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On Sunday, June 10, I had a revelation. I was watching the Nike Prefontaine Classic on television, LIVE from Eugene, Oregon. The Pre Classic has been the beacon for elite track and field in this country for nearly 30 years. Meet director Tom Jordan has the benefits of a wonderful facility at University of Oregon, a great crowd, many who have missed only a handful of meets over thirty years and a sponsor who believes in the importance of the meet.

This year, it is quite different. While the meet had some of the best races so far of the year: the Men's 2 mile, the Bowerman Mile, the Women's 1,500 meters and the Men's 200 meters, the Prefontaine is now being challenged for supremacy in North America.

How can that be, you ask? Well, two earlier meets this season, the adidas Track Classic, in Carson City, California on May 20, and the Reebok Grand Prix, held at Icahn Stadium on Randalls' Island, in the center of New York City on June 2, had good crowds and great competitions!

Now, before the hate mail begins, re read this carefully, I said that the Pre Classic is being challenged, not overcome. Both the adidas and the Reebok GP are managed by Global Athletics & Marketing. Putting on a track meet is a thankless task. Tom Jordan of the Pre Classic spends his entire year preparing for one day. Global Athletics & Marketing spends most of the year managing four events: Reebok Boston Indoor in January, Millrose Games in February, adidas in May, Reebok GP in June. Talk about
craziness.

Track meets have been nightmeres in the past, and they will be in the future. The reasons these meets do well is that they a) run on a schedule, b) run in a two to three hour format, c) focus on great competition.

One of our problems in this sport is the obsession with records. Record chasing and record setting have nearly killed this sport and made it incomprehensible for the general sports fan.

This season has been different. There have been fast times-witness Tyson Gay running 9.79wa and 9.76 wind aided as well. There have been records-witness Breaux Greer's 90.71 meter or 297-7 javelin throw! Witness Jenn Stuczynski's two American records in the women's pole vault! And, finally, there have been great races! Witness Wallace Spearmon's come from behinds at adidas and Reebok in the 200 meters, witness Alan Webb winning the mile at Reebok and most of all, witness Craig Mottram win the Nike Two Mile in 8:03.51, after having run the last mile in four minutes flat! His waving to the crowd, pumping his arms to both sets of stands, said it all: track and field is about the competition!

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...

Jeremy Wariner has been on the scene since 2004, when he made everyone notice at the Olympic Games, with his victory over 400 meters. In 2005, the next year, the word on the street was how many guys were going to beat Jeremy, but Wariner proved them wrong, winning in Helsinki as well!

In 2006, Jeremy began to experiment with the 200 meters, as he considered running both the 200 and 400 meters in world competition. It was about this time that the 200 meters began to erupt. First, there was Xavier Carter at 19.63, then there was Tyson Gay at 19.71, and then there was Wallace Spearmon with some impressive wins and times. The three of them have kept the 200 meters going crazy!

I wonder sometimes if Coach Clyde Hart has Jeremy running the 200 meters to keep him grounded. While there is competition in the 400 meters, the competition in the 200 meters is excruciating!

Last summer, Jeremy got to 20.10 in the 200 meters, and 43.6 in the 400 meters. What will he do in 2007? Wariner started off May with a 44.02 in Osaka, then ran 44.40 and 44.61.

The 200 meters became more complicated this year, with Walter Dix running a 19.69 in the NCAA regionals, Wallace Spearmon winning in 19.91 and 19.81 at adidas and Reebok, and then barely loosing to Xavier Carter, 20.23-20.25 at Nike Prefontaine. Wariner was in the 200 meter race in Eugene, Oregon on June 10, where he took a sobering sixth place in 20.75.

Jeremy Wariner has the talent and strength to break Micheal Johnson's 400 meter record of 43.18, set in Sevilla, Spain in 1999. I remember that race. After his sterling 300 meters in the semi-final, I knew he could get the record.

Wariner's style is different, even with the same coach. Wariner looks like an 800 meter runner, and sometime track experts wonder how fast he could run the 800 meters? Jeremy just looks at that question and frowns. He is not interested. Wariner will bring the 400 meter record down to 42.9, and that my friends, will be a race to behold!

Let's face it, we all have egos. We all want to be thought of in a positive manner as much of the time as possible. We also want to be thought of as doing a great job!

Yet, track and field seems to receive more of the bad press on sports than any other sport! Why is that?

The question has both reasonable and unreasonable answers. First, the reasonable answers: writers who cover track & field, love the sport and want to see it succeed. They also are the first to cast stones at the sport, finding parts that need improvement, and comparing the sport to the old days. Much of what they say is understood by the track fan, much of what they write, however, is not understood by the general sports fan.

The truth is, we live in a totally different world than track & field inhabited in the 30s-40s, and then the 50's-60's. Track & Field did not do well against the growth of professional sports, like football, basketball and baseball. A televised track meet is a whole different animal than a televised football game. How to give the TV viewer intimate viewings of a 1,500 meters, how to give the TV viewer the tension that fills the sprint start as sprinters line up, these are some of the questions that a producer and director have to ask themselves. Track & Field can be dynamic, and the stories of athletes, weaved into the comptetition, can make for some compelling Television.

A sport that is not communicated compellingly, a sport that is focussed on self hatred, is sure not going to grab the attention of sponsors. A great track & field meet on TV cost money, and unless that money is there, producers will take short cuts. A sport that focuses on drugs, even though is has done to advance drug testing, and more to catch cheaters than all other professional and Olympic sports combined, needs to say that in its defense.

The focus by many in the media on, " well, there were no records today" has hurt our sport. Track & Field is about competition, pure competition, throwing, jumping, running—that is what people want to see!

At the adidas track classic, Reebok Grand Prix and Nike Prefontaine this year, the crowds and the TV fans were treated to some great competitions, and dazzled by a few American, Chinese and World bests! But the key was the competition, and TV did a nice job in telling the story.

The web is giving track and field something to cheer about. From Flotrack.com to letsrun.com to dyesports.com to runningnetwork.com, a fan or could be fan can find stories on track and field, road running, race walking and ultra running, all to their liking!

The web has added timeliness to print media. Our publications have had to change to take the benefits of websites, however, most has been for the good. Readers check the new news on a daily basis and receive our publications with stories, and features that recommend them finding more on the web. After ten years of archiving, we have a few million pages of archived content. After ten years of web coverage, we have ten years of e-newletters updating our readers on every track meet that they want to read about!

Track & Field has a second chance, and the web will be continuing to evolve. Soon, one will be able to download every race that Jeremy Wariner ran in the season in the 400 meters. If one wants an interview with Wallace Spearmon after a 200 meter race, one will be able to download that from a podcast soon.

And sponsors? Sponsors go where they can find an intelligent, interested populace that buys things. If they see numbers improve, on the web, on TV, in print, for interest in track and field, they will spend money.

In 1995, I went to Goteborg, Sweden for the IAAF World Outdoor Athletics Championships. It was my first time outside of the United States, and I was very excited to see a world championships! I had the pleasure of sitting next to the late Don Potts, one of the developers of the TFN Track Rankings and the writer of many of the most geeky of track books. I was in track and field nirvana.

In that meet, I saw Jonathan Edwards break the world record for the triple jump, Kim Batten and Tonja Buford Dailey break the world record for the 400 m hurdles among many days of spectacular track & field. I also had the pleasure of meeting many of the great European track writers, many of whom I had read their works for years.

Probably the most enlightening event of the entire World Championships was when, as I was grabbing some results, I overheard, in French, a conversation about the terrible state that track & field was in North America.

A few minutes later, someone in the conversation noticed that I was from the United States and began to ask me about the state of the sport in our country. I was incredulous. They had been told that most of our tracks were in disarray, that athletes were not participating in our sport and that the Federation was in ruin.

I told them that while I knew little about the Federation, that the high school and college parts of the sport were growing, that most towns and villages in the U.S. had track facilities, and that while the sport was not getting the attention of the professional sports, track & field was far from dying.

I have published track & field publications since 1989, and in that time, have seen great changes in the sport. We have had a renaissance in our prep distance running, as well as our technical events, especially the shot and pole vault. The 1.4 million boys and girls who competed in either cross country, indoor or outdoor track & field in the U.S. make up the largest high school sport in North America-athletics. Of the 22 million boys and girls in high school, 7.2 million compete in high school sports, and 1.4 million of them are in our sport, athletics.

At the junior high level, over 3 million 11-13 year olds competed in jr high cross country or track last year. The programs are varying in quality, but it is where most kids get their first glance of our sport.

Our federation, USA Track & Field, has also had a renaissance. Under the tutelage of Craig Masback, and the fiscal management of Jim Elias, the sport has come back from insolvency to a very strong budget. The challenge will always be how a board can control its executive director and vice versa. The CEO must be a good salesman, a good pr person and love the sport, without that, there can be no success. The goal of the federation is to put medals around the necks of US athletes at international competiton, yet it governs road running, race walking, masters and youth track, and cross country, and elite development.

Where are our challenges? Should the federation be managing track meets? Should the federation control the tv broadcasting in our sport? Should the federation continue, like the Yugoslavia of sports, where the entire sport is ruled by one strong group?

Our sport in North America, like our society, is quite complicated. On the positive side, if, as a parent, one wants their child to meet children of other ethnic groups, of other socio-economic groups, then track & field is that sport. Our strength is in our diversity. Our strength is in the contrarian approaches some coaches and clubs take to the sport. Our success is because local action begets national changes. Our success is because, with 300 million people, the U.S. has the next star in nearly every event in track & field-there is just one problem. What stops that great athlete, the kid who could run a 3.40 mile, or run a 9.6 for 100 meters, or throw the shot 75 feet, from coming out for track & field? How about the world of distractions in our society!

From computer games to professional sports, many of our best potential athletes never come out for our sport. For some it is the if one can not win right away, why come out? Or it is I do not want to work so hard.

Our sport takes 12-15 years for an athlete to mature. It takes many people, from coaches and trainers and parents to meet directors and officials and sponsors to make the sport grow. Luckily, we have had a renaissance in our sport in the U.S., people asking the right questions, people starting clubs, starting training centers, and giving their time, hearts and souls to support our sport of athletics.

The truth of athletics in North America is that we have great potential here, and we are making progress, however, the sport has to continue to change and fine tune in order to grow. We will explore more of the issues here in later columns.

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!

Last Sunday, while I watched the excellent Nike Men's 2 Mile on NBC, I could not help but cheer for Matt Tegankamp. Matt was a good runner in high school, from Lee's Summit, Missouri, and then went to the University of Wisconsin, where he has stayed after his B.S. degree was finished, to train with Jerry Schumacher.

I met Jerry Schumacher in 1999, when we sponsored the late Arthur Lydiards' tour of 20 cities across the U.S. to speak on distance running. That night, after Arthur spoke to about 50 people in Madison, Wisconsin, Jerry, Coach Joe Hanson from Edgewood, Arthur and myself headed over to the Essen Haus, a very popular German style brewery. Also there were Arthur's wife, my partner, Christine, and our son, Adam.

We spent several hours asking Arthur questions, he was full of energy after speaking to the athletes and coaches. I remember Pascal Dobert, the steeplechaser from UW, asking Arthur questions that night as well.

I just remember Jerry's enthusiasm and interest in the sport. I would see Jerry at away meets each year, mostly the Cardinal Invite or Payton Jordon Invite each year and we would say hello. I always noted that Jerry was developing a superb group of young distance runners.

Matt Tegankamp was on of his first successes, and last year, Matt exploded. First he took on Bernard Lagat at the USA 5k and made his work for the title, just holding off Tegankamp who ran sub 60 for the last lap to run his 13:16 for second. Weeks later, Matt ran 13:04 for 5,000 in Europe, and at the end of the summer, he ran a masterful, tactical 5,000 meters in Athens, Greece at the IAAF World Cup!

This spring, after his Indoor 3k USA title win, Matt kept quiet. He trained in Madison (www.kimbia.net), raced sparingly, preparing for the elite season. It is a long season this summer, Indy to Osaka, Japan, and Matt has alot on the line. Matt's blog tells it all, the racing, the training, and the focus it takes to be a great athlete.

On June 10, 2007, Matt Tegankamp ran HIS race. He stayed behind the pace, which hit 4:01.9 for the mile. Matt was in the 4:04-4:06 range. He was still behind Dathan Ritzenhein until 600 meters, when he took off. Suddenly, Teegs was flying, and with 300 to go, this observer thought he could win the race. But Mottram wanted this one and took off, flying past Taruki Bekele and the race was on. Matt stopped gaining on them, but he was running away from Ritzenheim, and into American record territory. As Mottram crossed the finish line in 8:03.51, then cam Bekele a second later, Matt came through as third, in 8:07.07. Our photographer, Victah Sailer, the man of the hour, got Matt to stand next to the Timing board with his American Record noted.

Matt earned this record over thousands of miles of training, and racing. He earned this record from listening to the suggestions of his coach, Jerry Schumacher, who has developed a culture in Madison that works for his athletes. Matt earned this record from running smart, running hard and challenging himself.

