Keep Calm and Kick

Keeping Calm and Waving Our Banner!

Keep calm and carry on. You hear that a lot here in London. I believe the track & field distance race equivalent is “Keep Calm and Kick”.

The women’s 1500 meter final will take place Friday at 8:55pm London time (12:55pm on the west coast). Shannon Rowbury will be running in her second Olympic final and she’ll be looking to improve on her seventh place finish from Beijing (which as of now is the highest finish by an American woman in the Olympic 1500 meters in history).

Shannon gave us some anxious moments during the qualifying races. On Monday in the first round she finished seventh and we had to sit through the next two heats to see if her time would qualify to the next round. As the Brits like to say, Shannon’s 4:06.03 was the “fastest loser” and she moved on to the semi-final. On Wednesday, Shannon was well positioned throughout the race and inspired by her teammate Leo Manzano’s patient race tactics (more on that in a later post) hung out patiently around seventh place for most of the race. Only the top five would automatically qualify for the final and with 100 meters to go Shannon still had some work to do to move into the top five. She surged down the final homestretch passing two runners to secure the fifth and final automatic qualifying spot by one tenth of a second (4:05.47 to 4:05.57). The times in the second semi-final heat were much faster and it turns out that that one tenth of a second was huge because it was the difference between making the final and being eliminated (as all the time qualifiers came from the second heat).

In many ways, the stress is off. The goal in these first two races was simply to qualify on and Shannon has done that. She’s in the final along with eleven other women – the best female 1500 meter runners in the world. Previous championship meet credentials, PR’s, and season bests are immaterial. Everyone will line up even at the starting line and attempt to run three and three quarter laps around the track and get to the finish line first.

The final is simple and straightforward. You go for it. You leave it all out there. In most of the other distance finals that I’ve seen at these Olympic Games, the top finishers have been very patient early in the race, letting others set the pace and deal with the pushing and shoving that occurs in the middle of the pack of races of this nature. Then at some point later in the race, there comes a moment when it’s time to make your play for the medal. A moment when it is time to put four years of training and dreaming to work.

It is an honor and a privilege to be in London sitting in my hotel room and preparing to watch someone I know and care about run in an Olympic final in less than twenty-four hours time. What a wild journey cheering on Shannon Rowbury has been.

For Shannon, it’s time to Keep Calm and KICK!

For me, it’s time to Keep Calm and wave my banner!

The London Olympic Stadium

Welcome to the London Olympic Stadium!

I have now been in the London Olympic Stadium four times. Even though we are sitting high in the second deck, the sight lines are great. We can see all the action. My only minor complaints are that the scoreboard is hard to read (it’s not my fault I have bad eyesight, the London Olympic Committee should be taking care of my needs!) and that when the UK fans cheer loudly (which they do a lot), I can’t hear what the announcer is saying. Pretty minor things to be fussing about, huh?

We’re lucky, we can see the Olympic flame from our seat inside the Stadium.

There have been some complaints regarding the Olympic flame. The only people who can see the flame burning inside the cauldron are people who have tickets to attend an event (i.e. track & field or athletics as they call it here) in the Olympic Stadium. Since I am one of the lucky ones who has tickets to the Olympic Stadium, this has not been a complaint of mine.

On the flight over to London, Virgin Atlantic offered a documentary about the construction of the stadium. It was very insightful and easier to understand than the technical article my dad showed me from Civil Engineering magazine.

The London Olympic stadium seats 80,000 people and was built in east London at a cost of 486 million pounds. One of the cornerstones of the London Olympic bid was the eco-friendly and flexible nature of the Olympic Stadium. The stadium was built in such a way that it can be partially dismantled after the Games leaving the lower bowl, comprised of the track and 25,000 seats.

There were many challenges the architects and engineers faced when designing and constructing the stadium. Over two hundred building were demolished in east London to create space for the stadium. Some of these buildings produced toxic waste so the soil needed to be decontaminated. In the end some of the soil was re-used for landscaping and another 800,000 tons of soil were removed from the area. There was believed to be over two hundred un-exploded bombs from World War II buried in the ground that had to be considered during the construction  to prevent an unplanned explosion. The land allotted for the stadium is surrounded by rivers on three sides and the area was not large enough for the traditional footprint of an 80,000 stadium. Designers got around this by “pulling” out food preparation areas and moving them to outside the stadium.

Some of the steel girders that support the upper bowl.

The upper bowl of the stadium is comprised of steel components that are bolted together and can be un-bolted and removed after the Olympics. The roof, too, is a stand-alone feature of the stadium, weighing 450 tons. The roof is not connected to the lower bowl of the stadium. The roof has four components: an outer ring, an inner ring, 12,000 meters of cable, and 25,000 square meters of fabric. The roof is designed to shelter the fans as well as block wind for the athletes so that any marks run are not wind-aided or wind-hindered.

There are fourteen light towers, weighing 500 tons, attached to the roof. Each tower provides 14,000 watts. The lights are all angled properly to illuminate the track but to not create any shadows or glare for the spectators.

You can see the light towers attached to the roof from this shot inside the Stadium.

