The Pre Classic

Eugene, Oregon.  Home of TrackTown, USA.  This weekend is the Prefontaine Classic, one of the premiere track & field events not only in America but in the world.  Hayward Field is a legendary facility made extremely popular by former Oregon Head Coach Bill Bowerman and stud/phenom Steve Prefontaine.  It's been sponsored by Nike since 1978 because, well, duh.

Originally started as the Hayward Field Restoration Race, in 1975 the name was changed to the Prefontaine Classic after legendary University of Oregon distance runner and Olympian Steve Prefontaine was killed in a car accident a week prior to the meet.  At 24 years young, we lost one of the greatest distance runners in our history before he even got to his prime.

The 118th Penn Relays

The Penn Relays is the oldest and longest running track & field competition in the U.S.  It has been held annually since 1895!  Over the course of the 3 day meet, attendance usually tops over 100,000 and on Saturday, it's been known, especially in the last couple years, to top 50,000 spectators.

This year the crowd was not disappointed.  Even though the forecast Saturday was kind of dreary and a bit chilly, the 6 USA vs. The World events, 4x100 (Men and Women), 4x400 (Men and Women), Sprint Medley (Women) and Distance Medley (Men) all were championed by the red, white, and blue.

As the first outdoor preview for many of our runners, it was a great start to hopefully a great finish in London.  In fact, the USA Track team has set a goal of 30 medals to attain in London.  As stud sprinter Lashawn Merritt  said,

"London, here we come."

Highlights included meet records set by the women's 4x1 and 4x4 squads as well as a homestretch finish that saw Merritt take down the Bahamas in the final leg of the 4x400.

London Marathon - Difficulty and Disaster

The countdown to this summer's Olympics is at 95 Days!  This year's London Marathon was unique in both a positive and negative way.

The Boston Marathon

Initial thought here: this is arguably the most famous road race/marathon and potential sporting event in the WORLD but it has no presenting sponsor?  I know John Hancock has been involved for the past 27 years but I couldn't have told you that. I feel like there's something missing here. I digress (my education pops up frequently in these matters)...

Yesterday morning nearly 22,500 runners took off for the 116th running of the Boston Marathon.  It's a 26.2 mile, slightly downhill...uhhh...run.  Different waves of racers started between 9:30 and 10:30am and the men's winner was Wesley Korir, a University of Louisville alum! and the 19th Kenyan winner the past 22 years, with a time of 2 hours, 12 minutes and 40 seconds.  Kenya's Sharon Cherop won the women's in 2 hours, 31 minutes and 50 seconds.  Korir's time was the slowest time since 1985!  The main factor for the slow day? The heat. It was in the 80s for the majority of the race and nearly 2,000 participants needed some sort of medical attention with over 100 going to the hospital.

Only a year removed from a perfect running day in the 2011 race and the fastest marathon ever recorded by Geoffrey Mutai (2 hours, 3 minutes and 2 seconds), Mutai didn't even finish the race thanks to the heat.  In a race as grueling as a marathon, why in the world is it starting so late in the day?  I understand it's been planned for a year in advance but I think the people would understand if you moved up the race an hour or 2.  When most people started it was a pleasant 70 degrees but by the time they finished, it was nearly 90.  Ouch.

USA, USA, USA!
The best time from any American came from Jason Hartmann, 31, who finished in fourth place with a time of 2:14:31, nearly two minutes shy of the men's winner, Wesley Korir from Kenya.  He was a six-time All American at the University of Oregon and is a two-time U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials competitor.


The top female American was Sheri Piers, who finished in 10th place with a time of 2:41:55, nearly 10 minutes behind the women's winner, Sharon Cherop from Kenya. Piers is 40 years old! HEY-OO!

The Boston Marathon hasn't produced a men's winner from USA since Greg Meyer in 1983, and the last women’s champion from USA was Lisa Larsen-Weidenbach in 1985.

Famous Athletes Participating
Former New England Patriot Tedy Bruschi completed his first ever marathon for his charity Tedy's Team and piling up a list of physical achievements including climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro last year!  As a leader on those Super Bowl winning teams, Bruschi battled heart injuries late in his career and inspires many today.

One of the most famous US women's soccer players in history Kristine Lilly (for Boston's Children Hospital) finished her first marathon as well.  She's the only woman to have competed in 5 World Cups and the oldest to score a goal in the Cup.

It's a Runner's World: Marathons, Olympic Trials and Track & Field

What better way to kick this off than a little Chariots of Fire!  This will start my coverage of the Athletics (Track & Field) portion on Rock Bottom.  With it being an Olympic year, it will be a great way to see a great sport that unfortunately gets its main recognition due to steroid scandals.  I've linked all the websites so you can read further into each event!

First up we'll have the World Marathon Majors, then I'll dive into the US Olympic Trials just a little bit, then I'll finish with the Visa Championship Series.  Enjoy!

Happy Patriot's Day!  Yes this morning kicks off the 2nd year of what we call the World Marathon Majors.  We start (again) with the 116th Boston Marathon.

The World Marathon Majors is a series consisting of five of the largest and most renowned marathons in the world: Boston Marathon, Virgin London Marathon, BMW Berlin Marathon, Bank of America Chicago Marathon and ING New York City Marathon. In creating the World Marathon Majors, the organizers of these five races recognized an opportunity to advance the sport, raise awareness of its athletes and increase the level of interest in elite racing among running enthusiasts.

The five annual road races in Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York, along with the Olympic Marathon (every 4th year) and IAAF World Championships Marathon (in odd numbered years), serve as the Qualifying Races in the series. At the conclusion of each Qualifying Race, the top five male and female finishers are awarded points based on their finish place.