I for one, can not wait to see him in Indy next week! To see the video of his AR race and read a post race interview, check this link.

I have been watching Matt Centrowitz, Jr race now for a couple of years. Those in the know, like our John Nepolitan, the creator of our Athletes Of the Week program (www.atf-athlete.com), have seen this young man develop for the past four years into one of the best young distance runners in America.

Like father, like son. Matt Centrowitz, Sr was one of our top distance runners in the 70s and 80s, while a runner at the University of Oregon. Matt, Sr. was a top prep runner and he was an Olympian at 1,500 meters in 1976 and won the 5,000 meters at the 1980 Olympic Trials. In 1981, Matt Centrowitz, Sr., set the then American Record for 5,000 meters. Matt, Sr. has become one of country's top distance running coaches.

At the Reebok Grand Prix, when Matt Jr ran in the Reebok men's mile, he ran a fine 4:04.1, just short of his family prep record, set by his father with his 4:02.7 prep mile. Just before the race, I had a chance to say hello to Matt Sr, and he was just like any other dad, a little nervous, just wanting his kid to run well. When we asked how did he feel before his son raced, Matt deadpanned, "Nervous." An honest comment from a father if there ever was one.

Matt Jr ran a great race that day, but that was just a preview of what was to come. On June 15, 2007, at the Nike Outdoor Championships, Matt Centrowitz, Jr. ran seven laps behind Craig Forys, the young man from Howell, New Jersey who had won the 2007 Nike Indoor Champs 2 mile. Craig had set a very tough pace, but, with one lap to go a very tough group of runners still in fighting distance.

In truth, Craig Forys had to worry only about one person, Matt Centrowitz, Jr. Running a sizzling 58.2 last 400 meters, Matt ran 8:41.55, moving the late Steve Prefontaine to fourth all time on the prep list. Next was Craig Forys in 8:44.53, then Elliot Heath of Winona, Minnesota in 8:46.12, then Evan Jager of Algonquin, Illinois in 8:47.59, and Hassan Mead, of Minneapolis, Minnesota in 8:51.23. With tenth place at 8:56, this was one of the deepest prep two miles ever!

It is fitting that the race was run at the Nike Outdoor Champs, an event run by the NSSF, a group founded by Jim Spier and Mike Byrnes and friends to promote their favorite part of the sport, prep track and field. They now have the Nike Indoor, Nike Outdoor, the Great American Cross Country Festival and the Nike Team Nationals. It is also fitting that Matt Centrowitz, Jr. who has followed in his father and his sister (Lauren goes to Stanford) footsteps in distance running, will head to the University of Oregon, a place that his father spent some time at a couple of decades back. But this story is Matt Centrowitz, Jr. who has taken his own journey to becoming one of the best prep distance runners ever.

Nike Outdoor, June 16, 2007
Boys 2 Mile Finals
1. Matthew Centrowitz (Arnold, MD) 8:41.55
2. Craig Forys (Howell, NJ) 8:44.53
3. Elliott Heath (Winona, MN) 8:46.12
4. Evan Jager (Algonquin, IL) 8:47.59
5. Hassan Mead (Minneapolis, MN) 8:51.23
6. Paul Springer (Kennett Square, PA) 8:52.77
7. Sean Kevere (Brentwood, TN) 8:55.16
8. Dan Jackson (Ann Arbor, MI) 8:55.60
9. Girma Mecheso (Lawrenceville, GA) 8:56.58
10. Mark Amirault (Walpole, MA) 8:56.84

For more results on the Nike Outdoors, please check http://nikeoutdoor.nationalscholastic.org.

As the board of directors for USA Track & Field, and the CEO for USA Track & Field, there must be a contrarian spirit about their own championships. First of all, the years in between championships make for some boring meets, and the length of the meets, from heats to rounds to finals, make it a challenge even for the geeks of geeks to watch the entire thing.

Starting back in 1998, with the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Meet in Edwardsville, Illinois (Metro St.Louis), it became increasingly clear to me that we needed to modernize our meet management to get out track fans. Meets would never start on time, athletes did not show up, local media did not promote, and we did not have TV for much of the time. My major memory from JJK was all of the cars driving into the fields by the track facility, there were at least 8,000 people and the stands were loaded! Some great, end of summer competitions were seen by the strong MO/Illinois track community, and hopefully, the inspiration for some more coaches, athletes and officials in our sport!

This elite season proved to us, that great meet management ( Congrats to Global Athletics & Marketing and Tom Jordan), great athletes, great fans and a two to three hour format lead to, you guessed it, great track meets! Heck, any of our three meets in North America could compare to the Oslo Bislett Games on June 15, which was quite disappointing ( except for one little world record!).

Now we get to the AT&T USA Outdoor Champs and the Finish Line Junior Champs, held concurrently in Indy this coming weekend! In truth, it is the best way to showcase the junior and open elite parts of our sport. It comes after state meets, NCAA's, Nike Outdoor, Golden West, and athletes are either primed or burnt. Fans, who include parents, coaches, and track fans have five straight days of track and field to choose from.

Last year, due to the peculiarities of the summer weather, we had a fanstastic Friday night with sprint finals and distance finals. Just as the 100 meters ended, half of the crowd left. But the throw fans and the distance fans were treated to a great night of track and field. I was standing with Fast Trak Meet Director Ian Stewart and he commented on how challenging it was to do a national championship, but that there must be a way to shorten and focus an evening program on finals only.

And that is my wish. TV likes crowds. Sports fans like competition. The World Champs Trials, which is what the AT&T is this year, should have good crowds. The 2008 Olympic Trials are virtually sold out already. But we need to find a way to, even in these combined meets, focus the finals, one after another, in the evenings to attract even the casual track fan. There is not going to be sprints every night, but maybe it is a sprint fans night, Throw Fans nights, etc.

The challenge for the board and for the CEO is the size and stratification of USA Track & Field, from masters, to youth, from roadies to track, the sport has many disciplines. While the AT&T may be long, may be exhausting, it may also be the best way to get the most fans in one place at the end of a long, long season.

Watch for our daily blogs from Indianapolis, starting Wednesday night! For the Running Network's detailed, event by event coverage of the AT&T USA Outdoor Championships at http://www.american-trackandfield.com/news/usoutdoorchamps07list.html

This evening, just as I was closing my computer down, I found a well written and researched article by David Woods of the Indianapolis Star newspaper. The article suggested that our sport still does not know how to market itself. While it has made some progress, and they noted, for example, USATF's Ivan Cropper and his success with Nike, AT&T, VISA and Hershey's, it was also noted that the sport does not have the money nor attention of other sports. Then, David quoted Carl Lewis, who has very little good to say about anything in the sport but himself. Look I think Carl Lewis was an amazing athlete, and his 1996 Long Jump medal is still, in my mind one of the most underrated medals in all of track and field, but he does get a bit of the old ego in the stories. He deserves his praise, he was a trail blazer both on and off the track. But, he continues to play the same broken record.

Here is my two cents:

The sport of track & field ignores its strengths and salivates on its weaknesses. Our strengths are the ties to the Olympics, competition, and the quality of the athletes and people in the sport.

Until recently, we have spent so much time criticizing everything that is wrong with the sport, that we scare potential fans away. The three meets this spring, adidas Track Classic, Reebok GP, and Nike Prefontaine were three of the best meets in the world in the past year. Why? Focused format, great competitions, TV focusing on the competition, great meet management, interested sponsors and strong crowds in the right size facilities.

Carl Lewis did change the sport, with the Santa Monica Track Club, and hats off to Joe Douglas for getting out the money for his athletes at that time. But the sport has changed, and athletes who are no longer on the scene criticizing the sport, it just does not make sense. Some agents have become professionals, some have not. Most of the have nots do not survive anymore. Their athletes are college educated, focused in their sports and in their goals, and they just won't have it. They, the athletes want someone who will work for that ten or twenty percent fee. And the top firms and agents do work for their money.

Sanya Richards, Jeremy Wariner, Yelena Isinbayeva are elite athletes and business people at the same time. When they go to a meet in the UK, they are there early, they do Pr events, just like they do at meets on the elite circuit this spring. They get interviewed, on TV and in print. The do the job and they do it well. If they don't do their job, they don't get invited back, it is that clear and that simple.

For sponsors to find our sport worth investing in, they need to see fans, they need to see interest from the media, and they need to see people who they want to buy products-Latinos, African Americans, teenagers, families, etc. Track & Field has all of that, we just have not figured out how to truly market our sport. Our strengths are in our diversity. Our diversity is not only color, but events, sprints, throws, middle distances, jumps, an event for most fans to check out or be curious about. That is the challenge.

Allyson Felix may have set the record now for the most covers in our seven various titles. We have had her as a high schooler, an Olympian, a World Champ qualifier, and now, as a professional athlete.

Allyson was an increadible athlete as a prep. On our old Caltrack.com/prep site, our former editor and Cal prep deity, Doug Speck, would write pages about her sprinting! She was queen of the California prep meet from her sophomore year on! Her under 20 records for 200 meters, the unratified 22.11 ( at the Old Stadio Olympico in Mexico City in 2003), and her ratified 22.18 for the best ever by a women under 20, in Athens in 2004, surpassed all before her.

Allyson is perfectly built to run 200 meters, and showed it again this season with her fine 22.18 at the adidas Track Classic on May 20. Alyson's start is okay, but as she gains momentum, coming around the turn, her form is near perfect and her focus on the line is clear-she means business!

Her forays into the 100 meters and 400 meters this year have been exciting to watch. At Doha, she ran the 100 meters in 11.32 and 50.6, and won both! This was two days after jumping a plane first to London, then to Doha, after a Spanish final at USC! " I took the final and slept on the planes, you just have to get down to business!" was the comment from Ms. Felix after her adidas triumph.

At the Reebok Grand Prix, Allyson took third in the 100 meters, running her personal best of 11.01, and then won the 400 meters, coming from behind, in 50.4!

At the AT&T Outdoor, Allyson will run the 100 meters and 200 meters. That should be something this weekend. But, the race I want to see is Sanya Richards and Alyson over 400 meters. Earlier this season, when I asked Alyson's agent, Renaldo Nehemiah, he smiled and said, " That will be a race!"

I had an amazing day. First, a good friend and his son flew in from Portland, Oregon and stayed at the house. I gave them the tour of our new home and new home town, Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. David Frank and his son, Jackson have a dream--actually is it nine year Jack's dream, shared by Frankie-to visit as many college basketball arenas as he can, and to spend a few minutes playing hoops on their hallowed floors. Today we visited the home of the Badgers, Kohl Arena. Without much fanfare, we got on the floor, Jack played some b-ball, and we left.

Jackson's enthusiasm in getting Badger shirt and shorts, and then dribbling and making a couple of shots on the Kohl Arena floor got me thinking. This kid was in sports heaven! That three minutes of dribbling and making baskets kept him excited for an entire six hour trip in the car with his father and friend!

After our ten minutes in the arena, we made the six hour drive to Indianapolis, for his dad's and my sports heaven-the US outdoor championships, namely, Thursday night at the distance races. Dave wanted to make it there to see one of his former athletes in the Junior 5k.

Our constant speeding got us there ( I want to personally thank a rural duo of sherriffs who smiled as they passed us about a half hour from the Indiana border) with about fifteen minutes to spare.

We walked to the 1,500 meter start at IUPUI Stadium and the group was there. This is the place where the distance geeks sit. Asics Aggies, coaches, athletes, are there for one reason, to watch the 10,000 meters and the junior 5,000 meters.

We missed the 100 meter heats, but I can tell you that Tyson Gay continues his dominance of the sprints ran a fine 9.98 and Me'Lisa Barber ran 10.95 to make a statement to women sprinters. As we were watching the junior 5,000 meters, Breaux Greer showed his global status in the javelin, upping the American record to 299-6, just over 91 meters and just six inches from the 300 foot barrier! Breaux is healthy and this single throw sent a message worldwide. Breaux had this to say after his record:

"I didn't hit it hard but I hit it clean. I think the biggest thing is staying healthy. If you are healthy it's going to be fun and it's going to be easy. If you're healthy everything is fun. And I know there is still more there. I don't think I'll ever be satisified. I don't know if an Olympic gold or world record would satisfy me, but I want to find out."

The javelin had even the distance geeks excited. But the junior 5k, or as our photographer, Victah Sailer called it, the Oregon 5k, due to the number of 5k runners in it from the state of Oregon, was a stunner.

The pace was strong, and tough, in this hot and humid weather ( about 85 degrees at the start, with just a bit of wind. Kenny Klotz, a freshman at Oregon, and former Central Cathlolic ( Portland, Oregon) athlete, looked poise for the win. He stayed out of trouble for the first 3k, moved up a bit in the 4th kilometer and began to check out the field over the last 800 meters. By 600 to go, Kenny was making a hard move and had broken most of his followers. Well, with one exception.

As Kenny came down the final stretch, maybe it was the humidity, maybe it was the hard last 400 meters, but he had no energy left. Elliot Heath, from Winona, Minnesota, who had run a fine 8:46.12 for two miles the weekend before, where he took third in the Nike Outdoor, ran a perfectly timed last 200 meters. Elliot caught Kenny Klotz with 60 to go and the race was over. Elliot Heath took the lead with 40 to go and he went on to win in 14:36!

