ARRS

If you enjoy reading running statistics, I mean every conceivable running statistic, there is a site you absolutely must visit.

The Association of Road Race Statisticians, ARRS, www.arrs.net, was created by Ken Young.
ARRS focuses on elite distance running at distances from 3000-meters and longer. ARRS has a huge date base of more than 900,000 performances from more than 160,000 races by more than 35,000 elite distance runners from around the world.

Simply put, if there is a legitimate running performance or achievement that is noteworthy or elite, you will find it on the ARRS site.

The task of compiling the mountains of data has pretty much fallen on Ken Young, as the influx of race results increases. Currently, he is seeking sponsors so that he can hire a programmer to structure the online data base. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, contact Ken at: kenyoung@wildblue.net

You can also become a member of the ARRS for $50 a year. Members receive 50 issues of the Analytic Distance Runner, which is distributed to members through email, on a weekly basis. The newsletter contains comprehensive information about road, track, and cross country events.

Just like many road races and endurance events, the ARRS needs our support to continue to keep an accurate listing of distance running records.

Visit the site or contact Ken Young to learn more.

GOOD TIMES IN RIO

The Games of the XXXI Olympiad, held in Rio last month have concluded.

Despite fears of crime, polluted water, and potential terrorism, the Olympic Games were held without incident.

America led the medal count, with American athletes earning 121 total medals. 46 gold medals were awarded to America, along with 37 silver and 38 bronze.

In recent years, American middle and long distance runners have been dominated in races ranging from the 800-meters to the marathon by athletes from the East African countries of Kenya and Ethiopia. In fact, athletes from countries all over the world have eclipsed us at the long distance running races in recent Olympic competitions. The Rio Olympics, however, marked a resurgence of American middle and long distance running power.

When American, Galen Rupp, of Oregon crossed the finish line in third place at the Olympic marathon, held on the final day of the Games, he earned America’s seventh medal in the middle and long distances. At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, American long distance runners brought home only two medals. This time around, American harriers captured two more medals in Rio than they had earned in the past four Olympics combined.

American Matt Centrowitz shocked the distance running world by besting the Kenyans and winning the 1500-meter (metric mile) event, snapping a 108-year American drought in the event, becoming the first U.S. runner to win the 1500-meters since 1908. Centrowitz bested the field by turning in a 50-second final lap.

The steeplechase is a nasty event. 3,000 meters in length, and features four hurdles as well as a water jump, which is 12-feet in length. It also is an event in which American runners are rarely competitive on the world stage.

At Rio, America’s Emma Coburn took the silver medal, becoming the first U.S. woman to ever earn an Olympic steeplechase medal. The next day, Evan Jager captured the bronze,earning the United States’ first steeplechase medal for men in 32 years.

Paul Chelimo placed second in the 5,000-meters; while Clayton Murphy and Jenny Simpson earned bronze medals in the 800 and 1500-meters respectively.

Excellent coaching by former Olympian Alberto Salazar, increased training at the thin air of high altitude, which increases lung capacity and endurance, corporate sponsorship, which allows these athletes to put in countless hours of training, combined with extraordinary dedication from the young men and women themselves has catapulted U.S. runners back to the top of the distance running world.

SKILL WITH THE SPEAR

 

 

 

 
Following is my monthly column, which appeared in the Republican Herald (Pottsville, Pennsylvania) newspaper today about a local athlete and Olympic Trials javelin thrower, Barry Krammes.
   

The ancient Greeks believed in “A sound mind in a sound body.”

Around 775 B.C., the Greeks created the Olympic Games as a means of honoring their gods. The Games were held at Olympia, at the foot of Mount Olympus, where the gods and goddesses were believed to have resided.

Athletic representatives, only men at that time, from all Greek City-States attended the Games, with the intent of bringing glory to themselves as well as their home region. The ancient Games included running, long jump, shot put, javelin, boxing, pankration (a combination of wrestling and boxing) and equestrian events.

The Greek City-State of Sparta, known for its military prowess, consistently ranked as the odds-on favorite to win the javelin event, a weapon most Spartan boys could throw for a very long distance.
As the Rio Olympics begin next month, for the first time in eight years a Pottsville native will not have the opportunity to display his javelin-throwing skills on the world Olympic stage. But his dedication and effort for the past 18 years has been Spartan-like.

Barry Krammes, a 2000 graduate of Pottsville Area High School and a graduate of East Stroudsburg University, tucked away his baseball glove after his sophomore year in high school and picked up the javelin, under the tutelage of Pottsville coach Jack Ruch.

This week, Krammes was disappointed to learn that 24 athletes were selected to compete for three Olympic team slots in the javelin and he fell slightly short, placing 25th.

