Adidas sues Wimbledon and other Grand Slams over logo restrictions

Let's hope that this doesn't happen in the running events. I never even knew such ruling existed. In any event, if there was a Pacemakers logo on a running vest, it has to be as big as possible!

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WIMBLEDON, England (AP): German sporting goods manufacturer Adidas is suing the four Grand Slam tournaments and tennis' governing body in a dispute over its three-striped logo.

Wimbledon officials said Tuesday that Adidas filed papers in London's High Court last week seeking an injunction against a rule limiting the size of logos on players' clothing. Adidas also filed a claim for damages.

Wimbledon is the first Grand Slam event affected by the dispute, which began last May. Adidas is also suing the U.S., Australian and French Opens and the International Tennis Federation.

Ian Ritchie, the chief executive of the All England Club, said Wimbledon would "vigorously defend'' the case which he described as "totally without foundation.''

The Grand Slam Committee ruled last May that Adidas' three stripes were a "manufacturers' identification'' and not a "design effect.''

The committee told Adidas to conform to a rule specifying that logos must be no larger than 25.8 square centimeters (4 square inches). The rule is to go into effect on June 26, the first day of play at Wimbledon.

In a statement Tuesday, Adidas said the rule was issued "one-sidedly, without respecting the industry's needs and without considering concerns raised in advance.''

The company said the rule "discriminates against Adidas and infringes elementary EU competition rights.''

"Adidas has no other alternative and is forced to protect its interests,'' it said. Adidas contended the three stripes running down shirt sleeves or shorts are not a standard logo. It said the official logo is the "performance logo'' depicting three stripes arranged in a pyramid with Adidas written underneath.

"We do not want a situation where we see players covered in large numbers of manufacturers' identifications and have large crocodiles and large swooshes,'' Ritchie said. "If you accept the situation with the three stripes then you open the floodgates to players being advertising billboards.''

Ritchie said the Grand Slam committee had increased the size for logos from 12.9 square centimeters (2 square inches) and given Adidas 13 months to comply with the new rule. He said Adidas' reaction was "heavy-handed.''

"We think that's a perfectly reasonable compromise and they should comply with that,'' Ritchie said. "As far as I'm aware, the other manufacturers have said they are happy with the situation. We need to be equal to everybody.''

Malakoff Duathlon

We've read about the exciting Boston and London marathons but do you know that there was an equally exciting race, much closer to home? I've seen Dino in action, training under coach at the track and he is one speedy Gonzalez. Below is an excerpt from the Star. There was far more details in the actual newspaper print, as opposed to the web. Oh well. For a race report from an athlete's/racer's viewpoint, visit Azwar's site.

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Sabah duo victorious in the opening leg

PETALING JAYA: For the second year running, Sabahans won the Malakoff Malaysian Duathlon Series (MMDS) opening leg at Dataran Merdeka here on Sunday.

Defending champion Heidilee Mohamad and Stephanie Chok, who was making a return to the race after a year’s absence, emerged as the winners to take home RM1,000 each.

The 23-year-old Heidilee won the race in 2’07:48, ahead of Kelantan’s Shahrom Abdullah, who clocked 2’10:54.

Belgium’s Kristof van Houdt finished third in 2’14:41.

Stephanie won the race in 2’40:48 while two other Sabahans – Fiona Lim and Mariana Mohammad – clocked 2’46:51 and 2’58:22 respectively to finish second and third.

The second leg of the MMDS will be held in Putrajaya in July with the Powerman Malaysia in Lumut on Nov 11.

Former tennis player collapses in London marathon

The oft-mentioned quote, or phrase is that "the marathon is a distance to be respected", or something along those lines. The great Bill Rodgers said that "the marathon can humble you". Still, many people under-estimate the distance and don't put in enough training, and this is what can happen.

Anyway I got this off The Sun, a popular tabloid in the UK, on Andrew Castle, who was a former professional tennis player in the 1980s- early 1990s. He was never a top player, and from recollection his ranking was in the 100s. Goes to show, that the marathon humbled him.

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GMTV star's Marathon hell

By SARA NATHAN
and COLIN ROBERTSON

GMTV’S Andrew Castle told yesterday how he collapsed during the London Marathon — and was so exhausted medics could not find his HEARTBEAT.

The former tennis champ dramatically broke down towards the end of the gruelling 26-mile run.

He weaved and staggered into fellow runners before falling over by a roadside barrier. Police then carried him to be treated by St John Ambulance volunteers.

Andrew, 42, said: “The blood pressure was very low and they couldn’t find a heartbeat — I was being sick everywhere.

“It was a very funny place to be and all sorts of things went through my mind. It was close to an out-of-body experience.”

“It hurts everybody who does a marathon — but I should have walked for five or ten minutes and I’d have been able to finish.”

Andrew described how he “hit empty” after 24 miles of Sunday’s event. He said: “I got this tunnel-vision thing and fell into the man on my left.

“I tried to straighten up and fell into the bloke on the right. The next thing I know I was walking to the barrier — I held on to it and these people said, ‘It's Andrew from GMTV!’ I fell at their feet.”

Last night an onlooker told how Andrew collapsed in front of them and went into spasms.

He said: “His hands were shaking. He was really struggling. He didn’t have a clue where he was.

“My girlfriend is a former nurse and said he was having a seizure. He was in spasms and a real state. I didn’t realise he was so bad at first and told him, ‘Just think that you’re ten-all in the fifth set’. But he was finished.”

Andrew has been forced to take two days off and will not return to the GMTV sofa until Wednesday. John Stapleton has stepped in for him.

Yesterday viewers heard Andrew tell co-host Fiona Phillips that he joked with pals that the marathon would finish him off — adding: “I was texting and saying, ‘Which organ would you like when I’m finished?’ ”

Tuesday

Ran one hour at Lake Gardens yesterday at a leisurely pace. I'm still working on my aerobic base, so I ran yesterday's workout at precisely that- aerobic pace. The loops averaged around 35:00.

Heading to Amcorp Mall today for work. My plan is to run around the same time today. There will be a gang running towards Federal Hill. I would love to run that route because I haven't tried it before. Alas, the group who will be running that route are a tad too fast for me.

Have a good Tuesday people.

Bedford slates UK men

Taken from The Sun

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By VIKKI ORVICE

DAVID BEDFORD has accused Britain’s male distance runners of laziness — with not one finishing in the top 10 of the London Marathon.

Kenyan Felix Limo clocked 2hr 06min 39sec to win the 26.2-mile event as race favourite Haile Gebrselassie faded in the final stages, crossing the line ninth in 2:09:05.

And with Jon Brown out injured, it was Peter Riley who was the first British runner home — finishing 12th in 2:14:31.

Race director Bedford said: “Most of the youngsters on the men’s side aren’t doing nearly enough training or distance work.

“Twenty years ago, we had around 15 men who could run faster than two hours 12 minutes, now we only have Jon Brown.

“Athletes need to have the right commitment and at the moment they don’t.

“You have to commit your life. You can’t be out nightclubbing or messing around with PlayStations.”

Riley, who was making his marathon debut, said: “I was happy. It was a new experience as I’ve only ever been over 10km three times before.”

Oxford-born Mara Yamauchi, whose husband is Japanese, showed the men how it should be done. She was sixth behind American winner Deena Kastor in 2:25:13 — the second-fastest ever UK women’s time.

Yamauchi, whose effort has only ever been beaten by Paula Radcliffe’s world record of 2:15:25, has taken unpaid leave from the foreign office as she prepares for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

She said: “The crowd support was great despite the weather. I’m pleased I ran a personal best.”

One of the founding aims of the London Marathon when it began in 1981 was to improve the overall standard of British distance running.

But Steve Jones’ British men’s record of 2:08:16 has stood since 1985.

Bedford insists the exploits of Radcliffe, who pulled out with an ankle injury, prove mixing with the best is possible.

He said: “Paula’s the greatest female distance runner the world’s seen.”

Weekend

Didn't do much in the weekend. But why oh why did it fly by? Friday night was spent at Subang. Worked rather late and was unable to run. Woke up late on Saturday- it's nice to sleep in after being so disciplined for 5 days of the week. I had to collect the car (which spent an extra day and a half in the workshop), before picking up Mrs Rabbit from her umpteenth trip to south of the border. Ran around the Damansara Heights area for about 30 minutes. Then dinner with the in-laws before making plans to meet some friends for drinks at Bangsar. Alas, we were late by 30 minutes because we discovered that Mrs Rabbit's car had a punctured tyre. So, yours truly, together with dad-in-law proceeded to change the punctured tyre. Then we proceeded to Bangsar (but not before first cleaning myself up)and reached home around 1:30am.

