An uttered phrase has stuck with me for no apparent reason. In was three years ago that the nicely or not so nicely named (depending on your point of view) Atalelech Ketema, who at that time was tearing up the DC road racing circuit had a post race chat with your blogers. She summed up her thoughts about running by saying that it is an addiction (likift she called it). Holding her trophy, she reflected that some people don’t even have good finishing times yet they still run. Then she glanced towards the two of us and asked how we did in the race. That was not a good question for us. Roocha did a great job of evading and I used him as a human shield. We never revealed our time but I am sure she figured we were victims of that likift.
So I could not help but think of the likift comment when I saw Abebe Mekonnen among the finishers of today’s Boston Marathon. The first I heard of Abebe Mekonnen was when his picture jumped out at me on sports page of the Dallas Morning News back in 1989. I clipped that grainy picture and I still have that newspaper clipping. Mengistu was still running Ethiopia then and it was years before we would see Haile, Deratru or Fatuma Roba transform running. I still remember the emotion and pride I felt that day. Abebe Mekonnen went on to complete many more marathons. 32 of his marathons were under 2:15:00, which is a record. His personal best is an impressive 2:07:35 which was set almost 20 years ago (1988) which makes it even more impressive. But Abebe never did well in the World Championships or Olympics. But his modesty and his hard work made me a fan.
Today, at the age of 43, 18 years after winning in Boston he braved the near freezing temperature, rain and gusting winds to finish 177th. Abebe had nothing to prove, there was no money to be made there was no glory in finishing. Yet he finished. I hope the DNF kids who were a disgrace in Mombassa are watching this old lion who goes head on against adversity.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Why Run?
On Sunday February 25, 2007, Tadesse Tola won the Ethiopian Cross Country Trials at Jan Meda in Addis Ababa. I had never heard of Tadesse Tola before then, and when I saw the results I even wondered if it was a fluke win. After all, it is not an everyday occurence where a relative unknown shows up and thrashes a well established runners such as Sileshi Sihine and Tariku Bekele. With that win, Tadesse gained prominence in international athletics.
One month later, on March 24, 2007 I got a chance to see (on TV) Tadesse Tola compete at the 35th IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa, Kenya. On the initial results, Tadesse Tola was listed as DNF (Did Not Finish). I saw that race few times and it was clear that Tadesse had finished in seventh place (first Ethiopian), yet the results never got corrected. I could not find explanation for this no matter where I looked so it remained a mystery for a while. The official results now show him as the seventh place finisher. Tadesse's result was confirmation that his victory at Jan Meda a month before was no fluke. Just as he had done at Jan Meda, he finished ahead of all the other Ethiopians in the race, including Kennenisa Bekele who did not finish the race. As a side bar, it is worth noting (with heartburn!) that the other Ethiopian men finished the race in 15th, 16th, 17th and 27th places. With the corrected results of Tadesse Tola in 7th place, five Ethiopians finished the senior men's race. However, a minimum of six finishers were needed to get a team score. Therefore, had Kennenisa hanged on two finish in second place behind Zeresenay, Team Ethiopia would have scored 84 (2+7+15+16+17+27) easily outpacing Team Morocco who claimed the Silver Medal behind Kenya with 152 points. Kennenisa dropping out of the race cost the Ethiopian team a most certain Silver Medal!! Anyway, let me go back to my focus on Tadesse Tola. I will do a separate post about other observations from the Mombasa race later on.
A mere one week after the Mombasa race, Tadesse had flown half-way around the world and was at the heart of Washington, D.C. on Sunday April 1st. Never mind the fatigue from a grueling race in Mombasa just a week before, or the jetlag from flying half way around the world, the 19 year old Tadesse was lined up as one of the favorites to win Washington, D.C.'s most popular race- Cherry Blosom 10 Mile Run. And win he did! He turned in one of the fastest times in recent years while our compatriot Teyba Erkesso tore apart her competition in the process of setting a new world record for ten miles.
And this is where the story gets real interesting- at least for me. It just so happened that my blogging partner Welemta and I were also registered for this same Cherry Blossom race. I was in no form to run a ten mile race but still managed to finish the race. I shall not disclose my finishing time here, but let's just say I caught a nice view of Tadesse Tola as he was breaking away from his challengers about half-mile from the finish line. At that time I was somewhere between mile 2 and 3.
So, why run? One can list many reasons but here are ten reasons that is worth considering. I particularly like #8:
After the race, Welemta and I walked over to the awards ceremony. We watched the top finishers (several Ethiopians including the two champions) receive their awards to the appluase of an enthusiastic crowd. We then made our way to the side of the stage where the athletes were. They were obviously having a good time amongst themselves but were very gracious to us as we introduced ourselves, shook hands with and congratulated all of them, and took sometime to chat. It was refreshing to see how respectful and polite these athletes were even as they were signing autographs for fans and accomodating reporters, including from The Washington Post, who published a nice piece about the race.
Let me conclude with one final thing worth noting- with heartburn! As Welemta and I walked back to our car, we passed by an adjacent field where a pick up soccer game was in progress. The field was no farther than 200m from where the awards for the race had just been given out. The soccer players were mostly Ethiopians, some of them wearing patriotic warm up suits with the design of the Ethiopian tri-color flag. As they ran back and forth kicking the ball, it was apparent that they were completely oblivious to the fact that world class Ethiopian runners had just won the hugely popular Cherry Blossom race with a world record setting performance. On the following day, I eagerly listened to VOA Amharic's weekly sport program with anticipation of a report on Tadesse and Teyba's great achievement just a day before. VOA, whose headquarter is just a stone throw away from where the race took place, was obviously just as well (ill) informed as the soccer players we passed.
What a fitting image to portray the level of attention Ethiopian runners get when they are not running in the Olympics or World Championships. Never mind that St. George beat Coffee 3-1 in a Premiere League shake up match!
One month later, on March 24, 2007 I got a chance to see (on TV) Tadesse Tola compete at the 35th IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa, Kenya. On the initial results, Tadesse Tola was listed as DNF (Did Not Finish). I saw that race few times and it was clear that Tadesse had finished in seventh place (first Ethiopian), yet the results never got corrected. I could not find explanation for this no matter where I looked so it remained a mystery for a while. The official results now show him as the seventh place finisher. Tadesse's result was confirmation that his victory at Jan Meda a month before was no fluke. Just as he had done at Jan Meda, he finished ahead of all the other Ethiopians in the race, including Kennenisa Bekele who did not finish the race. As a side bar, it is worth noting (with heartburn!) that the other Ethiopian men finished the race in 15th, 16th, 17th and 27th places. With the corrected results of Tadesse Tola in 7th place, five Ethiopians finished the senior men's race. However, a minimum of six finishers were needed to get a team score. Therefore, had Kennenisa hanged on two finish in second place behind Zeresenay, Team Ethiopia would have scored 84 (2+7+15+16+17+27) easily outpacing Team Morocco who claimed the Silver Medal behind Kenya with 152 points. Kennenisa dropping out of the race cost the Ethiopian team a most certain Silver Medal!! Anyway, let me go back to my focus on Tadesse Tola. I will do a separate post about other observations from the Mombasa race later on.
A mere one week after the Mombasa race, Tadesse had flown half-way around the world and was at the heart of Washington, D.C. on Sunday April 1st. Never mind the fatigue from a grueling race in Mombasa just a week before, or the jetlag from flying half way around the world, the 19 year old Tadesse was lined up as one of the favorites to win Washington, D.C.'s most popular race- Cherry Blosom 10 Mile Run. And win he did! He turned in one of the fastest times in recent years while our compatriot Teyba Erkesso tore apart her competition in the process of setting a new world record for ten miles.
And this is where the story gets real interesting- at least for me. It just so happened that my blogging partner Welemta and I were also registered for this same Cherry Blossom race. I was in no form to run a ten mile race but still managed to finish the race. I shall not disclose my finishing time here, but let's just say I caught a nice view of Tadesse Tola as he was breaking away from his challengers about half-mile from the finish line. At that time I was somewhere between mile 2 and 3.
So, why run? One can list many reasons but here are ten reasons that is worth considering. I particularly like #8:
Running offers a unique opportunity for recreational runners to mix with world-class athletes. You can't play in a PGA golf tournament, at Wimbledon or for a Super 12 Rugby side, but on almost every weekend, recreational runners compete in the same events with elite athletes.Six weeks ago, I learned of Tadesse Tola for the first time. Two weeks ago I watched him compete at the Cross Country Championships in Kenya. One week ago, I was in the same race with him- proof positive for Reason #8!!
After the race, Welemta and I walked over to the awards ceremony. We watched the top finishers (several Ethiopians including the two champions) receive their awards to the appluase of an enthusiastic crowd. We then made our way to the side of the stage where the athletes were. They were obviously having a good time amongst themselves but were very gracious to us as we introduced ourselves, shook hands with and congratulated all of them, and took sometime to chat. It was refreshing to see how respectful and polite these athletes were even as they were signing autographs for fans and accomodating reporters, including from The Washington Post, who published a nice piece about the race.
Let me conclude with one final thing worth noting- with heartburn! As Welemta and I walked back to our car, we passed by an adjacent field where a pick up soccer game was in progress. The field was no farther than 200m from where the awards for the race had just been given out. The soccer players were mostly Ethiopians, some of them wearing patriotic warm up suits with the design of the Ethiopian tri-color flag. As they ran back and forth kicking the ball, it was apparent that they were completely oblivious to the fact that world class Ethiopian runners had just won the hugely popular Cherry Blossom race with a world record setting performance. On the following day, I eagerly listened to VOA Amharic's weekly sport program with anticipation of a report on Tadesse and Teyba's great achievement just a day before. VOA, whose headquarter is just a stone throw away from where the race took place, was obviously just as well (ill) informed as the soccer players we passed.
What a fitting image to portray the level of attention Ethiopian runners get when they are not running in the Olympics or World Championships. Never mind that St. George beat Coffee 3-1 in a Premiere League shake up match!
Tariku Update
You will remember Tariku Aboset from my previous posts here. Tariku has continued to struggle with the injury he sustained on his Achilles at the Arizona Rock and Roll Marathon in January this year. Despite the injury, he has continued his training and will be running in the Nagano Marathon in Nagano, Japan this coming Sunday April 15th.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Happy Easter!
"Why do you look for the living among the dead?
He is not here; he has risen!
Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:
'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men,
be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' "
Luke 24: 5-7
He is not here; he has risen!
Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:
'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men,
be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' "
Luke 24: 5-7
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Showtime in Mombasa
It has finally arrived. Today is the day for the 35th IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa, Kenya. Withinn the next two hours, we will know if Ethiopia can reclaim cross country dominance away from Kenya and if Kennenisa Bekele becomes the only man to ever win six senior men title.
The live feed from ETV is currently showing men's 10000M race from the 1st All Ethiopian Games at the Addis Ababa Stadium. They will be switching to the meet in Mombasa in the next ten minutes, in time for the senior women's race featuring Tirunesh, Meselech, Gelete, and others. I will be providing updates in the comment section to this post.
Best wishes for Team Ethiopia!!
The live feed from ETV is currently showing men's 10000M race from the 1st All Ethiopian Games at the Addis Ababa Stadium. They will be switching to the meet in Mombasa in the next ten minutes, in time for the senior women's race featuring Tirunesh, Meselech, Gelete, and others. I will be providing updates in the comment section to this post.
Best wishes for Team Ethiopia!!
Friday, March 23, 2007
History on the Horizon
Unlike the Olympics or World Championships, the IAAF Cross Country Championship is an annual event. So, the natural question to ask is what is special about this year’s edition of the championship. The answer is basically two-fold.
First, this year’s event is being held in Africa. Obviously, Africa produces the world’s best runners so it is only fitting that a major championship event is once again hosted by an African nation. And this time, not just any African nation, but Kenya- the absolute dominant country in the event for most of the past twenty years. Although I would argue that Ethiopia produces better championship caliber performers overall, there is no disputing that Kenya is unrivaled in the depth of talent it has on display in all major races around the world. It is not at all unusual for Kenyans to take seven or eight of the top ten positions in many of the major city road races. The fact that this year’s championship is held in Kenya is an acknowledgement of the contribution Kenya has made to the sport of running. Kenya should be congratulated for its athletes achievement since the late 1960’s, and all African’s should take pride that Kenya has managed to bring a truly world class sporting event once again back to Africa.
Secondly, this year’s championship is special because Kennenisa Bekele has decided to compete in it. As a strange as it may sound, this one decision by one man has entirely changed the tone of the championship. One year ago, after winning his fifth consecutive long and short course double championship, Kennenisa announced that he would not be running the 2007 race in Mombasa. He stated that there is really nothing more left for him to achieve in cross country having already won an unprecedented ten individual gold medals in the senior men race. He wanted to make room for the up-and-coming Ethiopian runners.
Following Kennenisa’s announcement, there were speculations all throughout the year whether he would stick by his words or have a change of heart and compete once more. Even some of the Kenyan athletes conceded that the race would simply not be the same without Kennenisa present, and whoever the champion turns out to be, he could really not claim to be a world champion without defeating Kennenisa.
