until JUly 25 2010. He will miss Beijing 2008 and Berlin 2009.

In a copyrighted story on Sports Business.com, NBC has announced its intention to acquire majority stake in the World Championships Sports Network. If there is a Horatio Alger story in modern electronic sports, then this is the one....

Poster of Jenn Stuczynski

Seriously, folks, I was walking back from the stadium on Monday afternoon and sitting over the bus stop, just by Agate and fifteenth street was Jimi Hendrix. Well, the guy looked like Hendrix, fiftyish, the stylish flamenco type outfit and droopy hat, with Afro that our favorite guitarist wore at Monterrey Pop. Anyhow, I asked him what he was doing, if he had any message to his fans, his people.

Remember, the Hootie Race is coming up!

Dear readers, This weekend, I am hard at work on budgets for our various magazines. I am dreaming and seeing figures and, quite frankly, Larry just needed a break. So, on my lovely walk through Fort Atkinson along the Rock River, I pulled together a few of my more obscure songs, with a bit of a story, combining the apocryphal with the anecdotal. I hope you enjoy:

Brooks Sports announced on July 16 that they had appointed Michelle Ave to the position of Apparel Team Leader. Ave is a top industry veteran, who recently revitalized the Reebok running line. A graduate of Villanova in 1989, Ave spent much of the next decade developing as a world class 800 meter and 1,500 meter runner ( 1:59.86 in 1996 and 4:09.67 in 1993).

When President JIm Weber of Brooks noted that they have a real find with Michelle Ave, he was making an understatement. Ave is one of the best and her addition to Brooks, along with Fritz Taylor, continues to show that the footwear company that brought us the Trance is dialed in on performance running footwear and apparel!

Well, the guessing is over! None of the rumors were right! I have been wondering how long that it would take USATF to find a new CEO and the long wait is over.

The entire press release is noted below:

In a copyrighted story on Inside the Games (http://www.insidethegames.com/
show-news.php?id=2886), a British blog that follows the developments leading towards, London 2012, it was noted that Dwain Chambers' Appeal to British
courts was rejected: He will not run in Beijing...

Saucony Running, a division of Stride Rite, sponsored the Summer XC Training Program, an individualized summer training program for high school, college and club cross country runners, as part of the marketing plan to promote the new Shay XC. They also dedicated the sponsorship of the cross country program to the memory of the late Ryan Shay.....

In one of the worst kept secrets in the business, SportNet, a Wasserman Media Group company, acquired Trackshark.com and its senior editor, Tom Borish. This is the third acquisition in the last month in the athletics web arena. There has been Disney and Student Sports, NBC and WCSN.com and now TrackShark.com. Combine that with the Competitor Group acquisitions by Falconhead Capital earlier this year, you have a busy year in the eye of the M & A types.

Reasons? Many? New technology makes it cost efficient to run meets, interviews, hi res video through websites. Viewers like it, advertisers like it. Watch how things pan out over the next few months.

If the Olympic movement is worth $7 billion by 2012, what will the cost of sponsorship be in the future?

In an exclusive discussion with Inside the Games bloggers(http://www.insidethegames.com/show-news.php?id=3055), the IOC Jacques Rogge is basking in the goodwill and growing value of the Olympic movement, what a difference one hundred and fourteen years make, when a Greek businessman gave $1.4 million of his own money to build the Olympic stadium in Athens...

In a newsupdate on SportsBusiness.com, the website for SportsBusiness International, (http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/167626/
ioc-bans-nine-network), the IOC banned an Australian tv network from
the Beijing Games. This blogger thinks that the IOC needs to be careful..

Elite Racing, the folks who brought us Rock N Roll marathons, are at it again! This time, it is the city of Seattle and the SeaFair Festival that are their focus! Elite Racing is now a part of the Competitor Group, and this, along with San Antonio, will be their two newest events.

Tom Carleo, one of the more colorful and creative members of the running footwear business has just been named General Manager for Running and Outdoor Business at New Balance Athletic Shoes, Inc. Carleo was most recently at Saucony and before that he spent many years at Nike, where he was very involved in the Bowerman line of running shoes, as well as the track and field line. Tom was one of the guys you would see at all of the major events, and his love of the sport, and sense of humor added color to an event.

As running seems to be the only part of the footwear business doing well in this global economic nightmere, the competition is bolder than it has ever been. Making a good shoe does not cut it, being nice to the retailer is not enough. An integrated program where great product is enhanced by great marketing, grass roots advertising and strong relationships with the retailer is what is needed for 2009.
New Balance is putting together a strong team. We wish Tom Carleo well with this new endeavor.

Please enjoy a few photos from the San Jose Rock n Roll half marathon, which was held last weekend, October 5, 2008, for 12,000 runners in the Silicon Valley. The race is festive, with twelve bands and the concert band being Creedence Clearwater Revisted, one of the seminal bands from the Bay Area in the early seventies. The crowd enjoyed the race, the post race festivities and the sssssssss

Now is the time for planning for 2009. USATF, European Athletics are all asking the hard questions now, how do we redefine our sport? What are we not communicating about the greatness, the beauty, the simplicity of our sport that the world's sports fans are not seeing? Much is at stake...

The time for change in our sport is now. In Europe, Sir Sebastian Coe and Jonathan Edwards, world record holder at the triple jump, BBC reporter, are among the key players invited to the European Athletics Convention.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with the one step (stealing a cuplet from Lao Tse)..our sport needs to begin the process of re inventing itself..

The EAA has come up with their plan for changing the face of Athletics in Europe. Included will be more transparent approach to eliminating the scourge of performance-enhancing drugs...

The Morgenpost Dresden marathon is one of the many scenic marathons across Germany. Victah Sailer, the major photographer for the Running Network LLC, asked the marathon communications department to update us on this race.......

The roads are very crowded this weekend, as runners of all shapes and sizes, from Columbus, Ohio to Beijing, China lined up and ran or walked 26.2.....

