Monday, July 23, 2012

The Latest Race Results

July 4
Bronco 5K – International Falls RESULTS

July 7
Dragin’ Tail 5M – Lake Nebagamon, WI RESULTS

July 11
YMCA Sidewalk Shuffle 5K – Duluth RESULTS

July 13
Catfish Festival Twilight 5K – Floodwood RESULTS

July 14-15
Bay to Bay 10K – Silver Bay RESULTS
Andover 5K – Andover RESULTS
Clover Cruise 5K – Little Fork 5K RESULTS
Clover Cruise 10K – Little Fork 10K RESULTS

July 18
Torchlight 5K – Minneapolis RESULTS

July 21-22
River Run 8K – Hastings RESULTS
Rails to Trails 5K – Watertown RESULTS
Park Point 5M – Duluth RESULTS
Scheels Run 5K – St. Cloud RESULTS
River Lake Days 5K – Richmond RESULTS
Log Run 10M – Stillwater 10M RESULTS
Log Run 5K – Stillwater 5K RESULTS
Find the Balance 5K – New Ulm RESULTS
Tator Days 5K – Eagle Lake RESULTS
Holy Moly 5K – Alexandria RESULTS
Run for Snow 5K – Grand Rapids RESULTS
Bay Days 5K & 10K – Ashland, WI 5K & 10K RESULTS
Run for Gold 4M – Rosemount 4M RESULTS
Run for Gold 1M – Rosemount 1M RESULTS
Highland Festival 5K – St. Paul RESULTS

MULTISPORT
Tri for a Cause – Crosby RESULTS
Paul Bunyan Long Course Tri – Bemidji LONG COURSE RESULTS
Paul Bunyan Short Course Tri – Bemidji SHORT COURSE RESULTS
River Days Tri – Chaska RESULTS
Buzz Ryan Tri – Duluth RESULTS
Bay Days Sprint Tri – Ashland, WI RESULTS
Chisago Sprint and Half IM Tri – Chisago SPRINT & HALF IM RESULTS
Chisago Kids’ Tri – Chisago KIDS' RESULTS
Door County Half IM Tri – Door County, WI HALF IM RESULTS
Door County Sprint Tri – Door County, WI SPRINT RESULTS

Monday, July 16, 2012

Recent Race Results

July 4th
Vermilion 4th of July 10K – Tower RESULTS
Firecracker 5K – Baudette RESULTS

July 6th
Heritage Days 5K – Two Harbors RESULTS

July 7th
Saint Urho 5K - Menahga 5K RESULTS
Saint Urho 10K- Menahga 10K RESULTS

July 11th
Endless Summer 10K – Murphy Hanrehan Park RESULTS

July 13th
Freaky Friday 5K – Gibbon RESULTS

July 14th or 15th
Raspberry Run 5M and 1M – Hopkins RESULTS
ACMC-RAH Kids’ 800m – Redwood Falls KIDS' RESULTS
ACMC-RAH Kids’ 5K – Redwood Falls 5K RESULTS
Whiz Bang 5K – Robbinsdale 5K RESULTS
Whiz Bank 10K – Robbinsdale 10K RESULTS
River Falls Days 2M – River Falls, WI 2M RESULTS
River Falls Days 10K – River Falls, WI 10K RESULTS
River Run 5K – Madelia RESULTS
Women of Today Retro Run 5K - Burnsville RESULTS
Eastview Scholarship 5K – Apple Valley RESULTS
River Fest 5K – Monticello RESULTS
Willow River Kids’ 1M – New Richmond, WI 1M RESULTS
Willow River 5K – New Richmond, WI 5K RESULTS
Willow River 10K – New Richmond, WI 10K RESULTS
Red Ore 5K – Hibbing 5K RESULTS
Red Ore 10K – Hibbing 10K RESULTS
Red Ore Youth Half Mile – Hibbing KIDS' RESULTS
Polzine 5K – Henning 5K RESULTS
Polzine 1M – Henning 1M RESULTS
Scheels 5K – St. Cloud RESULTS
Water Street 1M – Eau Claire, WI 1M RESULTS
Water Street 5K – Eau Claire, WI 5K RESULTS

