Author Archives: bw_admin

A couple of days late on the weekend wrap-up, but…

Out at the Stanford Invitational on Friday night, Kenyon Neuman took 18 seconds off his 10,000m PB to finish 11th in the “A” Heat in 29:07.33. It was another solid step up the ladder. This kicks off his track season in earnest, with upcoming plans to compete in another outdoor meet at CU’s Potts Field, the Mt. SAC Relays, and the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational.

Over in the UK, John Beattie won by over a minute in the Eastleigh 10K in 29:42, a local race he had done as a schoolboy. He wrote that it was “not all out + just a good solid tempo effort ahead of coming out to US and nice to get some local recognition in my home town.” John will travel to the US next month for training, and then compete in the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational on May 1st.

In South Africa, Rene Kalmer had an interesting weekend, to say the least: 48.695 kilometers of racing and a trifecta of three wins in three races. Preparing for the Prague Marathon, Rene doubled on Saturday at the Yellow Pages Germistown meet, winning both the 1500m (4:20.10) and 5000m (16:07.57) by more than 10 seconds each. Then on Sunday morning, as part of a planned 45K training run in prep for Prague, Rene ran the 65th Annual Springbok Pharmacy Jackie Gibson Marathon at altitude (it makes sense…water stops, mile markers, roads closed to traffic) and won in 2:51:35, some 13 minutes up on second place. Fresh off her new half-marathon PB in New York, Irvette van Blerk also doubled in Germistown, with 2nd in the 1500m (4:31.26) and 3rd in the 5000m (16:21.10). Both Rene and Irvette will race in the Old Mutual Two Oceans Half-Marathon in Cape Town on April 23rd.

At the end of last year, Antonio signed a three-year sponsorship agreement with Mizuno for 2011-2013, and he is being featured as one of Mizuno USA’s Ambassadors. Many thanks to Ron Wayne and Mizuno for their support of Antonio, as well as two other Boulder Wave athletes, Patrick Rizzo and Josh Moen. The video interview within this Mizuno profile is also nicely done.

http://www.mizunousa.com/running/ambassador/antonio-vega

A watercolor painting of Tomo Morimoto and Chieko Yamasaki is featured in a new poster (see below) that the organizers of the Vienna City Marathon will sell at this year’s race to raise relief funds for the victims of Japan’s ongoing disaster. Many thanks to our friend, race director Wolfgang Konrad, for taking this initiative. Tomo and Chieko were both members of Japan’s Tenmaya team when they went 1-2 in Vienna in 2006. Chieko has since retired from her competitive running career.

The Tenmaya Department store group also has a Japanese restaurant called “Tenmaya” just off the Graben in the center of Vienna. It is just a short walk from the Staatsoper and St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Stop in and have a meal next time you are in Vienna. We are working to make the poster available at the restaurant, and will order copies to be sent to us here in Boulder, as well as to the Tenmaya team in Okayama, Japan.

A very chilly day in NYC that prompted Irvette van Blerk (South Africa)  to comment five minutes before the start, “I can’t feel my feet!” surprisingly brought a pair of fast men’s and women’s races. The NYC Half-Marathon is by no means a cupcake…the initial eight miles or so are over the undulating hills of Central Park, but once the athletes are realeased to Seventh Avenue and the West Side Highway, the pace goes nuts. In the women’s race, reigning ING  New York City Marathon champion Edna Kiplagat (Nike) contended over the Central Park miles with a group that included compatriot Caroline Rotich, former world cross-country champion Weknish Kidane, and America’s half-marathon recordholder Kara Goucher. With a steadily accelerating pace, the front group dwindled to four (Edna, Rotich, Goucher, American Shewarge Amare) at the ten mile mark, hit in 53:10. Rotich began to step on the gas, with only Edna keeping pace over the next two miles of 5:03 and 5:04. Rotich continued her surge, finally separating from Edna to open up 5 seconds at the 20K, and eight seconds at the finish (68:52 CR). Edna ran great, with a 69:00 effort that was a new PB and was also under the old course record. Edna’s husband and coach, Gilbert Koech, was happy with the result. “I didn’t know how Edna would handle the long flat stretch at the end of the race, but with 15:50 for the last 5K, we know things are going well. London is of course the big target for us this Spring.” Irvette came through the cold in spectacular fashion, dropping 13 seconds off the 71:09 PB she set last year in winning the South African national championship. Some prudent shopping for gloves and armwarmers at Niketown on Saturday helped save the day. Adriana Pirtea (ASICS/Romania) ran tough all day, hampered by a tight hamstring brought on by the cold. Shaking off fleeting thoughts of stopping to protect herself from further injury, Adriana pushed on and ran a very solid 72:03, good for 12th place. Her husband/coach, Jeremy Nelson, said after the race, “She’ll probably take a good break now and start shorter road racing in May. It’s been an intense start to the year with Osaka, Yokohama, and this race, but she’s run well in them.” Next home of our group was Fiona Docherty (ASICS, New Zealand), who knocked close to two minutes (!) off her PB, with a 72:49 for 14th place. “I’m delighted. London next month should be really exciting.” Yuri Kano Second Wind AC/MIzuno) had a rough day of it, completely understandable. Minutes before rhe start of the race, NYRR President Mary Wittenberg introduced Yuri to the field of runners and commented on the past week of devastation in Japan, and Yuri was greeted with a warm round of applause and cheers of support. Early on in the race, she had to stop to use a toilet, lost over a minute there, then after beginning to run again realized she’d left her gloves in the porta-potty. On a run Monday morning she thought about the past week. “I probably had some stress and fatigue from the past week in Japan. Every night going to sleep, we didn’t know if there’d be another earthquake, or what else might happen. I’m really happy Mary and the Road Runners invited me, but when I was warming up, I realized I didn’t feel very sharp.”

New York City is buzzing today as everything is set for tomorrow morning NYC Half-Marathon. In five years, the race has quickly jumped to top status, and a pair of loaded men’s and women’s fields will toe the line tomorrow morning for the run from Central Park to Battersea Park. Tomorrow is forecast to be somewhat cold (mid- to upper-30s), perhaps warming a bit to lower- to mid-40s by the finish; hopefully, the breezes of this morning will not return. Boulder Wave has a dynamic group of women set for tomorrow’s combat. 2010 ING New York City Marathon champ Edna Kiplagat (Kenya/Nike) heads the invited field. Sunday will be Edna’s first international race as a Nike athlete since signing a three-year sponsorship deal with the company this winter. Yuri Kano (Japan/Second Wind AC/Mizuno) comes in off last Sunday’s cancelled Nagoya marathon as the reigning Sapporo Half-Marathon Champion. Yuri has never finished lower than 4th in her three times to run New York’s half. Adriana Pirtea (Romania/ASICS) brings a 69:59 PB and has been in fine shape after her 7th place in Osaka in January, including an impressive 25K piece while pacing  last month’s Yokohama Women’s Marathon. Irvette van Blerk (South Africa/adidas) tore up the South African Half-Marathon Championships last summer to win in 71:09 at only age 23. And Fiona Docherty (New Zealand/ASICS), who is now in serious contention to make New Zealand’s 2012 Olympic team, looks to make a big improvement on her 74:20 PB, four weeks out from her appearance at next month’s Virgin London Marathon. Two of our men were set with invitations for tomorrow’s race, but Justin Young pulled out with knee problems, while Gilbert Koech focuses his energy on helping Edna’s final preparation. The New York Road Runners TV station will have a live broadcast of the race, beginning 7:30 a.m. EDT, Sunday, April 20th.

http://www.nyrr.org/tv/