At the conclusion of each two-year series (this year being the end of 2011-2012), a $1 million prize purse will be split equally between the top male and female point earners. The $1 million prize will be awarded annually meaning that each two-year series will overlap. The inaugural series will be 2006-2007 followed by 2007-2008, 2008-2009 and so on.

The total score for each athlete in a series will consist of points earned from a maximum of four Qualifying Races during that two-year cycle. To be eligible for the jackpot, an athlete must compete in a minimum of one Qualifying Race during each year of the series.

Supposed to be in the 80s today during the race so be careful out there! Race organizers even are allowing this year's participants to defer to next year because of the heat.

Athletes who compete in the marathons receive points for finishing in any of the top five places (1st 25; 2nd 15; 3rd 10; 4th 5 and 5th 1). Their four highest ranks over the two-year period will be counted; if an athlete scores points in more than this number, the athlete's four best races will be scored. To be eligible for the jackpot, an athlete must compete in at least one qualifying race in each calendar year of the series.

That's because of the nature of marathons, you obviously do not compete in every one as even the elite only do a couple each year if that.  Here is this year's schedule:

• April 16           B.A.A. Boston Marathon
• April 22           Virgin London Marathon
• August 5,12   Olympic Games Marathon, London
• September 30   BMW BERLIN-MARATHON
• October 8    Bank of America Chicago Marathon
• November 4   ING New York City Marathon

Here are the standings currently for men and women (I've included first and Americans!)

Men:

1. Geoffrey Mutai (KEN) 50 pts.

•     1st   Boston 2011   2:03:02 25 pts.
•     1st   New York 2011   2:05:06 25 pts.

15. Ryan Hall (USA) 6 pts.

16. Bekana Daba (USA) 5 pts.

Women:

1. Liliya Shobukova (RUS) 40 pts.

•     2nd   London 2011    2:20:15 15 pts.
•     1st   Chicago 2011    2:18:20 25 pts

8. Desiree Davila (USA) 15 pts.

20. Kara Goucher (USA) 1 pt.

As a distance runner myself, I've never done one but I know several people who have including my boss, uncles, former coach, and my main man Joobs.  It's a unique event that naturally is not healthy for the human body.  However it is a test of human endurance and more of an experience than anything.  26.2 miles is a long way to go!  

Our 6 Americans competing in London this summer

Back on January 14th, the US Olympic Marathon Trials were held (because the runners need WAY more rest in between races than the other events) and our group of 6 are the following:

3 Men: 

 1 Meb Keflezighi         36 Mammoth Lakes, CA 2:09:08 +0:00 

 2 Ryan Hall                 29 Mammoth Lakes, CA 2:09:30 +0:22 

 3 Abdi Abdirahman 33 Tucson, AZ         2:09:47 +0:39 

 *4 Dathan Ritzenhein 29 Beaverton, OR         2:09:55 +0:47* 

I included Ritz because it was first time we had 4 under 2:10 at the Trials but he doesn't make it, crazy!

3 Women:

1 Shalane Flanagan 30 Portland, OR         2:25:38 +0:00 

2 Desiree Davila         28 Rochester Hills, MI         2:25:55 +0:17 

3 Kara Goucher         33 Portland, OR         2:26:06 +0:28 

Flanagan bested the Trials record by nearly 3 minutes in her debut and only 2nd marathon EVER

The rest of the US Olympic Trials will start June 21 and run (literally waka waka) through July 1 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.  This is the home of the Oregon Ducks and more importantly the legends Steve Prefontaine and coach Bill Bowerman.  I'll get you more pumped up as we get closer, in the meantime...

The Visa Championship Series is a series of track meets from January 28th through June 9, both indoor and outdoor that crowns a male and female champion.

The top American male finisher and top American female finisher in each event of the Visa Championship Series will have their performances assigned a point total based on the IAAF Scoring Tables of Athletics. The athlete whose performance has the highest point total at the end of the Visa Championship Series will be named the Visa Champion.

Although the top performance can come at any of the Visa Championship Series meets, an athlete must compete at the USA Indoor T&F Championships to be named Visa Champion.

This will lead up into the Olympic Trials so it should be very fun to follow how the athletes are peaking/training leading up into this summer.

Visa Championship Series Schedule:

• U.S. Open at Madison Square Garden: January 28- New York City, New York        
• New Balance Indoor Grand Prix: February 4- Boston, Massachusetts
• USA Track & Field Classic: February 11- Fayetteville, Arkansas
• USA Indoor Championships: February 25 - 26  Albuquerque, New Mexico

USA vs. The World at the Penn Relays (First Outdoor Event)
April 28- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
watch NBC LIVE, April 28, 1:00 - 3:00 PM

Nike Prefontaine Classic
June 2 - Eugene, Oregon
watch NBC LIVE, June 2, 3:00 - 4:30 PM

adidas Grand Prix
June 9 - New York City, New York
watch NBC LIVE, June 9, 3:30 - 5:00 PM

Current Standings
As of 2/26/2012
MEN

1. Galen Rupp      1,255 points
2. Trell Kimmons  1,237 points
3. Aries Merritt     1,232 points

WOMEN

1. Chaunte Lowe         1,221 points
2. Amber Campbell     1,218 points
3. Jenn Suhr                1,217 points

If you don't understand Oregon, TrackTown, Prefontaine, or Bowerman, make sure to Netflix this movie, Without Limits from 1998 starring Billy Crudup and Donald Sutherland.