Runnerville

The 2008 Carlsbad 5000 story was always going to be Alan Webb’s to make, no matter who won or what time they ran. That’s what comes with superstar status. After snatching Steve Scott’s quarter-century old American mile record last summer in Europe, then backing it with the fastest 1500 meters and second best 800 in the world for 2007, the expectations for 2008 ramped up even higher. Now, he would begin his Olympic push at the Southern California road race Steve Scott helped design 23 years ago and then won in its first three years.

But when 24 year-old Ethiopian Terefe Maregu outkicked England’s Mo Farah for the 2008 Carlsbad 5000 title on a glorious SoCal spring day by just a single tick of the clock, and then Kenya’s Haron Lagat, Australia’s Collis Birmingham, and 2006 Arkansas NCAA 10,000m champion Josephat Lagat of Kenya crossed in a blanket finish one second behind Mo, no one turned to his neighbor and exclaimed, “what a finish that was!” No, all anyone wanted to know was what happened to Alan Webb?

Necks craned up Carlsbad Village Drive looking for the American superstar as one by one the professional field paraded across the line. But Webb would never emerge around the corner for the final 300-meter sprint to the tape in front of the big crowd, many of whom had run the same course through the series of morning races. He had pulled off the course around 2.6 miles left to wonder, along with his many fans, what was happening in these important early season outings in this Olympic year.

“The plan wasn’t to come here and do this,” said a disconsolate Webb to the press following his second straight flameout of 2008. “I’m definitely disappointed. I came here to win the race, but I felt like I was pushing the whole way, and was just trying to hang in there and find a rhythm. But I just couldn’t get into it. I was surging just to stay up where I was, and we weren’t even going out that super fast.”

Alan Webb came into the Carlsbad 5000 after finishing 16th two weeks ago at the USATF 8K road championship in New York’s Central Park. But a case of food poisoning was behind that performance. In Carlsbad the inability to fire on all cylinders was more problematic, because it had its antecedents in his training, and training isn’t science, it’s art.

“We have changed things a little bit,” Webb admitted in his characteristically forthright manner. “I’m not satisfied just doing what I’ve done before, so we’ve upped both the quality and quantity of my training. And sometimes you do too much. I hope that’s the answer, because that would be a positive outcome. I’ll have to sit down with my coach and discuss what changes we will have to make, either training or racing, but it’s a fine line, and you want to be dancing right there. And it’s easy to go over the edge.”

There was big buzz when Elite Racing announced the signing of Webb for Carlsbad. No American has won this race since Utah’s Doug Padilla in 1990, and certainly no American with Olympic medal chances in the 1500 meters has ever run on this seaside course. Steve Scott, the co-designer of the route with New Zealand’s 1976 Olympic 1500-meter champion John Walker, had already passed his Olympic peak when he won the first of three straight titles in 1986 in a then world best 13:32.

After the New York City disappointment, Carlsbad was to be Webb’s mulligan, another chance to confirm the efficacy of his base training as he made the transfer over to mile preparation in the outdoor season.

“You want to be in the best shape of your life but without the speed sharpening that comes with mile and 1500 meter preparation,” explained Steve Scott, who helped broadcast the race for Fox Sports Net (the show will air on FSN on Monday April 21st at 3:30 p.m. pacific time). “I expected Alan to dominate this field, and run sub 13:10, because he’s capable of doing that.”

A time of that quality would require a committed start. But from the sound of the horn, the character of the race took on a hesitant quality, as none of the 13 professionals from eight countries wanted to be the pack leader. If one man goes in a closely matched field like this, they all go. But if that one man doesn’t emerge and push, the pack forms up and the looking and waiting begins.

The entire 13-man field held tight through a glacial 4:25 opening mile. In Carlsbad, that’s the equivalent of narcolepsy. In his two 13:00 flat world record years of 2000-2001, Kenya’s Sammy Kipketer flew through the mile in 3:59 and 3:58. Even last year’s relatively modest split was 4:15. The pack remained steady through two miles in 8:47 (4:22) with Mo Farah the nominal leader. Even so Webb was adrift at the back looking like he was struggling for every inch. At 10:25 it was over; he was a broken man as the jockeying began for the endgame by the remaining contenders.

“I was going to just jog it in,” said Webb, “but I couldn’t even jog. Once they broke away it was end of story.”

“There is nothing specifically wrong,” shrugged Webb’s coach Scott Razko attempting to put the best spin he could on the day. “This is the only sport where you are pushing yourself to the ultimate limit every time. So there’s more weight placed on each performance. Alan has been a little tired lately, but he’s been able to train, and get in solid workouts. Maybe over the course of the last month we’ve pushed a little too much past the point where he’s been before. You never know when it will equal a bonk.”

