atf newswire, volume 11, number 17-Some housecleaning, a software offer, and a chance at creative expression!

Most of your found out about our magazine through American Athletics, in the 1989-1994 period. Then we relaunched and titled it American Track & Field and our readers grew and so did our advertising! In 1995, at the suggestion of Doug Speck, our founding web editor, now the man behind the wonderful dyestats California site, I started a newsletter on the web, which became atf newswire in 1997.
We have published it since then, through a newsletter software on our websites. The truth is, it has morphed into runblogrun.com, as much of my energy is focused on this blog in my off hours.
But atf newswire has a place still, and today, we are thanking our readers for attending the party in Boston, providing a couple of offers from advertisers for software and one for self expression, and updating all on the new websites coming from Running Network partners over the next month.
So read on! And, yes, watch for a regular column from me tonight!

atf newswire
volume 11 number 17
Thank You to Party Goers
Special offer from
Track Central
Special Offer from
Boathouse!
Updates on our sites!
Dear Readers,
Lots going on in the sport right now. Ryan Hall runs 2:06.12.
Deena Kastor catchers Magdelena Lewy Boulet at mile 24, with
Blake Russell holding on for third in the Womens Olympic
Marathon Trials.
Then, this past weekend, Shalane Flanagan sets a new AR
for the 10,000 meters, in her debut, of 30:34.49, eclipsing
the former AR of one Deena Kastor, who had run 30:52.32 in
2002. Bernard Lagat ran 13:16 for 5,000 meters, also at the
Payton Jordan Distance Carnival. But my true jaw dropper was
Scott Bauhs of Chico State, who ran 27:48 and took seventh
in this tough crowd at Stanford!
Oh, watch your mail boxes for a great feature on Chris Lukesic-the athlete,
and Julia Henner-the coach, in one of our strongest pieces
on the coach/athlete relationship! Athletes Only Late Spring issue 2008
just mailed.
The season is going! On to Eugene and Beijing!
Also, if you want daily affirmations on our sport, please
sign up for my daily blog feed, at
http://.www.runblogrun.com! It’s free and it is
informative!
Now, some housecleaning-a thank you to our party goers and
a couple of special deals for our readers!
Thanks!
Larry Eder
Group Publisher
http://www.shootingstarmediainc.com
********
Running Industry Insiders,
Thank you for attending the BAA/Running Network reception
on Saturday, April 19 in Boston. It was a busy afternoon
and I tried to get around and meet most of you. If you did
not see me, I hope you had a chance to meet the other
Running Network staff and partners who were there— our
ad sales associates Brook Gardner and Jeremy Solomon
(the one with the British accent), Brenda Barrera,
our National Web Editor and Editor of RunMidwest,
or perhaps Michele LeBrun and Bob Fitzgerald,
publishers of New England Runner. Also in attendance
were the Michigan Runner and RN.TV
team of Art and Jennie McCafferty, Rich Benyo and Jan Seely of
Marathon & Beyond and James O¹Brien with The Winged Foot.
I want to thank our partners Mark Sullivan and
Jeff Nott of Formula 4 Media, along with
New England Runner and a special thanks to
Guy Morse and Jack Fleming of the BAA for
sponsoring this years’ event. We had over
250 attendees from all aspects of our
industry: specialty store owners, industry officials,
nationally ranked runners, footwear and apparel company
management and footwear technical reps.
Here’s a link to our photo gallery:
http://www.runningnetwork.com/features/boston08RNpartyphotos.html
Some of you many have missed our interview
with Ryan Hall before the party—watch for a
transcript on our web site soon. We also
had the privilege of announcing the Distance
Running Hall of Fame Class of 2008, which include
Amby Burfoot, Priscilla Welch and Johnny Hayes. Amby,
in the fortieth anniversary of his 1968 win at Boston,
looked great and continues to speak eloquently about
our sport.
The weekend certainly was memorable. The U.S.
Olympic Team Trials Women’s Marathon was one of the
most exciting races ever and gave us a superb Olympic
team: Deena Kastor, Magdalena Lewy Boulet and Blake
Russell! Monday’s marathon was dramatic with the two-second
difference at the finish for the women¹s race and a
four-time winner on the men’s side.
Between the Running Network, which has 34 partner
publications and web sites and the five titles that
Formula 4 Media owns, there are so many ways for us to
help you get the message out to your customers and
supporters. If I can be of any service, please do not
hesitate to call me, at 608.239.3785 or email me at
larry.eder@gmail.com.
