Recently in Reviews Category

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Teddy Tamgho, L'enfant terrible of the TJ, is back! 
photo by PhotoRun.net

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Mo Farah to run Bupa London 10k on May 26, 
photo by PhotoRun.net


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Tirunesh Dibaba running 10k on May 26 an 5k on June 1 at Pre, 
photo by PhotoRun.net

Teddy Tamgho has already jumped 16.46m, he is healthy once again. Mo Farah has Bupa London 10k on May 27, Tirunesh Dibaba running 10k on Bupa Manchester on May 26, and Nike Pre 5,000m on June 1. 

The season gets hotter by the day! 

Today, April 13, 2013,  is the tenth anniversary of Paula Radcliffe's Beamonesque moment, when she ran 2:15.25 for the women's marathon. We have been fortunate to have a note from David Monte, editor of Race Results Weekly, and his unique column on Paula Radcliffe, as RRW was the only US media covering the event live from London....

Radcliffe_PaulaFV1-London03.jpgPaula Radcliffe for the World Record at 2003 London Marathon
Photo by PhotoRun.net

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Jacob Kendagor wins Vattenfall Berlin Half, 
photo courtesy of SCC Events/Media4

The Vattenfall Berlin Half marathon is another example of the strength of road running in Europe in general and in Germany, in particular. Jacob Kendagor and Helah Kiprop lead 31,194 runners through the historic course. 


David Hunter is on a roll. This piece on Chris Fallon of Ohio State, and the pursuit of the four minute mile, is a fun read. The four minute mile has become a litmus test to the growing strength of American distance running. Running four laps in 60 seconds a piece has been done by just over 396 Americans in the past fifty years. Sometime this spring, we will hit 400 Americans who have broke four minutes for the mile! 

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Chris Fallon, Big Ten Indoor Champs, 
photo courtesy of Ohio State website...


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Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia, who we last saw at the 3,000 meters in the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, setting a World Junior record, took the junior men's World Cross Country title, with a mad dash down the big downhill on the last lap! Running a 21:04 for the cold, tough, 8k course, Gebrhiwet let the Ethiopians to gold team title with a score of 23 points. Kenya was second in 26 points, and Morocco was third in 65 points! 
3314700b-3818-4db3-98e5-eafe4df73110.png The women's senior race was a bit of an upset as well, as Emily Chebet, the 2010 World Cross Country Championship winner, came back to win the 2013 World Cross Country Championship title in Bydgoszcz, Poland today, March 24, 2013. 

Here is a video showing the highlights of the senior women's race on the very tough 8 kilometer course!
Bill Rodgers is one of the most iconic of figures in modern American distance running. Between Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers, the modern running booms began, were cultivated and flowered into a huge global business covering running footwear, running stores and the global road racing boom. In the early 1970s, runners were few and far between. In 2013, runners and walkers are everywhere and road races are part of the local cultures, in cities big and small. 

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Boston Marathon, April 1975, 
photo courtesy of the B.A.A. Used with permission. 

Bill Rodgers, the clown prince of road running, was one of the first to reap financial benefits from the sport. He paid a huge price for doing something he loved. In the halcyon days of the late 1970s, Rodgers won 32 of 38 straight races, including four of six marathons in that time frame (1978-1979). Beneath the relaxed exterior lived a fierce competitor, who was able to take his talents, a huge heart, and the ability to put 140 mile weeks back to back, racing and traveling. Rodgers was everywhere, drinking out of a Perrier bottle after a race (Perrier was a huge sponsor in 70s running). 

The thing that still surprises me and touches me to this day is Bill Rodgers, who has seen the best and worst of the running business, is genuine and thoughtful with his fans. I remember the Hall of Fame 15k race in Uttica, NY, where Bill Rodgers, after a very hot and humid race, spent an hour with a high school girls cross country team, who just asked him question after question. He smiled, answered their questions, and gave them the time that they needed. Another generation of adoring fans, but more importantly, another generation of committed runners. 

Jeff Benjamin, a long time contributor American Track & Field, wrote this fine review of the new book by Bill Rodgers and Matthew Shepatin. Well written, thoughtful, it is a highly recommended by RBR's reviewer, Jeff Benjamin. 
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Trevor Gilley takes the Brooks PR Mile, 
photo courtesy of Brooks Running

The Brooks PR Invitational is in its third year. The concept of the Brooks PR Meeting is pretty straightforward: bring in the ten best high school boys and girls, from the 60 meter dash to the two mile, put them on a very fast track and let them compete. It is, in reality the essence of our sport. 