MULTISPORT
Lifetime Fitness Tri – Minneapolis RESULTS
TriTonka Tri – Mound RESULTS
Graniteman Tri – Clearwater  RESULTS
Rice Lake Tri – Rice Lake, WI RESULTS
Rice Lake Youth Tri – Rice Lake, WI KIDS' RESULTS

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Track Trials - Final Thoughts

If you’ve been following along lately, you know that I just got back from the Olympic Trials for Track & Field in Eugene, Oregon – or as I like to call it, the greatest sporting event I’ve ever been to.  I can honestly say that, even though I only attended the second half of the meet.  Yes, even though I missed the Decathlon World Record, the 100m tie, the 10,000m, the 800m, and the women’s triple jump, where Amanda Smock became Minnesota’s only Olympian (not counting Kara Goucher), I still had a tremendous time.  Rather than recap all the events I saw, I thought I’d share some of the highlights from my trip that occurred away from the track – at least for the most part.
June 28th
I woke up at 4 AM in order to catch my plane.  This is going to be a long day!  I’m no sooner off the plane in Portland when I spot my first Olympian, American Record Holder in the Pole Vault, Jenn Suhr, formerly Stuczynski.  She had already punched her ticket to London and was on her way home.
I’ve been to Hayward Field one other time, during my honeymoon, 14 years ago to the week.  The site of it again makes me think that this is what Lambeau must look like to Packer fans.

Hayward Field
The first events on the track that afternoon are the qualifying heats of the men’s and women’s 1500m.  As I’m sitting with my buddy Paul Mullen, NBC announcer Ato Boldon appears in the stands right next to us and starts telling us the story behind these glasses.
Ato Boldon
A few minutes later, Oregon’s legendary coach, Bill Dellinger, takes a sit about 20 feet away from us.
During the very first race, I get my first taste of how “into it” the Hayward Field crowd can get.  As the runners approach, the nearby crowd begins to clap rhythmically.  This clapping leads the runners around the entire stadium, sort of like “doing the wave” at a football game.  They do the same for athletes competing in the field events.
June 29th
Since the main events that I wanted to watch didn’t start until the mid-afternoon, I was able to meet up with Bruce Mortenson for an 11 mile run along the Ridgeline Trail.  If you’re not familiar with Bruce, he ran at the University of Oregon in the mid-60s and was even the National Champion in the Steeplechase.  As you can imagine, running around his old stomping grounds was an absolute treat for me.
I realized that my media pass allowed me to stand very close to the track – just passed the finish line.  As I’m standing there today, I witnessed the emotion between a coach and athlete.  One of the women’s shot putters, Tia Brooks, placed 3rd and she came over to hug her coach.  I don’t know anything about the shot put, but witnessing first-hand the sheer joy between a coach and athlete was pretty cool.
The evening included dinner at King Estate Winery with Bruce Mortenson, his wife and about 15 other track fans – including two guys that used to run at Oregon too.  Listening them wax nostalgic was a great experience – especially when you consider that these guys knew legendary Steve “Pre” Prefontaine.  He’s more than just some running legend to them.  He was a friend and teammate and his death touched them much differently than the rest of us.

