Back Porch FanHouse

New York Marathon Winner Meb Keflezighi Is Real American

Michael David Smith — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:30:00 EST

In a big step forward for U.S. distance running, the men's winner of Sunday's New York City Marathon was an American, Meb Keflezighi -- the first American winner since 1982. He's been saluted across the country, including getting an invitation from David Letterman to do the Top 10 list.

For most Americans, watching an American win a major sporting event is a source of pride. And yet some American writers are claiming that he's not really one of us.

More on the Back Porch: Usain Bolt's New Cheetah | Nantz's Alimony Payments
The Daily Show: NY vs. Philly | 'Curb' Debates Jeter

Foremost among them is the usually sane Darren Rovell of CNBC, who writes that the first American winner of the New York City Marathon in more than a quarter of a century is "not as good as it sounds" because Kaflezighi is "not American-born." Rovell explains that he won't break out the red, white and blue until an American who was born in the USA wins the race.

Yes, it's true, Keflezighi was born in Eritrea. He and his family came to America when he was a child, he starred in track and cross country at an American high school, he got an athletic scholarship to UCLA and became a U.S. citizen the same year he graduated, and then he became a professional distance runner. Prior to winning the New York City Marathon, his greatest accomplishment in the sport was winning the Olympic silver medal for Team USA in 2004.

Keflezighi's life is a great story -- a great American story. It was the American flag Keflezighi waved when he won the New York City Marathon, and no matter what anyone may say, Keflezighi is a real American.

New York Marathon Winner Meb Keflezighi Is Real American originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bank of America Chicago Marathon Tracking: Sammy Wanjiru Wins

Michael David Smith — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:09:00 EST

Filed under: Distance Running

Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya won the men's race in the 2009 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, running in 2:05:41 for the fastest marathon ever run in the United States.

Wanjiru, who won the 2008 Olympic gold medal in the marathon, fell short of his goal of a world record on a day when early-morning temperatures were below freezing, but he still wins $75,000 in prize money for finishing first, $100,000 for breaking the course record and $500,000 for becoming the World Marathon Majors champ.

Russia's Liliya Shobukhova, who until recently was a middle-distance specialist and ran the 5,000 meters last year in Beijing, won the women's race in 2:25.56.

More than 45,000 people participated in the marathon, and all of the results are available in the online Chicago Marathon tracking here.

Bank of America Chicago Marathon Tracking: Sammy Wanjiru Wins originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:09:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Run, Forrest, Run: Why I Hate Jogging

Clay Travis — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:53:00 EST

Filed under: Distance Running, Endurance, Outdoor Sports, Track and Field

I hate jogging. Passionately. Every couple of years I get fat and I have to start jogging again. Now is one of those times; I'm up to 186 pounds, about 11 pounds above my playing weight. Recently I saw a picture of myself in a wife-beater and I looked like a beached whale. Well, a beached whale in a wife-beater. Traditionally I loathe every moment that I spend jogging, but this time around it's worse than it's ever been before.

Why? Because I live in a majority black neighborhood in downtown Nashville where no one ever jogs. No one. When you jog here, people look behind you to see who you're running from. Once they confirm that you've chosen to run on your own and aren't being pursued, they make fun of you. "Run, Forrest, run!" my neighbors call from the shady comfort of their front porches, from the insides of their air-conditioned cars, from the jungle gym in the neighborhood park.

Yep, I'm white, I have a beard, and I jog. This makes me Forrest Gump to everyone in the neighborhood.

The first time I was taunted by kids playing in the neighborhood park. Five kids were standing in line to come down the yellow slide, and I jogged past them. Without skipping a beat a young girl of about 10, pointed me out, "Run, Forrest, run!" she said. Everyone laughed. It took me a while to realize exactly what had been said, but by now I'm used to it. Everyone from eight to 80 is doing it, making fun of me while I jog, reinforcing my distaste for running with every step.

While you jog you have lots of time to think. Often, I count down the reasons why I hate to jog in my head. They go something like this:

1. I don't ever get a second wind. Never. Ever. In my entire life of running, I've never suddenly felt my legs lighten and believed I could go on running for days. I don't believe second winds actually exist.

2. People who I convince to go jogging with me end up doing better than me. This has happened three times. The first time with my college roommate, Krisha, the second time with my wife and the third time with my friend Tardio. Now they jog all the time for miles on end. They enjoy it. I still hate it.