The next race was the men's 10,000 meters. And what a field! Abdi Abdirahman, Galen Rupp, Dathan Ritzenhein, Jorge and Eduardo Torres, Alan Culpepper, Dan Browne, Ryan Shay, Fernando Cabada, Ryan Shay, Josh Rohatinsky--who was missing?

The pace was calculated, the first 400 meters hit in 71.4, two miles in 9:16, so it was interesting to see a long line of distance runners showing much more strain than the pace should have suggested. The humidity, the heat, all were there.

This was a challenging field. Good long kickers, great marathoners, good short kickers, how to win it?

Abdi Abdirahman, Dathan Ritzenhein, Ryan Hall and Galen Rupp were in the first group, with Jorge Torres, Jason Hartman and Dan Browne, with Alan Culpepper in attendance. The leaders hit the 5k in 14;17. And then Abdi started to pick it up. From 5k to 7k, Abdi and Dathan would run 400 to 800 meters and then switch. By 7k, the race was Abdi, Galen and Dathan, with Galen looking the roughest. Rupp dropped back about 7,600 meters and began looking behind him, as the field was all toughening out the hardest part of this race. Abdi, who had run 27:31 in Hengelo at the end of last month, and Dathan Ritzenhein, who had run a tough 28:08 road 10k in NYC about the same time, were really upping the ante.

Abdi had alot to prove. He had looked great last year, in a similar race, only to cramp up and drop out at 8k. This year, he looked ready and methodical. A good, consistent pace, and it was taking its toll. Matt Downin dropped out, someone who just does not drop out of races.

Jorge Torres, Alan Culpepper, who both had fallen back, had gathered themselves and were moving back up. Galen Rupp seemed to wake up and about 9k was moving up again, as Dathan looked to be struggling.

With 400 to go, Abdi Abdirahman was in the lead and he was running hard. Dathan was nearly wincing with the effort and began to falter with 300 meters to go. Galen Rupp caught Ritzenhein just after the last curve and went on to take second. Dathan held on, just barely, too third, as Alan Culpper and Jorge Torres ran the fastest 200 meters of the race, with Culpepper taking a close fourth and defending champ, Jorge Torres taking fifth. Winning time was 28;23. Abdi Abdirahman, who has run a 2:08:57, made it quite clear where his focus is, after this race:

"I'm not ready to hand it over yet. I was ready for this race. I will talk to my coach about Osaka (World Championships) but the Olympic trials are my main focus. It never gets old winning national championships."

The women's 10,000 meters was a time trial for Deena Kastor. Deena, the American record holder at the marathon, and the 10,000 meters, showed why she is the best the US has to offer. After three slow laps, Deena was on her own. Molly Huddle, surprisingly, went with her and after a few laps dropped back to the chasing pack of Kellie Goucher, Alicia Craig, Katie McGregor for the rest of the race.

Deena was on. Running sub five minute miles to catch up on her goal of a sub 32 minute pace, Kastor was on tonight. The announcer, Scott Davis, told the crowd that Deena was chasing an old Indiana record, 31:57, by Lynn Nelson, from 1988! The crowd of 5,000 cheered Kastor, lap after lap.

Deena just made it. Running a superb last lap, Deena ran 31:56.69, to barely break the record of Lynn Nelson. But she did it, in warm and humid conditions and with a lethargic early pace.

The second pack race came down to the last lap. Kellie Goucher, who had run a fine 9:41 for two miles on May 20 and a 4:12 1,500 meters at the Prefontaine two weeks ago, took off with 600 to go and had second place in control and finished the best race of her career with her second place in the 10,000 meters. Katie McGregor ran a furious last 200 meters to distance herself from Alicia Craig, who was running her best race in a few years!

It took us a few minutes to soak in the great races as Deena took her victory after the race. The AT&F official meeting center, the Rock Bottom Brewery was the site of a nice, long and relaxing discussion of the night's events, the upcoming races and loud applause as Abdi Abdirahman came into the restaurant, and Terrance Trammell walked by the restaurant with a film crew filming his every move!

A surreal ending to a surreal evening of distance running!

It is early afternoon, and the skies still seem a bit ominous here in Indy. I spent the morning interviewing Jenn Stuczynski and Rick Suhr, the athlete/coach team who have achieved two American records in the last three weeks. Jenn's enthusiasm is infectious-she loves her event, she is relaxed talking about her event and she is ready to roll.

So far, the junior women's 1,500 rounds have been cancelled, so Jordan Hasay, one of our top juniors, will move on to the final on Saturday. On the boy's junior side, AJ Acosta won his heat-he is the defending champ and a frosh redshirt at Oregon. Matt Centrowitz, Jr, slowed down at the finish, but moved on. Centrowitz, according to one fan, " looks effortless."

A few more comments about the distance races last night. A couple of coaches told me how much they enjoyed the men's 10,000, but the women's is the same race for the past three years. Deena went out hard, and she won. Kudos to Molly Huddle who let the artist part of her running, not the tactician part push her last night. She ran a spirited race, but did not make the team. Her new coach, Ray Treacy, should be able to help her with her tactics.

Abdi ran a smart, consistent first half, then cut the pace down to make it impactful, and he hurt his competitors so much that it was all about surviving. About thirty years ago, in an interview, Frank Shorter described a the pain from a good effort in a distance race
as being slowly cut by a very sharp knife. After a period of time, the pain is excruciating. That was the field in the 10,000 Men's race last night after Abdi made the 10k his race.

One final thought here. As David Frank and I were driving into town, we were contemplating all of the supplemental work that goes into being a great track athlete. Its not just the miles, but the medicine ball, the weight work, the plyometrics, the exercises that promote hip flexibility and posture.

All of this goes into a race that helps make the victor the victor. In those last few seconds before the final rush to the finish begins, or the gentle roll back of torso and arms avoid the vault standard as vaulter clears the height, or the control of the shot putter, to leave the ring legally and not foul on a great throw. This is why some run 4000 miles a year, throw the shot 10,000 times a year or finish that last set of pull ups at the end of the day. Simple actions, simple steps build, and if nurtured, will develop the complete track & field athlete.

Great session tonight! Watch it on TV!

Saturday was a strange day. It started out with rain, and I came in to see the Men's shot put. The folks at AT&T sure were smart, as they must have given out 3,000 AT&T blue rain coats for the fans. And they were used.

The rain came down hard for the guys warming up for the shot put on Saturday. Christian Cantwell did not look good in his warmup, and he proceeded to have one of his worst competitions in years. He just did not look good! The ring was wet and it had to be hard for him to get any footing. He protested a foul, which did him no good and he did not make the team. Cantwell finished fifth, in 65-11.50 or 20.10 meters.

Adam Nelson made two throws, one which gave him third place. His hamstring was quite sore, so he was holding off. Nelson finished in third in 57-04.75 or 20.54 meters.

Dan Taylor surprised a few with his fine 21.00 meter throw, for 68-10.75 and second. Reese Hoffa, who had the five longest throws of the day, pounded out a 21.47 meters or 70-5.25 for the win! And Noah Bryant of USC took fourth in 66-01 or 20.14 meters.

Hoffa continued his domination of the event in meets that count.

In the men's 400 m hurdles, it was James Carter, Kerron Clement and Derrick Williams. Carter ran 47.72 to Clements 47.80, the two fastest times in the world. Carter is a man of strength who hurdles very well. Clement is a coach's dream, a kid of inestimable talent, who still can not master the last three hurdles. He hesitates over the last several barriers. He does not seem able to manage his speed and his hurdling technique. My humble suggestion? Get him to work out with Jim Hiserman from Sonoma State for a few weeks and see if this can be overcome.

In the mean time, James Carter knows how to race, and gets the job done. He made a strong move over the last few hurdles and his focus and his hurdling gave him the win.

My two other fave events for the day were the Junior men and women's 1,500 meters.

In the guys, Matt Centrowitz, Jr. Craig Forys, and AJ Acosta were the main factors. The pace was strong and the race was exciting. Craig Forys took the pace after 800 with Matt Centrowitz, Jr and AJ Acosta, the defending champion in tow. The pace was strong from the beginning, these guys were not fooling around! 61 seconds, then 2:03, then 2:52 at the bell. Forys, Centrowitz and AJ Acosta. Centrowitz made his move with the young runner from Yellow Springs made a furious move, which Centrowitz covered. With 200 meters to go, Centrowitz was flying, and AJ Acosta was right on him. The experience of Acosta, holding back until the last second, on the final stretch, when Acosta went by Centrowitz, 3:49.53 to 3:49:54! With Acosta already at Oregon and Centrowitz now going to Oregon, the Ducks just get stronger and stronger!

Now, the junior women's 1,500 meters was also an amazing race. Most of the runners were college freshman, with the exception of senior Michelle Tauro and sophomore Jordan Hasay.

Jordan has been a distance prodigy. Good or bad, most of her races as an eighth grader and freshman were time trials. She is that good. Her coach, Armando Siqueros, a distance runner who started coaching at the request of his son, has been trying to put her in races where she learns to race, learns to get out of packs, learns new skills, and in many cases, those attempts are thwarted. Well, his dreams came through in this race.

Jordan is about 4'10" and her competition had about three to six inches on her. She put herself on the rail twice and was boxed in, and figured out how to get out of it. Hitting the half way in 2:22, after a 71 first lap. Jordan began a long drive, as suggested by her coach, with 700 meters to go. With 300 to go, the pace was telling and it had come down to Michelle Tauro, menacing and Jordan Hasay in full running. Around the last turn, Jordan put on the pressure and got five meters on Tauro, then on the final straightaway, Jordan made the big break! Jordan went on to win in 4:16.98, breaking the sophomore class record ( was 4:27) and now only ranks behind the late Kim Gallagher, 4:16.1, and Francie Larrieu-Smith on the 1,500 meters list!

As Hasay was finishing, Tauro collapsed and dropped from second to sixth in the race.

The signifigance of of this race for Jordan is huge! She was able to get into a tough race, and use veteran tactics to run an exceptional race! We look forward to seeing her race in the World Juniors in the Czech Republic in mid July ( she may race in Lisle, Illinois in early July).

Angelo Taylor surprised a few with his excellent 44.05 in the 400 meter finals. Taylor took La Shawn Merritt on and Merrit finished in second in 44.06, with Lionel Larry of USC in third in 44.54 and Darold Williamson in 44.97 in fourth.

This was the year of the 400 m hurdlers in the 400 meters, as Taylor, who has been running hard since April, ran the second fastest time in the world. The 2000 Olympic champion at 400 meter hurdles ( from lane !) had a rough time in the early part of this decade and has just been coming around. Rising above his personal problems, Taylor has focused on the 400 meters and is showing the speed of a 400 meter runner with the endurance of the 400 meter hurdles. Bershawn Jackson, fellow 400 meter hurdler, was fifth this year in 45.55.

The 400 meters is a difficult event, period. The human body can sprint all out for about 30 seconds before the absolute pain of muscle overload comes crashing down. Speaking of missing their Kreb cycles, the women's 400 meters was one of the big surprises of the meet.

Sanya Richards is the best in the world, at 400 meters. She has had a little problem this year with her health, and opened at Nike Pre with a good 50.61. She then went halfway around the world and won in Oslo at the Bislett Games.

At the AT&T Outdoor, everything is on the line and reputations matter little. It is this cruel fact that proves our sport is a sport. Reputations be damned, if you are a college senior and are ready to prove yourself, and you beat the world record holder, you make the team, period.

In the semis, Sanya blazed a 50.02, the fastest time in the world. The next day in the final, Sanya got out well. But so did De Dee Trotter, Mary Wineberg and Natasha Hastings.

Coming off the turn, with less than 300 meters to go, Sanya Richards was in trouble, she was running out of gas. De Hashia Trotter was not, and running with true abandon, Trotter ran a personal best of 49.54, and the world's fastest time to take first. Natashia Hastings of South Carolina, ran 49.64, her personal best, to take second. Mary Wineberg ran 50.24, her personal best, to take third and Sanya Richards ran 50.65 and was relegated to fourth.

Richards did come back that night and made it through the first rounds of the 200 meters, but she will not be on the 400 meter team.

A day of great highs and some huge suprises, but Saturday is anti climactic. With some juggling, this writer suggests that the meet either goes Friday, Saturday, Sunday, not four days, to smooth this meet out!

Next piece, the finals on Sunday, June 24!

Sunday, June 24, 2007 was the last day of the AT&T Outdoor. The women's pole vault, the 200 meter races, and especially the men's 1,500 meters showed what is great about our sport! Competition!

The Trials for the Osaka team, aka, the AT&T Outdoor Championships, were one of the toughest meets in the world. In fact, the team will leave several potential gold medalists, as well as other medalists, at home. While the system is cruel, it is also the only honest way to go, in this writer's mind.