All the best,
Larry Eder
cc: Randy Knox, Chairman, Running Network LLC
Publishers, Running Network LLC
BAA Staff
Formula 4 Media
**********
Special Offer to ATF coaches, and club coaches from
Sports Central!
**********
TRACKCENTRAL.NET LEADS THE NEXT GENERATION
OF TRACK & FIELD AND CROSS COUNTRY TEAM SOFTWARE
Connecticut based TrackCentral.net recently celebrated
its four anniversary as a leader in Web Based Track
and Field and Cross Country team software.
Unlike a traditional software application that
is installed on a single coach’s PC, TrackCentral.net
is securely accessed using a web browser. Coaches and
team managers can securely access and manage their team
data from any internet connection. Like with online
banking, Netflix, or Yahoo email, users can access their
secure account with a unique username and password.
TrackCentral supports both Windows and Mac computers.
“I started TrackCentral because I just didn’t
see any team management programs on the market
that got the job done,” says founder Matt Sandberg,
a former Track & Field coach and athlete.
“Think about it, online, we manage our money,
apply for mortgages, and book our vacations.
Why can’t we manage our teams online as well?”
Sandberg continues, “It allows multiple coaches
access from home, office, vacation, wherever.
Many of our coaches set up a secure logon and
just hand off the data entry to a team manager.
Saves our coaches a lot of time and effort.”
Athletes are issued a separate username and password
to monitor their progress and performances. With access
to their own performances, they can set goals, track
progress, and compare season performances.
Hundreds of coaches throughout North America and Europe
have bought into this new approach. “I receive great
feedback from our coaches every day.”, Sandberg explains.
“We continually use this feedback to improve our software.
As a web based program, we can add a new feature today
and make it available to our coaches tomorrow. It ensures
our coaches can use our product to get the most from their
team.”
Michael Seguin from Ayer High School in Massachusetts
has been using TrackCentral for the past four seasons.
“With TrackCentral, the top performances in each event,
the PR’s our athletes, our school records, qualifying
performances, and points earned are always available
to everyone on the coaching staff.”, Sequin explains,
“It couldn’t be any easier to use. Our athletes love
logging in to check their own progress throughout the
season.”.
###
Visit www.trackcentral.net for more information,
testimonials and for a free 30 day trial subscription
*********
And, a new contest for athletes and coaches from
Boathouse!
Boathouse dares you to Brand Yourself!
Boathouse Sports’ second facebook.com challenge has
been announced and now you can “Name Your Game”. The
Name Your Game contest, a series of U B U (
U Brand Yourself) initiatives, consists of
new ways for you to customize your gear exactly
how you want it. Boathouse is taking 100% customization
to the next level and giving you, the athlete, a blank
slate to tag your gear, your way for yourself. Boathouse
has created a program where U can Brand Yourself and your
friends or teammates in the words, colors, and designs of
what your sport means to you.
How do you Name Your Game? It’s easy! You come up with
the slogan that you think best represents the sport of
Track and Field. Just become a facebook.com fan of
Boathouse Sports and post your slogan on the wall. We
will run this from today until May 31, 2008. After that, YOU will
all vote on the top slogans and we can start the cycle
again! The winner will receive free Boathouse gear with
their winning slogan and Boathouse will use your slogan on
our new sport specific Tee-shirts and Hoodys to be made
available to EVERYONE EVERYWHERE! How creative are you?
Post your slogan on the wall at
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boathouse-Sports/20186168712
Note our changes!
We are coming out with new websites this month. Watch for new
home page at www.runningnetwork.com, then american-trackand
field.com, then atf-athlete.com, then caltrack.com, then morun
andtri.com, and then two new ones, latinoscorriendo.com and
coachingathleticsq.com!
Each site will have access to RN TV, our eight year old
digital TV programs, with some amazing interviews! We
encourage you to check them out!
Also, you will be able to download copies of your favorite
magazines in pdf form starting in the Fall. This will happen the
day after the issue mails!
Lots of exciting things coming up! Don’t miss
a minute of our new programming!
**********
The ssm enewswires are published for the good of
sport as I remember them, for ATF, Athletes Only,
Cal Track and MO Runner. If you would like
to add something here, just email me at
larry.eder@gmail.com!
They have been published since 1996 and, to our minds
are the oldest newswires on our sport.