Dear rbr readers,
I have sent a series of questions out to Dee Jensen, Bob Bowman and Stephanie Hightower, the three candidates for President of USA Track & Field. Bob Bowman was the first to send his questions in, plus his statement of why he wants to run. We will run Dee and Stephanie's responses as they arrive. Please also note, that we interviewed Stephanie this past summer, where she announced that she was running for President of USA Track & Field.

RBR encourages all voting members of USATF to cast their votes in 2008 at the Reno convention. Much is riding on this election. With Doug Logan as CEO, the position of President becomes that much more important. Mr. Logan and the new Prez will have to work together. Checks and balances are fine, but, we cannot afford for the sport to loose years again as other sports evolve. Strong leadership is key for USATF's future, so please read what the candidates have to say and if you have questions, send them to us and we will do our best to get your questions answered...

Jacques Rogge is the President of the IOC. His tenure, since 2001, has been noted for the man's sincere concern about performance enhancing drugs and their effects on the Olympic movement, increasing the standards of ethics in the IOC, and his belief in the importance of the Olympic movement. My biggest issue with M. Rogge is his underestimation of the Beijing LOC, the involvement of the Chinese government in the 2008 Games and the unexpected (for him) media response from the catering to the Beijing LOC.

At this time, no candidate to compete with M. Rogge, so it could be a done deal...

Lots of news this weekend. Tirunesh Dibaba and Sileshi Sihane were married in Adis Abadda on Sunday. Paula Radcliffe, a half a world away, ran 51:11 at the BUPA Great North Run for ten miles. In Frankfurt, Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot ran 2:07.21 in his first marathon. What does this mean?

For Tirunesh Dibaba and Sileshi Sihane, although they shared their wonderful, and personal moment with many others, my hope is that, for one moment in their ceremony, they found a moment of clarity, a moment of remembrance, a look that they shared. Those are the moments of life, whether they are on a challenging ten mile course, or in an ancient church, that should be treasured... best wishes for Tirunesh Dibaba and Sileshi Sihane..

There is a very small group of capable people in the running footwear business. Many have come through some of the big companies, and have gone on to bigger and better things.

Fritz Taylor's tenures at Nike and Brooks were good for both companies. We wish Fritz the very best at Mizuno USA.

In my mind, Oprah Winfrey is the most influential women in the country. Her television show, her magazine, her Book club and her fascinating digital and TV based after show leads the way in terms of bringing women especially to using multi media platforms.

But, Oprah, Marion Jones? Isn't it best that some people a) take their just desserts and b) sit in their cold corner of hell in order that they do not do it again. We shall see how many shows she hits after this....

Pat O'Malley has been promoted, and that is great! It is great to see that Saucony has seen the quality, talent and focus he brings to his product portfolio. And it is nice to see a good guy do well.

Great job, Pat!

Irina Mikitenko of Germany was made the champion of the World Marathon Majors, and this vote was unanimous. The vote by the five race directors was called for due to the tie mentioned below. The race directors cited that she ran a smaller number of races to achieve her points. More on this tomorrow!

Phil Lockwood is pretty mellow, for a race director. Running the Steamboat Classic, as Phil has, for nearly fifteen years, and the Komen Race for the Cure, some fascinating experiences in the road racing business.

Congratulations to Phil for setting the standard so high and giving our sport two very fine and distinct events!

While I am at the Road Race Management Conference in Florida ( a wonderful event, I recommend for all race directors, next year, Nov 5-7), Pat Butcher was at the AIMS conference and the Athens marathon...here is one of his reports....

Our sport is a global sport. Today, in Florida and in Greece, race directors were together working for a common goal-making their events better and branding our sport. In Florida today, Toni Reavis, a well respected global commentator on our sport, challenged race directors and sport leaders to champion childhood obesity, and to work together to give the sport a higher level of interest across the globe.

My review of Road Race Management coming on Sunday.

Toni Reavis, one of the most thoughtful and humorous commentators on our sport gave a keynote talk at the 2008 Road Race Management Convention last weekend in Florida. I asked Toni to send his notes and please read and re read.

I see Toni Reavis as the Demosthenes of road running. He writes too infrequently, and his opinions are so honest one sometimes needs to take a deep breath to soak it all in. His humor, his observations create an under painting of someone who truly loves the sport and is walking the finish lines across the globe, looking for honest men and women to share his passion and help change the sport he loves....

The bidders for 2016 are Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Chicago. Chicago did get a boost with the new U.S. President elect. Tokyo's response is quite thoughtful-make the Games more appealing by making the Games smaller...that idea may make it for a few minutes-the HUGENESS of the event is one of the things that gives the Olympics life beyond its 18 days....

Kenenisa Bekele, Olympic champion at 5k and 10k, is human. With a sore knee, Bekele takes third in the Seven Hills 15k in Niminjgen, and promptly heads to the doctor...

Some strong changes as New Balance gets more aggressive in the running footwear market. Recently Tom Carleo was brought on board and now Chris Passarell, former VP of Marketing for Russell Athletic has joined the NB team.

30,000 runners, including, Texas Governor Rick Perry, shown here, (who finished the San Antonio half marathon in 1:47:46), braved the cold weather to run the San Antonio marathon and half marathons on November 16, 2008.

Anyone who thinks running is slowing down has another thought coming. B of A Chicago had a good weekend, ING New York had a good weekend and RNR San Antonio had a great inaugural weekend!

The key element, however, is Elite Racing. Elite Racing now has eight active events, and continues to show how to manage events and draw runners to events across the country! Congratulations to a team that proves itself over and over again.

Carolina Kluft is visiting in Ethiopia, promoting the Great Ethiopian Run, as the stars of athletics arrive in Monaco for the IAAF Golden Gala......

Usain Bolt is not planning to run indoors. He is just too darn tall for indoors. I remember Edwin Moses trying to run on the SF Indoor track about 1977, and he just had a miserable time! What would be great for the sport is if Usain showed up at a few meets and talked to kids. He is a huge global star and such a presence could do a lot for the sport.

