Penn Relays/Drake Relays

The Penn relays and Drake relays are underway. The Penn relays are taking place in philadelphia Pennsylvania and the Drake relays are taking place in Des Moines Iowa. Both will be held on university tracks for Drake University and Penn State. The Penn relays is the largest meet in America and will last a period of 5 days. Runners from the High School, Collegiate and Professional level will be competing. Usain Bolt will be at the relays, along with many others. Although there may not be too many amazing times from the professional level of athletes competing because their season has just begun. The Relays will still be a blast and we can look for an impressive performance from Usain Bolt and the Jamaican 4x100m. team. The Drake relays is a large meet although not as large as the Penn Relays there are many spectators and services. The Drake Relays does not have as many world class runners as the Penn Relays but the fans dont come just for that, they stay for nearly the whole time watching all the events rather than staying for 1 or 2. Either way we can expect a lot from the Penn and Drake Relays this year.

The Nike Oregon Project

The Nike Oregon project. A group of America's best distance runners, 1 coach and 1 dream. In the city of the Nike headquarters in Portland, Oregon for the past number of years the best distance runners both men and women from the 800m. to 10,000 m. are being trained by Alberto Salazar. Nike started the training group with hopes to improve American distance running and bring it back into the national spotlight. Nike has invested millions in the project (not that Nike really needs that money being as successful as they are). Many of the athletes sleep and live in elevation simulated houses which cause there to be less Oxygen where they live. Causing the athletes to improve from the simulated elevation. Some of the athletes involved in the project are Nick Symmonds, Dathan Ritzenhein, Shalane Flanagan and Galen Rupp. Nike has invested a lot of money to the cause and it has been proving productive as American distance running is becoming better everyday.

Athlete Spotlight: Shalane Flanagan

Shalane is the American powerhouse nowadays in the 5,000 meter through marathon. She holds the American record in the 10,000 meter for a time of 30:22. She ran that time at the 2008 Beijing olympics which earned her a bronze medal. Which is a very impressive result for an American. In 2011 she also received a bronze at the world cross country championships. Which is very impressive as well. For indoor track she holds American records for the 3,000 meter and 5,000 meter. Shalane's talents dont just exist on the track though, she has been a force to be reckoned with in the marathon after she placed 2nd in the 2010 New York city marathon. Shalane is incredibly talented and has performed well against the best Kenyan and Ethiopian runners. She now runs and trains with the Nike Oregon project under Alberto Salazar. Shalane will have some very good performances and be in contingent for various world records by the end of her carrier.

Athlete Spotlight: Ryan Hall

Ryan Hall, Americas best Marathon runner. Ryan Hall holds pr's of 59:43 for the half marathon (national record) and 2:04:58 for the Marathon. His new pr of 2:04:58 was run at the Boston Marathon not a week ago. Hall placed 4th in the race and would hold the national record if Boston's course was approved by the Usatf. He will not be able to have the national record due to the same controversy with Geoffrey Mutai and his world record time run on the fast course. Ryan recently has decided to try and coach himself, many doubted if it would help him, but it clearly proved productive after his last race. Ryan Hall deserves the national record and there is no doubt in my mind he will officially have it in due time.

New World Record in the Marathon?

Yesterday April 18th the world record for the Marathon was (unofficially) broken in Boston. Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya ran a time of 2:03:02 (2 hours 3 minutes and 2 seconds) for the 26.2 mile race. The time can however not go down as a record due to the course it was run on and the conditions of the race. The course for the Boston Marathon has a lot of downhill parts to it and it is not a point to point race. The wind was at the backs of the runners at around 20 m.p.h. for the duration of the race, so the wind and downhill combined clearly gave an unfair advantage to the competitors. The time shows it too, the time was 57 seconds faster than the former World Record time of 2:03:59 set by Haile Gebrselassie. Geoffrey Mutai was not alone for the race either, he came in first by only 4 seconds to Moses Musop also from Kenya. Mutai and Musop are not very famous and have not had many impressive times. Therefore I think we can say that there was clearly something messed up about this race. Mutai will not be recognized as the World Record holder for the Marathon, but he can be called the fastest man to ever run 26.2 miles (in unfair conditions).

