With the mortgage crisis continuing to ripple out into the general American economy, the possibility exists that two of the only positive impacts may come in the area of childhood obesity and the fortunes of future American distance running. What with the price of oil soaring near $150 per barrel, Montgomery County, Maryland announced that more children may have to walk to school next year to save money on bus fuel. Read more…
Track visionaries have been saying it for years: the sport of track & field is stale and requires massive change to elevate its status to that of other professional sports. Those who voiced such opinions, pleading for change, ran up against brick walls. Then proceeded to bang their heads against said brick walls. Years of banging resulted in severe apathy – track is track; it is what it is. Except among a select few who kept the movement alive and inspired the next generation. So here we are today, witnessing a perfect storm of BALCO, the internet, world-class U.S. performances, a second running boom, and the chronic underperformance of our governing bodies. Finally someone has taken notice.
In a stern letter from Jim Scherr, USOC chief executive, to Bill Roe, USATF President and our guest on The Toni & Matt Show #13, track’s governing body was given an ultimatum: change your structure or else risk sanctions and possible decertification. USATF has until June 24 to submit a plan. If the USOC chooses decertification, it will actually take over USATF until a new federation can be formed. Although rare, it has happened in modern pentathlon, team handball, and taekwondo. (click “read full article” for the rest of this story) Read more…
Toni as host of and Matt as featured presenter at the first annual Running Film Festival.
(hat tip to Katie at RunningTimes.com)
Matt will be presenting this subject matter (but not this video)…
Cathy Griffin of The Griffin Network joins us this week on the Toni & Matt Show to discuss the search for USATF’s next CEO. Griffin’s executive search firm has been tasked with finding a replacement for Craig Masback, who left the organization at the end of last year. We’ll learn more about the search process and find out what type of candidate will lead the organization.
Think you could do a good job? Check out the USATF CEO Fact Sheet to find out.
Two of my favorite things are video games and running. (There, I said it.) Actually, that’s not entirely true; sometimes I loathe running and, despite a recent attempt to re-ignite my love affair with the gaming world, I haven’t played video games “seriously” since college. But boy did I have an obsession for both a decade ago. True story: in college I developed tendentious in both thumbs from playing video games. I had to wear splints. But the rewards were well worth the consequences – I beat Mike Tyson, I completed GoldenEye 007 on all three levels in two weeks, I ran Bo Jackson for 894 yards in one game of Tecmo Bowl, and I absolutely killed it on Parappa the Rappa. My running accomplishments weren’t as exceptional nor rewarding, but as a sub-9:00 steeplechaser I wasn’t a slouch. So it was with both lust and dismay that I read Nintendo’s announcement of the Wii Fit. Read more…
Welcome to our 10th episode, a small milestone and definite turning point for the show. We’d like to count the first 9 episodes as practice – our time to learn the medium and find our voice. We’ve received great feedback from you; please keep it coming by emailing us at comments (at) runnerville (dot) com. But don’t just email us – join the community, join the discussion. Send us your audio comments by calling 206-888-0346. That’s the only way we’ll make the influencers and decision makers of the sport take notice – with many voices.
Okay, on to today’s show:
[3:55 - 21:15] The Big Story – The Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford University.
Shalane Flanagan and Kim Smith save the night with their epic duel over 10,000 meters, both setting national records in the process (30:34.49 for Flanagan to 30:35.54 for Smith). Without that race the meet would have been a let-down. Expectations were so high going into the weekend, but fast times did not materialize, especially at 800m and 1500m. Of course there were some impressive results, but the winning times were not as anticipated. Other stories included: Brent Vaughn, Scotty Bauhs, Shannon Rowbury impress, Fasil Bizuneh just misses the A standard, no Rupp or Gouchers, and why in the world would they split the 1500m into two “equal” heats? Not what the fans want . . .
[21:15 - 1:05:45] Nate Jenkins joins us in the “studio” from Lowell, Massachusetts, home to Toni’s first radio gig. Nate finished 7th at last year’s US Olympic Marathon Trials in NYC, setting his PR of 2:14:56. We asked Nate to be on the show after receiving a great, if not long, audio comment. His comment had some constructive criticism for the show, some positive feedback, and some great ideas to improve the sport. Instead of playing his comment on the show, we thought it would be better to open up the conversation and invite him on the show. What a guest! We discuss the complexity of our sport, the sad state of television coverage, USATF’s lack of financial support, and uniform rules. We ask Nate if the athletes should unionize. And Toni unveils our newest segment – The Hot House – to incubate ideas for the sport. He presents his first Hot House idea to Nate – making a half-marathon series with teams – who’s a big fan.
[1:07:22 - 1:18:00] Listener comment from Kevin referencing an Tim Layden article in the May 5 edition of sports illustrated titled: Once They Were Giants – After years of drug scandals, track faces its future as a minor Olympic sport. A sad look at the decline of track’s position on the Olympic stage. This year swimming and gymnastics will take center stage. A real eye-opener for the powers that be. Layden’s best point: the danger for our sport is not outrage, it’s apathy. Amen!
