As I write this, the US national championships are being held. The venue is Drake Stadium at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, also the venue for the eponymous Drake Relays.

In the international calendar, this weekend and this period of the year are set aside for national championships. Jamaica, Kenya and the UK are among other notable ones  on at the same time.

What’s surprising, particularly in the case of the US and Jamaica, is the number of star athletes who are not running their national titles. Tyson Gay, who is “not injured but not totally healthy” either, and Chris Solinsky, the first non-African to run sub-27 minutes for 10,000 metres and the first to run both sub-27 and sub-13 for 5000, are among the major no-shows at the US champs. Other big names are not doing their favoured events.

Usain Bolt, nursing a sore achilles tendon, heads a list of major names not competing in Jamaica (Asafa Powell, the only one of the big three of men’s sprinting currently going round, is running).

Of course, 2010 is not a major championships year. There is no world or Olympic title for the Americans to chase, and only the second-tier European championships, African championships and Commonwealth Games for the British, African and Caribbean nations. Not surprisingly, some of the missing big names are citing the “no major championships” excuse.

No doubt many of the excuses offered by and for the missing athletes are genuine, but it is a sad thing that fewer athletes these days see a national title as something to be cherished for its intrinsic worth.

Asafa Powell apparently does. Another whose attitude to her national championships is exemplary is US hurdler Lolo Jones.

"To win a national title, to be a U.S. champion, that means a lot," Jones told USA Today for a championships preview.

It means even more this year to Jones, who grew up in Des Moines and will have a lot of friends and family at Drake Stadium. "I would have never imagined the U.S. nationals would be here," Jones said. "It's a dream come true for me."

More than a dream, a title _ school, state, national, world or Olympic _ is also a tangible achievement. Winning one demands an ability to perform against all-comers on a nominated day.

When Galen Rupp was looking for a chance to break the US national record for 10,000 metres _ the record which ultimately went to Solinsky with his historic 26:59.60 _ he virtually went race shopping to get the best conditions. When he won his national title in Des Moines on Thursday night, he had to take the conditions and the competition as he found them. It’s not unknown for record-chasers to keep dangerous opponents out of the field on the international circuit; at a championship, you compete against whoever’s there.

I remember an Australian championships back in the 1990s when Alison Inverarity, one of Australia’s most consistent performers at the time, happened to express some reluctance at being there after she won the high jump with what was, for her, a sub-par performance. Unfortunately for Alison, it was also a slow news day, and Nic Bideau _ then in his journalist days _ and I jumped all over the story, taking her to task.

Inverarity’s remarks might have been manna for a couple of journos looking for a story, but the implications behind them resonated back then and still do now. Championships are what mark an athlete and they become the benchmarks of their career. It is a truism that records are made to be broken, but medals are forever.

It is relatively easy to find the winner of a championship _ be it Olympic, world, European, Commonwealth or national. Any number of sources carry the full lists. Finding record progressions is a much more difficult thing. I went looking for Australian records progressions a little while back _ I never found a full set, I had to construct one.

Rod Mackinney was the first Australian to break two hours 20 minutes for the marathon. He did it at Fukuoka in 1966. That feat, though significant, is not recorded anywhere on Athletics Australia’s website; the fact that Rod ran second and third in two Australian marathon championships is.

The ability to win at a lower championship level is also a far more reliable predictor of performance at a higher level than anything else. It indicates ambition, as well as talent.

I’m by no means suggesting that any of the big names missing various national championships around the world for various reasons are not outstanding athletes. Just that those missing stars, and those of us who follow the sport, would be wise not to ignore those who are taking part _ and win. 

Lisa Corrigan is the fastest ever Australian over one mile. A 2006 Commonwealth Games finalist and a World Championship and Olympic representative, Lisa is one of the most promising talents on the Australian running scene.

Lisa is sponsored by The Runner's Tribe Made possible by    

By Lisa Corrigan

Finished... Finished at last! I have spent the past 4 weeks on teaching prac at Belconnen high school. Every morning arriving at school at 8.15am and most days not leaving until 4pm. 6am morning runs no more! No more turning up to training half asleep and with a headache after having to deal with year 7-10 students all day. My respect for full time workers has risen dramatically. Trying to work full time as well as train full time is certainly an effort. Nice work! My university degree, bachelor of education - secondary health and PE, I started many years ago, but due to going abroad for the European circuit and different events I have taken a lot of time off and done a lot of part time. I am almost done, I will graduate in a year from now. What a relief!!

Now, time to focus on training. Only a few more uni assignments due and then it will be summer holidays. Run, run, run is what I will be doing....and I cant wait! It seems like an eternity since I last raced.

The Asics 5km Noosa bolt at the end of October and is what I'm aiming for next. Trying to get some solid longer sessions in to try and be more competitive over the 5km distance, and I have been really enjoying the change. Bring on Noosa!

