Back Cove Weekly Series » Week 13

Week 13 of the Back Cove Racing Series was this evening, which means that if you haven’t run yet then you will not be able to get onto the leader board. Who is going to win the free shoes for a year? Every week now people will start falling off of the list [...]

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RRCA signs Gaia as a new corporate sponsor

The RRCA has just announced a new partnership and corporate sponsorship, this time with Gaia Custom Apparel.
GAIA’s mission is to be an innovative, world leader in the creation of custom made athletic gear. With input from athletes, we strive to provide better fitting gear. Our athletic apparel is focused on the unique needs and [...]

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Bradbury Mountain Breaker » registration still open

If you are interested in a fun but challenging trail race, then the 2nd of 3 races out at Bradbury Mountain State Park is this weekend on Sunday, August 10th. There are still spots open in the race if you are interested in a unique experience. From the registration form:
Two laps of an [...]

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Would you share a win?

Imagine that you are in a race, and you have been working with another runner for many miles. You know that you are both running faster than you could have alone, and there’s a $1000 pot for the first place finish. Would you be able to share that win, and the pot, or [...]

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This Week Last Year » The Beach to Beacon

Topics this week last year were dominated by the Beach to Beacon.

I started the week off by offering 4 ways to determine the length of a pool in response to a reader question on the matter.
Maine Running Company hosted a talk by John L Parker, Jr. where he discussed his history as a runner and [...]

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TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10k (2008)

The 10th annual TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10k was this morning in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. As always, it was a closely contested race that is great for spectating. While the temperature was not very high during the race, it was quite humid. Unlike last year, the fog never burned off so [...]

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Men’s 4×400 American Record may be voided

In 1998, Jerome Young, Antonio Pettigrew, Tyree Washington and Michael Johnson set the American 4×400m record with a time of 2:54.20. That record is in discussions to be removed, with the 2:54.29 that was run in the 1993 World Outdoor Championships getting reinstated. Young was banned for life in 2004, and Pettigrew has [...]

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Reach the Beacon 2008

Did you ever wonder what it is that we do on Thursday nights at Maine Running Company? Here’s a video of some of the folks I work with:

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Back Cove Weekly Series » Week 12

It was a beautiful evening for a run tonight. Now that week 12 is under the bag, there are only 6 races left so if you haven’t run yet then you need to show up next week in order to appear on the leader board.
Chris Harmon made his first appearance since week 3, repeating [...]

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Would you give your medical information to a race? (Part II)

Last night, I asked whether or not you would give your medical information to a race before running it, since that is what is being requested by the organizers of the Beach to Beacon this year. The founder of the company that is partnering with the Beach to Beacon to collect that information, Margie [...]

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Would you give your medical information to a race?

The Beach to Beacon is trying something that I haven’t seen a lot of to date. They are trying to collect relevant medical data on as many of their runners as they can so that if there is an emergency it will be available to the first responders who are on site.
I am relatively [...]

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This Week Last Year » Running Shoes and Lots of News

This week last year covered a lot of news, and I answered quite a few reader questions.

This week last year started off with The Running Shoe FAQ, which explained why runners wear specialty shoes and what makes them different from normal walking shoes.
I answered a question from an aerobics instructor about how to treat posterior [...]

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Emily’s Run 5k (2008)

Emily’s Run 5k was this morning, continuing the Greater L/A Triple Crown racing series. It was a beautiful morning, which helped 369 runners find their way to the finish line.
Stan Pyle asserted a firm lead in the series with a win today in 16:28. The women’s race was won by Erica Jesseman in [...]

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Back Cove Weekly Series » Week 11

Tonight there was perfect running conditions for a good time, so it surprised me that there were still over 100 people that showed up to the starting line this evening! (Perfect running conditions for a good time to me means temperatures in the low to mid 60s and a steady helping of wind and [...]

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Should President Bush pardon Marion Jones?

USATF CEO Douglas Logan has written an open letter to President Bush urging him not to pardon Marion Jones for her illegal and unethical activities over the past decade.
I can not agree with him more and I plan on writing to the white house with my thoughts on the matter. Marion Jones broke [...]

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Jenny Barringer sets new American Steeplechase Record

Jenny Barringer ran second place to Anna Willard at the Olympic Trials where Willard set the American record.
This week, though, they swapped places at a competitive meet in Belgium against top international talent. Barringer edged Willard by 0.03 seconds to run a new American record by almost 5 seconds of 9:22.73. [...]

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This Week Lat Year: Racing & Biking & Doping

This week last year, I offered some advice on what to wear to a race to prevent “severing your leg at the thigh” from chafing.
I tried to decide if it was worth running in an ultramarathon a few weeks before my next marathon. Ultimately, I decided that yes, it was a good idea.
I shared [...]

