The Morning Run- May 18th

Posted on May 18, 2012 by | Leave a comment

The Morning Run is a daily compilation of links, news and commentary.

There is still about 1 day to get in the House of Run fantasy track and field league.  If you would like to join, go here and join the league “House of Run Podcast.”  The league pin is 167961.  Make your picks for Shanghai!

There are two meets to keep an eye on this weekend.  First, the Occidental High Performance meet on Friday will have 800, 1500, 5000 and 3000 steeplechases races featuring many of the fastest Americans.  I will be helping out with the free, live coverage that begins at 6:30 pm PST.

The Diamond League’s second stop is Saturday’s meet in Shanghai.  Joe Battaglia of NBC Olympics runs down all the races to watch and the storylines to follow.

Asafa Powell says, “Many track and field people know that if I stay relaxed and run my race like I’m supposed to, I will be the winner at the Olympic Games.”  The “ifs” have always been Powell’s problem.

Flotrack interviews the 2011 triple jump world champion, Christian Taylor.

Ken Goe’s links from Thursday, including a brief interview with Jerry Schumacher, the coach of the Oregon Track Club/Portland.

Bonnie Ford of ESPN interviews the American marathon Olympic team.  The key revelations are that Ryan Hall knows exactly how far the Olympic village is from the stadium, Abdi Abdirahman thinks a four-mile walk is a workout, and Meb Keflezighi is no fan of U-turns.

Rich Perelman wants a NCAA track and field playoff.

Paavo Nurmi’s win in the 1924 5,000 makes The Guardian’s “50 Stunning Olympic Moments” list.

I’m off to Oxy (and to eat here first)!

-Kevin

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The Morning Run- May 16th

Posted on May 16, 2012 by | Leave a comment

The Morning Run is a daily compilation of links, news and commentary

Yesterday, we posted our podcast recapping the Doha Diamond League and previewing the upcoming meets in Shanghai and Occidental.  Jason also mourns the loss of his Chicago Bulls.

The 2012 House of Run fantasy track and field league kicks off this weekend.  If you would like to participate, go here and join the league “House of Run Podcast.”  The league pin is 167961.  Any and all are welcome.

Ahead of Saturday’s meet in Shanghai, many of the world’s fastest ran in Daegu on Wednesday.

A year removed from his death, ESPN revisits the life of Sammy Wanjiru.

NBC’s “visualization” videos feature Lolo Jones, Bershawn Jackson and Dwight Phillips. I would make a joke about viewers needing to visualize live Olympic coverage too, but NBC is ditching the tape delay this year.

The Wall Street Journal profiles the carefree Abdi Abdirahman.

Dai Greene says he never disrespected the American 400 hurdlers, but stands by his statements about Lashawn Merritt.

Speaking of Merritt, he decided to wade into the Oscar Pistorius issue.

Flotrack interviews Santa Monica Track Club founder Joe Douglas about the importance of communications, and even acting classes, for track and field athletes to appeal to the general public.  So if you were wondering where Carl Lewis got the idea he could act from………

The popular “30 for 30” series on ESPN will return and produce a documentary on a steroid user in track and field.  Completely uncharted territory for them.

What happens when a group of ultra-marathoners run down a really steep hill?  Some of them fall, but one of them sets a world record.

Jesse Squire distributes his college athlete of the week awards.

-Kevin

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Episode 97: Doha Recap + Oxy/Shanghai Preview

Posted on May 15, 2012 by | 2 Comments

Jason and Kevin recap the fast and captivating results from the Doha Diamond League including a thorough review of their incorrect prognostications about Allyson Felix and Justin Gatlin.  Also, the guys chat about Asafa Powell’s jet lag, Ryan Hall’s peaks and valleys, Nike’s new uniforms and NCAA stars that could have an impact in the Olympics.  Finally, the guys preview the big weekend meets in Shanghai and Occidental.

Episode 97: Doha Recap + Oxy/Shanghai Preview [ 57:56 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (214)

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The Morning Run- May 14th

Posted on May 14, 2012 by | Leave a comment

The Morning Run is a daily compilation of links, news and commentary.