As the championships neared, Kennenisa appeared to be sticking with his decision not to compete in Mombassa, but still left himself room to change his mind if he wanted to compete. In January this year, Kennenisa started hinting for an appearance fee to be paid to him to participate in Mombasa when he commented that he may run “if there is something special” offered to him. IAAF insists that no appearance fee has been paid to Kennenisa to participate.
The first big hint that Kennenisa was leaning towards running in Mombasa came when it was revealed that an open spot has been reserved on the team at the announcement of the Ethiopian squad on March 1st. Few days later, on March 5th, Kennenisa announced that he would be participating in the Mombasa championship to defend his title in the senior men 12km race. In the press conference he gave today, he says that his participation is out of respect for his friends and rivals from Kenya.
Kennenisa cites his recent record setting performance in Birmingham and Stockholm as additional reason for changing his decision of one year ago. It is obvious that he is convinced that he can win again or else he would not have been willing to take a risk of defeat on the home soil of his greatest rivals. A defeat in Mombasa will be a very bitter pill to swallow but a victory will distinguish Kennenisa high above all other cross country runners in history. Currently, Kennenisa’s five victories in the 12km race have him tied with the Kenyan legends Paul Tergat and John Ngugi, who have also won five titles each. A sixth victory tomorrow will prove that Kennenisa has no equal in cross county running. And to achieve this by beating Kenyans in Kenya will make it that much more special.
I am convinced that Kennenisa made his decision to compete in Mombasa much earlier than announced and simply kept quiet to keep his Kenyan rivals guessing. Now that the Kenyans know that Kennenisa will be in the race, they will leave no stone unturned in an attempt to protect their signature sport and their home turf from being owned by Kennenisa. It is almost certain that a Kenyan team tactic will be deployed to tire out Kennenisa and throw him off his game plan. But I believe Kennenisa, with his experience and talent, will overcome any challenge and earn another victory.
In addition to the individual title, the team title will be highly contested tomorrow. Between 1986 and 2003, Kenya won the senior men team title for 18 consecutive years setting the longest winning streak in international sport. Ethiopia then took it away in 2004 and 2005 but Kenya regained it last year. It will be a great achievement for Ethiopia to take this back on Kenyan soil. And Ethiopia has strong enough field to achieve this goal. In addition to Kennenisa, his younger brother Tariku, Sileshi Sihine, and Abebe Dinkessa all have strong cross country credentials. The Ethiopian trial champion Tadesse Tola could also be the dark horse in this race.
Team scoring in cross country is simple- add up the finishing place of the top five runners on a team to get a team score. A perfect score is achieved if a team places its runners first to fifth for a score of 15 (1+2+3+4+5). The team with the lowest score wins. I believe Ethiopia can place two or three in the top five and all five scoring runners in the top ten.
On the women’s side, the biggest drama may be entirely within the Ethiopian team. Tirunesh Dibaba is going for her third consecutive senior women victory which would tie her with the American Lynn Jennings from the 1990’s. However, I do not believe that Tirunesh is a lock for a victory. Meselech Melkamu is in absolute top form which she displayed in her indoor 3000M race in Stuttgart last month and her decisive victory at the Ethiopian Cross Country Trials earlier this month.
Also not to be counted out is Gelete Burka who was the Junior Race champion two years ago and the Short Race champion last year. She has already won two cross country races this year in Edinburgh, Scotland and Seville, Spain. Add to that Wude Ayalew, who has had great results over the past couple of months, and I believe the Ethiopian women are a lock for a team victory tomorrow. I don’t believe it is far fetched to think these Ethiopian ladies could finish 1-2-3 in tomorrow’s race. If I have to pick an individual winner, I would go with Meselech Melkamu at this time simply because Tirunesh has not done any cross country racing so far in 2007. One other thing to note is how Maryam Jamal of Bahrain (formerly Zenebech Tola of Ethiopia) will fare competing among the Ethiopians. Apparently, Jamal is in good form as she showed in winning the Asian Cross Country championship in a dominating fashion. Also running in tomorrow’s race will be Turkey’s Elvan Abeylegesse, the former Ethiopian Hewan Abeye. The Kenyans will also have to contend with several formerly Kenyan athletes who now compete for another country including Netherlands’ Lornah Kiplagat.
The course on the grounds of Mombasa Golf Club is said to be flat and fast but the whether will be warm (mid 80’s) and humid (80%). When all is said and done, the weather could prove to be the toughest opponent for Kennenisa and the other runners alike.
We will have to wait few more hours to find out if history is made at the Mombasa race. As I mentioned on my last entry, I am excited to be watching all races live and providing up to the minute update here on ROOCHA.
--------------------------------
You can watch the races for yourself if you are willing to pay a $6.95 subscription fee. For two weeks now, I have been watching a 24hour/7days live feed of Ethiopian Television (ETV) over the internet (must have broad-band connection) through Jump TV. I had seen the banner ad on Ethiopian Review’s website (not to be considered an endorsement of content) for few months prior but decided to give it a try two weekends ago. I signed up for a one month access for $6.95. The day that I signed up happened to be the opening ceremony of the 1st All Ethiopian Games which I enjoyed watching including the torch lighting by Haile Gebrselassie, Tirunesh Dibaba, Meseret Defar, and Sileshi Sihin.
Obviously, the news segment on ETV is unfiltered government propaganda. However, I have found the other shows (Tea/Coffee, Q & A, Aerobics, Cooking, Sport, and even commercials) to be quite interesting. The connection is fairly stable (7 on a 1-10 scale) with the exception of minor hiccups and occasional and abrupt interruption by Jump TV. Overall, I have found it to be a good value and a step forward in my project “If I can’t go to Ethiopia, I will bring Ethiopia to me.” Last weekend ETV announced that it will carry the Cross Country Championship in Mombasa LIVE for the first time ever. Coverage begins tomorrow at 3:30PM local time which is 8:30AM Eastern Daylight Savings Time. The senior women’s race is at 9:40AM EDT and the senior men’s race is at 10:20AM EDT.
First, this year’s event is being held in Africa. Obviously, Africa produces the world’s best runners so it is only fitting that a major championship event is once again hosted by an African nation. And this time, not just any African nation, but Kenya- the absolute dominant country in the event for most of the past twenty years. Although I would argue that Ethiopia produces better championship caliber performers overall, there is no disputing that Kenya is unrivaled in the depth of talent it has on display in all major races around the world. It is not at all unusual for Kenyans to take seven or eight of the top ten positions in many of the major city road races. The fact that this year’s championship is held in Kenya is an acknowledgement of the contribution Kenya has made to the sport of running. Kenya should be congratulated for its athletes achievement since the late 1960’s, and all African’s should take pride that Kenya has managed to bring a truly world class sporting event once again back to Africa.
Secondly, this year’s championship is special because Kennenisa Bekele has decided to compete in it. As a strange as it may sound, this one decision by one man has entirely changed the tone of the championship. One year ago, after winning his fifth consecutive long and short course double championship, Kennenisa announced that he would not be running the 2007 race in Mombasa. He stated that there is really nothing more left for him to achieve in cross country having already won an unprecedented ten individual gold medals in the senior men race. He wanted to make room for the up-and-coming Ethiopian runners.
Following Kennenisa’s announcement, there were speculations all throughout the year whether he would stick by his words or have a change of heart and compete once more. Even some of the Kenyan athletes conceded that the race would simply not be the same without Kennenisa present, and whoever the champion turns out to be, he could really not claim to be a world champion without defeating Kennenisa.
As the championships neared, Kennenisa appeared to be sticking with his decision not to compete in Mombassa, but still left himself room to change his mind if he wanted to compete. In January this year, Kennenisa started hinting for an appearance fee to be paid to him to participate in Mombasa when he commented that he may run “if there is something special” offered to him. IAAF insists that no appearance fee has been paid to Kennenisa to participate.
The first big hint that Kennenisa was leaning towards running in Mombasa came when it was revealed that an open spot has been reserved on the team at the announcement of the Ethiopian squad on March 1st. Few days later, on March 5th, Kennenisa announced that he would be participating in the Mombasa championship to defend his title in the senior men 12km race. In the press conference he gave today, he says that his participation is out of respect for his friends and rivals from Kenya.
Kennenisa cites his recent record setting performance in Birmingham and Stockholm as additional reason for changing his decision of one year ago. It is obvious that he is convinced that he can win again or else he would not have been willing to take a risk of defeat on the home soil of his greatest rivals. A defeat in Mombasa will be a very bitter pill to swallow but a victory will distinguish Kennenisa high above all other cross country runners in history. Currently, Kennenisa’s five victories in the 12km race have him tied with the Kenyan legends Paul Tergat and John Ngugi, who have also won five titles each. A sixth victory tomorrow will prove that Kennenisa has no equal in cross county running. And to achieve this by beating Kenyans in Kenya will make it that much more special.
I am convinced that Kennenisa made his decision to compete in Mombasa much earlier than announced and simply kept quiet to keep his Kenyan rivals guessing. Now that the Kenyans know that Kennenisa will be in the race, they will leave no stone unturned in an attempt to protect their signature sport and their home turf from being owned by Kennenisa. It is almost certain that a Kenyan team tactic will be deployed to tire out Kennenisa and throw him off his game plan. But I believe Kennenisa, with his experience and talent, will overcome any challenge and earn another victory.
In addition to the individual title, the team title will be highly contested tomorrow. Between 1986 and 2003, Kenya won the senior men team title for 18 consecutive years setting the longest winning streak in international sport. Ethiopia then took it away in 2004 and 2005 but Kenya regained it last year. It will be a great achievement for Ethiopia to take this back on Kenyan soil. And Ethiopia has strong enough field to achieve this goal. In addition to Kennenisa, his younger brother Tariku, Sileshi Sihine, and Abebe Dinkessa all have strong cross country credentials. The Ethiopian trial champion Tadesse Tola could also be the dark horse in this race.
Team scoring in cross country is simple- add up the finishing place of the top five runners on a team to get a team score. A perfect score is achieved if a team places its runners first to fifth for a score of 15 (1+2+3+4+5). The team with the lowest score wins. I believe Ethiopia can place two or three in the top five and all five scoring runners in the top ten.
On the women’s side, the biggest drama may be entirely within the Ethiopian team. Tirunesh Dibaba is going for her third consecutive senior women victory which would tie her with the American Lynn Jennings from the 1990’s. However, I do not believe that Tirunesh is a lock for a victory. Meselech Melkamu is in absolute top form which she displayed in her indoor 3000M race in Stuttgart last month and her decisive victory at the Ethiopian Cross Country Trials earlier this month.
Also not to be counted out is Gelete Burka who was the Junior Race champion two years ago and the Short Race champion last year. She has already won two cross country races this year in Edinburgh, Scotland and Seville, Spain. Add to that Wude Ayalew, who has had great results over the past couple of months, and I believe the Ethiopian women are a lock for a team victory tomorrow. I don’t believe it is far fetched to think these Ethiopian ladies could finish 1-2-3 in tomorrow’s race. If I have to pick an individual winner, I would go with Meselech Melkamu at this time simply because Tirunesh has not done any cross country racing so far in 2007. One other thing to note is how Maryam Jamal of Bahrain (formerly Zenebech Tola of Ethiopia) will fare competing among the Ethiopians. Apparently, Jamal is in good form as she showed in winning the Asian Cross Country championship in a dominating fashion. Also running in tomorrow’s race will be Turkey’s Elvan Abeylegesse, the former Ethiopian Hewan Abeye. The Kenyans will also have to contend with several formerly Kenyan athletes who now compete for another country including Netherlands’ Lornah Kiplagat.
The course on the grounds of Mombasa Golf Club is said to be flat and fast but the whether will be warm (mid 80’s) and humid (80%). When all is said and done, the weather could prove to be the toughest opponent for Kennenisa and the other runners alike.
We will have to wait few more hours to find out if history is made at the Mombasa race. As I mentioned on my last entry, I am excited to be watching all races live and providing up to the minute update here on ROOCHA.
--------------------------------
You can watch the races for yourself if you are willing to pay a $6.95 subscription fee. For two weeks now, I have been watching a 24hour/7days live feed of Ethiopian Television (ETV) over the internet (must have broad-band connection) through Jump TV. I had seen the banner ad on Ethiopian Review’s website (not to be considered an endorsement of content) for few months prior but decided to give it a try two weekends ago. I signed up for a one month access for $6.95. The day that I signed up happened to be the opening ceremony of the 1st All Ethiopian Games which I enjoyed watching including the torch lighting by Haile Gebrselassie, Tirunesh Dibaba, Meseret Defar, and Sileshi Sihin.
Obviously, the news segment on ETV is unfiltered government propaganda. However, I have found the other shows (Tea/Coffee, Q & A, Aerobics, Cooking, Sport, and even commercials) to be quite interesting. The connection is fairly stable (7 on a 1-10 scale) with the exception of minor hiccups and occasional and abrupt interruption by Jump TV. Overall, I have found it to be a good value and a step forward in my project “If I can’t go to Ethiopia, I will bring Ethiopia to me.” Last weekend ETV announced that it will carry the Cross Country Championship in Mombasa LIVE for the first time ever. Coverage begins tomorrow at 3:30PM local time which is 8:30AM Eastern Daylight Savings Time. The senior women’s race is at 9:40AM EDT and the senior men’s race is at 10:20AM EDT.