The grass on the field was grown off-site and then cut into rolls and brought to the stadium. Three hundred and sixty rolls of the turf were brought in. The transfer of the grass from its off-site location into the stadium needed to be done in less than twenty-four hours for the grass to stay alive.

Throughout the construction, workers had to deal with typical London weather issues. In the winter of 2010, work stopped for two weeks during a freeze. High winds were often a concern when working with the cranes and lifting heavy steel components into the air.

In the end, over 5,000 workers helped to build the stadium. The circumference around the outside of the stadium is one kilometer (anyone for 5 X 1000 meter intervals?). There are 338 kilometers of cable, twelve kilometers of ventilation ducts, and eleven kilometers of drainage.

Number of days to build the London Olympic Stadium: 1,000

Number of toilets in the London Olympic Stadium: 1,387

Number of memories for the athletes and spectators inside the London Olympic Stadium: infinite

There is something about being inside an Olympic Stadium and seeing the Olympic flame burning that is indescribably special. Knowing a little more about the construction of said stadium adds to the experience. Thanks, London! I’ll consider my poor vision and hearing to be my own problem and give you an A for your stadium!

The London Olympic Stadium gets an A from me.

The greatest day in UK Olympic history?

The end of the 2012 Olympic women’s heptathlon 800 meters. Spurred on by the crowd, Jessica Ennis kicks by to win the race and claim the gold medal.

The announcers around here are calling Saturday August 4, 2012 the greatest day in United Kingdom (UK) Olympic history. At least from a track & field (or athletics, as it’s called over here) perspective.

Walking around the Olympic Park this afternoon I saw two British fans wearing specially made t-shirts in support of two of their favorite athletes. One’s shirt said “Yes Jess” on it. The other said “Go Mo.” The newspaper slipped under my hotel room door this morning, The Independent, had two articles each on this Jess (heptathlete Jessica Ennis) and this Mo (10,000 meter runner Mohammed Farah) and their prospects for bringing home the gold medal on their home turf. At the very beginning of the meet, the public address announcer informed the crowd that the last time a UK track & field athlete won a gold medal at an Olympics held in London was 1908. Well, that is a long time. But track & field at the 2012 Olympics just got underway so all the statistic really means is that the home team got shutout on the gold medal front when they hosted the Olympics in 1948.

Still, the pro-Great Britain/cheer wildly for every Great Britain athlete attitude was on display at the track on this night. This night that would turn into quite a special one for fans of athletics in the UK.

It all started around 9:02pm local time. Ennis had a strong lead in the women’s heptathlon and was more or less assured of the gold medal. In the final event of the heptathlon, the 800 meters, she went out hard for the first 400 meters and then slowed and was caught by a couple runners. With 200 meters to go, however, the crowd roared to life and this inspired Ennis to find re-take the lead down the final straightaway, much to the delight of the crowd. Her time of 2:08.65 earned her 984 points and brought her final score for the two-day, seven event competition to 6,955 points. She finished 306 points ahead of second place and broke her own UK record for the heptathlon. How dominant was Ennis in this event? Second place finisher Lilli Schwarzkopf of Germany finished with a score closer to eleventh place Brianne Theisen of Canada (who also happens to be Ashton Eaton’s fiancé) than to Ennis’ score.

Right as the heptathlon was winding down all eyes in the stadium shifted to the long jump runway. Great Britain had two athletes, neither of whom got much press in the newspaper today, unlike Ennis and Farah. Greg Rutherford and Christopher Tomlinson were trying to win Great Britain its second gold medal earned on home turf since 1908 as well as the second one of the hour. After one round of jumps, Tomlinson led with a jump of 8.06 meters. Rutherford took over the lead in the second round with a jump of 8.21 meters. For a short time, Great Britain was sitting in the gold and bronze medal positions in the long jump.  Rutherford improved to 8.31 meters in the fourth round, a jump missed by many in the stands as when it happened the crowd was focused on another British athlete in the heptathlon, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, a nineteen year old athlete, who just may be the “next Jessica Ennis.” At 9:22pm, as Ennis finished her victory lap, Will Claye from the United States was on the runway. He was the penultimate jumper and the last jumper with a chance to knock Rutherford out of the gold medal spot. When Claye’s mark fell short, the crowd went wild as Rutherford celebrated winning a gold medal in the long jump.

Minutes later, the men’s 10,000 meter race was underway. Farah bided his time in the front pack, not concerning himself as runners from Eritrea and Kenya jockeyed for position, continually surging and slowing down. The lead group got smaller and smaller but there were still eight or so runners still in contention with a mile to go. Even over the last lap five or six runners were still in it with a chance to win. The stadium was going crazy cheering for Farah, who for his part, looked in control the whole way.

