 |
|  On the Run with Matt McGowan November 2007 RunOhio
The fall was full of a number of road races and cross-
country meets. Hopefully, you were able to use your summer
training to run a personal best this fall.
Congratulations to Ryan Hall, Dathan Ritzenhein and Brian
Sell who made the 2008 USA Olympic team with their top three
finish in the USATF Men's Olympic Marathon Trials. Check out
all of the coverage at:
Our prayers go out to the Ryan Shay family. Ryan passed
away while competing in the USATF Men's Olympic Marathon
Trials.
The All-Ohio Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships
was held last month on a very warm afternoon. Most of Ohio
colleges and universities were on hand making this one of the
top collegiate cross-country events around.
If you ran the first weekend in October you know the
temperature was well above normal. The Chicago Marathon was
held the first weekend in October and the race director had to
make the call to stop the race early. As a race director
myself you always have to worry about the safety of the
participants and this call was a tough one, but probably the
right one at the time. A number of marathons were held in
October in Ohio and their results are posted in this issue.
Hopefully, as marathons attract more and more walkers, race
directors will re-evaluate starting the walkers early because
the number of walkers increases the congestion on the course
and makes running more difficult.
I helped my brother, Jeff, and Mom with the 20th annual
Circleville Classic. A number of Ohio State and Shawnee State
University men participated. Eighteen runners broke twenty-
eight minutes for the 5-mile race making for a very
competitive field. Many athletes enjoyed the 101st
Circleville Pumpkin Show after the race.
It is my hope to field a women's team at the USATF Club
Cross Country Championships in West Chester on December 8th.
There will be a Men's Open and Masters 10km, a Women's Open
and Masters 6km, and a Community 6km. For more information
about this Championships contact: Eric Fruth, The Columbus
Running Company, 6465 Perimeter Dr, Dublin, OH 43016 (614) 764-
0855 or go to:
The 8th annual Arnold 5K Pump and Run and Arnold 5K will be
held on March 2nd. Registration for this event started
November 1st and during the first two days of registration 391
athletes registered for the Arnold 5K Pump and Run. The limit
of 700 athletes was reached November 12th. Thus,
registration for the Arnold Pump and Run is now closed. The
Arnold 5km has no limit. For more information on these events
go to: www.runohio.com Over the years I have heard a lot of runners and race
directors say there are too many races. It seems like every
year there are more and more races to choose from. Many times
this allows for a smaller field, thus increasing the chance of
winning an award. However, this causes the quality of the
field to suffer, and I have seen some big races' numbers drop
as more races are started. I am amazed at the number of
races that have fewer than 100 finishers. Let me know what
you think about this trend as I hope to do an article about
this issue in the future.
If you are looking for a Thanksgiving Day race, fourteen
Ohio races and a total of thirty-one races are listed in the
RUNOHIO Race Calendar. Hopefully, you will be able to spend
Thanksgiving with family and friends.
If you are sponsoring or directing a race in 2008 please
send RUNOHIO your race information so that we may list it in
our calendar. Also, you should list your event on The Running
Network National Calendar so runners will know about your
event. To list your race on The Running Network Calendar go
to: http://www.rncalendar.com/
creator/login.asp
The next time you run a race don't forget to thank the race
director and volunteers for their efforts in trying to make
races safe and enjoyable. If you can't run a local race I hope
you will volunteer to make the race better.
The deadline for the January/February RUNOHIO is December
14th.
I hope you have a happy and safe holiday season.
Matt McGowan
Editor note:
USATF Comment on the Death of Ryan Shay
NEW YORK - Ryan Shay, a five-time national champion on the
roads, died Saturday at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Men's
Marathon. Shortly past the 5-mile mark of the race, Shay
collapsed and was immediately given CPR. An ambulance
transported him to Lenox Hill Hospital, where he was
pronounced dead at 8:46 a.m.
"We all are devastated over Ryan's death," said USATF CEO
Craig Masback. "He was a tremendous champion who was here
today to pursue his dreams. The Olympic Trials is
traditionally a day of celebration, but we are heartbroken.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Ryan's wife, Alicia, and all
of his family. His death is a tremendous loss for the sport and
the long-distance running community."
A 2002 graduate of Notre Dame and a native of Michigan,
Shay was the 2003 USA marathon champion, the 2003 and 2004 USA
half-marathon champion, the 2004 USA 20 km champion and the
2005 USA 15 km champion. He won the 2001 NCAA 10,000m title,
winning the first national individual title for Notre Dame,
and was a nine-time All-American. After college, he trained
with Team USA California, a group that includes Olympic
medallist Meb Keflezighi and Deena Kastor and now includes
2008 Olympic Trials champion Ryan Hall. In 2003 he won the
USARC racing series after winning national road running titles
in the marathon and half marathon, and taking third at 5 km
and 20 km.
For a bio of Ryan Shay: http://www.usatf.org/a
thletes/bios/oldBios/2006/Shay_Ryan.asp
About Run Ohio | About Running Network | Privacy Policy | Copyright | Contact Us | Advertise With Us |
|
|
