Late Wednesday I was making a list of everything that would be included in this week's update, and was pleasantly surprised (or shocked) that I hadn't heard any news this week about doping...and then woke up Thursday to news that 8 Russians had tested positive (mostly for EPO). It turns out that 6 of the 8 are race-walkers...so maybe they don't really belong in a BIKEY blog, but the fact that more Russians got caught are spreading a pretty big shadow over all that country's athletes. The other part that worries me is that you had 7 Russian female runners that got caught, and now a huge group of race-walkers getting caught, which suggests widespread team doping is alive and well in Russia. It will be interesting to watch what happens next...
I guess before I get carried away, I should update last week's big events. The biggest event was the NYC Marathon on Sunday, where Paula Radcliffe proved once again that she is the best female marathoner ever (except when she runs in the Olympics)! Racing from the front of the lead pack from the opening gun, she literally just pushed the pace until no one was left behind her. She dropped Olympic silver medalist Catherine Ndereba fairly early, then Rita Jeptoo, then Gete Wami, then Dire Tune, leaving only American Kara Goucher and 40-year-old Russian Ludmila Petrova. Radcliffe get pouring it on, finally dropping her last challenger Petrova with 5 miles to go. Radcliffe negative split the race by almost three minutes to win easily by over 2 minutes. This makes it 8 for 10 in marathons for Radcliffe (with only her 2 Olympic marathons as blemishes). And now she is talking about going for a new world record in London in April and perhaps having a second child in 2010! Wow. And despite New York being known as a fairly difficult course, Petrova set a world record for a masters marathon and Goucher set an American record for fastest debut marathon. Good things happen when you run on Paula's shoulder for 20+ miles!
The mens race was good as well. I was getting pretty excited when Abderrahim Goumri broke apart the lead group with a well-timed break in the last 5 miles. But Goumri ran out of gas in the last 2 miles, letting Marilson Gomes dos Santos back into the race. The Brazilian went by Goumri so fast that the television cameras missed it, and dos Santos went out to repeat his 2006 victory in NYC. Kenya's Daniel Rono and Paul Tergat finished 3rd and 4th. The NYC marathon is easily the best marathon to watch on television, with great fields, great crowds, and lots of great video of the city as well.
Ironman Florida was Saturday, and Canadian Tom Evans turned it into a blowout win. Evans took the lead early in the bike, actually biked away from Torbjorn Sindballe (who once owned Kona bike split record but was a bit tired from racing Kona three weeks previous), and held on to win the race by 10 minutes in a course record 8:07. Evans actually had a chance to break 8 hours but faded a bit in the last 10 miles. Still, an unbelievable day for Evans, who at age 40, is still producing world class performances. Sindballe finished second, and Petr Vabrousek third.
The womens race at Ironman Florida was not really any closer, as Bella Comerford cruised to a 7 minute victory over Ukrainian Tamara Kozulina. This is Comerford's fifth title in Florida, but normally she skips Kona and concentrates on Ironman Florida with its less-competitive field. This year, Comerford finished in 7th place in Kona, and still went back to Florida to compete only three weeks later. She won handily on her 31st birthday, and i'm betting that Comerford will be a strong contender in Kona for years to come.
Speaking of future Kona contenders, we will see a bunch of them this weekend as Ironman 70.3 has their World Championships in Clearwater, Florida. This is the third year for 70.3 Worlds, and previous winners include Craig Alexander and Sam McGlone in 2006 and Andy Potts and Mirinda Carfrae in 2007. Carfrae is the only one who hasn't stepped up to the Ironman distance, and she will be the womens favorite for sure this weekend. She has won 4 of the 5 70.3 races she has competed in this year, and finished second in the other one. Other contenders on the female side include Joanna Zeiger, Erika Csomor, and the Brits Leanda Cave and Julie Dibens. It should be a great race.
The mens race will feature last years winner Andy Potts, who should repeat as champion. Oscar Galindez, Chris Legh, Luke McKenzie, Terrenzo Bozzone, and Richie Cunningham are a few other male contenders. I like Chris Legh to finish on the podium. Clearwater 70.3 will also feature the Hoyt's, who are back after competing last year. They are nearing 1000 completed races!! That is unbelievable.
I've got lots more, including a few updates on everyone's favorite Texan, but those will have to wait til next week...see you soon!
2 comments:
Great photo of the women running! Check out those feet - they never touch the ground!!! How do they do that!?*
The Russians was met with campaign-style pushback not just from Obama and the DNC, but also from the Kremlin. Well, perhaps Putin himself didn't order it up, but I got a phone call yesterday from a Washington, D.C.-based public relations representative working for the Russian Federation. The message, delivered "on background," was to the point: You know, reminded the source, that Randy Scheunemann, McCain's top foreign policy adviser,
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