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|  ATF Newswire - Boston Marathon Weekend: Odds and Ends By Larry Eder April 16, 2004 Boston, MA American Track & Field
The press conference for the Boston marathon was opened by Bill
Rodgers, who looks about the same as he did on that April day
in 1975, when he ran 2.09.55 here. Bill introduced the 29
members of the John Hancock Clinic Series, that has had world
class athletes speak about their training and their countries
to
93,000 young people in the JH Seminar series. Suggestion to
Hancock: Put the clinics on DVD and send them to all of the
high schools in the country. One of my biggest beefs about US
education is that our high schoolers have so little idea of
what is outside this country. Americans, in general, do not
understand how they are perceived, loved, reviled in other
countries. A high school kid in Nebraska who sees Robert
Kiprotich Cheryiot speak about running to and from school each
day would have a new appreciation for his six block
walk to school. ******* This is a busy weekend for athletics: the Mt. SAC relays
in Walnut, CA with over 14,000 high school, junior
high, college and elite athletes competing. The Distance
Carnival held on Saturday night should have some good races,
as this year, many countries will use the MT. SAC 10k and 5k as
a
place to hit the Olympic standards. Shayne Culpepper, bronze
medalist at World indoor for 3k, will attempt to get her 15.08
standard at Mt. SAC. ********* Nike is introducing new uniforms this weekend in London,
Boston and at Mt. SAC. ********* The Boston Marathon is one of the unofficial checks on the
health
of our industry, so here is some information for you to
ponder: a. Running Footwear, all of it is $5.5 billion in US The running footwear business is very strong, and this has hurt
the walking business terribly. Many walkers use running shoes
for walking. ****** Active.com has acquired Do It Sports. Details are to be
announced. Active has been one of the most aggressive of the on-
line registration companies and has acquired Do It with their
strong technological products. ****** Just a few quick updates: a. ATF Athlete Spring had a piece from the late Ken Kesey on
the 1980 Olympic Trials. It is a good read and is something
that will provide you with some thoughtful conversations. It
was first
run in the Nike magazine, Running, back in 1981. b. Cal Track has a superb feature on Don Bowden in their
May/June issue. 60,000 copies of the TRS Calendar section will
be distributed this month, with 45,000 given out at the Bay to
Breakers expo. c. We still have a few copies of the 2004 Athletics Calendar
and 2004 Gold Merit Rankings, if copies are needed. Spring 2004
is on the way, and Summer 2004 will be in your hands by mid
May! d. Shooting Star Media, Inc. has acquired Missouri Runner. Gina
Sokolich is continuing on as editor and John Sokolich is the
web editor. The magazine has gone from 2,500 to 5,000 circ.
this
year, with the addition of USATF-Ozarks. If you would like to
see a copy, just email us. e. Shooting Star Media, Inc. will continue to publish On the
Roads for Running USA, and insert the overprints in American
Track & Field, Cal Track and Mo Runner. f. Thanks to Nike, subscribers only to Cal Track May/June will
receive a wonderful poster of the world marathon record
holders, Paula Radcliffe and Paul Tergat. The poster will be
available at European events sponsored by Nike. g. Thanks to the strong response on the Training Profiles for
Boys pub, by John Neopolitan. The Training Profiles: Prep Girls
Distances is just around the bend. Details to come. h. James Dunaway has become the Executive Editor of American
Track & Field and Athletes Only. He can be reached at
jodunaway@earthlink.net. James is a long time track writer, who
has written for TFN, Runners World, and NY Times for many years
and
we are excited to have him on board. ******* If you have been wondering who is updating american-
trackandfield.com, atf-athlete.com and caltrack.com on a daily
basis, it is none other than our new web editor, Jeremy
Borling.
Jeremy is managed by Brenda Barrera, who is the national web
editor for the Running Network. Jeremy has run 14.43 for 5k
and around 31 for the 10k. An avid runner, he is looking
forward to working with prep and jc editor Dan Cruz and update
editor Keith Conning on the Cal track website. ******* A question was recently asked about my new position as
president of the Running Network, so I thought that I would
answer it here: "What did you guys buy?" Running Network, LLC, is the new company that I am president
of,
along with Randy Knox as chairman and Tom Mack as vice
president. Running Network, LLC, upon signing new contracts
with the various magazines--29 in all--agreed to represent the
magazines on national ad sales. But that, as you know by now,
having
read a few thousand of my words, is only part of the story....
(where did I swipe that from?) The magazines are: Athletics, Marathon & Beyond, Missouri
Runner & Triathlete, Oklahoma Runner & Triathlete,
RunMinnesota, Florida Running, Inside Texas, Michigan Runner,
Midwest Running, Northwest Runner, RunOhio, Southern Runner,
Athetes Hi, RaceCenter NW, Runner Triathlete, Running Journal,
Silent Sports, Tail Winds, Winged Foot, Colorado Runner,
American Tri, Cal Track & Running News, New England Runner,
Washington Running Report, American Track & Field, Chicago
Athlete, New York Runner, Los Angeles Sports & Fitness,
Athletes Only, USATF Fast Forward. We are able to sell ads in one, ten or all of the pubs, both in
print and on the web. We have centralized billing, centralized
artwork and centralized distribution of the artwork. The
exciting thing, for me, a running geek, is that we have the
champion books in all of the running market segments. If you
are in New England, New England Runner is the book, likewise,
Oklahoma or Colorado, we have the books there for you as well. It is a lot of fun, and pretty tiring right now, setting up
systems. We also have 17 regional and one national website-
www.runningnetwork.com. We work together on national events and
running news and features, and our editorial on footwear is
developed by Cregg Weinmann. So, as we moved forward, there will be some bumps, but we hope
that the industry continues to support our goal of creating a
stronger running community and spreading the good word on
running and walking as part of the modern lifestyle. ******* Kenyans, Kings of Understatement Interviewing Kenyan athletes, if one can make such
generalities, is like trying to translate whispering, and who
can whisper the slightest. All in all, the Kenyan athletes are
warm, but slightly wary of the loud, bustling press room and
microphones and cameras being stuck in their faces. A few bits
that are classic. In interviewing Robert Kiprotich Cheriyiot, who is the
defending champion, not once did Robert mention last year's
win. He did say this, "The Boston course is much like the
Olympic course--hilly and hot. The Olympics will be very hot,
like Boston. I like the opportunity to race the best in the
world." I believe that Mr. Cheriyiot is looking for Boston
2004 to lead to even greater things... First timer Joseph Ngeny told us, "I am not sure how I will
do. I am running with some marathoners who are very strong, but
I am hoping for the best." Watch this guy, he has run 61.25
for a half marathon. He is no sloucher. Benjamin Kimutai said, "My dream is to win Boston. It is my
dream.
And I have to be very tough." Benjamin looks fit and should be
a player in this one. ******* The heat will be in Boston. 80 degrees on Monday. I will
announce my picks on Saturday night. Until then, it is off to
the expo, receptions and walks around the Snow Geese boats in
the Boston Commons. ******** Thanks again for reading our coverage and remember, if you need
something on the world of athletics or running, please check
out www.runningnetwork.com! ****** atf newswire is a publication of shooting star media,
inc. This newsletter is published for the good of the sports. Please
feel free to
use anything from the newsletter, just remember to credit
shooting star media,inc.
For more information, please contact Larry Eder at mobile,
608.239.3785 For a complete 04 media kit for the runningnetwork, please
check www.shootingstarmediainc.com
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