It is one of the reasons why I admire some of the footwear companies and sponsors for bringing their athletes to various events. Dathan Ritzenhein was at B of A Chicago, and was kind enough to give us an interview at our RN Race Director Party. The race directors had a nice time and it just added to the event!

At the World Athletics extravagana in Monte Carlo, the IAAF gave its two most prestigious awrds, the Male and Female Athlete on the Year trophies, to Usain Bolt and Yelena Isinbayeva.

Usain Bolt and his three world records in Beijing mesmerized the sporting world this past summer in Beijing, with his records over 100 meters, 200 meters and his part in the 4 x 100 meter relay.

Runblogrun.com supports robust drug testing. Let's make that plain and simple. The IAAF Drug bust of seven Russian athletes last summer was right out of the Bourne Supremacy. DNA tests, replacing dirty urine with clean urine, all kinds of subtrefuge. In the end, the IAAF did catch them. Bravo to the IAAF for seeking longer drug bans for such cheaters.

The USA Track & Field convention, which starts Wednesday, December 3, and goes through December 7, is a pivotal convention. Several matters that require, no, demand
your attention, will be happening there:

In my mind, USATF should not be someone looking for crumbs on the side of the road, which is how we are portrayed at this time. We should be thought of as a dynamic sport, appealing to men and women, with exciting and new grass roots opportunities to encourage black and white, rich and poor, young and old to get active, stay active and celebrate the athletes who can run, jump and throw farther than we can!

The inevitable has happened. Competitor, formerly known as Elite Racing, will take over the ill fated Las Vegas Marathon, on December 8, 2008, the day after this years' race. The present owners, Devine Racing, will no longer be involved with the race. This action has been rumored for some time, and makes sense. Elite Racing is the most successful..

In a highly anticipated election, Stephanie Hightower won the election for President of USATF, with 328 votes to Dee Jensen's 300 votes. This was a hard fought, and very close election, taking a second vote, in fact......

When Liu Xiang halted his hurdling at the Beijing Olympics in round one, after less than twenty-five meters of running, the sixty thousand fans in the Birds' Nest gasped. The rest of the day, on nine Chinese TV stations, the coverage of Liu Xiang went from shock to despair to eulogizing the athlete and his coach. Within days of his injury, Liu Xiang apologized to the Chinese people.

What is scary for the sport is that the EBU was not given a deal for the 2014 and 2016
Olympics by the IOC. That could mean that Olympic viewing will only be on cable or pay for view in Europe, drastically cutting down viewing options in Europe for those two Olympics.

On Saturday, while I was up at the NXN event, watching Reed Connor take the boys race and North Spokane take the boys team, and Chelsey Sveinsson won the girls race and Manilus won the girls, Jordan Hasay was winning her fourth Foot Locker Regional competition, a first for anyone, girl or boy.

This is a combination of things. Jordan is one tough competitor. She also listens to Armando and her parents stay parents and allow her coach to be her coach. Without those lines in the sand, Jordan Hasay could never achieve what she has achieved.

Under Armour announced their entry into the performance running market on Tuesday, December 9, with a media event in New York City. Their product will launch on January 31, 2009, but this was the day for the media to get a peak at the new shoe line (the Men's Apparition is shown here) and hear from Founder Kevin Plank, Senior VP of Marketing Steve Battista and Director of Footwear, Running and Training, Chris Brewer.

I think it gives the reader some insight into the absolutely tough competition in running footwear.We have also included several of the models of Under Armour's running footwear as well:

Men's UA Apparition™

WADA has a new code for 2009. They are asking for a one hour window, 365 days a year where the elite athlete can be contacted or found. While this is similar to the rule in British athletics, which banned Christine Ohuruogu, the Osaka and Olympic champion at 400 meters, for one year, it is being criticized on several fronts.

I always like to fuse both Graham and Bowerman. We all have bodies, so we are athletes. Our movement, whether it be throwing, jumping, or running, can be interpreted in dance, so we are all celebrating movement, hence we are also athletes of God. Athleticism then becomes more a celebration of what we have, at whatever level. The honesty, and purity of movement is bastardized with performance enhancing drugs, whether one is caught by WADA or not. But that requires a conscience and ethics and a conscience are not much in fashion these days.

There is a value in living in this age of multi media platforms. If one is observant, the viewer can find a more complete picture of the focus of their attention. For example, today we have the video from the Under Armour Performance Running press conference, which is just below this note. Please check it out. It is short, but it gives you a good introduction into how Under Armour holds press conferences, launches products and finally, you get to see Steve Battista, Vice President, Brand Marketing, Under Armour Performance.

Battista is the focus of this interview. He graciously gave us his time, juggling a day of working on creative-Under Armour running, remember, launches January 31, 2009!

The evening after the ING New York City marathon, I remember having a beverage with Ray Flynn, agent for Ryan Hall. The bar, Rosie O'Gradys, is the unofficial official marathon hangout during the ING NYCM marathon week. After the race were just the hardened few, plus exhausted NYRR staffers, members of the media and athletes, relaxing and rerunning the marathon. We were discussing what was needed in US marathons and how Kara Goucher had excited the media in New York.

Dear readers,

I am heading to a warmer clime, Monday night, December 22, 2008 and will be returning January 2, 2009. Please note that, through the wonders of technology, there will be one posting from December 23, 2008 through January 1, 2009. They will be new posts, just programmed for daily arrival for the information-deprived. Have a Wonderful Holiday and Happy New Year!

Happy New Years to all! Samuel Muturi won the first important marathon on the year, in Xiamin, China.

We have been writing about the Summit since 1993, when, in American Athletics, editor Christine Johnson sent Tim Johnson to cover coach Petrov and his clinic! A great event, we heartily suggest that all vaulters and their coaches get theirselves to Reno!

