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Posts Tagged with "Sonia OSullivan"

World Cross Country Eve: By Sonia O'Sullivan

posted by rtross on March 27, 2010, 8:25pm

It’s been a long time coming but finally we are only one sleep away from the World Cross

Country 2010.

All the months of planning and preparation will be put to the test tomorrow around Myslecinek park, Bydgoszcz . The final preparations of the Australian team couldn’t have gone smoother, it has been a positive experience all around since we left Australia 10 days ago. Even the unexpected high temperatures during the week reverted to the conditions we expected to greet us in Poland, 4C wind, rain and plenty of mud! The gloves and hats are out and rain coats were all the rage today .

This afternoon was the final course inspection and thankfully we waited until the afternoon, as the transformation from the morning was like night and day. Wellington boots were the footwear of choice for non runners and they will be making another appearance tomorrow as the course has gone from good going all around to good going most of the way once you get through the opening 400m of close to un-runnable terrain. Most athletes skirted around this section today as it was enough information just to observe as the Wellie boot brigade slid through the ankle deep mud.

The sand banks around the jumps have washed away and it will be a giant step for many of the diminutive athletes to get over, without having to get down on all fours to clamber over……definitely a good viewing spot for the spectators and keen photographers.

The challenge has definitely been set on the course for all the athletes and it will be very interesting to see which athletes come out on top this year.

The Australian team didn’t seem too phased by the conditions and I feel that they are ready to take on the challenge, some are even embracing this very tough cross country course as just what they wanted and looking forward to getting stuck in tomorrow and taking on the World.

Tags: Sonia OSullivan, World XC, Australian Running
Read more | Comments (0) | Updated on March 27, 2010, 8:38pm

Australian World Cross Country team arrive in Poland

posted by rtross on March 26, 2010, 4:48am

By Sonia O'Sullivan

The Australian World cross country team arrived in Poland just as it was getting dark last evening. I went for a walk with Team Coach Tim O’Shaughnessy to find our bearings, however everything looked completely different in the morning, apart from the Miejski stadium landmark next to our appropriately named “Maraton” hotel.

We are within 2km of the course, so we took the opportunity to get a preview of the surface conditions before the official viewing on Saturday afternoon.

There are forests galore along the route to the Forest park, it is tempting to go exploring but needless to say all the athletes are cautiously sticking to the basic route and conserving all energy for Sunday.

Even though the course was not fully set up yet we were able to get a good idea of what it will look like on Sunday morning. Amazingly the course has a very similar outline to the course used in Brimbank park for the Australian selection trial. The only differences are the rough underfoot conditions and a couple of jumps that will need to be negotiated on each lap . The basic lap is 2Km, so there is plenty of opportunity for spectators to see the progress of the athletes on each lap. Even though the course is very flat with a couple of minor elevations I would consider this World cross country course to be very challenging for the athletes.

Already the spike length discussions are taking place but we will not make a final decision until Sunday morning when we know the conditions that the athletes will be faced with.

Bydgoszcz is a very pleasant town and it was even more pleasant today as we visited the town by tram with bright Sunshine and unseasonal temperatures above 20C. It is likely to be sunny and dry again tomorrow which will dry out the course a lot, but there is every possibility that the conditions we experienced on the course today will all change come Sunday if the forecasted rain comes our way on Saturday and Sunday.

We are sharing the Hotel with the Kenyan team so we are in good company, only problem being the speed that the bananas vanish when they are brought to the table. I may have to get up early tomorrow to ensure we have a supply for the weekend. Other than that the food is good, the team is happy and relaxed and the reality of the World Championship is fast approaching as we see the posters around town and more teams are starting to arrive.

Tags: Sonia OSullivan, World XC, Australian Running
Read more | Comments (0) | Updated on March 26, 2010, 4:50am

Sonia O'Sullivan RT Journal

posted by rtross on October 24, 2009, 11:14pm

What do you do when you can’t run as fast or as far as you would like to , well you still try to run as fast and as far as you can, but you have to realise that it won’t be as fast or as far as you used to run.

This is a dilemma that I have found myself in the past few years and only now nearly 4 years down the track have I finally figured out that no matter how hard I try or how many times my mind tries to tell me otherwise, unless I run in some obscure race over some obscure distance it is unlikely that I will run another PB.

