The International Chiba Ekiden is a six-person relay road race, which rotates male and female competitors.  In 2008, the U.S. squad finished eighth out of nine squads.  This year the squad looks to improve their standing, running behind the talents of Andrew Carlson, Ian Burrell, Jordan Horn, Carrie Messner Vickers, Meghan Armstrong and Lindsay Allen.  Bobby Curtis and Jennifer Donovan are the alternates.

International Chiba Ekiden Website / USATF Ekiden Website

Men’s Squad - Andrew Carlson, Ian Burrell, Jordan Horn, Bobby Curtis (alternate)

Women’s Squad - Carrie Messner Vickers, Meghan Armstrong, Lindsay Allen, Jennifer Donovan (alternate)

The winner of the women’s race was Ukrainian Katerina Stetsenko, who won in 2:32:45.

Over 12,500 runners took part in this year’s marathon, as the event has quickly become one of the premier marathons in Europe.

For results click HERE.

Dublin City Marathon Official Website

It’s marathon week in New York City, and the NYC Marathon got some great news this past week, as financial company ING renewed their sponsorship agreement with the event until 2013.

In the latest issue of Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal, it is reported that the extension of the ING sponsorship is one both sides fully support, however, ING seems to be pulling its support of over a half dozen other races that it currently sponsors.

ING moving out of the road racing realm certainly poses financial problems for races they currently support.  In times of such economic uncertainty, many races have lost title sponsorship over the past year, causing a variety of problems.

One upbeat note out of the article mentions that ING is in discussion with the Competitor Group, Inc. as the two sides discuss possible sponsorship for the 12+ races in the Rock n’ Roll race series.

ING to Shift Strategy for Marathons? (Sports Business Journal)

Strands has done a lot over the past 18 months or so for American distance running.  The company started a post-collegiate squad, sponsoring athletes that weren’t necessarily getting the attention from shoe companies, providing them with salaries, gear and travel.

This past weekend, Strands took another step forward in their influence on American distance running, by hosting the inaugural Strands 5k.  The 5,000m road race brought in many professional runners, as the top athletes competed for a portion of the $13,000 prize purse.

The men’s race was dominated by Oregon-based talent, as the top five spots went to runners training in Eugene and Portland.  Former Dartmouth standout Ben True kicked home strong for the win in 14:04, edging Carlos Trujilo and Jonathon Riley, who finished a half stride back in 14:04 and 14:05 respectively.

On the women’s side, Team USA Minnesota member Meghan Armstrong won in 16:23, beating out fellow Strands sponsored athlete Elva Dryer for first.  Dryer finished nine seconds back in 16:32, while Portland runner Lauren Johnson finished third in 17:00.

Full results can be found HERE.

Video of Strands 5k Finish (Runnerspace)

Fast Finishers in Strands 5k (Gazette Times)

Run the Roads (RtR): Over the past couple years the USTFCCCA has grown in numerous ways, and seems to be turning into a very creative and influential organization for track and field and cross country. Could you give us a little background information on the organization?

Keith Nunez (KN): The USTFCCCA has its roots in a number of predecessor organizations that were formed by collegiate cross country and track & field coaches to represent coaches’ interests, to conduct annual coaching clinics, and to establish cross country and track & field awards. The oldest of these, the National Collegiate Track Coaches Association (NCTCA), dated back to the early 1930s.

In the early 1990s, a number of these organizations banded together underneath the umbrella of the newly-formed United States Track Coaches Association (USTCA), but this organization was one in which Associations like the NCTCA continued their operations on a largely independent basis, with a part-time Executive Director to serve the USTCA as a whole.

In 2004 the USTCA Board of Directors decided to hire a full-time executive officer to direct the day-to-day operations and set up an exploratory committee to identify potential candidates. In January 2005, the USTCA Board of Directors hired Sam Seemes as its first full-time executive officer. After Seemes’ hiring, the organization underwent a name change to better represent its coaching members, and it is now known as the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The USTFCCCA presently has five full-time employees representing the membership.

RtR: This year USTFCCCA is starting something new called The Bowerman Award.  This is supposed to be very similar to The Heisman Award correct?

KN: Yes. The USTFCCCA is starting a new award called The Bowerman which is similar in scope to football’s Heisman and basketball’s Wooden. The Bowerman will be presented to the top male and female NCAA collegiate track & field athlete.

