Fernando Cabada

Fernando Cabada has exploded onto the scene this Spring. He is running great on the track and the roads. In his MensRacing.com interview, he states how it has been a long and hard road to get where he is at now. The journey has made him very thankful of all his success, and it gives him the strength late in the race. Great read.

Elite Journals

The USA Distance Project has begun to have their athletes do online journals. The goal is make running into a major American sport. The plan is to use a group of top-level young athletes with the star power to give the sport more mass appeal.

It allows us to the follow the progress of the USA Distance Project's stars and stars-to-be by reading journals kept by the athletes. It is an excellent idea, and will give everyone a more detailed look at what the life of an elite distance runner is.

USA Distance Project Athlete Journals

Losing a step

I have been hearing from several people they are shocked I was fooled by the surprise. And the fact that Lesley was able to pull one over on me. In response to that, I will borrow a line from the great Eric Dickerson: "I might have lost a step, but it is a step that most people never had."

Thank You

I just wanted to say thank you for everyone who attending, helped planned, sent their well-wishes, and anything else for my surprise party on Saturday. It truly meant a lot to me, more than I can put into words. I felt very honored and privileged to be surrounding by my family and friends. It is a day I will never forget. Since I already said it will be impossible for me to express my gratitude in words. I will end this by using this quote. There are two versions of it, they are listed below.

"No man is poor who has friends."
"No man is a failure who friends."

To illustrate how all of you made me feel, I will quote Harry Bailey in reference to his brother George in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life": "I felt like the richest man in town."

Thank you all very much to everybody.

State College Boys 4x8

An exerpt from the CDT about the State College's 4x8:

The State College relay team had great expectations, with three runners turning in sub-two-minute 800s this season, and they wanted to repeat or at least beat a third-place finish by last year's 3,200 relay team.

Unfortunately, this field was loaded. The Little Lions were clocked in 7 minutes, 52.70 seconds and it was only sixth-best in the state -- and in the nation this season, according to Milesplit.com heading into the weekend.

"The time we ran, almost any other year that could probably win it," said senior Matt Groves, who ran the second leg. "One through eight it was loaded this year."

State College had the only time among the top seven that did not come from a Philadelphia-area team. Simon Gratz won in 7:43.43, followed by North Penn, Wissahickon, West Chester Henderson and Upper Dublin.

Peter Wandell led early after the start, but runners from North Penn and Gratz were up by his handoff to Groves.

"I tried to intimidate them," Wandell said. "It's my race. I took out the lead and tried to hold it."

Groves, Paul Kernfeld and Josh Gainer then did their best to stick with the torrid pace.

"I was gaining a little on the first lap, but at that last 200 I was dying a little," Gainer said. "I just had to push really hard and try to catch people. But they had a huge kick."

Truth be told, I agree with their goal of exceeding last year's third place finish and time of 7:46. I thought they had the athletes to run in the 7:38-7:40 range, and win the title. Given their circumstances, they responded extremely well and ran fabulous races. Congratulations to them again. I am extremely proud of them, and to say that I coached them at one time.

Watch them and other local athletes on PCN at the PIAA Championships.

TV Schedule
5/28 - 2:00 p.m.
5/29 - 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Matt Lincoln Qualifies to NCAAs

Matt Lincoln ran 3:52.78 in the 1500 to finish in third place at the NCAA East Regional Championship and qualify to the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, CA, June 7-10. Congratulations Matt, and good luck at NCAAs

Fast 3200s to start the morning

It is a great day to run in Shippensburg. The 3200s were fast this morning. No one broke 9, but they were close.

In boys AA, Jake Walker(Ellwood City) ran 9:04.31, and narrowly missed Chris Dugan's (Strath Haven) record of 9:04.09. He won by nineteen seconds. In girls AAA, the race was a battle, Lisa Vienneau (Strath Haven) was able to hold off Lara Crofford (Big Spring) to win the title. Vienneau ran 10:36.41 to Crofford's 10:39.57.

In girls AA, Kara Millhouse (Boiling Spring) ran 10:53.02 to claim the title over Kathleen Davies (Saint Basil Academy) 10:56.89. In Boys AAA, Paul Springer (Unionville) improves on his 9:03 from districts and runs 9:01.72. Jason Weller (Boyertown) ran 9:09.14, Jon Grey (Kennard Dale) 9:11.18, Kyle Dawson Coatesville (9:12.91) to all get under 9:15. All four of them established new prs.

