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Indoors Closing With a Bang
This past weekend saw a rash of big time indoor performances as the European and US Championships were held. Below are my top half dozen performers/performances from the weekend. Initially I was going to do a top five as that’s a more common number, but that Mary Cain just had to be thrown in there! Another rash of times should be expected this weekend with the NCAA Championships on tap. Then it’s outdoors we go! Jimmy Vicaut (FRA) 6.48 to win Euro indoor title. Huge PR and win for Vicaut who looks like he’s maturing physically and ready to drop into the sub 10 zone this year. A standout for…
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HOT Weekend to End February
Just as I’ve been anticipating, this weekend saw track and field rise to its highest level of the season! The college ranks entered their biggest time of the year with conference meets galore add the athletes prepare for the NCAA Championships. Professional athletes laid down some marks of note, especially at the DN Galen in Sweden. Even the high schoolers got into the act with a new 300 record and some swift sprinting at the Brooks PR meet in Seattle. If the closing weeks of the indoor season are any indication this could be one HOT outdoor season on the horizon! There were far too many great marks to try…
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Big Weekend – Birmingham & Millrose
The indoor season is just about ready to come to an end. It’s short and sweet and usually ends with a bang as the athletes that are competing indoors like to really test their fitness before hitting the track outside. These “season ending” meets usually a test of early fitness and sharpness. The best of this weekend were the meetings in Birmingham England and New York (Millrose). Both had great fields and therefore great competition – and fortunately I was able to actually watch the action in both meets . Thanks to the internet I watched the Birmingham competition live online – most meets in Europe are streamed live if …
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Weekend Highlights 2/8 & 2/9
Another weekend of indoor track is in the books, and I must say that without Mary Cain and Galen Rupp burning up the boards things were rather quiet. But that’s how the indoor season typically is as most of the big names are preparing for the more lucrative outdoor season. Things should be getting better in the next couple of weeks as the season begins to come to a close. That means the NCAA athletes will start having their conference and National Championship meet; various National Championships; and then the World Indoor Championships. This weekend saw several athletes starting to “peak” for these upcoming meets. Among them the short (60…
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Sport & Enhancement – Where to Next ?
I’ve tried my best to stay away from this topic for a while – drugs in sport. Primarily because it seems to result in a no win situation for the sport of track and field because the only time it’s discussed is on those occasions when high profile athletes are either caught using PED’s or are suspected of their use. However, the news is full of drug talk these days, and none of it is centered around track and field! So what better time to put the topic on the table? Can’t be accused of pointing fingers at anyone in the sport, so perhaps we can actually look at possible…
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Where are the Jump Stars?
This time of year my mind runs continuously to thoughts of how we can better market the sport. What can track and field do so that others can see the sport that I see when I sit and watch a meet? More often than not, I keep coming back to the fact that we live in a society that is obsessed with stars! With 24 hour news; highlights on ESPN; and social networking sites like Twitter and Instagram, an outstanding performance or two and a Colin Kaepernic can become a global sensation virtually overnight! Track too has had it’s overnight sensations – a total of 700 meters in Beijing made…
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Rupp (3:50.93) & Cain (4:32.78) HOT!
The Olympic year might be behind us, but it’s clear that winning at World’s means something too, because those athletes that are competing indoors are crankin out the marks. This weekend the mile was the star of the show, with the 600 making noise as well. And I must say that the internet played one of it’s greatest supporting rolls to date as those of us on Twitter were able to follow both Galen Rupp and Mary Cain and their fabulous mile runs simultaneously! Rupp showed tremendous extended range in the mold of the East Africans as he dropped his mile PR down to 3:50.93 to go with his 10000…
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Let the Deuce Shine
Early in every season I feel compelled to talk about the deuce – 200 meters. For starters, it’s one of my favorite events, combining the speed of the 100 with the strength/speed endurance of the quarter. Throw in that stagger on the turn that sort of makes you wait to see just how the race is developing, and you have what I consider the best of the sprint events. What really compels me to talk about the deuce every year however, is that the sport continues to treat the 200 as an afterthought, instead of the potential marketing dream that I believe it is. After all, being in the middle…
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They’re Off & Running
For those fans of the sport that have been waiting for the action of track and field THIS was your weekend! Lots of meets with tons of action. Especially on the collegiate scene , where all the major players were in action including Florida, Oregon, Texas A&M, Florida State , Arkansas and LSU among others. Below are my highlights from the weekend – those results I personally found most interesting. Early results are heavy on the short distances as usual, with a collegiate hurdle record being turned in by Clemson’s Brianna Rollins. Galen Rupp turned in a very nice mile however, making it look easy! And Casmir Loxsom blazed over…
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Let’s Make the Off Season a Challenge
I know that we’ve just started the World Championship year and are nearly 365 days away from the"Off Season". That’s exactly why I’m talking about it however, because change takes time, and perhaps there’s enough time to implement something that I think would be a benefit to the sport. You see, right now the Off Season is somewhat of a throwaway year in many respects. There is no championship meet, so many athletes feel that there is little to accomplish. Some females look upon it as a good time to have a child. Other athletes see it as a time to heal injuries or even have surgery. And yet others…