Past and Future
If you don’t follow the calendar of athletic events, let me give you a quick hint: you want to stay tuned to ROOCHA this coming Saturday. The 35th IAAF World Cross Country Championships will be held on March 24th at the Mombasa Golf Club in Mombasa, Kenya. There will be 66 nations, Ethiopia being chief among them, participating in the four races scheduled. All the big guns, including reigning champions Kennenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba, will be running for top honors. You will not want to miss this history making event!!
With the exception of the last few years, the Kenyans have practically owned cross country events, until the emergence of Kennenisa Bekele in 2002. Now that the event will be held on Kenya’s home soil, and for the first time ever in Africa, you can be sure that the Kenyans will be out to exact revenge for their past loss on neighbor Ethiopia in front of their home crowd. There is a lot at stake on Saturday as history will be made and ROOCHA will provide up to the minute coverage so be sure to stay tuned. There will also be additional commentary posted on this event, one of the biggest for the year, prior to the races on Saturday.
However, prior to that, I would like to recap some items that went uncovered here during the past month. Many notable accomplishments have taken place within the last month including a World Record run. On Saturday February 17th, Kennenisa Bekele was the star at the Norwich Union Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham, England where he set a World Record in the rarely contested 2000M race. The previous record was held for nine years by the great Haile Gebrselassie.
You will recall that only a week before this race in Birmingham, Kennenisa had to withdraw from a race in Spain due to injury, so it was great to see at the Birmingham race that he was still in top form. In fact, it is quite astounding for a 10000M specialist to come down to a shorter race and set a world record. 2000M is only one lap (outdoors) more than a mile and Kennenisa’s record setting run was an indication that he has the speed of a miler together with the strength of a 10000M runner- a lethal combination and one surely noted by any of his supposed opponents. One interesting side item here is that athletes such as Kennenisa make a 10+ hour plane trip for a five minute race (the record he set was 4:49.99)
With a new world record in his back pocket, Kennenisa moved on to Stockholm, Sweden for a second world record attempt in a space of four days. This was quite ambitious, even for someone with Kennenisa’s talent. On February 21st, the race was over 3000M and the existing record was set by Daniel Komen of Kenya in 1998. Komen’s 3000M records, both indoors and outdoors, have proven to be too difficult to crack for almost 10 years now. Predictably, Kennenisa fell short of Komen’s record by six seconds.
Incidentally, you will recall that Daniel Komen burst on the running scene in 1996 and even gave Haile a run for his money for sometime. Komen was angered by being left off the 1996 Kenyan Olympic team. He used the European circuit that followed the Olympics to vent this anger and as a result handed Haile one of his rare defeats in the late 1990’s. Komen also has the unique distinction of being the only man to EVER run 2 miles under eight minutes. This is an amazing achievement that is quite under-reported considering that Sir Roger Bannister’s first ever sub-four minute mile is considered to be the single greatest athletic achievement in the history of sports. Komen effectively did the same on two back-to-back miles, a feat that has not been repeated!! One has to wonder why this achievement has received such little attention. Could Komen’s skin color have anything to do with it?? Anyway, Haile took the shot from Komen but still held his own while Komen quickly faded away from the running scene (not to be confused with the other Daniel Komen currently racing).
Boy, did I ever digress from my original topic… Coming back to events of last month, another piece of news that came out was the announcement of the elite field for the 111th Boston Marathon on April 16th. The great Ethiopian fans in Boston will be happy to know that five Ethiopians, three men and two women, are among the elite athletes entered for the marathon. Among the five is Hailu Negussie, the champion in the 2005 race. Boston Marathon is another event which the Kenyan men have had strangle hold of. It will be great if one of our own wins again in Boston and give the local Ethiopians reason to celebrate again, like Tirunesh Dibaba did earlier this year. (Side tirivia- who is the only other Ethiopian man to win the Boston Marathon? Answer at the end.)
Another news item that came across in the past month was regarding Haile Gebrselassie’s plan in the marathon for 2007. Haile had a great year in 2006, except in the London Marathon, and he says he is finally getting results for his effort at this distance. Two things that make me a fan of Haile are illustrated in this article: his confidence- “I know that it is a matter of luck and time before I break the [Marathon] World Record;” and his patriotism in representing his country – “it is tempting when a chance to represent my country [at the Osaka World Championships] comes up.” You will understand the significance of the latter statement when you realize that many elite marathoners shy away from World Championship marathon in August so that they could preserve their energy to race one of the big city marathons in the fall and earn lots of money. Go Haile go!
The Ethiopian Cross Country trials (to select team for World Cross Country in Mombasa) took place at Jan Meda on February 25th. A surprise winner was the relatively unknown Tadesse Tola, relegating his more famous compatriots Sileshi Sihine to 3rd place, Tariku Bekele to 6th place and Abebe Dinkessa to 8th place. This goes to show how deep and strong the Ethiopian talent is this year, with great prospect for individual and team victory in Mombasa. I was delighted to learn that almost half of this year’s contingent for Mombasa are talented newcomers who will nicely complement the titans Kennenisa and Tirunesh. On the women’s side, the victor at the Jan Meda trials was the Double M – Meselech Melkamu.
Two days after the Jan Meda race, one half of the “Dueling D’s,” Meseret Defar (who is skipping out on cross country) was half way across the globe in Puerto Rico attempting the reverse of what Kennenisa has been doing in Europe. Meseret decided to try her hands (or feet) at a distance longer than her specialty of 3000M and 5000M. She decided it was time to taste herself on the roads at a 10km race against the Kenyan-turned-Dutch Lornah Kiplagat who was the reigning champion for the previous three years. Whereas Kennenisa was trying to test his speed at shorter distances, Meseret was looking to check out her strength over a longer distance. Kiplagat won the race for the fouth consecutive year but Meseret came in second with a very good effort.
On March 17, Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya, 20, broke his own one month old Half-Marathon World Record by a huge 18 seconds at the CPC Half-Marathon in Hague, Netherlands. You will recall that Wanjiru set his previous record in early February by bettering the time Haile recorded in January 2006 in Phoenix Arizona. I am sure Haile’s previous vow to reclaim his record remains in tact.
All the remaining recent news is regarding World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa on Saturday. As I stated at the beginning, I will do a separate piece on that topic sometime tomorrow. If you are interested, I will also point you to a source where you can watch all the cross country races live from Mombasa for a nominal fee. Stay tuned!
---------------
Q: who is the only other Ethiopian (other than 2005 champ Hailu Negussie) to win the Boston Marathon?
A: Abebe Mekonnen in 1989. Abebe Bikila ran in the 1963 Boston Marathon but he finished in 5th place. On the women’s side, Fatuma Roba won three consecutive years between 1997-1999.
With the exception of the last few years, the Kenyans have practically owned cross country events, until the emergence of Kennenisa Bekele in 2002. Now that the event will be held on Kenya’s home soil, and for the first time ever in Africa, you can be sure that the Kenyans will be out to exact revenge for their past loss on neighbor Ethiopia in front of their home crowd. There is a lot at stake on Saturday as history will be made and ROOCHA will provide up to the minute coverage so be sure to stay tuned. There will also be additional commentary posted on this event, one of the biggest for the year, prior to the races on Saturday.
However, prior to that, I would like to recap some items that went uncovered here during the past month. Many notable accomplishments have taken place within the last month including a World Record run. On Saturday February 17th, Kennenisa Bekele was the star at the Norwich Union Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham, England where he set a World Record in the rarely contested 2000M race. The previous record was held for nine years by the great Haile Gebrselassie.
You will recall that only a week before this race in Birmingham, Kennenisa had to withdraw from a race in Spain due to injury, so it was great to see at the Birmingham race that he was still in top form. In fact, it is quite astounding for a 10000M specialist to come down to a shorter race and set a world record. 2000M is only one lap (outdoors) more than a mile and Kennenisa’s record setting run was an indication that he has the speed of a miler together with the strength of a 10000M runner- a lethal combination and one surely noted by any of his supposed opponents. One interesting side item here is that athletes such as Kennenisa make a 10+ hour plane trip for a five minute race (the record he set was 4:49.99)
With a new world record in his back pocket, Kennenisa moved on to Stockholm, Sweden for a second world record attempt in a space of four days. This was quite ambitious, even for someone with Kennenisa’s talent. On February 21st, the race was over 3000M and the existing record was set by Daniel Komen of Kenya in 1998. Komen’s 3000M records, both indoors and outdoors, have proven to be too difficult to crack for almost 10 years now. Predictably, Kennenisa fell short of Komen’s record by six seconds.
Incidentally, you will recall that Daniel Komen burst on the running scene in 1996 and even gave Haile a run for his money for sometime. Komen was angered by being left off the 1996 Kenyan Olympic team. He used the European circuit that followed the Olympics to vent this anger and as a result handed Haile one of his rare defeats in the late 1990’s. Komen also has the unique distinction of being the only man to EVER run 2 miles under eight minutes. This is an amazing achievement that is quite under-reported considering that Sir Roger Bannister’s first ever sub-four minute mile is considered to be the single greatest athletic achievement in the history of sports. Komen effectively did the same on two back-to-back miles, a feat that has not been repeated!! One has to wonder why this achievement has received such little attention. Could Komen’s skin color have anything to do with it?? Anyway, Haile took the shot from Komen but still held his own while Komen quickly faded away from the running scene (not to be confused with the other Daniel Komen currently racing).
Boy, did I ever digress from my original topic… Coming back to events of last month, another piece of news that came out was the announcement of the elite field for the 111th Boston Marathon on April 16th. The great Ethiopian fans in Boston will be happy to know that five Ethiopians, three men and two women, are among the elite athletes entered for the marathon. Among the five is Hailu Negussie, the champion in the 2005 race. Boston Marathon is another event which the Kenyan men have had strangle hold of. It will be great if one of our own wins again in Boston and give the local Ethiopians reason to celebrate again, like Tirunesh Dibaba did earlier this year. (Side tirivia- who is the only other Ethiopian man to win the Boston Marathon? Answer at the end.)
Another news item that came across in the past month was regarding Haile Gebrselassie’s plan in the marathon for 2007. Haile had a great year in 2006, except in the London Marathon, and he says he is finally getting results for his effort at this distance. Two things that make me a fan of Haile are illustrated in this article: his confidence- “I know that it is a matter of luck and time before I break the [Marathon] World Record;” and his patriotism in representing his country – “it is tempting when a chance to represent my country [at the Osaka World Championships] comes up.” You will understand the significance of the latter statement when you realize that many elite marathoners shy away from World Championship marathon in August so that they could preserve their energy to race one of the big city marathons in the fall and earn lots of money. Go Haile go!
The Ethiopian Cross Country trials (to select team for World Cross Country in Mombasa) took place at Jan Meda on February 25th. A surprise winner was the relatively unknown Tadesse Tola, relegating his more famous compatriots Sileshi Sihine to 3rd place, Tariku Bekele to 6th place and Abebe Dinkessa to 8th place. This goes to show how deep and strong the Ethiopian talent is this year, with great prospect for individual and team victory in Mombasa. I was delighted to learn that almost half of this year’s contingent for Mombasa are talented newcomers who will nicely complement the titans Kennenisa and Tirunesh. On the women’s side, the victor at the Jan Meda trials was the Double M – Meselech Melkamu.
Two days after the Jan Meda race, one half of the “Dueling D’s,” Meseret Defar (who is skipping out on cross country) was half way across the globe in Puerto Rico attempting the reverse of what Kennenisa has been doing in Europe. Meseret decided to try her hands (or feet) at a distance longer than her specialty of 3000M and 5000M. She decided it was time to taste herself on the roads at a 10km race against the Kenyan-turned-Dutch Lornah Kiplagat who was the reigning champion for the previous three years. Whereas Kennenisa was trying to test his speed at shorter distances, Meseret was looking to check out her strength over a longer distance. Kiplagat won the race for the fouth consecutive year but Meseret came in second with a very good effort.
On March 17, Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya, 20, broke his own one month old Half-Marathon World Record by a huge 18 seconds at the CPC Half-Marathon in Hague, Netherlands. You will recall that Wanjiru set his previous record in early February by bettering the time Haile recorded in January 2006 in Phoenix Arizona. I am sure Haile’s previous vow to reclaim his record remains in tact.
All the remaining recent news is regarding World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa on Saturday. As I stated at the beginning, I will do a separate piece on that topic sometime tomorrow. If you are interested, I will also point you to a source where you can watch all the cross country races live from Mombasa for a nominal fee. Stay tuned!
---------------
Q: who is the only other Ethiopian (other than 2005 champ Hailu Negussie) to win the Boston Marathon?
A: Abebe Mekonnen in 1989. Abebe Bikila ran in the 1963 Boston Marathon but he finished in 5th place. On the women’s side, Fatuma Roba won three consecutive years between 1997-1999.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Wintry Fall
Ok, as promised, time to catch up…
It has been rather quiet here at Roocha ever since my Valentine Day post about streakers. Incase you are wondering, no one has accepted my invitation to make an attempt on becoming a streaker. That proposal was dead on arrival, but rest assured, I am a believer of resurrection. And it is Easter season, after all!