Craig Mottram of Australia, with his bronze medal in the 5,000 meters in Helsinki, Finland in 2005, became the first non-African to win a medal at 5,000 meters in a World Championship since 1983. Can "Buster" Mottram win the big one, the Osaka World Champs 5,000 meters? This writer this so, and explains why.

Haile Gebrselassie set new world records at 20k and the hour run last week in Ostrava, breaking the world record of Arturro Barrios from sixteen years ago! What is the signifigance of this record? Alot, if you read this commentary.

Alan Webb surprised more than a few people with his two wins over Bernard Lagat this early summer, the first in the Reebok NY Games and secondly, at the AT&T Outdoor championships! Just what is going on? In this column, your writer proposes that Alan Webb is becoming the best miler in America!

Coach John Chaplin once said that as a head coach for the U.S. track team, the most important thing you can do it to make sure the relay teams get their batons around the track. In honor of that thoughtful quote, this blog is about our challenges as a country in the 4 x 400 meters and 4 x 100 meters relay departments.

The Golden League is the six major meets in Europe: Oslo, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Brussels and Stuttgart. The deal is, if you win all six of your events, you get one million dollars! The idea is to promote the highest level of competition. Does it? This writer suggests that competition has been an afterthought, but with the Worlds this year, and the level of the sport, the Golden League should have some great competitons this summer.

July 6, 2007-At the prestigious Gaz de France meeting, the second stop of the Golden League Series, Alan Webb of the U.S. took the deepest 1,500 meters of the season so far, with his excellent 3:30.55 win over France's Mehdi Baala, as Baala and Webb traded leads down the final stretch in front of 70,000 screaming Frenchman!

This interview was done vie email over June 21-21, 2007, days before she made the team for Osaka. The conditions in Indy were, to say the least, inclement, however, Stuczysnki perseverred, and made the team. The questions were prepared by me, Larry Eder for Jenn and Rick, after her second American record on June 2, 2007. She is a remarkable athlete, and she seems destined for great heights. The relationship between coach and athlete is very focused and is producing results, as the adidas track classic, Reebok GP and AT&T Outdoor showed.

The world championships are the the height of our sport. Athletes who make the qualifications standards are the best in their discipline in the world. Athletes who make it through the heats to the semi-finals are to be commended and honored. An athlete who makes the final at the World Championships should be considered a threat for a medal (with the clear exception of the 10,000 and the marathon). So, what does it take to win a world championship medal? As it requires a much different skill set than merely running fast, jumping or throwing far....

The AT&T Outdoor Championships may have been one of the most exciting events in years, with the quality of competition, the vagaries of weather and the surprises during the rounds, this meet is like an Opera. The high points and low points, the surprises and the heroics, make track & field meets, especially this one, something to view. Here is what I wrote for our local regional publications to give an overview of the meet. See what you think.

Remarkable meet for such difficult conditions. With the average temperature of 50 and the weather rainy as well, this was more like a winter's day as opposed to a summer athletics meeting! Which athletes showed their stuff in such trying conditions?

Chris Solinsky, the recent UW Madison graduate, is a man on a mission. He has an agent (Tom Radcliffe at Kimbia), he has a footwear sponsor ( Nike) and he has two personal bests so far as he traverses Europe. His recent personal best, at 3,000 meters, moved him to 8th on the all time list.

It has been a long, strange ride for Alan Webb. In the winter of 2001, Alan went sub four indoors, then at Pre, he went 3:53.43 and became a historical fact-Webb was the prep who surpassed Jim Ryun. After a year of college, Alan Webb went pro. The bidding, from adidas, Reebok and Nike, was momentous-Webb ended up with a reportedly $250k a year for 8 years plus performance bonuses! By 2002-2003, all the "experts" were giving Webb grief for going pro, and Alan did not make the USATF final in 2002. But Alan has grown up. He has run 13:10 and 27:34 for the 5k and 10k. This season, he has been on a role and looks poised to medal in Osaka!

While the win in Paris showed Webb's new gear at the finish, and his ability, his focus on competing well, the American record for the mile is iconic. What has struck me, in reading Walt Murphy's review of Webb's mile, is the class involved, with Alan Webb, with Ray Flynn searching for the record environs and for Steve Scott, the man who held the record for these past 25 years.

At the Herculis Meet in Monaco, on Wednesday, July 25, 2007, athletes got closer and closer to Osaka, Japan. Athletes such as La Shawn Merritt, Matt Tegenkamp, Terrance Trammell and Jen Rhines showed that the care and development of a peak to the worlds is key!

Alan Webb, the new American record holder at the mile, broke his 800 meter record AGAIN! His 1:45.8 dropped to 1:43.84 with a scintillating last 50 meters as he went from second to first in the race! This new Webb, this ability to pull something from his very insides, his soul, is what is needed to medal at the world championships. But, did't Alan show us that at Gaz de France, when he went by Baali with fifty meters to go?

Two time NCAA 5,000 meter champ, and former Badger, Chris Solinsky ran 13:12.24, to move to numero ten on the All time U.S. 5,000 meter list. Solinsky has run personal bests at 1,500 meters, 3,000 meters and now, 5,000 meters this summer. They must be doing something right in Madison, WI!

And then, there is Lisa Galaviz. Lisa was the 2006 U.S. champ at the steeple. This year, she took fourth. But at Huesden, Lisa ran 9:28.75 for the American record at the steepelchase.

The performances above are the results of some hard training, year long focus, good coaching and great racing. There is an American renaissance in middle distance running and it is happening all over North America!

Walt Murphy, in his unique style, wrote a superb piece about the Huesden meet, we hope that you enjoy!

LE

The Norwich Union Super Grand Prix in London lived up to the hype. The build up all week was for the 100 meters and the women's pole vault. The event that shocked the fans was the shot put, as Reese Hoffa threw 22.43 meters or 73-2.25 in the vernacular. This was Hoffa's first throw over 22 meters and he did it with style, using his last throw to take the lead from Christian Cantwell. Hoffa's throw, the 11th farthest in history, is the longest throw in the world this year.

Tyson Gay showed his stuff, winning the 100 meters in 10.02 over Francis Obikwelu of Portugal, one of the most talented ( and my pick to spoil for a medal in Osaka over 100 meters). While Tyson's time was not fast, he did put himself in the favorite position in the 100 meters (this writer's picks-Gay, Adkins, Powell, Obikwelu to spoil).

For all of those fearful of Jeremy Wariner's shape, worry no more. Wariner and Merrit went at it for 385 meters, until Jeremy moved to the lead and won in 44.05 to 44.23.
( this writer's picks for Osaka at 400 meters: Wariner, Taylor, Merrit, Kikayo to spoil).

The World Champiopnships of Athletics were first held in 1983 in Helsinki, Finland. The dream of many track fans, the World Champs came about due to the diligence of the late Primo Nebiola. Twenty four years after its start, the World Championships have given the sport a place to appreciate the best of the best in our sport, and most importantly, to remember why we love track and field-the pure competition!

Since 1998, Mary Wittenberg has wanted to have Haile Gebrselassie come to New York. Haile's visit to New York became a reality after Mary met Haile at the RNR Arizona Half marathon two years ago, courtesy of the late Mike Long, elite coordinator of Elite Racing, Inc. and close confidant of Haile.

Haile made his visit to Gotham City something special with his huge half marathon victory today. John Nepolitan, ATF's prep editor, wrote this excellent piece on Haile and the Nike Half Marathon.

The track fans of the world were all verklumpted when Jeremy Wariner stopped running at the Norwich Union Meeting in Sheffield. Across the world, Wariner's performance at Sheffield was described as slipping at the start, then quitting the race. The true story was just a bit different....

Well, for anyone who thought that Jeremy Wariner was in trouble, just replay this race! Running at the DN Galen Super Grand Prix, Wariner ran his personal best at 400 meters with a fine 43.50,tying Quincy Watts for number three on all time list. Wariner is now behind Michael Johnson (43.18), Butch Reynolds (43.29) and has tied Quincy Watts for the third postion on the all time 400 meter list at 43.50!

Courtesy of NikeRunning.com

The benefits of the U.S. trials system is supposed to be it's tranparency--if you finish in the top three, you make the team! Not so fast, little grasshopper--you also have to hit the A standards, well, unless, one guy has hit A, and then if you twist around, sacrifice a goat, and then hit the B standard, you might make the team as well. In this short commentary, consider the plight of Jonathan Riley, an alternate for the 5,000 meter team.

Eleven days from now, the World Championships will start. The first event will be the Men's marathon, starting at 7:10 A.M. Arguably the strongest track and field team on the planet, USA Track & Field has named its strongest team ever at a World Championships. There is a real chance that the U.S. will medal above 400 meters this year on the distance side, and Tyson Gay should be one of the big stories of the World Champs as well.

For me the men's shot, women's pole vault, women's 5k and 10k, plus mens' 100/200 and 400 meters will be barn burners. The best event of the entire World Champs? I am picking either the men's 1,500 meters or the men's 5,000 meters. For Japan? The men's hammer throw will be the event for Japan, as Koji Murofushi, the Japanese Hammer throwing star, will have the stands shaking!

The Osaka World Championships begin in nine days. 8 days of the best track and field athletes on the planet compete in front of 50,000 track fans! Each day will have highs and lows, great competitions, and not so great competitions, and surprises! In this article, the writer relates one of the major surprises in a past World Championships that he attended. In the end, it is all about the competition!

Merlene Ottey will be competing in the 2007 Osaka World Champs! At the age of 46,
Merlene will set a record for the oldest elite competitor at at World Championships. She is breaking the record of Joyce Smith, who was 43 when she competed in a World Champs. The most amazing thing about Merlene-she competed in the first World Champs in 1983!

For the first time, American Track & Field has produced a digital and interactive issue, especially for the World Championships:http://www.flipseekllc.com/ATFguide.html. We hope that you like. Please read on to find out a little about the issue and what our plans are for the future! Publisher Larry Eder, in an an exclusive with runblogrun.com, gives you, our readers, the scoop on this new technology.

Dear Readers, The Running Network, through its member, American Track & Field magazine will be in Osaka for the duration. We will provide daily blogs, plus a synopsis each day on atf newswire, which will be emailed to subscribers plus posted on American Track & Field at www.american-trackandfield.com and at www.runningnetwork.com by our web Editor, Brenda Barrera. Special thanks to Brian Eder at Two Fsh Design for updating newswires and convincing me to start a blog. Brenda will also be posting photo galleries from our photo friends at Photo Run: Victah, Lisa, Jiro and company!

For the History of the World Champs at your fingertips, click on http://www.flipseekllc.com/ATFguide.html.

For your daily coverage, just add a bookmark to this blog, runblogrun.com, and www.american-trackandfield.com. For TV, some great athlete blogs, please read Walt Murphy's suggestions on how to view the World Champs. In 2007, there is more than ever! (Walt's comments are located below):

With 203 countries fielding teams in Osaka, Japan, the World Championships will be one of the largest in the twenty four year history of the Worlds ( 1983-2007). This dream of many was made a reality by the late Primo Nebiolo, who capitalized on the two boycotted Olympics, 1980 and 1984, and produced, in 1983 and 1987, two profoundly strong World Championships. Osaka will be no different, with the focus on competition and the conditions challenging, how can one pick the winners? This writer gives you a few tried and true tips...

Make no doubt about it, Craig Masback, CEO of USA Track & Field loves his job this week. There have to be times, as he is put under the microscope by friends and foes, that the pressure gets old, but Masback should be about to have the best ten days or so of his career. Much of that is thanks to the strong and youthful USA Track & Field team that is in Osaka, Japan for the World Champs.

Masback was made for this job. Youthful in his early fifties, Craig was a former world class miler (3:52.10), a former sports broadcaster and former lawyer, specializing in sports issues. His love of the sport is evident. His ability to represent the sport in the best light is part of the job. But there is more to Masback and his CEO title-most of the time, you can get Craig to smile and he will note, in the quiet moments-and there are not many with his family, travel and the strains of the job--that he loves his job.

It is two days away from the World Champs. I jump on a plane tonight, August 23, and head first to Seoul, Korea, arriving a 4.30 in the AM after a thirteen hour flight, and then, after five hour wait, a quick two hour jaunt to Osaka, Japan. I arrive Friday, August 24, 2007. My first few hours will be a whirwind-first, accreditation, then, hotel, then, hit a few sponsor gatherings and get the scuttlebutt of what is going on just before the opening.

I will follow up with a piece from Seoul, upon my arrival there, and then our daily coverage will begin on Friday evening, August 24, your Friday morning.

As you pine away the hours of my travel, I have linked several things of note for our dear readers to process in order to further enjoy the celebration of world track & field!

Dear Diary,

It is midnight local time in Chicago, August 22, 2007. I am about to head to the gate for Asiana Air, a Korean airline that is associated with United Airlines Global Alliance. I have been clearing off emails in the lounge-thank God for wifi-and preparing for the thirteen hour flight.

