There she sits in the corner of my apartment. A nameless new Cervelo. Her black and grey aero frame sleek and sexy. She’s faster than I am, this I know. When I ride her for the first time this evening, I’ll join the ranks of sketchy riders who own a bike other roadies would consider above our ability level. I don’t care. I do care about hurting the Silver Bullet’s feelings.

A hunk of paint-stripped aluminum doesn’t have feelings! you say. You’re probably right. But the Bullet and I have spent an absurd amount of time together. I rode my first century, double century and ultracycing race on that bike. I got doored on that bike. We have a history—the Silver Bullet has a name!

They're looking at you! Photo courtesy of minorissues on Flickr.

I feel the same way when I buy new running shoes. But I ran Ironman in these shoes! I ran my 10K PR in these shoes! I can’t just replace them! I don’t name my shoes like my husband does (he magic markers names onto them according to the major race he trained for and ran in them, like IMAZing for Ironman Arizona), but I do grow attached to the two lumps of dirty mesh and rubber.

When I walk in the door with a shoebox under my arms, I feel a bit guilty—until I put on the new pair. So clean! So supportive! The old shoes replace my old old shoes in my closet, the old old ones get donated and so continues the circle of running shoe life.

But the Bullet stays.

Being an endurance athlete is complicated.

Kierann Smith runs at Nationals. Courtesy of Greyson Christoforo.

Stanford Medical School student, triathlon team member and Impala Racing Team member, Kierann Smith, was on pace to race her best race ever when she passed out at mile five of the run at USAT Collegiate Nationals on April 9. This is her story.

Tuscaloosa, Alabama, April 9, 2011.  USA Triathlon’s Collegiate Nationals.  I’m having the race of my life.  I’ve just swum and biked harder than I ever thought I could.  Except for one little glitch involving a dropped chain that got stuck and took two minutes to fix, I’m flying.  My mental focus has reached a new level.  Nothing is going to get in my way, not the 90 degree heat and 90% humidity, not the Cal girl in front of me, not the fire in my feet that is spreading up my legs.

My goal is to run a sub-39 minute 10K, and I’ve run 6:15 per mile for the first 4 miles, right on target.  I am thinking about the crew video I watch for pre-race inspiration, “Inches,” and feel truly like I am going after each and every inch.  I am thinking about my teammates out there with me, Marissa, Sara, Ellen, K-Bell, and Lisa.  I see the 5 mile mark up ahead, this where I usually start to let loose, because I was a miler in college and I always tell myself I can always run a mile.

I barely notice the first time I lurch to the left.  I keep running.  Another lurch to the left.  All I think is, “Oh gosh, that girl I just passed is going to think there’s something wrong with me.”  Never did it cross my mind that there might actually be something very wrong with me.  I don’t know how many lurches ensued, but I vaguely remember bystanders saying things like, “Are you okay?” and “Whoa!” before somehow I’m down on the ground in a pile of woodchips under the hot sun.

I struggle to get back up.  Someone whose face I can’t see comes to my aid.  I tell them I tripped, I need to get back up and finish.  Strong hands push down on my shoulders, and I can’t get up.  “Here drink some Gatorade,” which I attempt to refuse because I just want to get up and finish.  I can’t stand the thought of any of the girls I’ve passed passing me back.  I can’t stand the thought of leaving my team a girl short.

All I remember of the next period of time is being put on a stretcher…then nothing…then being in the med tent and briefly seeing the faces of my fiancé and coach, then they disappear and six guys are working frantically over me.  One is putting an IV in my left arm.  Another tells me he is going to roll me on my side because he needs to measure my core body temp…if you know what that means.

“She’s at 106,” he announces.  Someone is doing something to my ankle (I never figure out what).  Another guy starts pouring buckets of ice water over my torso, bags of ice are placed over my extremities, and I realize I’m lying on a stretcher over a huge ice bath.  I start puking red Gatorade all over the place.  I am asking for my fiancé.  They say they don’t know where he went.  A few moments later I realize my race shorts are pulled halfway down and they keep checking my core body temp (“She’s still 106.”), and I tell them I actually don’t want my fiancé anymore.

They ask me the date.  I think hard.  April…9^th…20..11.  I only remember because the only thought that is still in my brain is this is nationals…the date has been locked on my training calendar for months…and I am not going to get to finish.  I have never been so miserable.  I want to die.  I start praying the rosary on my knuckles because it is the only thing that distracts me and I want so badly to pretend this isn’t happening to me, on so many levels.

At some point the physician comes to check on me.  Apparently we’ve talked before because I told him I went to Harvard for undergrad and he said he’d forgive me for that (he had gone to Dartmouth).  Then we find out he had dated a friend of my mom’s back in Minnesota.  I am starting to like the guy until, when I confide in him that I feel utterly stupid about what has happened, he replies, “Hey, if it weren’t for people like you, I wouldn’t have a job.”

I know he was just trying to make light of the situation, but from my perspective there was nothing lighthearted about it, and he made me feel as if he wanted this to happen to me.

As dire as my own situation feels, when I regain a few threads of consciousness, I become even more traumatized by what was going on around me.  The girl next to me hasn’t moved or made a sound since I awoke.  They keep announcing her temperature is also 106.  She still isn’t responding by the time my temp is down to 103.7, which they deem sufficient to send me to the unobserved part of the med tent to let my IV finish running.

I am still barely aware of what is going on at this point, I don’t realize they’ve picked me up and moved me on the stretcher, just all of the sudden I feel like I am falling backwards as they dump me on the cot.  My fiancé Jason is back along with my coach Bruce.  Both have these amazingly sweet concerned looks on their faces.  Jason asks if it’s okay to pull up my pants.  I can’t get any more flushed than I already am but I am not even aware enough to feel embarrassed anyway.

At some point, the girl on the cot next to me starts screaming and flailing her arms and legs.  She breaks her cot.  Several people come to attend to her and start carrying her into the other part of the tent.  They drop her right in front of my cot because she is writhing around so much.  Half a dozen other people come to attend to her and they cart her off to another room.  I wake up more fully to the war zone that is surrounding me.  Some cots have 3-4 girls on them, all in various states of hyperthermia.  My fiancé tells me there is a line of girls on stretchers waiting to get into the acute side, and I am lucky I went down when I did.  He says he overheard the dispatcher saying, “We’ve got three down on the course still without aid.”

I am further pained thinking of my fellow competitors suffering.  I remember thinking on the run, “Everyone out here feels this bad because we are all in the same conditions.”  I also remember thinking that I couldn’t possibly stop to walk as I passed some absolutely amazing girls who had done just that.

A moment after my IV finishes, an EMT rushes in, asks me if I am able to drink water on my own, I’m not sure but he seems convinced enough.  He whips out my IV and runs away.  Another person comes in and asks if I can walk.  “Dude,” I think, “I can’t even sit up!” He makes some comment about what they have to do if I can’t walk and it doesn’t sound desirable so I struggle to my feet.  That satisfies them enough to send me outside, they need the space they say.

I go outside and sit on a cot in the shade.  My mentation is still fuzzy.  I see my other coach Gina, thank goodness, because she knows exactly how I feel.  She knows immediately how heartbroken I am on top of feeling physically awful, and she focuses on the former because she knows there is nothing to be done at this point about the latter.  She tells me story after story about world champions who have done the same thing.  She tells me she is proud of me for pushing myself to my absolute limit.  “You are going to learn SO much from this,” she says with just the right amount of confidence.  “Just stay positive.”

——

In the ensuing days, I have wracked my brain for anything I could’ve done differently.  I had known it would be hot in Tuscaloosa, so I had been drinking bottles of water and CarboPro for days leading up to the race.  I was well-rested.  I had visualized every bit of my race.  Maybe it was the visualization that was my undoing.  I was so mentally focused that I shut off any feedback from my body.  I wasn’t wearing a heart rate monitor, which may have given me some external feedback to make up for my lack of the internal.