At age 34, Krammes has earned his place as one of the finest track and field athletes to emerge from Schuylkill County, and although his Olympic dream has passed, his accomplishments and his contributions to the sport he loves will continue.

In high school, Krammes narrowly missed going to the PIAA Track and Field Championships as a junior and a senior, despite flinging the spear a distance of 189 feet.

By the time he was a sophomore at East Stroudsburg University, Krammes had increased his distance to more than 200 feet. As a junior, he increased his best throw to 214 feet, earning him NCAA Division II All-American status.

In 2006, he continued his meteoric rise, throwing 244 feet at the USA National Championships. He was seeded 18th at that meet, but finished fifth. Later that year he competed at an international meet in Birmingham, England, where he placed sixth among the world’s best javelin throwers.

At the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials, despite suffering with a double hernia, he placed sixth, setting a personal best distance by almost four meters and achieving the Olympic “B” standard.

From 2009-11, Krammes taught and coached at East Stroudsburg South High School. In 2011 he went to Finland to work with the National Scholastic Athletics Foundation, which assists young people interested in the sport to develop their talents with the guidance of expert coaching.

In 2012, at the U.S. Olympic Trials, he threw the javelin a distance of 77.99 meters, the equivalent of almost 256 feet, nearly as long as a football field.

He tied for third place at the 2013 Nationals, making him eligible for the World Championships.
His skill at heaving the spear allowed him to compete in Finland, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany.

A devastating knee injury crushed his chances this year, but Krammes is undeterred. Krammes has coached athletes who will compete in the Olympic Trials, he hosts the American Javelin Festival and true to his roots, coaches at The Javelin Factory in Mary D every Sunday.

If you are a young athlete interested in becoming a javelin thrower, you owe it to yourself to contact this champion. You can contact him on his Barry Krammes Facebook page.

Krammes’ philosophy is, “If you have a dream or passion, go after it.”

He’s done so, and now he is sharing his passion with others.

 

HE'S DONE IT AGAIN!

Now, this is getting a bit redundant.

Last Friday evening, he did it again!

85-year old Canadian, Ed Whitlock, arguably the world's greatest athlete, did what he does best: set a world record.

At the Cambridge Classic Mile, held annually in Cambridge, Ontario, Whitlock obliterated the previous mile record for men aged 85 or over, by turning in a time of 7:18. The previous record was 8:04.07 held by Germany’s Josef Galia, set in 1985.

A bit ho-hum for Whitlock.

Did I mention that, back on April 24, at the Waterloo Half Marathon, Whitlock ran a time of 1:50:47, breaking the previous half marathon age group record by nine minutes?

Ed Whitlock is the first person over 70 to have broken three hours in the marathon when he ran 2:59:10 in 2003. Since turning 70, he has broken the three-hour barrier multiple times including a 2:54:48, at age 73. He holds age group records from the 1,500 meters to the marathon.

Ed Whitlock is remarkable.

What's more, having had the privilege of meeting him at Berwick's Run for the Diamonds last November, he is a very humble, gracious man. It was an honor be in his company.

Soon after meeting him at Berwick, I wrote a blog about it. The next day I received an email from Ed, thanking me for the kind words.

Congratulations to Ed Whitlock, and here's hoping he continues to rewrite the record books for many, many years to come.

NFL

Running has always been an integral part of my life.

During my most competitive years, the challenges of training, racing, and putting forth my best efforts became a positive addiction.

As I get older, less competitive (and slower), I thoroughly enjoy passing on my knowledge of the sport through coaching.

Currently, coaching on the collegiate level, at Penn State Schuylkill campus for the past eight years has been an absolute pleasure. I have been fortunate to coach two state champions, and a one All-American.

A few years ago, I coached the junior high school track team at Pottsville Area High School, in my hometown.

Obviously, my expertise lies in the area of long distance running, but I love coaching sprinters. Secretly, I'm envious of sprinters. Their speed and smoothness is a stark contrast to my plodding style of 'grind it out' distance running.

On of my team members, young man from Pottsville, Anthony Kelly, a sprinter, impressed me with his speed, his positive attitude, and his willingness to learn the sport. He was a standout as a 100 and 200-meter runner, and a member of the 4x100 relay team.

I followed Anthony's high school football and track careers, as he excelled as a sprinter and a wide receiver.. He then went on to become a standout star at tiny Kutztown University, a small college, nestled in the hills of Pennsylvania Dutch country.

Kutztown University has produced several NFL players, most notably Buffalo Bills Pro Bowler, and recent NFL Hall of Fame inductee, Andre Reed.

Over the weekend, Anthony's skills,  dedication and work ethic paid off, as he was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League.