It is less than seven hours before the start of the Men's Marathon. I arrived about 12 hours ago, and the first day in Osaka has been a whirlwind. Media go through the credentialling center, which required a 90 minute bus ride from the Osaka airport, climbing up three flights of stairs with all of my bags (3) and then pulling the bags,
which, after all of my travel, were having an identity crisis and be a bit recalcitrant, to the subway station, where I decided that, the better part of valor would require a taxi drive to the Super Hotel...and this is where my story begins...

The Osaka World Champs is about to begin. On day one, the men's marathon, two rounds of the mens' 100 meters, the women's heptathlon, women's steeplechase, mens' 1500 round 1, and men's shot put final and women's 10,000 final end the day. A perfect day to showcase the fastest, the strongest and the most determined.....

Let's try to put this race into perspective: at a 70 percent dewpoint, the City of Chicago, the Windy City, would be issuing a health alert! During the entire three hours and three minutes it took the 57 survivors out of 94 starters to hit the finish line in Osaka's Nagai Stadium, the dewpoint was between 65 and 70 percent, with the temperatures between 81 and 90!

As in all marathons, the winner made a huge gamble and won. Some others took the gamble-some did well and some did not. Read on to find out why this marathon will stand out among the other world championship marathons!

As I was walking back from grabbing a couple of bottles of water to replenish my overactive sweat glands, I ran into former thrower, now IAAF commentator Shawn Pickering. I asked Shawn to put the Shot put condundrum into perspective for me. Being the zen thrower, Pickering put the whole issue with a qualifying round and final for the Men's shot put on the same day....

Day one of the World Championships was one great day of track and field. Here I give you the highlights of the three finals for the day. We will follow up with the details on the second session and tell you about my dinner with a Swedish TV crew!

Full results: http://osaka2007.iaaf.org/results/bydate.html#racedate=08-25-2007

For further reading on the WC Marathon, try: For reference, WC History:http://www.flipseekllc.com/ATFguide.html

Mary Nicole Nazzaro has covered the World Champs for us since 2003 in Paris. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese and Russian, she has provided some interesting insights into events and into athletes from around th world. Nicole will be doing a column from Osaka, covering a differnt topic of her choice each day....

In a shot put that had the 2005 gold, silver and bronze medalists, Reese Hoffa showed them how to throw tonight, with his brilliant performances, and five superb throws, all over 21 meters, four that could have won the competition! Here is how he did it!

No one could have written a more bizarre and exciting race plan for the 10,000 meters. Four Ethiopians up front at the start, and one medals? And she had fell off the pace, and needed a kilometer to recover? Then, an American medals? What planet do you come from? The amazing thing is that this amazingly crazy race is all real! Read on....

The first day of the World Championships was a great start for Team U.S.A. Fourth place in the marathon World Cup, followed by the gold and silver in the shot with Reese Hoffa and Adam Nelson. Then, to cap off the night, Kara Goucher kicked it in for a bronze in the women's 10,000 meters--the first time a U.S. athlete, male or female to win a medal at a World Champs at 10k. Here, Craig Masback, CEO of USA Track & Field gave us a few minutes this afternoon on his thoughts on the 11th IAAF World Champs. The process of the interviews is straightforward, I send Craig the questions (LE), he answers via email (CM). Thanks to Craig for his time!

August 26, 2007. The second day of the 11th IAAF World Athletics Championships started warm, as usual. The crowds were treated to some heroic performances. As it should be, the athletes showed that they can run, jump and throw in any conditions! Some perform better than others. Those we call championes du monde....

August 26, 2007. 11 pm local time, Osaka, Japan.

The three finals tonight were the Men's 100 meters and the Heptathlon, plus the
Women's shot put. Each final has its own intrigues, its own stories...

In today's column, Nicole writes about the host country Japan and the challenge in gettig medals as a host country.

Sunday, August 26, 2008 was the second day of the 11th IAAF World Championships. And the word for the day was...competition! In the Men's 20k Walk, Jefferson Perez of Ecuador had to overcome a thirteen second lead at 13k to walk to the win! In the
women's shot, Valerie Vili of Ecuador had to call all of her strength to make that last big throw! In the men's 100 meters, Tyson Gay took the lead only after 80 meters! It's all about the competition!

After a few hours sleep, I had these thoughts about a few of the events on Monday, August 26, 2007. See what you think, if I am as far off as some say!

Craig Masback, the CEO of USA Track & Field, is very much a student of the sport. Besides that, he is a true track and field fan. The pace so far for Team USA is pretty impressive--good performances in early rounds. The only tough one has been Bershawn Jackson in the 400m hurdles.

I asked Craig again a few questions, to which he emailed back his answers. We think that you will find his answers of much interest. This is his third series of responses in three days! We thank Craig for his time.

Monday night was a great night of track and field for the third day of the 11th IAF World Championships, with the men's semis in the 1,500 meters, women's steeplechase final, the men's hammer final and the men's 10,000 meters. Here are the results of the men's 1,500 semis and the women's steeplechase!

The World Champs evening session had something for everyone! The men's hammer had the hearts and emotions of all of Japan supporting Koji Murofushi. The men's 1,500 meter semi finals were a perfect example of what it takes to compete at this level, and
the women's 100 meter semi finals, reported here, lived up to expectations!

When you are the two time World Champion, plus the world record holder at 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters, you have alot of athletes gunning for you. Witness this 10,000 meters, where even Bekele's teammate challenged him with six hundred meters to go!

The women's 100 meter final taught us alot. First, Veronica Campbell of Jamaica knows how to finish. Second, Lauryn Williams is back, and third, who in the heck is Carmelite Jeter? We sure won't forget her again!

The crowd of 40,000 was treated to a see saw battle in the 100 meters, where no one knew the results until after the photos had been read!

In this column, Nicole writes about the women's sprint race, the confusion surrounding the finish and the positive thoughts on the slowest winning time in championship history.

The four finals on Monday, August 27, 2007, day three of the 11th IAAF World Atheltics Championships, were again all about pulling out the great performances. In the women's steeple, Yekaterian Volkova pushed ahead after the first kilometer and did not give up the lead, winning in 9:06.5, to take the gold. In the men's hammer, Ivan Tsikan, the defending champion, needed a come from behind last round throw of 83.63 meters to win the gold. In the 100 meters, less than three hundreths of a second seperated first and second, Veronica Campbell and Lauryn Williams. And in the men's triple jump, a clutch jump by Nelson Evora of Portugal cemented his first gold with a triple jump of 17.74 meters or 58-2.5 feet!

This first update today is about the various things going on around the competition and some of my experiences in chatting with various coaches and athletes from around the world. I hope you enjoy...

In Tuesday's column, Nicole writes about Tirunesh Dibaba, the two time 10,000 m world champion and two time 5,000 meter world champion. The 10,000 meters in Osaka has taken so much out of Dibaba that she has withdrawn from the 5,000 meter race, which means she can not defend her titles from Paris and Helsinki. Here, Nicole speaks about Tirunesh and her world....

Tuesday, August 29, 2007 was day four of the 11th IAAF World Championships. Again, a wonderful day of competition. The Kenyans swept the steeplechase, for the first time since 1997, Russian women swept the long jump. Janet Kipkosgei of Kenya set her second national record, runnng the lead the entire way and Kerron Clement, showing the talent he has always posssessed, won the 400 meter hurdles in grand style! Upset of the Championships? Lithuania's Virguilius Alekna fails to medal and go over 70 meters in discus!

A day with an amazing 800 meter run, a sweep in the long jump for women and steeple for men and a huge suprise in the discus for men was day four! Isinbayeva could be singing " I am invincible" now...read on for the highlights of Day four of the 11th IAAF
World Athletics Championships.

Here are some quick interviews with Carolina Kluft, gold medalist, Heptathlon, Liu Xiang of China, world record holder, 110m hurdles, Craig Mottram, bronze medalist, Helsinki, 5000 meters and Kara Goucher, bronze medalist, 10,000 meters, Osaka. I hope that you enjoy them. Special thanks to Todd Klein of Reebok and Dean Stoyer of Nike for their assistance in setting up the interviews. It is great to see the various sponsors supporting interviews and access to their athletes. This was something first championed by Keith Peters, former communications head of Nike at the Goteborg World Champs in 1995. We are happy to see Dean Stoyer and his companies support as well as Todd Klein's support of these important media events.

In some brilliant running, the British women showed their stuff over 400 meters, taking gold and silver, Bernard Lagat won the 1,500 meters for the U.S. and a huge upset in the high jump! All in Day five, and there are four more to go!

Here is one for the record books--Donald Thomas, the gold medalist high jumper from the Bahamas, never high jumped until seventeen months ago. A friend bet him he could not high jump six foot six, and he jumped seven feet!

In today's column, Nicole comments on the the 110 meter hurdles, the race that pits the best of the U.S., the best of France, the best of China...

On Thursday night, the finals were the 200 meters for men, the women's 400m hurdles, the women's hammer throw and the men's long jump. Here are stories on the 200 meters, 400m hurdles and men's long jump. I will do another update tommorow morning....

For Day six, Nicole has written about the global nature of athletics.....

The Men's 1,500 meters was a classic race. Hitting the 400 meters in 58 seconds, the 800 in 1:58 and the 1200 in 2:55, the last 800 meters was run in 1:51-by the top 8 and the difference between first and tenth was 1.2 seconds!

Bernad Lagat timed his charge perfectly and took the gold going away! His teammate, Alan Webb, was there at 1,410 meters, but could not find the final gear needed like he had at the AT&T champs and Gaz de France. Webb finished eighth and was devastated.

The next afternoon, Alan gave four media a straight and honest interview that showed a student of the sport, a young man who is retrospective and a middle distance runner who has seen the quality of the World Championships middle distance finals. In an interview that is brutally honest, Webb shows that he
understands the challenges that face him.

Friday, August 31, 2007 is the seventh day of the 11th IAAF World Championships, held in Osaka, Japan. This writer's days mostly go like this: Breakfast in the morning, between seven and nine in the morning, off to either the track or for some interviews, a quick nap, then a mad rush to the stadium to catch the night session...tonight should be fantastic, with the women's 200 meter final and men's 400 meter finals..

The mens' 400 meters is about to start. Avard Moncur of the Bahamas, the 2001 winner, Christopher Tyler, the bronze medalist in Helsinki from Canada, Angelo Taylor, the 2000 gold medalist at the 400 m hurdles, LaShawn Merritt of the U.S., Jeremy Wariner, Athens' gold, Helsinki Gold, number three time ever, Leslie Djhone, French
national record holder, Chris Brown of the Bahamas, and Johan Wissam, of Sweden, who set two national records in the heats....runners take your marks!

Liu Xiang took the hurdles in a superb race, and the U.S. went 2,3. Germans went 2,3 in the women's javelin and the first day of the decathlon wars just ended, with Bryan Clay as one of the injured....nice improvement for Trammel, who was fifth in Helsinki!

In today's column, Mary Nicole writes on Liu Xiang, his victory on Friday night and it signifigance. For the next year, Liu Xiang carries the mantle of favorite, and the aspirations of over two billion Chinese....

You know when you are starting that long spiral to getting sick, and there is just nothing you can do? Well, Saturday was that day for me. A fitful night sleep, followed by most of the day in bed, followed by dizziness as I went for a taxi for Saturday night's session. I decided to watch the session eight from the confines of my bedroom, with all in Japanese. It was fun! And in between some better sleep, I saw a great night of track and field!

Nicole speaks, in her day 8 column, about some of the great events that filled the roster on Saturday...

Catherine Ndereba of Kenya added gold to her medals, and was on the top of the medal stand at the Worlds for the first time since Helsinki...Chunxiu Zhou of China took the silver and Japan got their first medal, as 450,000 Japanese waved a flag from the newspaper sponsor, willing Reiko Tosa on....

Bernard Lagat, after some early season setbacks, has done it, he doubled and won at both in Osaka! I was an unbeliever after Indy, but Bernard showed, in his own elegant style and drive, how the spirit can overcome many obstacles. Here, he overcomes fifteen of the best distance runners in the world! And stellar runs by Matt Tegankamp and Adam Goucher, with Tegankamp's bid for third so so close!

One of Nicoles' first interviews was with Catherine Ndereba. Here, in her day 9 column, she speaks about the most elite of elite champions, and her amazing consistency in the marathon!

The evening session ended the 11th IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan. The city, the JAAF and the IAAF should be pleased. Great things happened over these past nine days. But there are some issues that need to be addressed in order for track and field to grow and prosper in this modern culture.First, the races!

Your fave blogger had a long day..the meet ended about 10 pm Sunday night, and after dinner in a Japanese coffee shop that was a misnomer, kind of a gourmet food shop, where fried rice becomes a dish with shitake mushrooms, something much too rich for a stomach that was slowly self destructing after nine days of track, interviews, late nights and wonderful memories...

Greetings sports fans! Well, my negotiations to re enter the time and space of North America is still going on. While my body has been here for 24 hours, my stomach is somewhere over Asia, and my sleep patterns are just plain gone...here, as promised
are ten revelations from the World champs in Osaka!