Sunday church was at 1130am, proceeded by lunch at Restaurtant O&S at Paramount Gardens. Wolfed down a Hay Mee and Char Kuey Teow, with some yam cake. Yes I was famished. Actually one must be careful not to overeat when one is running less, because obviously the lack of running means that less calories are being burnt, and more calories heading to the various parts of your body that are susceptible to gaining weight- for myself, it would be my face. But I'm digressing here. Anyway, back to Sunday- went to Bangsar Village for some light bulb shopping. Headed back to the apartment. Napped for 2 hours. Then ran at Lake Gardens, just one loop of my usual route. Then, dinner with my parents, and then back to my apartment where I watched the remainder of the West Ham-Middlesbrough FA Cup match.

Plan for today- to run at least 2 loops at Lake Gardens. Starting time- not sure yet. Hope to leave the office early.

Have a good Monday people. AT least it's already 1pm.

London Marathon

Taken from iaaf.org. Sigh, Haile finished in 9th position. From the little that I watched on Eurosports, it looked like they were really hammering the pace. I would think Haile needs more time to get himself used to the marathon. Well done to Deena. She looks damn hardcore and from what I've read about her, she is pretty hardcore with her training. Trains with Meb Keflezighi. You can tell from her physical appearance- which is similar to Paula Radcliffe's- very very very very lean, toned, muscular. Borderline skinny.

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Limo wins ‘brain game’, Kastor fourth fastest ever - London Marathon

Sunday 23 April 2006

London, UK - On a rainy spring morning 25-years-ago, an American and a Norwegian crossed the finishing line of the first London Marathon hand-in-hand to establish the spirit of the event to this day. But when two Kenyan team mates turned the final corner of the 2006 Flora London Marathon shoulder-to-shoulder on another typically cool and damp London morning today, there was little chance that Felix Limo or Martin Lel would spontaneously engage in a mutual non-aggression pact over the final strides.

Brutal early pace

They had already endured more than 25 miles of a gripping race which for more than half the distance had been fought out at better than World record pace, but which in the later stages had slowed into a tactical encounter between possibly the finest collection of distance runners ever seen.

"When everyone started to watch one another, I knew it would be a brain game," said Limo.

"And I used my brain," said the 25-year-old, $105,000 richer for having sprinted off the final bend into the flag-draped Mall to win the race in 2:06:39, beating the defending London champion, Lel, by two seconds, with South Africa's Hendrik Ramaala third and also inside 2:07, with 2:06:55, as seven men broke 2:08.

Yet the carnage of the brutal early pace could be seen in the state of some of the world-class performers as they finished. For Evans Rutto, the 2004 winner, every stride appeared to be an agony as he jogged down Birdcage Walk, while Haile Gebrselassie, numerous World records to his name, was reduced to a walk across the finishing line after being dropped by the leaders by nearly three minutes in the last two miles, as he finished a well-beaten ninth in 2:09:05.

US record, as everything goes to plan

Although Gebrselassie's race went far from to plan, Deena Kastor's worked just about perfectly.

The American became the fourth fastest woman of all-time with her 2:19:36, as she set out at the pace she had requested and came back even quicker, simply running away from all opposition. Russia's Lyudmila Petrova, having run more patiently than some, came through in the last two miles to snatch second place in 2:21:29, like Kastor's time, also a national record, from Kenya's Susan Chepkemei (2:21:46).

Berhane Adere, the 2003 World champion and 2005 silver medallist at 10,000 metres, on her serious debut at the marathon, produced an Ethiopian record 2:21:52, just catching another Russian, Galina Bogomolova (2:21:58).

Sixth was Mara Yamauchi, becoming the second fastest Briton of all time, her 2:25:13 being more than 14 minutes better than she managed in this same race just two years ago.

The outcome of both men's and women's races had been strongly influenced by pacemakers, who in both cases were male.


MEN's race

In the men's race, which had seen a leading group of a dozen, including Khalid Khannouchi, the former World record holder, zip across Tower Bridge and turn right out towards the Isle of Dogs, 20km was reached in 59:20, some 25 seconds quicker than Paul Tergat at the equivalent point on his World record-setting run in Berlin in 2003.

Halfway was reached in 62:33. Gebrselassie was tucked in just behind the pace setters, Fabiano Joseph and Paul Kimugul, and looked comfortable, clocking 1:29:21 at the officially timed 30km mark.

But by this stage Morocco's double World champion, Jaoud Gharib, had already dropped off the pace as the miles were clicking past in 4:45 to 4:48. Khannouchi, in his first marathon for 18 months, was the next to see daylight develop between himself and the leaders.

But when Joseph and Kimugul stepped off the road, with the leaders by now heading back westwards towards the City and Westminster, it was as if someone applied the handbrake to the lead group.

It was now that what Limo called "the brain games" began. Mile splits dropped, down to 5:07 for the 22nd mile, and Khannouchi managed to get himself back among the mix. In the space of a few miles, we had gone from watching a World record attempt to a kickers' race.

Rodgers Rop, Lel and Limo rolled down the slope at Tower Hill, and suddenly gaps started to appear again. Gebrselassie's tell-tale distress signal went out, as his right hand began to flap. He would play no further role in this race as a contest, instead being reduced to the role of most of the 35,000 runners, as someone for whom survival and finishing was all that mattered.

After the first surge downhill, there was brief respite in the leaders' pace, but then Lel took charge going into the final 5km of the race.

Approaching the last, stiff climb out of the Blackfriars Underpass, it looked like the decisive move. Ramaala, a past winner of the New York City Marathon, tried to bridge the gap, but could not. Rop lost contact and started to drift back. But Limo, after seeming beaten at first, steadily worked his way back to Lel. The 25th mile was run in 4:33, as these two eyeballed each other before their final effort.

Organisers of the World Marathon Masters series, with its $1 million jackpot for the best distance runners over a two-year period, must have been thrilled as they watched the 2005 London winner duelling with last year's Chicago champion as they passed Big Ben.

Again, Lel tried to get away, and seemed, again, to get a stride's advantage. But Limo, who has also won both Berlin and Rotterdam in the past, was far from done. As if it were a track race, he waited until he had turned the final bend and kicked one last time. Lel could not respond and the race was won.


WOMEN's race

For Kastor, she had not seen any rivals since before the 30km point, which she had passed in her first US record of the day (1:39:08). Like clockwork, the women's pacemakers Henry Targus and Kastor's regular training partner, Mike McKeeman, had gone through halfway in 1:09:48 - Kastor had asked for 69:45 to 70:15, with the intention of running a negative split.

Only Chepkemei managed to stay with Kastor, and then only as far as 25km. Salina Kosgei had also tried, but she was not helped when she slipped and fell into one of the tables at a drinks station in Greenwich, close to the six-mile mark. Kosgei, who took the 2002 Commonwealth Games 10,000m title, quickly made good the lost ground, but was able to stay with her two more experienced rivals only temporarily.

Kastor, too, had a slip betwixt cup and lip, the wet roads seeing her bang her hand at a drinks station at around 35km. But by then it seemed only a major catastrophe could stop her winning the race. The real questions were becoming: by how far? And how fast?

Possibly her two biggest rivals, Constantina Tomescu-Dita, the World Half Marathon champion from Romania, and Margaret Okayo of Kenya, were disappoinments today. Neither made much of an attempt to go with the early pace. Tomescu-Dita had promised to run a patient race and play catch-up in the closing stages. But there are few who can make good a deficit of more than four minutes to the leaders at 30km, as was the case here.

While Kastor had the benefit of the constant attentions of two pacemakers, and the chasing group with the two Russians and Adere also had the benefit of a male "minder", Chepkemei might have cause to feel a little aggrieved, since for the tough final 10km section of the race, she had only herself for company.

At 35km, the Kenyan woman was 61 seconds down on Kastor (1:55:43), but 67 ahead of Bogomolova and Petrova, with Adere going through her own bad patch a further seven seconds behind.

As Kastor kept up her relentless pursuit of her sub-2:20 goal, seemingly glancing at her wristwatch every other stride as she forced herself through a 5:12 24th mile, and 5:27 for Mile 25, behind her, Petrova had set off in sole pursuit of the runners-up prize, and as she passed under Waterloo Bridge with a mile to go, the Russian caught Chepkemei.

