Running History 1950 - 1959
While adidas, Puma and Asics were just starting out in business , the runners were making history.
Last week while standing on the side of the road at the Sydney Marathon I started thinking about the exploits of Emil Zatopek. At the same time Sydney was being run, runners were running around Mount Blanc in the UTMB du Mt Blanc. Before Emil Zatopek there were sprinters and there were distance runners who trained like sprinters. There just weren't that many distance coaches around and they sure didn't have the science they have today. Emil had to figure out distance running basically on his own. He introduced interval training into his routine. Today we think of interval training as our Tuesday or Wednesday track session. What would you do if nobody was at the track to give you the workout. Would you make one up? Emil had to do that. His results were astonishing at the time and still stand today. In the Olympics in 1952 in Helsinki Finland Zatopek won the 5,000 and 10,000. Then he entered his first ever marathon, the Olympic Marathon and he won that too! If Emil doesn't do that, would we see thousands of runners running on different sides of the world on the same day? Would the first running boom happen? Emil showed everyone a human spirit that simply says "it's all there, right in front of you, why not you?"
Fifth Ave Mile
If you have never seen the Fifth Ave Mile live it's worth the trip the NYC. You can actually run the peoples race then stick around to watch the pros race. This year Yared Nuguse took the top honors for the men and Gracie Morris for the women. It's so fun to stand on the side of the road close to the finish line. The runners fly past so fast you can feel it.
Ironman World Championships - Men
The men will race in Nice, France this coming Sunday in the Ironman World Championships. There is no single favorite going into the race. There are three past champions, Patrick Lange who has won 3 times, Sam Laidlow and Gustav Eden have each won once. Look for all three of them to play a large roll in the outcome of the race.