It looks to be a very fast day. Good luck to the remaining competitors.

State College Boys 4x8 Finish in 6th Place

State College Boys 4x8 ran 7:49.10 to finish 6th at the PA State meet. They just missed the NFHS Honor Roll time of 7:49.0. It was a great run for them. Their splits as reported by Brian Rutter are as follows:

Peter Wandell-1:56
Matt Groves-1:55
Paul Kernfeld-1:59.9
Josh Gainer-1:57

Congratulations on a fine performance and improving on your 7th place finish at Indoor States.

State College Boys 4x8

State College Boys 4x8 ran 7:54.87 in the trial round to finish 4th and qualify back to finals tomorrow. The splits from Brian Rutter are as follows:

Peter Wandell-1:57
Matt Groves-1:55
Paul Kernfeld-2:02
Josh Gainer-1:59

Good Luck to them and the rest of the local athletes as they compete tomorrow for a chance at a medal and everlasting glory.

Caroline Bierbaum turns pro

Caroline Bierbaum, one of the greatest Ivy League distance runners of all time, has decided to turn pro. Read more about her decision in her interview with Runner's World.


Here is another article on Caroline Bierbaum about the importance of displacing the pressure.

Run Like A Champion Message Board

Run Like A Champion has just added a message board to the site. The goal of the board is to allow athletes to communicate with each other about various sports related topics. Also, there is an area where they can discuss anything under the sun. I hope that you enjoy the new feature. And no, I didn't forget about the interviews. They will be the prime focus when the Deep Six Racing team has their two weeks of active rest.

Run Like A Champion Message Board

Shame and Scandal

One of the highlights of the retirement party for Coach Groves was when Mike Sands sang this Calypso song for Coach.

"Shame and Scandal"

In Minden town there lived a family With much confusion as you will see
Was a mama and a papa and a boy who had grown,
Who wanted to marry and have a wife of his own.
He found a young girl who suited him nice.
He went to his papa to ask his advice
His papa said son: "I have to say no:
The girl is your sister, but your mama don't know.

Woe, woe is me, shame and scandal in the family.
Woe, woe is me, shame and scandal in the family.

The weeks went by and summer came down,
So the best cook in Minden town he found.
He went to his father to name a day:
His papa shook his head and to him, he did say:
"You can't marry this girl. I hate to say no.
Cause she, too, is your sister but your mama don't know."

Woe, woe is me, shame and scandal in the family.
Woe, woe is me, shame and scandal in the family.

He went to his mama and covered his head.
He told his mama what his papa had said.
His mama, she laughed and said: "Go, man, go.
Your daddy ain't your daddy, but your daddy don't know."

Woe, woe is me, shame and scandal in the family.
Woe, woe is me, shame and scandal in the family.

Run Like Hell

Anthony "Fam" Famiglietti is making a documentary/training. You can view the trailer and see Fam in action. He also had an excellent interview with Runner's World before the Healthy Kidney 10k, where he finished third.

District 6 AAA Videos

I have the following videos from the District 6 AAA meet. I am going to try to put them on the site tonight.

Boys Mile
Girls 400
Girls 800
Boys 800
Girls 3200
Boys 3200
Boys 4x400

Great Interviews

Excellent reads on some of the top athletes.

Bob Kennedy
Adam Goucher
Craig Mottram
Anthony Famiglietti
Fernando Cabada
Sara Hall
McKayla Plank
Molly Huddle
Rod Koborsi
Deena Kastor

Sara Hall Interview

An excellent interview on Sara Hall. She has a very down to earth approach to running and her life. She has a very good outlook on things in general.

Bob Sevene to Retire

Bob Sevene will retire at the end of this season. He is currently coaching at the Big Sur Distance Project.

Jim Ryun World Record

Great footage of Jim Ryun setting the World Record in the mile. He was an amazing athlete, and ahead of his time. The video clearly illustrates how he was in a class by himself.

First Sub-4 Minute Mile on Wisconsin Soil

Matt Tegenkamp and Chris Solinsky both broke the four minute mile barrier this past weekend at the Wisconsin Twilight. Tegenkamp kicked by UW junior Chris Solinsky over the last 200 meters to cross in 3 minutes, 56.38 seconds. Solinsky also broke the four-minute barrier, finishing second in 3:57.80.