Thus Kastor has added the London title to her win in Chicago last autumn, although this time she achieved victory in a much more convincing manner. Despite her professed desire to forget about marathon running from Monday morning, she may be made some very tempting offers to defend both titles in the next 12 months.

"I was very happy with that," Kastor said. "The weather was perfect for marathon running.

"I'm sure I didn't look that good, but that was a real sprint from me at the finish - I was determined to get under 2:20."

Steven Downes for the IAAF


Flora London Marathon - Results

Men
1. Felix Limo (KEN) 2:06:39
2. Martin Lel (KEN) 2:06:41
3. Hendrick Ramaala (RSA) 2:06:55
4. Khalid Khannouchi (USA) 2:07:04
5. Stefano Baldini (ITA) 2:07:22
6. Rogers Rop (KEN) 2:07:34
7. Hicham Chatt (MAR) 2:07:59
8. Jaouad Gharib (MAR) 2:08:45
9. Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) 2:09:05
10. Evans Rutto (KEN) 2:09:35

Women
1. Deena Kastor (USA) 2:19:36
2. Lyudmila Petrova (RUS) 2:21:29
3. Susan Chepkemei (KEN) 2:21:46
4. Berhane Adere (ETH) 2:21:52
5. Galina Bogomolova (RUS) 2:21:58
6. Mara Yamauchi (GBR) 2:25:13
7. Constantina Dita (ROM) 2:27:51
8. Salina Kosgei (KEN) 2:28:40
9. Margaret Okayo (KEN) 2:29:16
10. Eri Hayakawa (JPN) 2:31:41

TGIF

I wasn't able to run at Lake Gardens on Wednesday and Thursday. Had loadsa things to do. Managed to do some running on the treadmill, though. Of course, I'd rather be running outside.

Meanwhile, I'm down with a mild sore throat and flu. I'm not sure whether it has to do with my resumption of "harder" running, or that I caught it from my colleagues, or someone else.

I'm so happy it's already Friday. I hope to run at Lake Gardens today.

I've been re-reading some of the running books in my collection. In particular, "Running With Legends" is an inspiring read. I like the stories on Bill Rodgers, Lasse Viren and Frank Shorter. Makes me wanna go out there and run!

Those running at Malakoff/ Larian Bomba/ Bonding Run/ other races this Sunday, enjoy!

'Cruel' injury to Tergat robs London of re-match

Taken from iaaf

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Wednesday 19 April 2006

London, UK - No Paula, and now no Paul for London. The Flora London Marathon announced this morning that Paul Tergat, the World record holder, has withdrawn from Sunday's race (23), due to a calf injury suffered just a week ago.

It is the second major blow to the London organisers, after the women's World record holder and home favourite, Paula Radcliffe, the World champion at the 26-mile 385-yard event, was forced to pull out of the field last month after a run of injuries.

Tergat, 36, had been training hard at home in Kenya until a week ago. But after two hard sessions last Monday week, he awoke the following morning with pain in his calf which even a period of intensive treatment in Italy has failed to resolve.

“I’m so disappointed,” said Tergat, who has raced in London four times but has yet to win the event. “I have worked so hard for it and not to be in the action is cruel.”

“My focus has only been on the race. London is top of my calendar and I was out for something special. It’s very difficult to find this kind of race, so not to be in there at the 11th hour is hard to accept.”

Tergat's absence means the event is robbed of a long-awaited re-match against his long-time Ethiopian track rival, Haile Gebrselassie, who returns to the race on Sunday where he made his marathon debut in 2002.

“It was my dream to race against him again,” Tergat said of Gebrselassie, who he beat in London four years ago but who twice narrowly beat him in sprint finishes for the Olympic 10,000 metres gold medal.

“But to start the race and be forced to stop wouldn’t make sense. We are human and this is the human body. I have to accept it.”

“I call this the race of the century”

With Tergat's best of 2:04:55, set in Berlin in 2003, and Gebrselassie's 2:06:20, set in Amsterdam last autumn, coupled with the presence in the race of Italy's Olympic gold medallist Stefano Baldini (PB: 2:07:29, London 2002) and twice World Marathon champion Jaouad Gharib of Morocco (PB: 2:07:02, London 2004), the expectations had been high that the World record might come under serious attack.

“I call this the race of the century because it is not easily that you can find the quality of the athletes like in this race,” said Tergat. “I doubt that it will be possible to match it again.”

Dave Bedford is determined to try: the London race director said that he had already done the deal for Tergat to race in London in 2007. "You'll win it one day, my son," Bedford said, claiming that he had had a vision of Tergat breaking the tape down The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace.

For his part, Gebrselassie, who celebrated his 33rd birthday on Tuesday, said he felt he might well be in better form than when he came close to challenging the World record in Amsterdam. "That race was not easy for me," he said, "Maybe I ran too fast in the first part of the course, and the wind in the last part was especially difficult for me."

But for anyone predicting records on Sunday, Gebrselassie - who has been in record-breaking form on the roads of late, running a 58:55 half marathon in January and a 1:11:37 25km in March** - sounded a note of caution.

"I know the course," he said, "the only problem might be the weather. But I remember 2002, when I was in front for until maybe 40 kilometres..." when you have "all the top athletes here, and maybe not so many pacemakers, nobody wants to be in the front all the way, and you end up watching each other."

Steven Downes for the IAAF


**both times are pending World record ratification by the IAAF

Slow fat rabbit

Anyone willing to run with a slow, fat rabbit?

Classifieds

Runner, out of shape due to work commitments, with unorthodox running style (more particularly known as the bunny-hopping style), seeks similarly conditioned runners to run at the Lake Gardens, at least 4 times a week, usually after 7pm. Looking to get back into the previous peak condition that he was in. Experience not necessary. Conversational skills optional. Love for running a MUST, as is the ability to run as slowly as the runner himself. Post run gift- juicy carrots to chew on. Other perks- apart from running itself, nothing much to feast eyes on, aesthetically. It is the pleasure of the company! Interested applicants please e-mail livetorun02@yahoo.co.uk.

Slowly working back to fitness

It's been almost one week since I've resumed running "properly" again- since the Singapore Marathon, my runs have been limited mostly to indoor treadmill workouts of 30-45 minutes. Aerobically, I may have been in reasonable shape, but having run at the Lake Garden in the last week so, I know that I have some catching up to do. It takes such a long time to build up one's fitness, but it takes very little time to lose it. That was certainly evident when I resumed.

Met pm20 at Bukit Aman yesterday. Headed for a quick toilet break and bumped into 2 characters- Adam and Yaziz. Adam looked especially gaunt. He seems to have lost weight, at least 3kgs. He looked gaunt. I asked him if he has increased his mileage of late, but he claimed that his weight loss was due to depression and he was out of action for one month. Anyway we decided to to take my usual route (which Adam and Yaziz termed the "one and a half" route). The plan was to run 2 loops, which would have totalled close to 12k. Mind you it isn't an easy route. Plenty of killer slopes, but excellent for strength building. After the first loop, I was starting to labour. They were running at a pace which I found difficult to cope with. Sigh, have I lost so much fitness in 5 months? By the time we approached the Lake Club, Yaziz, Adam and pm20 were well ahead of me. I knew I couldn't keep up and decided to slow down. Instead of completing the full route, I turned off towards the Bird Park and back into the Bukit Aman carpark.

Chatted a little with Yaziz, Adam and pm20 before heading back to the apartment. Met up with an old friend for dinner, who's a part-time gym instructor at a well known gym.

Went to bed at 1230am and woke up feeling (strangely) fresh at 720am. This was despite not having a good sleep. Tossed and turned alot, and I never got the feeling that I fell into a deep sleep.

Legs are a tad sore, but will run today again at Lake Gardens.

It’s a bittersweet 110th Boston Marathon for Malaysian engineer

Excerpt from the Star:-

BOSTON: Malaysian engineer Ivan Hee, who ran the 110th Boston Marathon on Monday, came up short on two fronts.

First, he failed to beat the four-hour barrier he set by 96 seconds, and second he came up US$30 (RM109) short of his US$1,000 (RM3,640) charity drive target.

Still there was a bright side. This was by far Hee’s best marathon. He was faster by 50 seconds in his fifth outing.

Hee was buoyant after he completed the marathon, saying he could not have done it without the support of family and friends.

“Thanks to their support I will forever remember this day. While I fell short of my goals, it is still my best marathon so far ,” he said.

