Where to start this week...let's start with the runners. This weekend is possibly the biggest non-American Marathon, the Flora London Marathon. Although Paula Radcliffe is out with an injury, the womens race still has two Ethiopian superstars Geta Wami (who ran with Paula for 25 miles at NYC Marathon last November) and Berhane Adere (who won last years Chicago Marathon with a huge kick and won this years big money Dubai Marathon - $250,000) . Wami is disappointed that Radcliffe won't be racing (which sounds suspiciously fake). How can you be disappointed if Paula doesnt race? She's won every one but one of her marathons (and that was 2004 Olympics). Anyhow...if the women's race doesn't grab you...
...the Mens race just might. Let's see. Ryan Hall (ok, i'm already interested) is racing for the first time since the US Olympic Trials. Martin Lel is racing (NYC champ 07 and London champ 07). So is World Champion Luke Kibet. 2004 Olympic Champ Stefano Baldini is in. The 21-year-old world record holder (Sammy Wanjiru) in the half-marathon (58m53s) is in. So it should be an epic clash. I just can't wait to see what Ryan Hall can do...Actually, if you can't sleep on Saturday night, you can watch race video live and FREE here...but since it starts at 355 am ET, I will probably wake up and watch highlights...
Whoops, forgot one last London marathon story. 6 Maasai warriors will run the marathon, in their traditional garb (red robe, beaded jewelry, sandals made from car tires). I love the sandals...who need shoes?
Anyhow, the story about these Maasai warriors (drink fresh cows blood, kill a lion to prove their manhood, run for days on end while hunting, dont drink water for days) is pretty amazing. But they are running London as a way to raise money so their village can afford a new water source. Looking forward to hearing how they do, in both the marathon and in the fundraising.
Paul Tichelaar doesnt need to kill a lion to prove anything. Dude is tearing it up on the ITU World Cup circuit. The kid (ok, not a kid) from Edmonton has been great so far this year. Needing a top-8 World Cup finish to be eligible to qualify for an Olympic spot (more on this in another bikey i promise), he used a 31 minute 10K off the bike to finish 7th at Mooloolaba two weeks ago (in a race won by Javier Gomez). Then he went to New Zealand and finished 6th at the World Cup race this past weekend (also won by Gomez). In the NZ race, he actually led the race during the run after making a great move on the bike. It appears that his training with Simon Whitfield and the rest of the gang this winter in Arizona is paying huge dividends. He is not racing this weekend in Ishigaki but Simon Whitfield will race for the first time this year. This too can be watched online, and starts at the reasonable time of midnight ET on saturday evening. Heck, just stay up all night and watch triathlons and then the London Marathon...
You might have noticed that Javier Gomez seems to win most of the ITU races he competes in. That's because he is a world-class runner. This past weekend he ran the 10 km segment (which was actually measured at 10.2 km) in 29minutes and 37 seconds. Ridiculous. He's been on the podium 15 straight races! If this guy doesnt win the gold in Beijing it would be a major upset. It might be a battle for silver in August...
Ok, let's stay Canadian. Last weekend Canada had it's Olympic Swimming Trials. Over 700 swimmers started the week, and 27 lucky (and really fast) swimmers punched their tickets to Beijing. Oh yeah, 2 of the soon-to-be Olympians are only 15 years old! 10 Canadian records were broken during the week, so it appears Swimming Canada has got the ship turned in the right direction headed into Beijing. Actually, it could have been way better, since the newest must-have race accessory, the Speedo LZR Race Suit, was banned in the trials. Why is it banned? The suit is soooo fast (13 world records set with the suit in the month following it's introduction!) and sooo expensive ($550) that getting them for everyone would have been impossible and thus a competitive balance would have been tough to maintain. Here's a picture of the suit...
Since I do call this blog "Bike-Y" i guess i should get to cycling. Sunday is the day for the "Hell of the North", the biggest and most famous one-day cycling race in the world, Paris-Roubaix. It is 259 km filled with cobblestones, train crossings, and generally horrendous weather. How much fun does that sound like? There are actually 28 sections totalling 52 kms of cobblestones! We get jittery if we ride 50 m on cobblestones. Most of the big names are racing, with CSC's Stuart O'Grady as the defending champ. Cyclingnews.com wont let me "borrow" their pictures of the cobblestones, but here's a great shot to give you all a general feeling of what happens during the race.
Ok, thats it for now. Sorry for no videos this week, but I'll try to catch up with one or two next week! Enjoy the weekend!
3 comments:
Awesome bike-y Friday Trev, well worth the wait!
On the tri front Gomez is a machine. Who runs a sub 30 off the bike? Unreal. As a Canadian I'll be cheering for Whitfield in Beijing (and hopefully Tichlaar), but I agree that the race may be for silver...
PS - If ITU and the London Marathon weren't enough, Ironman 70.3 worlds are on NBC on Saturday as well...
I'm pulling for the Maasi warriors, true marathon running from its origins although I can't quite figure out how used Pirrelli's are part of their "traditional" garb.
Still no report from Oceanside including how one individuals pre-race antics included such things as trespassing on Nike grounds, duping a security guard at the basketball game to get row six seating and who knows what else.
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