A week off last week due to some very tight Chinese restrictions on blogspot.com, but the rest of the world was very busy competing or getting ready to compete. A lot of the big names have been gearing up for their big races in 2010, so let's get everyone updated.
I've been promising some running news for a while, so we'll lead off with some Canadian news. The IAAF World Indoor Championships were held in Doha, Qatar last weekend, and our two most famous Canadian track athletes (Perdita Felicien and Priscilla Lopes-Schliep) both made the 60m womens hurdles final. You can watch the final here - if you don't want the lead up, the race starts at the 3:20 mark...
Despite getting blown away by the very cute Lolo Jones (who was leading the Olympic final until hitting a hurdle late), the Canadians finished 2nd (Perdita) and 3rd (Priscilla). Nice work ladies! Canada also finished a surprising 4th in the men's shot put when Dylan Armstrong threw the shot a National Record length and only missed the podium by 2 inches. Hopefully the three of them and some other Canadian talent can stick around the top of the game thru the London Olympics in 29 short months...
This weekend is a big weekend in half marathoning. Haile Gebrselassie is racing the NYC Half Marathon on Sunday, and while he probably won't break his 27th world record this weekend, the field has several sub 1:00 marathoners and Haile will probably run pretty well Sunday. It's rare for Geb to run in North America so this might be a treat for running fans. As Geb approaches his 20th year in competition (he's 36), it will be interesting to see what he's got left in the tank...
Meanwhile, an ocean away, Zersenay Tadese will be racing the Lisbon Half-Marathon the same day, and is aiming to improve his PB of 58:59! He has asked the race organizers to provide World Record pacesetters so he can try and break the mark of Sammy Wanjiru of 58:33. It would be an impressive feat, but Tadese has won the World Half-Marathon Championships four times in a row!
The World's Fastest Man is getting rolling in 2010 too...he has already ran a 43.58 400m relay split in a race in Jamaica in February (it would have placed him 5th all time in the 400m charts, but relay splits are unofficial) but apparently won't be trying to break the 400m World Record of 43.18 of Michael Johnson until 2012. He will be attempting to break the rarely-run 300m World Record (also by Michael Johnson) at a race in the Czech Republic in May. His payday: a cool $300,000 for showing up. And $300,000 if he breaks the record. $600,000 for 30 seconds of work!!!
Cycling - Milan-San Remo is tomorrow! This epic 298km one-day classic was won by Mark Cavendish in just an absolutely stunning fashion last year, and set up his great 2009 season where he passed Heinrich Haussler in the last couple meters. Just an incredible finish after 7 hours of racing! The overhead view from 0:45 to 0:55 is the best!
This year's race is shaping up to a showcase of many of the biggest names in cycling. Tom Boonen, Fabian Cancellara, Edvard Boasson Hagen, Mark Cavendish, and a slew of top Italians (Petacchi, Bennati, and Pozzato) are among the favorites. Unfortunately, Lance had to drop out due to a bout of gastroenteritis, but the race should be a classic anyhow. Canadians are well represented, with Michael Barry (Team Sky) and Dominique Rollin (Cervelo) waving the Maple Leaf. Go guys!
Most of the Grand Tour are skipping Milan-San Remo after racing Paris -Nice last week. This race had a stacked field, full of Spanish stars and big names like the Schlecks, Leipheimer, and Kreuziger. But in the end, as expected, no one could match the climbing prowess of Alberto Contador. The race was determined in stage 4, where Contador just rode away from the peloton on a steep finishing 3k stretch. Only Alejandro Valverde could finish within 10 seconds of Contador, and the final GC had Contador with an 11 second win over Valverde. Luis-Leon Sanchez was third, while Roman Kreuziger and Sammy Sanchez finished 4-5. Let's face it - in any race with big hills, Contador is the man to beat. Look out Lance...
Triathlon news - this year's first big race was not an Ironman - not even a half - but was a unique 3k, 200k, 20k format held in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Instead of Kona or Clearwater spots, the race was for big money - $230,000 in combined prize money for males and females. And it worked - as the race attracted an unreal field of global competitors. From Faris Al-Sultan, Rasmus Henning, Philip Graves and Eneko Llanos on the men's side to Cat Morrison, Rebekah Keat, Tereza Macel, Virginia Beratasegui, Yvonne Van Vlerken, Sam McGlone and the Brits Julie Dibens and Leanda Cave on the women's side, the race had more stars than any race outside Kona. The conditions made the race fairly tough, but the big names did rise to the top as Eneko Llanos outran Dirk Bockel (who was 7th at Kona last year) to win the men's side while Julie Dibens (who just wins everything lately) beat her countrywoman Cave by 4 minutes.
Two things out of this race: Julie Dibens is amazing and could be a real rival for Chrissie Wellington this year. But more importantly, hopefully races like Abu Dhabi stick around and thrive, as their prize purse helps attract great pro fields, which in turn is great for the fans.
Funny video of the week - although it might appear to be a good idea - riding your bike on a treadmill is not a good idea...
Dude Fails Riding Bike On Treadmill - Watch more Funny Videos
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