Hello everyone,
I just wanted to let you know that this morning I went to the course and it's brutally hilly. Read my description of the course here: http://www.letsrun.com/2009/ammanthecourse2009.php.
To get a better idea of what the course is like, you should see the photos gallery: http://www.letsrun.com/photos/2009/amman3rdbatch/index.html
It's about 5:00 pm here and I just got back from the press conference. German Fernandez was pne of the featured athletes. That's the good news. The bad news - his foot is 100% in a boot thanks to a stress reaction in his foot. Now don't worry, he's still going to give it a go.
I haven't eaten anything all day so I'll try to write up a recap of the press conference soon and include the photos of German and his boot.
But check out the above photo gallery and you'll see he was running fine. He also gave me a great interview and was emphatic that he'd be fine.
More later.
Update From Amman - The Course Is Brutal And German Is In A Boot (But Running)
Report Thread
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hahah even people in Jordan are questioning if it's "rupp certified". Nice write-up and pics.
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Good stuff, rojo. Who is the woman in the white top here?
http://www.letsrun.com/photos/2009/amman3rdbatch/imagepages/image137.html -
There seems to be two women. Care to clarify?
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Wejo, the number of typos from the photo captions is hilarious-one example of many..."teh footign is fiine"
Honestly?
Overall, the coverage has been great though. -
Rojo,
In your previous write-up you laughed at the possibility that German wouldn't run, calling allegations of his stress fracture "rumors". Now you're acting like its breaking news. People have known this for nearly a week now. When Runners World confirms via Dave Smith that German does have a stress fracture (earlier this week) it should become common knowledge for the Brojos. -
amazing coverage...thanks
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Just saying... wrote:
There seems to be two women. Care to clarify?
I'm thinking the one with the jugs. -
Probably Julie Culley. But Samia is the eye catcher, in my opinion.
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The jugs were the curiosity, but I'll agree that Samia is a hottie.
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Samia is engaged. and Yes she is hot.
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Course looks very western U.S. with the dirt and dry conditions. Colorado grads probably would do well on this course.
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This almost looks like the USA XC cours ein Maryland.
Maybe more dry in Jordan but the USA teams may be ready for this course. Plus it being dry will still make for a fast time no matter the hills.
I suspect mens 12 k winner will be: 35 low
Mens junior winner: low to mid 22's (thats quick BTW) -
humidxc wrote:
Mens junior winner: low to mid 22's (thats quick BTW)
22:45 at best -
I will start by saying I am glad some american running media is there giving us this information because I'd love to see world XC become a bigger thing in the US. I will now say this: Rojo, the "rumor" and "speculation" of German having the stress reaction was confirmed, what, a week ago or so. Sorry, but traveling or not, you should have known about this since your own message board was crawling with the info. I hope the kid is fine, I hope he runs well, I hope he does not get any more hurt, and I hope our other runners fare well, too. Havng said all that, thanks for the coverage Rojo. I'm jealous of the Petra trip.
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Thanks for the great writeups and photos. Fantastic. The course looks good. Wish I had a course like that to run on every day. There is one not too far from here though.
German looks fit, lean, and the U.S. team looks in great shape, especially the juniors.
WTF is German doing with a boot. That is nuts. I wouldn't be surprised if wearing the boot results in an injury, broken foot etc. This was a non injury treated badly.
Hopefully all will be well.
I'm excited about this race more than any other as all the top runners are here, and it's a real race, much more than running around circles on a track. It's going to be exciting to see the reports and get the results in the morning. :) -
photo of German & men's juniors
http://www.letsrun.com/photos/2009/amman3rdbatch/images/P1010508.JPG -
The course somewhat reminds me of the shootout (boulder) XC course. They have some major hills on that one and its hard packed dirt. Brett Gotcher should fare well.
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What good is the boot going to do if he's still running on it? It seems like it would be worse if his foot is practically immobilized the majority of the time except when he runs (more impact and movement). Why not just wait until after this weekend to start wearing the boot?
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Wearing a boot or a cast ALWAYS increases heat, inflammation, delays healing and makes the foot weaker.