As I started to write the Ten Revelations from the Worlds, I realized that there was much that happened that needed some additional comments. So, here we go:

Bob Ramsak, the hardest working journalist on the track circuit, is everywhere this summer. His daily updates from Osaka were priceless in terms of info and knowledge of events. In the following article he notes that Zurich dropped pacemakers and increased the prize pot. The idea that runners will learn to compete again will make the sport more competitive and show off its most important asset--the ability for the fans to se the best in their event compete head on!

Weltklasse is the first meet after the World Championships. It is obvious that many athletes have already called their seasons or are still recovering. This is the kind of meet where athletes who did not have good World Champs start to shine, however, there were some breakers of that rule.

The world championships were nine days of great track and field. In my sixth visit to a world championships, there are certain truths that come from all world championships and Olympics. Here, I attempt to give you some insights into what I see at the worlds and how to figure out who will win, who will loose, who will surprise.

photo by Victah Sailor, photorun.net

Some athletes are competitors, some are record busters. At this early time in his career, Asafa Powell leans toward the second. Running in the second heat at Rieti, Italy, with a legal wind of 1.78 ms, Asafa Powell ran 9.74 seconds, the fastest legal time ever in the world for 100 meters. In the final, Powell ran 9.78 seconds for 100 meters. This gives Asafa, less than two weeks after the 100 meter final of the World Champs, where he took to bronze, the world record all by himself......

The SEAT Decanation, a one day competition, where seven nations ( France, Germany, USA, Russia, Ukraine, Spain and Italy) bring one athlete for each event and score to see who wins is a big hit in France. It was held one day after the Zurich meet, where Mehdi Baala and Christine Arron of France had both done well..well their double double did La Republique proud....(this meet combines the men and women's events for scoring)!

Jeremy Wariner did exactly what he planned to do in Osaka, Japan-win the world championships 400 meter final and run on the gold winning 4 x 400 meter relay team. He looked and ran so well that people were underwhelmed...wrong reaction!

The Ivo Van Damme Memorial, named after the Belgian middle distance great Ivo Van Damme, has become synonymous with great distance races! The 10,000 meters has been a major event each year there, with fast times, and world record attempts. From Salah Hissou, Paul Tergat, and Kenenisa Bekele, the 10,000 meters has been a major highlight of the meeting each year..This year, Kenenisa Bekele wants to break his own record!

Look anytime anyone runs sub 27 minutes for 10,000 meters, they have my attention. Bekele ran 26:46, but it just was not his day. Yelena Isinbeyeva almost had a catastrophe, but she pulled it out on the last jump and won number five of the Golden League meets. Sanya Richards kept her five streak going, winning the 400 meter sin 49.24 over Nicola Sanders 50.34...

Well, the Golden League is over for the year, with the Berlin meet! Sanya Richards and Yelena Isinbayeva both take home $500k US each for winning all six of their events in the Golden League. Some strong performances, from Wallace Spearmon, Jeremy Wariner, Bernard Lagat and Lauryn Williams....

The most anticipated marathon of the fall season for U.S. roadies is the U.S. men's Olympic Trials, held in New York City, the day before the ING NYC Marathon. All of the top players will be there, and this should provide for an exciting race! But, on the roads and tracks around the country, the final outcome of this race is being developed, as athletes work on their final training, and at least one athlete, the surprise, tries to convince himself that he can do it, he is good enough to be called an..Olympian...

Was the U.S. track and field team that competed in Osaka, Japan the best U.S. team ever? This writer thinks so...

The women's 10,000 meters was a monumental race on so many ways in Osaka. Tirunesh Dibaba fell off the pace, and on her reputation and talent, was able to catch up and deal the crushing blow to defend her gold medal. Then, the crew of Goucher, Pavey and Smith, working in tandem, moved up on the first two and fought it out for the final medal...

Tyson Gay emerged as a three time gold medalist from Osaka. His win at 100 meters, his win at 200 meters, and his relay run were all now part of history. But, this young man has alot to show in his future, and is he a racer or just a guy who can run fast times? More than that, in his post race press conference after the 100 metes, Gay showed a level of emotional understanding that made some members of the media
uncomfortable at best, and cynical at worst. Gay is just a complicated guy who runs very, very fast.

It has been a long, long track season. The athletes are getting tired, and so are the fans. In the first day of the World Athletics Final, Asafa Powell cranked a legal 9.83 and Yelena Isinbayeva barely held on for her 20th consecutive victory in the pole vault.
In this feature by Bob Ramsak, we see the first days of performances by the world's elite at the last important meet of 2007. Note the double by Angelo Taylor in one day!

Jaysuma Saidy Ndure joined his father, who has lived in Norway for 27 years, in Norway in 2001. Raised in Gambia by his mother, Jaysuma did not take much seriously until Olympics in 2004, where he made the quarter finals at 200 meters. In Stuttgart, after his second in the 100 meters on day one, he came storming off the turn, to run 19.89 for 200 meters, a new Norwegian record plus defeated Wallace Spearmon, who ran 20.18.

Here is Bob Ramsak's story on Ndure and his fine sprinting in Stuttgart:

It is all about the competition! Even at the end of a long, long track season, Sanya Richards runs 49.37, Dason Robles run 12.92 and scores of other athletes brought the crowd of 25,000 to its feet! Meseret Defar ran a start to finish 8:27 win at 3,000 meters and then there is the Kenyan Edward Soi, who improved on his seconds in 3k/5k at the World Cup 2006 with his wins at both distances here! Also nice kick for Alan Webb, who ran a fine last lap to move into fourth in the 1,500 meters....

Let's face it, the World Championships saved the sport of track and field. With the boycotts of 76 and 80, 1983 was the best track and field meet of that generation. As the 1984 Olympics, in all of its exuberance and fanfare, put the Olympics back on track, the World Championships put track and field in the spotlight. But now, in 2007, is there too much of a good thing?

Returning from the World Athletics Finals with his friends, Andy Norman, 64, died unexpectedly on Monday, August 24, 2007. Definitely the most powerful man in athletics in the 1980s and early nineties, Andy had stayed involved in the sport he loved.....

Anytime, anytime one bets against Lauryn Williams, take the bet. If anyone this year has epitomized the gutty, come from behind, out of the rafters, hard working athlete, it is Lauryn Williams. But, when you look at her career, you get a sense of...this is just how she works!

Pat Butcher is one of the best and most prolific writers in our sport. A keen observer of the sport, Pat is ensconsed in the media center at the Berlin Marathon, updating us about happenings at this year's Berlin Marathon. Geta Wami, last year's winner is running Berlin and contemplating New York as well! Sonia O'Sullivan is a last minute entrant and Haile Gebreselassie is keen on setting the world record. With cool conditions and rain expected, it might be the race to do it..In the following report,
Pat gives us a preview of the upcoming women's race:

After watching Haile Gebrselassie race for over a decade, I finally was able to meet with him for an intereview at the RNR Arizona Half Marathon in 2006. The intereview was set up by the late Mike Long, and my time with Haile was one of the most amazing few hours in my life, up there with the day I spent with the late Emil Zatopek in 1991 in California.

After watching the Emperor race over 5k, 10k and half marathon, and finally last year, watching him run Berlin, I think this guy can do anything...

The BUPA Great North Run is this weekend. Besides the huge half marathon field, the race weekend also features elite 3 kilometers through the streets of Tyneside. On the mens' side, Craig Mottram of Australia is racing there on Saturday, then flying to Berlin to pace Sonia O'Sullivan for 25 kilometers in the women's marathon in Berlin.

But this piece is about the dual at Tyneside: Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia versus Vivian Cheryuiot of Kenya....

Jenny Crain is part of the close knit running community in Wisconsin. In truth, I see those athletes more on the road, in hotel lobbies in Europe, than I do in Madison or
environs, but, it is really fun cheering on a Wisconsin athlete! Jenny was hit by a car while running in Milwaukee last month and still has many challenges in front of her.

USATF did a superb piece on Jenny and suggestions on how to help her. In honor of our readers, we will be making a donation to Jenny's fund and hope you can to!

photo by Victah Sailor, photorun.net

Haile Gebreslassie talks the talk, but, will he do the walk in Berlin? Read on, sports fans!

Alan Webb had an amazing track season in 2007. He won the indoor and outdoor titles at US championships. Then Webb won the Gaz de France with the fastest 1,500 meter time of the year. Alan Webb then broke the twenty-five year old American record at the mile, running 3:46.91, and he ran 1,400 meters of the World Champs final nearly perfectly, but faded to eighth over the last hundred meters. He has raced twice since
Osaka, taking eighth and fourth in the World Athletics Final. The race in New York, the Continental Fifth Avenue Mile was to be the end of his season.....

Setting his twenty-fourth world record, Haile Gebreselassie ran 2:04.26 at real,-Berlin today, setting a new world record. This was Haile's seventh marathon. Running with five pacemakers, three who stayed with him through thirty kilometers, Gebreselassie ran the last twelve plus kilometers by himself. This story of a marathon won, and records set starts nineteen years ago, in a marathon in Adis Adaba, Ethiopia....

Kara Goucher has been on a roll since her bronze medal at Osaka, Japan. Her debut run over the half marathon was pretty good too! Let's see, she runs the fastest 15k, 10 mile and half marathon EVER by an American women and then defeats Paula Radcliffe, world record holder at the marathon.....

photo by Victah Sailor, photorun.net

It is October 1, 2007. Huge day in athletics yesterday as Haile Gebreselassie broke the world record, running 2:04.26 and Geta Wami won the women's race at Berlin, taking the lead in the Five Major Marathons bi annual contest. In the following piece by Pat Butcher, we see where both Geb and Wami are headed.

A few more things happened over the weekend! Meets in Shanghai and Yokohama, a blistering 3k at the Great North Run, and a ceritan Ethiopian set a marathon world record and another looks to be winning a very nice pot of cash!

China is a huge sports market, and with the Beijing Olympics just a year away, the race is on to make Chinese sports fans! Here are the results and some updates on the
Shanghai Grand Prix, from Friday, September 28, 2007:

Al Oerter was a classic Olympian at a classic event. He was the four time gold medalist of the discus. No one has come near matching his wins. Oerter died this morning, October 1, 2007, of heart failure. This is just a short commentary on what he meant to our sport and this writer. I have followed up with some related links....

Kara Goucher is leading the way in U.S. women's distance running. From her gutty bronze medal in Osaka, to her fine 8:34.55 for 3,000 meters, 14:55 for 5,000 meters-both personal bests, to her defeat of Paula Radcliffe this past weekend at the Great North Half Marathon. In a wonderful interview conducted by USA Track & Field, you, our readers, get to see a little more of this exciting distance runner!

What a few days! On the same day that Kara Goucher did a superb intereview with
USATF, NYRR announces that Paula Radcliffe, world record holder in the marathon, will choose to run ING New York in 2007! The day after the Men's Olympic marathon trials, Geta Wami and Paula Radcliffe will duke it out on the final race of the first Five Major Marathon biannual contest.

Radcliffe has had a baby plus injuries and her return to fitness showed this past weekend when she took second to Kara Goucher at BUPA Great North. Here is the press release sent out yesterday by the New York Road Runners!

I first met Marion Jones in 1991, as she was on the cover of our magazine, American Track & Field as a sophomore in high school. In an article written by Doug Speck, we introduced the young athlete to the world. In 1997, when she won her gold medals at the World Champs, we featured her on a cover from Athens.

Sitting in my offices are her American Athletics athlete of the year award from 1994....

The LSB Chicago Marathon has been blessed with pretty good weather over the past dozen years. This year, however, heat could be the big story, with the weather man calling for unseasonable warm, 88 degrees at noon on Sunday! This writer walked at
10.30 am for an hour and saw the street temps at 80 degrees. Ever mindful of the issues heat can play the management of the La Salle Banks Chicago marathon have added these measures to keep the 45,000 marathoners as cool as possible:

In a TV moment that will go down in sports history, Marion Jones, arguably, the most talented sports athlete of her generation, admitted on live television that she had used steroids. From the steps of a New York courthouse, Marion Jones, with her family, friends and lawyer at her side, apologized to her family, her lawyer, her husband, and her many fans for lying to Federal investigators about her steroid use. Marion Jones has come clean, so what does that mean?

Next year, there will be several major changes at the La Salle Bank Chicago Marathon, there will be at least two crucial changes: the footwear and apparel sponsor and the title sponsor. How will that affect the race?

With 36,000 starters and a starting line temp of 77 degrees, the elite races and the citizen runners all had their challenges. The men's race came down to the last twenty meters, and was decided by .05 of a second! On the womens' race, a late, late charge, after 40 kilometers changed the finish of the race! Read on to see how the race developed!

The 30th LSB Chicago Marathon will be remembered for its amazing finishes and the amazing heat. In fact, the heat was the reason that the course closed at four hours, and runners were sent to the finish. Not only will the race finishes be discussed for years to come, the president of closing the course will be discussed for many years.

Every once in awhile, the track geek gets a treat. After the Chicago marathon day, I was invited to dinner with Berhane Adere, Robert Cheruiyot and Patrick Ivuti by John Capriotti of Nike. Here was a bit on our evening....

