The current tally of the number of runners that competed today in Maine: 4624

The LL Bean 4^th of July 10k in Freeport is first this year, since I decided to go back and race there after taking a few years off.
Ethan Hemphill once again took top honors, finishing in 32:36 with a 15 second margin. Kristin Barry led the rest of the women by 68 seconds with a time of 35:12. There were 918 finishers. (Full Results)

Next up is the 32^nd Bridgton 4 on the 4^th. Stan Pyle was looking to go under 20 minutes today, but he missed the mark. He can’t be too upset, though, because he beat some very stiff competition to win the race in 20:26, winning by only 2 seconds. Carry Buterbaugh had about a half minute lead with her winning time of 23:26. There were 1670 finishers. (Full Results - Race Website)

The York 4 on the 4th also had a pretty good draw, with 787 finishers. Bob Winn had a 19 second lead with his winning time of 21:10, while Amy Gosztyla had to fight for her 4 second winning time of 22:51. (Full Results)

The Goose Rocks Beach Association puts on an annual 5k in Kennebunkport, and it also had a large draw with 777 finishers. The entire field got “Huppeed” when Nathan Huppe crossed the line in 15:49, 13 seconds ahead of 2^nd place. Abby Iselborn had a similar lead over the rest of the women with her winning time of 18:22. (Full Results - Race Website)

The Walter Hunt Memorial 3k in Brewer was led by Ruben Sanca in 8:25, giving him a win by 7 seconds. Hilary Maxim had a 19 second lead with her winning time of 10:27. There were 472 finishers. (Full Results)

I am still awaiting the results of the Friends on the 4^th 5k, put on by the Friends of the Cobbosse Watershed in Winthrop. (Race Website)

I am still awaiting the results of the Sebec Village 4th of July 5k.

I am still awaiting the results of the Thomaston 5k.

I am still awaiting the results of the Around Mount Desert Island Relay.

Even with the results of at least 3 races still pending, there are over 100 more people hitting the streets for a race today than ran last year. This is great for the sport. I am looking forward to seeing what the final tally comes to; currently, we know that at least 4624 people finished a race today.

Updates to follow.

There were 918 finishers this year, the majority of whom managed to get a free pair of New Balance 1062 running sneakers for being one of the first 500 people to register for the race. The post-race refreshments were a little meager and didn’t really last long enough, although there were enough popsicles for the kids at the end of the 1 mile fun run which is the important part.

Claton Conrad led the race right from the beginning, opening up a sizable gap on the chase pack in the first mile. He maintained the lead for at least the first few miles while they were in sight from me, but he faded after the 3 mile marker to a very respectable 33:18 and 4^th place.

Ethan Hemphill took the win, finishing the race in 32:36. He ran a very strategic race that paid off with a 15 second lead over Matt Lane.

Kristin Barry caught me about halfway through the race and proceeded to win the women’s race in 35:12. She had over a minute lead on Sheri Piers who finished in 36:18.

I ran faster than I thought that I was going to today, even after shocking my system with a too fast first mile of 5:12. I managed to settle into my pace after that and ran consistently from there, picking folks off one by one as I went along. I wasn’t quite able to catch Jorma Kurry at the end, although I did close the gap to about a second. I finished in 35:52. I think that 4 solid weeks of speed work combined with not running 20 miles 2 days before Beach to Beacon is going to combine for a fast time on that course.

I will have the Maine Race Round-Up available later this evening.

(Full Results)

If you were amongst the first 500 registered then you’ll need to pick up your free pair of running shoes before the race. Any shoes that are not claimed before the race will be sold after the race. You are going to need time to bring the shoes back to your car.

If you are not running at Bean’s tomorrow, there are plenty of other options in not only the Southern and Central Maine areas but all across the country. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate my country’s birthday than running a road race.

Tyler Jasud and Heather Pagano led the way, finishing the race in 17:26 and 18:48 (respectively.)

The two Davids (Manz and Mann) are still leading the overall leaderboard. I’ve moved up two places from 9^th to 7^th overall. Similarly to last week, I ran easy and turned into a 20+ kilometer run coupled with a run earlier in the day that brings me over 20 miles total.

(Full Results - Leader Board)

There’s a craze going around right now about doing 100 non-stop pushups. The craze was started by one of the readers of this site, Steve Speirs.

He started the Hundred Pushups, which provides a 6 week program designed to get anybody into shape fast so that they can complete 100 pushups. It may take some people a little longer than 6 weeks if they have to repeat any of the weeks, but it is a proven system that will build up strength and endurance in record time.

Steve told me about his new site when he first launched it, and it was right after I started my own program for the Summer. I am looking forward to this Autumn, though, when I plan on following Steve’s program to see how many pushups I can work up to.

The site allows you to follow each week separately or download the complete program all at once. You can also choose to be listed with others taking the challenge so that you can provide mutual support and encouragement while getting public accountability.

If you are in the market for a new weight training program, then this is a good solution to throw into the mix and can give you something to be proud of once you have completed it. Pushups are one of the best exercises that you can do and having a strong base can really improve your running.

Have you joined the challenge?

In the quarter finals, he did not disappoint. Gay ran his second attempt in 9.77 seconds, breaking Maurice Green’s American record of 9.79 seconds and Olympic Trials record of 9.91 seconds. His performance also broke the Hayworth Field record of 9.81 seconds.