Over the last 300 meters, Farah looked strong with the lead but not all eyes in the stadium were strictly on him. Earlier in the race I had commented that maybe this wasn’t Galen Rupp’s day as he seemed to fall back from the lead pack for no apparent reason. But when it came time to really race, Rupp was there and Rupp was ready. He surged past a couple of runners at the 300 to go mark. With 200 to go, he was well positioned on the outside and appeared to be running faster than the runners just ahead of him. Just like at the 2011 World Championships when I started screaming, “She’s going to medal. She’s going to medal,” about Jenny Simpson in the women’s 1500 with about 150 meters to go (Simpson would not only medal but win the race), I started yelling that Rupp was going to medal. Down the final homestretch Farah held on to the lead and Rupp secured second place. It was a third gold medal for the UK in less than an hour. A medal for the USA in the men’s 10,000 meters, their first since the 1964 Tokyo Olympics when a kid named Billy Mills won the gold.

Mo Farah and Galen Rupp in the 2012 Men’s Olympic 10,000 meters. They would go on to win the gold and the silver.

The guys at FloTrack have a great photo sequence of the final 100 meters.

I am not versed enough in Great Britain’s Olympic and track & field history to know if today should rank as the greatest day in their Olympic history. It was certainly a terrific day, though, but not just for the Brits. I am pretty sure that for Galen Rupp, he can say that today was his greatest day in his track & field career.

San Francisco and Sacred Heart Cathedral, we have a two-time Olympian!

Shannon Rowbury became a two-time Olympian with her second place finish in the 1500 meters on July 1 at the 2012 US Olympic Trials. In 2008, Shannon was the US Olympic Trials champion and went on to place seventh at the Beijing Olympic Games. That seventh place finish is the highest finish by an American woman in the 1500 meters in Olympic history.  This is Shannon’s fourth consecutive national team qualification. In addition to these two Olympic team berths, she was also a member of Team USA for the 2009 and 2011 World Championships. At the 2009 World Championships she earned the bronze medal in the 1500.

The three qualifiers for the London Olympics were Shannon (4:05.11), the number one ranked runner in the world in 2011 Morgan Uceny (4:04.59), and the 2011 World Champion Jenny Simpson (4:05.17). The fact that all the experts were saying that these three were the clear favorites to qualify, didn’t make my race day morning have any less butterflies.

After two laps that were led by Treniere Moser and Brenda Martinez, the big three made their way to the front of the pack. With 500 meters to go there began to be some separation between these three and the chase pack. In reality, the drama of who was going to make the team was gone. The three battled it over the last lap before the final order was settled.

After screaming our heads off from the stands during the race, we hustled down to the fence to give Shannon a hug as she took the traditional Hayward Field victory lap. After the meet we headed to the Wild Duck Café. Tamalpan Mike Fanelli insisted on buying us a pitcher that we drank while watching NBC’s west coast broadcast of the meet (it was almost as exciting watching Shannon qualify for the Olympics this second time). Another highlight was taking a picture with Dave Frank, a coaching friend who used to coach at St. Francis and run for the Aggies. He now coaches in Portland and was the head coach at Cathedral Catholic when one Galen Rupp attended school there. I feel that Dave and I share some common emotions. Then we headed for some coffee and dessert. Finally Shannon finished her Olympic processing so we met up with her, her parents, her boyfriend (Pablo) and others in her core support group to raise a glass of champagne in celebration.

We got back to our hotel room just shortly before midnight. I was still pretty excited and couldn’t pull myself away from the computer to go to sleep. I read every e-mail, text, and Facebook comment. I re-lived the race and conversations with people at the meet. I watched a FloTrack interview where Shannon even gave me a shout out.

When I woke up this morning, I checked to make sure this wasn’t all a dream. Nope, it wasn’t. It all really happened. Shannon Rowbury is now a two-time Olympian! Congratulations!

Olympic Trials Women’s 1500 meters

Four years ago today, Shannon Rowbury qualified for her first Olympic Team by winning the 2008 Olympic Trials 1500. It doesn’t seem that long ago. And yet here we are again. Same place (Eugene, Oregon). Same butterflies.

Yes, I’ve got some butterflies flying around in my stomach this morning but not nearly the swarm that Shannon probably has. Her first round race last Thursday and her semi-final race last Friday both went very well. She has looked smooth, in control, and FAST in both races. She won her heat on Thursday in 4:16.17 and won her heat on Friday in 4:09.96. I’m not surprised that she looked good in those races but it was still nice to see.

There has been some controversy in the women’s 1500 over the last two days. None of it has involved Shannon. After Friday’s semi-final the twelve women who qualified for the final were announced. However, late Friday night we read on a message board that Gabrielle Anderson, who took second place in Shannon’s heat, had been disqualified for illegal contact with another runner. It was rumored that the disqualification was due to a protest by Amy Mortimer. By Saturday morning the list of entrants for the 1500 final had been changed. Anderson was out and as a result Alice Schmidt moved into the final qualifying spot. Mortimer was not added to the field.

There was also a lot of energy on social media suggesting that Anderson would protest her disqualification and sure enough she did. By mid-day on Saturday, Anderson had been reinstated into the Friday results and back into the entry list for the final (“un-disqualified” if you will). Schmidt was back to being a “did not qualify.” However this changed again a few hours later. When we got to the track a friend informed us that Schmidt was back in the final and that there would be thirteen women in the final instead of twelve.