The weather here in Canberra is becoming slightly more conducive to training. They days are slowly but surely getting longer and warmer. As I say that, it's currently pouring and freezing outside now! But it's definitely on the improve.

Summer is my favourite season. For obvious reasons being it's the Aussie athletics season, but also I Hate the cold and don't function well in the cold. Why do I live in Canberra you might ask? That's a very good question actually! Joking of course. Canberra Is one of the best places I have ever trained in. There are sooo many running trails, mountains and forests. There is no traffic to contend with so getting around is so easy. It's not a big busy city so there are not as many distractions. The AIS just up the road. So all in all it's a great place for training. It would be made even better with a beach and a warmer winter, but we can't have everything!

This coming season I am hoping to stay healthy and injury free and enjoy it all again. I cant wait to get back on the track and begin the journey to Commonwealth games in Delhi 2010.
 

Runnerstribe: Steve, we heard you had an injury recently, how's it coming along?

Steve Hooker: Well I had an MRI last night, which found a bit of tear in my right adductor, so it's going to be hard work to get back for the qualifying round, but the aim is to get back there and see how it goes.

RT: When did you hurt yourself, how did it happen?

SH: It was in training, on Monday.

RT: So you're still not sure if you'll compete at all?

SH: Yeah, if I'm not 100% right by the time the qualifying round comes around, I won't be competing, it's not worth risking it.

RT: How have you found this year so far after winning the gold last year?

SH:It's been interesting, I had a very good indoor season and Australian season, it's been a bit of a challenge in the outdoor season, I felt like I was in good shape but it hasn't quite been there. Some of that is partly due to jumping in conditions that aren't ideal to pole vaulting, or not quite having felt 100%. But my last training session before I hurt myself I felt like I was running and pole vaulting as well as I ever have.

RT:Aside from you, who are the others in the field to look out for?

SH:I think the man to beat is Renaud Lavillenie, the young French pole vaulter, he's very consistently been jumping over 5.80m. He's the guy to beat at the moment, and the remaining medals will be a battle amoung others.

RT:How long until you're back to 100%?

SH: It's a grade one, so three weeks. It's just bad timing. Long term there's no concern, it's just really unfortunate timing!

RT:Well we hope you recover in time!

 

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'Hills are speedword in disguise '
Frank Shorter

Let's get right to it, there is one big favorite on most people's radars and a few others that should be. Beyond that, it'll take some folding, exploding, and/or injuries to see anyone else to the top step of the podium.

Who am I talking about? Of course it's the new sensation Pamela Jelimo from Kenya. Behind her include an array of possible challenges, including Janeth Jepkosgei of Kenya, Benhassi Hasna of Morocco, Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Brunei, Lucia Klocová of Slovakia, Yuliya Krevsun of the Ukraine, Kenia Sinclair of Jamaica, and of course the highly experienced Maria Mutola of Mozambique.

2008 Berlin Golden League - Jemilo runs 1:54.99

Jelimo, at 18, is perhaps the biggest and newest sensation in world athletics. So far this year her performances include a 1:54.99 in Berlin, a 1:55.41 in Oslo, and a 1:55.76 in Hengalo. She won all those races convincingly. Her 1:54.99 makes her the 6th fastest woman of all time. However, her time might just be one of the fastest 'clean' times ever, given the fact that the women above her in that list pretty much represent the who's who of the 1970's and 1980's doping world. This teenage sensation will take some serious beating.

Janeth Jepkosgei of Kenya is a serious chance of gold if she can recapture the form which won her the Osaka World Championships in a time of 1:56.04, quite an amazing time for a championship final. Jepkosgei is no stranger to winning titles': on top of the World Championship crown she is also the Commonwealth Games champion, 2002 World Junior Champion and she also won the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart in 2007.

So far this year Jepkosgei has not produced her best, managing just a 1:59.13 in Berlin, but there is no doubt that this aggressive front runner is gold medal material if she is anywhere near her best.

Jepkosgei winning the 2007 Osaka World Championships

If experience and past results speak for anything then Maria Mutola always has a chance. For those of you who have have been off with the fairies for the past decade, Mutola has pretty much been the who's who of women 800m running. Her accolades to date include 14 World Championship titles, Olympic Gold in Sydney 2000, and a personal best of 1:55.19.

Mutola winning the 2000 Sydney Olympics

It's hard to put Mutola in front of many of her younger rivals, given the fact that they have beaten her convincingly this year. However if one thing is for sure it is that Mutola will make few mistakes (hopefully she doesn't DNF like at last years worlds), she will be there at the business end of the race and will capitalise on any tactical errors made by her younger rivals.