Jeff Demps followed Gay to the finish line in 10.01 seconds, breaking the American Junior record of 10.06 seconds and the American high school record of 10.08 seconds. He also tied the world junior record.

In the second heat, Travis Padgett broke the American collegiate record of 9.90 by running 9.89 seconds.

So far there have been 7 men who have run under 10 seconds. The US is going to have a formidable sprint team to send to Beijing in a month.

Update: Tyson Gay ran a wind-assisted 9.68 seconds today. He had a 4.1 meters per second tailwind. That’s a world’s fastest when disregarding wind assists.

(More Info: USATF)

• I began the week by looking at dancing as an alternative exercise. Unfortunately for my wife and I, we haven’t been out dancing too often since she went to law school.
• The UCI came out with an anti-doping charter, and I felt that cyclists would be foolish to sign it. On the surface, anything to discourage doping is a good thing. I just felt that this particular measure took away too many of the athlete’s rights.
• In running news, the IAAF changed their stance on Oscar Pistorius so that he could compete until they decided if he had an advantage or not.
• On the track and in a headwind, Tyson Gay ran the 2^nd fastest all-time 200m race in 19.62 seconds, about 3-tenths of a second behind the 1996 mark set by Michael Johnson.
• I reviewed Trails.com and put together a video demonstration of what you get with the website.
• This week 2 years ago, I suggested that you never go to bed hungry. During the Western States 100 (which was unfortunately canceled this year), Brian Morrison was disqualified for receiving some help from the crowd near the end. I also discussed research about whether or not bonking during training was a worthwhile pursuit or not. Two years ago was centered on marathoning, such as a book review and a website review, my list of marathon candidates for Autumn, and my discovery that I was near meeting the requirements to join the 50 States Marathon Club. I also won the Literacy 5k, which I believe has since folded.

Since the beginning of more than 840 wildfires statewide, 312 wildfires in northern California and more than 3,200 lightning strikes in the Tahoe National Forest alone on June 21, the race’s organizers have worked closely with a variety local, county and state agencies in determining the best course of action for our race. It has become apparent that given our race’s paramount concern - the safety or our runners - holding this year’s race would pose too great a risk to our runners, to our aid station personnel and to our volunteers. Given the close proximity of at least two fires that are within two miles of our race course and a critical access road, as well as the deteriorating air quality stretching from our start in Squaw Valley to Auburn, Calif., the board has determined that cancellation, rather than postponement or the use of an alternative course, represents the safest and most prudent decision for our 2008 event.

This year’s lottery was held in December, and Jamie Anderson was the only Trail Monster to get a slot in the race. He’ll lose his entry fee, which isn’t a huge deal, but if he loses his chance to run in the race then he is going to be really bummed out. At least he’s already registered for the Vermont 100 next month.

(More Information: Western States 100 - Hat Tip: Jamie Anderson)

Stan Pyle led the way this week, winning the race in a (for him) pedestrian 16:41. Tyler Jasud was 15 seconds behind him.

Heather Pagano followed up her performance from 2 weeks ago with a new women’s course record of 18:40! Way to go, Heather! Her season seems to be ramping up very quickly.

I treated this as another easy week. I began getting a migraine at about 4:55 this afternoon and knew that I wouldn’t be able to see well enough to drive to the race, so I ran there instead. I lost the vision in my left eye, but the hallucinations were over by the time I got to the starting line and I never did get a headache. The only lingering effect was a slight loss of balance, but that was gone as well halfway through the race.

This migraine turned out to be a blessing in disguise (I can say this because there was no pain associated with it) because I discovered that I work just far enough from the starting line to get a good warm up in. I think that I’ll plan on not driving down from now on, which lets me avoid running laps. The only reason I ran on any of the busy roads for more than a few hundred feet was because it took me a mile to think to cut through the woods to the train tracks - on the way back to work I didn’t have to run on any busy roads and cut through trails, train tracks and no outlet or low access developments. Very nice.

I will post a link to the photos once they are available. There will also be a video available, courtesy of Betty Young of the Maine Track Club. I don’t know if it was at the starting line, but it definitely captured the finish line.

(Full Results - Photos » Set 1 - Set 2)

According to U.S. District Judge Lacey A. Collier, I was wrong. He has filed a restraining order that should allow Gatlin to compete in the Olympic Trials and attempt to earn himself a seat on the plane to Beijing. He feels that the original doping offense violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and that it should be disregarded.

There are two problems with this as I see it, though.

The first and most obvious problem is that a district judge in Florida has absolutely no authority in this case, because the IOC and the IAAF does not fall under US jurisdiction. Any reversals of decisions have to be made through the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland, which has the final say in international track & field competition on legal matters. As it has only been 2 weeks since they rejected Gatlin’s appeal, I don’t think that this judge’s argument is going to sway them, especially since it was used in the original appeals process.

The second problem that I see with this is that for some reason they changed the date of Gatlin’s suspension to the day that he accepted his provisional suspension (July 25^th, 2006) rather than the date of his positive drug test (May 25^th, 2006). Normally, the ban is instituted as of the date of the failed test.

Because the date has been changed, it really makes no difference if his first doping violation is thrown out because he still would not be eligible to compete in the Olympic Trials. The finals for the 100 meter race are next week on June 28^th. I’m not really sure what this judge is hoping to accomplish.

(More Info: Associated Press)