Hee added that he would continue running and “keep trying to chip away the seconds.”

“Each marathon that I’ve run has taught me something new. While I’m very impressed by the winners who finished the race in just over two hours, I respect the runners who really gut it out for five or even six hours. That’s what determination and the will to finish is all about,” he added.

Hee, 30, of Bukit Baru, Malacca, who works with a Boston civil engineering firm, had pledged to raise US$1,000 for the South Boston Neighbourhood House, a non-profit organisation that “supports family and neighbourhood life” through myriad programmes for all ages. – Johan Fernandez

Boston Marathon

Taken from iaaf.org

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Boston, Massachusetts, USA - After all the talk about a possible American victor here in the men’s race, the first in more than two decades, and all the talk about a classic women’s duel between a Latvian and a Japanese, the planets realigned themselves and order was restored Monday at the Boston Marathon when two Kenyans broke the tape. Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot (2:07:14) made it 14 wins for Kenyan men since 1991, and Rita Jeptoo (2:23:38) gave Kenyan women six wins here in seven years.
Cheruiyot back on top

For Cheruiyot, the win broke a long dry spell since winning here in 2003, which included a fifth place at the ING New York City Marathon last fall and an ignominious 12th (2:14:23) at the LaSalle Banks Chicago Marathon in 2004. Yet this year Cheruiyot seemed to rededicate himself by training with marathon world record holder Paul Tergat. And early on when fellow countryman Benjamin Maiyo impulsively picked up the pace to an almost absurd speed (the half marathon was covered in 1:02:44; only Juma Ikaanga in 1990 ran faster, 1:02:01), it was course veteran Cheruiyot, who dropped back, thinking enough on his feet to save himself for later.
Maiyo and American Meb Keflezighi dueled early in the second half of the race. That friction vaulted Maiyo into the open and left Keflezighi, the first real American hope for a win here since Greg Meyer won in 1983, quad-less by the time he hit the Newton Hills. Meanwhile, Cheruiyot was a tall thin figure in the distance. And that distance was closing.

Awfully fast. He went by Ethiopia’s Deriba Merga, then Keflezighi. Cheruiyot caught Maiyo at mile 20, but refused to pull even and share the pace. At one point, Maiyo, obviously annoyed, turned around and beckoned with an open palm. When Cheruiyot did finally blow by a mile later, it was impressive, his long legs just ate up the incline, and a runner who trained on hills, and liked to run on hills, won the race on hills.

“It is good for me,” he said. “I like running uphill better than downhill.”
Cheruyiot broke Cosmas N’deti’s 1994 course record by one second.
Behind him Maiyo did not collapse (second in 2:08:21), and Keflezighi gritted his teeth for third, clocking 2:09:56, just three seconds shy of his PB.

Jeptoo’s late move pays off
By all early appearances the women’s race seemed to be shaping up as billed: A last-miles duel between Jelena Prokopcuka and Japan’s Reiko Tosa, the two fastest women in the field. A small pack that at various times included Zivile Balciunaite of Lithuania, Bruna Genovese of Italy, Kioyoko Shimahara of Japan and Olivera Jevtic of Serbia & Montenegro hovered around them, like satellites around two big planets. Tosa was controlling the pace, and Prokopcuka was stalking, leaning forward into a wind that was less severe than predicted but still something lip-chapping.
In that pack was also Jeptoo. The 25-year old Kenyan came to Boston with some mid-major marathon wins in Turin, Milan and Stockholm. Last August, though, she ran tough enough for a seventh place finish at the IAAF World Marathon Championships in Helsinki. Because of passport problems she arrived in Boston just three days before the event, all by herself (her coach was kept back in Kenya because she had no passport). Yet late in the race, when Tosa led, and Prokopcuka stalked, it was Jeptoo who made the definitive move of the race - at 23 ½ miles - which took Tosa out of the running and left Prokopcuka struggling to keep contact. Coming onto Boylston Street for the finish Prokopcuka tried to use her superior track speed to draw even, but Jeptoo had timed her earlier move perfectly and a substantial gap held up until the end.

“My training was going very well in Kenya,” she said. “My only problem was with the passport. I am happy for the win and happy that I ran well. This is my first marathon in America and my first big marathon.” Her performance eclipsed her previous best of 2:24:22 from Helsinki.

American men hang tough
True, there was no laurel wreath for Americans but Kefezighi’s third, Brian Sell’s fourth, and Alan Culpepper’s fifth signals, if not a global resurgence of American marathoning, at least a notice that Boston is a place that U.S. runners - maybe not as fast as many others, but gritty and tough - can indeed do very well.
And a win will have to wait for another year.

Dave Kuehls for the IAAF

Nagano marathon

Taken from the iaaf website.

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Kinyanjui, Ivanova the winners in Nagano

Sunday 16 April 2006

Defending champion Albina Ivanova of Russia won the eighth Nagano Marathon in 2:28:52, while Nephat Kinyanjui of Kenya won the men’s division with a personal best of 2:11:18.

“It is a good course. I like it,” said Kinyanjui after the race. After winning for the second consecutive year, Ivanova emphatically stamped her approval on the Nagano course as well.

“I am very happy to win again. I love Nagano!”

Aggressive start by Amaha – Men’s race

Just two kilometers into the race under clear sunny skies, Gidey Amaha of Ethiopia made a break from the pack. Amaha passed 3Km in 9:40 and 5Km in 15:35. Even with such a modest pace, Amaha was 38 seconds ahead of the chase pack at the 5Km check point, and continued to increase his lead over the seventeen runner chase pack. By kilometre 10 (30:41), he was 70 seconds ahead of the large pursuing group.

Although the pace stayed modest, in the next 10Km Amaha further increased his lead over the next 10Km, and maintained a 29 second lead at 20Km (1:02:03). But after 25Km, Amaha began to slow. He took 16:10 for the 5Km segment between 25Km to 30Km; meanwhile three runners - Kinyanjui, Georgiy Andreyev and Isaac Macharia - broke away from the chase pack in pursuit of the leader.

Just beyond the 31 kilometre point, the trio caught Amaha to form a brief four-man lead pack, but less than three kilometers later, Amaha was left behind. Another kilometre later, a side stitch slowed Macharia, the defending champion, leaving Kinyanjui and Andreyev to fight it out over the final stages. They entered the city’s Stadium - site of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1998 Winter Olympics) - together before Kinyanjui pulled ahead at the very end of the race to nab the victory by one second.

Gezehegne Abera, the 2000 Olympic and 2001 World Champion, dropped out of the race just beyond the 10 kilomtre point.

Chiba the early leader, but Albinova just bides her time

In the women’s race, Masako Chiba, bronze medallist at the 2003 World Championships, led in the early going, taking a pack of seven through 10Km in a modest 36:01. When Chiba, apparently not feeling well, gave up the lead, it was Russian Silvia Skvortsova who took over the pacing chores. The lead pack of six - Skvortsova, Albina Ivanova, Atsede Baysa, Chiba, Yoshimi Hoshino and Nina Rillstone - passed 15Km in 53:56 and 20Km in 1:12:08, but by the 25th kilometre, Skvortsova and the defending champion Ivanova broke clear.

They run together until 30Km, at which point Ivanova broke away en route to a comfortably 36 second victory, ahead of Skvorstsova and New Zealander Rillstone, who was running in her debut. Hoshino, who was fifth last year, moved up one spot to finish fourth. Chiba dropped out after 22 kilometres.

In all, 5952 runners, including 867 women, started the race.