This is all very bizarre but hopefully will not affect the outcome of the 1500 final. Schmidt’s status is of particular interest because she is already qualified for the Olympics in the 800 meters and she is one of five runners with the Olympic A standard of 4:06.00 or better. The others are Shannon, Morgan Uceny, Jenny Simpson, and Anna Pierce. If history is any indicator, the race will go out slow on Sunday and few if any runners will be under the 4:06 mark. If that’s the case, then the London-bound athletes will be the top three finishers who already have the A standard. You can see how Schmidt’s presence or lack of presence is significant. If Schmidt is out of the race there will only be four runners with the A standard and the battle for three spots will likely be between those four. With Schmidt in the mix there would be another legitimate contender for one of the three spots.

Those are the circumstances leading up to this afternoon’s race. It really is an honor and privilege to be so emotionally invested in such a high level race. I’m just a high school track & field coach with some great timing. I never imagined when I started my first season at Sacred Heart Cathedral in the summer of 1998 that I was about to meet a young girl who would change how closely I follow elite distance running and that fourteen years later I would have butterflies in my stomach all day in anticipation of watching her race. Go get’em Shannon!

Ahh Moments at the Olympic Trials

With seven days of the 2012 Olympic Trials in the books and one to go, I have experienced several “Ahh moments,” that I will remember and treasure in my mind and heart for a long time. These moments involved either an emotional display from an athlete upon realizing their Olympic dream or great sportsmanship from a competitor.

I already detailed one such instance of classy sportsmanship by Curtis Beach at the end of Ashton Eaton’s world record setting decathlon.

George Kitchens Jr realizing that he’s an Olympian.

In the men’s long jump, coming into the final four jumps of the competition, George Kitchens Jr. was clinging precariously to third place. Kitchens, a 29 year old who works as a personal trainer in Georgia, had already jumped a lifetime best 8.21 meters, seven centimeters better than his previous best and more importantly one centimeter better than the Olympic A standard. When Christian Taylor’s final jump did not beat Kitchens’ mark, Kitchens had clinched his spot on the Olympic team. I turned my head down the runway and saw Kitchens crouched on the runway with his head in his arms. When he got up, you could see tears in his eyes. He finally composed himself to take his final jump and then as he walked away from the long jump pit he was again overcome with emotion and went to his knees again. The crowd became very quiet. When he stood back up, the announcer said “congratulations to Olympian George Kitchens” and the crowd went wild.

Tears of joy for Kitchens

The drama in the long jump was just getting started. Marquis Goodwin and Will Claye both had jumps of 8.23 meters (27’0”). Goodwin was in first place on the basis of his superior second best jump (8.21 meters). On his last attempt, however, Claye had a big jump. After leaving the long jump pit Claye ran over and stood in front of the results board to await the measurement. It was 8.22 meters. Claye was now in first place on the basis of their second best jumps, 8.22 to 8.21. At this stage in the competition the five best jumps were all within two centimeters of each other (Goodwin’s 8.23 and 8.21, Claye’s 8.23 and 8.22, and Kitchen’s 8.21).

Will Claye clapping for his competitor Marquis Goodwin.

No sooner had Claye’s mark been recorded that Goodwin got ready for his last attempt. Goodwin called for the audience to rhythmically clap for him and Claye, still standing on the track near the long jump runway, joined in. Goodwin had a big jump and both he and Claye were visibly excited. Claye ran over towards Goodwin to congratulate him and when the mark of 8.33 meters flashed on the board, Claye was the first to hug Goodwin. Claye’s time in first place was shortlived but that didn’t stop him from celebrating Goodwin’s winning jump.

In the men’s 400, Bryshon Nellum grabbed third place and a spot on the team to London. Nellum’s journey to this point is pretty amazing. He was a record setting runner in high school at Long Beach Poly, becoming the first boy in California history to win the 400-200 double at the state meet in back-to-back years (2006 and 2007). However on Halloween night 2008, Nellum was mistaken as a gang member and shot in both thighs and one hamstring. Doctors were unsure he would ever run at an elite level again. After several surgeries, countless visits to the doctors and interview with the police, and sitting in the courtroom while his assailants were sentenced to fifteen years in prison, Nellum has put a lot of those ghosts behind him. He returned to racing for the University of Southern California (USC) in the spring of 2010. He placed third at the Pac-12 Championships in 2011 and then won the conference title in 2012.  In the Olympic Trials men’s 400 meter final, Nellum ran 44.80 to place third, edging out his USC teammate Josh Mance by eight hundredths of a second for the final Olympic spot. Mance, however, was not at all upset at losing to his teammate. “Of everybody at the Olympic Trials, he has the best story, the most inspirational,” said Mance, “He should be the headliner of this whole meet. No track athlete gets shot with a shotgun and has three bullets go through both legs and is still out there running 44.8s. He’s a blessing.”

