We Salute You, Alan Webb

Note: I actually wrote this nearly 2 years ago now (hence the references to 2012 Olympic Trials), but with Alan Webb's recent retirement from competitive track racing, I dug it up and offer it as a small tribute to the guy largely responsible for the revitalization of American mid-distance running. Alan ran his final mile over the weekend at the Millrose Games, site of his first sub 4 minute mile over a decade ago as a high schooler. In our what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world, it's easy to forget his accomplishments. If you think about it, most track athletes move up in distance as they get older, or leave the track for the marathon. Alan was a miler - is a miler - period.

The fastest American to ever run a mile deserves some respect.

Read more...

And in case you haven't read this terrific piece yet, do it.

The Unsung Glory of the Mile Run

Sub-4 @ 40 Years Young

http://www.athleticsweekly.com/blog/secrets-of-sub-4-at-40/

Jarf Goes Big at BRRC Meet #2

Obviously see the post below for the weekend long run plans, but now that that's settled, I wanted to highlight the performance(s) of our very own Joel Barfolomew Gladfelter at the BRRC Summer Track Meet #2.  Joel has been on a mission for the past few seasons to break the 5 minute mile barrier, and while we all know he has the speed to do it, for some reason or other he just didn't have the right opportunities.  Coming into this year, his PR was a 5:08 I believe from a few years ago.  He wanted to get under, but his focus couldn't have been solely on running the mile, as he has bigger fish to fry.  At the Meet of Miles just 2 weeks earlier, he came pretty close - running a 5:01 (their time)/5:02 (his watch).  But, since he hasn't done any workouts since then, he wasn't sure how it would go.  When the meet started at 6:30 (on the dot, unfortunately, for me and Ed, who were very, very late) with the mile, Joel was ready to go.

He got out hot, leading the pack through 200, before settling into a pace by the 409m.  From my perspective as last in the race, I could see that he was on pace through 1209m, but he also appeared to be tiring.  Could he get it done?  It looked like he just needed to make sure he ran at least a 77 and he would have been okay.  Up front, Ed took over the lead after helping set the pace for Joel, and ran away with the victory over some high school kids, easily running a 4:45 (with just a 40 second warmup from the car to the track).  And then there came Joel - 4:57 on their time and a watch confirming no worse than 4:58.  It had to have been a great feeling, and a major relief, to finally crack that barrier. 

Now he was on a roll.  "Should I run the 800m?" he asked.  I replied, "Joel you're on a roll."  With a very soft PR (his only outdoor 800m was a 2:22 from many, many years ago), the race was his for the taking.  He had a more conservative start this time, allowing Remus to set the pace.  Remus came through, pumping his arms in the air, at 60/61.  Joel was middle of the pack around 64.  From 400 to 500, though, Joel exploded, passing almost everyone that was ahead of him until he sat right on Remus' heels.  We're not sure if Remus even knew he was there, and Joel looked comfortable.  It looked like he could make a race of it, but he kept looking at his watch, and with 200m to go, Remus opened up a bit.  With 100m to go, Joel was really straining, but he came through in 2:09 for 2nd place.  Amazing!

Having no 2 Mile PR, and only a 13:03 indoor 3200m PR, he had yet another opportunity for a personal best.  I thought we were running a 32, but they changed it to 2 miles at the start.  Joel went out a 6:01, and, undoubtedly fatigued from the evening's monster efforts, slowed to a 6:35, to finish up at 12:36.  Even though that pace is about what he ran for a marathon just a few months ago, it was another PR for the man from Hughesville PA.

Finally, he still had enough in him to run a 4x100m relay.  The team was Ed, RM, Hollywood and Barf, eerily reminiscent of a day a few years ago where me, Hollywood, Barf and Andy were in a little relay race with a thousand dollars on the line, and Barf lost it for us.  Well, today it was my turn to F it up, as I cannot run 100m.  Ed handed off to me and I promptly got toasted by some little girls and a really old dude.  I handed off to Hollywood, who gave it to Barf in poor position.  Barf lit up the home stretch, moving up a spot I think and bridging the gap to 2nd and 3rd to at least make it look close.  In the process, we established a 4x100m record for our team at a blazing...55 seconds.  I'm pretty sure at least Ed and Barf would have done better had they just run 400m on their own. 

Nevertheless, it was a great night on the track.  The weather was manageable and for Joel, it was a magical night of light, quick feet.  In addition to Joel's great run, Denise and Hollywood each ran the mile, neither one getting any warmup either (6:17 for D, 5:0x for H-wood, both in the 2nd heat because they were late).  Meg D showed up in time for the 800m and walked to the win in 2:33, with Denise coming through in presumably what she runs for intervals.  In the 2 mile, Ed negative split to the win in 10:08, with Louis finishing just inside 11 minutes and Hollywood finishing just outside of it.  Denise won in 12:05 (both miles were faster than her one mile race) and Meg D was right behind her.  There are two BRRC Meets remaining: the 2 Person-10 Mile Relay on Saturday, August 6 I believe, and the Summer Track Meet #3 on Wednesday, August 17.  This will feature a 5000m event as well as a 4x400m relay. 

Attack of the Joels

Joel Gladfelter set a new personal best in the one mile track run (BRRC Meet of Miles) last night, recording a 5:02.24 en route to a 2nd place showing in the 30-49 age group.  Finishing in first in that heat was Joel Brusewitz (4:57).  Terry Decker ran a 5:35 in his comeback race since having his appendix removed, but was disappointed with the result, saying "I guess intervals on the bike this morning was a bad idea."

Coach Amy soloed again to the win in 5:24, negative splitting the race she thinks.  "Kinda far off the PR, but all in all, ok for what it is now.  Definitely gearing up to roll at Rockville!!!"

Hollywood's result once again proves that you don't need to show up to track on time, or at all, or even be running, or even in shape, to break 5 minutes.  Apparently that's what I've been doing wrong...

Matt Jablonski Wins Penn Relays HS Mile

Matty Blaze pulls off potentially the biggest win of his young career, winning the High School Boys Mile Championship at the Penn Relays on Friday evening in the fantastic time of 4:10.37. 

What's more amazing is that he was in 4th place at 1400m, and overtook the three competitors ahead of him to win by the narrowest of margins - .01 seconds - over Chad Noelle, the youngster who has managed to clip Matt's wings the last few times they've raced head to head.



(We're unsure who took this video, the finish line is on the far side of the track so it's hard to see the end - but look close and you'll see an awesome finish!)