I can’t really pick out my last true race, it seems so long ago. I supppose the London Marathon 2005 was my last PB (2:29.01) and even then I thought I should’ve gone quicker…surely there was time left to do this in the future. So I trained like I was going to run in the Olympics or World Championships, I ran 100mile weeks and 3 sessions a week trying to keep up with Great athletes Benita Johnson and Craig Mottram. I went to altitude for my holidays, while the kids were still at school, Saint Moritz, Falls Creek, Ballarat, Flagstaff…….surely some of these magical places would rub off on me and I would get out there for one last Hurrah. The Beijing Olympics loomed in the distance and what a dream it would have been to run into an Olympic stadium at the end of an Olympic marathon but it wasn’t to be. Athens 2004 would remain as my final run for Ireland on the track and what an emotional race that was for me all part of my Olympic roller coaster carreer.

After years of putting in the miles and the hard efforts the injuries started to take a toll on my body, it was like putting a cake in the oven everytime I went to race. Even though all the ingredients were there they can’t have been mixed right or maybe the key ingredient “REST” never really got a look in and the cake always came out a bit flat and not the result I was looking for. It has been said and I absolutely agree the reward isn’t always what you get but what you put in, this is so true I enjoyed every long run every session, pushing my body to the limit but eventually it is difficult to explain to your friends and family and you realise it is time to take a step backwards and take a look at the big picture, there were too many pieces of the jigsaw missing, time to move on to the next stage of my life.

I still like to go for a run most days but realise that I must think of it as fitness, enjoyment, a great start to everyday. I tell myself this everytime I get myself back up running to an hour, but then the sessions start creeping in, a few hill reps here and there and then the dreaming begins……

Earlier this year I was in Dublin for the Great Ireland Run, I wasn’t running at the time apart from a jog around in the kids race and even that was a few day spre-mature…..but I couldn’t resist it. I had just swam a mile in one of the few 50m swimming pools in Ireland and mentioned this in passing. Next thing you know I was signed up for the Great North swim, a mile race in lake Windermere, a beautiful spot in the Lake District. Later I found out that swim wouldn’t take place until September, and by that time I was back up running a lot more than I was swimming so a crash course in swimming began in September, so that I could at least go the distance. Earlier in the year I had run just under 40minutes for 10km so figured under 40minutes for the mile would be just fine. I was pretty nervous beforehand, not really about the swim but about this little time barrier that I had announced at the start of the race. I got around without being kicked or splashed too much and climbed out of the lake and ran across the line in a speedy (for me) 32minutes…..within minutes of finishing I was talking about crashing through the 30minute barrier…..PB’s were back on my mind again.

I am still running more than I am swimming but using my new found swimming challenge as something to give me a break from running everyday and feel like I am doing something good for myself. I am planning to run in the Great Australia run on November 29th in Melbourne, but the day before that I will run with my kids in the family fun run over 2km, we have been training once a week for this with some kids after school .

On Tuesdays and Thursday’s I have been at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC) in the fantastic open air 50m pool. I am in the water before the sun is up and it is the best part of the day for me to see the sun rising and spot some hot-air balloons in the distance while ploughing through the water.

The Great Australia Run is the big challenge though, last year I was out injured so walked around in just under 2 hours, this year I would like to get under an hour for the 15km, but a mini target within that goal is under 40 minutes for 10Km then push on to the finis. The hardest part will be getting to the start line and not leaving everything in the parks on the daily run. It won’t be a PB but it will be mission accomplished if I cross that finish line under an hour .

Tags: Sonia OSullivan, journal
Read more | Comments (5) | Updated on October 29, 2009, 12:52am

The Flame

posted by rtross on October 7, 2009, 2:30am

Brought to you by Edward Ovadia who is in Berlin with official IAAF accreditation covering the championships for Runnerstribe.com

Watch out - the Australian athletics team has a new name and a new uniform. Stepping onto the track in Berlin for the first time ever will be 'The Flame', the new name for the collective Australian team. Introduced today, the idea of the team name is to help unite the athletics population, and the sport loving Australian population, behind a team which now has an identity.

The inspiration for the name 'The Flame' was the "burning ambition" of the Aussie athletes, said Athletics Australia CEO Danny Corcoran. "We now belive the time is right for our sport to have an identity. Something the public can get behind." In the same way that everyone knows who the Socceroos or the Wallabies are, hopefully the same will happen for our track and field team. "We wanted a name that was Australian. That young Australian kids will say: 'I want to be a member of this team'."

dani samuels In choosing they aimed for something that embodies the passion athletics brings out in people, the fire, the desire. "It's very exciting," said newly minted team captain Steve Hooker. "But what it means is up to us." Hopefully this team will be the ones to start a legacy.