Wisconsin Athletics Press Release
Video of the Race

Brian Sell Blog

Here are a few blog entries from Brian Sell leading up to the Boston Marathon.

Entry 1
Entry 2
Entry 3
Entry 4

A few great interviews from Runners World

Robert Gary
Treniere Clement
Matt Downin and Marla Runyan

An April to remember for U.S. Distance Running

April 2006 was a very successful month for U.S distance runners. They enjoyed success in XC, on the roads, and on the track. Read Running USA's detailed look at the month of April.

Kim McDonald 10k

Alan Webb, Dathan Ritzenhein, and Anthony Famiglietti all ran impressive races in the Kim McDonald 10k at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational. All three of them established new prs, and continued to illustrate America's bright future in distance running. Here is the link to the article by LetsRun.com.

Video of the Race

Brandon Eck Runs 1:55.33

Last night at Princeton, Brandon Eck established a new 800m pr by running 1:55.33. Video of the race is available on www.runnova.com. Brandon will attempt to lower his pr once again on the 15th of May, then he will be home for the summer. Good job Brandon, keep it up!

Friday Night Lights

This Friday Deep Six Racing athletes will be participating in a time trial at some varying distances (800, 3200, and 5000). It should be an exciting affair. The weather appears to be cooperating with us for Friday's festivities. I will keep you posted on any new developments for the races and what the time schedule will be.

Big run from Jay Harding

Jay Harding (I know we need to harass Cornell to get his bio in there), just informed me that he split 1:51.6 on his 800 leg in the DMR (he went through the quarter in 53.xx). His goal is to get under the 1:51 barrier this year. I think it is an excellent goal and definitely within his grasp. It will be exciting to watch him chase his goal over the next few weeks.

His upcoming schedule is as follows, this week is the HEPs, or Ivy League Championship, also at Penn, followed by the IC4As the next weekend.

Jay is really starting to come into his own on the track. I will keep you posted on his progress.

Also, Jay kicked the winning field goal in the Cornell Football's annual Red-White game. Congratulations Jay!

Weekend Updates

Well Penn, Drake, and The Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational are over, and what lay in their aftermath is plenty of fast times. We will start with Penn, on Thursday night, Artie Gilkes ran 30:14.33 in the Olympic Development 10k. It was his first race on the track in quite sometime, and was near his 10k pr of 30:11. Excellent job Little Duke!

Artie Gilkes running strong Photo Courtesy of MensRacing.com

On Saturday at Penn, young Matt Centrowitz, MD, continues to impress as he won the High School Boy's 3000m, in the third fastest time ever, 8:20.09. In the process he beat out Craig Forys (8:21.82), and Pennsylvania's Jake Walker (8:21.94).

On Saturday, PA high schools kept up their impressive performances in the relays. As Simon Gratz (7:45.66) and North Penn (7:46.38) went 2-3 in the High School Boys 4x800 Championship of America, and set the stage for an amazing duel at the PIAA meet in a month. They were the top two American teams.

Simon Gratz would follow that up with a 3:14.55 in the High School Boys 4x400 Championship of America to finish in fourth and as the top American team.

In the exciting, USA vs. the World Distance Medley race, Kenya (9:15.56) edged out the United States (9:15.63), as both teams beat the previous World and American Record held by Arkansas at 9:20.10.

Then on Sunday we were given another treat, as Rebecca Dongahue continues her great season and established a new pr in the 5k, by running 16:02.33 at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational. She is beating down the door to the 16 minute barrier. The big question is who will break it first, her or Rick Koubek. Sounds like a match race might be necessary. The racing promoters are going wild. Also, to note the 15th place finisher, Megan O'Reilly who ran 16:10.05, is a high school senior from the state of Washington.

Rebecca leading the pack Photo Courtesy of Track and Field Photo Magaizne

Later in the night, during the Kim McDonald 10000m run, two former high school phenoms, now world class runners squared off, and gave the crowd an exciting show. Alan Webb and Dathan Ritzenhein battled each other for 25 laps, and both established new prs. Webb won in 27:34.72, while Ritz was second in 27:35.65. And a fast charging Anthony Famiglietti finished third in 27:37.74.

So it was a great weekend of track and field. And we have another great weekend coming up. More details to come in my next entry.

Here are also the links to two MensRacing.com interviews on Fam:
June 2005
March 2004