Ken Nakamara and Akihiro Onishi for the IAAF

Leading Results:
Weather: Sunny, temperature 10C, humidity 62%, wind 1m/s South East

Men -
1. Nephat Kinyanjui (KEN) 2:11:18
2. Georgiy Andreyev (RUS) 2:11:19
3. Isaac Macharia (KEN) 2:12:44
4. Mykola Antonenko (UKR) 2:13:28
5. Gidey Amaha (ETH) 2:15:19
6. Juremieh Mbogo Miano (KEN) 2:15:34
7. Gemechu Woyechu (AUS) 2:15:44
8. Daisuke Fujimoto (JPN) 2:16:30
9. Hideki Miyama (JPN) 2:17:27
10. Toshiaki Tezuka (JPN) 2:18:26

Splits:
5Km - 15:35 - Gidey Amaha
10Km - 30:41 (15:06) - Gidey Amaha
15Km - 46:14 (15:33) - Gidey Amaha
20Km - 1:02:03 (15:49) - Gidey Amaha
25Km - 1:17:35 (15:32) - Gidey Amaha
30Km - 1:33:45 (16:10) - Gidey Amaha
35Km - 1:49:17 (15:32) - Georgiy Andreyev
40Km - 2:04:27 (15:10) - Georgiy Andreyev
Finish - 2:11:18 (6:51) - Nephat Kinyanjui

Women -
1. Albina Ivanova (RUS) 2:28:52
2. Silvia Skvortsova (RUS) 2:29:28
3. Nina Rillstone (NZL) 2:29:46
4. Yoshimi Hoshino (JPN) 2:36:56
5. Atseda Baysa (ETH) 2:39:31
6. Chikako Ogushi (JPN) 2:40:00
7. Risa Mizutani (JPN) 2:43:24
8. Kaori Takai (JPN) 2:44:40
9. Magda Karimali (GRE) 2:49:03
10. Chiemi Oana (JPN) 2:49:39

Splits:
5Km - 18:05 - Masako Chiba
10Km - 36:01 (17:56) - Masako Chiba
15Km - 53:56 (17:55) - Silvia Skvortsova
20Km - 1:12:08 (18:12) - Silvia Skvortsova
25Km - 1:29:29 (17:21) - Silvia Skvortsova
30Km - 1:46:56 (17:27) - Albina Ivanova
35Km - 2:03:38 (16:42) - Albina Ivanova
40Km - 2:21:05 (17:27) - Albina Ivanova
Finish - 2:28:52 (7:47) - Albina Ivanova

Boston Marathon

Taken from yesterday's Star:-

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Malaysian to run in Boston Marathon
BY JOHAN FERNANDEZ

BOSTON: Malaysian engineer Ivan Hee will run in the 110th Boston Marathon tomorrow to help raise money for a neighbourhood community programme.

He will be one of only two Malaysians who will be carrying the Malaysian flag at the marathon. The other runner is from California.


Hee: ‘I am truly excited to run in the world’s prestigious marathon and at the same time, be able to do charity work’
Hee, 30, of Bukit Baru, Malacca, who now works for a civil engineering firm in Boston, hopes to raise US$1,000 (RM3,786) for the South Boston Neighbourhood House, a non-profit organisation that “supports family and neighbourhood life” through a myriad of programmes for all ages.

This will be his fifth marathon so far, having run in the New York Marathon in 2002 and 2004, the Cape Cod run in 2003 and the Vermont City Marathon in 2005.

“There are two ways to qualify for the Boston Marathon – by meeting a qualification time or for charity.

“I entered through charity as I think it will be hard to meet the marathon’s qualification time,” he said.

Hee said that so far, he had raised US$750 (RM2,480) and hoped to reach his US$1,000 target tomorrow.

“I am truly excited to run in the world’s prestigious mara- thon and at the same time, be able to do charity work.

“I have received a lot of support from many people, especially my wife Christine Khoo and my family in Malaysia. My goal this time is to finish under four hours,” he said.

Wife Christine, who is from Penang, is doing her doctorate in cancer research at Harvard University.

Hee, who came here as a student in 1995, said he liked long distance running and to do it for charity made it a lot more meaningful.

The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon and ranks as one of the most prestigious road racing events, drawing the best runners from all over the world.

Weekend updates

Sigh! The weekend is never long enough, despite the fact that I had half of Friday off. Am experiencing some major Monday blues. Surely this has a lot to do with my boss. If my boss was ok to work with, I wouldn't be feeling this bad.

Like I mentioned, I had half of Friday off, due to Good Friday. Too bad it passed by really quickly. The fact that I had to attend church, go to Subang to settle some matters with the parents and the exceptionally bad Friday traffic probably had to do with the speed at which Friday afternoon just whizzed by.

On Thursday evening I had the opportunity to run with Kenneth a k a PM20. We met at Bukit Aman, where we proceeded to run about 6km along my usual route (Bukit Aman, past the entrance of Lake Club, then the roundabout, onto the childrens' playground, up the steps, then the Carcosa road, back into the park, past the public toilets, then up the slope, and then another slope towards the bird park, past the Tun Razak Memorial, National Mosque and towards the mosque next to Bukit Aman police station, and onto the car park). At least I now know where I stand. Kenneth was hammering the pace, especially at the slopes, and I had trouble keeping up. Aerobically I may be fine, but when it came to increasing the pace, I had difficulty. All this aerobic-paced runs on the treadmill are good for running at precisely that pace- aerobic pace. In the end Kenneth completed the route looking far fresher than me, with me trailing behind and practically gasping for breath. I'm so outta shape. Back to the drawing board- I should at least try to incorporate some tempo runs instead of running at the same pace.

Saturday was spent with the wifey. Was at BSC shopping for groceries. Went to the pool to swim a little. Then watched "Ice Age 2" at One Utama. Pretty hilarious at certain points.

Sunday (sigh, it came too quickly!) was spent at church. Easter Sunday mass started later than usual, and went on longer than usual. By the end everyone were starting to feel restless already, including yours truly who probably looked like a twitchy, restless kid forced to behave himself in the company of adults. Then, breakfast with the folks, before I went back to the apartment to rest. Then, headed to Subang for (a heavy) dinner with the folks before taking my wife to the airport. She'll be on a weeklong trip to Cambodia.

Woke up this morning feeling guilty about my weekend excesses (eating too much, exercising too little), and I hit the treadmill for about 30 minutes.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the end of today. Hope to be able to run at Lake Gardens after 7pm.

Boston Marathon

Following in the Flora London Marathon's footsteps, the Boston Marathon has released a PDF of what the elite athletes will be wearing on race day. Chances are all the World Marathon Majors will be doing this. More ideas for race organisers.

Click on the link.

London and Paula

PAULA RADCLIFFE says it is hard to imagine the London Marathon going ahead without her.

The world record-holder will miss next Sunday’s event after failing to recover in time from a foot injury.

And Radcliffe, whose name was first on organiser David Bedford’s list, has been told to have a total rest from running.

She said: “It was a decision that bitterly disappointed me.

“After having to withdraw from the Commonwealth Games, it was what this season was all about for me.

“It’s still really hard to imagine the race going ahead without me but I have had to accept that my foot needs total rest to clear it up. With many more goals and hopefully years of serious running and racing left ahead of me, I don’t want to do anything to jeopardise this.

“I know there will be many more great London races and also big targets to come.

“My mind is already thinking about new goals to replace the ones I missed out on."

Penang Run

Ran for about 40 minutes yesterday at at 6:30 per km pace. PM5 has invited me to run the rare-ly held (at least in recent years) International Penang Bridge Run with him. The FULL distance. I was not confident, but he expressed his confidence because he felt that my aerobic base was still alright. Heh heh. I guess he's right, but I'm not even confident that I will be able to keep up with him! Still, 30 July is about 15 weeks away, which may give me some time to train for it and (hopefully) complete it within 4:30, I think. It sounds very tempting. Plus I haven't been to Penang in almost 19 years! Believe it or not, I was last there at the tender, spring chicken age of 13. If I start working out today, there's a good chance of achieving that target. And why not? That is certainly something to target towards.

Going to Penang will allow me to, first and foremost, re-discover the place, and of course, sample the famous food. I remember that the nasi padang there was excellent, not to mention the Char Kuey Teow, Laksa, ABC, etc. And because PM5 and PM1 are Penangites I will certainly be taken to the right places to eat. Hmmmmmm....

Work

Bollocking after bollocking by the boss- this is getting too much, too often and certainly not helpful to one's self esteem, confidence and overall outlook of life. If there is one skill that I have, it is the ability to pick anal-retentive, short-tempered, sarcastic, caustic buggers whose purpose in life is to unleash sheer hell on my working life. Waking up is a chore when you dread the day ahead.

What options do I have?

1) I look for a new job in another legal firm- problem is- my CV is as colourful as it already is. And I don't want to choose between a rock and a hard place- i.e. I go from one bad boss to another.

2) Change my profession and look for a job I truly, enjoy- problem is, I don't know what to do.

3) Set-up my own legal firm- HAHaHAHAH!

Can't think of anything else. I am at my wit's end.