I can also assure you that my silence for the past couple of weeks was not due to diverted attention by my own attempt at streaking. Actually, quite the opposite. I have only managed to go out for a run only on two days after Valentine’s Day. And the reason? I will tell you in a moment, but first let me back up to Jan. 10.
My son had a doctor appointment on that day, so I left the office in mid-afternoon to head to the doctor’s office to join my wife and son on the appointment. As usual, I was running late. So, in my frantic attempt to find the correct office suite for the appointment, I walked into the wrong office and started asking for my wife and son. The receptionist politely informed me I was at the wrong place, and I was eventually able to get to where I needed to be.
At the end the visit, we came out into the hallway and started waiting for the elevator to go back downstairs. Right about the same time, the receptionist I had spoken with earlier came out of that office and jumped into the elevator we had just stepped in. We started small talk after she made a comment noticing that I was eventually able to locate my wife and son. She informed us that the office she works in is one of Orthopedists and that they had some great Orthopedists if we were ever in need of one. Of course, we expressed our gratitude for the information she provided while in my mind contemplating why I would ever need to go to an Orthopedist.
As with any other small talk, this conversation was quickly forgotten immediately after exiting the elevator, until recalling it in vivid detail on Feb. 27. And the reason? I will tell you in a moment, but first let me back up to Feb. 22.
After the Valentine Day snow/ice storm that we had, the weather remained cold and the ice remained on the grass and sidewalk for several days. The following Sunday, Feb. 18, I could not wait any longer for the ice to melt completely, so I ventured out for a morning run in the neighborhood. After all, I had to start practicing for an impending running streak. Besides, it is running on days such as that one, when everyone else skips their planned run, that I find most satisfying about running. Some of the most memorable runs I have done were completed in horrible weather conditions.
Anyway, I was able to complete my run by sharing a lane with oncoming vehicular traffic. I repeated the same exercise on Monday Feb. 19 and then again on Thursday Feb. 22.
However, on my Thursday run, after going for a mile and half of a planned three mile run, I noticed the sidewalk on the other side of the street had been cleared. So I immediately crossed the street and hopped over a pile of snow and set my right foot on the side walk…
…as I quickly gathered myself to get back up from the ice covered sidewalk, I realized that I had stepped right onto a patch of ice which had appeared to be just a wet pavement. Putting down my first step on the sidewalk while in a running motion had earned me a very rapid and hard fall on my left side. As I took stock of what I may have injured, the pain I had only felt to be from a bruised hip and elbow. I continued on with my run, passing a group of kids waiting for their school bus, and finished the planned three miles. I then got myself ready and headed to work.
By the time it was 10:30AM, the pain in my elbow had become unbearable so I decided to go to the emergency room at the hospital. After taking some X-Rays, I learned that I had fractured my left elbow as a result of the fall- my first diagnosed running related injury ever! I left the hospital with my left hand in a sling, and my running streak over before it even started. I was told not to do any running and was referred to see a specialist in a few days.
So I promptly made an appointment to see Dr. Witte on Feb. 27 and on the day of the appointment drove to the address I was given earlier. As I started pulling into the parking lot I had a feeling of deja vu- I was back at the same place I was on Jan.10 for my son’s appointment. Looking at the appointment note, I realized that I was going back to the same floor where my son’s doctor appointment was. Wow, could this really be happening…
As I finish my visit with Dr. Witte and head to the receptionist desk to make a follow up appointment, that same lady, who only weeks before had recommended great Orthopedists, was sitting at the desk and waiting for me to hand her my papers. I had to ask her.
“Do you remember few weeks ago I wondered into your office and then…?”
“Yeah, it was in the afternoon, right?” she replied.
“Yes it was.”
“How amazing!”
Dr. Witte told me not to run for at least three more weeks. I had to do most things with just my right hand so I was not about to write a blog entry with just one hand on the keyboard, and hence the silence that followed.
I went back to see Dr. Witte last Tuesday and a follow up X-Ray showed that the elbow is 80% healed. The running ban has been lifted so long as I make sure I don’t fall on the elbow again. As I was getting ready to get back to running last Thursday, we got another round of late winter snow and ice. This time, I wisely decided to skip on the run. And that probably means that I am not cut out to be a streaker after all.
I have not given up entirely though. For now, Roocha- the blog and the sport- is back. The next attempt on streaking will not be too far behind.
It has been rather quiet here at Roocha ever since my Valentine Day post about streakers. Incase you are wondering, no one has accepted my invitation to make an attempt on becoming a streaker. That proposal was dead on arrival, but rest assured, I am a believer of resurrection. And it is Easter season, after all!
I can also assure you that my silence for the past couple of weeks was not due to diverted attention by my own attempt at streaking. Actually, quite the opposite. I have only managed to go out for a run only on two days after Valentine’s Day. And the reason? I will tell you in a moment, but first let me back up to Jan. 10.
My son had a doctor appointment on that day, so I left the office in mid-afternoon to head to the doctor’s office to join my wife and son on the appointment. As usual, I was running late. So, in my frantic attempt to find the correct office suite for the appointment, I walked into the wrong office and started asking for my wife and son. The receptionist politely informed me I was at the wrong place, and I was eventually able to get to where I needed to be.
At the end the visit, we came out into the hallway and started waiting for the elevator to go back downstairs. Right about the same time, the receptionist I had spoken with earlier came out of that office and jumped into the elevator we had just stepped in. We started small talk after she made a comment noticing that I was eventually able to locate my wife and son. She informed us that the office she works in is one of Orthopedists and that they had some great Orthopedists if we were ever in need of one. Of course, we expressed our gratitude for the information she provided while in my mind contemplating why I would ever need to go to an Orthopedist.
As with any other small talk, this conversation was quickly forgotten immediately after exiting the elevator, until recalling it in vivid detail on Feb. 27. And the reason? I will tell you in a moment, but first let me back up to Feb. 22.
After the Valentine Day snow/ice storm that we had, the weather remained cold and the ice remained on the grass and sidewalk for several days. The following Sunday, Feb. 18, I could not wait any longer for the ice to melt completely, so I ventured out for a morning run in the neighborhood. After all, I had to start practicing for an impending running streak. Besides, it is running on days such as that one, when everyone else skips their planned run, that I find most satisfying about running. Some of the most memorable runs I have done were completed in horrible weather conditions.
Anyway, I was able to complete my run by sharing a lane with oncoming vehicular traffic. I repeated the same exercise on Monday Feb. 19 and then again on Thursday Feb. 22.
However, on my Thursday run, after going for a mile and half of a planned three mile run, I noticed the sidewalk on the other side of the street had been cleared. So I immediately crossed the street and hopped over a pile of snow and set my right foot on the side walk…
…as I quickly gathered myself to get back up from the ice covered sidewalk, I realized that I had stepped right onto a patch of ice which had appeared to be just a wet pavement. Putting down my first step on the sidewalk while in a running motion had earned me a very rapid and hard fall on my left side. As I took stock of what I may have injured, the pain I had only felt to be from a bruised hip and elbow. I continued on with my run, passing a group of kids waiting for their school bus, and finished the planned three miles. I then got myself ready and headed to work.
By the time it was 10:30AM, the pain in my elbow had become unbearable so I decided to go to the emergency room at the hospital. After taking some X-Rays, I learned that I had fractured my left elbow as a result of the fall- my first diagnosed running related injury ever! I left the hospital with my left hand in a sling, and my running streak over before it even started. I was told not to do any running and was referred to see a specialist in a few days.
So I promptly made an appointment to see Dr. Witte on Feb. 27 and on the day of the appointment drove to the address I was given earlier. As I started pulling into the parking lot I had a feeling of deja vu- I was back at the same place I was on Jan.10 for my son’s appointment. Looking at the appointment note, I realized that I was going back to the same floor where my son’s doctor appointment was. Wow, could this really be happening…
As I finish my visit with Dr. Witte and head to the receptionist desk to make a follow up appointment, that same lady, who only weeks before had recommended great Orthopedists, was sitting at the desk and waiting for me to hand her my papers. I had to ask her.
“Do you remember few weeks ago I wondered into your office and then…?”
“Yeah, it was in the afternoon, right?” she replied.
“Yes it was.”
“How amazing!”
Dr. Witte told me not to run for at least three more weeks. I had to do most things with just my right hand so I was not about to write a blog entry with just one hand on the keyboard, and hence the silence that followed.
I went back to see Dr. Witte last Tuesday and a follow up X-Ray showed that the elbow is 80% healed. The running ban has been lifted so long as I make sure I don’t fall on the elbow again. As I was getting ready to get back to running last Thursday, we got another round of late winter snow and ice. This time, I wisely decided to skip on the run. And that probably means that I am not cut out to be a streaker after all.
I have not given up entirely though. For now, Roocha- the blog and the sport- is back. The next attempt on streaking will not be too far behind.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Rest In Peace
So much to write about, but so little time to do it. I owe you a recap of why it has been so quiet at Roocha recently, but I had to make a quick post right now...
In the past I had written a piece about how little homage is paid to the Ethiopia's legendary runners who have brought so much recognition to the country. It appears now that some think they don't even deserve to rest in peace. Several days ago I read on one blog about the desecration of Abebe Bikila's and Mamo Wolde's statutes at their grave site. I could not tell if this was indeed true or if it was a sick joke by the writer. Now other sources are reporting this news and it appears that the unimaginable has indeed taken place.
It is little comfort that at least Abebe still has an annual award named after him here in the US and Mamo has a monument honoring him in Spain. But I must ask, have we no shame? Have we no respect, not even for the dead??
In the past I had written a piece about how little homage is paid to the Ethiopia's legendary runners who have brought so much recognition to the country. It appears now that some think they don't even deserve to rest in peace. Several days ago I read on one blog about the desecration of Abebe Bikila's and Mamo Wolde's statutes at their grave site. I could not tell if this was indeed true or if it was a sick joke by the writer. Now other sources are reporting this news and it appears that the unimaginable has indeed taken place.
It is little comfort that at least Abebe still has an annual award named after him here in the US and Mamo has a monument honoring him in Spain. But I must ask, have we no shame? Have we no respect, not even for the dead??
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Streakers
Happy Valentine’s Day! This was supposed to be a day for chocolate, flowers, going out for dinner with a sweetheart, etc.
But instead, Mother Nature threw a nasty surprise that kept us all away from work and stuck indoors for most of the day. The Washington, D.C. area has been under a winter storm condition where 2-4 inches of ice and sleet is covering everything outdoors. In the early afternoon, I managed to go outside and spent couple of hours clearing the cars and walkways of thick ice. That was no walk in the park and it required heavy physical exertion. I was so tired afterwards (price to be paid for running so little lately) that I fell asleep sitting on a chair in front of the computer. My body felt like I did a hard 60-90 minute run.
Speaking of a run, I wonder how many people braved the severe weather to go out for a run today. I am sure there were some hard core running nuts- I mean enthusiasts- that hit the icy pavements this morning just as they do everyday without fail. These enthusiasts put to shame the US Postal service who claims that “neither snow, nor rain, nor heat…” will ever stop it from delivering mail. If you are wondering, yes, I did see the mailman deliver today!
Anyway, these committed runners are known as “streak runners.” Not to be mistaken with lunatics who enjoy sprinting across a crowd in the nude, these streakers are known for not missing a day of run for decades, even on days such as the one we had today. These people run through injury, bad weather, surgery, death of a loved one, or anything else you can think of.
Last March, as a way to motivate myself, I decided to see how many consecutive days that I could run. I managed to run everyday for forty five days but then I missed a day. And of course, once you miss a day you will soon miss another, which is perhaps why these people do anything to keep their streak alive.
Still, I can’t imagine how anyone could manage to run every single day for twenty years or more. For that matter, I can’t even imagine running everyday for a year, which is the minimum requirement to become an official streaker. Can you think of anything (not life sustaining) that you have done everyday for a year more? Perhaps praying or reading your Bible or driving a car or even surfing the internet? I don’t think many can answer this question in the affirmative.
So why do streakers do what they do? A possible explanation could be that they are addicted to running. And yes, there is such a thing as “running addiction.” You may be asking yourself whether running addiction is a good thing or not. An argument can be made that no addiction is a good thing. However, I would counter argue that most people already have a “no-exercise addiction” and I am convinced that a running addiction would beat that any day.
So I need your help to become an addict. I want to know if anyone is interested in attempting to become an official streaker. We will start slow and maybe try just one week and then perhaps a one month streak initially. For ease of keeping track, we can start on March 1. Of course, all the risk (and benefit) is exclusively yours and yours only. Therefore you will need to make sure you are medically cleared by your doctor before making your attempt on becoming a streaker.
Finally, I must say that it sure is strange to feel like a “drug” pusher, but it is a price I am willing to pay to make an “addict” out of myself.
But instead, Mother Nature threw a nasty surprise that kept us all away from work and stuck indoors for most of the day. The Washington, D.C. area has been under a winter storm condition where 2-4 inches of ice and sleet is covering everything outdoors. In the early afternoon, I managed to go outside and spent couple of hours clearing the cars and walkways of thick ice. That was no walk in the park and it required heavy physical exertion. I was so tired afterwards (price to be paid for running so little lately) that I fell asleep sitting on a chair in front of the computer. My body felt like I did a hard 60-90 minute run.