King Estate Winery
Night #2 concluded with a brief stop at what seemed to be the most popular bar around, the Wild Duck.  The highlight there was meeting Matt Scherer.  You probably don’t recognize the name, but if you watch any track meet that has a rabbit/pace setter, you’ll probably recognize Matt’s hulking frame (at least compared to the runners he’s pacing).  He currently makes his living by rabbitting track races.
June 30th
Even though I’m on “vacation”, my training doesn’t stop.  I’m training for TCM and I have to get in a long run, so I head to Pre's Trail for an 18 miler on a beautiful woodchip trail.
One of my favorite events of the trip surprised even me.  It was the women’s high jump.  There were a ton of different storylines, including Amy Acuff making her 5th Olympic Team at age 36, the University of Arizona’s Brigetta Barrett PRing twice in one meet and breaking Acuff’s collegiate record, and high schooler Gabrielle Williams setting a new high school record, clearing 6-2 1/4 and placing 5th – as a sophomore!
The evening began at Max’s with a college buddy, Joe Uhan.  He placed 9th at the Western States 100 mile race the week before, so it was cool to hear all about his experience. 
Joe Uhan showing off his Western States belt buckle.
I followed up Max’s with another trip to the Wild Duck where I was introduced to 2000 Olympian Nick Rogers.  He talked about how his coach, Bill Dellinger, had a stroke between the time he qualified for the Olympics and when the Games were held.  He basically said he lost his coach and would have given up his Olympics to have him healthy again.
July 1st
My last day in Eugene started with another run with Bruce Mortenson.  Along with TC Running Company owner, Adam Lindahl and store manager, Kurt Decker, we headed up to Pre’s Rock – the site of the car accident that killed him.
TCRC's Kurt Decker and Adam Lindahl
Pre's Rock
One of the clutch performances of the meet came in the women’s javelin.  Entering the final round, Brittany Borman was in third place, however, she did not have the A-standard so she wouldn’t be going to London unless she improved.  She “simply” threw a PR by over 6 feet, earned the A-Standard and placed first in the meet.  The coolest thing of all (at least for me) is that I was standing by her coach afterwards – the same guy who coached the shot putter I mentioned above. 
After the meet I was hanging around the media tent.  I poked my head outside and found the men’s 1500m team standing about 5 feet way, so I snapped a bunch of photos.
Men's 1500m team; Leo Manzano, Andrew Wheating, and Matt Centrowitz
Not wanting the meet to end, I hung around as long as I could before packing and heading out.  On my way out of town I stopped at Track Town Pizza where I bumped into fellow Minnesotans Erin Ward and Angie Voight.  We proceeded to share stories from the meet – and we began planning for 2016 already.

Angie and Erin - no this photo isn't from our trip.
Hope to see you again in 2016!
Thanks again to MDRA for this amazing opportunity!

Monday, July 9, 2012

Weekend Results - July 7th - 8th


July 4th

Firecracker 5K - Excelsior MEN'S RESULTS WOMEN'S RESULTS
The Lakes 8K – Blaine RESULTS
Janet Gensler Memorial 4M – Ely RESULTS
Firecracker 5K - Nisswa RESULTS

UPDATED RACES
4th of July 5K – Delano RESULTS
4th of July 5K Wheelchair – Delano WHEELCHAIR RESULTS
City on the Bay 10K – Walker RESULTS
Freedom Days 5M – Apple Valley 5M RESULTS
Freedom Days 2M – Apple Valley 2M RESULTS
Firecracker Run 5K – Menomonie, WI 5K RESULTS
Firecracker Run 1M – Menomonie, WI 1M RESULTS
Langford Races 4M – St. Paul 4M RESULTS
Langford Races 2M – St. Paul 2M RESULTS
Independence Day 10K – Lake Harriett 10K RESULTS
Independence Day 5K – Lake Harriett 5K RESULTS
April Sorenson Half Marathon – Albert Lea INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
April Sorenson Half Marathon Relay – Albert Lea RELAY RESULTS
Watercade Lake Ripley 4M – Litchfield 4M RESULTS
Watercade Lake Ripley 1M – Litchfield 1M RESULTS

July 7th – 8th
Afton Trail 25K – Afton 25K RESULTS
Afton Trail 50K – Afton 50K RESULTS
Grandpa’s Run for the Walleye 5K – Cross Lake RESULTS
Lindstrom Loppet 5K – Lindstrom RESULTS
Pan-O-Prog 4M – Lakeville 4M RESULTS
Pan-O-Prog 1M – Lakeville 1M RESULTS
Challenge Diabetes 5K – St. Paul RESULTS
Lakewood Hills 5K – White Bear Lake RESULTS
Search Harbor House Crisis Shelters 5K – Superior, WI RESULTS

UPDATED RACES
April Sorenson Half Marathon – Albert Lea INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
April Sorenson Half Marathon Relay – Albert Lea RELAY RESULTS
Watercade Lake Ripley 4M – Litchfield 4M RESULTS
Watercade Lake Ripley 1M – Litchfield 1M RESULTS

Multisport
Elysian Tri – Elysian RESULTS
Funfest Short Tri – Balaton SHORT COURSE RESULTS
Funfest Sprint Tri – Balaton SPRINT COURSE RESULTS