Weekend

The weekend came and went in a flash (isn't it natural that time flies when you're having fun??) with limited opportunities to run. Saturday consisted of a quick 15 minutes run on the treadmill. Had some things to do with the wife, in addition to attending a wedding dinner at Shangri-La. It was a late Saturday night, bowling over to early Sunday morning (1:30am-ish). Sunday consisted of the usual attendance at church, followed by breakfast with the folks. Thereafter the wife and me headed to Mid Valley for some grocery shopping, before we went back to the apartment to crash for a good 3.5 hours. Woke up, and went for an hour-long run interspersed with walks. Then came dinner, before catching the Man U-Arsenal match. Happily for me, Man U won!!!

It will probably be a long Monday today but I'm comforted by the fact that tomorrow's a holiday. Thank the multi-cultural society of Malaysia. It's the Prophet Muhammad's birthday.

Plans for tonight- dinner with the wife (who's on a week-long leave) before meeting with some friends for Mambo Jambo night at Zouk.

Have a good Tuesday!

Bully

Bullying in a legal services company
Case history #35

I worked in a legal services company in the City of London. Prior to that I had run single-handed a company offering similar services, and left with a sheaf of testimonials from satisfied clients.

I was the General Manager, overseeing most of the day to day work of the company, giving advice on Company Law, setting up companies, supervising staff. The workload was onerous in the extreme but I preferred to be working to listening to the Directors who, I shortly discovered, were a pair of abusive drunks.

M, a failed lawyer, was an hysterical oaf who would scream, swear and break wind wildly in the open plan office when he came back with a bellyful after lunch. I could deal with almost everything but the smell. The other one, B, a failed banker (although that could be Cockney Rhyming Slang) was a far more slimy underhand vicious type altogether. He appeared charming and very much a father figure at first. He would call the staff in for little paternal chats. I was disgusted to find him telling me details of another member of staff's recent abortion which had obviously been told to him in confidence. There were many instances of this. He would listen in on the odd personal phone calls I got and comment on them if a male rang me. He did this to everyone and one day came and asked me to confront the Accounts Clerk. He'd listened in to her calls and surmised that she was a prostitute in the evenings. I told him to confront her himself - the girl obviously couldn't live on the wages he paid!!

The atmosphere at that place was rancid, and not just because of M's wind.

M started picking on one of the support staff, a Jamaican girl with a strong island accent. He accused her of being illiterate because she could not pronounce her aitches. This was complete rubbish. She was by far the best qualified of our support staff, with an A level in Law. He also encouraged others of the support staff to ridicule her. I got on very well with this person and tried to stand up for her. That made me one of the enemy. I found myself working without a lunch hour most days. I would be left to deal with irate customers when the directors made mistakes: I remember seeing both of them laughing one day when I had to apologise on the company's behalf for a tremendous cock up they'd made.

My workload was such that I couldn't help but make the odd mistake. My mistakes were trivial. I was called in for a meeting one day and berated in front of an associate of the Directors - it was an exercise in humiliation. I had made minor spelling mistakes on a legal document. I had B shouting at me for 10 minutes. He failed to mention that he had in recent weeks: sold the same company twice, changed the name of a company that we had no connection with, and given the shares of yet another company to the wrong people. In the grand scale of things my mistakes were minute. But I'm convinced to this day that he got some sort of sexual kick from humiliating women.

Things got worse for the Jamaican girl. I urged her to leave. By now I had developed such tension in my neck that I couldn't move it. I was taking driving lessons at the time and had to learn to reverse without looking over my shoulder. I broke out in eczema on my face - it was so bad that a client who imported T-tree products gave me several bottles of his preparations to try and cure it.

I couldn't sleep. I tried massage, I tried an isolation tank. But still I had to go back to the mad house on a Monday morning and listen to the effing, blinding and farting all day, and the random acts of verbal vileness. I was beyond thinking straight. I just couldn't see a way out.

Then I booked a holiday. I went to Ireland. And within days I realised that I wasn't a prisoner and I didn't have to go back. So I never did. My Jamaican friend stayed there: the directors found it very amusing when the office junior threw a chair at her one day. When she showed signs of standing up for herself she was made redundant. Still, she has another job now and she's happy.

And M eventually had a nervous breakdown and B had a heart attack - which couldn't have happened to a nicer pair of blokes.

How dare you say that my behaviour's unacceptable?

I don't know if many of you read Runner's World. Being the runners that we are, I would assume that you do sometimes read Runner's World. Anyway the magazine has been reproducing excerpts from the upcoming (or has it been released yet??) book by former Olympian Kenny Moore, titled Bowerman. Bill Bowerman was coach to the late Steve Prefontaine, and inventor/founder of a certain shoe company known as Nike. The excerpts are nothing short of inspiring. The stories of Kenny Moore's relationship with Bill Bowerman, even Bill Bowerman's relationship with Steve Prefontaine, make for wonderful reading. I spoke with Ajeep yesterday and he was really interested in getting the book as well. I can't wait for the book to come out. When I was in Singapore last month, I went to the Border's book store but it wasn't on the shelves as yet. Anwyay do look out for it. I know I will.

I ran for 45 minutes on the treadmill yesterday, at a 6 min per k pace. Left the office at 8:00pm and ran around 8:30pm, before having a pretty late dinner.

Thankfully Thursday is already here.

Bring on Friday evening...

Upcoming events

Personally I won't be running these events (with the possible exception of the 15km, we'll see), but these are the upcoming events:-

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Apr 16 '06 - Larian Polis. This 10K race will be flagged off from the Dataran Merdeka this year. For more information, call the FTAAA office at 03-2715 2843.

Apr 30 ' 06 - Jelita 30th Anniversary Women's Run. Flagoff from Dataran Merdeka. Forms are available from FTAAA office.

Apr 30 '06 - Jogathon Warisan 2006.

May 21 '06 - New Balance Pacesetters 15Km 2006 (Padang Merbuk, KL). The club's showcase event for the year, limited to 1,500 entries. Forms are out in the Pacesetters website

18 June '06- adidas PACM 4x3km Road Relay

18 June'06- PJ Half Marathon

1 July '06- Larian Bendang Kedah

22 & 23rd July '06- Port Dickson Triathlon

30 July '06- Dualthlon Series 2

12 & 13 Aug'06- Miri Triathlon

9 & 10 Sept '06- Desaru Triathlon

10 Sept '06- Putrajaya Full Marathon

Flab to fit

The weight that I've gained in the last 4 months is slowly coming off. How so? Despite the hectic working schedule, I've made it a point to hit the treadmill whenever I can. Last night for instance, I finished work at 8pm and headed straight to my parents' for dinner. With dinner done by 910pm, I had to wait at least 2 hours for the food to digest. Chatted with my mother, watched some tv and played with the dogs. Then I drove back to my apartment, sorted a few things out, chatted with the wife (who's in Singapore) before hitting the treadmill at 12am. Ran at a 6min per km pace for about 50 minutes. Had my shower and hit the sack only around 140am. Another reason for my weight gain are my lunches. Lunch has primarily been lots of beriyani rice, or fried stuff, which obvously will contribute to your weight gain if you don't burn it off. So far I've managed to to lose 2 kgs. My ideal weight (for running) would be in the region of 57-60 kgs. I've ballooned to about 64kgs, ad now am at 62kgs. At any rate, thin or fat is a point of view. Many of my (non-running) friends remarked how skinny I looked when I was in my so-called "peak" shape, and this same group of friends remarked about how much better I look at 64kgs. I am reminded of a passage in Jim Fixx's book where he quoted someone saying something along the lines of "if people tell you how skinny and gaunt you look, you know you're in shape. If people are telling you how good and "healthy" you look, you know you're out of shape."

Anyway I think it'll be a pretty busy day again today. I expect that I'll leave the office around 8pm again today. Chances are I'll hit the treadmill around 12am again.

Cheerio

Paula out of London race

LONDON: World marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe has withdrawn from the London Marathon on April 23 due to a foot injury, organisers said yesterday.

It follows her withdrawal from the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne with the same problem. Radcliffe has won the London Marathon three times – in 2002, 2003 and 2005.

Radcliffe said in a media release yesterday: “I am really disappointed to have to miss this year's event.

“The Flora London Marathon is something that is extremely important to me and I have done everything possible to resolve the problem and get to the start line.

“I have to accept that the injury needs a short period of total rest and I also have to focus on moving on from this and on my future.”

The 32-year-old Briton, who set the world record of 2'15:25 in the 2003 London race, injured her right foot in training in January.

The injury forced her to withdraw in March from the Commonwealth Games where she had been entered for both the 5,000m and 10,000m.

London Marathon race director David Bedford felt Radcliffe's withdrawal had always been possible.