RtR: How will The Bowerman winner be decided?

KN: For the inaugural award, a 10-person Bowerman Advisory Board will select three male and three female finalists who will be invited to Orlando for the announcement and presentation of The Bowerman winner. The finalists will be announced on Tuesday, October 6, 2009.

The winner of The Bowerman will be determined by votes cast from The Bowerman Voters. Each voter will receive a men’s and women’s ballot and the voter will rank his/her top choices for the men’s Bowerman and women’s Bowerman winners. The ballots will be mailed out in early November. The votes will be tabulated by an independent firm with the men’s and women’s winner of The Bowerman to be announced Wednesday, December 16^th at the 2009 USTFCCCA Convention which is being held in Orlando, Florida from December 14-17, 2009.

Editor’s Note: The Bowerman finalists have been announced (Men’s Finalists / Women’s Finalists)

RtR: The USTFCCCA seems to be posting more collegiate news this year.  Is there any chance the website will continue to transition into a major college news site?

KN: Since before my arrival, the USTFCCCA has posted collegiate news on a daily basis. Over the past two years we have amped up the collegiate news coverage as well as offering additional amenities like a weekly results page and the USTFCCCA rankings. First and foremost, the USTFCCCA is a coaches association. We have a duty to our membership to provide them with the most up-to-date information on cross country and track & field championships, rules, sport changes, etc. but also to give them a central location where this information can be found.

As our resources grow I’d like to offer more services to our membership and fans of cross country and track & field, as this is an area we feel we can certainly make a difference in terms of the media coverage of cross country and track & field.

RtR: We know this is a small organization, but what does the staff look like?

KN: The USTFCCCA is a small staffed organization but our membership totals nearly 91% of all NCAA track & field programs. We have a full-time staff of five with various day-to-day responsibilities. Because we are such a small staff, though, our responsibilities often cross over into a number of different areas.

Our current staff is as follows:

Sam Seemes (Chief Executive Officer)

Mike Corn (Assistant Director)

Mandi Magill (Membership Services Manager)

Keith Nunez (Communications Manager)

Shannon Wright (Research and Legislation Manager)

RtR: What’s the long-term vision for the organization?

KN: The long-term vision of the USTFCCCA is to continue serving the needs of our membership while improving the coaching profession. Our current focus is collegiately driven because our Association membership largely is made up of collegiate cross country and track & field coaches. As our membership and resources continue to grow we will begin to implement more services for the coaches and fans of the track & field community as a whole.

BOSTON - Molly Huddle (Providence, R.I.) ran 32:07 to successfully defend her U.S. 10 km title Monday at the USA Women’s 10 km Championships in Boston, Mass. The championship was hosted by the Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women and was the final race on the 2009 USA Running Circuit.

Clear skies and temperatures in the low 50’s met a field of more than 7,000 women, who started the 33rd annual event which features an international field as well as the top US women.

Genoveva Kigen of Kenya jumped to an early lead, passing the first mile in 4:52 for a five-second lead over Huddle, Katie McGregor (Saint Louis Park, Minn.), Rebecca Donaghue (State College, Pa.) and Teyba Naser of Ethiopia.

After the Boston University turn at about two and a half miles, Huddle took charge of the chase pack and began to close on Kigen. At four miles, Huddle drew even with Kigen and the pair ran shoulder to shoulder across the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge. After passing the fifth mile in 25:55 Huddle and Kigen remained side by side until the final turn on Charles Street when Huddle used a final burst to sprint to a five second win and her third U.S. title of the year.

Donaghue ran a personal best 32:29 to finish second in the championship as Sara Hall (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) and Rene Metivier Baillie (Boulder, Colo.) took third and fourth respectively, with both timed in 32:44. McGregor rounded out the top-five, running 32:46.

About the USA Running Circuit

The USA Women’s 10 km Championships was the final race on the women’s 2009 USA Running Circuit (USARC). The USARC is a USA Track & Field road series, featuring USA Championships from 5 km to the marathon and attracts the best U.S. distance runners. Magdalena Lewy Boulet (Oakland, Calif.) is the women’s 2009 USARC champion with 59 points. Colleen De Reuck (Boulder, Colo.) finished second with 54 points and Huddle finished third with 50 points.