The new uniforms are similar to the old ones in terms of the colour scheme. They went for something "uniquely Australian", which would help the team "stand out". Whether they achieved that is up to you. They're green and white, with the yellow and orange earthy trims which have featured before. And there's a lot of technology in the uniforms from a design point of view, hopefully to help the Aussies compete better.

It's clear that Athletics Australia is trying to create a sense of team spirit and an otherwise individual sport - which is certainly a good thing. It's time that more of the public got behind the sport, and creating a concrete team may be one way to aid that. "You're part of the Flame, now."

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Tags: The Flame
Read more | Comments (0) | Updated on October 7, 2009, 2:32am

Day 2 (16th) Morning Wrap

posted by rtross on October 7, 2009, 1:53am

Day Two kicked off with the heats of the womens 800m. Madeleine Pape, the newly minted World University Games Champion, and sole Aussie representative, lined up against World Champion Janeth Jepkosgei. And for even more flavour, the new world leader and huge phenomenon, at only 18 years old, South Africa's Caster Semenya (who has a 1:56.72 solo run in windy conditions to her name). She's a powerful looking runner, who seems to have strength way past her age.

pape The first lap went around without incident, with Pape sitting in third. With 200m to go, Semenya moved effortlessly up the inside, and Pape started dropping. But with 150m to go, Semenya, who was forcing through the inside, tripped up with Jepkopsgei, who fell to the track. Semenya managed to stay on her feet, and sprinted through to win the heat, while Jepkosgei came in last, and Pape running a gutsy race to come in sixth. Semenya's tactics clearly need work, but there's no doubt that she is the one to beat. Bad news is her ankle is in trouble after the fall. But if her ankle holds up, I would find all the money you can, and place it on her. She looked to clearly relaxed and not even bothered by the pace changes, we're still waiting for her to look like she's doing anything but jogging.

Heat five was the other heat of interest, with Olympic Champion Pamela Jelimo, who had bee struggling to find the same kind of form again this year; and American Maggie Vessey, who had previously held the world leading time with a recent 1:57.84. Vessey lead while Jelimo sat at the back. 400m was passed in a ridiculous 64 seconds. But when Vessey made a break down the back straight, Jelimo moved up to her shoulder, and rounded the straight in front. Jelimo powered away from Vessey to take the win in a 59 second lap, with Vessey looking ok in second. But Jelimo seems to be back!

Pape: "I thought I'd be able to finish off better even though there was a fall. I felt like I didn't make the most of the opportunity. I really did [pause when there was the fall], I don't know why no one else did, I just seemed to get distracted by it I think, and everyone else just took the opening and went. So I was behind a bit and I think I just lost my composure when that happened."

Semenya: "I started fast because I wanted to be in the first lane. [Then came the fall.] I don't know what happened, I didn't see anything because I was looking forward. I just saw the Kenyan fall down and I tried to jump over. But I twisted my ankle in the process. I went through the first round and it went well, but at the moment, I can't feel my ankle. I need to see the physio to check my leg. If it's not good, I'll quit."

Vessey: "I was out front this time. Having a plan is difficult because you don't really know what the others are going to do until the race starts out. During the race I tried to pay attention to the monitors to see where I was."

pamela jelimo Jelimo: "I tried to run but it was as if there was something there [on her ankle]. I have some pressure being the only Kenyan left, but I know it will be fine. The field is tough, it's going to be tactical."

Youcef Abdi, sixth in last year's Olympics, lined up in the mens steeple. Abdi hadn't had the best year this year due to injury, but was on the way back up. He started off the race in the middle of the pack, very well placed. But as the race went on, a gap started to open up between Abdi, and the lead pack. As the pace quickened, Abdi dropped off the back. The Kenyans looked particularly easy in qualifying for the final, it will be interesting to see which one of them actually makes it across the line first.

Abdi: "It was a tough day at the office, but I'll come back bigger and stronger next year."

In the womens 100m heats, all the favourites got through without event, with Carmelita Jeter the fastest qualifier in 11.22 seconds. Meanwhile, in the womens shot put, Valerie Vili needed only one throw to qualify for the final in the number one spot. And in the womens javelin, Australian Kim Mickle just missed qualification for the final, finishing in 15th spot, three shy of the position required.

Come back tonight for the Usain Bolt show! And be sure to look out for our separate report on the womens 20km walk.