Athlete Spotlight: Andrew Wheating

Andrew Wheating. Fresh out of college competing for the powerhouse Oregon Ducks, Wheating is America's largest hope in the mile/1500m. NCAA champ several times over and holds pr's of 1:44.56 for the 800 meter, 3:30.9 for the 1500 meter and 3:51.74 for the mile. He is young and already has proven that he can run with the top dogs. One thing that I find interesting is his height along with his speed. He is 6,6 yet he can still run very fast, he towers over the ethiopians and kenyans he races. Usain Bolt is 6,5 yet he is a sprinter. It is much less common to see a tall distance runner. I think it goes to show that height does not determine how fast or slow you are. Andrew Wheating has a long career in Track to go. He along with many others carry the hope of a nation to bring back American distance running into the national spotlight. His future looks bright.

Athlete Spotlight: Tyson Gay

Tyson Gay, 9.69 100 meter, 19.58 200 meter and Americas small glint of hope in sprinting nowadays. Tyson Gay would be the World Record holder in the 100 meters if Usain Bolt never entered the equation. The whole world along with Tyson himself thought he was the one. Until the 2008 Olympic Games where Usain Bolt came up from the shadows. After the upset at the Olympics Tyson made another jab at Bolt a year later at the 2009 World Championships. He was unable to beat Bolt but he ran an impressive time of 9.69 while Bolt set a new World Record at 9.58 seconds. Tyson holds the American record for the 100 meter and that is considered his strongest event. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By1JQFxfLMM , in this video you can see Gay in the Blue next to Usain Bolt as he takes second and runs a 9.69. Tyson Gay, the would be World Record holder. Regardless of Usain Bolt, Tyson is very fast. Who knows, maybe there  will be a new world record in Tysons name next time.

"QWOP"

A little bit of a different post today, I felt inclined to review the oh so popular track game "QWOP". QWOP is a game where the objective is to have the athlete walk 100 meters. The athlete is supposedly a nations only hope in the olympic games. You have complete control of his body through the keys q,w,o and p (thus explaining the title). The game is very difficult and at the same time very addicting. I can describe it as trying to teach a new born how to walk. My record is 46 meters, how any one can get farther than that astounds me. A technique I found that works well is by pressing the o and w keys together first, then pressing the q and p keys together second, and repeat that process to take steps. It takes practice and patience. Another technique to use is the "lunge/ tea bag the ground technique"in which you bring your foot forward and press many different buttons to try and move forward. QWOP is a fun game, but you have to make an effort not to get too attached to it or too frustrated by it.

Question: What is your QWOP high score?

http://www.foddy.net/Athletics.html

"The Race"

To give a little variety I have decided to make a post about an inspiring youtube video. The video highlights Heather Dorniden of Minnesota and her 600 meter prelim race for the indoor Big 10 championship in 2008. I do not want to spoil the video for you so if you have not watched it yet please watch it now before reading more. Right before the last lap of the three lap race Heather tripped and fell. She then got back up and started running again, amazingly she managed with only one lap left to win it at the end. The video really speaks for itself and is very inspiring. It contains a message of perseverance. Heather then went on to come in 2nd for the 600 meter final. Heather Dorniden's race and victory of the race may not be quite as amazing as the video made it out to be. The race was only a semifinal and not the final round of the big 10 championships. Heather also would have most likely of blown the rest of the field away if she had not fell, theres no way she would have been able to come back and win it in the final lap unless she was saving a lot of energy for the end. Regardless what she did was amazing and inspiring. The video has a very meaningful message and can teach us all a little something about life. Heather Dorniden's come back to win after falling down will go down in history 10 times more than any Big 10 600 meter championship victory.

2 mile world record

These records I have been talking about in blogs are NOT recent. I think this will be the last post I do on world records for a little while, then I'll come back to it to finish the rest of the records off. The record was run on the 19th of July 1997, in Hechtel-Eksel Belgium, by Daniel Komen of Kenya. The 2 mile is an uncommon race for the pros (it is more commonly run in High School competitions) but Komen achieved a great accomplishment nonetheless. He is known as the only person to break the 4 minute mile twice and hold a world record in the 2 mile for a time of 7:58.61. Regardless the fact that the 2 mile is an uncommon race, Komen accomplished something great.

1500/1 mile world record.

Since I already did a post about the world record for the 800 meter I will move on to the mile/1500. I plan on soon featuring up to date news on track and recent races rather than only featuring records. The world record for the mile and 1500 meters is Hicham el Guerrouj of Morocco. He has the World record in the 1500 for a time of 3:26.00, and the mile for a time of 3:43.13. He can be considered the greatest Track athlete to have ever lived for his record in the 1500/mile. He isnt as fast as Usain Bolt or have as much Stamina as Hailie Gerbrselassie (marathon record holder), although he is considered the greatest for having the record in his event. The 1500 meter and the Mile are considered the greatest races in track because they are the middle races that require speed and stamina, you need to be a well rounded athlete to run it. Hicham is one in a million, he is the only person who holds a world record in a race above 400 meters that isnt from Kenya or Ethiopia. Hicham el Guerrouj is very skilled and is debatably the best runner to have ever lived (until someone beats him). He made history and shall forever remain in it.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvCsj7eJKKA