Speaking of a run, I wonder how many people braved the severe weather to go out for a run today. I am sure there were some hard core running nuts- I mean enthusiasts- that hit the icy pavements this morning just as they do everyday without fail. These enthusiasts put to shame the US Postal service who claims that “neither snow, nor rain, nor heat…” will ever stop it from delivering mail. If you are wondering, yes, I did see the mailman deliver today!
Anyway, these committed runners are known as “streak runners.” Not to be mistaken with lunatics who enjoy sprinting across a crowd in the nude, these streakers are known for not missing a day of run for decades, even on days such as the one we had today. These people run through injury, bad weather, surgery, death of a loved one, or anything else you can think of.
Last March, as a way to motivate myself, I decided to see how many consecutive days that I could run. I managed to run everyday for forty five days but then I missed a day. And of course, once you miss a day you will soon miss another, which is perhaps why these people do anything to keep their streak alive.
Still, I can’t imagine how anyone could manage to run every single day for twenty years or more. For that matter, I can’t even imagine running everyday for a year, which is the minimum requirement to become an official streaker. Can you think of anything (not life sustaining) that you have done everyday for a year more? Perhaps praying or reading your Bible or driving a car or even surfing the internet? I don’t think many can answer this question in the affirmative.
So why do streakers do what they do? A possible explanation could be that they are addicted to running. And yes, there is such a thing as “running addiction.” You may be asking yourself whether running addiction is a good thing or not. An argument can be made that no addiction is a good thing. However, I would counter argue that most people already have a “no-exercise addiction” and I am convinced that a running addiction would beat that any day.
So I need your help to become an addict. I want to know if anyone is interested in attempting to become an official streaker. We will start slow and maybe try just one week and then perhaps a one month streak initially. For ease of keeping track, we can start on March 1. Of course, all the risk (and benefit) is exclusively yours and yours only. Therefore you will need to make sure you are medically cleared by your doctor before making your attempt on becoming a streaker.
Finally, I must say that it sure is strange to feel like a “drug” pusher, but it is a price I am willing to pay to make an “addict” out of myself.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Haile's Record...Gone!
On January 15, 2006, Haile Gebrselassie added one more world record to his resume when he ran the Rock and Roll Arizona Half-Marathon in 58:55 in Phoenix. It was a great beginning to a year that saw Haile win two marathons- Berlin and Fukuoka- register the fastest marathon of 2006 and set the Ethiopian national record for the marathon. The half-marathon record in Arizona was indication of the great form Haile had and all the achievements to come during the year.
That half-marathon record was broken today, by a mere two seconds, when Sammy Wanjiru ran 58:53 to win the Ras Al Khaima International Half Marathon in the United Arab Emirates today. Birhane Adere won the women's race in 1:10:58 as Ethiopian women dominated the race by sweeping the top four places. Finishing behind Birhane were Teyiba Erkesso, Bizunesh Bekele, and Dire Tune taking up second through fourth place.
Haile was informed that his record was broken shortly after the race. He replied only as Haile "The Emperor" would reply. He promised a quick response "as soon as I can find another half-marathon."
In other news, Kennenisa Bekele's much anticipated 1500M indoor race in Valencia, Spain has been scratched due to a minor injury he suffered in training. We will wait to see if he goes ahead with his plan to race the 2000M next week in Birmingham, England where Tirunesh Dibaba will also attempt to break the 3000M world indoor record set by Meseret Defar just last weekend.
That half-marathon record was broken today, by a mere two seconds, when Sammy Wanjiru ran 58:53 to win the Ras Al Khaima International Half Marathon in the United Arab Emirates today. Birhane Adere won the women's race in 1:10:58 as Ethiopian women dominated the race by sweeping the top four places. Finishing behind Birhane were Teyiba Erkesso, Bizunesh Bekele, and Dire Tune taking up second through fourth place.
Haile was informed that his record was broken shortly after the race. He replied only as Haile "The Emperor" would reply. He promised a quick response "as soon as I can find another half-marathon."
In other news, Kennenisa Bekele's much anticipated 1500M indoor race in Valencia, Spain has been scratched due to a minor injury he suffered in training. We will wait to see if he goes ahead with his plan to race the 2000M next week in Birmingham, England where Tirunesh Dibaba will also attempt to break the 3000M world indoor record set by Meseret Defar just last weekend.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
A Day With Tirunesh Dibaba
Spend A Day With Tirunesh Dibaba
By Toby Tanser, Runner’s World Correspondent
Standing on Seventh Avenue in designer jeans and a white turtleneck in 25-degrees Fahrenheit the only thing that set this small (155cm) Ethiopian young lady aside from the other New Yorkers is the fact that she is not wearing a jacket. In fact, the group of girls standing next to her, oblivious to the Ethiopian's rock star status in the running world, look equally as thin and as athletic. Tirunesh Dibaba is what Michael Jordan was to men's basketball, and more. She has won the world cross-country championships three times, was the first person ever to win a 5000/10,000m double at the World Championships, and has broken world records to boot. The other women on the circuit fear 21-year-old "Tiru" like no other. Since her breakthrough in 2003 when the baby-faced assassin demolished all other juniors and then, a day later, took seventh place at the World Seniors Cross Country, she has been the lady to beat. Of course there have been a few pimples on the way, like "only" winning a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics, a defeat that pains her to this day, but all in all, the woman who runs for the Mizuno Club on the international circuit has been an out and out winner.
Although this was Dibaba's first trip to the Millrose Games, for the inaugural New York Road Runners 3000 meters, she has graced the city in 2005 with her fast legs. Then, on a hot humid afternoon outdoors at Randall's Island, she ran 14:32:42 - the fastest women's 5000 ever run on American soil. Interestingly, earlier in that year she had run 14:32:93 to set an indoor record at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games - a record she broke on Saturday past with 14:27:42.
Rolling back the clock: A young Tiru to attend loved Bekoji Primary School, her favorite subject being the studies of Amharic, her mother tongue. Thus she was disappointed, when traveling to Addis Ababa at age 14 to continue her studying, that she missed the class registration by six days. She went to stay with her sister, Ejegayehu who is also a world class distance runner, and decided to start training. The two still live together in Addis, but the living conditions have been upgraded now. Bekelu Dibaba, a cousin, enrolled her in the Prison's Sports Club after Tiru proved herself finishing fifth in a trial race round a horse track. The systematic training soon paid off. Within a year she had ran at the World Junior Cross Country Championships, placing fifth. No eyebrows were raised; she was an African, wasn't she? Even back home in the village of Chefe, the result did not impress many. The cousin of Dibaba, on the father's side, and a neighbor at the town of Bekoji, had set high family standards winning the seniors, and a couple of Olympic gold medals. Derartu Tulu is a legend in Ethiopia; the great Kenenisa Bekele named her, not Gebrselassie, as being his inspiration. Imagine what heights Tiru set for herself growing up.
Fast forward to last Wednesday. Dibaba looks up at the sky and asks if the wind will die down. She has not trained this morning; she did not run yesterday either. It is beginning to bother her, she is worried her form will go and Friday's race will be ruined. She wants to run some light intervals. A slight irritation is seen in her face as she hates anything to come between her and the training time. Tomorrow, the day before the race, some easy jogging and a walk will be the only exercise, but today she needs to spin the legs and get that 60-second feel back into the muscles ... She knows Millrose is not a fast track, she has heard all about the famous Millrose Games; also that it is not a world record setting arena for distance runners. The 3000-meter record will not be attacked; perhaps it could be in Birmingham later on in February. That depends on the deal that Rich Kenah, her manager, can make. She also lets Rich decide what pace the pacer, Bridget Binney, will run on Friday. That detail is decided only the day before the race, giving hint that this is not going to be a fast performance; maybe it will only be an effort to break the Madison Square Garden record of Lynn Jennings, 8:40:95, set in 1990. Yes, that is possible, she says.
When back in Addis, the legendary coach Woldemeskel Kostre, who sets the sessions for the national team, is the man who plans Dibaba's workouts. A large group of Ethiopians will all train together - that is, if they wish to run for the national team. Ethiopian pride is extreme; all athletes long for a coveted team spot. A member of the squad, Meseret Defar, is Dibaba's greatest (and only?) rival. Rumor has it they are not the best of friends. When questioned, both insist to the contrary. Meseret usually chooses to train with a different group, but when the athletes are preparing for a world championship event, it is team rules. When in the company of both, in a confined small athletes' tent, neither congratulated the other after both had won their respective races; neither even talked to the other.
Oddly, they both run for the Mizuno Track Club, (Dibaba's own sister, Ejegayehu, runs for Adidas) but that is where the line ends. Meseret seems the only athlete who can challenge Tiru's supremacy to be called the number one women's distance runner on the planet. Defar it was who won the Olympic gold, Defar it was who was the sole athlete to knock Dibaba out of the Golden League jackpot race in the final event, costing Dibaba a huge chunk of change. Defar it was who beat Dibaba to win last summer's African Championships 5000 meters, and Defar it was who set the world 5000-meter record last year. But Tiru has staggering accomplishments herself that match each and every one of Defar's. What a shame a meet director could not have Defar lining up at Millrose.
Out on the New York streets, Dibaba talks about her childhood, how she was not a poor African. The family was actually quite affluent. She recalls, passing a coffee shop, roasting a few beans to make coffee for the family, or other small tasks she'd be asked to do following school, nothing hard, no secret to why she has this immense drive and explosion of power in sports.
On Friday night, after what seemed like a long, long warm up of easy jogging, Dibaba stepped on the Millrose track. After the excitement of the earlier high school events, the track was somewhat subdued. The Women's 400 had just been run, in a time Dibaba, a 5000 specialist, is well capable of running in her training - 54.44 seconds, just a tad slower than she was closing out some of last summer's Grand Prix 5000-meter victories. As pacemaker Bridget Binney of the USA towed four girls around the 160-meter oval, the crowd did not get behind the effort, but neither, so it seemed, did Dibaba, who simply followed suit. She later explained that when a pacemaker is put in the event, it is her duty just to follow that pace, even if the pace was 3:00 per km pace (her pr is approximately 2:50 per km pace). Dibaba had been told, almost at every conjecture before the event, how she was not going to run a fast time on this track. She was out to prove it. She stated she still felt the pace of the world record in Boston in her legs, and one wondered if she had already decided to phone home this win and save her energies for Birmingham, England, a track where everyone tells her she can run fast.
After a kilometer, when Binney dropped, the crowd were still munching popcorn. Yet the story of the night was developing; Sara Hall was tenaciously half a stride behind Tiru. Hall's husband had ran perhaps the American distance performance of the decade when breaking the hour at the Houston Half Marathon last month; could Sara Hall herself match that performance?
Sadly, with three laps to go, Dibaba determined to wake up the crowd and suddenly lived up to her assassin billing. One hip swing, and starting to breath, she left behind Hall, who must have earned the Ethiopian's respect and gained immense self-belief. The victory, as Dibaba had predicted, was uncontested, 8:46:58, to 9:01.22, with Jen Rhines running a well paced race third in 9:02:91. After the obligatory victory lap, some flashing of her diamond ears for the photographers, showing that fabulous confident stride, Dibaba complimented Hall's run. "She ran very well, she also helped me, pushing me. This track is not easy to run on, it was my first time to run on this track. I thought she (Hall) was more familiar with the track." Little did Dibaba know but it was also Hall's first time to run a 3000 at Madison Square Gardens too.
So next up will probably be a legitimate crack at Defar's PR - actually, a new world record of 8:23.72 she set in Stuttgart this weekend - in Birmingham. Dibaba had hinted earlier in the week that it is not easy to pull out too many full efforts to attack records and it was clear this Millrose race had not been a "Boston Exertion."
After Birmingham, Tiru will return to Kostre's group to focus on the weekend of March 24 when she will travel south to Kenya to defend her World Cross Country title. Then after the goal is Osaka (the World Championships in track this summer) and "if God is willing" a 5000-meter outdoor track record. When asked about a time, she is not ruling out a sub-14:20 this summer. By the way that she has been running the past season, this should be a light target.
There is one striking factor that separates Dibaba from the rest of the pack. The race starts, the pace heats up, and coming to the last lap everyone shows signs of fatigue and the running form deteriorates - forall except Dibaba. Silvia Kibet, who tried to match Dibaba in the Golden League races, gave a back seat driver's view. "She just seems to have another gear more than everyone else in the lead pack, she never strains. You look up and she is 20meters ahead. Gone."
So what kind of training does Baby-Face do to run such out-of-this-planet performances? She is not a heavy trainer, which is confirmed by both her and Defar. Each day will be just over an hour, and some supplementary jogging. She runs speed work twice a week, often when in season running short repeats of 150 to 400 meters at a high pace with a short recovery. The number of intervals is kept to a minimum, however, allowing the body to reach that rapidity. She does not go to the gym, does not lift weights, and never runs more than one hour and twenty minutes. Her favorite foods are traditional high carbohydrate, low fat Ethiopian dishes. Travel to 2800-meters altitude, follow this plan, and I believe Sara Hall would have been at least 15 seconds faster at the 100th Millrose.