Sunday night, CNN spends their time speaking about the humid conditions at the race. Then, on Monday, it is Chaos in Chicago. By Tuesday, runners, are hanging Pinkowski in effigy. Here is the letter I posted to CNN on Tuesday night about what really happened at the race....

Here are few more comments on the LSB Chicago Marathon! Thanks for your thoughts and comments!

Dear readers, I am actually on vacation as of 9.30 am October 11, 2007 and will be through October 17, 2007. At 38,000 feet, cross the Atlantic, I am writing a few blogs about my take on the sport for your reading pleasure. I will be back, live and rested, on Thursday, October 18, 2007. Until then, please enjoy the next six days of essays, appearing one day at a time....

Jim Hogan was and is one of the shining lights in global distance running. A man who has not comprimised himself, his love of life, and his sense of humor come across even if you can barely understand his English through his bit of, for this listener, accent.....

The IAAF has begun their investigation of Marion Jones and her admissions of guilt in taking steroids. She has already given back her Olympic medals, and it may be too early to say what the IAAF will do. I think that the IAAF will ask for the medals from Sevilla, and Edmonton back, as she has admitted to use as early as 1999.

In terms of what sponsors will do, this writer considers it a far off chance that her major sponsors will sue her to recover her sponsorship dollars. After some research, it is quite reasonable to assume a) Marion Jones has no money b) the lawsuits would only increase companies' legal bills and not produce anything else.

The modern Passion Play of Marion Jones continues, as this piece by Bob Ramsak attests:

Lornah Kiplagat of the Netherlands continues to show her talent in the half marathon distance. This story, done by the prolific and thoughtful Bob Ramsak, for Track Profile, gives the reader a bird's eye view of what happening in Udine, Italy on Sunday, October 14, 2007.

Sanya Richards and Lauryn Williams had superb blog comments at the WCSN.com site-http://wcsnblogs.com/track-and-field/. Check it out and then read this blogger's comments.

Reiko Tosa won the bronze medal in the women's marathon, on the very last day of the 2007 World Championships. Here, the writer considers her win and her importance to her country...

Yes, dear readers, your fave blogger is back, rested and relaxed after six days of R and R. I am now off to a weekend following the Nike Women's marathon this weekend! As you have your bagel and coffee this morning, enjoy this thoughtful opine as I jet off to San Francisco. More good stuff tommorow!

The Nike Women's marathon is now in its fourth running. Over the past four years, the course and event have evolved, just like the company that sponsors the event and the sport that is changing so many lives, each day of their life....

Joan Benoit-Samuelson, dressed with a beautiful dress and pearls around her neck, was perfectly dressed for the Breakfast at Tiffany's this Saturday morning. When she was introduced, everything stopped, because of the women knew she loved the event as much as they did, because she was one of them. Benoit-Samuelson is a wife, a mother of two who also happens to have won the first Olympic womens' marathon. To truly appreciate Joan Benoit-Samuelson and how she has changed, one has to understand her beginnings in the sport....

This weekend has been the end of two weeks of travel for me, one on vacation and one for business. This weekend in San Francisco put me in my favorite city in North America, watching 20,000 women celebrate their weekend and their event, with "their tribe"....

The marathon trials are less than two weeks away and I wanted to give you a little hint on how I will make my picks. So, go through my synopsis of the marathon trials since 1968 and some of the background on those marathoners. 2008 will be one of the toughest teams to make, and the U.S. has some really excellent marathoners for this team. Big question, who make a medal winning performance when the smog and heat of Beijing comes running?

On November 3, 2007, 134 of the 179 male marathoners who have qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials marathon qualifier will line up in New York City. Over the one four mile loop and four five mile loops, the three runners who will represent the U.S. in the marathon in Beijing next summer will be chosen, based on their finishes and their
times..a brutal system, so who is going to win? ....

Yesterday, I cleared off my large porch, and gave out Halloween candy to the kids who showed up at my residence on Clarence Street...did have one little issue that told me that kids are a bit different than when I went out dressed as a Hobo in 1971-72... a young women, dressed as Cinderella came up to the door, cellphone to ear, after about eight other kids, and with the phone still going said, " Oh, yeah, Trick or Treat!" Kind of strange....

Dear readers, When I got up this morning, I was surprised to find that a weeks' worth of my blogs had disappeared. I assembled the October 29 blog but noticed that nothing went out for Oct.30 and 31. So, we will find those and repost them, hopefully, in the next few days, but today, I will regale you with my final picks for the marathon......

Dear readers, I finished this column before I crashed early on Saturday morning. I just noticed that it did not get posted, so I have just added it up. I will write my story on the race, and a piece on Ryan Shay, later this evening, when I reach home, Fort Atkinson, WI.

The Men's Marathon Trials lived up to its billings. A tough course, a great race, and 15-20,000 cheering fans running around the course on this blistery morning made for one memorable race. I am now sitting in the Chicago airport, on my way home, reflecting on the race, the outcome and for this column, the death of Ryan Shay, all of 28, who collapsed just off the course at 5.5 miles....

The 2008 Men's Olympic Trials Marathon showed what many were thinking-that the American male marathoner is back. 134 marathoners lined up, and 104 finished the five loop, criterium style course in Central Park. The 20,000 fans who lined the course and,
in many cases, ran across the park to see the racers, were treated to a great race, and a superb team, here is the story of the race....

Ryan Hall, Dathan Ritzenhein and Brian Sell all ran the races of their lives on Saturday, November 3, 2007 at the USA Olympic Marathon Trials for Men. The course was a wonderfully challenging course, and the outcome was something to behold. Here, in this column, the blogger will speak of the three men who made the team......

Dear Readers,

Walt Murphy, a long time track fan and long time fact finder for most major track and field broadcasts, as well as publisher of XC Xpress and Eastern Track, has compiled the following information on Ryan Shay, his life, and the reactions to his surprising death during the Olympic Trials marathon, as well as his funeral arrangements:

London 2012 revealed their plans for the new London Olympic Stadium today. We have linked to a superb column on BBC.com : http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/olympics_2012/7081346.stm. After reading about the new stadium and how London will use it after the Olympics...

The New York Times, one of the most important newspapers in North America, devoted most of two news paper pages to an excellent piece on Ryan Shay.

The piece is written by Jere Longman, one of the top sports writers in the country, and the piece gives an even better picture of what happened leading up to Ryan's collapse on the
marathon course last Saturday....

The Association of Athletic Managers met in Miami, Florida this past week, with
many of the European meet directors and the prominent footwear companies. The Association represents 29 of the major reps for the top track and field athletes in
the world. At their meeting, they agreed to not represent an athlete who has tested
positive for banned drugs and faced a two year ban from the sport...

I am spending three hours in the Denver Airport on my way to Austin, Texas. I was able to spend a few hours with my son this morning, and then head to the airport. It was a good time to consider the year in distance running, Ryan Shay, who is buried tomorrow, and the fragility of life.

After a week of dealing with a cold, your blogger desired a nice, relaxed walk in Austin, Texas. After a nice night sleep, I rose early and headed up Fourth Street to Congress, as the city was preparing for its' Veteran's Day celebration...

In a 10,000 meter track race last weekend, Desiree Davila of Hansons-Brooks ran 33:20.7
to take the race over Melissa White, who ran 33:24.1. The weather was unseasonably warm, but in the end, these runners, most of them focused on the Marathon Trials....

This story was told to me twice over the past few days and has been fact checked. Read it and realize that the team we are taking to Beijing is something special, but speaking of work ethic....

The Running Event, held in Austin the past two years, is the meeting place for the running industry. This year's event, held from Sunday, Nov. 11 to Wednesday, Nov.14, had 175 expo booths, 200 plus retailers and 500 attendees. Most importantly, this blogger believes, it has given the specialty running biz a place to meet, talk and look to the future....

On September 5, 1986, Mark Nenow, running in the Ivo Van Damme Memorial, ran 27:20.56, breaking the American record of Alberto Salazar. Nenow had run 27:28 in Oslo in July, in a 10k against Said Aouta. Nenow raced from 1981-1989, with 1985-1989 his best years, Nenow was unquestionably one of the best distance runners ever to don a U.S. racing vest...

At the Border Clash each year, Nike brings in a few of their top athletes, this year,
it was Matt Tegankamp and Kara and Adam Goucher as well as Michelle Sykes. I spent a few minutes with Matt and this is what he had to say...

Tyson Gay's amazing 2007 season, with his double wins at Indy and then his triple golds at Osaka, and Meseret Defar and her outstanding 5,000 meter world record in June, plus her defense of the World 5,000 meter title have been recognized. At the World Athletics Gala, held Sunday night in Monte Carlo, Tyson Gay and Meseret Defar were recognized for their great seasons!

The following article, written by Bob Ramsak, of Track Profile Report, a newsletter supported by Shooting Star Media, Inc., tells the story. Your favorite blogger was in the middle of a four hour flight, then three hour bus ride to get home to Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin from a week long trip to the West coast.

Tyson and Meseret deserved the accolades-great seasons from great athletes. Congrats are in order for Global Athletics & Marketing-Mark Wetmore and Rich Kenah, who represent these fine athletes!

In Stalinist Russia, one of the ways that Mr. Stalin kept control was the rewriting or unwriting of history. There are books of photographs where Stalin or his KGB had famous people taken out of the pictures or their names removed from history texts..
is there something similar to this with the Marion Jones saga?

My university, Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California, was a rareified atmosphere, to say the least. During my tenure there, from 1976 to 1982 ( a year in the seminary, and working in an auto plant included), I finished degrees in European History, Fine Arts/Painting and came close to a third degree in Modern Dance (my son will love this). Also during that time, I ran cross country, track invitationals and road raced to my heart's content, knowing that the small band of runners at the school were never going to .....

It has been nearly a decade since Craig Masback stepped into the shoes of the CEO of
USA Track & Field. He inherited an organization that was nearly bankrupt financially, and leadership-wise, was in nearly the same position. USATF was not leading the sport, it was letting the sport lead it.

Times have changed, and USATF has, most importantly, cleared up the finanicals disasters that....

Cal International is one of those races, that unfortunately, gets taken for granted. The truth is the team, lead by John Mansoor and his team, have developed this event into a fine Winter marathon. The preview , by Bob Burns, a former Sacramento Bee reporter and
the man who survived both the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Trials media centers, is nicely done. We hope that you enjoy!

Pat Butcher's insightful commentary on Edith Masai, and her appearance on the Singapore marathon course on Sunday, December 2, 2007, could be a most interesting race. In this article, Butcher speaks on Masai's development from middle distance runner to marathoner....

Ken Nakamura is one of most prolific and well written track correspondents in the world. If it happens in Japan, Ken knows about it. Here is Ken's commentary on the Fukuoka marathon.

The Fukuoka marathon was, for more than two decades, the defacto World marathon championships. Frank Shorter won there four times, Akio Usami three times. Derek Clayton broke 2:10 there for the first time.

Fukuoka has had the top marathoners in the world continue to race there! Gebrselassie among them, and now Wanjiru sets a course record in his debut at the marathon distance!

The Japanese are using Fukuoka to select up to two of their Beijing marathon team members. Samuel Wanjiru runs 2:06:39 in his debut. Wanjiru did not just pop out of nowhere, he is the world half marathon record holder.

In Singapore, like it was in Fukuoka, it was not a good day for past winners. On both the men's and women's sides, there was some huge surprises in Singapore. Pat Butcher, our wandering minstrel of athletics, graces us with his third piece in three whole days on Singapore. Nice writing, Butcher uses one word where some would use fifteen. A track fans's track writer. I hope you enjoy!

Bob Ramsak is the roving troubadour of athletics, writing for the IAAF.com, IAAF communications department, and Track Profile.com, among other things. In this article, Ramsak speaks of the Magic five who bring streaks into 2008.

The sport of athletics is so competitive, so global that a streak is pretty amazing, in any event. The athletes here are the best of the best. Consider how long their streaks will go in 2008! (LE)

After a great year, Alyson Felix and Tyson Gay should be the focus of athlete of the year awards! Alyson focused her entire season on Osaka and was rewarded with three golds, and so did Tyson Gay, who was rewarded with three golds.

Two great examples of the quality of American athletics as we build to Beijing! I have attached a nice piece from USATF.org on Alyson and Tyson:

Marion Jones, the defrocked sprinter, has had her records and sports competitions erased from the record books, at the IAAF's suggestions, from September 1, 2000 to the present. While some, including I , might consider it rather draconian, there is a certian beauty in making Ms. Jones responsible for her actions, something that is lacking in modern society...

Face it, Jeremy Wariner is the man at 400 meters. Every year, someone new comes along, and some agent or coach tells me that Wariner's days are numbered. Au contraire, mes amis. Wariner is talented, yes, perhaps the most talented 400 meter runner we have seen in many years, but the real key to his success is......

Eugene is hosting a few more track meets, notably the 2009, 2011 US Champs and World Champ Trials, plus the 2012 Olympic Trials. Seems the boys from Eugene were well prepared when they made their bid and bid for several champs at one time! Some might be curious that a regular bidding process was not used here, but to the best information we had, Eugene came prepared!

