Category: Uncategorized

MONEYBALL FOR THE MARATHON?

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Lahaina, Maui – In 2003 Michael Lewis published Moneyball, his book telling how the Oakland Athletics baseball team implemented a more efficient and cost-effective way to evaluate players and strategize game situations based solely on data analysis. This approach led the Athletics to  player acquisitions that other teams had overlooked or disregarded, but more importantly, led to success on the diamond.

When the book came out, many a baseball expert was dismissive. But at some point they couldn’t argue with the success the A’s were having using their new methodology.

In the ensuing years, people in many other fields took up the Moneyball example to reevaluate their businesses, positing that if the old ways of analyzing baseball were in error, couldn’t other suppositions be open to reexamination, as well? (more…)

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PRO RUNNER DAVID TORRENCE – “Don’t Blame Elite Athletes for State of the Sport”

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With the very sad news that professional runner David Torrence was found dead in a swimming pool yesterday (8/28/17)) in Scottsdale, Arizona, there has been an outpouring of remembrances of a man who did much more than run fast. As the news continues to settle in, I found the following guest-post from David from four years ago. It reflects his passion for the sport, hope for its future, and illustrates why the running community has expressed such heartache at his early passing. R.I.P. David. Your spirit and smile will be long remembered.

Toni Reavis

Reaction to the Competitor Group’s decision to discontinue much of their elite athlete program at their Rock `n` Roll Series events in the United States continues to come in. Even now, nearly four weeks after the decision became public, pro athlete David Torrence has reacted to a quote in the comments’ section of my post “Dumbing Down, Slowing Down” by Competitor Group maven, John “The Penquin” Bingham.  In the following column posted on LetsRun.com today, Torrence fires back at Bingham’s assertion that pro runners don’t show sufficient interest in the back-of-the-pack masses, thereby maintaining the distance between them.  A 1998 grad of U.C. Berkeley, David has won four National Championships, one indoors at 3000 meters, and three straight Road Mile Championships (2009-2011).

*****

3:52 miler David Torrence3:52 miler David Torrence

My name is David Torrence. I am a Professional Track Athlete and Road Racer.  I’ve run in front of packed sold-out stadiums, and in front…

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FAREWELL TO A MAN OF ARMS

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On the sixth anniversary of his passing, a chance to remember a fallen hero whose memory won’t fade no matter the time.

Toni Reavis

IMG_7246     San Diego’s Mission Bay Park is the training ground for many of the area’s fitness enthusiasts and serious competitors alike. In 2008 and again in 2011 its lush green lawns hosted the USATF National Cross Country Championships.  But thoughts of speed and championship performances were not on the minds, nor in the hearts, of the hundreds of people who came to the park last night.  Instead, as deepening summer shadows cut through the velvety green, San Diego’s running and triathlon communities gathered to bid farewell to one of their own.

35 year-old Petty Officer 1st class Jon Tumilson had run along Mission Bay Park hundreds of times in the years he was stationed in San Diego as a Navy Seal.  And though he transferred to Virginia Beach in April 2009 to join fabled SEAL Team 6, the native of Rockford, Iowa kept his connections to America’s Finest City strong and vibrant.

JT on the Run JT on the Run

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2017 LONDON MARATHON: A VIEWER’S PERSPECTIVE

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Kenya’s Mary Keitany is all smiles at London Marathon 2017

This is a strange game, isn’t it?  Here we see the great Mary Keitany winning her third Virgin Money London Marathon in 2:17:01, and for the rest of the morning we try to figure out where her performance stands in the list of best-ever women’s marathons.

Now, forgetting all this mixed-gender, women’s-only, point-to-point, downhill  or loop course qualifiers, Mary’s 2:17:01 is the second fastest women’s finishing time ever posted behind Paula Radcliffe’s 2:15:25, London 2003.  But on the coverage shown in the USA by NBCSN her time was referred to as the fastest time ever in a women’s-only race, bettering Paula’s 2:17:42 from London 2005.  But even that 2005 London time ranks behind Paula’s 2:17:18 from Chicago 2002. Confused?

When reading through the chattering class on LetsRun.com, and referring to my own 2002 journal when I covered the women’s race for NBC5 in Chicago, we remember LetsRun co-founder Weldon Johnson served  as Paula’s “escort”, if not rabbit per se.  But when Paula smashed that Chicago mark in London the following spring with her magical 2:15:25, she was also “escorted” by two Kenyan guys the entire way. (more…)

2017 CARLSBAD 5000 – MEN’S RACE VIDEO

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Carlsbad, CA. – In the battle of Olympic 5000 meter silver medalists, Ethiopia’s Dejen Gebremeskel who won silver in London 2012 took on America’s 2016 Rio silver man, Paul Chelimo in the 32nd Carlsbad 5000, dubbed “The World’s Fastest 5K”.

Competitor Group matchmaker Matt Turnbull and I mounted the press truck while our intrepid camera man Rich Jayne clung to the back of the lead moto.  Here is how the race played out on a perfect Southern California day.

 

Carlsbad 5000 – Results

Overall Bib Name Time
1 1 Dejen Gebremeskel 13:27
2 2 Paul Chelimo 13:47
3 5 Sam McEntee 13:51
4 4 Andy Vernon 13:53
5 9 Stewart McSweyn 13:53
6 14 Jack Rayner 13:59
7 3 Collis Birmingham 14:00
8 11 Haron Lagat 14:11
9 10 Will Leer 14:14
10 6 Jesper Van De Wielan 14:16
11 12 Adam Clark 14:25
12 13 Wade Meddles 14:30
13 8 Tom Lancashire 14:31
14 7 Mac Fleet 14:38
15 16 Nick Scarpello 14:52