It is a full-time job defending your records and titles if you were born with a name that translates to "You are good" or as some say, "You are perfect," and Tiru is planning on extending her career for quite some time. She feels she has four more Olympic Games in her 44-kilogram body. The person who first tipped the world about the potential of the Baby Faced Assassin thinks Tiru has a long career too, and if Tulu, with three Olympic Games 10,000-meter medals, is correct in her prediction that Tiru will ultimately out-medal her, nobody in Ethiopia will be surprised. When your daughters are raised with high standards they tend to deliver.
By Toby Tanser, Runner’s World Correspondent
Standing on Seventh Avenue in designer jeans and a white turtleneck in 25-degrees Fahrenheit the only thing that set this small (155cm) Ethiopian young lady aside from the other New Yorkers is the fact that she is not wearing a jacket. In fact, the group of girls standing next to her, oblivious to the Ethiopian's rock star status in the running world, look equally as thin and as athletic. Tirunesh Dibaba is what Michael Jordan was to men's basketball, and more. She has won the world cross-country championships three times, was the first person ever to win a 5000/10,000m double at the World Championships, and has broken world records to boot. The other women on the circuit fear 21-year-old "Tiru" like no other. Since her breakthrough in 2003 when the baby-faced assassin demolished all other juniors and then, a day later, took seventh place at the World Seniors Cross Country, she has been the lady to beat. Of course there have been a few pimples on the way, like "only" winning a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics, a defeat that pains her to this day, but all in all, the woman who runs for the Mizuno Club on the international circuit has been an out and out winner.
Although this was Dibaba's first trip to the Millrose Games, for the inaugural New York Road Runners 3000 meters, she has graced the city in 2005 with her fast legs. Then, on a hot humid afternoon outdoors at Randall's Island, she ran 14:32:42 - the fastest women's 5000 ever run on American soil. Interestingly, earlier in that year she had run 14:32:93 to set an indoor record at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games - a record she broke on Saturday past with 14:27:42.
Rolling back the clock: A young Tiru to attend loved Bekoji Primary School, her favorite subject being the studies of Amharic, her mother tongue. Thus she was disappointed, when traveling to Addis Ababa at age 14 to continue her studying, that she missed the class registration by six days. She went to stay with her sister, Ejegayehu who is also a world class distance runner, and decided to start training. The two still live together in Addis, but the living conditions have been upgraded now. Bekelu Dibaba, a cousin, enrolled her in the Prison's Sports Club after Tiru proved herself finishing fifth in a trial race round a horse track. The systematic training soon paid off. Within a year she had ran at the World Junior Cross Country Championships, placing fifth. No eyebrows were raised; she was an African, wasn't she? Even back home in the village of Chefe, the result did not impress many. The cousin of Dibaba, on the father's side, and a neighbor at the town of Bekoji, had set high family standards winning the seniors, and a couple of Olympic gold medals. Derartu Tulu is a legend in Ethiopia; the great Kenenisa Bekele named her, not Gebrselassie, as being his inspiration. Imagine what heights Tiru set for herself growing up.
Fast forward to last Wednesday. Dibaba looks up at the sky and asks if the wind will die down. She has not trained this morning; she did not run yesterday either. It is beginning to bother her, she is worried her form will go and Friday's race will be ruined. She wants to run some light intervals. A slight irritation is seen in her face as she hates anything to come between her and the training time. Tomorrow, the day before the race, some easy jogging and a walk will be the only exercise, but today she needs to spin the legs and get that 60-second feel back into the muscles ... She knows Millrose is not a fast track, she has heard all about the famous Millrose Games; also that it is not a world record setting arena for distance runners. The 3000-meter record will not be attacked; perhaps it could be in Birmingham later on in February. That depends on the deal that Rich Kenah, her manager, can make. She also lets Rich decide what pace the pacer, Bridget Binney, will run on Friday. That detail is decided only the day before the race, giving hint that this is not going to be a fast performance; maybe it will only be an effort to break the Madison Square Garden record of Lynn Jennings, 8:40:95, set in 1990. Yes, that is possible, she says.
When back in Addis, the legendary coach Woldemeskel Kostre, who sets the sessions for the national team, is the man who plans Dibaba's workouts. A large group of Ethiopians will all train together - that is, if they wish to run for the national team. Ethiopian pride is extreme; all athletes long for a coveted team spot. A member of the squad, Meseret Defar, is Dibaba's greatest (and only?) rival. Rumor has it they are not the best of friends. When questioned, both insist to the contrary. Meseret usually chooses to train with a different group, but when the athletes are preparing for a world championship event, it is team rules. When in the company of both, in a confined small athletes' tent, neither congratulated the other after both had won their respective races; neither even talked to the other.
Oddly, they both run for the Mizuno Track Club, (Dibaba's own sister, Ejegayehu, runs for Adidas) but that is where the line ends. Meseret seems the only athlete who can challenge Tiru's supremacy to be called the number one women's distance runner on the planet. Defar it was who won the Olympic gold, Defar it was who was the sole athlete to knock Dibaba out of the Golden League jackpot race in the final event, costing Dibaba a huge chunk of change. Defar it was who beat Dibaba to win last summer's African Championships 5000 meters, and Defar it was who set the world 5000-meter record last year. But Tiru has staggering accomplishments herself that match each and every one of Defar's. What a shame a meet director could not have Defar lining up at Millrose.
Out on the New York streets, Dibaba talks about her childhood, how she was not a poor African. The family was actually quite affluent. She recalls, passing a coffee shop, roasting a few beans to make coffee for the family, or other small tasks she'd be asked to do following school, nothing hard, no secret to why she has this immense drive and explosion of power in sports.
On Friday night, after what seemed like a long, long warm up of easy jogging, Dibaba stepped on the Millrose track. After the excitement of the earlier high school events, the track was somewhat subdued. The Women's 400 had just been run, in a time Dibaba, a 5000 specialist, is well capable of running in her training - 54.44 seconds, just a tad slower than she was closing out some of last summer's Grand Prix 5000-meter victories. As pacemaker Bridget Binney of the USA towed four girls around the 160-meter oval, the crowd did not get behind the effort, but neither, so it seemed, did Dibaba, who simply followed suit. She later explained that when a pacemaker is put in the event, it is her duty just to follow that pace, even if the pace was 3:00 per km pace (her pr is approximately 2:50 per km pace). Dibaba had been told, almost at every conjecture before the event, how she was not going to run a fast time on this track. She was out to prove it. She stated she still felt the pace of the world record in Boston in her legs, and one wondered if she had already decided to phone home this win and save her energies for Birmingham, England, a track where everyone tells her she can run fast.
After a kilometer, when Binney dropped, the crowd were still munching popcorn. Yet the story of the night was developing; Sara Hall was tenaciously half a stride behind Tiru. Hall's husband had ran perhaps the American distance performance of the decade when breaking the hour at the Houston Half Marathon last month; could Sara Hall herself match that performance?
Sadly, with three laps to go, Dibaba determined to wake up the crowd and suddenly lived up to her assassin billing. One hip swing, and starting to breath, she left behind Hall, who must have earned the Ethiopian's respect and gained immense self-belief. The victory, as Dibaba had predicted, was uncontested, 8:46:58, to 9:01.22, with Jen Rhines running a well paced race third in 9:02:91. After the obligatory victory lap, some flashing of her diamond ears for the photographers, showing that fabulous confident stride, Dibaba complimented Hall's run. "She ran very well, she also helped me, pushing me. This track is not easy to run on, it was my first time to run on this track. I thought she (Hall) was more familiar with the track." Little did Dibaba know but it was also Hall's first time to run a 3000 at Madison Square Gardens too.
So next up will probably be a legitimate crack at Defar's PR - actually, a new world record of 8:23.72 she set in Stuttgart this weekend - in Birmingham. Dibaba had hinted earlier in the week that it is not easy to pull out too many full efforts to attack records and it was clear this Millrose race had not been a "Boston Exertion."
After Birmingham, Tiru will return to Kostre's group to focus on the weekend of March 24 when she will travel south to Kenya to defend her World Cross Country title. Then after the goal is Osaka (the World Championships in track this summer) and "if God is willing" a 5000-meter outdoor track record. When asked about a time, she is not ruling out a sub-14:20 this summer. By the way that she has been running the past season, this should be a light target.
There is one striking factor that separates Dibaba from the rest of the pack. The race starts, the pace heats up, and coming to the last lap everyone shows signs of fatigue and the running form deteriorates - forall except Dibaba. Silvia Kibet, who tried to match Dibaba in the Golden League races, gave a back seat driver's view. "She just seems to have another gear more than everyone else in the lead pack, she never strains. You look up and she is 20meters ahead. Gone."
So what kind of training does Baby-Face do to run such out-of-this-planet performances? She is not a heavy trainer, which is confirmed by both her and Defar. Each day will be just over an hour, and some supplementary jogging. She runs speed work twice a week, often when in season running short repeats of 150 to 400 meters at a high pace with a short recovery. The number of intervals is kept to a minimum, however, allowing the body to reach that rapidity. She does not go to the gym, does not lift weights, and never runs more than one hour and twenty minutes. Her favorite foods are traditional high carbohydrate, low fat Ethiopian dishes. Travel to 2800-meters altitude, follow this plan, and I believe Sara Hall would have been at least 15 seconds faster at the 100th Millrose.
It is a full-time job defending your records and titles if you were born with a name that translates to "You are good" or as some say, "You are perfect," and Tiru is planning on extending her career for quite some time. She feels she has four more Olympic Games in her 44-kilogram body. The person who first tipped the world about the potential of the Baby Faced Assassin thinks Tiru has a long career too, and if Tulu, with three Olympic Games 10,000-meter medals, is correct in her prediction that Tiru will ultimately out-medal her, nobody in Ethiopia will be surprised. When your daughters are raised with high standards they tend to deliver.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Tirunesh Speaks
In my last post, I mentioned it would be interesting to hear comments from Tirunesh about her 3000M race at the Millrose Games. Well, she has spoken and, as expected, she did comment on the difficulty of running on such a tight track as the one at Madison Square Garden. Having heard her answer, I still believe that was her first and last appearance at Millrose Games.
Tirunesh comments on many different things such as her plan for 2007 and support from Ethiopian spectators at the race. This is a great opportunity to hear directly from her. Incidentally, it is very refreshing to have the services of such a competent interpreter. On many ocassions in the past, I have seen poor interpretations of questions and answers create awkward moments such as in 1997 when Fatuma Roba was visibly confused when the interpreter asked her, right after she won the Boston Marathon, how she felt about this victory in "this Olympic race."
Enjoy Tirunesh's interview.
Tirunesh comments on many different things such as her plan for 2007 and support from Ethiopian spectators at the race. This is a great opportunity to hear directly from her. Incidentally, it is very refreshing to have the services of such a competent interpreter. On many ocassions in the past, I have seen poor interpretations of questions and answers create awkward moments such as in 1997 when Fatuma Roba was visibly confused when the interpreter asked her, right after she won the Boston Marathon, how she felt about this victory in "this Olympic race."
Enjoy Tirunesh's interview.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Record in Stuttgart
Well, we are barely a month in to 2007, but the "Dueling Ds" have picked up their one-upmanship epic battle just where they left it off at the end of 2006. Last weekend, "baby-face destroyer" Tirunesh Dibaba set an indoor world record at 5000M in Boston. So what does Meseret Defar do this weekend? She set her own world indoor record at 3000M in Stuttgart, Germany today. Defar ran an unbelievable 8:23.72, shaving more than four seconds off the previous record. It is astounding that Defar seems to think that she could have gone even faster and dip down to 8:20 range.
To put Defar's performance in perspective, one only needs to see how fast Tirunesh Dibaba ran her own indoor 3000M at the Millrose Games last night. Uncharacteristically, Dibaba could not shake her competition in New York until the final two laps. Sarah Hall doggedely hanged on to Dibaba, though Hall paid for it dearly as she wilted in the last two laps. Admittedly, the short track at the Madison Square Garden was tough to run on, but Dibaba only managed a time of 8:46.58 which would mean that Defar would have nearlly lapped her on a standard 200M indoor track. That is how good Defar's race was!
Dibaba did not look her normal confident self in the New York race, and I would venture to guess that she will not return to the Millrose Games again. It will be interesting to hear her comments on the race. As for Defar, though she set an astonishing world record, she only won the race by 2/100th of a second! Meselech Melkamu, was right on Defar's neck all the way through the finish line and bettered the old world record herself.
This was the first ever indoor race for Melkamu but obviously she was not intimidated by the venue or the competition. She is already an experienced runner with a string of impressive cross-country wins over the past couple of months, including the Ethiopian Championships at Jan Meda in Addis. Melkamu was also the fourth place finisher at the 2005 World Championship 5000M race where Ethiopians made history by sweeping the first four spots.