It is early, early on Sunday morning, in New England. The snow has started, and I am trying to get on the first flight out of the airport this morning, at 5.40 am. The plane is in from last night, so I have a good shot, but the next four flights have been canceled. I gambled, and it looks like I will make it. I had several meetings this weekend, before the ....

Look, I love Charles Barkley. I want the guy to run for political
office. But he has been wrong on one comment, and perhaps,
it is not what he believes. He said, in a Nike commercial, that
athletes are not role models.

WRONG. Maybe many of them behave like thugs, convicts

While there may have been earlier magazines about running in the U.S. Runner's World magazine founder Bob Anderson was the man who truly helped make running big time. I have a copy of the first Runner's World magazine, which featured a shoe review by Jeff Johnson, then, an employee of Blue Ribbon Sports....

The IAAF communications department, with its revised websites, web based films and film clips, pdf coaching education, has undergone dramatic changes over the past two years! The value of the site in 2007, as a resource and as the meeting place of all that is our sport, has truly begun to show what can be done on the web and also, what our sport can look forward to in the future! We have posted the full release on Road Running for your reading.....

Ryan Lamppa is the prolific writer, manager of propaganda for Running USA. His magnum opus is the Running USA wire, one of the most useful compendiums of all that is American distance running today. On December 17, just as I was thinking vacation, Ryan penned one of his best columns of the year.

Read the column and consider this: the potential of athletics in North America is understood of by every other country in the world but the U.S. With the focus of many, including such coaches as Terrance Mahon, but also Brad Hudson, the Hanson Brothers, Zap Fitness, Minnesota's training group, and many of the top collegiate coaches in our country, the U.S. has strong middle and long distance runners, ready for some suprises in Beijing!

This past summer in Osaka, it hit me straight in the face. I was listening to Tyson Gay speak after his 100 meter victory. Tyson had spoken to Asafa Powell about the race, and told the assembled media that he (Tyson), felt bad for Asafa. He also said that Asafa would have his day. Many of the media seemed surprised--this was not what they expected from sprinters. Where is the demeanor of Maurice Greene? It was then, that I knew that the times in this sport were truly changing....

Whatever they are called, coaches, advisors, trainers--that is really immaterial. What seems to be a constant is that athletes, at all levels, need someone to discuss their training with, their reactions to that training, their fears and their concerns. As a former coach, I have seen some very successful coach-athlete relationships and I thought I would provide some examples.....

runblogrun.com was started by my brother, Brian Eder. He thought that there should be an avenue for me to write about the sport we love each and every day. He promised to do the technical wizardry, and I promised to write my thoughts on the sport of athletics one hour a day. Most days, I can do it in an hour, and some days it takes longer...but, this is the sport we love.

In a press release dated January 2, 2008, the IAAF Noted that USADA has recommended a four year ban for Justin Gatlin, starting May 25, 2006. This would mean that Gatlin, one of the preeminent sprinters of his generation, would miss Beijing 2008, and be unable to defend his Athens championship, plus the Berlin World Championships in 2009. But, to this blogger, there is much more to the releases from the IAAF and USADA than may meet the eye....

Lucas Sang, an elite 400 and 800 meter runner who ran with 1988 gold medalist Paul Ereng, on the Kenyan 4 x 400 meters team in Seoul, was killed in his hometown of Eldoret, Kenya while walking home. Sang was one of the victims of serious uprisings in Kenya, questioning the recent national election.

We reprint here a fine piece written by Bob Ramsak of Track Profile.com, and a prolific reporter for the IAAF:

The challenge today, in modern global sports, is how to stand out among all of the opportunities in sports to grab the glboal sports dollar. From NASCAR to Formula One. from bike racing to surfing contests, from European football to rugby, from American football to golf, from walleye fishing to track and field, how does one stand out?

Track & Field is standing out now because of the hard line it is drawing about drug use. That should be both be applauded, but give one some cause for concern....

The following is a strong piece by Kirby Lee on the competition at the Pole Vault Summit. But that is only part of the Summit. American Athletics did its first piece on the Summit way back in 1993, when Sergei Bubka's former coach, Vitaly Petrov, (who is now the coach of Yelena Isinbayeva and the winner of the IAAF Coach of Year award) visited the event.

The Pole Vault Summit is the labor of love of many in the vault world. With over 1,300 vaulters, 72 competitions and numerous seminars, the first weekend of January puts Reno on the map as the Pole Vault Capital of the World, for a weekend.

I encourage all coaches and vaulters to find a way to trek to Reno for this event. It has helped reinvigorate one of our favorite events in track and field!

Please read the fine article by Kirby Lee, done for the IAAF web site:

Working on the little imperfections..an interview with Asafa Powell, World Record Holder,100 meters, conducted by Larry Eder, January 6, 2008

(This interview was conducted over the telephone with Asafa Powell, the world
record holder at the men's 100 meters, the the current bronze medalist
at 100 meters from the world championships. Asafa was at the Avia OC
Marathon, as the official starter of the marathon and the five kilometer run,
on behalf of his sponsor, Nutrilite. We thank JD Osman from Nutrilite for his
assistance with this interview and support of the sport of athletics.

Haile is the king of the marathon, with his 2:04.26 world record. Dubai is his last marathon before the Olympics and it could be close! In this piece by Pat Butcher, our fearless world correspondent, Haile comes across as a man who has used his running talent for good for an entire country! See what you think and email me at larry.eder@gmail.com

I am presenting for you, in its entirety, the press release from FLORA London noting that Ryan Hall and Sammy Wanjiru are both running London in 2008! Now, from the old school, this just about knocks them out of the Beijing medal hopefuls. The new school suggests that the new breed of marathoner can do two or three elite races a year.

Beijing is the prize. Winning or medaling there will be the gold star on your collar, so to speak. I will keep an open mind while I watch marathoners run next spring for the dollars.

Kajsa Bergqvist, one of the most successful women high jumpers on the global stage, has announced her retirement at the age of 31. In the following story, take from the http://www.iaaf.orgsite, Lennart Julin relates Bergqvist's
tough decision.

Bergqvist has been one of the toughest and most stylistic of high jumpers over the last decade. Kajsa won 50 percent of the ten world, continental and Olympic championships she competed in over the past decade! In Sweden, which is just plain track crazy, Bergqvist is a rock star.

We wish Kajsa Bergqvist, one of the most successful, elegant and classy athletes of our sport, great success in retirement!

About a decade ago, a former president of the Unites States spoke of a thousand points of light. If there was anyone this applies to and any group this applies to, it is the NSSF. The NSSF was the brainchild of a few romantics who believed that they could help change the sport of track and field for the better. After fifteen plus years, the NSSF is, arguably, the most significant group, outside of federations and footwear companies, to support events and change in our sport.

Runblogrun spoke with Jim Spier about his origins in the sport, the NSSF, their agenda
and his thoughts on the sport.

Ten years after taking over a federation that was both morally and financially bankrupt, Craig Masback, quite unexpectedly, announced his resignation to the USATF Board of Directors on Wednesday evening, January 9, 2008.

Masback, a former 3:52 miler, Princeton graduate, and former TV sports announcer, brought all of those talents, and more to a federation that was floundering in 1997.

A former Nike Track coach of the year, Bobby Kersee has had a plethora of medal winning athetes, his most recent protege being Alyson Felix, a three time gold medalist in Osaka. Moving to California to work with Coach Kersee is one Kerron Clement. Clement is one of the most physically talented 400 meter runner/400 hurlders that we have ever seen.

How good could Clement be? This blogger feels that, withint two years, Clement, under the watchful eye of Coach Kersee, should be the world record holder at the 400 meter hurdles and should be quite close at the 400 meter flat. Clement is a tireless runner, but his hurdling over the last few barriers has been problematic. His win in Osaka was the smartest race he had run in his life.

The race that this writer wants to see, in 2009, is Kerron Clement versus Jeremy Wariner, but over 800 meters!

Please enjoy the diary entry from Kerron Clement from the iaaf.org website:

The young amputee who ran 46.91 last summer, Oscar Pistorius, created quite a stir with his running last year. A world record holder in Paralympic events at the 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters, Pistorius wanted to run in elite track and field events. Unfortunately, as this study below shows, Oscar's prosthetic leg blades, called "Cheetahs", violate IAAF rule 144.2. The blades are considered a training aid that gives the athlete a considerable advantage over able bodied runners.

The Dubai Marathon is tomorrow and the current world record holder, Haile Gebrselassie has a million reasons why he should try and break his 2:04:26 world record. Our intrepid
global marathon correspondent, Pat Butcher, provided us with this column on how Haile sees his chances two days out!

Track & Field, as a global sport, has been, to steal a lyric from Led Zeppelin, " trampled underfoot" by other professional sports in the search for the almighty sponsorship dollar. Sports Business International noted that $16.78 billion will be spent on sports marketing in 2008--personally, a few hundred million for track and field would work well for all of us.

The sport has begun to professionalize. Look at groups such as Fast Track, Global Athletics & Marketing, Elite Racing, to name a few. The success in the past decade of USATF, from near bankruptcy to a robust positive in their coffers shows where the sport can go, with proper direction.

On the global side, kudos have to go to the IAAF and their web sites, which provide electronic, audio, video and written information on the sport from a to z. The healthy site also is a 24/7 sales tool for the sport---the IAAF portrays a very healthy,growing

Pace makes the race or breaks it. In the marathon, it is a lesson that many, fast and slow, seem to forget. The little emperor, Haile Gebreselassie hit the half in 61:27 and could not hold on for his record, running the second fastest in history, with a time of 2:04:53.

Pat Butcher's story tells all:

The editor of American Track & Field, James Dunaway, was thoughtful enough to send this link to me, a story about Mr. Conte and his goal to save the world of sports! Please read this story, as, I believe, it gives you, dear reader, a pretty balanced view of Victor Conte, his complicated world, and his goal to complicate the world of sport even more!

In my little world, there is just nothing better than going to my local biker bar, Fat Boyz, on a quiet Sunday morning, after a nice two hour walk, grabbing the weekend edition of Financial Times and having a quiet breakfast. Most of my fellow breakfasters are either a) slowly recovering from a night of revelry, or b) preparing for a afternoon football game.

This past week, upon my return from Orlando for the WDW Marathon and RN annual meetings, I was catching up on my missed FT dailies and I came upon the obituary for

Craig Masback, the CEO of USATF, is moving on. After a decade of dealing with the good and troubling in the world of global sports, Masback is leaving the job he was made for. Masback was not asking for sainthood, but from where he inherited the sport and the zeitgeist that now permeates the American side of the sport is much different than way back in 1997. The sport today is full of promise. We are not on the mountaintop yet, but we can improve the sport and continue to raise both the identity and financial vitality of our sport with the proper leadership. That will be the challenge for the new leadership.

Editor's comments: One of the most significant moves of the past decade in our sport was the resurrection of indoor track and field. Dr. Norb Sanders, the 1974 NYC marathon winner, cajoled, charmed and convinced many to contribute to the NY Armory, a fixture in sport in NY for nearly a century. The Armory had fallen on hard times. But Sanders, like anyone with the vision thing, would not give up, and his dreams became a reality: 65 events last year, over 90,000 athletes!

One of the best meets of the year, the New Balance Games, is the unofficial start of the elite indoor season. Photographer extraordinaire Victah Sailer wrote the following for those of us stuck in other parts of the country while two fine mile races were contested!

In the ancient Games, a talented athlete might go to a temple and offer a gift to the gods in order to make himself more favorable to win the fabled sporting events of Ancient Greece. In my mind, sacrificing a goat has about as much chance of telling us who the winners will be in Beijing as any other modern method.

The following article is on Haile Gebreselassie and how Pat Butcher sees his chances to win in Beijing. The Olympic marathon is the most elusive of medals and the surprises that come in that event give proper closing to a Summer Olympics. The truth is, the marathon is sport, and it should be left to the gods of sport.

My first indoor meet was at an old Armory in St. Louis, Mo in January 1974 with my high school team, DeSmet. The races were run around orange cones and to watch the teams run the 4 x 400 meters sliding in their Converse Chuck's was very cool. One of my teammates, Dan Callahan, I believe, won the mile in 4;24 that night, but I was struck by the excitement and the loudness of the meet!

Fresno is the host of the Run for the Dream, USA vs. the World, which can be viewed on sportnet tonight!

Maria Mutola, seven time indoor world champion, an Olympic gold medalist, a three time world record holder at 1000 meters, winner of the $1 million IAAF Golden League jackpot in 1993, has decided that 2008 will be her last year of championship competition.

In this excellent article by Chris Turner, the deity of the IAAF Web site, Mutola gives track fans her thoughts on the year of 2008:

One of the characteristics of a revolution is change. Indoor track and field has had bastions for decades in the cities of Boston and New York. In New York, the impressario was and is Dr. Norb Sanders and his NY Armory. In Boston, it is the Reggie Lewis Center and the team, lead by Keith McDermott, that supports the sixty plus high school meets. In both cities, great facilities have risen from dreams and hard work. Neither center would have happened without many people asking hard questions and not relying on easy answers.