3. I live in Nashville and am allergic to everything on Earth. Truly. I went to the allergy clinic as a 25-year-old, finally got the needle testing done, and the only thing I'm not allergic to is mold. My entire arm where they pin-pricked me was one raised bump. The city of Nashville is located in a bowl, surrounded by large hills. It's one of the worst places for allergies on Earth. I can never breathe here. For the past several months everywhere you look pollen is literally floating in the air. Occasionally I've even swallowed the pollen out of the air. As I'm jogging attempting to spit the pollen back out of my mouth, I sometimes think I'm going to die.

4. Waiting to cross streets. It's impossible not to look like a tool while you're waiting to cross the street and going for a jog. Do you keep moving your legs through a traffic light sequence? No, I can't do that. I feel like I'm auditioning for A Chorus Line. So instead I stop moving and just stand there. Which reinforces my desire not to be running. As soon as the light changes I have to start up again.

5. Even if you're really good at jogging, you're still just really good at jogging. Why do people brag about how far they can run? The only reason you can run long distances is because you do it all the time. It serves no actual purpose in life. It's not the Middle Ages. No one walks up to you at work and says, "This document has to be 11 miles from here in 58 minutes or the company is going bankrupt." Nope, they just put someone in a car and get it there in 20 minutes. It's a skill that has no useful purpose. Imagine if I decided I was going to juggle every day for two hours. I'd be awesome at juggling. But unless I wanted to pick up lonely lady clowns, it's not terribly helpful.

6. Running is like cross-word puzzles, I used to do them because I thought they would make me smarter. Then I heard that the only thing completing crossword puzzles did was make you better at doing crossword puzzles. It's the same with running. Your endurance just gets better for running. Even people who go for two-hour jogs aren't that good at, say, playing full-court basketball where you're required to run at different speeds and take breaks in between plays. It's a solitary skill that has no lasting benefit, like being awesome at horseshoes. Only you can't drink beer while you run. So even worse.

7. Runners are snobby. Whenever a regular runner sees you stop running, they look down their nose at you. "Oh, you're stopping already," their cutting eyes seem to say. Whenever I stop running in front of other runners, I always want to say, "Whew, polished off those fifty miles pretty easy today." Because running is a "sport" that plodding misanthropes embrace, people who are really competitive but pretend they aren't. That's why so many lawyers run.

Question: How many hours did you bill yesterday?

Me: 10.1

Questioner: Cool, knocked out 10.2 myself.

Question: How many miles did you run today?

Me: Three

Questioner: 3.1 here.

Me: I hate you.

8. I don't get a runner's high when I'm done. My body isn't suffused with endorphins that make me sky-high with the feeling of accomplishment. I've just got really sweaty socks and I can barely breathe. If I feel any relief it's because I don't have to dread running anymore for that day.

9. If people find out you run more than three miles at one time, they ask you whether you've ever run a marathon. Everyone does this. I have no idea why. If someone sees you playing basketball, they don't walk up and ask if you can dunk. Although, to be fair, dunking requires athletic ability. Running requires no real athletic ability, just a desire to keep moving no matter the consequences.

10. No one actually likes jogging. Look at the faces of people as they jog. I defy you to find someone who looks like they enjoy it. (I'll craft a small exception for men who have managed to get behind a really hot woman and are mesmerized by watching her from behind.) How has something that no one likes become so popular? I'll tell you, because people lie about liking jogging and no one calls them on it. Jogging is sado-masochism disguised as sport.

11. Oprah ran a marathon. So I don't doubt that if I committed myself to training for 20 hours a week, or whatever it is, I could run a marathon too. Otherwise I'm required to believe that Oprah is a better athlete than I am. But here's the deal, once Oprah ran a marathon didn't it strip away the majesty of the marathon-ing experience. It would be like if Jose Canseco's next book was One Hundred Years of Solitude. I'd just throw up my hands and quit writing.

I'm looking at my tennis shoes by the door right now. I don't want to put them on, I really don't. But I know sooner or later I'm going to, a latter-day Pickett's Charge into the heat of the day. And I'm going to hate every second of it. Like everyone other person who has ever run.

It's starting to get hot in Nashville. The other day, I was out on a Sunday morning. It was already 80 degrees downtown. The sun was baking off the pavement, shimmering on the reflected windows of the Kentucky Fried Chicken. A Lincoln Continental pulled past me, stopped, and rolled down the window. An old hand extended outside. As I jogged by an elderly black woman wearing a white hat and a white dress, on her way to church, addressed me.

"Good morning, Forrest," she cackled.

I hate it, I really do.