The USARC is a USA Track & Field road series featuring USA Championships from one mile to the marathon, which attracts the best U.S. distance runners. The 2009 USARC has ten events each for men and women.

The first ten U.S. runners earn points at each USARC race (15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1), with a final $12,500 grand prix purse ($6,000, $4,000, and $2,500) for the top three men and women point scorers overall. The USARC points at the USA Marathon Championships will be doubled.

The mission of the USA Running Circuit is to showcase, support, and promote U.S. runners. Since its inception in 1995, the USARC and its races have provided over $6 million dollars to U.S. distance runners.

For more information on the USA Women’s 10 km Championship and the 2009 USARC visit www.usatf.org.

The highest American finisher of the day was Deena Kastor, finishing sixth in the women’s race in 2:28:50.  While Kastor was far off her personal best, the finish marked an incredible comeback for the veteran, who broke her foot at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  It’s been a long road back for Kastor, but her performance over the weekend showed that she’s back, running healthy and with another cycle of marathon training, she should put herself back up into the world’s elite marathoners.

Two more American women finished in the top ten, as Melissa White and Tera Moody finished eighth and ninth respectively.  Both women ran strong races from start to finish, both finishing with new personal bests.  White’s time of 2:32:55 was nearly a five minute PR from her U.S. Olympic Trials race back in early 2008.  Meanwhile, Moody improved her best by nearly a minute, finishing in 2:32:59.  One has to remember that Moody ran the IAAF World Marathon Championships only a few short months ago, meaning she ran two marathons at a high level over the past three months.

On the men’s side, Sergio Reyes set a new personal best with his eighth place performance of 2:15:30.  Running incredibly even and incredibly strong, Reyes came through the half-way point in 1:07:42.  Showing the same type of discipline, Hanson’s Pat Rizzo ran a nearly two minute personal best to finish as the second American in tenth place, crossing the line in 2:15:48.  The hometown favorite, Rizzo ran through the half-marathon in 1:07:20, fading ever so slightly over the final few miles of the race.

Chicago Marathon Top 30 Results

Men - Top 10 Americans: Sergio Reyes (8th, 2:15:30), Pat Rizzo (10th, 2:15:48), Mike McKeeman (12th, 2:17:42), Drew Shackleton (13th, 2:17:56), Kyle Shackleton (14th, 2:17:59), Jeff Jonaitis (15th, 2:18:01), John Lucas (16th, 2:18:51), Bret Schoolmeester (19th, 2:19:16), Matt Bartlebaugh (20th, 2:19:21), Brandon Mull (21st, 2:20:03).

Women - Top 10 Americans: Deena Kastor (6th, 2:28:50), Melissa White (8th, 2:32:55), Tera Moody (9th, 2:32:59), Carol Jefferson (12th, 2:41:15), Amanda Trotter (13th, 2:42:38), Katy Trotter (14th, 2:43:00), Mary Palmer (15th, 2:46:21), Kristen Fryburg (17th, 2:48:40), Lindsay Hattendorf (18th, 2:48:46), Adrian Chouinard (19th, 2:49:20).

Other athletes joining the group are: Geena Gall (Michigan), Ben True (Dartmouth), Jake Morse (Texas) and Tyler Mulder (Northern Iowa).  All five athletes add to the growing post-collegiate club, adding more middle distance runners to their mix.  For more information on the Oregon Track Club visit HERE.

Nine-Time NCAA Winner Joins OTC (Register Guard)

2009 marks the inauguration of The Bowerman, presented to the top NCAA collegiate track & field athlete

October 6, 2009

NEW ORLEANS (USTFCCCA.org) – Oregon’s Ashton Eaton and Galen Rupp and Oklahoma State’s German Fernandez have all been named finalists for the inaugural The Bowerman, which will recognize annually the most outstanding collegiate men’s track and field athlete, The Bowerman Advisory Board announced on Tuesday. The Bowerman is administered by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

The three men’s finalists for the 2009 award were selected by The Bowerman Advisory Board, which is comprised of NCAA collegiate administrators, national and regional media personnel, and track & field statisticians.

“On behalf of the entire Bowerman Advisory Board, we are very pleased with the work of the Bowerman Watch Committees and the athletes they have identified for our Inaugural Awards. Each of these athletes boasts outstanding qualifications, and they are truly the ‘cream of the crop’ in collegiate track & field,” said Herman Frazier, Chairman of the Bowerman Advisory Board and Senior Associate Athletic Director at Temple University.

