Team Cross Runs

A Monumental Marathon

The Indianapolis Monumental Marathon has officially opened registration. The inaugural event will take place on November 1 and will highlight

a number of great buildings and features in our beautiful and convenient Indianapolis downtown including: the Indiana State Capitol, the Arts Garden, Lucas Oil Stadium, Circle Center Mall, Monument Circle, a number of federal monuments, the Cultural trail and the Mass. Ave. District. We are also happy to showcase several interesting and lovely neighborhoods including the Old Northside, Fall Creek Place, Meridian-Kessler, Butler-Tarkington and Broad Ripple.

The event is being organized and hosted by some of the best in Indianapolis racing. The official management company is Ken Long & Associates who have an excellent reputation in the community with support from the likes of Bob Kennedy.

Billed as a flat and fast course, this would be a good marathon. If I still lived in Indiana I would probably sign up for this one. The Indianapolis Marathon is a few weeks earlier and is also an excellent event that is well-established. The IM is a little hillier but also provides more natural scenery, while the new IMM is flatter and showcases some of the history of the city.

If you are undecided about a fall marathon I would recommend either!

Technorati Tags: Marathon, Indianapolis, Monuments

Are You Tough Enough?

You can run a marathon but can you finish the Tough Guy 7 mile race?

That is the question everyone wants to know at the beginning of what sounds like a very brutal race. You thought the last few miles of a marathon were agony - try battling hypothermia, climbing to the top of a tower, plunging into an icy lake and swimming 30 meters to cross the finish line.

Martin Dugard, an acclaimed author and sports junkie I’ve written about before, just wrote a review of the Tough Guy that will make you itch for more than an urban run down the Greenway.

This is my life after Tough Guy, a seven-mile odyssey of pain, suffering, and freezing-water immersion. The title is tongue-in-cheek, but the cruel severity of the competition is not. Since its inception in 1986, Tough Guy has become an increasingly worldwide phenomenon, beckoning otherwise sane men and women to the British West Midlands in the dead of winter to sprint through pastures, scramble through thorns, jitterbug through electric cattle prods dangling like Portuguese man-of-wars from ropes strung above knee-deep mud, climb and descend acres of cargo netting, and swim underwater through an icy pond.

If you can imagine an endurance race that combines the absurd best of Monty Python with the punishing numbness of Navy SEAL training, then you can comprehend Tough Guy. To go one step further: If you are the sort of person who doesn’t just imagine such a race but also hears an irrational voice in the back of your brain as you read this copy of American Way (which you plucked out of the seat pocket randomly but now wonder if it’s part of some act of fate) asking if you are indeed Tough Enough , then I am almost positive that one January very soon, no matter the status of your marriage or career or credit card balances, you will not consider your life complete until a Tough Guy finisher medal hangs around your neck. You know who you are.

So I leap. The free fall is short, and the seconds underwater are far too long. I sputter to the surface, swim to shore, and then fling myself down into the mud to low-crawl beneath barbed wire as part of an obstacle named for the Battle of the Somme. There is much more hardship to come (yes, more icy water), but finally crossing that finish line and sipping my cup of hot tea with shaking, hypothermic hands is a most amazing moment of happiness.

Excerpts taken from the American Way Magazine published for American Airlines. Did I mention Dugard got paid to compete in the race and write the story?

Technorati Tags: Tough Guy, American, Martin Dugard

One mile - $25,000

That is what is happening tonight in downtown Minneapolis at the Medtronic TC 1 Mile. A field including 2,600 average joes (or citizen runners) will compete before two waves of elite runners go for the gold. Well the gold in this case is $4,000 for the winners and a $10,000 bonus to the first male runner to go sub-4 and the first female to go sub-4:28. Can you do it?

This is part of the USATF circuit and I’m looking forward to racing a mile. It is an odd distance one that I have touched really since high school. Most of the college meets I was at only had the 1500 and since I was an 800 specialist I didn’t jump up much. How does one train for a mile race? Especially one that falls 3 weeks after a half-marathon and 2 weeks after a 10K. Who knows would be my answer! I did a lot of easy running with some strides so we’ll see what my body is capable of.