One thing is for sure, I should’ve started the run more cautiously in that heat, but I don’t even remember processing how hot it was by the time I got to the run.  I wanted the finish line so badly, it was all I could think about on the run, and I wanted to pass as many people as possible to get there.  What I failed to process was that several of the girls I passed were great runners and better swimmers and cyclists than me, people I had never passed at other races.  My vanity overshadowed my humanity.  I thought I was somehow superhuman compared to these other women, as though they were subject to the heat while I was not.  That isn’t how I actually processed it at the time, but that is how I acted.  I’ve learned this lesson many times before but with less severe consequences.

There is little consolation when one doesn’t finish a race, especially a big one like nationals.  A big blow was when I found out that I had sustained marked muscle damage and even some liver damage.  Knowing what my mind is capable of doing to my body, I am now a little distrustful of myself.  My body is taking revenge.

Four days out and I still hardly have the energy to buy groceries or even walk around for more than a few minutes.  Even worse, my best method of dealing with stress is forbidden for at least a week.  Not only am I in agony from the event, I face a week or more of no workouts.

There is no quick fix to this, mentally or physically.  I’m going to have to slowly learn to trust myself again.  My body is going to have to learn to safely push itself again.  For years I have been working to overcome all mental barriers, but now I’ve gone too far.  I need to center myself and keep seeking for that perfect spot where mind and matter meet, that is where I’ll be able to leave it all out on the course without leaving myself out on the course.

“I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.” -Ecclesiastes

–Kierann Smith

Written by: Mark Johnson

Martin Franklin, the CEO of multinational consumer and industrial products company the Jarden Corporation, completed his tenth 10k run in ten days on Friday. Franklin, an experienced ultra marathoner and multi-time Ironman finisher, took up the challenge as a way to inspire Jarden’s 25,000 employees to embrace an active lifestyle.

We caught up with 45-year old Franklin the Saturday after his last run, and he was not slacking. “This is my rest day,” the irrepressibly energetic executive said. “So I played golf.”

During the running event, each day one of Jarden’s businesses, which run from consumer household goods like Mr. Coffee and Pine Mountain firelogs to outdoor sports manufacturer K2 and Penn fishing reels to industrial packaging, held a 10k run and  5k walk during their CEO’s visit. About 1,500 employees participated.

The idea was to inspire Jarden employees to embrace an active lifestyle. “The whole idea of getting outside as a group with their colleagues was something that they really enjoyed and appreciated,” Franklin recalls.  “From that perspective, it was a huge success.”

While the back-to-back 10ks were not a significant challenge for the ultra-fit Franklin, the travel and temperature variances involved with running everywhere from the Pacific Northwest to Kentucky to New York were. “The travel and the variances in temperature in each run, it really does take its toll….In the course of 10 days we went from 92 degrees to six degrees to 42 degrees.”

Asked what he might tell someone who says they don’t have time to exercise, the astonishingly-busy CEO says “You can always make time for your health. It’s a question of priorities. Most people watch an hour of TV a day. Maybe they could take that hour. Or if they really are really intent to watch TV, they can do some exercise while they watch TV. There is always time. “

“What I told my employees, which I genuinely believe, is if you are healthier, you are happier.”

Training for events like Ironman and the 135-mile Badwater run takes discipline. Asked what takes more marshaling of personal focus, running a company with over $5 billion in annual revenue, or preparing for these endurance events, Franklin says “They both take mental discipline. In a way they are the same skill set.” While the New York-based executive feels business comes naturally to him, “Running something like Badwater, I don’t think that comes natural to anybody. I find business a natural extension of myself. I don’t find it particularly difficult. And I think that’s why I’m attracted to such things as ultra marathons, because they are such challenges.”

Looking back on his running tour of Jarden Corporation, Franklin reflects that many business units were inspired to start doing their own annual running events.

“I found a lot of people across our company that were inspiring. What I learned is the underlying willingness of people to want to be healthy. If you give them a catalyst, a reason, there’s a real desire.” He adds that numerous employees approached him to say “‘That was the first 5k that I’ve run. That was the first 10k I I’ve run. I never knew I could do it.’ That gave me a great feeling, and I’m sure that’s not going to be their last.”

In 2006 Dean Karnazes ran 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states. When Martin Franklin, the 45-year old CEO of a 2.76 billion dollar conglomerate called the Jarden Corporation, told his son about Karnazes’ mad running feat, the boy responded,  “You know, you should do that with your company.”

And so Franklin did. Only instead of running 50 marathons, through Friday, May 14 the executive is running ten 10ks in as many days—each one at a different Jarden facility around the United States.

“It turns out we were doing the kick off for what they call the Shape up the Nation Program,” Franklin explains. “Jarden is participating in it with the kicking off of our company wellness program. So we decided to launch it through what we call ‘Ten 10ks in Ten Days in 2010.’”

Two Brown University students founded Shape up the Nation four years ago when they observed that patients were most successful at losing weight, quitting smoking, and regularly exercising when they did so as part of a larger social network. Shape up the Nation works with employers like Jarden to facilitate such positive networking in the workplace. If all your friends and co-workers are going out for a walk or run at lunch, studies show that you are much more likely to do so, too.

Over the past week Franklin has been flying to ten Jarden locations around the U.S. and doing a 10k with employees at each one. “Starting in Boca Raton, Florida we did our first run. It was about 92 degrees and 375 employees came out out of a total of 420—which is tremendous turnout.” The London-born CEO has run in locations including Ohio, South Carolina, Missouri, Kansas and Kentucky.

Some Jarden employees of course, can’t miss an opportunity to go mano-a-mano with the big cheese. “Some of them are very competitive,” the good-natured Franklin recalls with a laugh.  “I didn’t intend to have six people beat me when we got to Seattle with K2!”

Yes, Jarden owns the iconic ski company, plus a lot of other products in your house and garage that you probably didn’t know came from a conglomerate that also runs Zoot Sports, Marmot, Coleman, Volkl, Crock-Pot, Marker, Rawlings and Bicycle—as in the poker playing cards. And these brands offer just a peek under the company’s enormous tent of consumer and industrial products.

Franklin’s 10ks bring employees together—in some cases, to the point of exchanging footwear. “I ran today in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, where we have Nuk, our baby bottle company,” Franklin recounts.

“We have an injection molding company there. The one guy that could really run didn’t have any running shoes. He didn’t own running shoes. So I asked him what size foot he has. He said size 10. So I took off my shoes. I had a pair of Zoot shoes on, good running shoes that were new. I said, try these. And he said, ‘Mr. Franklin I’ve never worn shoes so comfortable, these are great.’ I said, well, carry on running with them and I ran the last five and a half miles barefoot. It was kind of cool!”

Besides being a healthy role model for his employees—if an insanely-busy Franklin can make time to exercise, then anyone can—the company’s 5k walks and 10k runs create a sense of belonging. “It’s all in the spirit of bringing people together,” Franklin explains. “The spirit of it has been fantastic, and really good for morale.” In fact, one Coleman employee who joined Jarden’s Shape up the Nation program lost 160 pounds in ten months. To capitalize on natural human ambitions, participants get pedometers which then track competitions between business units and groups using metrics like most miles walked and weight lost.

“It’s good that they see that their leadership is not sitting behind a desk getting fat,” Franklin theorizes about the importance of practicing the good health he preaches. “That in fact we are living the lifestyle and really care about the wellness of the employees. It’s been inspirational for me as well as for them.”