Quick Cash, a company that promotes itself well in the Jamaican, Latino and Chinese communities in the US, as a way to send money back to loved ones in the home countries, donated $500k to the Jamaican Athletic Federation-nice job!

And watch out for Stephanie Twell, the Brit just won her first senior race at the IAAF XC in Northern Ireland! I see Twell and US Jordan Hasay as two of the fascinating athletes to watch for 2012.

RunBlogRun is on Twitter too! What's Twitter? It's one of the fastest growing social networks on the web. Think of it as our micro-blog. You can get the short text updates on your phone, your laptop or both. And it's free just like this blog. Each post is limited to 140 characters that may also include a link where brevity just won't cover it. It's a great way for our fans to keep up with the blog and get breaking news flashes as they happen. We think it's a great way to communicate with you too. You can text us right back. In fact, we encourage it. We'd love to hear from you. Be sure to follow us on Twitter.

Tirunesh Dibaba, who ran and won both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters in Beijing, will be running indoors in Bosotn on February 7, it was announced today. Dibaba, one of the most versatile middle distance runners of any age, was the first women to win the 5k/10k Olympic double in Beijing last summer. She is also the current indoor world record holder, at 3,000 and 5,000 meters.

Tirunesh Dibaba, and her patented kick in heat and humidity of Beijing, August 2008.

The Running Network has had their annual meetings at the WDW Marathon
since 1994, and we have had an official arrangement with Disney sports since 1996. The beauty of the arrangement is that our 24 publications have their national meetings, we provide coverage for the various events that take part of the WDW weekend. It was also a great weekend for our publishers to get a feel for the health of the sport.

Adriano Bastos of Brazil won for his sixth time, ( wins from 2005 to 2009, and an earlier win in 2003) at the 2009 Walt Disney World Marathon in 2:20:38, twenty seconds faster than last year. Lisa Mizuntani, from Tsukuba, Japan, won the women's race for the first time, in 2:46.27.

Now, we will spend some time on the story behind WDW Weekend 2009! Yesterday, I noted that 14,000 had a magical experience at WDW 2009. Make that 45,000 by the end of the weekend!

We have been watching ECCO for several years now, but their new BIOM launch defies description. David Helter, an ECCO lifer, is the general manager for ECCO performance and, as the saying, goes, loves his brand.

2009 will be a battle of many sides: great product, targeted support of the selling channels, and supportive education. Without all three, your brand will have trouble getting room on the fabled shoe wall.

As Gebre gets ready for the Dubai marathon and Usain Bolt plans for his first 400 meters of the year, which will be February 14-part of his season build up to racing at 100 and 200 meters, (he will move up, possibly in 2010), there are two real stories today: Home Depot is pulling out as USOC sponsor and Oscar Pistorius is again challenging the world of sport to run in the World Champs and Olympics.

Running 2:56 a kilometer through the half marathon, Haile was twenty seconds ahead of his world record pace from Berlin 2008. The rains won this time, but Haile held on and ran a fine 2:05.29 to take the 2009 lead, and win $100,000 in the Dubai Marathon....

While the USATF Half Marathon championships at the Chevron Half Marathonis taking much of the excitement this weekend, the Chevron Houston Marathon could be a huge story! Read below!

Marathon hopefuls: Deriba Merga, Ethiopia, Steve Karpas, Chevron Houston Race Director and Teyba Erkesso, Ethiopia, photo courtesy of Photorun.net

Joe Douglas built the Santa Monica Track Club into a power house around the star quality of Carl Lewis. Commanding much of the under the table promotion budgets in the late 70s, early eighties, Lewis was one the first athletes, along with his team, to deliver strong crowds to major stadiums in Europe.

Change does not happen overnight...

Well, Race Director Steve Karpas must be a happy guy! Two course records on the Chevron Houston Marathon, and in the Aramco Half Marathon, which hosted the
US Half marathon champs, Meb Keflizighi and Magdelena Lewy Boulet both set
personal bests as they won the half marathon!

Josh Cox broke the American record by over four minutes on Sunday, for the 50 kilometer distance. Running 2:20.32 for the marathon distance, despite six episodes of stomach distress and two bathroom stops, Cox was ninth place at the marathon distance at PF Changs' RNR Arizona, when he headed to a local track for five more miles on the track. Finishing the last lap in 71 seconds, Cox broke a seven year old US record, set in Palo Alto,CA of 2:51.48 by Alex Tilson. Josh's time was 2:47:17.

PF Changs Arizona had 34,800 finishers in the half and full marathon distance, plus they had 3,300 kiddies in the one mile fun run! What a weekend!

The picture above (courtesy of adidas promotions), is a promotional picture from 2004, that was used to show Haile Gebrselassie, one of the most storied distance runners of all times, and tying him to the great symbolism and history of Athens, Greece.

It is this blogger's belief that lining up next to Mr. Wanijiru will be Mr. Gebrselassie, so stay tuned! That could make for some fantastic racing!

Dear readers,

A graduate student asked me if we could promote his doctoral survey on college athletes and their feelings on drugs in sports, please pass this along to your
athletes.....

In a press release dated January 20, 2009, the ASICS America corporation announced that they have re signed their three top athletes, Ryan Hall, Deena Kastor and Lo Lo Jones through 2012.....

As the world's oldest democracy changes goverments, and the 44th President of the United States has taken office, our economic woes continue. However, I choose, as do most Americans, to be an optimist. During difficult times, a good walk or run not only keeps the blood flowing, it also opens the creative thoughts.

William Blake, the great English mystic and poet, walked fifteen miles, from the center of London, on Sundays, and hitched his way home on the back of a hay wagon. In more recent times, President Harry S. Truman did a two mile walk most mornings, and then used a unique form of hydration, requiring an ounce from a bottle with the initials J.D, with Senator Sam Rayburn, to start the day. Truman lived to be 92. (Yes, for proper hydration, we do recommend water and sports drinks, it must be noted that Mr. Truman did this unique form of hydration before Gatorade was invented).

