February 2015 News
Feb 28
If you've seen the movie "McFarland USA" here's a YouTube video from Toronto with an interview with the real Coach White (Blanco!). Now showing at the Southwind Theaters.
Feb 27
Looking back at the Avon 10K on Apr 27, 1980 - almost 1100 women started the 10K in Kansas City. Karen Bridges of Edmund OK won in 34:42.9. Lawrence runners made the top 10: Karen Fitz (former KU runner, then living in Kansas City, KS) was 2nd in 35:14; Tracy Wong (37:40.2, 4th) and Maureen Finholm (38:45.7, 7th). Dee Boeck was one of the thousand runners.
full results
The event was part of the Avon International Running Circuit. In 1972 Kathrine Switzer helped create the first women-only 10K in New York City, which attracted 78 women – small by today’s standards, but a surprising number 53 years ago.
Wool vs Synthetic - Fifty years ago nearly every outdoor kit included a wool shirt. Ten years ago, wool had been banished in favor of lighter and more comfortable synthetic base layers. But wool is back. With finer yarns, wool base layers are now marketed as comfortable next to skin. At the same time advances have been made in synthetic fabrics that further improve performance and address some of their shortfalls. This healthy competition has saturated the industry with new technologies and performance claims regarding wool and synthetic base layers.
In this article we will take an independent look at the properties of these fabrics. We ran a series of field and laboratory tests to evaluate field comfort, drying times, fabric weights and moisture wicking performance. In the process, we revealed some unexpected performance properties and learned a few things about how these fabrics compare in a diverse range of field conditions. more
(from Backpacking Light, thanks to Bill Kinersley for sharing the article)
Feb 19
Our Throwback Thursday event to highlight is the Dam Run from 25 years ago. The March 31, 1990 event included three distances: 5K, 10K and 20K. Overall placings were in the order you crossed the finish line regardless of what race you ran. Fortunately, the results were broken down by distance and age groups. The winners: 5K: Steve Coulter (16:50) & Cindy Short (18:57); 10K: Randy Mather (33:12) & Dee Boeck (43:18); 20K: Gordon Way (66:17) & Carol McFall (84:16). The races started from Holcom Sports Complex and went towards Clinton Lake and came back to Holcom.
Feb 18
Shrove Tuesday - Liberal takes back title in 66th International Pancake Day Race.
Twenty-four-year-old Hannah Belton won the Liberal, KS leg of race with a time of 69 seconds. Emma Maitland won the Olney (England) leg of the race with a time of 75.09 seconds. After losing three years in a row to Olney, the faster Liberal time brings the title back. In the photo Belton crosses the finish line.
more | photo of the Olney winner
Feb 17
After showing herself to be in the elite class of women runners at Sunday's Austin Marathon, Kenyan Hyvon Ngetich hit the wall — hard. She didn't win, despite leading for most of the day. But the way she finished the race is being celebrated, because Ngetich did it by crawling, refusing to quit. more
Feb 12
Throwback Thursdays: how about a look at the results from the 1984 Topeka to Auburn Half Marathon? As we dig up records from the past, they will be added to the results page.
Weather was similar to this year's race - warm 55 degrees with gusty winds from the northwest. James Eastman (Ft Leavenworth) was the top male in 1:12:10 while Columbia, MO, runner Liz Bulman won her race in 1:26:25.
Feb 10
If you ask around in Lawrence, KS, people will tell you how Don Gardner and his Red Dog’s Dog Days bring strength to the entire community. This free citywide workout program has become a community of all ages that’s about getting fit, and more importantly, getting closer to your neighbors. There are people all across our state who share these values. Westar Energy focused on Red Dog in their second edition of The Imagine Kansas Short Film Series.
Feb 9
I shall take up the sub-two banner, as I did in my novel The Purple Runner this time in a nonfictional (some may argue this description) presentation. To me it is not a question of whether the sub-two-hour marathon will occur. It is simply a matter of how, where, and when. read more (by P. J. Chrisman)
Feb 8
The runLawrence club meeting today invited the local marathon clubs and other running/fitness groups to receive grants to use on their programs. The money provided came from last year's Thanksgiving Day 5K. It was an opportunity for many of the school program coordinators to meet each other and share their experiences.
Feb 6
The winter 2015 issue of Club Running is available for viewing. runLawrence is a member of the Road Runners Club of America.
Feb 3
Our local world champion athlete, Lori Norwood, was featured in today's Lawrence Journal-World. Lori will be be inducted into the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame on Feb 28. She has built upon her career as a sculptor since moving to Lawrence in 2007. Lori won the world pentathlon championship in 1989. read more
Feb 1
The USA team of Matthew Centrowitz, Mike Berry, Erik Sowinski, and Patrick Casey combined to run 9:19.93, obliterating the previous distance medley relay mark of 9:25.97 set by the University of Texas in 2008. The record was set Sat, Jan 31st at the Armory Track Invitational in New York. Watch the video.