Franklin’s run of 10k’s is no fluke. After playing soccer until he was 35, his brother encouraged him to enter a triathlon. To prepare, “I borrowed a bike and swam a few laps in a swimming pool.” He completed the Olympic-distance Westchester Triathlon (which Jarden now sponsors) “and absolutely loved it.” Franklin had the tri bug, bad.

Within two years he was doing half Ironmans. “And then I met a guy who said, ‘You could never do an Ironman.’ And that’s all you needed to say, so I signed up for the next Ironman I could get into.”

After completing Ironmans at Lake Placid and Kona, “I met  a guy from Zoot, the guy who controlled the brand, and he said, ‘Oh, Ironman is for wimps. You should try doing ultras.’” Martin set his sites on the baddest ultra out there, Badwater, a 135-mile run in the heat of summer from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney.  “So I tried to find out how to get into Badwater, and the guy who runs the race told me you have to have run 100 miles within 24 hours in the previous 12 months before you could even apply.”

North Carolina’s Hinson Lake 24-hour Ultra was the only 100 miler that fit into a work schedule that would seem to have the globe-trotting executive doing most of his running through airplane terminals. “I just ran around a lake, a 1.6-mile lake 66 times for about 22 hours. I was done at like 5:30 in the morning. I got changed and went over to do a factory visit at about eight in the morning in North Carolina where we have a firelog plant. I had to do it in a golf cart  because I couldn’t walk. That was my introduction to ultra marathons.”

After doing Badwater in 2007, Franklin completed the Leadville 100-mile trail run in Colorado, where he has a house in Aspen and is an acquaintance of fellow Aspenite Lance Armstrong.

Franklin does not train much. His job does not allow him the luxury of time. “The truth is, I don’t train that hard. I did one 32-mile run before Leadville and I did one 18-mile run before I ran the Boston Marathon.” He feels he does not have to train at extreme levels because he does endurance events for the experiences. “I’m in it for the camaraderie, I’m not in it to win. To me, all of these races are about crossing the finish line in one piece.” Asked to name his favorite leg of the triathlon and Franklin mirthfully responds: “The finish—the fourth leg.”

Granted, Franklin admits, if his day job were Armstrong’s, he would ratchet-up his training to the seven-time Tour winner’s zealous level. But as someone who is paid to guide 25,000 employees around the globe, “I’m not fanatical. I don’t watch my calorie intake that closely. I have a good martini every evening and I’m one who believes that you live life because it’s relatively short. My day job is inspiring others.”

Written By: Mario Fraioli

Standing out in her yellow singlet on the left side of the TV screen, Heidi Westover of Walpole, New Hampshire was right in the mix during the early miles of Monday’s Boston Marathon.

Westover hit the 5K mark in 17:12, just two seconds off the women’s lead pack. She was the second American through the halfway point in Wellesley in 1:16:35 – three seconds behind Lomita, California’s Mary Akor – and eventually went on to finish as the top New Englander and fourth American in 2:39:14, good for 18^th overall in the women’s race.

“It’s a great accomplishment,” Westover said of being the first New Englander across the finish line. “I’m very excited about that. I’m a fourth and fifth grade teacher and I’m excited to go home and share it with my kids.”

Westover, who represented the United States at the World Half Marathon Championship last October, came into the race with a personal best of 2:35:04, set last May at the Vermont City Marathon. After a fast start, Westover hit the halfway point ahead of schedule but fell off pace heading into the Newton Hills. Despite some disappointment with her time, Westover was happy with her aggressive effort on Monday and walked away from the race with no regrets.

“That was the goal,” Westover said of trying to better her previous personal best. “It’s disappointing that I didn’t get that but there’s always opportunity again. I went out strong and was just hoping for the best all the way through. If I kept it a little slower in the beginning I would have had a little bit more for the end, which would have been helpful.”

Falmouth, Maine’s Sheri Piers, the top American woman at last year’s Boston, finished just over a minute behind Westover in 2:40:46 to place second amongst New Englanders. The 38-year old was the third American across the finish line and 22^nd overall in the women’s race. Michelle Sarney of West Bridgewater, Massachusetts was the third New Englander across the finish line, placing 40^th amongst women in 2:52:26.

In the men’s race for local bragging rights, 26-year-old law school student Lucas Meyer of Ridgefield, Connecticut made his first marathon a memorable one, crossing the finish line in 2:21:29, good for 24^th overall.

“This was my first marathon so I didn’t have too many expectations,” said Meyer, a member the Boston Athletic Association racing team. “I wanted to run 2:16 to 2:18 and I was right on pace through halfway but I crashed hard the last eight miles. It was a tough day but a good experience.”

Meyer, a former cross country and track American at Yale who qualified for the 2008 Olympic Trials in the steeplechase, took advantage of his association with the BAA and relative proximity to the race course to go for a few training runs along Boston’s revered roads. Despite some familiarity with the terrain, Newton’s unforgiving hills did a number on Meyer’s unsuspecting legs.

“I came up to Boston three times for long runs or a hard workout on the course,” Meyer said. “I saw the course, so no excuses, but my quads just were not prepared.”

Scott Rowe of Dover, New Hampshire was the next New England male across the finish line, placing 35th overall in 2:24:34. David Bedoya, a 33 year old from Somerville, Massachusetts representing the Greater Boston Track Club, rounded out the top three New Englanders, running 2:25:19 to place 37th.

[sig:MarioFraioli]

If one had to come up with one thing to make Boston Marathon weekend even better, it
could only be … more races! So, that’s what the organizing Boston Athetic Association did.
Better yet, they made the series of invitational road miles – instigated in 2009 – even more
alluring by drawing the fields for the middle school and scholastic races from the eight
cities and towns along the Boston Marathon course. Icing on the cake, were the world
class athletes who arrived to contest the elite men’s and women’s races.

Chilly temperatures and a steady drizzle did nothing to minimize the intensity of the
competition which generated as much heat among the hundreds of vocal spectators in
the bleachers as it did on the slick, three lap course – starting on Boylston Street near the
Marathon finish line, and finishing at the famed line itself.

From the first boys’ event of the day, the Boy’s Middle School 1000m – an addition to the
program this year and abbreviated in deference to the age group (6th to 8th grade) – the
competitive standard of the day was evident. Jamal Forrest from Framingham hammered
off the starting line and stayed aggressive all the way around the first lap, passing under
the finish banner and taking the bell with 1:23 on the clock. The field in his wake was far
from intimidated, though. As Forrest began to feel the effects around the second lap, Alcy
Torres, Andrew Rogers and Caleb Winn edged their way to the forefront, setting the
stage for a blistering charge to the line in the final 60m straight. As the leaders took the
final left turn off of Exeter Street and on to Boylston, Winn injected a surge that was
unanswerable. Gaining ground with each passing meter, the rangy Natick resident
crossed the line in 3:10.5. Torres took second in 3:12.6 and Rogers third in 3:13.5.
Forrest, the early leader, faded in the final stages, ultimately walking across the line in
4:02.8.

The Boy’s Scholastic Mile (grades nine to 12) was similarly intense. Ben Groleau from
Framingham took the lead from the gun, but he was closely shadowed at every step by
Ezra Lichtman and Yuji Wakimoto, both from Newton. With one lap completed and two
remaining, and a split of 1:36, Groleau still held the lead, though with his two shadows
still paying very close attention. One may have felt that Groleau, always the aggessor,
was setting the scene for his own demise. One may have felt that; one may have been
wrong. Around the second lap, things changed little. The clock showed a split of 3:12 and
the leaders held tight formation. Closest to the action was Tim Robinson from Wellesley,
eight meters back; but, with only one lap remaining, for him to get on terms with the
frontrunners would have taken a super-human effort.