“To race when less than fully fit is simply not the Paula we know and could jeopardise her form for some time,” said Bedford.

Britain's top male distance runner Jon Brown has also pulled out of the race due to a foot injury which has prevented him from training fully.

“I feel like I have only done two-thirds of the training needed and I know this isn't enough for London,” said Brown. – Reuters

http://www.runnersmalaysia.com.my

Below is an excerpt of an e-mail from Dr Jamie Pang aka Carboman aka PM5:-

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http://www.runnersmalaysia.com.my

The reason is very simple. We all want better quality races, more benefits for runners, competent race organisers and a viable running-related retail environment (we want to see specialty running shops sprouting up! Ones which offer the latest gears at competitive prices and retailers that have the community in mind). For this we need the sport to hit critical mass ie more new runners introduced into the world of running. We as old timers in the sport need to create the demand else we will see the same faces at every race/event. The runners population are ageing and the younger set are too slowly in coming in. If we don't do something about it this sport is running.

There's much we can do to promote the sport and we hope that besides adding the link to our site, you can help us play a role in the future.

More cross training

More cross training options to consider

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The triathlon, like running, seems to be enjoying a second boom. And no wonder. It was practically the poster-child event of the Sydney Olympics, with its start and finish at the Opera House. It has an annual world-famous event, the Hawaii Ironman. And thousands of runners and other everyday athletes are recognizing the benefits of the total-body fitness program that triathlon training involves.But even if you don't want to do an Ironman-and most of us don't-you simply can't argue with the wisdom of a training program that combines running, bicycling, and swimming. This plan emphasizes cardiovascular conditioning, works all the major muscle groups (with appropriate rest days for each group), builds the kind of full-body strength that many runners lack, and adds tons of variety to a training program that might otherwise slip into yawndom. In other words, it keeps you motivated, which is always job one of any training plan.Here we provide a simple-but-complete package to ease you into triathlon training. After just a few weeks, you'll feel fitter and stronger. And you just might find yourself running faster as well.

Swim TrainingSix tips to keep in mind, plus some workoutsLearn skills. Swimming is a skill sport-like tennis or golf, says triathlon coach Joe Friel, author of The Triathlete's Training Bible. Which makes it different from running, where success comes mostly from staying with it and putting in the time. You'll need to learn proper breathing, arm position, body alignment, and kick. Take lessons. You can take swimming lessons at the YMCA, but a better bet might be connecting with a coach through a "masters" swim group, or by attending a swim clinic. (The term "masters" refers to swimmers 30 and older). In a swim clinic, you'll get drillwork, stroke assessment, sometimes even video analysis. It might seem like a lot to absorb at first, but at a certain point, if you stay with it, everything clicks and you become a much better swimmer. Avoid the slow stuff. Triathlon coaches warn against simply logging laps at a slow pace. "The problem with this," says Troy Jacobson, head of the Baltimore-based National Triathlon Academy, which certifies coaches and works with some 500 triathletes nationwide, "is that before long your form deteriorates and you adopt poor habits." Go with interval training instead, such as 5 x 25 meters with rests between repeats.Increase overall strength. With swimming, you increase muscle mass in the upper body while giving your legs a break. Renowned Ball State University exercise physiologist Dave Costill, Ph.D., believes this may ultimately improve your running. "A lot of runners in our area who switched to swimming ended up running better," says Costill.Improve fitness without the injury risk. You should never run hard two days in a row, but you can swim hard the day after a hard run, because you're working completely different muscles. Therefore, you'll be boosting fitness capacity without increasing your injury risk. Get the gear. For swimming, you'll need a suit, goggles, swim cap, and ear plugs. "The suit should be tight enough so there's no 'drag,' " says triathlete and swim coach Lee DiPietro of Ruxton, Md.


Suggested Swim Workouts
At the beginning of each of your swimming sessions, practice the drills listed in "Essential Swim Tips" below. Then try one of the following workouts:1. Swim 4 to 6 x 25 meters hard, with 30 seconds of complete rest between repeats. Build up to 6 x 50 meters. Always finish with several minutes of easy swimming.2. Swim 2 x 100 meters hard, with a 2-minute rest between repeats. Eventually work up to 2 to 4 x 200 meters.

Cycle Training
Learn something new. Though bicycling is a close cousin to running, don't take it for granted. Cycling requires different muscles than running, and a fair amount of skill in terms of pedal stroke, use of gears, climbing, riding in groups, taking corners, and navigating safely in traffic. And you need to learn how to fix a flat (it's easy with a few inexpensive tools).Consider the bike. Actually, there are a couple of ways to go here. Some triathlon coaches suggest you fork out at least $500 for a lightweight, multi-geared road bike. A second camp says go for the so-called "hybrid" bikes that offer the smooth ride of a road bike with the comfort and versatility of a mountain bike. You can find a decent model for around $300. One big benefit of choosing a hybrid bike is you'll be able to train on trails, thus avoiding car traffic. Whichever bike option you select, buy a helmet, a pair of bike gloves to protect your hands, and a cyclometer to keep track of speed and distance. And remember, if the weather's bad or you live in a high-traffic area, you can do some of your cycling on a stationary bike. Train accordingly. In terms of training effect, 1 running mile equals around 3 cycling miles, but cycling can take considerably more time. For example, a 5-mile run may take you 45 minutes. An equivalent bike ride of 15 miles will take you at least an hour.Spin your wheels. "The most common cycling mistake that novice triathletes make is mashing big gears," says Troy Jacobson. That is, using higher gears hoping that it will get you in cycling shape faster. But this can lead to knee injuries-and stalled progress. Instead, do what cyclists call "spinning": stay in the lower gears at a cadence of at least 90 revolutions per minute. "Pull" on the pedals. When pedaling, don't press down with the balls of your feet, because that's also tough on your knees. Rather, press with your heel, then pull back and up with your calves in a circular motion, says Ironman triathlete Steve Zambito, 48, of Greenwich, Conn. This generates power and speed, but it can take time to master the motion.Beware the saddle. Just as you need to gradually increase your running mileage, you need to gradually increase your time on the bike. Otherwise you risk painful saddle sores, knee injury, and other setbacks. And, as Friel says, don't think you need to trash yourself to get a decent workout. Because cycling is non-impact, it may feel "too easy" at times. That's fine. It's doing the job.

Suggested cycling Workouts
1. Once a week, go for distance. Work up to 2 hours or more, depending on the length of the triathlon you're training for.2. Every other week, do 20 to 30 minutes of "tempo riding" at an equivalent effort to tempo running (see "Running Adjustments"). Begin and end these sessions with at least 10 minutes of easy riding.3. Every other week, or even every third week, do some speed. After 15 minutes of easy cycling, push hard for a minute, then go easy for a minute. Repeat 10 to 20 times, finishing with 15 minutes of easy riding.

Cross training?

Complement Your Running
The Case for Running-Specific Cross Training

By Michael Yessis, Ph.D.
As featured in the March 2006 issue of Running Times Magazine

Cross-training - swimming, cycling, cross-country skiing, and rowing - is becoming increasingly popular with runners to prevent injury and improve aerobic capabilities. Some athletes consider strength training another method of cross-training to make the body stronger and prevent injury. But depending on the exercises and training program used, strength training can be an asset or a detriment to your running.

Cross-training took hold when runners began observing triathletes, who seem to have relatively few injuries while participating in different sports. Each of these sports uses some of the same muscles in a slightly different manner, preventing muscle overload and a predisposition to injury. The different sports give the muscles a break from functioning in an identical, repeated manner for extended periods. Participating in different aerobic activities can be of benefit if they improve your cardiovascular and respiratory systems, especially in novices and youngsters.

If you are a serious runner and have well-developed functional systems, however, more aerobic activity in different sports may not improve your running time or distance and may even lead to injury. The reason is that your muscular-skeletal system does not keep pace with aerobic improvement. To prevent this, you must participate in complementary activities that improve your ability to run faster or farther, or both.


The More the Merrier?

To run faster or farther, the general consensus is that you should run more. Many guidelines have been developed over the years to help you increase the amount of running that you do, hopefully without injury. For example, the 10 percent rule: increase the amount of running no more than 10 percent every one to two weeks. Increase intensity and distance gradually, mix up your workouts, change shoes regularly, etc.

Most running guidelines relate to the amount of running you do, how often you should run, and how you should vary your running to improve distance and speed. Running improvement is based on more and more running and, to a lesser degree, on other aerobic sports. This, however, may not be the best way to become a better runner because, when you attain a comfortable pace, you tend to run at that pace (or close to it) in every workout. As a result, you do not gain greater strength of the muscles (which require progressive resistance) to enable you to go faster and/or farther.