Just how good is Christian Cantwell? One Olympic and World champ thrower has told me that if he had Cantwell's talent he could rule the shot put world. One day, Christian will believe that! Nice start to the Indoor season!

Yoko Shibui won the Osaka Ladies marathon, dashing Lidia Simon's hope of a fourth win at this top marathon. Shibui will make the Japanese team to Berlin 2009-she was last on a World Championship team to Edmonton in 2001, where she took fourth.

German Fernandez had a rough fall at the NCAA cross country. His first race indoors was a fast one! Running 3:56.50 for the mile, German broke the world and american junior bests for the indoor mile in Fayetteville, Arkansas!

With Yoko Shibui's victory at the Osaka Ladies Marathon, Shibui finally wins a major race. Here, K Ken. Nakamura, a great friend of the sport, and the reason why the world knows so much about Japanese athletics, writes about how the Osaka marathon developed....

Rob Myers is shown here winning the New Balance Games indoor mile, in 3:59.92. The New Balance Games and the NY Armory, which was underwritten by a gift from Jim Davis, new member of the IRRA Hall of Fame, President of New Balance, as a gift to the sport. The Armory, which is one hundred years old this year, has been championed by Dr. Norb Sander, an early winner of the NYC marathon, and his friends, some of the true characters in the sport. They do great things, like hosting over 60 indoor track meets each season with over 75,000 athletes of all ages getting a chance to compete and learn about our sport!

A special thanks to Jim Davis, New Balance, Dr. Norb Sander and his team for re-developing a true sports sanctuary, the NY Armory!

I have to admit, one of the best interviews of the Olympic Games was David Oliver. Poised, relaxed and with a self deprecating sense of humor, Oliver is a perfect interview. He is also becoming one heck of a hurdler.

David is coached by Brooks Johnson and it shows. Coach Johnson likes the details. And so do his athletes. Oliver hurdles well, and with the exception of last weekend, starts pretty darn well. What I really like about David Oliver is that he does not stop until he gets across the finsh line-and HE KNOWS how to lean! If I see one more American hurdler or sprinter loose a race because they do not lean at the finish line and run through, I am going to make myself watch 24 hours of Hannity and Colmes and that just is not healthy. So, dear hurdlers and sprinters, listen to your high school coaches, and run through the finish line, lean at the tape and know what line you are leaning at ( many wise athletes walk the track before to make sure that they know what to do when)--the devil is still in the details!

In a recent article on Money magazine's website, http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/20/technology/mehta_underarmour.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009012613it was evident that the folks at Under Armour are gearing up for the new launch: going after the running business. It was the natural next move for Under Armour.

Women's UA Apparition™


The running shoe business is a very competitive and very profitable business. It is one of the few sports business areas that sees more competition and growth in 2009. At this time, we identify 35 running shoe brands, with a dozen of them making very good shoes and ten making excellent shoes. In this type of environment, the consumer is the winner, as they should be able to find the perfect shoe for their foot, and their amount of activity.

Anthony Famiglietti is an athlete who knows the artist within. His web site, http://www.runfam.com, is one of the best that I have ever seen for an athlete/artist.

( Fam is redoing his website, in the past, his paintings have been up. Quite talented painter as well. Check out his photo section, http://www.runfam.com/photos/, which was done by someone possessed with a painters' wiring.

Dear readers,

The weather in NY is better, so get on those winter coats and head to the Millrose Games, starting tomorrow night at 6 pm at Madison Square Gardens. The 103rd version of the meet will feature some of our sports greatest stars! I for one, can not wait to see Bernard Lagat try for number seven and Beijing gold medalist Steve Hooker in the pole vault!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this one is worth much, much more. From the left, Meet Director Mark Wetmore, Global Athletics & Marketing, center, Steve Hooker, Australia/Reebok, and Meet Director Emeritus (1974-2003). after Steve cleared a new Millrose, Australian, and Oceana records plus the highest jump in the world! (Photorun.net/Victah Sailer)

The one hundred and second version of the MIllrose Games was a stunner! Steve Hooker cleared 6.01 m or 19-8.75, setting new Millrose, Oceania, Australian indoor records! His three attempts at 6.16m or 20-2, were nearly Bubkian! A great shot put competition, where Adam Nelson, healthy and happy, won on his last throw-the entire complexion of the shot changed on the last throw!

My analysis of the meet will come up this afternoon, but do not miss NBC coverage, from 1.30 to 2.30 pm Eastern on Saturday, January 31, 2009!

More on the global side of the sport.....

Asafa Powell ran 47.75 for 400 meters this past weekend as he opened his season in Jamaica. Jenny Barringer ran a fine 8:53.88 for 3,000 meters indoors at the UW invitational. Her time is a world leader.

Craig Mottram winning the World Cup in Athens, September 2006! courtesy of PhotoRun.net.

There are races in one's athletic career that standout. Craig Mottram, the giant of Australian distance running, has been fortunate enough to have several of those races. I had seen Mottram run cross country and track races, but his fabulous bronze medal in Helsinki in 2005 at 5,000 meters, put him in the focus point of many of the athletics media. Mottram watched the field from the first moment in that twelve and one half lap race, and as are most world championship races, the Helsinki 5,000 meters was a war of attrition. Watching Mottram's huge frame charging down the final two hundred meters on that cool day four years ago opened many athletics fan's eyes: this Mottram has some wheels!

The picture above is of Jordan Hasay, biding her time, in the second pack at the Foot Locker finals in 2008, before she blasted away to become only the second high school girl to win two Foot Locker nationals. Capping off her senior cross country season with her fourth Foot Locker XC West Regional titles, her fourth state title, Jordan Hasay was also picked as the Gatorade 2008-09 Cross Country Girl Athlete of the Year.