At the front of the field, Groleau looked composed and in control. While Wakimoto and
Lichtman may have held hopes of denying him once the finish line came into sight for the
final time, Groleau was not about to let it slip from his grasp when it mattered most. As
the finish line swept into sight, he lifted his stride and injected a kick to which nobody had
an answer. As he broke the finish tape, his time of 4:40.3 gave him almost a one second
advantage on Lichtman (4:41.1) who was comfortably ahead of Wakimoto (4:43.7).

The Elite Men’s Mile held all the drama that one would expect when a gang of world class
middle distance men get together to compete for a $3000 first place prize. Though the
slick under-foot conditions gave some cause for concern, none of that was evident as the
group of seven launched themselves away from the starting line and into the first turn.
Markos Geneti from Ethiopia inched his way to the forefront, but it was with no daylight
over field, which held close through the first lap, passed in 1:28.

It was all parry and thrust around lap two, though with no decisive moves, and the entire
field held tight as they passed beneath the finish line with 2:51 on the clock. At that stage,
Great Britain’s Mark Draper held the lead, but it was by the width of one of his shoelaces.
With just one to go and everything to race for, it was a high speed waiting game.

It was only in the home straight that matters were definitively decided, which seems to be
the way it should be in a road mile of this caliber. Charging into the straight, Geneti held
the lead, but with Great Britain’s Andrew Baddeley, winner of the 2009 Fifth Avenue Mile,
immediately on his shoulder. In the straight, they were so close that the two leaders
bumped; but, these things happen at high speed. Geneti charged hard for the tape, but
Baddeley was the man with the wheels. As they fought for the line, the Briton eked a
distinct advantage, stopping the clock at 4:08.6 to the Ethiopian’s 4:08.8. Ireland’s Alistair
Cregg took third in 4:09.04.

As a warm up for the following day’s Boston Marathon, the BAA Invitational Miles could
hardly have been better. Superb competition across all age groups, a finish beneath an
iconic banner, in front of a hoard of enthusiastic spectators – it’s a familiar formula, and a
perfect preamble for the world’s most celebrated marathon.

Written By: Mario Fraioli

Because he was already in Boston to do some promotional work for a few of his sponsors this weekend, Josh Cox decided on Saturday night that he might as well feed off the energy of the electric atmosphere around him and participate in a local road race on Sunday morning.   

Cox, who hasn’t raced since running 2:13:51 (for a second-place result) at the Cal International Marathon in December, lined up at the start of the second annual BAA 5K and led from the sound of the starter’s horn to top the field of 5,000 in a winning time of 14:31. He is preparing to run the 56-mile Comrades Marathon in South Africa on May 30 and used Sunday’s race as a tune-up of sorts before contesting the Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon next weekend in Nashville.

“I thought the 5K would be a great way to loosen up the legs, bust some rust and get the legs turning over,” Cox said. “It’s so exciting to be here this weekend. You get caught up in the excitement of it all and I wanted to be part of the action. It’s a way for everyone to get involved and be in on some of the action.”

For a couple of top local runners who were hoping to battle it out for bragging rights on Sunday morning, it came as something of a surprise to see an athlete of Cox’s caliber standing next to them on the starting line the day before Boston’s biggest race of the year.

“Yeah, I was definitely thrown off,” said the Boston Athletic Association’s Brian Harvey, who finished 14 seconds behind Cox to take second place overall. “I don’t know a lot about him but I know he runs with Ryan Hall. It’s good to have good competition but he was out front from the start.”

“I thought I could hang a little bit,” added Keene, New Hampshire’s Mark Miller, who finished third in 15:00. “And then I started feeling redline city around 1,200 into it and had to re-evaluate the situation.”

Still, Miller was excited to be part of the action on Sunday and said that the energy of the crowds along the course inspired him to run the main event on Marathon weekend in 2010.

“When I walked in here this morning I said sign me up for next year,” Miller said. “I’m definitely going to do the marathon next year. It’s too good of a vibe not to be a part of in some capacity and I can only imagine how electric it would be on a Monday.”

Jennifer Campbell, a 26-year-old from Watertown, Massacusetts, won the women’s race in a course-record of 16:52, almost 45 seconds ahead of the course standard established by the Boston Athletic Association’s Maria Varela last year.

Campbell, who trailed second-place finisher Jeannette Seckinger of Somerville, Massachusetts through two miles, pulled away over the final third of the race to win by eight seconds.

“This is a great event to be part of during marathon weekend,” Campbell said. “It’s a great crowd out there and great competition. It was awesome.”

Wet and Wild Miles

A cold rain, wet roads and tight turns aren’t ideal conditions for a fast mile, but Andrew Baddeley didn’t let any of that bother him one bit.

The 27-year-old from Great Britain blasted the final turn onto Boylston Street and inched out Ethiopian Markos Geneti by two tenths of a second to win the men’s professional race at the second-annual BAA Invitational Mile in a course-record of 4:08.6.

“I was comfortable and I had quite a lot left,” said, who took home $5,000 for his efforts. “The crowds were amazing considering it was hammering down rain, it’s freezing cold out and you can see your breath. It went by very quickly.”

In the women’s race, Morgan Uceny pulled away from Mammoth Club teammate Sara Hall halfway through the last lap on the three-lap course and held on to win in 4:43, seven tenths of a second ahead of the second-place Hall

“I was trying to save some energy the first couple laps and just relax in the last lap,” Uceney said “I was kind of antsy. I just wanted to push it to make sure that coming around those turns nobody could make a move on me.”

Hall, who took the lead heading into the race’s last lap, couldn’t respond to Ulceney’s final move, but was excited for the opportunity to inspire Monday’s marathoners with her effort.

“I just tried as best I could to cover Morgan’s move,” Hall said. “She made a really strong move. Hopefully we could bring some inspiration for the marathoners out here watching. I felt like that was our role today.”

In the high school races, Framingham’s Ben Groleau pulled away from Ezra Lictman and Yuji Wakimoto, both of Newton, with 200 meters to go to win the boys race in 4:40.3. Groleau, who finished tenth in this race last year, was unexpectedly excited with his winning effort on Sunday.

“This is incredible,” said. “I would never have expected to do this well in a race of this magnitude.”

On the girls side, Melanie Fineman of Newton proved she was the tops in the town, winning a close race over fellow Newtonite Margo Gillis. Fineman, who followed Gillis’ fast pace from the get-go, crossed the finish line in a winning time of 5:10.9, four tenths of a second ahead of her cross-town rival.

“It was a really, really fast race,” Fineman said. “I was really lucky she was in the race. We worked together throughout the race and then I just dug deep and I kicked at the end.”

Josh Cox says Ryan Hall is ready to win.

Ryan Hall’s closest running buddy says he is ready to win in Boston Monday.

Interview by: Matt Fitzgerald

Few people know Ryan Hall better as a runner and as a person than his close friend, teammate, and frequent training partner Josh Cox. An accomplished marathoner in his on right, Cox can offer a unique perspective on Hall’s preparations and readiness for Monday’s Boston Marathon. Cox took a break from his preparations for the May 30 Comrades Ultramarathon to share that perspective with us.

Competitor.com: How much training did you do with Ryan in this training cycle?

Josh Cox: He’s been back in Boston for a couple of weeks, but before that we did a fair number of runs together. Early on I did a fair amount of training with him—intervals and long runs and all sorts of stuff. But as my training got more specific to Comrades and his training got more specific to Boston we didn’t overlap as much. We did a lot of our maintenance runs together but not a lot of the hard sessions.

From your perspective, how well did this marathon ramp-up go for Ryan?

It went well. Every marathon buildup is different. Terrence [Mahon, who is Hall’s and Cox’s shared coach] is always tweaking things, and they did that with this build-up, so it’s hard to make apples-to-apples comparisons with past ones. Boston is different from a Chicago or a Berlin, where it’s essentially a time trial, so the training is a lot more simple. You just build the engine and get as fast as you can get. There’s not a lot of strategy. You just get really fit and try to hold on to the pace. Whereas in a championship race like a Boston or a New York, there is a lot of strategy. In Boston, your split at halfway if you’re in the lead group could be 1:02 or it could be 1:05.