If you are in the ideal heart zone, you will see improvement in your aerobic capabilities, which can also prove to be a catch-22. When your aerobic abilities improve and your physical abilities do not, you develop an imbalance between the aerobic and muscular systems. You feel as though you are capable of going faster and/or farther but when you do either, because of your limited physical ability to withstand the forces involved, you break down with an injury. With each injury you must lay off running, which seriously impedes your improvement.

One way to avoid this cycle is, instead of doing aerobic cross-training and/or general strength training, to do complementary training that improves your ability to run more effectively.

Complementary training consists of specific activities to help improve your strength, strength-endurance, endurance, speed-endurance, and aerobic capabilities in the way they function in your running event.


Complementary Training

First and foremost in your complementary (supplementary) training is development of muscle strength that is specific to your running stride. This includes doing exercises such as the knee drive, which duplicates the motion of bringing your thigh forward on every stride; pawback, which duplicates the action of bringing the leg back and down to make contact with the ground; and heel raises, for a stronger push-off on each stride.

Other exercises, usually done with rubber tubing or free weights, include leg extensions and leg curls, which are excellent for strengthening the knee without any pressure being put on the knee joint, which occurs in machine leg extension/flexion exercises. Also good to do are squats, to prevent excessive up and down motion, lunges for a greater stride length, and resistive running.

In order to duplicate the exact joint actions involved in running, you must use rubber tubing. Free weights and machine exercises do not allow you to duplicate all the exact movements. By using different tension rubber tubing for resistance, you can do the exercises in a progressive manner as needed to gain strength and/or endurance. For even greater increases in running speed, increase the speed of exercise execution in exercises such as the knee drive, pawback, and heel raise to develop greater speed-strength and/or speed-endurance.

Bringing the thigh forward (hip flexion) and backward (hip extension) are the keys to running speed. These two actions contribute up to 80 percent of the speed generated. Ankle extension (rising on the ball of the foot as you push off forward) contributes 20 percent. By increasing speed of execution in ankle extension, you spend less time in contact with the ground and increase your stride frequency. More forceful forward and backward thigh actions improve your stride length and frequency.

Specialized exercises are done to improve not only running speed but muscle endurance, by increasing the number of repetitions performed. Muscle endurance can also be improved by doing body weight or free weight exercises such as the squat for high numbers of repetitions. For example, if you do 50-100 repetitions of the squat, you will develop greater muscular endurance of the leg muscles and, at the same time, improve your aerobic capabilities. Note that as the distances (or repetitions) increase, muscular and cardiovascular endurance become closely interrelated. You must develop both in order to improve your distance and especially your speed over the distance.

Complementary or supplementary training is also important for improving your running posture (form). Your posture during the run is dynamic and changes to accommodate the landing as well as the push-off. In general, the trunk is erect but you actually go into a slight crouch on touchdown and then full spinal extension on the push-off. Doing specialized strength exercises such as back raises improves your ability to attain the correct posture to ensure the most effective and efficient run.

Your supplementary training should not be merely general strength training, or strength training of only the muscles involved in running, but should include exercises that duplicate what takes place in the running stride, especially as you get ready for a competitive season. These will have the greatest positive influence on your running. Doing general strength and aerobic training should serve as a base for specialized training that has a direct effect on your running.

Michael Yessis, Ph.D., is a professor emeritus in biomechanics and kinesiology at California State University, Fullerton. Visit www.dryessis.com or check out his book: Explosive Running.

Bekele

Men's Long Race, Fukuoka - Bekele's makes it ten but then suggests no more!

Sunday 2 April 2006

Fukuoka, Japan - As Kenenisa Bekele strode the last few yards to the finishing line of the long race at the 34th IAAF World Cross Country Championships here at the windswept Seaside Park in Fukuoka, he held up both hands in front of himself and, without breaking stride, counted out numbers 1 to 10.

A little while later, his 18th World Championship gold medal hanging around his neck, Bekele then declared that, in all probability, he had just counted himself out of racing in the event ever again.

"I cannot achieve anything new," Bekele said after completing his fifth consecutive double of 4km and 12km senior World Cross titles.

"I am leaning towards not competing at the World Cross Country any more," he said, explaining that he had made his mind up in the moments immediately following his latest victory.

"I do not want anyone to think that I will not run again next year because the event is being staged in Kenya. But I have been racing at this event for six years now, and I want to step aside and make way for my young Ethiopian team mates who are coming through."

The young man - he is only 23 - looked serious and stern as he made the declaration of his retirement from the branch of the sport that he has dominated since taking the junior title, and then a silver medal against the seniors in the 4km race in a single weekend in Ostend in 2001.

The announcement was a true shock, coming at such an early stage of his career, and if his threat is carried out, it means that Paul Tergat's record of five consecutive World Cross titles at 12km will remain only equalled by Bekele, while his own achievement of five 4km and 12km doubles can never be matched.

Kenyans successfully regroup

Bekele had covered the course today in 35:40, his winning margin eventually 3 seconds from team mate Sileshi Sihine, the World 10,000m silver medal winner who had taken a tumble in the previous day's 4km race. The bronze medal went to the Japan-based Kenyan, Martin Mathathi (35:44), who down the home straight outsprinted Eritrea's Zersenay Tadesse, who had worked so hard in the last couple of kilometres to try to break Bekele and win himself a medal.

Tadesse could at least take consolation in leading his Eritrean squad to the team silver medals behind Kenya (who closed in their scoring four in 10th place), and thus, perhaps surprisingly, beating Ethiopia, who took bronze.

That bronze medal may look out of place in Bekele's otherwise glittering collection of golds, which following his victory here at 4km on Saturday now numbers 18 World titles, senior and junior, breaking the previous record of 17 held by Paul Tergat.

But while the World Cross double may not any longer be a challenge available to Bekele, setting the all-time record of six consecutive 12km wins by winning in a year's time when these championships are staged in Kenya could be a formidable enough test.

Bekele did not think so. "Whether it is in Kenya or any other country, Kenya take their best team to every competition," Bekele said.

But there is no doubt that the Kenyans are regrouping some of their former strength in distance running, as today's regaining of the team title which they once won for 18 years in succession demonstrates. And while Bekele was able to polish off all his opposition here as he accelerated through the park's cherry blossom on the final circuit of the race's six laps, this was not the dominating performance which we had seen from him last year in St Etienne/St Galmier, nor in 2004 when no one was able to stay with the Ethiopian's strength through the Brussels mud.

Weather challenges even Bekele

Fukuoka offered a different set of problems for the champion. The morning's deluges had only dampened the circuit, but the rain had been blown away by some powerful gusting winds. It was not only the flags which were at full stretch from their masts, but even the thick, wooden flag poles themselves were bending in the wind.

It meant the runners had to face the full force of the wind at the end of each lap, as they ran the 500-metre stretch past the grandstands and headed towards the main climb on the circuit. The conditions saw the early leaders bending their heads and their bodies as they leant into the wind, and it kept the leading group in a more tightly packed bunch than you would normally expect to see.

With the pace modest, through 5km in 14:38, there were 33 runners all within 1sec as they headed through 6km in 18:03.

It was into the eighth kilometre - the second half of the fourth lap, run into the wind - that the racing really started. While the "split" time was unexceptional (a 3min 8sec kilometre), someone was clearly putting the boot in, as the leading group was broken apart, and the race for medals was whittled down to just seven men - two Ethiopians, three Kenyans and three Eritreans.

Running mainly into the wind, they covered the 10th kilometre in 3min 26sec (10km: 29:56), with the rest of the field now scattered behind them like multi-coloured confetti. Bekele's decisive break came on the down slope off the last big hill, yet for once the gap to his rivals did not develop. Tadesse, last year's silver medallist, and Sihine were still in contact.

With the wind at his back, Bekele set sail for home, but it was not until he was within the last 150 metres that he finally built up a comfort zone, with a lead of more than a couple of strides. As Tadesse, tiring from his earlier exertions, faded, so Mathathi, who is signed to the Suzuki track team, motored through, and it took all of Sihine's last vestiges of reserves to hold the Kenyan off for silver.

Yet following Bekele's statement, a race which had delivered a landmark achievement in the sport may come to be remembered for creating more questions than it answered.

Steven Downes for the IAAF