America is hungry for a running hero on the world stage. That’s why people get so excited when Webb, Dathan Ritzenhein, Ryan Hall, or Matt Tegenkamp delivers a world beating performance. And why the fans are correspondingly so disappointed when their expectations aren’t met. If Alan Webb goes on to Beijing and returns home with anything less than a gold medal – see Jim Ryun 1968 – the hard-core fans will be merciless. But never doubt that Alan isn’t right there with them.

The French have a wonderful old proverb, Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien, the best is the enemy of the good. And perhaps that is the conceit of men like Webb. He told Steve Scott the day before the race that as a young man he went looking to see what the high school national record was in the mile, and the American and world records as well, the inference being these have always been his goals. No one is harder on Alan Webb than Alan Webb. And you can tell by the way he’s willing to lose in such grand, public fashion as he continues to dance so tantalizingly – at times frustratingly - along that fine line that defines an expectation for the ages, his and ours alike.

CARLSBAD 2008 RESULTS
Men:
1. Terefe Maregu, 24 ETH - 13:34
2. Mo Farah, 25 GBR - 13:35
3. Haron Lagat, 24 KEN - 13:36
4. Collis Birmingham, 22 AUS - 13:36
5. Josephat Boit, 25 KEN - 13:36
6. Shadrack Kosgei, 24 KEN - 13:50
7. Boniface Songok, 27 KEN - 14:01
8. Michael Aish, 30 NZL - 14:06
9. Julio Cesar Perez Mora MEX - 14:13
10. Dmitry Safronov, 26 RUS - 14:27
11. Steve Slattery, 27 USA - 14:30
12. Nick Bromley, 25 AUS - 14:47
Alan Webb, 25 USA - DNF

Women:
1. Vivian Cheruiyot, 25 KEN - 15:14
2. Rose Kosgei, 26 KEN - 15:21
3. Genoveva Kigen, 20 KEN - 15:41
4. Sara Slattery, 26 USA - 15:59
5. Korene Hinds, 31 JAM - 16:04
6. Everlyne Lagat, 27 KEN - 16:08
7. Kathy Butler, 33 GBR - 16:13
8. Lisa Blomme, 29 SWE - 16:23
9. Ida Nilsson, 26 SWE - 16:36
10. Jane Kibii, 22 KEN - 16:41
11. Mandi Zemba, 25 USA - 16:49
12. Mardrea Hyman, 34 JAM - 17:07

Fiyori Meb Russom was born on Monday at 5:45 pm. She came in (or out) at 7 lbs. 10 ounces, and was 19 inches tall. Meb’s brother and agent, Merhawi, reports that “Everyone is doing well.”

Congratulations Meb and Yordanos.

American Alan Webb Highlights 23rd Annual Carlsbad 5000 on April 6, 2008
Opportunity stands to take down American road 5k record prior to U.S. Olympic Team Trials

by: Elite Racing
March 27, 2008

CARLSBAD, Calif., (March 27, 2008) — After breaking Steve Scott’s quarter-century old American mile record last summer in Brasschaat, Belgium, 25-year-old Alan Webb will have an opportunity to take down San Diego native Marc Davis’ 1996 American road 5k record of 13:24, also set at the Carlsbad 5000. Webb has chosen to open his 2008 Spring campaign in Carlsbad as he prepares for an Olympic bid. The Southern California race, set for Sunday, April 6, 2008, was made famous by Scott 23 years ago as both the course designer and champion of the first three events.

“I’m really looking forward to my first trip out to Carlsbad,” said Webb, a Reston, Virginia native. “I’ve always heard about what a great course and event it is, and how fast people have run there. Plus, Steve Scott has been something of a mentor to me over the years, and to run on a course he designed and won on three times just makes it that much more special.”

In this Olympic year Webb is gearing toward the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Track & Field set for Eugene, Oregon in June, and the early season road 5k will plays well into his Olympic timing.

“I’m in good form,” Webb confirmed. “Carlsbad fits my schedule perfectly this year.”

Webb first gained national acclaim when he smashed Jim Ryun’s legendary 36-year-old American high school mile record in 2001 (3:53.43). Since then he has steadily moved up the ranks of the world’s top middle distance runners. In 2006, Webb ran the fastest-ever debut by an American at 10,000 meters (27:34.72), winning at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational at Stanford University. For calendar year 2007, Webb ran the fastest mile (3:46.91), fastest 1500 meters (3:30:54), and second best 800 meters (1:43.84) in the world.

