Alan Webb finished 5th yesterday in the 1500-meter finals of the U.S. Olympic Trials. This result is a surprise to many given Webb's recent performances. Webb is the American record holder in the mile with a time of 3:46.91. His is also three-time national champion in the 1500. Just last year he ran a 3:30.54, the fastest 1500 time in the world for 2007.
Below is a video of the 1500-meter race from the Olympic Trials. Lagat, Manzano, and Lomong took the top three spots and qualified for the 1500m in Beijing.
Running a marathon is hard enough for most people. Some people, nonetheless, like to mix in some extra sweating and chaffing via elaborate "marathon costumes". Sometimes these costumes are just for fun, but often they are used to raise awareness and money for benevolent causes. Below are some of the most creative, hilarious, and uncomfortable marathon outfits ever witnessed.
Save the Rhino - London 2007 - 22 lbs rhino suit + 26.2 miles + 77°F (25°C)
NYC 2005 - to raise awareness for testicular cancer
London 2008 - Michelle Frost, first marathon on stilts - 8 hr 25 min
Spidey's up against a new nemesis - the pulled hammy.
Masai warriors from Tanzania compete in traditional dress to raise money to provide their village with water. If you look closely you can see that they have old car tires as shoes. - London 2008
These men ran a half-marathon in full fire fighter's gear, including oxygen tanks.
Many of these photos were discovered in the Flickr 'Runners in Costume' Pool, with credits going to their respective photographers.
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Today, July 3, the U.S. Olympic Team Trials start back up. Events will be aired throughout the entire holiday weekend. Here is the television schedule for the track and field events.
If you ever watch a sprinting event on television, you may hear the sportscasters reference the wind with phrases like "legal wind" or "too much wind". What does all of this mean?
Wind is an big deal in sprinting races like the 100m and 200m dash. Not only are these races run completely or primarily in one direction, but the margins of victory are also very narrow, being measured in hundredths of seconds. A mild wind, either helping or restricting the athletes, will be significant factor in their finishing times. Although all of the runners in a particular race face the same wind, runners competing at different times or at different places will face varying conditions. This becomes an issue if you want to keep track of say, the world record for an event. How do you compare a runner who ran with the wind to one who ran against the wind? To deal with this issue, some simple rules have been created to regulate wind-aided performances.
Applicable Events
The rules of wind assistance only apply to those track events which are short enough to be run in only one direction. These include:
60 meters
100 meters
200 meters
100/110 meter hurdles
Triple jump
Long jump
In other races, such as the 400m or 800m, the runners go completely around the track and will have the wind facing their fronts as well as backs, nullifying the wind's effects.
Wind Speed Limits
In these events, the maximum legal wind assistance is 2.0 meters per second. If the runners of a race receive more wind assistance than this, their times will not be eligible as collegiate, national, or world records. (In high school track events, the wind is usually not measured or considered.) During events like the heptathlon and decathlon, the rule is slightly different. The maximum allowable wind is 4.0 meters per second for any one event, but 2.0 meters per second on average across all applicable disciplines.
Terminology and Notation
Wind assistance is normally expressed in meters per second, either positive or negative. A positive measurement means that the wind is helping the runners and a negative measurement means that the runners had to work against the wind. So, for example, winds of -2.2m/s and +1.9m/s are legal, while a wind of +2.1m/s is too much assistance and considered illegal. The terms "tail wind" and "head wind" are also frequently used. A tail wind pushes the runners forward (+) while a head wind pushes the runners backwards (-).
Relevant Examples
On May 31, 2008, Usain Bolt ran a 100m time of 9.72 seconds with a +1.7m/s wind, officially breaking the 100 meter world record.
Just weeks after Usain Bolt broke the 100m world record, Tyson Gay, a 25-year-old from Kentucky, has run 100 meters even faster. Although Gay's finishing time was 9.68 seconds (0.04 seconds faster than Bolt), he has not officially set the world record because his effort was wind aided with a tail wind of 4.1m/s. In sprinting events, any tail wind over 2.0m/s nullifies an attempt at a world record.
Gay's time was booked today at the US Olympic Track & Field trials held in Eugene, Oregon. Previously, the record for the fastest 100 meters run under any conditions was 9.69 seconds with a 5.0 m/s push, by Obadele Thompson in 1996.
Video:
For some consolation, Tyson Gay does officially hold the US record for the 100 meter race. He put up a legal time of 9.77 seconds just yesterday at the qualifying rounds of the US Olympic trials.
It looks like Beijing's 100 meter finals are going to be VERY exciting.
In these events, the maximum legal wind assistance is 2.0 meters per second. If the runners of a race receive more wind assistance than this, their times will not be eligible as collegiate, national, or world records. (In high school track events, the wind is usually not measured or considered.) During events like the heptathlon and decathlon, the rule is slightly different. The maximum allowable wind is 4.0 meters per second for any one event, but 2.0 meters per second on average across all applicable disciplines.