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Page 2 of the Week in Review (Sad State of American Women's Marathoning, Gate River Run, Takahashi and More)
by: LetsRun.com
March 11, 2008
*Page 1 Here

Nagoya Marathon: The End for Q-chan? and the State of Japanese Women's Marathoning vs American Women's Marathoning

Naoko Takahashi (Q -chan), the 2000 Olympic champ, despite running 70km some days in training, couldn't even stay with the early slow pace and faded to 27th in 2:44. Sounds like she was overtrained to us. Qchan was a pioneer in women's running (the first under 2:20 which is not that rare now, but didn't occur until she did it in 2001). We hope she has one more good marathon in her. And one quick note on the Nagoya Marathon. It seemed like a ho-hum marathon in Japan with only a 2:25 winner. And then you realize 1 women in America has come close to 2:25 and she has a bronze medal around her neck. But the most impressive thing is 9 Japanese women broken 2:30 in the race. Yes, you read that correctly. And we take back our comment above about 1 women being close to 2:25 in the US, there is only 1 woman in the US actually running the Trials with a qualifying time under the 2:30 barrier and it's Deena. Says something about the current sad state of American women's marathon (Kara Goucher where are you?) that Deena will enter the Trials with a seed time 10 minutes faster than the next best woman. Truly sad. On a positive note, check out Boston's kick ass website for the women's trials.
*
Japanese Running Expert Nobby H Gives His Opinion on Takahashi

Andrew Carlson, Deena Kastor Win Gate River Run It was Carlson's first US title. He won the equalizer race as well. Thumbs Up for Gate River doing the Equalizer bonus correctly. The equalizer (where the women are given a head start and the men try and catch them) makes for great tv, but the problem is now some marathons are giving disproportionate bonuses (say $100,000) to the equalizer winner when otherwise one might get  just $20,000 for winning their sex. We're all for entertainment but you don't need to make our sport a total circus by giving all the money to 1 athlete on some flimsy result anyway.
The Legend Grows:
Brian Sell Hit and Cut by a Branch of a Tree During Gate River Run

 1. Andrew Carlson      44:12 $12,000 + 5,000
 2. Dan Browne            44:21   5,000
 3. Reid Coolsaet         44:25   (Canada)
 4. Fasil Bizuneh           44:29   3,000
 5. Brian Sell                44:47   2,000
 6. Jason Hartmann      44:57   1,000
 7. Bret Schoolmeester 45:21     900
 8. Fernando Cabada   45:33     800
 9. Lucus Humprey       45:35     700
10. Brett Gotcher        45:35     600
11. Matt Gabrielson    45:46     500
 1. Deena Kastor     49:36  $12,000
 2. Katie McGregor  50:53    5,000
 3. Tara Storage        52:33    3,000
 4. Mandi Zemba      52:33    2,000
 5. Samia Akbar       52:35    1,000
 6. Tera Moody      52:35      900
 7. Turena Johnson-Lane  52:38      800
 8. Annie Bersagel     52:43      700
 9. Kara Storage    53:05      600
10. Stephanie Herbst-Lucke 53:12     500

*Full Results

Two Contrasts: What is Great and What is Despicable About Our Simple Sport
This week there were two simple stories worth learning about that got a lot of attention (We touched on one of them last week). One that shows how great and inspirational track can be. At last weeks Big 10 meet, Minnesota's Heather Dorniden fell down 400m into a 600 meter race. The rest is history as the announcer goes nuts:
The Incredible Heather Dorniden. It's worth watching again:


In contrast to that, you also had the case of the women of the Sarasota Marathon being DQ'd for cutting the course. That's a sickness in our minds.

On the boards: Another Marathon Cheating Story Women's Winner of Sarasota Marathon DQd

Marion Jones Goes To Prison
The whole Marion Jones saga is incredibly sad. America's heroine from the 2000 Olympics, she now is bankrupt, a drug cheat and a felon. Hopefully she can turn her life around. While we feel sorry for her we are horrified by comments like this one:
"I commend Marion Jones. What we are told is that she had been using a drug for years, which could not be traced or identified in all the sophisticated drug-testing methods. Of her own volition she came forward and told the truth. Wow!" She only confessed because she faced federal bank fraud charges if she didn't.

There is little worse than a liar/cheat but a sanctimonious liar and cheat is particularly hard to deal with. Despite all of the signals pointing to her being a drug cheat, Jones denied it and denied it emphatically. Well now she's in jail. At least she's employed. This blog tells us Jones will make 13 cents an hour while in the slammer.
*Marion Jones Goes To Prison

An Article Worth Reading In Case You Missed It.
Any article that praises Arthur Lydiard's simple but revolutionary training is always worth reading. Many of you may have missed it. Peter Snell Still Active and Still Preaching Lydiard at Age 70

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