With one season left at Mission Prep for Jordan, her senior track season, and the official window opening on Thursday for athletes to declare their colleges, Jordan Hasay announced her intentions today. But, which would it be?

(Photo courtesy of Photorun.net).

The elite season indoor season in the US is underway. Millrose (Jan. 30), Reebok Boston Indoor Games ( Feb. 7) and Tyson (Feb. 13) are three of the four key elite events. All three have the assistance or management of the Globa Athletics & Marketing team. One week after handling the gargantuan Millrose Games, GAM is home in Boston, putting on the meet that made them famous-Reebok Boston Indoor Games, which they founded in 1996.

For more on Reebok Boston, please check out http://www.BostonIndoorGames.com

Ivan Ukhov woke a few folks up in Arnstadt today with his fine 2.36m!

Payton Jordan, one of the most venerable faces in the sport of track & field, died Thursday, at his home, at the age of 91. The 1968 U.S. Olympic Track & Field coach for the team in Mexico City, Jordan was also the long time head coach at Stanford University, a top athlete as a young runner as well as a top masters athlete, known in his second track career as the Silver Streak.

Runblogrun will do a longer piece on Payton next week, but for a complete and thoughtful obituary, look no farther than the one and only Frank Litsky (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/frank_litsky/index.html?inline=nyt-per), who wrote an amazing piece this morning. Payton Jordan died after a long fight with cancer. Our thoughts are with him, his family and his friends.

A very happy Meseret Defar after her fine 3,000 meter run in Stuttgart. Her time of 8:26.99 leads the world ( Photo, courtesy of Bob Ramsak, Track Profile.com)

Keith Peters ( http://www.runblogrun.com/2008/04/the_greening_of_our_sport_an_i.html) has been reborn. In truth, anyone who knows Keith and has followed him over the past two decades will see that his emergence as a leader in the green running movement is a natural evolution from his time as a local race director to a Nike Communications manager to the original developer of Nike content on the web in 1996, to his company and focus on eco-logistics.

Peters is a thoughtful eco-warrior. Yet, warrior may be a bad word. He does not see it as a war, but a cause. Keith believes hat using common sense, one can make any race more eco aware and lower the carbon footprint of the event. I encourage you to re read the interview that we did with Keith in April 2008 ( linked above).

95 percent of athletes prefer green events, 82 percent will spend more on a green event and 80 percent prefer green certification.

Keith Peters spoke this afternoon at the Running USA on How to Make one's event more green. He spent most of his time speaking on the Council for Reponsible Sport, located in Portland, Oregon and established in 2007 ( http://www.resport.org), this group has a certification process for races and sporting events to help the events make a smaller carbon footprint. Things as simple as using only online registration, shipping via truck instead of overnight shipping. Peters ask us to consider reusing race materials, sharing race materials.

In going over the site, much of the certification metrics is common sense. An investment in the community, helping make a park or river trail better, all of those things are quite popular in this time. Take advantage of the spirit of the times, as our President has asked us to do, and contribute to the local community. The Council for Responsible Sport makes some very good points, so we encourage you to check this out.

For more on this, please check http://www.Eco-logistics.biz

At the Council of Responsible Sport, click on www.http://www.resport.org

For more on our sport, http://www.runningnetwork.com

Bernard Lagat won both the 5,000 meters and 1,500 meters in 2007 in Osaka, Japan. In 2008, in Beijing, he did not advance to the final of the 1,500 meters and was out of contention in the 5,000 meter final. Why? Injuries, and just plain old bad luck!

Now, in 2009, Bernard is feeling great, won the Mile at Millrose and won the 3,000 meters at Stuttgart, Mr. Lagat is having some dreams of a double in Berlin...Bob Ramsak reports on this ambition of the double...

Dayron Robles was injured in his first hurdle race of the year!

Yelena Isinbayeva, the women athlete who, more than any other, has controlled her event with her extraordinary jumping, is a global star. adidas noticed her first, and promoted her as one of their icons. Now, Li Ning, the Chinese sports apparel company, has offered her, and she has reportedly accepted, a $7.5 million US deal that will go out to 2014. The Chinese sports companies are here!

Photo courtesy of Victah Sailer, Photo Run.net

At the Reebok Boston Indoor, Alberto Salazar mentioned several times that he was very excited about how fast Galen Rupp would run at 5,000 meters this year. Well, it did not take long for Salazar's view into the future became a reality.

Oh, and special congratulations to Shalonda Salomon for her blazing 36.45 for a new American record at 300 meters indoors at Tyson!

Controversial sprinter Dwain Chambers runs 6.51 twice today in Sheffield, Usain Bolt jogs a 46.36 opener for 400 meters in Jamaica and Nuria Fernandez cranks 4:01.77 for the world leader at Valencia, Spain permit meeting.

Special thanks to Alfons Juck, who does not seem to sleep much during indoor season-must be the espresso!

The AVIVA meetings in the UK have kept athletics fans in the UK entertained with competitive events, star power and world and British leading marks. As the time comes nearer for the European Indoors in Torino, Italy, British athletes performed well and showed that they must be considered in the medal predictions.

While there were two British records, and two world leaders, the AVIVA Grand Prix/Birmingham was the Mo Farah Show--and Mr. Farah entertained! Mo Farah, after training stints in Ethiopia and Kenya, and now, under the watchful eye of UK endurance manager Ian Stewart, has set three UK records in the past month at 3,000 meters. This evening performance was his race showed a level of racing maturity that Mr. Farah had not shown in the past. Running his 1,500 meter segments in 3:45 and 3:49, taking the lead with two laps to go, and extending his lead on Shadrick Korir, with Farah getting the win in 7:34.17, another PB, and another British record!

Yelana Isinbayeva has one more indoor competition, in Praha, the Czech Republic on Thursday, February 26, 2009. As Isinbayeva is not going to Torino for the European Indoor Championships, but taking a break before the long outdoor season, she is planning her attempt to break her own world record of 5.00 m, with attempts at 5.01m and perhaps, 5.02m! Stay tuned! Photo by PhotoRun.net

Ivan Ukhov, a You Tube phenom, became the number four all time high jumper with his jump last night in Athens!