In the men’s 800, the television coverage of the finish is quite touching. Duane Solomon ran 1:44.65 to not only place third but also achieve the Olympic A standard and thus qualify for London. The NBC camera caught Solomon lying on the track after the race crying tears of joy. Race winner (and five-time USA champion) Nick Symmonds came over to Solomon and said, “Stand up buddy, you are an Olympian.” Solomon got up and Symmonds gave him a big hug and said he was proud of him. Seconds later a still emotional Solomon was greeted by his coach American 800 meter record holder Johnny Gray. Gray was extremely excited repeatedly telling Solomon, “That’s what I was talking about” and pointing to the time on the scoreboard.

In the men’s discus, Lance Brooks had by far the four best throws of the competition. His mark during the qualifying around of 64.80 meters was over two meters better than the second best throw of the qualifying round. Brooks first three throws of the final were: 64.13, 64.15, and 64.44. Unfortunately, Brooks had yet to achieve the Olympic A standard of 65.00 meters so despite dominating the competition (no other thrower was within three meters of him), Brooks ticket to London was in serious doubt. Feeling the pressure, Brooks fouled on his fourth and fifth attempts. Jarred Rome threw 63.55 to move into second place in the last round. With only Brooks’ final throw remaining, Rome was second, Jason Young was third, and Ian Waltz (who had been third before Rome’s 63.55) was in fourth. However, Rome, Young and Waltz all had the Olympic A standard. Rome and Young were going to London. Brooks would need to throw 65.00 meters or better on his final throw to join them. Otherwise, Waltz would be the third member of the discus team. Brooks got the crowd to rhythmically clap before stepping into the ring. He unleashed a big throw, well over the 60 meter line. It was clearly the farthest throw of the competition but was it 65 meters? All eyes were on the scoreboard and then came a big roar from the crowd when the mark, 65.15 meters, flashed up on the scoreboard. Brooks was going to London by fifteen centimeters.

About 100 meters to go in the women’s 5000. That’s Lucas in third in the OTC green and Conley back in fifth.

Lest you think that all the big emotional moments are being turned in by men, I conclude with the women’s 5000 meters. Seven of the sixteen women had achieved the Olympic A standard of 15:20. Included in that group were Julia Lucas, Molly Huddle, and Julie Culley. The key runners without the A standard who decided to go for it in this race were Kim Conley and Alisha Williams. Those two handled the pacing for the first seven laps before Huddle took over the lead. The leader was at 4:58 at 1600 meters and 9:20 at 3000 meters. They were running 1:15 per lap but with five laps to go would need to run 6:00 (1:12 per lap) to hit the Olympic A standard. It was do-able but they needed to pick up the pace and that didn’t seem to be happening. If things stayed like that, Huddle, Lucas, and Culley seemed destined for London. With slightly more than three laps to go, Lucas surged, running a 1:08 lap and opening up a sizeable lead on the pack. In hindsight, I think this was a tactical error because Lucas was better off if the pace stayed above 15:20 to keep others from achieving the A standard. In any case, Lucas held the lead with a lap to go but was showing signs of slowing. Culley and Huddle would pass her on the backstretch. In a finish that because of what was happening six seconds back in the pack has been overlooked, Culley passed Huddle on the inside in the final strides to claim first place. But all eyes were on the battle for third place. As early as 300 meters to go, I started thinking that Dartmouth’s Abbey D’Agostino might catch Lucas, who was really slowing down (“I felt like I was running underwater,” Lucas would later say). With 100 meters to go Lucas started to look wobbly and that’s when I noticed Conley, one of the women who was doing the work and setting a pace to make the A standard possible early in the race. Conley was making up ground fast. There were two questions, 1) Would Conley catch D’Agostino and Lucas for third, and 2) If she did, would she be under 15:20?

The battle for third in the women’s 5000 was shown on replay on the Hayward Field jumbotron.

It was too close to call at the finish line. All eyes went to the scoreboard where the result flashed up. Conley in third place in 15:19.79. Third place and the A standard! Conley, a Northern California native who attended Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa and then UC Davis, was going to London! My heart goes out to Lucas, who was fourth in 15:19.83 (.04 behind Conley). She may not have made the best tactical decision to surge with three laps to go but she ran with guts and she showed a lot of class in her post-race interview. It took almost a miracle kick by Conley to beat her.

Kim Conley is in shock!

The fact that the US Olympic Track & Field Trials are a make or break proposition that takes place only once every four years makes for some pretty emotional moments. I’m biased but I am hoping for a personal “Ahh moment,” around 4:23 P.M. on Sunday. Go Shannon!

Lessons in perseverance – the Olympic Trials 10,000 meter races (Part 2)

In Part 1, I re-capped the men’s 10,000 meter race. This part 2 will include a recount of the women’s race and a summary of how both races were lessons in perseverance.

The women’s 10,000 meter race did not feature nearly the same number of Olympic A standard runners as the men’s race. When Jennifer Rhines scratched a few days before the race, there were only four runners left in the field who had the Olympic A standard. One of them (Shalane Flanagan) had already said that if she qualified in the women’s 10,000 she would decline her spot to focus on the Olympic marathon instead. That left the three other A standard runners (Amy Hastings, Janet Cherobon-Bawcom, and Lisa Uhl) all but assured of the three Olympic spots. As long as they finished the race and no new runners achieved the A standard during the Olympic Trials 10,000, Hastings, Cherobon-Bawcom, and Uhl would be London-bound.