On Saturday, we posted our interview with Adharanand Finn, the author of Running with the Kenyans.  If you haven’t yet listened, please do, especially if you are interested in what makes the Kenyans so dominant.  We will post our recap podcast for the Doha Diamond League, NCAA conference championships and much more tomorrow.

All of the results from the NCAA conference championships can be found here.

More in-depth conference recaps on the Big 12, SEC and the Pac 12.

Jesse Squires analyzes the attendance from the NCAA conference championships.

Ashton Eaton hurdles over a model.  A model wearing a $4,490 dress nonetheless.

Dan Rubenstein and Matt Ufford of SB Nation highlight the best fails in track and field.  Gabriela Szabo getting lit up on the long jump runway still makes me cringe.

ESPN’s Outside the Lines profiles University of Alaska-Anchorage runner Marko Cheseto and his tale of survival in the Alaskan wilderness.

Lashinda Demus: “we know that we are competing in a dying sport.”

Nike’s new speed suits feature “golf ball-inspired dimples” and claim to reduce times by .023 seconds over 100 meters.  By my math, that can be extrapolated out to 2.3 seconds for the 10,000 so look for skinny distance runners to start sporting the dimples.

Asafa Powell does what he normally does after he loses a race.  Also, Justin Gatlin calls Powell, “just a runner.”

-Kevin

 

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Episode 96: Interview with Running with the Kenyans author Adharanand Finn

Posted on May 12, 2012 by | 1 Comment

Jason and Kevin talk with Adharanand Finn about his new book, living and training in Kenya and the biggest misconceptions about Kenyan runners.  Adharanand also explains how he and his family were received in Iten, the average day for a runner in Kenya and the best training run he experienced.  Also, the guys read some emails and discuss the salaries of professional track and field athletes.

Episode 96: Interview with Running with the Kenyans author Adharanand Finn [ 57:57 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (284)

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The Morning Run- May 9th

Posted on May 9, 2012 by | 4 Comments

The Morning Run is a daily compilation of links, news and commentary.

Our podcast from yesterday, which started as a recap of the results from Kingston, but ended as a referendum on the movie Without Limits, is up.

The IOC will retest doping samples from the 2004 Olympics.

The Guardian speculates about a potential match-up between David Rudisha and Usain Bolt in the 4 x 400 at the Olympics.  Throw in Oscar Pistorius, Lashawn Merritt and Dai Greene and we would have something akin to a running apocalypse.   Also, you have to love Rudisha’s epic understatement, “Bolt is fast, he has speed, that I don’t have.”

Bolt says he needs to run fast and win in London.  Not sure why this still qualifies as news.

Joe Battaglia profiles Julius Yego, the Kenyan javelin thrower.

Carmelita Jeter, Yohan Blake and Novelene Williams-Mills will all be running at today’s Cayman Invitational.

The preliminary start lists for the Oxy High Performance meet are out.  The mid-distance races are filled with big names.

Does Asafa Powell get a fair shake in Jamaica?  I vote yes, almost too fair.

Jesse Squire names another member of his Dual Meet Hall of Fame.

Ken Goe’s Tuesday links.

-Kevin

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Episode 95: Kingston Kick-off

Posted on May 8, 2012 by | 2 Comments

Jason and Kevin discuss the unofficial beginning to the sprint season by running down the results from the Jamaica Invitational, Oregon Twilight and the Kawasaki Grand Prix.  The guys also check in on the progress of Alan Webb, theorize about the best uses for a Jumbotron at a track meet and debate the best Olympic movies.

Episode 95: Kingston Kick-off [ 43:00 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (227)

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The Morning Run- May 8th

Posted on May 8, 2012 by | Leave a comment

The Morning Run is a daily compilation of links, news and commentary.

Toni Reavis wants stadiums to turn off the Jumbotron.  Sometimes.

How much do track and field athletes make?  Jack Wickens tried to find out.

Preliminary start lists for the Doha Diamond League were released this morning for both men and women.  Most anticipation match-ups: David Rudisha vs. Mohammed Aman in the 800.  Shelly Ann Fraser vs. Veronica Campbell-Brown in the 100.  Kellie Wells vs. Brigitte Foster-Hylton in the 100 hurdles.  Silas Kiplagat vs. Asbel Kiprop vs. Nixon Chepseba vs. Abubaker Kaki in the 1500. Imane Merga’s elbows vs. the field in the 3,000.