However there are a lot of athletes who are training for these middle distance events on the track and they will be in top form. The race has received a lot of publicity, especially since they have upped the ante with prize money. Race director Brian Mastel says, “The fields include two Olympians, a three-time NCAA Champion, an age group world record holder and nine men who have broken the four-minute barrier.”

12 men and 10 women will be competing in the elite fields including:

Joining two-time champion of the event, Luke Watson, will be Team USA Minnesota runner Brad Lowery, in addition to former Team USA Minnesota runner, Ryan Kleimenhagen. The field also includes two runners who’ve recently been added to the list of sub-four minute milers, Steve Sherer, ranked second in the United States at the mile indoors and Jordan Fife, ranked 6th in the United States at the mile indoors, as well as several runners from Kenya, including Haron Lagat, Vincent Rono, Josephat Kithii, Eliud Njubi, and Benson Chesang.
The women’s field will feature 2004 Olympian Carrie Tollefson, her Team USA Minnesota teammate Emily Brown, former NCAA 1500 meter champion Tiffany McWilliams, and the top returning runner from last year’s race, Colleen Newhart. This year’s race will also have a strong international field with such runners as, Rose Kosgei, Margaret Chirchir, Meskerem Legesse, and Marina Munca.

Two of the runners are from Indiana: Luke Watson and Jordan Fife and three from Minnesota: Brad Lowery, Carrie Tollefson, and Rasa Troup.

It should be a fun night! Hopefully i won’t be so exhausted after my race that I will get to enjoy watching the elite race.  Waves start at 6:50pm with the championship male wave at 7:58.

HT: Down the Backstretch The Final Sprint Cool Running

Technorati Tags: mile, Medtronic, TC One Mile

Human Race 8K

While I had already registered for my first race in 2008, the St Patrick’s Day Human Race 8K will be the first one I’ll run. I registered at the beginning of March. This is the first race in the USATF Circuit. The 8K distance is just short of 5 miles and is the collegiate cross country distance.

It is kind of a unique name but they help explain it on their page:

In 2005 a scientific article was released that caught our attention. The authors claimed that the human body has evolved to be the shape it is because of running. That`s what we have thought all along, that running isn`t just something we do, it makes us human!

It also has a strong community focus:

The St. Patrick`s Day Human Race benefits the community in four distinct ways. First, the event is a celebration of fitness and healthy living, which we believe are positive community values. Second, each year we conduct a shoe drive to collect worn (but not worn out) shoes for distribution at a local free store. We collect over 700 pairs of shoes each year. Third, beginning in 2002, The Sporting Life has designated Human Race Heroes and initiated a fundraising effort for the charity of choice for the honoree. In 2006 we honored Bonnie Sons and Chris Celichowski, and fundraising for their charity of choice, Bolder Options. Finally, we recruit community groups to work at our event in exchange for a donation to their organization.

The 36th running of this event is on March 16 at the University of St Thomas in Saint Paul. The out and back course runs along Summit Ave which is also the finish of the Twin Cities Marathon.

Best of 2007: Race Event

This is my personal opinion and only based on the events that I attended. What do you think was the best overall event you attended in 2007?

This is another tough category. Again in no particular order.

1. 500 Festival Mini Marathon - while I’m not a big fan of this event since I’ve never raced well and don’t like 35,000 fellow runners, they put on an excellent event.
2. Drumstick Dash - this was a fun and festive event with lots of activities for every age and competitive stripe. I enjoyed this event.
3. PopWeaver 5K - this is always a fun event with the Popcorn Festival and a year’s supply of popcorn. There is also always good competition and lots of high schoolers.

Honorable Mentions

1. DINO Races - These are fun no matter what, but more fun if you do a bunch of them, win a pair of shoes, or just like to get muddy!
2. Run the Mounds - This is a tough 5 miler with good post-race food and lots of running friends.