After Boston last year Ryan commented on how uneven the pace was. They would run 4:20 pace for 600 meters and then settle back into 5:00 pace. That kind of running is what makes the Africans so good—they do a lot of it in their programs. So this time Ryan did a lot of work where the pace was being toyed with a little bit. We’d do 1,000-meter repeats with the middle 400 at 62 to 65 seconds and then we’d settle back in.

So his buildup has gone well, but we had a tough winter in Mammoth and we were driving down [to lower elevations to train] almost every single day. Getting out of the altitude and going to Boston to spend time on the course is going to reap big dividends for him. We’ve been messaging each other often over the last couple weeks and I know things have gone really well for him there. I think it bodes well.

He’s still a young marathoner. He’s very, very, very talented. I know that he will win Boston someday. Will it be this year? Who knows? It has to come together on race day. It took so many years for Meb [Keflezighi, who trains on the Mammoth Track Club with Hall and Cox] to finally win that marathon major. He was the silver-dressed bridesmaid for so many races, and people always asked, “When is he finally going to win?” And he finally did, and I know that day will come for Ryan as well.

Were there any noteworthy setbacks in his training?

He battled a cold, but everyone on our team did. But it wasn’t anything super bad. Meb had his knee tweaked. If I had to choose one or the other, I’d take the sickness. Because if you’re healthy, the legs are feeling good, everything’s good. Also, it can be a blessing in disguise, because you ease back on the hard sessions and the body can really recover.

He only did one tune-up race—the Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Half Marathon in January, which didn’t go very well for him. Did that bother him much or did he shrug it off?

He shook it off. It’s hard to even call that a tune-up race. It was more of a rust buster. It was so early. We hadn’t even done any workouts. We’d just had the holidays, and he was running, but he still wasn’t doing the tempos the way that he’d do in his build-up. It was just a chance for him to get out and race. And [Simon] Bairu comes in and he’s super fit, and he ran a great race. Simon’s a great runner, and I take nothing away from his win there, but Ryan wasn’t anywhere near peak fitness.

More generally, do you have a sense that Ryan sees himself as being in a bit of a rut? His first two marathons were very satisfying for him, but it doesn’t seem he’s been as well satisfied with his last few marathons.

It’s hard, because Ryan has the ability to hit the 500-foot homerun. People see that and they go, “Where’s the next Houston [referring to the place where Hall set his American half marathon record of 59:43]? Where’s the 2:06? But when you run 2:06:17 [as Hall did at the 2008 Flora London Marathon], there’s not a lot of room to improve. That is a phenomenal time. People are talking about a rut when Ryan just placed third and fourth, respectively, in Boston and New York. That’s a testament to how great a runner Ryan is. To even have this conversation—“Do you feel you’re in a rut that you have to break out of?”—Dude, the guy was podium last year in Boston!

Sure, Ryan wants to win, and wants to keep the upward trajectory. But with any kind of endurance sport, things take time. And you need that race-day magic. You need things to come together. Ryan was as fit as he had ever been going into New York. It’s all there. But unfortunately, in our business, you get judged on two days of work a year. The guarantee you get with Ryan is that you know that every single time he gets out there, he will do everything in his power to have that great performance, but how do you find that race-day magic on those two days a year when you have these big events? That’s the real trick.

There’s probably no better indicator of whether a runner is ready to produce a great performance than confidence. How is Ryan’s confidence level at this point?

I think it’s really good. I think going to Boston [early] has been good for him. Getting on the course and getting familiar with it—he’s done repeats, he’s done long runs, he’s done tempos on the course, and I think it’s really helped his psyche. Hopefully on race day it comes together. Ryan will have a shot to win in Boston.

[sgi:MattFitzgerald]

Written by: Tim Mickleborough, PhD

Dear Speed Lab,

Do you know if a change in sports drink flavor during exercise can affect exercise performance? I know that Speed Lab has previously discussed the influence of carbohydrate mouth rinses on performance, but I wonder whether much has been done on the flavor of a drink.

David Adams

Chapel Hill, N.C.

David,

Studies have investigated the effects of drink flavor on ad libitum (i.e. voluntary) fluid consumption during exercise in order to minimize the effects of dehydration. Wilk, et al., observed that boys voluntarily drank significantly more grape-flavored water than plain water in the heat and consequently became less dehydrated with the flavored option.1 Interestingly, however, subjects drank even more and prevented dehydration altogether when provided a grape-flavored beverage that also contained carbohydrate. It appears, then, that flavor is not the only factor that affects voluntary drinking rates during exercise.

Is is more common to think about which type of drink to take in, not the flavor. Photo: Jay Prasuhn

A more recent study by Chambers, et al., provides indirect evidence that the presence of carbohydrate in a sports drink may increase voluntary drinking rates by activating a reward center in the brain.2 However, this study did not involve actual sports drink consumption, but was a follow-up study to the carbohydrate mouth rinse study you referenced in your question. This study investigated how rinsing the mouth with solutions containing glucose and maltodextrin, disguised with artificial sweetener, would affect exercise performance. The second aim was to use functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify the brain regions activated by these substances.

The cyclists completed a cycle time trial significantly faster when rinsing their mouths with a 6.4 percent glucose solution compared with a placebo containing saccharin. The corresponding fMRI study revealed that oral exposure to glucose activated reward-related brain regions, including the anterior cingulate cortex and striatum, which were unresponsive to saccharin. Finally, the endurance-trained cyclists tested the effect of rinsing with a 6.4 percent maltodextrin solution on exercise performance, showing it to significantly reduce the time to complete the cycle time trial compared to an artificially sweetened placebo. The authors concluded that there may be a class of currently unidentified oral receptors that respond to CHO independently of those for sweetness.

Only two studies have directly investigated the effect of a drink-flavor change on exercise performance when beverage volume and CHO content were controlled. Carter, et al.,4 showed that drink sweetness did not affect endurance cycling performance compared with an unsweetened but CHO-matched control drink. However, the different beverage flavors were provided to the athletes at the beginning of each exercise session rather than as a flavor change during exercise. Subsequently, Desbrow, et al.,5 investigated whether changing flavor of a beverage administered during endurance cycling would improve exercise performance. They found that changing drink flavor caused no change in heart rate, blood glucose, ratings of perceived exertion or cycling performance.

There is one other study that may have relevance to your question. Cox and colleagues showed that time-trial performance improved when switching from a CHO-containing sports drink to Coca-Cola during the latter stages of a 2.5-hour cycling bout. While the authors attributed the performance increase to the ergogenic effects of caffeine and glucose, it is possible that drink flavor may in part be responsible for the performance improvement.

References:

1. Wilk B, Bar-Or O. Effect of drink flavor and NaCL on voluntary drinking and hydration in boys exercising in the heat. J Appl Physiol. 1996 Apr;80(4):1112-7

2 Chamber, E.S., M.W. Bridge and D.A. Jones. “Carbohydrate sensing in the human mouth: effects on exercise performance and brain activity.” The Journal of Physiology. 587 (2009): 1779-1794.

3. Cox, G., B. Desbrow, P. Montgomery et al. “Effect of different protocols of caffeine intake on metabolism and endurance performance.” Journal of Applied Physiology. 93 (2002): 990-999.

4. Carter, J., A. Jeukendrup and D. Jones. “The effect of sweetness on the efficacy of carbohydrate supplementation during exercise in the heat.” Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology. 30 (2005): 379-391.

5. Desbrow, B., C. Minahan and M. Leveritt. “Drink-flavor change’s lack of effect on endurance cycling performance in trained athletes.” International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. 17 (2007): 315-327.