Then there's Benhassi Hasna of Morocco, the perennial minor medalist (silver at the Athens Olympics, silver at the 2005 and 2007 World Championships, and bronze at the 2006 World Indoor Championships). However, with a 1:56.43 to her name, Benhassi has the sort of class in her to match the likes of Jemilo, Jepkosgei and Mutola.

After Jemilo's 1:54.99 there is a whopping three and a half second gap back to the next fastest woman so far this year, Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Brunei. Jamal, previously Zenebech Tola, has an interesting story, residing in Lausanne since 2002 after she asked for political refuge from Ethiopia. Although not a new name on the world stage (she first broke 2:00.00 in 2005), she ran her personal best of 1:58.66 in Hengalo this year, coming second to Jemilo (by a country mile). If Jemilo has a shocker on final day, then this woman just might be there to steal the show.

In an event that time and time again proves very challenging to predict there are a few other dark horses. With a solid win at this year's Ostrava Golden Spike meet, Lucia Klocová from Slovakia has shown she can win big races, although she is yet to show the true class of women such as Jemilo, Mutola and Jepkosgei. Australia's Tamsyn Lewis also proved that she can win big races in taking victory at this years World Indoor Championships, however, she has been defeated convincingly in numerous European races since. Yuliya Krevsun (Ukraine) and Kenia Sinclair (Jamaica) have also proven that they are class acts, both running very close to the 1:59.00 mark this year. However it is just so hard to see them defeating the likes of Jemilo.

Our picks

1. Pamela Jelimo

2. Janeth Jepkosgei

3. Maria Mutola

4. Maryam Yusuf Jamal

5. Hasna Benhassi

6. Lucia Klocová

© 2008 The Runner's Tribe

Interview: Mark Fountain: 1500m runner

3:33 1500m man, Mark Fountain, is one of Australia’s fastest ever 1500m runners. Currently based in Arkansas, in the USA, Mark has had an impressive career which culminated in him winning a bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games 1500m in Melbourne. Although not as well known, Mark has a better personal best than Craig Mottram over 1500m. We catch up with Mark as he prepares for his assault on a Beijing qualifying standard.

Profile:

- 1500m: 3:33.68. 3rd fastest Australian of all time.

- 1 Mile: 3:53.24. 4th fastest Australian of all time.

- 1 Mile Indoors 3:54.77. Australian record

- 1000m indoor 2.20.3 Australian record

- 3rd place, 2006 Commonwealth Games, Melbourne.

RunnersTribe: Mark, thanks for agreeing to this interview. You got injured last year racing in Monte Carlo and the Osaka World Championships and consequently needed surgery. What happened and are you now over this set-back?

MF: Yes. Last year was a pretty rough year for me injury wise. I had two hernia operations in May after having a lot of trouble with my stomach for a few months. That was injury number one. Injury number two was a bit more sinister. I had been having a fair amount of trouble with my groin for quite some time and then I fell in a 1500m race in Monte Carlo with 200m to go. I landed heavily on my left knee in the fall and, to cut a long story short, I ended up cracking my pubic bone. I finally got a right diagnosis from Tim Barbour and the Australian Medical staff in Osaka. My performance in Osaka was very disappointing, but that’s life. I certainly wouldn’t go into such a competition with an injury ever again. I started back training on January 1st and after a slow start, I feel I am right on track now and ready to race well and pain free again.

RT: How is the training in Arkansas going? Obviously you are hoping to run an A-qualifier by June 23rd, what races to you have lined up over the next few months ?

MF: Training has been going really well. My coach had me training pretty much on my own for about 4 months just doing lots of 8-10mile steady-state runs and 4-6mile fartlek type sessions. I have only been on the track 5 times now since Osaka, but feel I am a lot stronger than I have ever been. My coach and I decided to hold off on working on my speed until later in the season as my main goal is to peak for the Games. I am confident I can get the A-qualifier while still holding off on the speed and saving it until the latter part of the season. I have races lines up at the Adidas classic in LA next weekend and at the Reebok Classic in New York two weeks following.

RT: You are originally from Victoria, Australia. How important was your move to North America? Do you feel you could have achieved the same things if you had remained based in Australia?

MF: The move to Arkansas was the best move I have ever made, both personally (I married Erica Sigmont who was at university over here) and for my running…..ironically enough I guess I have Said Aouita (former Moroccan world record holder and controversial former head coach of Australia’s distance program) and Athletics Australia to thank for that. My coach over here is truly remarkable and I owe all my current success to him. I have been very fortunate to have great coaches from an early age. Tom Kelly took care of me from the age of 12 till I was 18 and then Bruce Scriven and now John McDonnell. Whilst they are all great coaches, John really knows how to get the best out of me….I think he often knows how I feel more so than I do. That enables him to either push me or take it easy on me. I also have great training partners Alistair Cragg from Ireland, Josephat Boit from Kenya, Dan Lincoln and Seth Summerside from USA also there is a handful of 3.40 1500m runners at the University. The group make’s runs easy and training sessions competitive.