Run, Forrest, Run: Why I Hate Jogging originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Thu, 21 May 2009 17:53:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Boston Marathon: Ryan Hall, Kara Goucher Both Finish 3rd for U.S.

Will Brinson — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:18:00 EST

Filed under: Distance Running, Endurance, Action Sports, Current Events

The Boston Marathon -- a Patriot Day staple -- took place Monday and the results were, well, both shocking and encouraging for the U.S. Ethopia's Deriba Merga and Kenya's Salina Kosgei were the winners of the men's and women's races, respectively, but America managed to place third in each division as well, as Kara Goucher and Ryan Hall led the way for the U.S.

Perhaps third is not what most competitors strive for, but America's finish is the best in quite some time, considering that no American has won the event since 1985 when Lisa Larsen-Weidenbach took home the women's title.

Kosgei, the women's winner, said the weather made finishing the race difficult.

"I decided I must try. So, I tried," she said in a television interview. "The wind was a bit stronger. ... So, it was very hard."

The weather didn't seem to bother the Americans too much, though, as Hall finished the race 62 seconds off the winning pace (2:09:40), while Goucher finished just nine seconds behind Kosgei (2:32:25).

Ultimately, though, Ethiopa and Kenya dominated the races, placing a ridiculous 14 runners total in the top-10 of both the men's and women's races, and showed that America still has some ground to make up when it comes to marathon racing.

(But, at least Hall and Goucher appear to be rebutting some companies' idea that America is getting fatter.)

Boston Marathon: Ryan Hall, Kara Goucher Both Finish 3rd for U.S. originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:18:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Philadelphia Marathon Results: Ukrainian Pair Runs Away With Race

Tom Herrera — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 19:25:00 EST

Filed under: Distance Running, Endurance

There were about 18,000 runners in the Philadelphia Marathon, but two Ukrainians outran them all on a frigid Sunday. Andriy Toptun won in 2 hours, 19 minutes, 58 seconds over the 26.2-mile course, while Vera Ovcharuk clocked in at 2:44.03 in her marathon debut.

"I had to run alone and it was cold, so the time is not too bad," Toptun said through an interpreter.

[American runner Fred] Kieser lost sight of Toptun early in the race.

"I thought I might have a chance at the eight-mile mark, but he just had too much left in the tank," said Kieser, who coaches a high school girls cross country team.

The Philly Marathon, founded in 1954, awards $3,500 to the first-place finishers.

Even if I had a remote shot to win that kind of money in a marathon, I still don't think I'd venture into 30-degree weather for such a grueling race... which is why I give these long-distance runners, like FanHouse's very own This Suit Is Not Black, so much credit for having that kind of will.

Men's Results:
1. Andriy Toptun, 27, 2:19:58 (Ukraine)
2. Fred Kieser, 37, 2:22.45 (Cleveland)

Women's Results:
1. Vera Ovcharuk, 27, 2:44.03 (Ukraine)
2. Abby Dean, 37, 2:48.52 (Philadelphia)

Philadelphia Marathon Results: Ukrainian Pair Runs Away With Race originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Sun, 23 Nov 2008 19:25:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pasadena Marathon Canceled Because of Air Quality Concerns

Tom Herrera — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: Distance Running

Those expecting to see or participate in the very first Pasadena Marathon today will have to turn right back around. The marathon was canceled at the last minute due to heavy smoke and ash from the wildfire burning in Los Angeles County.

Race organizers said Sunday that they decided at the last minute to scrap the event out of concern for the health and safety of the 8,000 people who registered to participate.

The announcement at 4 a.m. came two hours before the marathon and bike tour was set to begin.

John Parks, a member of the race management team, says organizers will meet over the next several days to reschedule the event.

As the fire in the San Fernando Valley continues to blaze and destroy homes, I'm sure a marathon was not really on the forefront of everyone's minds there anyway.

Even though it was on short notice, this was the right decision to make, especially in light of how taxing a marathon can be on the respiratory system -- it was just too dangerous.

Did You See That?

The field clears a fence during the New Season Handicap Steeplechase during the at Ludlow Racecourse on September 16, 2008 in Ludlow, England.

Emanuele Canonica of Italy helps his caddie in the rescue of a pigeon from the water around the 18th green during the first round of the Portugal Masters at the Oceanico Victoria Golf Course on October 16, 2008 in Vilamoura, Portugal.

A multiexposure image showing Britain's Andy Murray returning to Croatian Marin Cilic during a last sixteen tennis match at the Madrid Masters in Madrid on October 16, 2008. Andy Murray won 7-5, 7-6.