Spirulina is microalgae, powdery and brilliantly green, that is touted as a “superfood” because of its nutrient profile, which includes a lot of protein, vitamin B-12, the essential fatty acid GLA, beta-carotene, iron, and other vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. It is sold in powder and capsule forms as a nutritional supplement to be added to smoothies and such.

While it is not often claimed that spirulina affects exercise performance, a team of Greek researchers went ahead and investigated the effects of spirulina on running performance. Nine moderately trained male subjects received either supplemental spirulina or placebo daily for four weeks. Before and after this intervention, all of the subjects ran on a treadmill at 70-75 percent VO₂max for two hours and then at 95 percent VO₂max to failure. The whole experiment was then repeated with subject who received spirulina the first time receiving placebo the second time and vice versa.

On average, subjects were able to run more than 30 percent longer after spirulina supplementation (about two minutes and 40 seconds with spirulina versus 2:03 without). Researchers also found that spirulina supplementation increased fat oxidation and reduced carbohydrate oxidation during the two-hour run and reduced oxidative stress and increased antioxidant activity after exercise.

It is possible that spirulina supplementation enhanced performance in the high-intensity portion of the workout by reducing carbohydrate use and thus leaving more carbohydrate available. But spirulina’s antioxidant affects may also have played a role in boosting endurance at 95 percent VO₂max, as free radical build-up in the muscles during exercise is an underappreciated cause of fatigue.

The study was published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

I don’t have the kind of ego that leads me to believe that the world was waiting to read what I had to say. Quite the opposite, I’ve been surprised every month that ANYONE wanting to read what I had to say. But people did want to read. You wanted to read. And here we are nearly 14 years later looking forward to a new chapter in my life, and yours.

But, before I say goodbye I’d like to take a minute to recognize and thank the people to whom I owe so much. It is not an overstatement to say that without these people I’d still be the music department chairman at Middle Tennessee State University.

First, Marlene Cimons; writer for the LA Times and member, in 1995, of the then secret “Dead Runners Society”. DRS, as it was called, was one of the first internet-based running community. It was a mail server – which I still don’t understand – and I started posting email descriptions of some of my running and racing experiences. Marlene saw something and forwarded a bunch of them to Amby Burfoot.

So the next thank you goes to Amby, then editor of Runner’s World magazine. For reasons known only to him he decided to give a completely unknown writer, who was a slow runner, a full editorial page in Runner’s World. Why he thought anyone would relate to a former overweight smoker-drinker is a mystery for the ages. But he did. And I’m grateful.

In his next move of insanity, Amby assigned Mark Will-Weber to be my first editor. Mark, collegiate running coach, 2:22 marathoner, old-school, nylon-shorts, runner was going to have to edit columns about the joys and advantages of running slowly. I’m sure Mark was being punished. What I learned from Mark was the skill of being succinct. Why say in 25 words what you can just as effectively say in 10. Thank you, Mark.

Susan Lindfors was my next editor. Susan is a singer/song writer who took my words and turned them into lyrics. The columns were never more beautiful then when Susan edited them. Thank you, Susan.

Mark Remy, who is still a big part of the editorial team at RunnersWorld.com was – sorry Mark – the smartest person who ever edited the column. I’d read his edits and smile. He was WAY smarter than me and it showed. There are columns in the “Mark” years that are much, much better than the ones I wrote.Thanks Mark.

Jane Hahn had maybe the most difficult job. She edited the column while Runner’s World underwent a nearly complete editorial change. She was charged not with just editing the column, but protecting the voice. With the removal of the penguin character and the change in the column title Jane had the nearly impossible task of keeping the continuity of the message while navigating through a new paradigm. She did a masterful job. Thank you, Jane.

There have been a few others who have taken their turns at editing the column. Catherine Gunderson, Jay Heinrich, and Joanna Sayago among them. Each has brought their unique skills and perspective to my words. I thank them all.

But, the time has come to move on. Beginning in March of this year you’ll be able to read “The Penguin Chronicles” again in Competitor Magazine. Look for it in your local running specialty stores and at other sports outlets. I’m looking forward to reintroducing “The Penguin Chronicles” to a new readership and welcoming home the current readers.  Together we will discover the path that we’re on.

You’ll also find an archive of old columns and two weekly blogs at johnbingham.competitor.com

Waddle over, friends. I’ll be waiting for you.

John

John “the Penguin” Bingham, Competitor Magazine columnist
Author, The Courage to Start, No Need for Speed, Marathoning for Mortals and Running for Mortals.

Have a question for John? E-mail it to thepenguin@johnbingham.com.

2009 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon winner Caroline Rotich of Kenya. Photo by: PhotoRun.

There was hot running on a cold day in Sin City.

Written by: Mario Fraioli

Despite live bands, white Bengal tigers, dancing girls and a pre-race fireworks display, it was a pair of Kenyans who stole the show Sunday morning at the inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon.

Taking her first stab at the 26.2-mile distance, Caroline Rotich pulled away from pre-race favorite Russian Alevtina Ivanova over the final five kilometers, breaking the tape in a winning time of 2:29:47 to outdistance Ivanova by 18 seconds. Rotich pocketed $15,000 as the women’s champion and another $10,000 for winning the Gender Challenge as the first person–male or female–to cross the finish line. As part of the Gender Challenge, the elite women received a 20-minute head start on the main field of 27,600 runners.

“I was like ‘Oh, this is good, this is going to be really good for me,’” Rotich said. “I was really happy.”

Rotich, who trailed Ivanova by 33 seconds at the halfway point, simply followed her coach’s advice to stick to her prescribed pace in the race’s early stages and not push until the final 10 kilometers. It was a plan that the marathon rookie Rotich executed to perfection.

“My coach told me not to push really hard the first half,” Rotich recalled. “I was trying to keep my pace and

Men's marathon winner Christopher Toroitich. Photo by: PhotoRun.

not push hard, and then after 20 miles I tried to push a little harder. In mile 23 I saw (Romanova) and I was just trying to get in front of her. She was so fast so I was like ‘oh maybe I’m not going to make it but I’m going to be consistent on my way’. It was my first time in Las Vegas and my first time running a marathon. I thought this maybe was going to be a good race for me.”

Sara Raschiatore of Clermont, Florida was the top American women, finishing 8th overall in 2:51:17 and taking home $1,000 for her efforts.

On the men’s side, it was Rotich’s countryman, Christopher Toroitich, who took home the top prize, crossing the finish line in 2:15:15, just over a minute ahead of Ethiopian Terefae Yae who finished in 2:16:42.

“The weather was very bad–too cold,” Toroitich said. “My muscles were not responding very well. I’m not so happy with my time but I’m going to improve on it next time.”

Despite the unusually cold and windy conditions, Toroitich ran aggressively from the get-go, tugging the main field through the halfway point in 1:06:23. At the 20-mile mark he led a chase pack of seven runners by almost 2 minutes, an advantage Yae chipped away at over the final ten kilometers but could never completely close.

“When we hit 30 kilometers I thought maybe I can win,” Toroitich said. “If they get me no problem, if I win it, it’s OK.”

Stephen Haas of Indianapolis, Indiana took home $1,000 as the top American to make it across the finish line, completing the 26.2 miles in 2:18:45, one minute and three seconds ahead of Colorado’s Justin Young. Haas, who qualified for the 2012 Olympic Trials by finishing under 2:19 in today’s race, caught up to Young just after the 20-mile mark and put a minute on him over the final 10K.

In the accompanying half marathon, Ethiopian Bekana Daba beat out Mexican Abel Chavez by a little more than a minute, setting a course standard of 1:01:40 while taking home $3,000 for the victory. Daba, who was making his debut half marathon, won the Carlsbad 5,000 earlier this year and boasts a track PR of 12:59 for the distance.