The rest of the field, other than the four mentioned above, were in the same situation as Dathan Ritzenheim. In my opinion some of them should have banded together to try to run the Olympic A standard pace (1:16 per lap for a 31:45). Based on their qualifying times, Alisha Williams (32:03), Deborah Maier (32:12), Meaghan Nelson (32:14), and Alissa McKaig (32:14), seemed like the people who stood the to benefit the most from a fast pace. They could realistically run 31:45.

When the race started there was almost an immediate four-person breakaway group that included Williams and Maier as well as Wendy Thomas and Natosha Rogers. Rogers’ is a great story. This was just her fourth career 10,000 meter race. In her debut she ran 34:18. Then she ran 33:47 at NCAA Regionals and then 32:41 to win the NCAA Championship. Now she was running with the big girls at the Olympic Trials.

Lisa Uhl stops to tie her shoe

After two laps on A pace, the inexperienced Thomas started to slow down and no one took the initiative to go by and get the group back on pace. I would learn later that during the third lap Uhl stopped to tie her shoe and Flanagan went to the front of the pack and purposely slowed the pace down so that Uhl could easily catch back up. When Flanagan slowed the pace, people collided and Rogers fell but quickly got back up and sprinted to re-join the front group. Maier then decided that she wanted to go for the A pace and she went to the front. She would lead until the halfway point, at times opening up three to four second lead on the chase pack. Maier would reach the 5K mark in 16:14, with the chase pack at 16:16. It would take a 15:30 last 5K to hit the A standard – possible but unlikely.

Hastings assumed the lead and clicked off laps between 1:17-1:18. The chances of anyone running the A standard went from unlikely to non-existent. The Olympians were going to be Hastings, Uhl, and Cherobon-Bawcom. Still, the final laps were exciting as Hastings, Rogers, and Flanagan battled for the win. I was super impressed that Rogers, who came into the race with only a 32:41 PR and fell earlier in this race, did not back down from the more experienced Hastings and Flanagan. In the end, Hastings sprinted to victory in the final 100 meters with Rogers running another PR (31:59) to edge out Flanagan for second. Uhl was fourth and Cherobon-Bawcom was seventh.

Earlier I mentioned that these 10,000 meter races were lessons in perseverance. At the US Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston in January, Dathan Ritzenhein and Amy Hastings both finished fourth. They were both one spot away from making the Olympic team in the marathon. They were both devastated.

Ritz – 4th in the Olympic Trials Marathon

 

Hastings – 4th in the Olympic Trials Marathon

Less than six months later, Ritzenhein and Hastings got back out there and battled again to make the Olympic team. There were no guarantees they would make the team on the track. There was no guarantee they wouldn’t come up short and be devastated again. But they both got out there and took the chances. They risked bitter disappointment for the chance at their Olympic dreams. For this reason alone, I was rooting for both of them to make the Olympics in the 10,000. It would be a nice example of people enduring a disappointing situation and then coming back and having success – persevering, if you will. That’s why it made me smile to see the emotional tears of joy from both Ritzenhein and Hastings after their 10,000 meter races. They persevered and they deserved it!

 

Ritz – 3rd in the 10,000, Olympic Trials going to London

 

Hastings – 1st in the 10,000, Olympic Trials going to London

Lessons in perseverance – the Olympic Trials 10,000 meter races (Part 1)

300 meters into the men’s 10,000. 24 1/4 laps to go. Rupp and Ritz were out in front immediately.

Almost lost in the drama of a new world record in the decathlon and a tie for third place in the women’s 100 meters were two compelling Olympic Trials 10,000 meter races on Friday, June 22. In the end, both races can be seen as lessons in perseverance, but I am getting ahead of myself. First the race re-caps.

The men’s 10,000 meter race included eight runners with the Olympic A standard (Galen Rupp, Robert Curtis, Tim Nelson, Matt Tegenkamp, Chris Derrick, Brent Vaughn, Ben True, and Joseph Chirlee). These eight runners probably wanted a slower paced race to keep anyone else from achieving the A standard. The other sixteen runners in the race, if they wanted to qualify for the London Olympics, had to not only place in the top three but also run under 27:45. Included in this group was two-time Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein. Ritz was a 2004 Olympian in the 10,000 and a 2008 Olympian in the marathon. But at the US Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston last January, he placed fourth, which left him off the marathon Olympic team. His only hope for a third Olympics would be the 10,000 meters, a race he still needed an A standard in.

Before the race I figured there were three possible scenarios for Ritz:

Scenario 1 – Ritz goes out on A pace alone and tries to run 27:45 all by himself. Pacing and leading a race for twenty-five laps is a pretty daunting feat. On June 9 at the Portland Track Festival he ran a 5000/5000 double in 13:19 and 13:58 with only a thirty minute rest between efforts, perhaps to practice running alone?

