Spring is in the Air

NCAA Indoor Nationals came and went. Our coverage is here. Oregon and Tennessee won the team titles. I'd say Galen Rupp was the MVP as he won the 5000m, DMR and 3000m easily.

On the women's side, Jenny Barringer ran a 8:42 3000m pretty much by herself. Sarah Bowman beat Sally Kipyego in the mile by less than a second. Kipyego won the 5000m though. It was Sally's last college meet, but I can't wait to see how she does as a pro.

Now that spring is here, we can start thinking about the outdoor season. It's Rupp's last NCAA season and German Fernandez's first. I want to see those two race each other. Fernandez did not run at NCAA's last week because he is going to Amman March 28 for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. 

The Stanford Invitational is also the weekend of March 27-28. It's the first major track meet of the outdoor season. Some of the top high school, college and professional runners will compete. Also coming up are the Texas Relays, April 1-4, at the University of Texas. I plan to be at that meet with PreRaceJitters.com.

Perhaps the biggest week for outdoor track and field (other than national championships) will be April 19-25. Penn Relays, Drake Relays and the Boston Marathon are all that week! 

Technically the Boston Marathon isn't track and field, but it's muy importante. Ryan Hall, Brian Sell and Kara Goucher are running. Could Hall win? He is up against some tough [Kenyan] competition, so things should get interesting.

Speaking of major marathons, don't forget about the most competitive of them all...London. Dathan Ritzenhein (USA) will try that one April 26, but look for someone like Martin Lel (KEN) Sammy Wanjiru (KEN) to win it.

Back to track and field... The outdoor season continues long into the summer. The NCAA National Championship meet will be held at the University of Arkansas, June 10-13. USATF Nationals are in Eugene, June 25-28.  

It's difficult to make individual predictions at this time. Last year was so huge because of the Olympic Trials and Olympics, but now a lot of athletes are refocusing and trying new events. Some have even dropped their old coaches and moved across the country. And don't forget about the inconsistency of Alan Webb. 

Past Travels: 2008 Men's Marathon Olympic Trials

The first major race I covered was the 2008 Men's Olympic Marathon Trials in New York City. I had never been to NYC before and flew there alone. My friend lived there, so I wasn't alone for too long.

It was an amazing learning experience, that's for sure. The morning of the race, I got lost on the subway for 3 hours. There were maps, but some routes were closed for the marathon. By the time I reached my destination, the race was half over. I didn't even have press credentials that day. I found the guy I was working for and he tried to get me into Tavern on the Green (media HQ) with him, but security was tight. I remember making it through the door and down a long mirrored hallway, but 

the last guard would not let me through. So I sat and waited until I got bored and went back outside.

When I got outside, there were a lot of sad-looking people (athletes, coaches, agents, media, etc.). I thought they were just sad because they didn't make the Olympic team. Then I bumped into wejo (letsrun.com co-founder) and he told me one of the athletes, Ryan Shay, had died. Everyone was in shock. When the shock wore off, I cried.

It was a weird mix of emotions that day. Part of me was extremely sad, but part of me wanted to be happy for the 3 guys who were going to be Olympians - Ryan Hall, Dathan Ritzenhein and Brian Sell.