Tri State
Tristaterunnur is starting to collect information about both the upcoming indoor and outdoor Track and Field seasons. At Tristaterunnur we are always striving to have the most comprehensive list of Track and Field meets in the Tri- state area, and you can help us out by emailing Tristaterunnur and providing information on any meets that you are hosting.also include your schedule so we know where you are going each week.
Promote your 2008 event here
Promote your 2008 event here
Olympic fever, or fervor, strikes at Iron Furnace 5K
By Kevin Spradlin
LONACONING – Justin Simpson wanted $200 on Saturday. But $50 will have to do.
Simpson didn’t quite run his best. And even if the winner hadn’t shown up, he still would have finished just second on Saturday at the 20th annual Iron Furnace 5K.
But the three-time West Virginia high school state cross country champ doesn’t think local races are intended to attract foreign, high-caliber runners who contend for the financial rewards of winning.
“I don’t like it when Ethiopians and Kenyans come to a small-town race,” said Simpson, who placed third in 15 minutes and 28X seconds. Ethiopian Abiyot Abebe, 21, of Silver Spring, won in 14:58 while Frostburg resident Jaron Hawkins was second in 15:21.
Fellow Ethiopian Hirut Mandefro, 22, also of Silver Spring, led the women’s field in 17:17. Jennifer Davis, of Star City, W.Va., was second in 17:37 while Susan Graham Gray, 40, of Greencastle, Pa., was third overall and also the first women’s masters finisher in 17:55. Gray’s fellow Cumberland Valley Athletic Club member Tim Shuler, 45, of Chambersburg, Pa., won the men’s masters title in 16:59.
Simpson said he was “disappointed” with his time. “I wanted to run a lot faster than that,” he said.
Not without a strategy. The Morgantown, W.Va., resident and Los Angeles native wanted a relative slow first mile and not “like a bat out of hell.” But a timer called out “4:40” as he cruised by – Simpson insisted the first mile was short – and was behind Abebe by at least 15 seconds and little less than that behind Hawkins. It was a gap he couldn’t close.
Simpson, 24, isn’t against foreign competitors. He would just prefer to do so on a much larger stage as his older (by one minute) twin brother, Josh Simpson, who is hoping to compete against foreigners in Beijing at the Olympics. First, though, is the U.S. Olympic Trials this week in Eugene, Ore. Josh Simpson will compete in the 10,000-meter run.
Justin Simpson, who took much of the past nine months off from the sport of running, is back and ready to resume the training necessary to match, and beat, his brother. Doing so also will put him on the national stage, perhaps in time to earn a spot for the London Olympics in 2012.
It was likely Olympic fever which showed through Simpson on Saturday. Leaving for Eugene later this week, he wanted the prize money to buy T-shirts for friends and family.
His plan “didn’t work out so well,” Simpson said.
After the final downhill, “I would have had to really throw something’ wicked down” to catch” anyone. “I just ran out of room. I’m still going to buy them.”
Mandefro, meanwhile, led all female competitors – and most males – from start to finish. She admitted the inclines slowed her down. Davis confirmed it wasn’t something the swift-footed harrier was particularly fond of.
Mandefro was unsure of her racing plans for the rest of the summer. Davis, who will skip the Canadian Olympic Trials, where she could compete as a guest athlete, and instead focus on the 2009 USA Cross Country Nationals next February at the Agricultural History Farm Park in Montgomery County, Md.
Gray, meanwhile, said she’s focusing on the short-term for the Parkersburg (W.Va.) Half-Marathon Aug. 16 and the Charleston Distance Run 15-miler on Aug. 30. After that, she said she is contemplating making her first attempt at the JFK Ultramarathon this November in Washington County.
Kevin Spradlin can be contacted at cmacrunning@hotmail.com.
By Kevin Spradlin
LONACONING – Justin Simpson wanted $200 on Saturday. But $50 will have to do.
Simpson didn’t quite run his best. And even if the winner hadn’t shown up, he still would have finished just second on Saturday at the 20th annual Iron Furnace 5K.
But the three-time West Virginia high school state cross country champ doesn’t think local races are intended to attract foreign, high-caliber runners who contend for the financial rewards of winning.
“I don’t like it when Ethiopians and Kenyans come to a small-town race,” said Simpson, who placed third in 15 minutes and 28X seconds. Ethiopian Abiyot Abebe, 21, of Silver Spring, won in 14:58 while Frostburg resident Jaron Hawkins was second in 15:21.
Fellow Ethiopian Hirut Mandefro, 22, also of Silver Spring, led the women’s field in 17:17. Jennifer Davis, of Star City, W.Va., was second in 17:37 while Susan Graham Gray, 40, of Greencastle, Pa., was third overall and also the first women’s masters finisher in 17:55. Gray’s fellow Cumberland Valley Athletic Club member Tim Shuler, 45, of Chambersburg, Pa., won the men’s masters title in 16:59.
Simpson said he was “disappointed” with his time. “I wanted to run a lot faster than that,” he said.
Not without a strategy. The Morgantown, W.Va., resident and Los Angeles native wanted a relative slow first mile and not “like a bat out of hell.” But a timer called out “4:40” as he cruised by – Simpson insisted the first mile was short – and was behind Abebe by at least 15 seconds and little less than that behind Hawkins. It was a gap he couldn’t close.
Simpson, 24, isn’t against foreign competitors. He would just prefer to do so on a much larger stage as his older (by one minute) twin brother, Josh Simpson, who is hoping to compete against foreigners in Beijing at the Olympics. First, though, is the U.S. Olympic Trials this week in Eugene, Ore. Josh Simpson will compete in the 10,000-meter run.
Justin Simpson, who took much of the past nine months off from the sport of running, is back and ready to resume the training necessary to match, and beat, his brother. Doing so also will put him on the national stage, perhaps in time to earn a spot for the London Olympics in 2012.
It was likely Olympic fever which showed through Simpson on Saturday. Leaving for Eugene later this week, he wanted the prize money to buy T-shirts for friends and family.
His plan “didn’t work out so well,” Simpson said.
After the final downhill, “I would have had to really throw something’ wicked down” to catch” anyone. “I just ran out of room. I’m still going to buy them.”
Mandefro, meanwhile, led all female competitors – and most males – from start to finish. She admitted the inclines slowed her down. Davis confirmed it wasn’t something the swift-footed harrier was particularly fond of.
Mandefro was unsure of her racing plans for the rest of the summer. Davis, who will skip the Canadian Olympic Trials, where she could compete as a guest athlete, and instead focus on the 2009 USA Cross Country Nationals next February at the Agricultural History Farm Park in Montgomery County, Md.
Gray, meanwhile, said she’s focusing on the short-term for the Parkersburg (W.Va.) Half-Marathon Aug. 16 and the Charleston Distance Run 15-miler on Aug. 30. After that, she said she is contemplating making her first attempt at the JFK Ultramarathon this November in Washington County.
Kevin Spradlin can be contacted at cmacrunning@hotmail.com.
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