Roocha fans- 2007 is going to be a very special year, unlike any other before. So fasten your seat belts for an exciting ride courtesy of our Ethiopian runners, who are the world's greatest athletes, as they battle each other at the World Cross Country Championship in Mombassa, Kenya, followed by the European track season, and reaching the climax at the World Track and Field Championship in Osaka, Japan. The latest chapter in the story of Ethiopian women distance running may even turn in to a three-way battle with the "Double M" Meselech Melkamu, thrown in the mix with the "Dueling Ds."
To put Defar's performance in perspective, one only needs to see how fast Tirunesh Dibaba ran her own indoor 3000M at the Millrose Games last night. Uncharacteristically, Dibaba could not shake her competition in New York until the final two laps. Sarah Hall doggedely hanged on to Dibaba, though Hall paid for it dearly as she wilted in the last two laps. Admittedly, the short track at the Madison Square Garden was tough to run on, but Dibaba only managed a time of 8:46.58 which would mean that Defar would have nearlly lapped her on a standard 200M indoor track. That is how good Defar's race was!
Dibaba did not look her normal confident self in the New York race, and I would venture to guess that she will not return to the Millrose Games again. It will be interesting to hear her comments on the race. As for Defar, though she set an astonishing world record, she only won the race by 2/100th of a second! Meselech Melkamu, was right on Defar's neck all the way through the finish line and bettered the old world record herself.
This was the first ever indoor race for Melkamu but obviously she was not intimidated by the venue or the competition. She is already an experienced runner with a string of impressive cross-country wins over the past couple of months, including the Ethiopian Championships at Jan Meda in Addis. Melkamu was also the fourth place finisher at the 2005 World Championship 5000M race where Ethiopians made history by sweeping the first four spots.
Roocha fans- 2007 is going to be a very special year, unlike any other before. So fasten your seat belts for an exciting ride courtesy of our Ethiopian runners, who are the world's greatest athletes, as they battle each other at the World Cross Country Championship in Mombassa, Kenya, followed by the European track season, and reaching the climax at the World Track and Field Championship in Osaka, Japan. The latest chapter in the story of Ethiopian women distance running may even turn in to a three-way battle with the "Double M" Meselech Melkamu, thrown in the mix with the "Dueling Ds."
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Ejeg Betam Tirunesh
Ethiopians athletes have been dominating races so much this year that a new nick name is being thrown around to describe them. First it was "Bekele the destroyer" in Edinburgh and now we have Tiru the "baby-face destroyer" in Boston. Larry Rawson, one of the most knowledgable commentators in track and field, called the Women's 5000M indoor race in Boston this past weekend and he described Tirunesh by that name. Thanks to an annonymous comment to an earlier post, you can watch a good portion of the race here.
"Ejeg Betam" Tirunesh simply looks elegant in this race. Her strides look like she is running a mile race and not 5000M. And after setting a world record, she hardly looks spent! This may be sign of things to come in 2007. Perhaps it will be a year when she elevates herself from an excellent runner to that of a legend as Haile Gebrselassie did in 1995 with amazing record setting performances in 5000M in Zurich and 10000M in Hengelo.
You can see more of the legend in the making as Tirunesh will be running at the 100th Millrose Games (largest indoor track meet in the world) in New York tomorrow night- televised live Feb. 2 on ESPN2 7-9PM EST, and Sat. Feb. 3 NBC 2-3PM EST.
If you want to learn more about Tirunesh, check out this great article from July/August 2006 issue of Running Times.
"Ejeg Betam" Tirunesh simply looks elegant in this race. Her strides look like she is running a mile race and not 5000M. And after setting a world record, she hardly looks spent! This may be sign of things to come in 2007. Perhaps it will be a year when she elevates herself from an excellent runner to that of a legend as Haile Gebrselassie did in 1995 with amazing record setting performances in 5000M in Zurich and 10000M in Hengelo.
You can see more of the legend in the making as Tirunesh will be running at the 100th Millrose Games (largest indoor track meet in the world) in New York tomorrow night- televised live Feb. 2 on ESPN2 7-9PM EST, and Sat. Feb. 3 NBC 2-3PM EST.
If you want to learn more about Tirunesh, check out this great article from July/August 2006 issue of Running Times.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
National stride
By Adrian Walker, Globe Columnist January 29, 2007
Mesele Kifle is a big figure in Boston's Ethiopian community, and especially on its sports scene.
So there was only one place for him to spend this past Saturday night -- the Reggie Lewis Track in Roxbury at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games.
To track and field insiders, the meet, which boasted highly ranked runners from around the world, is a major stop on the indoor track circuit. It was broadcast on ESPN, the ultimate sports-world validation.
It means something different, though, to a man like Kifle, the president of the Boston Ethiopian Sports Club. Kifle, 55, came to Boston decades ago to attend college and, to his surprise, never left. For him and his associates, the meet is a huge occasion of community pride and a source of a sometimes-elusive unity.
"People are divided, with different ideas about politics and religion, but sports gives us national unity," Kifle said. "When we see the runners, we have a special feeling."
The Reggie was awash in emotion during the meet. Ethiopian flags were out in abundance, as were the national colors. Those who had come out to cheer their country's finest runners had plenty to cheer about, starting with the performance of Tirunesh Diruba .
The world record holder in the women's 5,000 meters, she brought the crowd to its feet by leaving her so-called competitors in her distant wake. Among those finishing far, far behind her was her sister, Ejegayehu . The Ethiopians would get their next chance to cheer when Meseret Defar easily took first place in the women's 3,000 meters -- to the delight of a huge cheering section at the finish line.
Diruba later said she enjoys running in Boston, mainly because of the fans. "It's like running in Ethiopia," she said through a translator. "People here have lots of love for me, and I can feel that."
The love affair between the local Ethiopian community and the nation's runners dates back for years. When Fatuma Roba won three consecutive Boston Marathons in the late 1990s, it was common for her fans to jump on the course and run alongside her for moral support. They didn't keep up for long, but a tradition was born.
Kifle, not surprisingly, was usually among those who would try to run a piece of the marathon alongside Roba. "When it comes to these kinds of things, I get very emotional."
He and others said that emotion comes from the connection that it gives to home. Next to soccer, track is the country's great athletic pastime. The dominance of the country's runners gives a relatively low-profile community here something to stand up and cheer. Tickets to the Reebok Games get snatched up early, with sales spurred by word-of-mouth in convenience stores and restaurants.
Kifle didn't know he would become an American when he moved to the United States. He attended Bunker Hill Community College and Boston State College. He thought he would spend perhaps five years in the States before returning home. But while he was away, the emperor, Haile Selassie, was deposed in a military coup, changing Ethiopia utterly. He has been back to visit only a few times since, most recently just a few weeks ago. Kifle said he saw a country that was little like he remembered it.
"Everything -- the poverty is different, the unemployment is different. There is a lot of poverty," he said. "But the people are the same. Eventually, I'm going to end up there."
Kifle Alemu, 30, became a high school track star at Boston English High after moving here from Ethiopia. He and a friend were videotaping the meet at trackside. "This is special for Ethiopian people," Alemu said.
Mesele Kifle said he would probably be traveling to other meets in Washington and New York in the next couple of weeks. He is not alone among Ethiopians who like to travel the track-and-field circuit. He lives for this. "I like to see us win," he said.
Adrian Walker is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at walker@globe.com.
Mesele Kifle is a big figure in Boston's Ethiopian community, and especially on its sports scene.
So there was only one place for him to spend this past Saturday night -- the Reggie Lewis Track in Roxbury at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games.
To track and field insiders, the meet, which boasted highly ranked runners from around the world, is a major stop on the indoor track circuit. It was broadcast on ESPN, the ultimate sports-world validation.
It means something different, though, to a man like Kifle, the president of the Boston Ethiopian Sports Club. Kifle, 55, came to Boston decades ago to attend college and, to his surprise, never left. For him and his associates, the meet is a huge occasion of community pride and a source of a sometimes-elusive unity.
"People are divided, with different ideas about politics and religion, but sports gives us national unity," Kifle said. "When we see the runners, we have a special feeling."
The Reggie was awash in emotion during the meet. Ethiopian flags were out in abundance, as were the national colors. Those who had come out to cheer their country's finest runners had plenty to cheer about, starting with the performance of Tirunesh Diruba .
The world record holder in the women's 5,000 meters, she brought the crowd to its feet by leaving her so-called competitors in her distant wake. Among those finishing far, far behind her was her sister, Ejegayehu . The Ethiopians would get their next chance to cheer when Meseret Defar easily took first place in the women's 3,000 meters -- to the delight of a huge cheering section at the finish line.
Diruba later said she enjoys running in Boston, mainly because of the fans. "It's like running in Ethiopia," she said through a translator. "People here have lots of love for me, and I can feel that."
The love affair between the local Ethiopian community and the nation's runners dates back for years. When Fatuma Roba won three consecutive Boston Marathons in the late 1990s, it was common for her fans to jump on the course and run alongside her for moral support. They didn't keep up for long, but a tradition was born.
Kifle, not surprisingly, was usually among those who would try to run a piece of the marathon alongside Roba. "When it comes to these kinds of things, I get very emotional."
He and others said that emotion comes from the connection that it gives to home. Next to soccer, track is the country's great athletic pastime. The dominance of the country's runners gives a relatively low-profile community here something to stand up and cheer. Tickets to the Reebok Games get snatched up early, with sales spurred by word-of-mouth in convenience stores and restaurants.
Kifle didn't know he would become an American when he moved to the United States. He attended Bunker Hill Community College and Boston State College. He thought he would spend perhaps five years in the States before returning home. But while he was away, the emperor, Haile Selassie, was deposed in a military coup, changing Ethiopia utterly. He has been back to visit only a few times since, most recently just a few weeks ago. Kifle said he saw a country that was little like he remembered it.
"Everything -- the poverty is different, the unemployment is different. There is a lot of poverty," he said. "But the people are the same. Eventually, I'm going to end up there."
Kifle Alemu, 30, became a high school track star at Boston English High after moving here from Ethiopia. He and a friend were videotaping the meet at trackside. "This is special for Ethiopian people," Alemu said.
Mesele Kifle said he would probably be traveling to other meets in Washington and New York in the next couple of weeks. He is not alone among Ethiopians who like to travel the track-and-field circuit. He lives for this. "I like to see us win," he said.
Adrian Walker is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at walker@globe.com.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Record in Boston
As promised the Reebok Boston Indoor Games was a great event. With Tirunesh Dibaba shattering her 5000 M World Indoor Record by get this - five and a half seconds. Tirunesh herself was surprised by the margin. The full story is at IAAF. Running with a cold, Meseret Defar was not as lucky in breaking the 3000 M record. She ended up winning the race but had to be helped off the field. I don't know how many of you have run with a cold but it is a dangerous thing to do because the reparatory system is being taken to the extreme. Best wishes to Meseret who gave it all her best and congratulations to Tirunesh.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Asleep at the Wheel
Last weekend was a busy weekend for running. We have been asleep at the wheel here at Roocha.net. But while we were dozing off, roocha never stops, so others have picked up the slack and helped us out. We received the following email from Gedeonsharew who was at the Scotland Great Edinburgh Cross Country event and wached Kenenisa, in basketball shorts, destroy the field. With many thanks to Gedeonsharew and with his permission we are positing his email.
If you enjoy Gedeonsharew's report drop him an appriciation comment.
Hi guys,
Allow me to invoke my bragging rights having watched this at the venue.
www.iaaf.org/WXC07/news/Kind=2/newsId=37222.html
As cross country events go, it was an open field with just a single strip of loose rope on either side of the winding and undulating 9km route separating the runners from the spectators. It was like watching golf, as enthusiasts like me (and of course several others) were able to scurry around the middle of the winding course to catch a good view at every turn except when the runners disappear behind the hill for a short portion of the route.
I actually got so excited half way thru, me and a couple of other guys waited for the leading pack to turn the corner and then started running right along side them (on the outside of the rope of course) for a few seconds, me with my huge bandira blowing high up (in the hope of being picked up by the live BBC camera feed). It was actually more like a blur because to my horror I found the speed at which the likes of Kenenisa, Zeresenay, Kipchoge... gallop tough the muddy and hilly course, is faster than my full speed sprint and this is just midway before they start picking up real speed.
Anyway, it was truly breathtaking to see a reportedly "not fully fit" Kenenisa bursting up and down the course with unbelievable ease and energy. The man is quite small (not very thin even at his ideal weight). When you look at him up close while he is burning the course, the confident face, the jutting chest, the amazingly long strides (I couldn't stretch my strides that wide for a long jump), the way he seems to lightly bounce off the ground each time he lands a foot, the perfect rhythm, the devastating finishing speed... was exhilarating to watch. The race probably would have been wildly exciting if Zeresenay didn't run out of steam but instead held on for a sprint finish.
Zeresenay who is shorter but slightly stockier was constantly a step ahead or behind of Kenenisa throughout most of the race and actually towards the beginning of the last lap tried to lead. It was to no avail as Kenenisa easily shot past him and continued to widen his lead to the finish. Zeresenay is a bit stooped and seems to bury his head in his shoulders (as opposed to Kenenisa's front-jutting) and therefore not too stylish of runner, but definitely a strong and very talented athlete who now seems second only to Kenenisa.
Kenenisa's face and body is very fresh and young and leaves no doubt that he is not a day older than his official 24 years. Zeresenay has one of those rugged ageless faces like Haile Gebreslassie’s, and could lead you to think that he can be anywhere between 20 to 55.