Dick Fosbury’s flop, and gold medal, make the Guardian’s “50 stunning Olympic Moments.”

Jeremy Wariner now considers himself under the radar in a 400 field that includes Kirani James and Lashawn Merritt.

Joe Battaglia succinctly recaps the weekend in track and field and road racing.

Dwain Chambers apologizes for at least the 300th time.

In a cool feature for the Independent, Ben Salmon goes through the same paces that track athletes will experience at the Olympic stadium.

Jesse Squire inducts Hayward Field into his Dual Meet Hall of Fame.  Finally, Hayward gets some recognition.

Pat Price asks Bridget Franek five questions.

In the most Scottish news of the day, a man in Chicago ran a half-marathon in a kilt.

-Kevin

 

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The Morning Run- May 7th

Posted on May 7, 2012 by | Leave a comment

The Morning Run is a daily compilation of links, news and commentary.

The Jamaica Invitational headlines this edition of the Morning Run.  Despite running woefully behind schedule (so much so that the satellite window closed before the men’s and women’s 200m races) the meet featured several gold medal favorites and the deepest sprint fields thus far in 2012.

Usain Bolt had his fastest debut ever in the 100 with a 9.82 win.  Michael Frater and Lerone Clarke pushed him, but Bolt, and the jersey featuring his face, was too much over the last 30 meters.

Sanya Richards-Ross lost her race, and her world lead, to Novelene Williams-Mills in the 400.

Carmelita Jeter didn’t look at the top of her game, but she still ran a world-leading 10.81.

A bulked up Yohan Blake won the men’s 200 in 19.91.   Last year, it took Bolt a few months to look like his old self after putting on muscle in the off-season.

In a mild upset, Bianca Knight ran down Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce in the women’s 200.

The rest of the professional results, including Bershawn Jackson and Brigitte Foster Hylton, are here.

In Kawasaki, Allyson Felix won the 100 in 11.22, Liu Xiang went 13.09 in the 110 hurdles and Amantle Montsho ran 50.52 in the 400.

Andrew Wheating returned to racing at the Oregon Twilight and won in “epic Wheating fashion.”  Bridget Franek also starred with a world-lead in the steeplechase.

It was a two steps back weekend for Alan Webb at the Duke Twilight.

Jesse Squire’s first member of his dual meet hall of fame.

The New York Times on Ashton Eaton, his coach Harry Marra, and the potential of a US sweep in London.

-Kevin

 

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The Morning Run- May 4th

Posted on May 4, 2012 by | Leave a comment

The Morning Run is a daily compilation of links, news and commentary.

In light of Rich Perelman’s post about track and television yesterday, Ken Goe’s lead in to his morning links is particularly perceptive and spot-on.  As has been said many times before, the control and focus of the sport lies with the coaches and athletes, when it should be geared toward the fans.

Saturday’s Jamaica Invitational will be a great opportunity to see many Olympic favorites, including Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Sanya Richards-Ross and Carmelita Jeter.  The meet begins at 8 pm EST/5 pm PST and will be streamed live (for free) here.

Glen Mills, coach of Bolt and Blake, think the two can coexist and flourish in the same training group, despite the naysayers.

Sanya Richards-Ross relives the 4 x 400 from the Beijing Olympics.  Spoiler, the US still catches Russia on the homestretch.

Tim Layden analyzes the components of the 100-meter dash in this NPR feature.

Martin Bingisser provides 10 reasons why you should watch the hammer throw in 2012.  The 11th reason should be keeping tabs on Martin’s own quest for a fourth consecutive Swiss national championship, while being a full time tax attorney.

American distance runner Chris Solinsky will not compete in the Olympic Trials due to injury.  He seems upbeat, but four years is a really long time to wait.

Lashinda Demus tells USA Today about the Olympic Trials, having her mom as a coach, drug testers and more.

Joe Battaglia digs deeper into Patrick Makau’s exclusion from the Kenyan marathon team.

Polakoff Communications lists “5 Things Every Athlete Needs to Know Before London.”  Bring your own food, was not listed.

The Penn Relays enjoyed its best television ratings since 2003

-Kevin

 

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