For three years now, the Brooks PR Invitational has produced some hot times and some very hot competitions. Take for instance, the focal point of this article, the Brooks PR Boys' mile. 

We asked Kevin Mangan, a UW junior, our first intern, to write a piece about the Brooks PR Mile. He did a nice job, giving insights into the race that RunBlogRun readers expect: a review of a race by someone who loves the sport. His comments on Trevor Gilley's move from last in 2012, to first in 2013, puts the race in perspective for us. Where can this young miler go? 

Kevin also wrote on Bernie Montoya, the 4:01 miler from 2012 adidas Dream Mile who blasted an 8:54 two mile so early in the season. As Mr. Mangan noted, Bernie Montoya has the endurance, speed and focus to become the next high school boy under four minutes! 

If Kevin can put up with yours truly, we shall see more pieces from him over the next few months. Kevin Mangan will give us some perspective on track & field in the Northwest, specifically Seattle, Washington. We are lucky to have him involved. 

We hope that you enjoy this look at the Brooks PR Boys' mile, which put Trevor Gilley on a national showcase...
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Tim Danielson, June 1966, photo courtesy of New York Times

When I moved to California in 1974, Tim Danielson was already a legend. Danielson had run a 3:59.4 mile on June 11, 1966, becoming only the second high school boy to break four minutes for the mile, at the time. California's golden boy, Danielson had won the CIF State Mile title twice. Then, after a short college career, he disappeared...

I had heard the Jere Longman was working on a piece on the ecstacy and agony in the life of Tim Danielson, who is awaiting trial on murder charges in California. Tim Danielson is a far cry from the golden days of his youth, and writer Jere Longman has crafted one of his best pieces ever, giving the reader a view into the qualities that make one a great athlete, and also those same qualities can make a normal life nearly impossible for such a former athlete. This piece should be passed around and read, and discussed. 

Recently, Brooks Johnson, the famed coach, in his blog, wrote a series of blogs  about Suzy Favor Hamilton, Oscar Pistorious and their plights. Johnson's theme was, that one must be careful to put blame on someone who goes to great lengths to be a fine athlete, and then condemn them for those same traits when exhibited in other parts of their life. How can one celebrate actions in one part of  life, and then, be amazed when those same traits stray into another part of one's life?

 James Wolcott, the media writer for Vanity Fair, has written an excellent tome on the peculiarities of fallen sports heroes in the April issue of Vanity Fair. 

All should be read and considered. 

But for today, go to a quiet place and consider Tim Danielson, the golden boy of California track & field.....

After the Mile, by Jere Longman, NYTimes



Tim Danielson was among an exclusive group of runners who broke the elusive four-minute barrier. Now he is a runner shackled, charged with killing his ex-wife.



http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/sports/after-the-mile-the-tim-danielson-story.html?smid=pl-share

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Photo used with permission of the B.A.A. (From The B.A.A. at 125).


The B.A.A. at 125

The Official History of the Boston Athletic Association, 1887-2012

By John Hanc

Foreword by Matt Damon

Sports Publishing hardcover, also available as an ebook

On Sale: April 2013

ISBN: 978-1-61321-198-4

Price: $24.95

 

In American sports history, there are but a handful of athletics clubs that can date their pedigrees back into the middle and late nineteenth century. One of the most historic, and colorful, is the Boston Athletic Association. It is a fact that the B.A.A. had nine of the fourteen US athletes who competed in the 1896 Olympics, the first of the modern Olympiad. It is a fact that the B.A.A. founded the first marathon in the U.S., in 1897, and it is a fact that the start of the modern health club benefitted from B.A.A. club, then located in the Back Bay. 


The B.A.A. at 125 is much more than a book of facts. John Hanc ably describes the sports world, and the contempory world, over the 125 years of the evolution of this modern sports club. The Boston Marathon, founded by the B.A.A. is the most iconic marathon on the globe. In 1986, the B.A.A. accepted the sponsorship of the John Hancock Financial Services Company, and took the Boston Marathon, and the sport, into a new era. 


And the characters of the B.A.A.? A more colorful lot of athletes, coaches, officials would be hard to collect. John Hanc, the author, over the 114 pages and one hundred photographs, does a yeoman's job at giving the reader a real feel of the Boston Athletic Association. This is a must read for any sports fan, and especially, if one runs or follows the sport of athletics...

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