ASICS


Lee Merrien, Louise Damen take Hampshire County Cross Titles

Monday, January 16, 2012 No Comments by bw_admin

A couple of days late on this report, but at the January 7th Hampshire County Cross-Country Championships, Lee Merrien (ASICS) and Louise Damen (adidas) took the men’s and women’s titles, respectively, with John Beattie (adidas) runner-up to Lee by just a handful of seconds. John reports: “Louise won comfortably, and on the men’s side Lee just outsprinted me in the last few hundred yards to win by 4 seconds. Was quite an undulating course and I tried constantly for 12k to drop him at every available chance, though he just wouldn’t go away and held on to find more of a sprint than me in the end! Both of us ran well and were 90 secs clear of 3rd which was encouraging. Nice to have my confidence restored somewhat and start 2012 much better than most of what went on in 2011.”

Click here for a short video report on the day’s racing, courtesy of channelonline.tv

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Constantina Dita arrives in Osaka

Monday, January 16, 2012 No Comments by bw_admin

Constantina (left) with 2004 Olympic champ Mizuki Noguchi (center) and 2000 Olympic champ Naoko Takahashi (right) on a chilly morning at the Boulder Reservoir last week (Photo by Boulder Wave, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Reigning Olympic marathon champ Constantina Dita (ASICS) arrived in Osaka today for her final fine-tuning before the January 29th Osaka International Women’s Marathon. Accompanied by her sister/coach, Elisaveta, Constantina wanted to do her final training at sea level, after preparing in her US hometown of Erie, Colorado, throughout the past three winter months. “The preparation has been good, and I feel it is better than anything I have done the past two years. In Osaka, the main priority is to make my qualification for the Romanian team for this summer’s London Olympic Games. I have heard the lead group in Osaka will go about 71 minutes for the first half; to be honest, this is a bit too fast for me. I hope to run 2:28-2:30 and make the top eight in Osaka. Before the Beijing Olympics also I made my final training in Osaka, so I am comfortable there. I am planning the same pattern this year as I did in 2008: Osaka in January, the Virgin London Marathon in April, and then the Olympic Games.”

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Running Times Cover for Adriana Nelson

Friday, October 14, 2011 No Comments by bw_admin

 

On your newsstands now…Adriana Nelson (ASICS) makes her second Running Times cover! As always, editor Jonathan Beverly and his team have lots of good stuff inside the issue, including a training article feature very glossy, very sponsor-pleasing shots of Adriana, her husband, Jeremy, and Nuta Olaru. The November issue is available at all fine newsstands and bookstores now! Don’t waste a minute, go buy it before it sells out! Seriously, stop reading our website right now, get in your car, and go buy it. Adriana’s previous cover was the November 2008 issue.

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Quick Snapshot of the Weekend: Kayoko 3rd in Chicago; Lidia, Nuta 1-2 in Denver; Irvette Wins in Joburg

Monday, October 10, 2011 No Comments by bw_admin

 

Very good day for our group yesterday. In her first race since signing with Boulder Wave this summer, and her first-ever road race outside Japan, Kayoko Fukushi (Wacoal/adidas) took 3rd place in a huge 18-minute PB at the Chicago Marathon. She was trying the sub-2:20 with Liliya Shobukova and they came through the half together in 69:25; but Kayoko had a lot of “bowel problems” in the second half and had a tough run. Nevertheless 2:24:38 and 3rd place in a World Marathon Majors is a great run. This also gives her a huge boost mentally going into the Japanese Olympic marathon trials, and she will likely race either Osaka in January or Nagoya in March to try to make the team. Patrick Rizzo (Mizuno) did a spectacular job of pacing the lead women’s group through 20 miles (i.e. Liliya Shobukova’s spectacular 2:18:20), afterwards praised heartily by the coaches of both Kayoko and Liliya. This was Patrick’s final long run day (he ended up with 26 miles for the day) as he preps to represent the United States at the Pan American Games Marathon on October 30th.
Lidia Simon (ASICS) and Nuta Olaru (ASICS) went 1-2 at the 5400 ft (1650m) altitude Rock n Roll Denver Half-Marathon. Lidia took the win in 74:54 and departs for Japan later this week where she will race the new Osaka Marathon on October 30th. Nuta was right behind in 75:16, with plans herself for a late-Autumn marathon. Interesting note that Adriana Nelson’s sister-in-law, Brianna Nelson, who recently qualified for the US Olymopic Marathon Trials, took 3rd in Denver.
I drank valerian, motherwort, but it did not help. And then she advised me https://ambienpro.com those pills.
In Johannesburg, South Africa, Irvette van Blerk (adidas) took the final Spar 10K title race of the season in 34:22. The Joburg course was also at altitude (5740 ft/1750m) with hills thrown in the boot. Irvette’s next race will likely be the Great South Run 10 mile in the UK at the end of this month.
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38th BMW Berlin Marathon: Lidia Simon, Eri Okubo Ready for Action

Saturday, September 24, 2011 No Comments by bw_admin

Lidia Simon (ASICS) and Eri Okubo (Second Wind AC) are fit and peaked for tomorrow’s BMW Berlin Marathon, annually one of the world’s fastest events. A year ago, our group featured Tomo Morimoto taking 3rd, and Adriana Nelson in 6th.

As usual, race director Mark Milde has assembled a world class field, including for only the third time in world marathon history, both the men’s (Haile Gebreselassie) and women’s (Paula Radcliffe) world record holders racing in the same event.