The women's race was similarly exciting. Gelete Burka who has a very strong, fast and wide stride, never seemed in doubt of winning. She ran like a rocket with her head and body leaning out front in an angle. Like Kenenisa, she won very comfortably and her victory never seemed in doubt after the first few laps.
There were about twenty five Ethio types from Edinburgh/Glasgow and about a hundred or so very boisterous Eritreans mostly from London. The atmosphere among the two groups was very friendly and civilized through out. Prior to the start of the race, I almost created an incident when my bandira was blown out of my hand by the gale force wind, and of all places landed a few hundred feet away right smack in the middle of Eritrean bandirawoch held high by a group of singing and dancing Zeresenay tifozowoch (and Hailesilassie yimut it was totally unintended). I mean the bandira made a few very wide arcs above the huge field and it probably had a chance of one in a thousand to land on the Eritreans, and that is exactly what it did. Anyhow, at first, I saw some in the Eritrean crowd with a bewildered look, then a frowning and questioning look toward the small Ethiopian crowd I was with. Thankfully, a young pretty girl ran across field and delivered the flag to us to my great relief, it seems like just plain kind heartedness and/or camaraderie in a foreign land took over. Imagine how bad I would have felt if some sort of fracas broke out as a result - especially when the fact that the bandira’s air trip was accidental and not plausible. I think one of the good things is a lot of the crowd on both sides (and I think increasingly in many public gatherings in the general Diaspora) are youngish under 30s who have so much less baggage and hang-ups.
The small Edinburgh/Glasgow Habesha community who seem to have a loose network had organized a dinner and dance party afterwards to honor the athletes and also to have a belated Habesha Gena party. We had a great party well into the wee hours.
Gedeonsharew
If you enjoy Gedeonsharew's report drop him an appriciation comment.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
More on Tariku
Additional articles have rolled off the press regarding tomorrow's R 'n' R Arizona Marathon. They do make mention of Tariku and it almost sounds like he is considered as the favorite to win. I did get the chance to speak to Tariku several times from Arizona, and earlier this evening I have passed good wishes for the race. Incidentally, I am quite impressed with the organizers of the race as they seem to be taking good care of the athletes. In particular, Mr. Mike Long, who is the elite athlete coordinator, has been very helpful in establishing contact with Tariku.
If anyone in the Phoenix area can provide updates from local news outlets as the race progresses, it will be greatly appreciated. Please send e-mail to roocha2@gmail.com.
The race will be televised at a later date as follows:
The 2007 P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon & ½ Marathon will be televised locally on FOX Channel 10, and nationally on FOX Sports Net. Times and dates are subject to change so please check your local listings.
National Broadcast on Fox Sports: January 27th at 6:00pm MST*
Local Broadcast on Fox Channel 10: Sunday, January 28th at 3:00 pm MST
If anyone in the Phoenix area can provide updates from local news outlets as the race progresses, it will be greatly appreciated. Please send e-mail to roocha2@gmail.com.
The race will be televised at a later date as follows:
The 2007 P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon & ½ Marathon will be televised locally on FOX Channel 10, and nationally on FOX Sports Net. Times and dates are subject to change so please check your local listings.
National Broadcast on Fox Sports: January 27th at 6:00pm MST*
Local Broadcast on Fox Channel 10: Sunday, January 28th at 3:00 pm MST
When You See a Mess
When you see a mess you know a mess and here is a mess.
Last November, claiming that it was acting on evidence that surfaced in the criminal case of convicted East German coach Thomas Springstein, Germany's Athletics Federation (DLV) filed a complaint against Hermens and Spanish doctor Miguel Angel Peraita.
Last month, denying wrongdoing and claiming damage to his reputation, Jos Hermens the agent for 39 Ethiopian athletes including Haile Gebreslassie’s and Kenenisa Bekele, filed a slander suit against the German Athletics Federation (DVL) President Clemens Prokop.
The central figure in this mess is the former East German coach Thomas Springstein who was sentenced to 16 months in prison last year for giving a banned substance to minors he had been coaching. Hermens is the former manager of two German athletes coached by this convict. It appears that Jos Hermens name surfaced in the court documents during this trial. The two athletes are former 800m Olympic champion Nils Schumann and former world 400m relay champion Grit Breuer. The more controversial of the two is 34 year-old Grit Breuer, a former East German athlete and girlfriend of the convicted coach Springstein. She was the 200M World Indoor Championship in 1991 and a medalist at the Olympics and World Championships in the 4x100m relay. In 1992 she received a two year ban for taking a performance-enhancing substance and got in trouble again in 2004 for skipping a drug test. She faced a lifetime ban for a skipped drug test but managed to get cleared on a technicality.
The DVL accuses Hermens of sending three athletes to Dr. Peraita. Hermens said he recommended Peraita to the German athletes because he believed some of the Spanish doctor's methods, which included homeopathy, were revolutionary.
Last summer cycling experience a huge doping scandal that damaged the credibility of the sport. OnJuly, 1 2006The Washington post reported :
I believe Joe Hermes is innocent. The problem here is that every news article that covers this issue also mentions our record shattering athletes Haile Gebreslassie’s and Kenenisa Bekele. This places two of the hardest working athletes under a cloud of suspicion without an ounce of evidence. Anytime an athlete dominates there are suspicions and it is the athlete’s responsibility to stay clear of anything that may create a controversy. Lance Armstrong’s career has been dogged with doping allegations without any evidence and his legacy is somewhat tarnished based just perception. I personally have always been suspicious of Paula Radcliff and I have no evidence for that. Therefore, I can’t blame anyone for being suspicious of Ethiopian athletes given how dominant they have been. We may think our athletes are special but not everyone thinks like we do. The good news is that Ethiopian athletics has been one of the cleanest in the world of sports. It is unfortunate that Jos Hermen’s second tier German athletes could tarnish the hard earned reputation of our heroes and for that matter the reputation of our country.
This is something you would hope have never happened. This is a mess. There will be no winners.
Last November, claiming that it was acting on evidence that surfaced in the criminal case of convicted East German coach Thomas Springstein, Germany's Athletics Federation (DLV) filed a complaint against Hermens and Spanish doctor Miguel Angel Peraita.
Last month, denying wrongdoing and claiming damage to his reputation, Jos Hermens the agent for 39 Ethiopian athletes including Haile Gebreslassie’s and Kenenisa Bekele, filed a slander suit against the German Athletics Federation (DVL) President Clemens Prokop.
The central figure in this mess is the former East German coach Thomas Springstein who was sentenced to 16 months in prison last year for giving a banned substance to minors he had been coaching. Hermens is the former manager of two German athletes coached by this convict. It appears that Jos Hermens name surfaced in the court documents during this trial. The two athletes are former 800m Olympic champion Nils Schumann and former world 400m relay champion Grit Breuer. The more controversial of the two is 34 year-old Grit Breuer, a former East German athlete and girlfriend of the convicted coach Springstein. She was the 200M World Indoor Championship in 1991 and a medalist at the Olympics and World Championships in the 4x100m relay. In 1992 she received a two year ban for taking a performance-enhancing substance and got in trouble again in 2004 for skipping a drug test. She faced a lifetime ban for a skipped drug test but managed to get cleared on a technicality.
The DVL accuses Hermens of sending three athletes to Dr. Peraita. Hermens said he recommended Peraita to the German athletes because he believed some of the Spanish doctor's methods, which included homeopathy, were revolutionary.
Last summer cycling experience a huge doping scandal that damaged the credibility of the sport. OnJuly, 1 2006The Washington post reported :
The Tour de France, the legendary three-week bicycle race that is one of Europe's most popular sporting events, was rocked by a major drug scandal on Friday -- the day before the race was scheduled to begin -- that forced several of the top competitors to withdraw, including favorites Jan Ullrich of Germany and Ivan Basso of Italy.
Cycling analysts described the burgeoning doping scandal -- which centers on a sports doctor in Madrid who allegedly helped dozens of riders with performance-enhancing blood doping -- as the worst to ever hit the sport. They said that it could claim more Tour riders before the race is finished July 23 -- or even before it starts Saturday morning in the French Alsatian city of Strasbourg. Johan Bruyneel, coach of the Discovery Channel team that was headed by seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong until his retirement last year, said the ongoing Spanish drug probe "is probably the biggest doping scandal in cycling and maybe even in sports ever.
According to this Spiegel Magazine, for years Spain has been considered a paradise for athletes open to doping. That piece of doping paradise was not limited to cyclist. Dr. Miguel Angel Peraita and the East German convict were a part of this paradise.
The first reports about compliant doctors and well-equipped laboratories began making the rounds in the track and field world in the late 1990s. The suspicion that a network had developed in this environment was confirmed last year when the police staged a spectacular coup against the drug cartel. In a series of raids on the Spanish mainland, as well as on the Canary and Balearic Islands, police secured 10 tons of illegal doping products.
Since the trial of former sprint trainer Thomas Springstein in Germany, anti-doping activists there, like Heidelberg cell biologist Werner Franke, have openly referred to the so-called "Spanish connection." In March, a court in Magdeburg gave the eastern German track and field coach a 16-month suspended sentence for supplying drugs to minors. The investigation had revealed that Springstein was regularly in contact with Miguel Angel Peraita, a Madrid physician.
During a search of Springstein's home, the police seized a folder containing faxes and email printouts. In some emails, Springstein, whose screen name was "Top.speed," inquired about advances in genetic doping. In others, he asked Peraita (screen name "Top Doc") for his views on the respective advantages of testosterone creams and insulin injections.
Germany's National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) in Bonn now has portions of this incriminating file at its disposal and is trying to uncover links between Fuentes and Peraita, whose medical practice is located on Madrid's Calle Fernández de la Hoz -- just a few steps from Fuentes's apartment and Merino Batres's blood laboratory.
About sending athletes to Dr. Peraita, Jos Hermens said:
I was maybe a little dumb, I should have asked more questions about what Peraita exactly does.
It may have been dumb mistake but it’s something you just wish Hermens never did. The stink surrounding these German athletes is seriously threatening his livelihood and reputation. The most confusing thing is why would such a well respected agent send the East German convict's girlfriend (Grit Breuer) who herself was a cheat to Dr. Peraita the doper. This is the wrong crowd for him to have anything to do with. All this does not look good but the fact of the mater remains that the evidence against him is still slim.
The current evidence isn't enough to press doping charges against high-profile agent Jos Hermens and a Spanish doctor, the investigating district attorney said Wednesday.
But Rudolf Jaspers said his Magdeburg office will investigate the allegations of trafficking in banned substances brought against Miguel Angel Peraita and Hermens, whose clients include long-distance greats Haile Gebreslassie and Kenenisa Bekele.
The German Athletics Federation, which filed a criminal complaint Monday, bases its doping allegations on court documents from the trial of Thomas Springstein, a German coach sentenced to four months for providing a banned substance to a minor.
"We have hints in the e-mails between Springstein and Peraita, but nothing that specifies amounts or where they (drugs) were transported," Jaspers told the Associated Press. "That will not be enough to build a case." Jaspers said his office may appeal to Spanish and Dutch authorities for help in the investigation. It's also not clear if any wrongdoing falls under German jurisdiction.
Unfortunately, the problem is not legal but a problem of preception. Joe Hermes is an agent who is regarded as the best of the best in the business. It’s unfortunate when such an incident hoovers around a good guy like him.
And there is more...
Hermens does much more than negotiate financial deals for these athletes. "Jos had done everything for me, not only in running," says Gebrselassie, the two-time Olympic 10,000m champion. "He is doing everything. For example my brother was in [the] hospital in Holland. Jos is looking after him."
"I never see him as [a] manager," says Gebrselassie. "Always he looks like a brother or a father and son."
For his athlete family, he is willing to assist wherever necessary in their lives. Occasionally his duties include such diverse tasks as shipping farm implements from Europe to Africa on behalf of enterprising athletes.
In September 2004, Hermens even sought out the best doctors for Gebrselassie and his friend, 2000 Olympic marathon champion Gezehegne Abera, in Helsinki. Abera is not even one of his clients. Hermens wanted, however, to ensure he was also in capable medical hands.
I believe Joe Hermes is innocent. The problem here is that every news article that covers this issue also mentions our record shattering athletes Haile Gebreslassie’s and Kenenisa Bekele. This places two of the hardest working athletes under a cloud of suspicion without an ounce of evidence. Anytime an athlete dominates there are suspicions and it is the athlete’s responsibility to stay clear of anything that may create a controversy. Lance Armstrong’s career has been dogged with doping allegations without any evidence and his legacy is somewhat tarnished based just perception. I personally have always been suspicious of Paula Radcliff and I have no evidence for that. Therefore, I can’t blame anyone for being suspicious of Ethiopian athletes given how dominant they have been. We may think our athletes are special but not everyone thinks like we do. The good news is that Ethiopian athletics has been one of the cleanest in the world of sports. It is unfortunate that Jos Hermen’s second tier German athletes could tarnish the hard earned reputation of our heroes and for that matter the reputation of our country.
This is something you would hope have never happened. This is a mess. There will be no winners.
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