Yesterday, I was honored, as one of his former coaches, to be part of a ceremony celebrating his send-off to Tampa later this week.

Congratulations to this fine young man and his family.

I wish him great success and star-status during his NFL career.

A REAL SPORTS SATURDAY

It wasn't a bunch of pampered, entitled guys in pads, crushing each other, showboating after every play, topping it off with some inane touchdown celebration.

It wasn't a hockey game a slam dunk, or coverage of the Wide World of Sports Sheboygan thumb wrestling championships.

It wasn't even a presidential debate.

It was, simply, an athletic competition featuring the finest trained, most dedicated athletes this country has to offer.

It was the United States Olympic marathon trials.

And it was magnificent.

First, hats off to NBC for what I thought was superb coverage, with concise, knowledgeable commentators, great visuals, and poignant story lines.

And what stories they were.

Galen Rupp, in his marathon debut, in record-setting heat, proved that he can compete against the best marathon runners in the world when he heads to the Rio Olympic Games this summer. He won the race easily, in a time of 2:11:12.

It seems impossible not to love Meb Keflezighi, who will be the oldest American male ever to run an Olympic marathon. He will be 41 years of age at the Rio Games. Meb also earned the honor of being our country's first three-time Olympic marathoner. He gutted out a second-place finish in 2:12:20, brandishing an American flag and a wide smile as he crossed the finish line. Jared Ward, third place finisher at last year's Los Angeles Marathon, captured third, with a time of 2:13.

Runners understand the importance of having reliable training partners. They keep us focused and are instrumental in helping us to achieve our best racing times.

Amy Cragg won the women's race, with a time of 2:28:20, followed by a tremendous finish by Desiree Linden, who surged into second place, in 2:28:54 and Cragg's training partner, Shalane Flanagan, hung on to finish third in 2:29:19.

Amy Cragg and Shalane Flanagan train together in Portland, Oregon. Throughout the race they ran practically stride for stride. During the middle of the race, Flanagan's encouragement got Cragg through a rough couple of miles, so when Flanagan hit the wall at mile 24, probably due to the heat, Cragg was happy to return the favor.

"I asked her, 'Hey, are you OK? And she said, 'No, I'm not,'" said Cragg, as the two approached an aid station. "There were a couple of times where she said, 'I'm not sure I can do this.'"

Finally, Cragg, for the sake of her own race, was forced to cut the rope with Flanagan, who was eventually passed by Linden.

Flanagan finished valiantly, collapsing before being led to a wheelchair. Her friend, Amy Cragg, may have helped Flanagan earn her second Olympic marathon berth.

It was a great sports Saturday.

American marathoning is back!

On to Rio.

CAL STATE GAMES

We love running and runners.

We enjoy passing on our knowledge and expertise to our youth, with the hope that they, too, will appreciate the joy of running.

Recently, I received a message from a father of two young men, ages 8 and 14, who have distinguished themselves as accomplished runners.

Dad would like to further their running experience by taking them to the Cal State Games competition on July 18 and 19.

Being a father of four children, the costs associated with attending are a bit prohibitive.

I'm a great believer in "Paying it forward," in order to keep good young people in our sport.

Check out the following links, and lend a hand if you can.

http://www.gofundme.com/calstategames

http://www.calstategames.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n51CzmDzd5I

https://www.youtube.com/user/MrVpk6

SUPPORT THE FUTURE OF OUR SPORT

This week, despite frigid temperatures, the high school track and field season began here in northeastern Pennsylvania. Athletes have been practicing for about three weeks, but snowy and icy conditions forced most teams indoors, so when the first meets were contested on Tuesday, they were little more than intense workouts, means of allowing coaches to gauge their talent pool.

Track and field ranks as the world's oldest sport. The ancient Greeks held games at the base of Mount Olympus as a means of honoring the gods they believed resided there. Sprint races, javelin and discus throwing were some of the events we contest in our track and field meets, some 2700 years later.

From lithe distance runners to burly shot put hurlers, a track meet is like a three-ring circus, featuring sprints, hurdles, horizontal and vertical jumps, distance races, and throwing events.

And unlike many other sports, there's no subjective evaluation in track and field. No one can argue that, "He's a better hitter," or "She's a better 3-point shooter." If you run faster, jump higher, or throw farther, you are, statistically, the best.

Track and field athletes work very hard to perfect their crafts, but since it is not a "money generating" sport, it is often ignored or poorly funded. With the exception of the University of Oregon, few stadiums are filled for track meets.

This spring, make it a point to attend a track and field meet. Support the young men and women who do what you do. Encourage the distance runners to train year-round.

They may be high school students, but they are the future of our sport, of which there is no retirement age.