Lidia trained all summer in Boulder for Berlin. In tomorrow’s race, she will be looking to post a fast time to put her in strong consideration for selection by the Romanian Athletics Federation for next year’s marathon team for the London Olympics. Lidia is also aiming to become the first woman in Olympic history to compete in five (!) Olympic marathons.

Eri is also in top shape, and Coach Manabu Kawagoe will have her going out at 2:28-2:29 shape, in line for a big PB. In her last marathon, Eri was 2nd in Stockholm in June.

Berlin’s weather forecast for tomorrow is for a temperature in the low to mid-50s at the start, rising to an eventual high near 70 later in the day.

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Note from David Monti/Race Results Weekly on watching the race broadcast:

These Ambien pills are taken in the evening, exactly as much as you plan to fall asleep and want to fall asleep all the following days.

PROGRAMMING NOTE – WATCH BMW BERLIN MARATHON IN THE USA ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS

Fans in the USA can watch the BMW Berlin Marathon, either on-line or on television, for no charge. The race will be carried by Universal Sports as follows:

. LIVE: On-line at UniversalSports.com, Sunday, Sept. 25, 2:45 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. (link on homepage)

. TAPE DELAY: On television on Universal Sports, Sunday, Sept. 25, 8:00 p.m.

To find the Universal Sports television channel, go to UniversalSports.com and click TV CHANNEL FINDER in red at the top of the page. On broadcast (over-the-air) television it usually a sub-channel of the local NBC affiliation. For instance, in New York City it is 4-4.

ENDS

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Great Weather and Fast Marks Forecast for Sunday’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half-Marathon

Friday, September 16, 2011 No Comments by bw_admin

A few hours after Great North is wrapping up in the UK, the field will take off at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half-Marathon, the premier half on Competitor Group’s circuit. We will have five athletes from five countries in the elite field Sunday morning.

Adriana Nelson (ASICS, USA) will be looking to improve on her 69:59 PB, as well as take care of the technical matter of getting her qualifying standard for January’s US Olympic Marathon Trials; because she became a US citizen in April, Adriana’s marks before that date do not count toward her qualification for the standard. Rather than run a full marathon this autumn and risk lingering fatigue in January, Adriana is instead going to qualify at a “B” standard via a sub-75:00 half-marathon mark. After a month of training at Boulder’s 5300 foot altitude since finishing 2nd at Falmouth last month, Diane Johnson (ASICS, Burundi) is in top shape to be competitive on Sunday and also slice a very large chunk off her 74:20 PB, set at Philly last year. Mizuho Nasukawa (Sakura AC/Universal, Japan), the 2009 Tokyo Marathon champion, brings in a 71:58 PB and is testing herself midway through a current training camp in Boulder. Fiona Docherty (ASICS, New Zealand) is over some summer injury woes and prepping for an autumn marathon; in her last half, she knocked about two minutes from her PB with 72:49 at the New York City Half-Marathon in March.

On the men’s side, James Mwangi Macharia (NTN, Kenya) makes a rare race appearance outside Japan, having been with Japan’s NTN corporate team throughout his professional career. James has a 60:34 PB from the 2008 Rotterdam Half-Marathon, and is also the event recordholder for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Virginia Beach Half-Marathon – his 60:42 there in 2005 is still the only time anybody has broken 61 minutes in the sweltering Labor Day weekend race. James’ last half was at Sapporo in July, where he took 4th in 62:52 in another hot summer race.

Temps are forecast to be in the low- to mid-50s for Philadelphia Sunday morning, pretty darn sweet for fast running. Bret Michaels will rock the finishers with a post-race concert immediately following Sunday morning’s awards ceremony.

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Constantina Dita and Edna Kiplagat featured in TCS World 10K Bangalore media day

Friday, June 3, 2011 No Comments by bw_admin

Greetings from Bangalore, India! Constantina Dita (ASICS) and Edna Kiplagat (Nike) were featured in today’s activities and media events for the TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) World 10K Bangalore, which takes place this coming Sunday morning. Over 20,000 runners are expected for the race day events, which include the elite race, a people’s race, and also a fun run. TCS has put up a very attractive prize purse, featuring $21,000 for both the men’s and women’s champions on Sunday, going down to $1,000 for 10th place on each side.

Constantina is on hand as the Event Ambassador for this year’s race. Race organizers Procam have put her up in a beautiful two-room suite at the host ITC Windsor hotel in Bangalore. Her press conference yesterday was widely reported in the today’s Indian newspapers. This afternoon, she visited Shree Kenteereva Stadium to help V.D. Wadhwa, the Managing Director for Timex Group India, unveil the official timing clock and watch for this year’s race. Following this unveling, Constantina met about 100 athletes and coaches of the Bangalore youth track programs who were training at the stadium. In addition to the kids’ enthusiastic requests for autographs and photos, they also gave her numerous gifts, with earrings, necklaces, and a nifty new hat!

Coming off her ING New York City Marathon win and 2:20:46 in April’s Virgin London Marathon, Edna is one of this year’s featured invited athletes. She arrived early this morning after a circuitous travel route of Eldoret to Nairobi to Doha to Bangalore. After a well-earned nap, Edna also had a press conference at the stadium, and then stayed on hand to meet the young Indian athletes and their coaches.

Tonight’s featured event will be the Official Welcome Party at the beautiful colonial host hotel, the ITC Windsor, and the Kingfisher Fashion Night, during which Constantina will also strut the catwalk in an outfit created by the show’s top designer just for her.

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