Listen in next week for Episode #11. We’ll be joined by Matt Tegenkamp and we have audio call ins from Dan Lilot and funny-man Jeremy Mosher. You can add your voice to the conversation by calling us at 206-888-0346 – just leave your comment after the beep.
[Music is "Same Old Drag" by Apples in Stereo.]
The 2008 Carlsbad 5000 story was always going to be Alan Webb’s to make, no matter who won or what time they ran. That’s what comes with superstar status. After snatching Steve Scott’s quarter-century old American mile record last summer in Europe, then backing it with the fastest 1500 meters and second best 800 in the world for 2007, the expectations for 2008 ramped up even higher. Now, he would begin his Olympic push at the Southern California road race Steve Scott helped design 23 years ago and then won in its first three years.
But when 24 year-old Ethiopian Terefe Maregu outkicked England’s Mo Farah for the 2008 Carlsbad 5000 title on a glorious SoCal spring day by just a single tick of the clock, and then Kenya’s Haron Lagat, Australia’s Collis Birmingham, and 2006 Arkansas NCAA 10,000m champion Josephat Lagat of Kenya crossed in a blanket finish one second behind Mo, no one turned to his neighbor and exclaimed, “what a finish that was!” No, all anyone wanted to know was what happened to Alan Webb?
Necks craned up Carlsbad Village Drive looking for the American superstar as one by one the professional field paraded across the line. But Webb would never emerge around the corner for the final 300-meter sprint to the tape in front of the big crowd, many of whom had run the same course through the series of morning races. He had pulled off the course around 2.6 miles left to wonder, along with his many fans, what was happening in these important early season outings in this Olympic year.
“The plan wasn’t to come here and do this,” said a disconsolate Webb to the press following his second straight flameout of 2008. “I’m definitely disappointed. I came here to win the race, but I felt like I was pushing the whole way, and was just trying to hang in there and find a rhythm. But I just couldn’t get into it. I was surging just to stay up where I was, and we weren’t even going out that super fast.”
Alan Webb came into the Carlsbad 5000 after finishing 16th two weeks ago at the USATF 8K road championship in New York’s Central Park. But a case of food poisoning was behind that performance. In Carlsbad the inability to fire on all cylinders was more problematic, because it had its antecedents in his training, and training isn’t science, it’s art.
“We have changed things a little bit,” Webb admitted in his characteristically forthright manner. “I’m not satisfied just doing what I’ve done before, so we’ve upped both the quality and quantity of my training. And sometimes you do too much. I hope that’s the answer, because that would be a positive outcome. I’ll have to sit down with my coach and discuss what changes we will have to make, either training or racing, but it’s a fine line, and you want to be dancing right there. And it’s easy to go over the edge.”
There was big buzz when Elite Racing announced the signing of Webb for Carlsbad. No American has won this race since Utah’s Doug Padilla in 1990, and certainly no American with Olympic medal chances in the 1500 meters has ever run on this seaside course. Steve Scott, the co-designer of the route with New Zealand’s 1976 Olympic 1500-meter champion John Walker, had already passed his Olympic peak when he won the first of three straight titles in 1986 in a then world best 13:32.
After the New York City disappointment, Carlsbad was to be Webb’s mulligan, another chance to confirm the efficacy of his base training as he made the transfer over to mile preparation in the outdoor season.
“You want to be in the best shape of your life but without the speed sharpening that comes with mile and 1500 meter preparation,” explained Steve Scott, who helped broadcast the race for Fox Sports Net (the show will air on FSN on Monday April 21st at 3:30 p.m. pacific time). “I expected Alan to dominate this field, and run sub 13:10, because he’s capable of doing that.”
A time of that quality would require a committed start. But from the sound of the horn, the character of the race took on a hesitant quality, as none of the 13 professionals from eight countries wanted to be the pack leader. If one man goes in a closely matched field like this, they all go. But if that one man doesn’t emerge and push, the pack forms up and the looking and waiting begins.
The entire 13-man field held tight through a glacial 4:25 opening mile. In Carlsbad, that’s the equivalent of narcolepsy. In his two 13:00 flat world record years of 2000-2001, Kenya’s Sammy Kipketer flew through the mile in 3:59 and 3:58. Even last year’s relatively modest split was 4:15. The pack remained steady through two miles in 8:47 (4:22) with Mo Farah the nominal leader. Even so Webb was adrift at the back looking like he was struggling for every inch. At 10:25 it was over; he was a broken man as the jockeying began for the endgame by the remaining contenders.
“I was going to just jog it in,” said Webb, “but I couldn’t even jog. Once they broke away it was end of story.”
“There is nothing specifically wrong,” shrugged Webb’s coach Scott Razko attempting to put the best spin he could on the day. “This is the only sport where you are pushing yourself to the ultimate limit every time. So there’s more weight placed on each performance. Alan has been a little tired lately, but he’s been able to train, and get in solid workouts. Maybe over the course of the last month we’ve pushed a little too much past the point where he’s been before. You never know when it will equal a bonk.”