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Pat’s Pizza Clam Festival Classic 5 Miler (2008)

The annual Clam Festival 5 mile road race was this morning in Yarmouth, Maine. The temperatures were not nearly as high as they were in years past, but the high humidity made the race tough for the 932 finishers this year.
Despite the lack of some of the annual favorites in the race, there was [...]

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Trevor Graham receives lifetime ban

Track coach Trevor Graham has been banned for life from any competition sanctioned by USATF, IAAF, or the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Graham is the person that broke open the BALCO scandal by mailing a syringe of “the clear” to USADA. Numerous athletes that he has coached have been caught doping or have admitted [...]

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Weekly Back Cove Race Series » Week 10

It was a good night for a race. It was relatively warm, but nowhere near as humid as it has been. This led to the gravel path around the Back Cove being nice and dusty, leaving a fine layer of grit on everybody’s legs.
Matt Lane won the race in an easy [...]

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50 Marathons in 50 States in 50 Days » The Movie

In 2006, Dean Karnazes was the second person to run 50 marathons in all 50 states on consecutive days. You can now watch a documentary of his exploits on the big screen, which is titled after his book, Ultramarathon Man:

Unfortunately, there’s no screen time scheduled right now for Maine, so I won’t get to [...]

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5 Questions You Can Ask Yourself

I have been tagged by the Run Faster blog with a running meme, so I thought that I would take the opportunity to answer a few questions about myself that you will hopefully find interesting and useful to your own running. Hopefully you will be able to either relate with these anecdotes or learn [...]

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Traffic Safety Seminar » July 23

The Portland Bicycle Commuters are putting on another seminar next week, this month about Traffic Safety.
This seminar will focus on knowledge and techniques to enable cyclists to ride safely and confidently with car traffic on public roads.
This month’s seminar will be taught by member Jeremy Fink. Jeremy rides every day from Munjoy Hill to Outer [...]

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The Neck Is Doing Much Better

Thanks for the emails over the weekend; my neck is doing much better tonight than it was a couple days ago. On Friday afternoon, I tweaked or pulled something when I began my run that led to my spending the rest of the afternoon on the couching and requiring assistance to get up. [...]

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Asafa Powell injures his groin

Last night at the Golden Gala track meet in Rome, Asafa Powell pulled up in the 100 meters with a groin injury. He is the former world record holder and is one of the favorites in Beijing next month.
“He’s OK, but he felt his groin cramp up and stopped running as a precaution,” said [...]

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This Week Last Year: Time, Blind, and getting Girled

This week last year was a busy one, and ran a pretty wide range of topics.

I began the week by continuing the discussion of technology and fitness by describing 7 ways to time workouts. This article ran the technological ladder from using the sun to using an RFID chip on your shoe.
In a very unique [...]

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This just in: Breaking your neck still not recommended…

Today reminds me a lot of my birthday a couple of years ago, when I pulled a muscle in my neck and had to cut back on my training for a few weeks.
I didn’t hear any cracks today, and it isn’t nearly as painful, but I managed to tweak or pull something when I started [...]

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Liliana Popescu barred from Olympics for Doping

Liliana Popescu is one of the fastest 1500m runners in the world this year, clocking 4:00.35 at at a grand prix meet in Bucharest a few days before the indoor world championships. Unfortunately, she is probably not going to be able to display her talents on the world stage.
Romania does not want to break [...]

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Weekly Back Cove Race Series » Week 9

I’ll admit it. Having never met Curtis Wheeler before, and seeing the pace he set from the very beginning, I fully expected him to blow up within a half mile and fall back to the crowd. Of course, I didn’t find out who he was until after the race, or else I would [...]

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Maine Woods Trail Marathon has been canceled

Sad news today, as the Maine Woods Trail Marathon has been canceled this year.
The Maine Woods Trail Marathon has been cancelled for this year! A storm went over the area last week and took down many trees which made the trail impassable in many places. Six bridges were washed out, one cannot be found.
The race [...]

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Tyson Gay Updates

It was not too long ago that Tyson Gay ran the fastest 100 meters that any human has ever done. He had the assistance of a good tailwind, which will keep him out of the record books, but that is still impressive none the less.
Even so, he is stronger in the 200 meter distance [...]

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A Great Show in the Olympic Trials 800m

Were you watching the 800 meter race in the Olympic Trials the other day? If not, you missed a great show. I’ve included a video after the break of the race.
The first 2 and a half minutes are athlete introductions, and the gun goes off right at the 2:30 mark. The race [...]

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A Great Show in the Olympic Trials 800m

Were you watching the 800 meter race in the Olympic Trials the other day? If not, you missed a great show. I’ve included a video after the break of the race.
The first 2 and a half minutes are athlete introductions, and the gun goes off right at the 2:30 mark. The race [...]