Ethiopia's Bekana Daba, winner of the men's half marathon. Photo by: PhotoRun.

“It was good competition,” Daba said about the half marathon field. “And it was very cold. I warmed up but not enough. This is my first half marathon and I think I will do well in the future at this distance. I am happy.”

26-year-old Fernando Cabada of Boulder, Colorado was the top American male, finishing sixth in the 1:04:56. Cabada, the 2008 US Champion in the marathon who ran the ninth fastest debut marathon by an American (2:12:27) at Fukuoka in 2007, is training for the Rock-N-Roll Arizona Marathon in Phoenix—Scottsdale—Tempe on January 17, 2010. He qualified for the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials by finishing under 65 minutes in today’s race.

An Ethiopian also won the women’s race, as Werknesh Kidane crossed the finish line in 1:10:55, a minute and nineteen seconds ahead of American Desiree Davila from the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project in Rochester Hills, Michigan.

“It was a nice race,” Kidane said. “But it was very cold and I was happy to win.”

This was the inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon and Half Marathon, powered by Zappos.com and benefitting the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. Over 27,000 runners were registered for both races–up almost 15,000 from the Zappos.com Las Vegas Marathon and Half Marathon in 2008.

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Meb winning the 2009 NYC Marathon. Photo: PhotoRun.net

Mebrahtom “Meb” Keflezighi becomes the first American winner of the ING New York City Marathon since 1982.

Click here for photos.

There was a lot of talk about a possible American winner of the 2009 ING New York City Marathon on Sunday. Most of that talk centered on Ryan Hall, but it was 2004 Olympic Marathon silver medalist Meb Keflezighi who pulled off the feat. His winning time was 2:09:14

Meb was not the whole story, however. This year’s New York City Marathon also served as the USA Men’s Marathon Championship. Most of the top male American marathon runners were present, and they acquitted themselves brilliantly. After faltering on 1^st Avenue, Hall regrouped and clawed his way up to fourth place. In all, six Americans made the top 10.

On the women’s side, in a slow, sparse race, it was Ethiopia’s great Derartu Tulu who finally claimed a victory no one seemed to want, breaking the tape at 2:28:52. Heavy pre-race favorite Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain, the three-time and defending New York City Marathon champion, struggled with a leg injury and finished fourth.

Tulu wins the 2009 NYC Marathon. Photo: PhotoRun.net

The Women’s Race

Conditions at the time of the women’s race start at 9:15 AM were pretty good: the temperature was 52°F, the skies were overcast and the ground was dry. It was only a stiff breeze that kept the conditions from being ideal for marathoning.

At the horn, Radcliffe shot straight to the front and the rest of the elite women’s field fell in—obediently, it seemed—behind her. Radcliffe had announced before the race that she would attempt to break Kenyan Margaret Okayo’s women’s course record of 2:22:31, set in 2003, and it was clear from the seeming reluctance with which her rivals followed her from Staten Island into Brooklyn that, if she achieved her goal, she would have to run alone much of the way.

It is very difficult to chase fast times in a marathon without anyone to push you, however, and by the 5K mark—reached in 17:55—Radcliffe’s secondary goal already seemed out of reach.

Her primary goal was, of course, to win. As if Radcliffe did not have it easy enough in that regard, facing the weakest women’s elite field in memory, between three and four miles, her two strongest rivals—Kenya’s Salina Kosgei, the reigning Boston Marathon champion, and Japan’s Yuri Kano, a 68-minute half marathoner—got their feet tangled up and fell hard to the pavement. Kosgei was up and back with the group quickly. Kano resumed running but never recovered.

Dissatisfied with her early pace, Radcliffe accelerated over the second 5K, which she ran in 17:20, whittling the lead pack down to six runners in the process. Among them were American Magdalena Lewy Boulet; Christelle Daunay of France, a 2:31 performer; Ethiopia’s Deratu Tulu; 41-year-old Ludmila Petrova of Russia, the 2000 New York City Marathon winner; and Kosgei, who was bleeding from the left knee as a result of her fall and looked to be in pain.

Having found a comfortable groove, Radcliffe stuck with it, covering the next 5K in 12:23 and reaching the 15K mark in 52:38. First to fall off the back was Lewy Boulet, but not because of any change in pace. In fact, the pace slowed slightly as Radcliffe led four others past the halfway mark in 1:14:04. By this point it was Daunay who looked most comfortable in the group, but Radcliffe never looks especially comfortable.

Radcliffe ran miles 14 and 15 so slowly, in 5:47 and 5:48 respectively, that Daunay almost had no choice but to pull onto her shoulder and share the lead. Even so, a grimacing Kosgei began to fall behind.

On the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan, Daunay began to press the pace slightly and immediately put the other women under pressure. All five reformed a pack on 1^st Avenue, but Daunay had established her strength. Radcliffe seemed to decide that this was unacceptable and tried to reclaim her dominance over the group, moving back to the front and running the 16^th mile in 5:31.

The final four stayed glued together as they slogged their way toward and into the Bronx. It was amazing to watch as all four basically blew up in unison, slowing to 5:50 in mile 20 and 5:53 in mile 21. A door was being opened wide, but none of the women had the wherewithal to walk through.

As the women approached the entrance to Central Park, Radcliffe drifted to the rear of the group as her form fell apart. It was Petrova who hit the park first, a step ahead of Daunay and Tulu. Petrova decided the time was right to make her move and attacked the hills. Daunay broke while Tulu hung tough. Behind Petrova and Tulu, an incredibly gutsy Radcliffe began to catch a fading Daunay.

With 800 meters to go, Tulu exploded ahead, and the race was over.

“I tried not to win but to challenge others,” she said.

Women’s Top 10

1. Derartu Tulu (Ethiopia) – 2:28:52

2. Ludmilla Petrova (Russia) – 2:29:00

3. Christelle Daunay (France) – 2:29:16

4. Paula Radcliffe (Great Britain) – 2:29:46

5. Salina Kosgei (Kenya) – 2:31:53

6. Magdalena Lewy Boulet – 2:32:17

7. Buzunesh Deba (Ethiopia) 2:35:54

8. Serkalem Biset Abrha (Ethiopia) – 2:37:20

9. Yuri Kano (Japan) – 2:39:05

10. Desiree Ficker (USA) – 2:39:30

Meb powering home through Central Park. PhotoRun.net

The Men’s Race

The men’s race started 30 minutes after the women’s. Abderrahime Bouramdane of Morocco, the 2008 Boston Marathon runner-up; 2004 and 2005 New York City Marathon winner Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa; and Kenya’s Patrick Makau, owner of history’s second-fastest half marathon time, led a large pack of elite men over the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.

An impatient Bouramdane went off the front alone on Brooklyn’s 4^th Avenue between the second and third mile marks. Less than two kilometers later, though, he had been swallowed up by an elite selection of 17 runners. Among them were five Americans: Ryan Hall, Meb Keflezighi, Bolota Asmerom, Abdi Abdirahman and Jorge Torres.

Makau kept the pace honest, running the sixth mile in 4:52 and leading the group through 10K in a respectable time of 31:02. Over the next mile, almost imperceptibly, Makau eased away from the group, and then Bouramdane took over again and built a lead of his own. On the approach to the 15K mark, which Bouramdane reached in 46:19, it was the American duo of Hall and Keflezighi who teamed up to lead the charge to reel in the Moroccan. By the 10-mile mark, Bouramdane, Hall and Meb were sharing the lead.

At this point the lead pack was down to 13 runners, and all five of the top Americans were still there. It was looking likely that the overall men’s race and the USA Men’s Marathon Championship results would be all mixed up.