July 1st
Green Lake 12M – Spicer RESULTS

Friday, July 6, 2012

Weekend Race Results - June 30, July 1 & July 4

Here are the most recent results I could find online.  Some of them are from two weeks ago, but most are from last weekend.  I've also include some of the July 4th races that have posted their results.  Those that have posted their results yet will be included next week.
Morgan Park 5K – Duluth RESULTS
Fill Their Plate 5K - Minneapolis 5K RESULTS
Fill Their Plate 10K - Minneapolis 10K RESULTS
Hat Daze 5K – Canby 5K RESULTS
Hat Daze 1M – Canby 1M RESULTS
Renegade 5K – Cambridge RESULTS
Tutto Bene 10K – Bemidji RESULTS
Cabin Coffeehouse 2M – Bemidji RESULTS
Komen Race for the Cure 5K – Brainerd – MEN'S RESULTS
Komen Race for the Cure 5K – Brainerd – WOMEN'S RESULTS
Music in Plymouth 5K – Plymouth RESULTS
Can-Am Games 5K – St. Cloud RESULTS
Can-Am Games TCA 5K – St. Cloud RESULTS
Can-Am Games 21K – St. Cloud RESULTS
Time to Fly 10K – St. Paul 10K RESULTS
Time to Fly 5K – St. Paul 5K RESULTS
Moonlight 5K – Maplewood RESULTS
Run Like the Dickens 5K – New Market RESULTS
JULY 4th RACES
Freedom Run 8K – St. Peter 8K RESULTS
Freedom Run 5K – St. Peter 5K RESULTS
Red, White, and Boom 5M – Minneapolis RESULTS
City on the Bay 10K – Walker RESULTS
4th of July 10K – Red Wing 10K RESULTS
4th of July 5K – Red Wing 5K RESULTS
Free to Run 4M – St. Paul RESULTS
Sawdust 5K RUN – Cloquet RUN RESULTS
Sawdust 5K WALK – Cloquet WALK RESULTS
Independence 5K – Duluth RESULTS
Multisport
Du at the Dam – Coon Rapids RESULTS
Sanford Kids’ Tri – Jackson RESULTS
North Mankato Tri – North Mankato RESULTS
Average Jo Tri – Perham RESULTS
Minneman Tri – Oak Grove RESULTS
Zorbaz on the Lake Tri – Grand Rapids RESULTS

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Track & Field Trials Photos

Women's 1500m semi-final with Minnesota's Heather Kampf and Gabe Anderson just behind Oregon's Jordan Hasay.


Gabe Anderson in hip #8 with Heather Kampf right behind her.
Gabe Anderson in the media tent after qualifying for the finals.
Minnetonka's Will Leer, leading the men's 1500m final early in the race.
Winona's Garrett Heath in the black and red top.
  
Another shot of G. Heath.
G. Heath near the front with 2 laps to go.

Unfortunately, this is my only shot during the men's 5,000m.  U of M's Hassan Mead is in the middle of the photo.
Team USA Minnesota's Jamie Cheever on the jumbotron.
Cheever in mid-air over a barrier, on her way to 12th place.


The view into Nike's Camp Victory.

The festival outside the stadium.
  
No trip to Eugene is complete without visiting Track Town Pizza.
One of the many inspirational Nike "posters" created for the event.
 
Historic Hayward Field!