English football fans dressed in armours and tunics play in a friendly match against Belarus fans in Minsk on October 15, 2008 before the start of the Belarus vs. England 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier of European group 6 match.

Travis Brigley (R) of Hamburg fights with Matt Keith (L) of Ingolstadt during the DEL match between Hamburg Freezers and ERC Ingolstadt at the Color Line Arena on October 14, 2008 in Hamburg, Germany.

Russian Nikolay Davydenko returns a ball to US Robby Ginepri during a second round tennis match at the Masters in Madrid on October 15, 2008.

A golf ball which has been enveloped by the tree over many years is pictured during the pro-am for the Portugal Masters at the Oceanico Victoria Golf Course on October 15, 2008 in Vilamoura, Portugal.

Andy Murray of Great Britain plays football during his training session prior to his thrid round match tomorrow at the Madrid Masters tennis tournament at the Madrid Arena on October 15, 2008 in Madrid, Spain.

Samuel Peter from Nigeria gets a punch from Vitali Klitschko of Ukraine during their WBC heavyweight boxing world championship fight in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008. Klitschko won the fight after round nine due to technical knock out.

Herbert Knosowski, AP

Japan's Kyoko Hamaguchi (lower) fights with China's Hong Yan (red) during the semi-final of the 72kg class of the Women's Wrestling World Championships in Tokyo on October 13, 2008. Hong defeated Hamaguchi and will face Bulgaria's Stanka Zlateva in the final.

Yoshikazu Tsuno, AFP/Getty Images

Pasadena Marathon Canceled Because of Air Quality Concerns originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Sun, 16 Nov 2008 10:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FanHouse TV: A Visual Account of a Blogger Running the NYC Marathon

Kristine Blinn — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Distance Running, FanHouse TV, Featured Stories, The Word

I ran the New York City Marathon on Sunday, surprising no one more than myself. It wasn't something I imagined I'd ever do. It wasn't something I even had any inclination of doing for most of my life. But it's something I've never been happier to have done.

I took some video of the event and edited it together for you here. Trust me, if you ever get a chance to do something like this, you would be wise to take it.

My video, and some more thoughts, after the jump.

If any of you think you'd never be able to run a marathon, you're kidding yourself. Some of the people I met in the race were so inspiring, it made me ask, "What the hell was my excuse to not have done this sooner?"

I met one woman, a brain cancer survivor, who was running her second marathon in three weeks (her seventh overall) - and she's in the middle of chemo treatments. She would actually train at times by running to her treatments.

I saw another man racing with one leg, racing with crutches. He finished in about five hours - faster than a hell of a lot of the able-bodied people on the course.

I saw rock bands, reggae bands, thugs, Hacidic Jews, hipsters, Manhattanites, drunk people, sober people and one amazing gospel choir which was singing outside a church in Brooklyn. And everyone was out there was cheering just as hard as the person next to them.

Video Link.

FanHouse TV: A Visual Account of a Blogger Running the NYC Marathon originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Marathoner Wins Race, Loses Toes

Irishoutsider — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 11:10:00 EST

Filed under: Distance Running

Reason #11 why we don't run marathons, frostbite induced amputation. This was the case for runner Andrew Wells of Davenport, Iowa after running a 64 mile race in frigid conditions. Wells, running an ultra marathon at 14 below, discusses the aftermath with Iowa's KWWL.com :

"I knew that something was wrong, so we got some warm water and we put my feet in a bucket and tried to get them to warm up for a couple of hours and after that I still had some pretty bad purple color in my feet," Wells said. "My feet were sweating and the sweat soaked through my wool socks and it got trapped between my wool socks and my waterproof socks and when I took my waterproof socks off I realized I had some snow and ice built up around my socks."

Now, Wells is waiting at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to have at least two toes amputated. "He has six of his ten toes that do not have normal blood flow. We know two for sure are going to be gone. Three more, I'm concerned about," Dr. Barbara Latenser said.

One of the two toes to be amputated is the big toe on his right foot. "They say 70% of your balance comes from your big toe and 30% from the other toes. I think it'll be an adjustment to get my balance back, before I can get back on my feet normally. It's definitely something I can live with, and still compete with," Wells said.

Not to be deterred by something as small as losing most of his toes, Andrew hopes to run again, this time in warmer climates. Das FanHaus wishes him the best of luck.

Marathoner Wins Race, Loses Toes originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Fri, 25 Jan 2008 11:10:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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