Aug 24 - The Olympic closing ceremony is tonight. How did athletes with local connections do?

• Scott Russell, Lawrence competing for Canada, took 10th in the men's javelin with a throw of 80.90m (265'5"),
• Matt Tegenkamp (Lee's Summit), 13th in the men's 5000m final (13:33.13),
• Christian Smith (Garfield KS), 4th in the men's 800m, 1:48.20 in the 1st round, dnq,
• Muna Lee (Kansas City), 5th in 11,07 in the women's 100m final.

The track & field results were a disappointment in 2008 especially the dropped batons in the 4x100. . . and to show up with handwritten race bibs. . . no comment! But, there were some bright moments, too. Anyone earning a medal deserves our admiration. Next stop, London.

And kudos to NBC for the coverage for both marathon races - in prime time with Tour de France-quality images from up close to overhead shots from the air. We got a good idea of how impressive the capital of Beijing is.

Aug 22 - The KC Star did a short story on Marsha Odgers'
Run-Girl business. "Fork in the road: After completing her first marathon, Odgers wanted to express pride in her accomplishment. But all she could find was a hat with a male runner logo." more

Earlier in the week, Colorado had a chance to to celebrate Dita's marathon victory. Great Bend's KS pride is in Veronica Campbell Brown's win in the 200, a repeat of her win in 2004. Story (& photo) from Barton CCC.

How tough was the Pikes Peak Ascent? "I did not dress correctly, I was pretty cold and sick. Swollen fingers and lips. I was purple, the safety staff had to cover me with plastic bags and duck tape to help keep me warm. From the A frame to the top was the longest 3 miles I had ever run it took about 30 minutes per mile.I managed to finish. Very scary." - Keith Dowell

Welcome new runLawrence member: Jay O'Neill.

Aug 18 - The Sunday Kansas City Star did a feature story on Red Dog's Dog Days. Here's the video report by Jim Barcus from the July 10th workouts. The article in the Star Magazine was written by Janet Majure of Lawrence.

From Sat's Pike Peak Ascent (13 miles up from Manitou Springs to the summit):

• Dan Cool (Eudora), 218th overall, age 31, 30th of 76 in cat., time: 3:34:49.
• Keith Dowell (Lawrence), 516th, age 54, 42nd of 78, time: 4:02:43.

Weather: At the start, light rain with temps in the 50s. Summit weather was in the 30s with fog, sleet, grapple, wind, cold. It was pretty miserable on the top. Results

Romania's Constantina Tomescu Dita won the Olympic marathon after pulling away from the field. No Americans in the medal hunt this year. The Romanians finishing 1-8-18 had spent most of this year training in Boulder, CO. They were the "home" team that won the Bolder Boulder team competition last May ahead of the Kenyans. No medals for the red, white and blue, but there was celebration in Colorado.

Aug 13 - Olympics have already had a bunch of exciting highights this week. Of course, runners are waiting for the main course on the track in the Bird's Nest: to see Kansas City's Muna Lee race in the 100m and Christian Smith, the Garfield KS native, run the 800m. Remember Christian's lunge to make the US team? Here's a video story of Christian from The Wichita Eagle (Kansas.com).

Wichita Eagle writer, Rick Plumlee, during his high school cross country days (gmw)

The Eagle's Rick Plumlee writes: "Western Kansas upbringing helped make Christian Smith an Olympian. Fortunately, one of Esau Smith's two horses died right there in Pawnee County in the 1870s. Otherwise, Smith and his family would have kept pushing on with the wagon train." read on

Aug 12 - Clarification: Saturday's event was the Red Dog Run IV - the 4th annual event, not the 25th. Lawrence is celebrating 25 years of Red Dog's summer Dog Days program. A lot of people wore the 25 year shirts they got the day before. They earned the shirts by completing 25 workouts in this 25th year.

Aug 9 - Paul Hefferon and Amy Meyers were the winners in today's Boys & Girls Club Red Dog IV Run. A great turnout on this cooler, overcast summer day - more finishers than in the 2007 event. Adding to the excitement was BJ the DJ announcing the names of many of the finishers; and the rain cooled things even more. Don "Red Dog" Gardner and race director Ellen Young were very appreciative of the community support. results | Dick Ross slideshow

Aug 7 - Today is Abebe Bikila's birthday (born in 1932). Bikila was the barefoot Ethiopian who won the marathon in Rome in 1960 finishing near the coliseum, in the country that colonized his country before the 2nd World War. His victory was especially sweet. Why run barefoot? Bikila said, "I wanted the world to know that my country, Ethiopia, has always won with determination and heroism."  As the Olympics in Beijing begin tomorrow, what country will have their new hero?

Minutes are posted from the Aug 3 club meeting.

Aug 2 - BEIJING (AP) -- The secret's out about next week's Olympics opening ceremony (Aug 8th). Be ready for a dramatic countdown, giant whales, an illuminated globe and performers flying through the air like Peter Pan. more

NBC will broadcast the Olympics; you can catch the action on channels 8 and 14 on Sunflower Broadband.

Momma Power: When Aretha Thurmond first made the U.S. Olympic team as a wide-eyed 19-year-old, she was just happy to be there. Now, at 31 and on her third trip to the Games, the feeling hasn't diminished a bit. . . "It's just as exciting now, especially coming back after having a baby," said Thurmond, a four-time national champion who will compete in discus. Thurmond is one of several athletes mixing medal hopes with motherhood on the U.S. Olympic team in Beijing. more