Monday, June 25, 2012

Weekend Results - June 23rd - 24th

William O’Brien 10M Trail Run – William O’Brien State Park RESULTS

Foley Fun Days 5K – Foley RESULTS

Heights Hustle 5K - Columbia Heights RESULTS

Heart Beat 5K – Minneapolis RESULTS

Get Your Rear In Gear 5K – Rochester RESULTS

Circle of Life 5K – Red Wing 5K RESULTS

Circle of Life 10K - Red Wing 10K RESULTS

Summer Festival 8K – Minnetonka RESULTS

Summerfest 5K – Oakdale RESULTS

Foot Lake 4M – Willmar RESULTS

Run for the Roses 5K - Roseville RESULTS

Tanner’s Team Run 5K – Sauk Rapids RESULTS

Dan Patch 1M - Savage 1M RESULTS

Dan Patch 5K – Savage 5K RESULTS

Running Wild 7K Trail Run – Maplewood State Park RESULTS

Midnight Sun Midnight Run 5K - Duluth RESULTS

River Rat 5K – Little Falls RESULTS

Yellowstone Trail 5K – Roberts, WI 5K RESULTS
Yellowstone Trail 8M – Roberts, WI 8M RESULTS
Yellowstone Trail double-header – Roberts, WI DOUBLE-HEADER RESULTS
St. Clair Days 5K – St. Clair RESULTS
Fairfax 5K – Fairfax RESULTS
Lake Waconia Tri – Waconia RESULTS
UCare Tri-Loppet – Minneapolis RESULTS
Croixathlon – Hudson, WI RESULTS
Graniteman Triathlon – St. Cloud RESULTS
Graniteman Kids – St. Cloud RESULTS
Can-Am Games Biathlon –St. Cloud RESULTS
Can-Am Games Triathlon –St. Cloud RESULTS
My First Tri – Hudson, WI RESULTS
Black Hills 50M - Sturgis, SD 50M RESULTS
Black Hills 100K - Sturgis, SD 100K RESULTS

Black Hills 100M - Sturgis, SD 100M RESULTS

Western Statess 100M - Squaw Valley, CA RESULTS

Olympic Trials - Big Day for Minnesotans

It’s a huge day in Eugene for Minnesotans.  The women’s 3,000m Steeplechase kicks things off at 6:50 CDT.  Team USA Minnesota’s Jamie Cheever will be one of 24 athletes in one of the qualifying heats.  The former Gopher’s qualifying time of 9:52.15 gives her the 13th best qualifying time.  The men will run at 7:25 CDT with Justin Tyner representing the state.  His 8:33.98 is the 18th fastest qualifying time.  The Olympic Games A-standards are 9:43.0 and 8:23.1 for women and men, respectively.  So Cheever and Tyner will both need to shave roughly 10 seconds from their current times, in addition to finishing in the top-3, in order to move on to London.
At 8:05 CDT the women’s 5,000m qualifying heat will be held.  Unfortunately, there aren’t any Minnesotan’s in the field.  Similarly to the 10,000m, Team USA Minnesota’s Meghan Peyton missed qualifying for the meet by a handful of seconds.  The men will toe the line in the 5,000m at 9:00 CDT and the qualifying heats will feature two Minnesotan’s, Elliott Heath and Hassan Mead.  Heath owns the 9th fastest qualifying time of 13:26.14, while Mead is seeded 19th with a 13:33.42.  Mead is coming off his 11th place finish in the 10,000m where he set a school record for the U of M, running 27:59.04.
Tonight will also be the finals for the 800m.  Only Heather Kampf is still alive, having survived the first two rounds.  As a reminder, she’ll need to run 1:59.9 or better and finish in the top-3 in order to punch her ticket to London.
I haven’t mentioned any field events yet, but it should be noted that the women’s Triple Jump and men’s High Jump teams will both be determined tonight.  Amanda Smock (formerly Thieschafer) is currently in the lead after the preliminary jumps.  It currently looks like none of the women will achieve the Olympic Games A-standard.  If that is indeed the case, only 1 athlete with the B-standard will be sent to London.  If Smock can maintain her lead, she’ll become an Olympian.  Here’s a recent article on the Melrose native. 
In the high jump, former Minnesota State – Mankato athlete, Jim Dilling is one of thirteen athletes that made it through the preliminaries.  Ten of those jumpers leapt 7-1 ¾ or 2.18m, including Dilling .  The former U.S. champ was one of three people to not have a miss in the prelims.
Finally, I’ve been meaning to provide links to Track & Field News’ form charts, which rank the top-10 athletes by position.  Here are the men's and women's charts.