RT: A lot has been discussed over the years about the inefficiencies of Athletics Australia and the need for changes, particularly with their selection process. Are there any areas in particular that you think need improving in order to make the system more beneficial for the athletes?

MF: I think being in the southern hemisphere we are at a huge disadvantage right off the bat. Our trials are about 4-5months earlier than most countries in the world and the majority of our athletes are forced to peak too soon in order to qualify for the big meet, resulting in a lot of our athletes being burnt out by the time the Championships roll around. If you look at the Sydney Olympics which was probably our most successful the trials were only one month before the Games. I think the best solution would be to push our season back two months and have the trials in May or June and not February. We have the weather in Australia to make it possible, and this would have our athletes at their peak at the most important time.

RT: Altitude tents seem to be a hot topic at the moment in colleges throughout North America. You yourself use one. How have you found it? Have you noticed much benefit and doesn’t it make it a little hard to get a good night’s sleep?

MF: I actually purchased a CAT hypoxic tent in April of this year and have been sleeping around 11000 feet. Although I have only been sleeping in it for about 6 weeks, I do think they work. I feel I can recover in a shorter amount of time between repeats. My wife and I also have asthma, and we have both had improvements with that. Some people say that it is harder to get a good nights sleep, but we have not had that problem at all…if anything, we have had a deeper nights rest. I think people adapt to altitude conditions differently, but I can already feel like the tent has been a benefit to me.

RT: Can you talk me through a typical week of training during your winter and summer training phases?

MF:

Winter
Monday: am 5miles pm 10miles steady in 49-50min
Tuesday: am 5miles pm 10miles and weights
Wednesday: am 5miles pm 12miles
Thursday: am 5miles pm fartlek 4-6miles of repeats from 30-90sec
Friday am 5miles pm 10miles and weights
Saturday am 14miles
Sunday pm 5-8miles very easy and weights
Total 90-95miles

Summer
Monday am 5miles pm track longer repeats or a ladder ie 1600-1200-800-600-500-400-300-200
Tuesday am 5miles pm 8miles and weights
Wednesday am 5miles pm 10miles
Thursday am 5miles pm track quicker repeats ie 8x400s (90sec/rec) in 56.5
Friday pm 10miles and weights
Saturday am 12miles
Sunday 5-8miles and weights
In track season I generally do 6-8x100m strides after most runs
Total 80-85miles

RT:Do you lift weights?

MF: Yes I do. It is more of a circuit actually. It consists of:

4way hip 3 x 10 each leg
Squats 3x10 each leg
Lunge 3x10 each leg
Leg ext 3x10 each leg
Hamstring curl 3x10 each leg
Back 2x50
Abs x 500
Arm running x 100 (sometimes dumbbell exercises as well)
I do the 100 sit ups as a recovery between the main leg exercises. All leg exercises are done as singles (I do this to try and maintain an equal balance between both legs). The circuit is more designed for general maintenance and injury prevention rather than weight gain.

RT:Do you have any track sessions which stand out as being your favorite or most worthwhile?

MF:In season my favorite session is an 800m down. Its an 800-600-400-300-200 and may have a 500 as well if coach is being nasty. We start in around 1.50-51 and work down. Also the 8x400s are a good indicator to me, along with an 8-10mile steady state.

RT:How about pure speed development, what sort of speed training do you incorporate into you training?

MF:I am pretty fortunate to have pretty good natural speed so I try not to work on that area all that much. I feel I am better off training other areas such as lactic tolerance or endurance. I have a theory that I could train all year working on my speed and improve my 200m time by about .50sec but if I trained more toward a 10km I could improve by almost 1minute….there is a lot more to gain from longer work than pure speed. I won’t ever do anything shorter than 200m repeats and I only get to do 200s a few days before a race for turnover.

RT:You are sponsored by Adidas and thus are a full time athlete. Do you think you could reach similar heights if you had to balance training with a regular job?

MF:I am very fortunate to have Adidas as my sponsor. I find that I really do better when I can rest during the day between training sessions. For me ,working throughout the day would be detrimental to my running. However, I think it differs from athlete to athlete. Some athletes like to have full days to take their mind of training, but having Adidas support me, I have the opportunity to give everything towards training, and resting between…while also having time to hang out at the local coffee shop!

RT: Mark, thanks for the interview, all the best for your Olympic qualifying campaign. We hope to see you line up in Beijing.

MF:Thanks very much and best of luck with the website….I am already a fan of the video section!!!

© 2008 The Runner's Tribe, all rights reserved.

'The greatest stimulator of my running career was fear'
Herb Elliott