More winners from USA Cycling Road Nationals On Tuesday, the final road racing champions were determined in the men's 35-39, 40-44 and 45-49 age brackets. The time trial and criterium races were to follow through Saturday. Here's a report from USA Cycling... . . . keep reading...>> Masters in Track Town, USA KEN STONE'S BLOG (June 30, 2009) -- Duane Gosa upset indoor world champ Robert Thomas on Sunday to win the men's Masters exhibition 400-meter dash at the USA open championships in Eugene, Ore. Duane, 44, went 49.92 in windy conditions on a sunny day in the low 70s. Thomas has the best seed time of 49.76, but was assigned difficult lane 1 in a random draw. Minutes earlier, Aeron Arlin Genet, who turned 42 Sunday, wasn't pushed and cruised to a slow-for-her 4:40.76 in the 1,500-meter Masters women's event, and later tweeted: "Having a gr8 birthday! Won a race @ Hayward Field - 1st master's race took the GOLD! Incredible crowd totally luv the Eugene crowd!" Her race included surprise entrant -- Joan Benoit Samuleson, 52, who took fourth in 5:02.34 -- about 10 seconds off Kathy Martin's W50 American record of 4:52.55. . . . keep reading...>> On the road again SEAN CALLAHAN'S BLOG (June 29, 2009) -- Some of the best Masters racers are gathered in Louisville, Ky., right now for the USA Cycling Masters National Championships. Earlier today (Monday, June 29) about 300 riders competed for eight different age-group national titles in the road race. (On Tuesday three more national titles will be decided in the men's 35-39, 40-44 and 45-49 age groups). Here's a summary of the race from USA Cycling... . . . keep reading...>> Track Town USA, Day 3 LISA MENNINGER'S BLOG (June 26, 2009) -- Another beautiful day at Hayward Field. Perfect conditions for a slightly shorter day of events. One of the most exciting was the Women's 1500-meter final. With Shannon Rowbury and Anna Williard in the field, as well as the overall fastest qualifier in the prelim, Kristin Wurth-Thomas, it promised to be a great race. And it was. The first lap the pack remained together. About 700 meters into the race Wurth-Thomas took off hard. Her pace was aggressive and it was a bold move. The pack didn't chase and Wurth-Thomas opened up a large gap. Sensing the gap would continue to get wider, Shannon Rowbury took off with about 350 meters to go with Anna Willard trying to move ahead with her. Rowbury passed Wurth-Thomas in the last straightaway with a huge kick but Wurth-Thomas held off Willard and they finished in 4:05:07, 4:06:00 and 4:07:70 respectively. . . . keep reading...>> Another report from Track Town, USA LISA MENNINGER'S BLOG (June 27, 2009) -- It's so easy to see why Eugene is a mecca for runners. I begin each day with a drive to Alton Park and a run on Pre's Trail - a wood-chipped covered and scenic path that is inhabited by a plethora of runners. And with the USATF Championships in town, often those runners are fast and familiar. I've seen Lagat, Tegenkamp, Solinsky, and many others each day on my morning run. What an amazing place to run each day. The weather is incredible. Cool nights, warm days, low humidity. I left Chicago in 90 degrees and 100% humidity on Wednesday and landed in 66, sunny and no humidity in Portland. Each day we've been here has featured beautiful blue skies and perfect temps. And we spent another beautiful day outside in the stands at Hayward Field. We saw semis of the men's and women's 400-meter run and 800-meter run as well as the semis and finals of the 100-meter dash and the finals of the 5000-meter run. . . . keep reading...>> Dateline: Track Town, USA LISA MENNINGER'S BLOG (June 26, 2009) -- It's always better in person. It's always more vivid, more exciting, more memorable. I have seen Hayward Field here in Eugene, Ore., more times than I can count on TV, in movies and in my mind's eye in books. But to be sitting in the homestretch stands, watching the athletes at this close proximity, in the most epic and storied home of running in our country has been absolutely thrilling. Thursday was prelims and a few finals for the USA Track and Field National Championships, and I was treated to an amazing day. All results can be found at USATF.org. Finals were held in some of the field events as well as the men's and women's 10K. The men's 10k featured a field of greats, including American record holder Meb Keflezighi and NCAA 5k and 10k winner, Univeristy of Oregon's Gaylen Rupp. Olympic marathoner Dathan Ritzenheim and Abdi Abdirahman rounded out the field. Abdirahman took it out hard. The race began to break up about a mile and a half in, with the lead switching several times. But consistently sitting in the front pack, conspicuously absent from the lead-taking were both Rupp and Ritzenheim. With about 2,000 meters to go, Ritzenheim stepped up and took over, picking up the pace and dropping most of the pack except for Rupp and Tim Nelson. . . . keep reading...>> Expecting the unexpected SEAN CALLAHAN'S BLOG (June 25, 2009) -- Here are two stories that took me by suprise, even though by now I should know better. First, did you know there's a Stickball Hall of Fame? Well, there is. It's in New York, of course. Marty Ross told me about the hall. Most likely because he's going to be inducted on July 10 in ceremonies that will be held at the Museum of the City of New York. Ross, who is 68 and originally from New York, now lives in Wellington, Fla., where he started a stickball league for men in their 60s, 70s and 80s. The league is in its seventh season. One of our correspondents, Ray Glier, wrote a story about Ross' league in our magazine. . . . keep reading...>> A sprinter returns DON MCGRATH'S BLOG (June 24, 2009) -- Gary Leigh is a 54-year-old sprinter from Kennett Square, Pa., who had several very successful years in high school and college track and field. He was honored as MVP four years in a row, and looks back fondly on his 6th place finish in the New York State high school track championships, and his 6th place finish in the junior college national championships. After college, Gary played and enjoyed volleyball and tennis for many years. About 12 years ago Gary turned back to running track following a marital break-up. Rekindling his passion for racing helped Gary through this tough period, and turned this negative situation into something positive that he has carried forward into the wonderful life he enjoys today. . . . keep reading...>> Getting testy KEN STONE'S BLOG (June 23, 2009) -- World Masters Athletics is getting too big for its britches. It was formed (as WAVA) in the late 1970s to give geezers a chance to compete in track and field. But over the years, it's become an elitist IAAF-wannabe. That includes pretending to crack down on doping by doing a handful of tests at world meets (several dozen tests among 5,000 athletes). But at the Lahti World Masters Championships General Assembly on August 5, 2009, delegates from 140-plus nations will vote on a 40-page anti-drug policy that sets up a drug czar within WMA and forces "Members" (national groups like USATF) to do drug-testing at their championships. . . . keep reading...>> You race what you eat SANDY SCOTT'S BLOG (June 22, 2009) -- Since writing my three part article on time trial racing, I competed in the U.S. Cycling Federation Florida state time trial championships. Although I won my division by a minute and 50 seconds and set a new personal record for 20K, I failed to practice what I preached and I want to discuss that. In my article, I dealt with the pre-race meal indicating that it should be consumed at least three hours prior to the event. I further mentioned that my meal has evolved to being simply a Clif Bar, banana, and a glass of water. Although I used to consume a glass of orange juice, I found that it stayed on my stomach too long. . . . keep reading...>> More