400 meter world record

I am going to count up all the world records in my posts, until I get to the longest event, or feel like doing a different post. So next up is the 400 meter. The world record is held by Michael Johnson of the U.S. in a time of 43.18. Johnson formerly held the 200 meter record for a time of 19.32, until Usain Bolt came around and smashed it. Though Johnson is a very talented runner and he still holds the 400 meter world record. Johnson's race for the world record was most amazing to me in the final bend and straight away, he picked it up and pulled away from the pack and got it. Johnson never really ran the 100 meter because he wasnt as good at starts and having a large pick up of speed so quickly. Usain Bolt seems to be the talk of all of sprinting nowadays, but we must not forget our veterans and other record holders. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVL7QLHn5y4

4x100 meter World Record

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PpRLLIMirk&feature=related
Yes another post with Usain Bolt, but not all the credit can go to him this time. The 4x100 meter relay world record smashed by Jamaica, 0.3 seconds faster than the previous world record. Although Usain was not the final leg. Usually the last leg is the fastest leg to the 4x100. But after thinking about it I think I realized why they made the order the way they did. Usain is very fast even on the curve, and the anchor of this race, Asafa Powell, is very fast also, but not on the turn. Asafa also runs faster when he's on his own and there is no one around him. The order seemed to work very well too, Asafa ran a blazing fast last leg, and they creamed the world record. Watch the last leg with Asafa Powell, he is a machine! He was just rolling down the straightaway like clockwork. Asafa may have run the or at least close to the fastest technical 100 meters. If his time was faster than 9.58 it wouldnt count because he had a running start for the relay. But regardless, a great performance. I am sorry about the quality of the video, and I am sorry about making so many posts about Usain Bolt. Next post I think I will try someone different.
Thanks for reading.

World record 200 meter.

Usain Bolt. He can run a 9.58 for 100 meters, which is amazing. But what is possibly even more impressive is his World record in the 200 meters with his time of 19.19. Do the math 9.58 x 2=19.16. So that means Usain Bolt nearly ran his 100 meter time TWICE for his world record at 200 meters. His last 100 meters to his world record 200 I believe were faster than 9.58, which is very impressive. Thus meaning his first 100 meters around the curve was slower than 9.58. Now to get into the significance of 19.19. That world record is 0.13 seconds faster than the previous world record of 19.32 held by michael johnson (dont worry johnson you still got the 400 meter). 0.13 seconds is a very large amount in a sprinting race, Usain Bolt just blew it away. For example David Rusisha's world record 800 meter was 0.10 seconds faster than the previous world record, compared to 0.13 seconds by Usain Bolt and the 800 meter is 4 times longer than the 200 meter, so maybe that puts it into perspective of how much Usain blew it away!

Usain Bolt world record 100m.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By1JQFxfLMM

This of course is old news but I feel obligated to talk about Usain Bolt and his 9.58 100 meter. The man is very talented! I honestly would not think he would be that fast just from watching him run, because his stride frequency seems much slower than someone like Tyson Gay. Usain is tall so he has long strides, to be that fast on top of being that tall is unique. The fact that Usain is young is very unique too, he has broken the world record early in his career, imagine what he will do as he gets older. He doesnt have the fastest reaction time for the start, but his raw speed makes up for it. We all shall see what he is capable of and what new abilities he can put on the human race.

800 m. world record

This is old news but I wanted to talk about David Rudisha and his world record 800 in Track. David Rudisha of Kenya currently holds the world record for 800 meters for a time of 1:41.01. The previous world record was held by Wilson Kipketer of denmark (Kenyan born) for a time of 1:41.11. David Rudisha first broke the record with a time of 1:41.09. I personally was oblivious to call it "The official world record" because 0.02 seconds difference is nothing in the 800 meter. The difference of 0.02 seconds could be the difference of not as advanced of timing used in the 90's when Kipketer ran his world record race, so in turn Kipketer could have run a 1:41.09 rather than a 1:41.11. Although Rudisha's time would go in the record books as the world record if he were to never run that fast ever again. Thankfully he did by running a 1:41.01 a few weeks later and in my mind closing the deal on his world record. We shall see what Rudisha can bring us in the upcoming season. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYfNElHP0OY

First blog post

This is my first blog post. In this blog I am planning on posting track and running news. Please comment and follow.