Runnerville

There has been some debate here and there about the nature of running contracts — the secrecy behind them, and the criteria that affects their size, length, utility and… I think that’s gone far enough.

The CBC (that’s the Canadian version of NBC or the BBC) has an article on 800m World Silver Medalist Gary Reed, and his contract negotiations with Nike Canada.  It maintains that Canadians who come through the American collegiate system cash in on those four years of increased visibility in the US, at the bargaining table.  A silly criterion if you ask me, but enlightening nonetheless, to hear that folks factor that in… or at least, some folks think the shoe companies factor that in.

Having the Golden League on ESPN?  Great.  Having it called by announcers who are watching a cut-up feed on monitors?  Not great.

Today was Day One in the 2008 Golden League, which ESPN, it was recently announced, would be covering at each stop on the tour.  I don’t know what I was expecting from the coverage, but suffice it to say, the telecast didn’t exactly encourage me to settle in and enjoy some track.  Now, I’m not going to get into a critique of the individual broadcasters because we do enough of that already.  Rather, I’m curious about what the viewership thought of the format.  Why do we need ESPN to provide two guys to narrate the Eurosport feed, when Eurosport already provides more than capable broadcasters?  Do Larry Rawson and Dwight Stones really bring that much to the broadcast that we’d rather them than the Euros? Read more…

Credit where credit is due: USATF catches a lot of flack on here for its laissez faire event promotion and uninspired website (multimedia-free since 1993!) but they’ve really got a great thing going on with their Pick ‘N Win game.  So much so that the IAAF is now launching one as well. Read more…

Toni Reavis, perhaps it’s better that you not read any further.

Those of you who have read my embarrassment of a bio know that I am a native of the great state of Cincinnati. As such, it was with a keen ear that I followed the recent coverage of Cincinnati’s Flying Pig Marathon, called one of America’s “10 Most Enjoyable Marathons” by Runner’s World back in 2005.

You should know we’re in trouble right there.

Pardon my ignorance, but when did the marathon become “enjoyable”? I am among the uninitiated, so maybe when I finally get out there, I will discover the marathon is like a three hour episode of How I Met Your Mother: soft edges, plenty of chuckles and warm feelings all around. Such is the tack taken with Cincinnati’s marathon, and, I suppose, at least they are up front about it. The name says it all: novelty marathon. Read more…

Trying a new thing here: To help anyone like me who has running-centric tunnel-vision to the extent that you didn’t even recognize that it was Wolf Blizter having brunch at the table next to you last Saturday, we’re going to relate a figure from current events to a figure from the world of running. This way we can all learn one new thing about the outside world, while putting that thing in a context we actually understand. It’s called, If [ BLANK ] Were a Runner! Give it a whirl, after the jump…

You may have heard that the Pope is currently on his first papal visit to the United States. (It IS baseball season, after all…) For those unfamiliar with His Vaticanness, here’s a handy reference to help you along: Read more…

George Vecsey wrote a little something for “that liberal rag” I hear about from time to time up here in New York. In it, he basically nails my sentiments regarding all this Olympic torch hoopla.

These impending - and I choose the word carefully - Summer Games are currently the target of people who rightfully protest policies in Darfur, Tibet, Xinjiang and Chinese labor camps, or laogai.

It frightens me to be in agreement with President Bush on anything, but I have to agree with him that any boycott of the opening ceremony on Aug. 8 would be counterproductive, a slap in the face, for what? Better the president and other world leaders should belatedly learn how to conduct diplomacy and draw attention to Beijing’s poor record in human rights and not use an overblown sports jamboree to cover up for their failures.

These Olympic protesters are like that slightly smelly (but vaguely attractive) girl in HS who would always raise her hand in Science class and then, when called on to explain what a vector quantity is, would stand up and instead launch into a screed about how big business was killing the environment and that we should all come to the Walk-A-Thon the Arbor Club was sponsoring that weekend. One can’t help but think, Hey! If you want to promote your worthy cause, go hang some fliers! But right now, we’re trying to learn about vector quantities! And that’s important, too! Don’t get in the way of that!

Ugh. Don’t be the slightly smelly (but vaguely attractive) neo-hippy girl, protesters. Just don’t.

Below, some quick, shoddily-researched numbers on Ryan Hall’s strong 5th-place showing in London this weekend. Personally, I think the last little factoid is perhaps most exciting…

• 2:06:17 makes Hall the 16th fastest marathoner, all-time.
• 2:06:17 puts Hall just 12 seconds behind #10, all-time.
• 2:06:17 is almost 2-and-a-half minutes faster than any American not named Khalid Khannouchi.  Put another way, Hall would put half a mile on some of the greatest American marathon performances ever.  Put yet another way, Hall would be at least halfway through a ham-and-pineapple pizza (his favorite - he’s from California) when the shades of Kempainen, Salazar and Beardsley crossed the line.
• 2:06:17 is the 3rd fastest American performance ever.
• 2:06:17 is just 20 seconds slower than Geb ran in his 3rd marathon.
• 2:06:17 is a better PB than those owned by perennial Major contenders Cheruiyot, Ramaala, Ivuti, Gharib, and Baldini.
• 2:06:17 is 24 seconds FASTER than Martin Lel – arguably the top marathoner in the world, at the moment — had ever run before Sunday.

I’m sure there will be more to come in the Ryan Hall lovefest in tomorrow’s Runnerville Weekly, so check back then!

Is a world championship without the world’s best, truly a championship?  This is the question posed by the NY Times in their coverage of Valencia 2K8.com — in an editorial, I might add.  (Now that’s some serious ink.)  And, if you ask me, it’s a pretty fair question.   Championships are held to weed out the riff-raff and allow the very best in a sport to elevate themselves.  They are the centrifuge of life, and the champions are the yield of this, this…. reverse emulsion!  (The athletes even provide their own centripetal acceleration!)

So, if you hold the World Championships and Jeremy Wariner isn’t running the 400, and Kenny Bekele isn’t running the 3k, what do you have?

Read more…

Say what you want about the tradition of America’s best runners not making World Championships a priority (excepting Outdoors, of course).  This time around, a healthy number of the top US athletes are turning out for Valencia and plan on heading to Edinburgh.  For once, this March might not be a month of split-squad games with overpriced tickets to see a line-up of a few stars and a bunch of kids headed back to Durham within a few weeks.  And  the traffic — oh, the traffic! — as you sit behind a train of maroon-haired ladies in wrap-around sunglasses driving to their Wednesday bingo.  You can play Mah-Jong from the comfort of your own home, granny!  Try it sometime!  Like today!

But I digress:  for us fans of running, this month is less Hot Stove and more just Stove.  March marks a season of opportunity - to turn heads and make some noise with an eye toward the Olympics… Read more…

Breaux Greer: deliciously Cajun. A fan of silent letters. A man who, in front of a camera, can convincingly play a pizza delivery man, a plumber, or the good friend of a young girl’s father who just happens to drop by when the father is conveniently away on business.

In an interview for ESPN The Magazine, Mr. Greer, the best javelin thrower this side of Skudeneshavn, gave the world the following:

[…] The native of Monroe, La., wants you to know that he has a plan in place if he fails to qualify at the trials in July. “I think I’ll do porn,” he says in a deep, gravelly, Cajun accent. “That’s something I know I do well.”

Well, personally, I didn’t think he was THAT great.

But then again, the article title already has his adult film nickname signed, sealed, and delivered.  And ultimately, can you blame him for wanting to get paid to have his skudeneshavn?