The 2009 announcement and presentation of The Bowerman will be held on December 16th in conjunction with the 2009 USTFCCCA Convention at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando, Florida. The three men’s finalists will be invited for the announcement and presentation of The Bowerman.

“I would also like to thank the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for having the foresight to create such a prestigious award for collegiate track & field athletes. The Bowerman is an excellent way to recognize the talented young men and women who participate in track & field, as well as to honor one of the all-time great track & field coaches, Bill Bowerman,” added Frazier.

The Bowerman is named in honor of track and field pioneer Bill Bowerman, who served the sport of track and field in numerous ways, including his leadership in the USTFCCCA predecessor organization the National Collegiate Track Coaches Association, and his contributions to NCAA track and field and the running community as a whole.

“Our family is greatly honored by this distinguished award that gives recognition to a student-athlete for their abilities and performance in track and field,” said Barbara Bowerman, wife of the late Bill Bowerman. “Bill always felt that the achievements of the athletes on the athletic fields should be recognized in a most meaningful way.”

A ballot consisting of the three finalists will be sent in early November to The Bowerman Voters who will rank their selections for The Bowerman. Fans and USTFCCCA members also will be able to vote online as part of the national voting process.

An independent firm will collect and tabulate the votes to determine the men’s 2009 winner of The Bowerman.

ABOUT THE MEN’S FINALISTS

ASHTON EATON – UNIVERSITY OF OREGON

Eaton, a junior from Bend, Ore., was undefeated in the combined events during the 2009 NCAA indoor and outdoor track & field seasons. The Duck standout won two NCAA titles, took the Pac-10 outdoor decathlon title and finished second in the men’s long jump at the Pac-10 outdoor championships. Eaton cracked the 8,000 point barrier in all three collegiate decathlon competitions during the outdoor season, with a season-best total of 8,214 points (wind-aided) at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships. He also posted a season-best of 6,174 points in the indoor heptathlon. Eaton was honored as the 2009 USTFCCCA Men’s Division I Indoor National Field Athlete of the Year and the 2009 USTFCCCA Men’s Division I Outdoor National Field Athlete of the Year.

GERMAN FERNANDEZ – OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY

Freshman German Fernandez made a name for himself on the collegiate track & field scene as he went undefeated at distances of 3,000 meters or less during the 2009 indoor and outdoor seasons, winning the NCAA Division I outdoor national title in the 1,500 meters with a season-best time of 3:39.00. Fernandez won Big 12 Conference indoor titles in the one mile and 3,000 meter races, setting a new indoor collegiate record and a new junior world record of 3:55.02 in the one mile race. He added two more Big 12 titles to his name when he won outdoor conference titles in the 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters. The Riverbank, Calif. native was named the 2009 USTFCCCA Men’s Division I Indoor Midwest Region Track Athlete of the Year and the 2009 USTFCCCA Men’s Division I Outdoor Midwest Region Track Athlete of the Year.

GALEN RUPP – UNIVERSITY OF OREGON

Rupp, the 2009 USTFCCCA Men’s Division I Indoor National Track Athlete of the Year and the 2009 USTFCCCA Men’s Division I Outdoor National Track Athlete of the Year, won NCAA Division I Indoor national titles in the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters. Rupp earned a third indoor national title when he anchored the winning Distance Medley Relay squad to lead the Ducks to their first-ever indoor national team title. Rupp was at it again during the outdoor campaign, winning NCAA Division I Outdoor national titles in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters. The most decorated athlete in Oregon history, Rupp won the Pac-10 outdoor title in the 10,000 meters and finished second in the 1,500. Rupp set a new American and collegiate record in the indoor 5,000 meters this season with a time of 13:18.12. He also anchored Oregon’s 4xMile relay squad to a new collegiate record at the Oregon Twilight meet.

About the USTFCCCA
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) is the non-profit professional organization that represents men’s and women’s cross country and track and field coaches in the United States. The organization represents over 8,000 coaching members, including 91% of NCAA track and field coaches. USTFCCCA serves as an advocate for cross country and track and field coaches, providing a leadership structure to assist the needs of a diverse membership, serving as a representative for coaches’ interests, and working as a liaison between the various stakeholders in the sports of cross country and track and field.