Mark Adams, 45, a champion of innovative uses of various media platforms to reach key young audiences, has taken the Director of Communications position for the IOC. The key will be, how much control the IOC tries to put on Adams. His position starts May 1, and he will be challenged with communicating to the IOC bigwigs such things as how YouTube, Facebook, and other social media can help the Olympic movement, not hinder it.

The Olympic ideal, while tarnished in some circles, is still quite strong among the world's sports fans. We wish Mr. Adams the very best and look forward to his impramatur on Olympicspeak.

With less than a two months before the IOC visits the U.S. for a site selection visit of the Chicago 2016 bid, and with recent layoffs at the USOC, Jim Scherr, the Chief Executive officer of the USOC surprised many by resigning effective March 31, 2009.

Photo courtesy of the USOC.

Inside the Games blog announced that Steve Ovett, the 1980 Olympic champion at 800 meters, is taking a position in his adopted home, Australia, to help improve the hopes of Australian distance running for London 2012. The complete story can be found at: http://www.insidethegames.com/show-news.php?id=5164.

adidas Group is the most recent company to report positive earnings for the fourth quarter of 2008. Recently Brooks, Saucony and PUMA also announced strong earnings and growth for their last fiscal years. Word coming in on several of the focused running brands, such as ASICS, Brooks, Saucony, Mizuno is optimistic: first quarter sales are up, returns, which put most into panics, and could still cause issues later in the year, are less of an issue than some expected. Specialty running stores are now focusing on spring running and the push that 900,000 high schoolers and 1 million junior high kids asking their parents for running shoes give their stores! Lesson to be learnt-all business is local.

Track Shark has given its fans great coverage since 2002. In May 2008, Wasserman Media Group purchased Track Shark. Track Shark was among many companies that Wasserman had spoken to, from LetsRun.com to the Running Network. Wasserman, at one time, had an agreement with USA Swimming, USA gymnastics, and USA Track & Field. Wasserman still is involved with USA Track & Field.

The following is a letter from Tom Borish, founder of Track Shark, letting his readers know that the economic realities of the media world have caught up to TrackShark.com. We wish them well and hope that they can find a way to keep the site alive.

It was less than two days after Liu Xiang had withdrawn from the 110 meter hurdles in Beijing, shocking his nation, that this wall poster from People' Youth Daily, showed up near a watering hole/coffee shop that Pat Butcher, JIm O'Brien and I frequented, in the Gu Luo region of Beijing (the bell Tower). My favorite sign in the coffee shop was a small sign, in Chinese and English, stating: No gambling allowed. No drug trafficking allowed, no prostitution allowed. My comment to Mr. Butcher and O'Brien was this place must have rocked before the games...

Liu Xiang is that type of athlete. In 2012, Xiang will be 27 years old, prime for a 110 meter hurdler. The 2007 World Champion wants to win, and has as a former U.S. president called it, " that vision thing." Xiang will work hard for the next four years, and if he is healthy, the race in London should be a tremendous one. Lucky for us athletics fans, Liu Xiang, Dayron Robles, Terrance Trammel, David Oliver will all be around--it should make the hurdles exciting!

Photo of Beijng People's Youth Daily, (600,000 circ), by Larry Eder

Last weekend, Galen Rupp broke four minutes, on an oversized indoor track, with his 3:57.86. This has been a superb indoor season for Galen, running a 7:44 for 3,000 meters at the Reebok BIG, then the AR for 5,000 meters with his 13:18 at Tyson and now this. This coming week, Rupp will be running the NCAA Indoor Championships. Rupp is preparing for bigger and better things, such as Berlin 2009 and London 2012, but it seems that Mr. Rupp it taking one thing at a time. Allowed to be a normal college student at track mad Oregon, Rupp is maturing into one of our top distance runners. We wish him luck this weekend !

Rupp running 3,000 meters at Reebok Boston on February 7, 2009. Photo courtesy of PhotoRun.net.

Olympic shot put champion Tomasz Majewski with Fernando Botero's ‘Adam’, Casino Gardens, Monte Carlo, Monaco. Photo by Bob Ramsak

The VISA Indoor Series, which consisted of the Millrose Games (Jan.30), Reebok Boston Indoor Games ( Feb.7), Tyson Invitational ( Feb. 13), and the VISA USATF Indoor Champs ( Feb. 28-March 1) had a nice improvement in TV Ratings.

Jenn Stuczynski broke the AR twice during the VISA Indoor Series! Photo by Photorun.net.

Robbie Andrews, the young prep who won the Millrose prep mile so convincingly, ran a fine 1:49.21 at the NYC Armory this past weekend at the NSSF Meet. Between the NSSF and the Nike Indoor this past weekend, new prep records abound!

Photography by PhotoRun.net

In the stands last summer in Beijing, Kappa, the Italian brand, was fairly prominent. Mostly young Chinese were wearing the brand, which made sense, as the Kappa logo rights are owned by Dongxiang, a Chinese sports apparel company. Ironically, Kappa had sponsored US national track team uniforms in the 1980's , until, during the company's financial upheaval and non-payment to USATF, Nike took over in 1989.

Donxiang signed an agreement today with the Norwegian team, according to http://www.insidethegames.com

In a copyrighted article from the Denver Post, it is evident that the word has gotten out that the "decision" by Jim Scherr, the former USOC CEO was the work of the a) board and b) may have been self serving for the board. The article, http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_11928620, suggests that the turmoil within the USOC has just begun.

Minutae perhaps, but as Doug Logan knows, perception and reality are intertwined in the global sports business and this is not one of the USOC's greatest hours.

For more on the USOC, check http://www.usoc.org

adidas global invited a group of media to Santa Monica, California for a few days of meetings on new product, interviews with athletes, and a chance to run or observe a training session of some of the world's greatest athletes!