America is hungry for a running hero on the world stage. That’s why people get so excited when Webb, Dathan Ritzenhein, Ryan Hall, or Matt Tegenkamp delivers a world beating performance. And why the fans are correspondingly so disappointed when their expectations aren’t met. If Alan Webb goes on to Beijing and returns home with anything less than a gold medal – see Jim Ryun 1968 – the hard-core fans will be merciless. But never doubt that Alan isn’t right there with them.
The French have a wonderful old proverb, Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien, the best is the enemy of the good. And perhaps that is the conceit of men like Webb. He told Steve Scott the day before the race that as a young man he went looking to see what the high school national record was in the mile, and the American and world records as well, the inference being these have always been his goals. No one is harder on Alan Webb than Alan Webb. And you can tell by the way he’s willing to lose in such grand, public fashion as he continues to dance so tantalizingly – at times frustratingly – along that fine line that defines an expectation for the ages, his and ours alike.
CARLSBAD 2008 RESULTS
Men:
1. Terefe Maregu, 24 ETH – 13:34
2. Mo Farah, 25 GBR – 13:35
3. Haron Lagat, 24 KEN – 13:36
4. Collis Birmingham, 22 AUS – 13:36
5. Josephat Boit, 25 KEN – 13:36
6. Shadrack Kosgei, 24 KEN – 13:50
7. Boniface Songok, 27 KEN – 14:01
8. Michael Aish, 30 NZL – 14:06
9. Julio Cesar Perez Mora MEX – 14:13
10. Dmitry Safronov, 26 RUS – 14:27
11. Steve Slattery, 27 USA – 14:30
12. Nick Bromley, 25 AUS – 14:47
Alan Webb, 25 USA – DNF
Women:
1. Vivian Cheruiyot, 25 KEN – 15:14
2. Rose Kosgei, 26 KEN – 15:21
3. Genoveva Kigen, 20 KEN – 15:41
4. Sara Slattery, 26 USA – 15:59
5. Korene Hinds, 31 JAM – 16:04
6. Everlyne Lagat, 27 KEN – 16:08
7. Kathy Butler, 33 GBR – 16:13
8. Lisa Blomme, 29 SWE – 16:23
9. Ida Nilsson, 26 SWE – 16:36
10. Jane Kibii, 22 KEN – 16:41
11. Mandi Zemba, 25 USA – 16:49
12. Mardrea Hyman, 34 JAM – 17:07
Fiyori Meb Russom was born on Monday at 5:45 pm. She came in (or out) at 7 lbs. 10 ounces, and was 19 inches tall. Meb’s brother and agent, Merhawi, reports that “Everyone is doing well.”
Congratulations Meb and Yordanos.
American Alan Webb Highlights 23rd Annual Carlsbad 5000 on April 6, 2008
Opportunity stands to take down American road 5k record prior to U.S. Olympic Team Trials
by: Elite Racing
March 27, 2008
CARLSBAD, Calif., (March 27, 2008) — After breaking Steve Scott’s quarter-century old American mile record last summer in Brasschaat, Belgium, 25-year-old Alan Webb will have an opportunity to take down San Diego native Marc Davis’ 1996 American road 5k record of 13:24, also set at the Carlsbad 5000. Webb has chosen to open his 2008 Spring campaign in Carlsbad as he prepares for an Olympic bid. The Southern California race, set for Sunday, April 6, 2008, was made famous by Scott 23 years ago as both the course designer and champion of the first three events.
“I’m really looking forward to my first trip out to Carlsbad,” said Webb, a Reston, Virginia native. “I’ve always heard about what a great course and event it is, and how fast people have run there. Plus, Steve Scott has been something of a mentor to me over the years, and to run on a course he designed and won on three times just makes it that much more special.”
In this Olympic year Webb is gearing toward the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field set for Eugene, Oregon in June, and the early season road 5k will plays well into his Olympic timing.
“I’m in good form,” Webb confirmed. “Carlsbad fits my schedule perfectly this year.”
Webb first gained national acclaim when he smashed Jim Ryun’s legendary 36-year-old American high school mile record in 2001 (3:53.43). Since then he has steadily moved up the ranks of the world’s top middle distance runners. In 2006, Webb ran the fastest-ever debut by an American at 10,000 meters (27:34.72), winning at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational at Stanford University. For calendar year 2007, Webb ran the fastest mile (3:46.91), fastest 1500 meters (3:30:54), and second best 800 meters (1:43.84) in the world.
Click to read the rest of this article. Read more…
And so the long known, but never scientifically backed, feeling known as “the runner’s high” has at long last been proven. In a story in today’s New York Times, ‘researchers in Germany, using advances in neuroscience, report in the current issue of the journal Cerebral Cortex that the folk belief is true: Running does elicit a flood of endorphins in the brain. The endorphins are associated with mood changes, and the more endorphins a runner’s body pumps out, the greater the effect.’
They call running the “positive addiction”, and those who get hooked understand why. The feelings of contentment and well-being, the sense of communion with all else beneath the sun and stars, the ability to eat and drink whatever one pleases, these are the inducements that provoke a powerful enticement to daily dosing. Read more…