Scenario 2 – Ritz and some of the other runners without the A standard make an agreement before the race to take turns pacing so that they all have a shot at running under 27:45. To me this makes the most sense but it rarely happens and I don’t know why. It seems that runners without the A standard should band together to go for it. This is the Olympic Trials. Why not throw caution to the wind and go for a 27:45 rather than run conservatively and stay in the main pack?

Scenario 3 – Ritz’s teammate Galen Rupp will set a pace to help Ritz get the A standard. This would be a logical thing to happen since they are both coached by Alberto Salazar and train together all the time. However the precedent did not suggest this would happen. One, rarely have I seen Rupp take any risks, such as setting the early race pace, that could affect his own qualifying. Also, in 2008 Salazar coached runners Kara Goucher and Amy Yoder-Begley. Goucher did not work to help Yoder-Begley get the A standard (in the end Yoder-Begley got the A standard by running a hard last 5000 meters by herself).

With a steady rain falling on the runners, the gun went off to start the men’s 10,000 meters. Immediately we knew which scenario was taking place. Rupp sprinted to the front and Ritz settled in behind him. Rupp was going to help Ritz – scenario 3 was underway. After 64 for the first lap they settled into a metronome like pace with every lap falling between 66 and 67. Rupp led for two laps, and then Ritz led for two laps. Oregon’s Luke Pusekdra led laps five and six. Then it was Rupp for two more laps and then Ritz for two more laps. Although he said later he was not trying to help with the pacing, Puskedra made his way back towards the front of the pack for laps eleven and twelve. Ritz led the next mile and the splits suggested that, barring a total collapse, they were going to get the A standard.

With nine laps to go, Rupp dropped a 63 second lap and only Ritz and Tegenkamp went with this pace. Suddenly the three with the most experience (Rupp, Ritz, and Teg) were clear of the field. Derrick and Aaron Braun (who did not have the A standard) were ten to fifteen meters back in the chase pack. The drama was essentially gone. Rupp, Teg, and Ritz would easily hold on to the top three spots and secure their spots to London. Some would later criticize Teg for not sharing the pacing duties, instead just hanging off of the work done by Rupp and Ritz, but that’s the sport. Teg’s job was to get himself on to the Olympic team, not to help Ritz get on the Olympic team. In hindsight it wasn’t a surprise who the three that qualified were. Rupp (PR 12:58.90), Teg (PR 12:58.56), and Ritz (PR 12:56.27) are three of six men in US history to break 13 minutes in the 5000. Talent-wise, they were the class of the field.

To be continued in Part 2.

There are no ties in track

Jeneba  Tarmoh and Allyson Felix have many things in common.

-          They both were multiple time California state champions in high school. Felix, 26, won the 100 meters three times (2001, 2002, 2003) and won the 200 meters two times (2002 and 2003) for Los Angeles Baptist High School.  Tarmoh, 22, won the 100 meters and 200 meters in both 2006 and 2007 for Mt. Pleasant High School in San Jose. Combined they swept the 100 and 200 at the California State Meet four times (2002, 2003, 2006, and 2007) in a six year span.

-          Tarmoh and Felix are both currently coached by Bobby Kersee.

-          Felix and Tarmoh both came in third at the 2012 Olympic Trials women’s 100 meters.

WHAT?! How can there be a tie?

When the women’s 100 meter final ended, it was clear and quickly announced that Carmelita Jeter (10.92) was first and Tianna Madison (10.96) was second. But it was a proverbial photo finish for third between Felix and Tarmoh. All eyes at Hayward Field (21,795 spectators plus athletes, coaches, officials, and volunteers) were on the scoreboard waiting for the result to flash up. The announcer alluded to the fact that they weren’t trying to be dramatic, only that it was close and the official was reviewing the computer timing photo. After what seemed like minutes but was probably only 30 seconds, the result popped up on the scoreboard. Third place went to Jeneba Tarmoh in 11.07. Felix was given the same time. The announcer told the crowd that one thousandth of a second separated Tarmoh and Felix.

Tarmoh was elated to make her first Olympic team. Felix was devastated. An hour later Tarmoh was at a press conference where she was being introduced to the media as an Olympian in the 100 meters.

However, behind the scenes and unbeknownst to Tarmoh, there was some question about the result. LetsRun.com got an exclusive interview with the man responsible for reading the results of the women’s 100 meters, Roger Jennings from Flashresults.com. Jennings explained that he initially called Tarmoh third because her right arm was ahead of Felix’s torso. However, he immediately called in the meet referees to confirm that this was the correct call. In the end the meet referees (and Jennings) agreed that what they saw in the photo was a dead heat. The United States of America Track & Field (USATF) released a statement to this effect late Saturday evening, about three hours after the race. At that point, they said they were in meetings to determine how the final spot on the Olympic team would be decided.

As the scoreboard shows, there can be a tie in track & field.

I do not dispute the decision to call the race a tie at 11.068 seconds. I do wish that meet officials had handled this better. They should have immediately let everyone know that the result was in question. Tarmoh should not have been at a press conference thinking she had placed third. This is yet another black eye for the sport of track & field because when the television broadcast signed off after the meet, the television viewing world thought Tarmoh had beaten Felix.