When Haile Gebrselassie showed up, repleat in adidas garb, and telling all who would listen, " We are running 4:00 mile pact today, and then, laughing," the assembled media joined him for a nice run, jog or walk along the Santa Monica pier.

For my pace, I saw him at the beginning of my walk and the end, but it was fun to see him running with a pack of runners. As we walked down the paths along the beach, we saw Jenn Rhines doing some strideouts. Ah, running geekdom!

Ah, the opportunities for a three time gold medalist! Usain Bolt will be running a 150 meter race in Manchester, England before the BUPA Great Manchester 10k, which will be featuring Haile Gebrselassie. This is all part of the Great City Games over the weekend of May 16-17. Runblogrun salutes Manchester and BUPA for putting together such a creative event!

Photo by Photorun.net.

Autobiographies are everywhere. To stand out in this genre, however, the juicier the stories, the more like reality TV ( a genre this writer can do without), the better the book will sell.

My guess is, the publisher of Dwain Chambers autobiography, which has been serialized in British media, is quite happy, as the controversy over the book has given it headlines in the UK. Chambers has harsh comments on several prominent athletes, managers and former athletes. There is the distinct possibility that the IAAF could ban him for causing damage to the image of the sport. However, I find it about 50/50. Such a ban would only give the book more airplay and popularity. Watch closely folks, as this could be a hot one!

Part of the story about Jim Scherr's ousting from the USOC and the current crisis in Colorado Springs is the current relationship with the IOC. Under Peter Ueberoth and Jim Scherr, while there were issues with the IOC, the US interests were well-represented. This is not exactly the case with Mr. Probst and the current level of intercine warfare within the USOC.

The battle with the IOC is over TV dollars for the USOC. They need a strong advocate, someone who has had experience with global sports and who has friends within the IOC. Current leadership within the USOC does not suggest anyone who has that type of stature. In this case, the USOC has shot itself twice in the foot. For Chicago 2016's sake, we hope that the USOC board can find a way to present a professional, and strong front instead of the balkanized, power hungry picture that is appearing from several fronts.....Where is Mr. Ueberoth when we really need him?

Kara Goucher went out quite fast, but held on in the Lisbon Half marathon, winning by thirty seconds in 1:08:30. She is four weeks out from her race at the Boston Marathon. Jeremy Wariner, who we were able to interview in Santa Monica last week (watch for the interviews next week), opened this weekend in Waco in 20.77 for 200 meters! The first weekend in spring has happened! We hope that you enjoy the results!

All that is new in our world of sports plus info on upcoming meets and events....Usain Bolt is number two in Sky Sports magazine list of greatest sports stars--Tiger Woods was number one! Remember, Tiger Woods once said he would be a 200 meter runner if he was not playing golf!

One of American Track & Field's earliest contributors, Jeff Benjamin, forwarded this link from the London Telegraph (http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=60889762846&h=O96tY&u=hnLmd&ref=mf) on who the telegraph called, 'perhaps the Greatest Living Englishman',
Sir Roger Bannister.

For more on what Sports Illustrated called 'the original Sportsman', please click http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/ban0bio-1.

Runningnetwork.com (http://www.runningnetwork.com)) and several of its associated sites will be down for the next three days due to a server upgrade and scheduled maintenance. "We have been moving our calendar, plus our ftp site has had great usage this spring, so we needed an upgrade, " noted Chuck Bartlett, the manager for the RunningNetwork website. "Note that sites just linked to the RunningNetwork.com should not be affected, but the new upgrades will also allow us to handle our increased traffic and use, " noted Larry Eder, President of the Running Network LLC.

The Running Network, LLC, established in 1986, started its first websites in 1995. At this time, there are twenty four print publications and twenty three associated websites plus the RunningNetwork.com portal for running enthusiasts. The Running Network is composed of sixteen regional magazines and websites plus eight national titles and seven national websites. The goal of the Running Network is to enhance the relationship between the running enthusiast and their local running community or culture.

Running Network LLC Partners are: American Track & Field, Athletes Only, Athletics (Canada), Austin Runner,California Track & Running News, Club Running, Coaching Athletics Quarterly, Colorado Runner, Get Active!, Greater Long Island Running Club's Footnotes, Latinos Corriendo, Michigan Runner, Missouri Runner & Triathlete, New York Runner, Running Journal, Racing South, RunMinnesota, RUNOHIO, Track & Field News, USATF's Fast Forward, USATF/New England's Exchange Zone, The Winged Foot (NYAC), The Winged M (MAC), Youth Runner

For more information, please contact Chuck Bartlett at chuck@runningnetwork.com or
larry.eder@gmail.com

Constantina Dita made a huge gamble when she made her move at halfway in Beijing, and went on to win the Olympic marathon title. One of the most prolific and successful women marathon runners on the circuit. ASICS has signed her for the next four years, according to her management team, Boulder Wave, Inc.

ASICS head of global marketing Masao Hijikata, Constantina Dita, and Boulder Wave President Brendan Reilly following the contract signing in Tokyo. (Photos courtesy of Boulder Wave, Inc.)

Although my grandfather Earl knew of one runner in his lifetime-Paavo Nurmi, the first runners I heard about from Scandinavia were Gunder Hagg and Arne Andersson. If I recall, it was about Andersson's coach and his use of fartlek training. Arne Anderson held the world record at 1,500 meters once, and the mile three times. On each occassion, his competitor, Gunder Hagg, broke them shortly thereafter.

It is ironic, in my mind, that Andersson won the final race, between he and Gunder Hagg. Hagg died in 2004. Andersson lived to the ripe old age of 91.

Diet books keep the book industry alive. My prediction is that Usain Bolt has at least one diet book in his future. Look, the fast food industry has to love the guy. Apparently living on a diet of Chicken McNuggets and G2 (check out his Gatorade videos), Usain Bolt gave us three world records last summer!