After today's events, there will be two rest days before the meet resumes on Thursday, July, 28th.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Olympic Trials - 10,000m preview

Just a quick follow up to yesterday’s post regarding the 800m.  There will be 4 heats and the top-3 in each heat will advance to the semi-finals, along with the next 4 fastest times.  The women will run first, starting at 7:00 PM Central Daylight Time (5:00 PM Pacific).  Heather Kampf will be in heat 3 and Laura Januszewski will be in heat 4.  The men are scheduled to run at 7:20 PM CDT with David Pachuta in heat 1 and Harun Abda in heat 4.  To learn more about the favorites, you can read letsrun.coms preview of the men and women.
Unlike the 800m, which has three rounds, the 10,000m is “one and done”.  The men’s finals will be run tonight at 8:45 PM CDT, followed by the women’s finals at 9:20 PM CDT.  Golden Gopher Hassan Mead qualified with the 17th fastest time (28:12.74).  In addition to finishing in the top-3, he’ll need to run better than 27:45 to achieve the Olympic Games A-standard, if he hopes to make the team.  Down the Backstretch recently posted this article on Mead. Team USA Minnesota’s Jon Grey qualified for the meet provisionally, however, his 28:26.44 missed making the finals by just over 6 seconds.  Letsrun.com’s preview can be found HERE.
Looking at the women’s 10,000m, I figured that everyone must know Katie McGregor's story.  But her Olympic Trials story spans more than 8 years, so it’s possible that people aren’t aware of her two previous attempts.  In both 2004 and 2008, McGregor placed 4th at the Trials, thus narrowly missing trips to Athens and Beijing.  In 2008 she was one of three runners with the A-standard for the Games.  Assuming no one else achieved the A-standard during the race, McGregor would make the team.  However, on a hot, humid night in Eugene, Amy Yoder-Begley used a vicious kick, running the last 400m in 67.6 seconds to get under the A-standard by just 1.4 seconds.
Flash forward four years and McGregor finds herself in Yoder-Begley’s shoes.  Only three runners in the field have the A-standard (Amy Hastings, Janet Cherobon-Bawcom and Lisa Uhl).  Technically, four runners have the A-standard if you include Shalane Flanagan, but she's already stated that she’s running the 10,000m as part of her training for the marathon in London.  Therefore, she’ll give up her spot if she makes the team.  That means the McGregor (or anyone else in the field) must be in the top-3 and break 31:45 tonight.  She ran 32:37.83 for the 16th fastest qualifying time, so she has her work cut out for her.
Like Grey, mentioned above, three women with Minnesota ties (Meghan Peyton, Dani Stack, and Anne Bersagel) qualified provisionally for the meet, but did not meet the cutoff needed for the finals.
McGregor recently had articles written about her on examiner.com and twincities.com.  And you can find letsrun.com’s preview HERE as well.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Olympic Trials - 800m preview

Well, the 2012 Olympic Trials – Track & Field are officially underway with the men’s and women’s hammer throw taking place today.  Running events begin tomorrow and will include the first round of the 800m for both men and women.  Tomorrow evening will close with the 10,000m finals for both men and women.  A complete schedule of events can be found HERE.
As promised, I’ll be previewing the distance events that have Minnesotans competing in them.  Let’s start with the 800m prelims.  After everyone with either an A or B trials qualifying standard declared their intentions to enter the meet, the meet officials narrowed each field, men’s and women’s, to 32 athletes.  Those athletes declared eligible for the 800m can be found HERE.
Included on the list are four Minnesotans, Heather Kampf (formerly Dorniden), Laura Januszewski (formerly Hermanson), David Pachuta, and Harun Abda.  Kampf is a former Gopher that currently trains with Team USA Minnesota.  She currently has the 9th fastest qualifying time of 2:00.41.  Right behind her is Januszewski with her 10th place qualifying time, 2:01.05.  On the mens side, current Gopher teammates, Pachuta and Abda rank 20th and 21st with nearly identical times, 1:46.62 and 1:46.65, respectively.
After tomorrow’s preliminary round, the field will be narrowed to 16 runners for the semi-finals, which will be run on Saturday.  From there the field will be narrowed to 8 runners for Monday's finals.  For the runners to make the Olympics, not only will they have to finish in the top-3 of their event, but they’ll also need to achieve an Olympic Games A-standard.  For the gals, that’s 1:59.9, while the guys must run 1:45.6.
As you can imagine, these athletes are receiving a lot of press lately.  I recently interviewed Kampf, as well as gophersports.com.  Inforum wrote a piece on Januszewski and Minnesota Daily covered Abda’s American dream.