But what’s done is done. Next the question became how will the tie be resolved? The only rule in the USATF rulebook is Rule 167, which suggests that: the tying competitors shall be placed in the next round if it is practical to do so. If that is not practical, lots shall be drawn to determine who shall be placed in the next round.

USATF official met to discuss how to handle this situation and around 24 hours after the actual race announced their dead-heat procedures. It basically says that the tie will be broken either by one athlete declining their spot, a run-off, or a coin toss. There are exacting details on the type of coin to be used and the finger position of the person flipping the coin. I cannot do the actual procedures justice so you will just have to read it yourself at this link: http://usatf.org/News/Dead-heat-procedures-announced.aspx. I highly recommend reading the procedures if you have some time and want a good laugh (or ever wondered what your $30 USATF membership fee is paying for).

If you were to ask me what I think is going to happen, I would say that one of the athletes will decline their spot in the 100 meters so that their teammate can go without the need for a run-off or coin flip. I believe that this will not be determined, though, until after the women’s 200 meters, which both Felix and Tarmoh are running, is completed (which is Saturday June 30).

No matter what, this hasn’t been your usual women’s 100 meters.

About 30 meters into the women’s 100 meter final. 70 meters later is when the controversy would begin.

A Classy World Record

In this photo by Paul Merca, Ashton Eaton crosses the finish line to set a new World Record in the decathlon, with Curtis Beach and Joe Detmer behind him.

There was a world record set on day two of the 2012 Olympic Trials in Eugene. Ashton Eaton had one of those days. Except in his case it was spread over two days. After a recent Runner’s World article touted his potential to be the World’s Greatest Athlete by setting a new world record in the decathlon, the twenty-four year old Eaton had a great deal of pressure on his shoulders as he attempted to qualify for his first Olympic Games.

The first day of the decathlon went quite well for Eaton as he set decathlon PR’s in the 100 meters (10.21), long jump (27’0”), and shot put (47’7.25”) and tied his PR in the high jump (6’8.75”). The only event he did not set a decathlon PR in was his best and favorite event, the 400 meters (46.70). His marks in the 100 and long jump were decathlon world records. His point total at the end of day one was 4,728, putting him on pace to finish ahead of Dan O’Brien’s American Record pace.

However, Eaton’s strength is the sprinting events and his weakness is the throwing events. Day two would include two of his weaker events, the discus and javelin. He started day two with only a so-so performance in the 110 hurdles (13.70). That would be his last so-so performance of the meet. He set decathlon PR’s in the discus (140’5”), pole vault (17’4.5”), and javelin (193’1”). After nine events he had amassed 8,189 points. He was now just 702 points from O’Brien’s American Record. However, Eaton was also only 837 points away from Roman Sebrle’s (Czech Republic) 2001 World Record. Eaton needed to run a 4:16 to become the new World Record holder.

The crowd at Eugene’s Hayward Field was abuzz as the men’s decathlon 1500 was about to get underway. The crowd was ready to cheer loudly for Eaton, a former University of Oregon athlete and a native of Oregon (he grew up in Bend, Oregon). Duke’s Curtis Beach, a very strong 1500 meter runner, immediately took the lead. Joe Detmer moved into second place and Eaton pulled into third place. After 400 meters, Eaton was right on pace to run a 4:16. After two laps he was still right where he needed to be. With each lap, the crowd got more energized. With a lap to go, he was a few seconds off pace but that’s when he started to speed up. As Eaton surged down the backstretch I thought to myself, “he’s a 46 second 400 guy, he should have a good kick.” With about 200 meters to go he caught up to Detmer but that’s when Detmer started his own kick. This was excellent because it gave Eaton someone to chase after.

With 100 meters to go I checked the clock and felt pretty certain that we were about to witness history.  Eaton swung out into lane two for a final sprint to the finish line and the record books. Fifty meters to go is the moment I will always remember. Beach, who had been leading the race from the gun moved out into lane three and was actually slowing down. He turned around to check Eaton’s progress and I could see Beach wave his arms, encouraging Eaton over the final few meters. What a classy move! Eaton passed Detmer and raced across the line to finish in first in yet another decathlon PR (4:14.48). Detmer was second and Beach was third. To a casual track fan the 1500, the final event of the decathlon, can be confusing. The person who finishes this final race is often not the overall decathlon winner. More times than not the overall winner of the decathlon is buried in an unglamorous middle of the pack in the 1500. But Beach wanted Eaton to cross the finish line first in the 1500, the final event of the decathlon, as he set a new World Record. I love that he recognized the significance of the moment and his opportunity to do something for Eaton. In this photo taken by Paul Merca, Beach and Detmer have huge smiles on their faces. They are extremely happy for their fellow decathlete and his achievement. In another photo that the Oregon Track Club Elite tweeted, you can see Beach pumping his fist in excitement as Eaton gets the record.

I will remember witnessing this world record and class act for a long time. Congratulations to Ashton Eaton on a new decathlon world record of 9039 points. Thank you to Curtis Beach for a heartwarming moment where you showed you are one classy person.