Bouramdane surged again as the pack approach the halfway point, but this time his rivals did not allow him to establish more than a nominal gap. He hit 13.1 miles at 1:05:07, with 11 others (Asmerom had begun to drop off) just a few seconds in arrears.

Surprisingly, as the men climbed the slope of the Queensboro Bridge, it was defending champion Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil who lost contact with the pack. As he always seems to do, Ramaala threw the hammer down as the group merged onto 1^st Avenue and instantly strung out the group. Only Bouramdane, Kenyans Kwambai, Jackson Kipkoech and Cheruiyot were able to answer as Ramaala ran a 4:43 17^th mile. Hall, Meb and others showed wise patience, though, and were eventually able to catch up. The lead group was now down to nine.

Smelling blood, the strongest of the nine—including Cheruiyot and his training partner Kwambai—continued to press, running the next mile in 4:37, and soon Beijing silver medalist Jaouad Gharib, Hall, Abdirahman and Torres had become unhitched. Keflezighi was the only American with enough left in the tank to hang on. Kwambai was next to lose contact, leaving Meb, Bouramdane, and Cheruiyot to sort out the podium.

Keflezighi made a gutsy surge at 22 miles, and Bouramdane and Kwambai struggled to respond. Cheruiyot not only responded but threw in a surge of his own, and Meb thought it best to tuck in behind him. Shortly after entering the park, the American struck. Cheruiyot tried gamely to hit back, but within moments he was looking back to check on the security of his hold on second place—a sure sign that the race belonged to Keflezighi.

Behind them, Keflezighi’s training partner Ryan Hall dug deep and moved up from seventh to fourth place. Keflezighi pointed alternately to the letters “USA” on his singlet and to the sky as he raced down the final stretch to the finish line, Cheruiyot now almost out of sight behind him.

After crossing the finish line, Keflezighi wept. “I cried for Ryan Shay,” he later explained, referring to his late friend and training partner, who collapsed and died while running the 2008 USA Olympic Team Trials Marathon in Central Park.

Men’s Top 10

1. Meb Keflezighi (USA) – 2:09:14

2. Robert Cheruiyot (Kenya) – 2:09:56

3. Jaouad Gharib (Morocco) – 2:10:25

4. Ryan Hall (USA) – 2:10:45

5. Abderrahime Bouramdane (Morocco) – 2:12:14

6. Hendrick Ramaala (South Africa) – 2:12:31

7. Jorge Torres (USA) – 2:13:00

8. Nick Arciniaga (USA) 2:13:46

9. Abdi Abdirahman (2:14:00)

10. Jason Lehmkuhle (2:14:39)

By Julie Kailus

Your four-legged friend can be a great training companion. Photo: Ruffwear

Few cultures on the planet treat their dogs like Americans, and more specifically, Coloradans. We buy expensive organic chow and tricked-out, joint-preserving doggie beds. Our four-legged friends accompany us to the office, coffee shop-and, perhaps most importantly, on training runs as our loyal pacers and are reminders of all things joyful and humble about the sport of running.

Whether you’re preparing to adopt a dog or already have one who matches you stride for stride, it’s mutually beneficial to know how to run train properly with-and ultimately respect and protect-your favorite canine companion.

Puppy Love

Let’s start with puppies. If you’ve recently acquired a young dog or plan to do so (see sidebar on good running breeds), there are a few things to know when teaching your dog how to run with you.

First, don’t even start running with your puppy until he or she is not a puppy. Veterinarian Tim Hackett, Chief of Staff-Small Animals at Colorado State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Fort Collins, says seven months would be the earliest he would recommend a dog begin run training.

Dogs must reach skeletal maturity first, which in giant breeds may not happen until up to 20 months, says Dr. Erick Egger, a professor of Small Animal Orthopedic Surgery at Colorado State. According to Elizabeth Simpson, who as owner of Boulder-based Tenderfoot Training sees the dogs of many athletes, “When a young pup’s muscles tire, they cannot support the skeletal system and now you are grinding bone against bone and doing damage.”

Enduro-Dog

Once your dog reaches skeletal maturity, best confirmed with a quick vet check-up, it’s time to start endurance training. Just like humans, dogs need to build up mileage progressively. “Treat your dog as you would a friend you are helping get started,” says Simpson. “Don’t ask too much and increase the time and difficulty only as he gets stronger.”

Hackett, who runs three paved miles every other day with his dog with one longer trail run per week, suggests starting with a mile a week while assessing recovery, watching how quickly heart rate and breathing return to normal and monitoring how your dog’s feet are holding up. Pad wear is arguably the most common injury in dogs that run regularly.

Elite runners might start run training by completing a full, fast-paced run, then picking up Fido for a comfy cool down, suggests Simpson.

Of course basic training will also be helpful for a younger dog just getting used to running in a controlled environment. “A well-trained dog is far more fun to run with than an ill-mannered dog who runs off, lunges at people, chases dogs or cars, and forces you to stop every two seconds because he has to mark another tree,” says Simpson.

Basalt-based author of Canine Colorado, Cindy Hirschfeld, who runs with her three-year-old mutt Tansy, has found a loophole. “We haven’t been very successful at training her on leash. She zigzags back and forth, which is a pain in the rear when you’re trying to run in a straight line!” Compromise between dog and master is found at off-leash areas, such as a non-wilderness designated National Forest trails or voice-command-allowed trails within Boulder’s Open Space system.

Training Tips

As you continue to increase your dog’s mileage and pace, it’s important to remember a pet is always at your mercy regarding breaks, explains Hackett. “Your dog will run as long as you do, whether she’s exhausted or not, so don’t drag her on your marathon training run,” says Hirschfeld, who caps pooch-accompanied runs at 10 miles.

Remember, too, that dogs don’t sweat like humans. They cool down through panting and disperse some heat through their feet. Neither of which are very efficient, Simpson points out.

Knowing your dog’s resting heart rate and respiratory rate so you can assess recovery is helpful, says Hackett. For example, a rapid heart and respiratory rate that doesn’t slow with rest is one of the first signs of heat exhaustion. Others include collapsing, altered consciousness or unresponsiveness, and high-pitched wheezing or gasping for breath.

Taking frequent water breaks, choosing shady running routes and working out in the morning or evening when temperatures are cooler are also important to your dog’s safety. Hirschfeld taught her dogs to drink from a portable hydration pack and water bottles. Others prefer a collapsible nylon dog bowl.

A diet rich in meat protein and digestible calcium with lots of micronutrients, good bacteria and enzymes will help your dog maintain a healthy body and endure rigorous workouts, says Simpson. According to Hackett, “High-energy foods are fine, but you will still need to watch weight to be sure calories in equal calories out.” Joint-easing supplements like glucosamine and chondroitin may be beneficial for older dogs.

Be careful not to feed your dog for an hour before and after you run. A dog’s stomach acts as a holding tank during digestion, explains Simpson, and eating too close to exercise time can make your dog vulnerable to dangerous gastric torsion or bloat.

Beyond endurance training, safety habits and diet tips, what’s most valuable is your relationship with your dog. “Running really takes up a small portion of your day and the rest of your time with your dog will be spent living a normal life,” says Simpson. “Your dog needs to be a good match for you and your lifestyle.”

Best Running Breeds

Young, short-haired, large-breed dogs with nice long noses are the best for running companionship, says Hackett. Consider a greyhound or lean Labrador retriever. Simpson recommends sight hounds, herders, setters, taller hounds, gun dogs, sled dogs or mutts that are a healthy mix of these breeds. Hunting breeds, except the Rhodesian ridgeback, may be unpredictable runners since they are genetically designed to hunt. Huskies work well for cold-weather endurance training. Avoid smaller dogs with short noses and legs, such as pugs and or bulldogs, and learn about each breed’s risk factors for long-term physical conditions such as hip or elbow dysplasia.