Click to read the rest of this article. Read more…

And so the long known, but never scientifically backed, feeling known as “the runner’s high” has at long last been proven. In a story in today’s New York Times, ‘researchers in Germany, using advances in neuroscience, report in the current issue of the journal Cerebral Cortex that the folk belief is true: Running does elicit a flood of endorphins in the brain. The endorphins are associated with mood changes, and the more endorphins a runner’s body pumps out, the greater the effect.’

They call running the “positive addiction”, and those who get hooked understand why. The feelings of contentment and well-being, the sense of communion with all else beneath the sun and stars, the ability to eat and drink whatever one pleases, these are the inducements that provoke a powerful enticement to daily dosing. Read more…

We have often suggested the PGA TOUR as the model for professional running, but here’s a model that USATF or Running USA should consider for banding together the millions of runners who race across the USA.

The 2008 Los Angeles Marathon presented by Honda begins year 23 Sunday morning March 2nd at 7:30 a.m. on KNBC4 (KNBC.com on line). Once again the professional fields have been weakened due to late payment of previous years L.A. prize purses and other Devine Racing events. That said, athlete recruiter Anne Roberts, who recruited here in L.A. years ago before the Bill Orr era, and now following Larry Barthlow, has gathered 16 men and 8 women who will vie for $215,000. Of that amount, $100,000 awaits the winner of the Banco Popular Challenge, the gender challenge concept now in its fifth year in which each gender has won twice. Get past the jump to read about this year’s field. Read more…

In 2005 I zigged and zagged my way across the country, documenting the lifestyle and training of some of the top collegiate XC programs. chasingTRADITION was my first blogumentary, before I even knew what a blogumentary was. It was a lot of fun and - looking back - was probably the springboard to my career as a…whatever it is that I do.

chasingTRADITION was an experiment. I did some things well and some things poorly. I learned what worked and what didn’t. One thing that worked really well was giving Stamos an audience. Through his Outkicked! columns and Public Service Announcements, Stamos burst onto the scene. But his 15 minutes of fame expired with the NCAA XC Championships - also known as The End of chasingTRADITION. But Stamos and I stayed in touch. We wrote long letters. We sent text messages with smiley faces. We even clinked glassed at the LetsRun.com after party in New York City. And so it’s with great pride - and laughter - that I present to you:

The Return of Stamos! Read more…

Big Money
The newest edition of “the world’s richest run”, the Zayed Marathon, will debut this weekend in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.  The 21km event is offering $300,000 to its champions and an additional $200K for a world record with an overall purse of $2,000,000.  Lornah Kiplgat and Samuel Wanjiru along with Paul Tergat head the fields. Now these are STAKES we’ve been talking about!

Athletics Canada on the Move, Eh?
Athletics Canada has decided, in cooperation with 1989 Road Athlete of the Year John Halvorsen and his ING Ottowa Marathon and the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, to make an attempt to reinvigorate Canadian marathoning at the highest level.

The Brojos at Their Best
Great to see Weldon and Robert bringing back The Week That Was (or will it soon be, “The Column Formerly Known as The Week That Was?) Thumbs down to USATF and a good little rant against race walking. Amen!

Boston Marathon Field Announced
Cheruiyot, Ivuti, Kwambi, and Baba round out an impressive field, but still overshadowed by London. Cheruiyot aiming to be first four-time winner from Kenya.

Toni and Matt can say what they wish about Indoor Nationals and the ESPN coverage of the meet. But I have to admit: I came away nothing short of inspired. Sunday evening, I retired to my meditation room, turned on my little self-contained, gurgling rock fountain (just 39.99 from Ikea(TM) for a limited time) and put brush to rice paper (just 12.99 per roll at your local Target(TM) store).

Today, I finally emerged. The results? Strong to quite strong. If you didn’t have the chance to attend or tune in, put aside the naysayers, and read on.

Read more…

With the second showing of “Spirit of the Marathon” this week, one is left with the impression that Katherine Switzer was the first woman to run the Boston Marathon. But as Craig Snapp of San Diego writes, there was one who came before; one who was left on the cutting room floor when “Spirit” was produced.

Each played a vital role in the development of women’s running. Bobbi Gibb showed by her solo efforts that the marathon distance was, in fact, no big deal for women. Katherine Switzer showed by her tenacity in the face of adversity that women could compete in more than the athletic arena. Her subsequent work in developing the Avon International Marathon series was a critical element in achieving a women’s Olympic Marathon in 1984. Both deserve our praise, but make no mistake - there remains a cool relationship between the camps of the two women. Craig’s revealing story is below. Read more…