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This Week Last Year: Heart Attacks and the 4th of July

This week last year dealt mostly with current news with a the odd random article thrown in.

Scott started off a discussion on technology and fitness by discussing the sustainable gym. They seem to be getting more popular as time goes on.
I created a 4th of July race recap to celebrate the 4561+ people that competed [...]

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Maine 4th of July Race Recap (2008)

Here is a quick breakdown of races today throughout Maine. I will update this page as I find more results. If you know of any races that are missing, please let me know in the comments so that I can add it! Same goes for any photo galleries.
The current tally of the [...]

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LL Bean 4th of July 10k (2008)

This morning was the LL Bean 4th of July 10k, which I have not run for the past few years. As I said back in 2005, this course is not quite flat:

Today was far and away the best running weather that I have ever had on this course. It was humid, but the [...]

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Get up early if you want to run Beans…

If you are planning on running in the L.L. Bean 4th of July 10k in Freeport tomorrow morning, you’ll need to get up early. If you have not yet registered, then you should plan on getting there as soon as registration opens at 6:00. The race only allowed 800 people to pre-register, and [...]

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Weekly Back Cove Race Series » Week 8

It was rather humid tonight, although it was ideal running weather otherwise. There are now only 10 races left in this year’s Back Cove race series, and the 150 finishers this evening brought the total number of runners to have run at least 6 races so far to 47.
Tyler Jasud and Heather Pagano led [...]

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The Hundred Pushups Craze

It’s been a few years since I have tested myself, but at that point I managed 46 pushups nonstop. I doubt that I could do that right now, although I could probably get into the low 30s.
There’s a craze going around right now about doing 100 non-stop pushups. The craze was [...]

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Tyson Gay first of 3 to break 100m records at Olympic Trials

After falling halfway back into the field in the 4th heat of the opening round in yesterday’s 100m Olympic Trials, Tyson Gay had a lot of ground to make up. He did well for 70 meters, but then started to slow down. Only a late surge in the last 7 to 10 meters [...]

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This Week Last Year: Dancing, Doping & 200m

This week last year saw a varied range of topics on the site with a good mix of tips and news.

I began the week by looking at dancing as an alternative exercise. Unfortunately for my wife and I, we haven’t been out dancing too often since she went to law school.
The UCI came out [...]

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Western States 100 Has Been Canceled

Due to concerns for runner and volunteer safety, the Western States 100 mile trail race has been canceled. It’s a huge disappointment for all of the runners who are making their way out there right now, and hopefully they are given an opportunity to run next year. This race is extremely limited in [...]

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Weekly Back Cove Race Series » Week 7

Week 7 is now in the books, with almost 160 runners finishing on a warm, sunny day in the mid-70s. These huge crowds are very exciting to see week after week. There are now 37 runners who have run at least 6 of the races, building the leaderboard over half again from last [...]

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Justin Gatlin can compete…oh wait, no he can’t…

Two weeks ago, Justin Gatlin’s appeal was rejected and his original doping offense for being on ADHD medication was upheld. At the time, I stated that the matter was settled now and that he had to wait until 2010 to return.
According to U.S. District Judge Lacey A. Collier, I was wrong. He has [...]

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This Week Last Year » Bikes, Fueling & Walking

This week last year was dominated by exercise related news, although there were a few less topical articles that were worth looking at.

This week last year, there was a debate about whether or not you should refuel during a marathon or whether you should stick to water. I had to throw my 2 cents [...]

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Drug Testing To Be Implemented at Youth Championships

American athletes have been subject to drug testing when competing in international competition for years, but have not been subject to it domestically on any but the smallest scale. That is about to change in the coming years for the Intermediate (15-16 years old) and Young Men/Woman (17-18) divisions.
Starting in 2008, all [...]

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Weekly Back Cove Race Series » Week 6

Week 6 of the Back Cove Weekly Race Series was met with a light breeze, no clouds, and temperatures in the mid-60s. There were 145 runners out this evening to take part in the race. The popularity of the series this year is very evident, as every week there has been at least [...]

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Should the government mandate body measurements?

Should the government have a say in how much you weigh, or what your maximum BMI is, or how large your waistline is allowed to be? How many personal freedoms would you be willing to give up in order to have a chance to lead a healthier life, reduce the risk of diabetes and [...]

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Should the government mandate body measurements?

Should the government have a say in how much you weigh, or what your maximum BMI is, or how large your waistline is allowed to be? How many personal freedoms would you be willing to give up in order to have a chance to lead a healthier life, reduce the risk of diabetes and [...]

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This Week Last Year: The New England Mile and Politics

This week last year was all about racing, specifically focusing on the New England Mile. Alas, the NE Mile no longer exists, but at least it went out with a bang. I also delved a little into politics and into cross training last year.

Early in the week, it was announced that we had [...]

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