Yesterday’s Workout

I hit the gym for an easy 30 minutes on the Elliptical machine and then 5 minutes on the stair climber. It was fairly enjoyable for a gym workout! After 15 minutes on the elliptical, the machine flashed and said pedal backwards! I tried it for 5 minutes, that is a weird feeling to “run” backwards. It definitely works a new set of muscles, I might try it more often.

Technorati tags: Best of 2007, 5K, 15K, 5Mi, 4.5Mi, Half-marathon

Olympic Trials Preview

The Men’s Marathon Olympic Trials are set for November 3 at Central Park in New York City. The race begins at 7:30 and will be featured briefly throughout the morning on NBC, but will be streamed live at NBCSports.

A map of the course (pdf) and spectator guide are available at the NYRR site. The USATF describes the course as

… a criterium-style course in Central Park that will start in Rockefeller Plaza and finish near Tavern on the Green. The criterium loop in Central Park will be the reverse of the loop used when NYRR hosted the USA 8 km Championships from 2002 to 2004. Athletes will run the loop five times, with distance added to complete the full 42.195 km of the marathon.

According to a press release

2004 Olympic Trials champion Alan Culpepper (Boulder, Colo.), Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi (San Diego, Calif.) and 10,000m and marathon Olympian Dan Browne (Portland, Ore.) lead a host of contenders who have officially made their bid to become the first members of Team USA’s Track & Field squad for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Also joining Culpepper, Keflezighi and Browne on the official entry list for the November 3 event are half-marathon American record-holder Ryan Hall (Big Bear Lake, Calif.), 2004 Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein (Eugene, Ore.), Brian Sell (Rochester Hills, Mich.) and two-time Olympian Abdi Abdirahman (Tucson, Ariz.)

As of 10/21 Khalid Khannouchi has the fastest qualifying time of 2:07:04 (4:50).  The slowest time posted is 2:22:02 (5:25) which is actually 2 seconds over the “B” standard.  The “A” standard which means that USATF will pay for your trials participation is a 2:20:00 (5:20).  You may also obtain the “B” standard by racing a 5K in 13:40:00 (4:23) or a 10K in 28:45:00 (4:37).

You can watch a video collection about the athletes, the event, and American running at New York Road Runner’s Chasing Glory site.  Runner’s World also has a large selection of information.

It looks like it should be a great race, especially the finish.  Who do you think will win this year’s Marathon Trials?

There actually is an Anderson connection to one of the runners, but I can’t remember who he is.  Anyone remember??

The Women’s Marathon Trials will be held April 20 in Boston.

Run the Mounds

This post is being artificially bumped to the top because its an advertisement for the event. To promote your event like this e-mail me. Please scroll down for the latest content!

The 26th Annual Run the Mounds 5 Mile race is being held on November 4th at 2pm.

This is a great race held each year by the Anderson Road Runners Club at Mounds State Park, just outside of Anderson. To top off a great race atmosphere and experience this year the ARRC and Race Director Greg Smith have decided to give a Brooks Podium Long Sleeve to all pre-registered runners.

99% Trails/Grass 1% Blacktop

Both the 5 Mile and 5K Walk courses start on grass near the Woodland Shelter (across from the pool), then utilize the park trail system. The trail has ruts, rocks, stumps, roots, leaves, and other naturally occurring debris on it.

Awards

Awards will be presented to the overall male and female runners and walkers, as well as overall Masters male and female runners. Awards will be presented 3 deep in each designated age group (approximately 5 year groups).

Note to Walkers - this is a judged event.

Fun Run - race starts at 1:30 meet at Pool House

Registration Fee Structure:

Race with Shirt

$25 pre-registered by October 20

$22 AARC members pre-registered by October 20

Without Shirt

$15 pre-registered or race day

$5 High School or Middle School XC Runners

To print out a registration form click here (pdf) for more information click here (pdf)

Technorati tags: Run the Mounds, Race Preview, 5Mi