Home Unbeaten Streak

I know the track season started over a month ago, but spring always seems to develop slowly until a warm day, a new track, and some upcoming state-level meets finally make it feel like the season has really started.

Newton North hosted a home meet at the new high school, sweeping Needham and remaining undefeated on the season.

Girls: Newton North 105 Needham 31

For the girls, Carla Forbes won four events (100, 200, LJ, TJ) and wasn't seriously challenged in any of them. Other performances that stand out for me include Kayla Wong winning the hurdles (14.9!!), Margo Gillis winning the 800 (2:17.0).

Other winners in the running events: Meghan Bellerose won the 400 in 60.9. Maggie Heffernan won the mile by 150 meters in 5:30.4. Devika Banerjee won the 2M in 12:38.4. Impressive times that did not win: Madison Nadeau -- 26.6 in the 200 (behind Forbes), and Evie Heffernan -- 2:22.7 in the 800 (behind Gillis and Needham's Hannah Alpert).

Other NN winners in the field events: Meghan Gentile in the SP (31-7), Ellen Goldberg in the discus (107-0), Djaidah Wynn in the Jav (90-10), and Emily Hutchinson in the HJ (5-2). North also won both relays.

Girls: Newton North 91 Needham 45

Isaiah Penn dropped down to the sprints, and won the 100 (11.0) and 200 (22.4) in convincing fashion over Needham's Brian Hazzard (2nd in both races). Ben Clark took care of business in the 400, running 52.8 for the win.

In the 800, Ezra Lichtman pulled away for the win in 2:02.0, with freshman Gabe Montague running 2:05.2 for an impressive second over Needham's Jeff Okerman. In the mile, it was Justin Keefe (4:38), and in the deuce, Dan Ranti won by over half a lap in 10:03.5.

Needham's Peter Farlow won the 110 and 400 hurdles by plenty, but in the high hurdles, Nick Fofana recorded a solid 16.4 for second.

In the throwing events, Swardic Mayanja led a NNHS sweep of the shot put with a toss of 50-0. Ryan Donovan won the discus with a throw of 118-10. Fofana took second in the Javelin with an excellent throw of 143-5 (PB?).

In the jumps, Tylor Hart won the high jump at 6-0, with Fofana second again in 5-8. North had two jumpers (Hart, Penn) over 20' in the long jump, but that was only good enough for 2nd and 3rd behind Farlow's facility record 22-1. North's Shawn Seamans won the triple with a jump of 41-6.

North also won both relays.

Next up for the Tigers: The MSTCA Div I State Relays at Franklin H.S. on Sunday, May 1

NNHS Hosts Inaugural Meet on New Track

Even when I don't post, there are lots of comments!

Here's a placeholder post for anyone who wants to continue to comment on the historical moment at hand, as NNHS prepares to host a track meet for the first time since Spring 2007. Newton North competes against Needham today and we'll find out how fast the new track really is.

Trivia question: who was the last Newton North runner to compete in a high school meet at the old Dickinson Stadium track?

NNHS Alumni @ Boston 2011

Congratulations to NNHS alumni who ran Boston this year!

I know of at least two:

Jason Abbott-Dallamora (number 2256 in your program) ran negative splits to break three hours for the first time and finish 987th overall in 2:55:44.

Newton firefighter and NNHS grad Tim Killilea ran 3:42:54. That gave him the bragging rights in the family as he pulled ahead of younger brother Dan (an NSHS grad), in the final kilometers. Dan finished in 3:45:34.

There must have been many other Newton North alumni running. Post a comment if you know of any.

Blown Away

Prior to April 17, 2011, there had been ten sub-2:05 marathon performances in the history of the world.

Thirty-six hours later, there are half again as many. On Sunday, Emannuel Mutai ran 2:04:40 to win London on a perfectly still day. On Monday, Geoffrey Mutai ran 2:03:02 to win Boston with the wind at his back nearly every step of the way.

Before we get to the wind, lets take a few moments to admit that what we just saw at Boston was, under ANY conditions, amazing. I have always laughed at the idea of 2:00 marathon, saying it wouldn't happen in my lifetime. But watching Mutai sprinting down the final meters of Boylston Street with the clock reading 2:02:xx blew my mind.

And lest I forget, the women's race was just unbelievable. Forget about the times, the seesaw battle between Kilel and Davila was tremendous. I really hoped Davila would get the win, but she did everything she could and it wasn't quite enough. However, she now has the fastest time ever on the Boston course by an American -- 2:22:38 -- eclipsing Joan Samuelson's astonishing 2:22:43 from 1983.

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Prior to Boston 2011, almost all the really fast marathons have been at Berlin, Frankfurt, or Rotterdam. These are proper, legal courses that do not have a drop in net elevation and do not offer the POTENTIAL of a point-to-point tailwind. Boston fails both tests, and performances at Boston are not given record consideration.

So it is left to us to appreciate those performances with a different set of standards. To wit: as anyone who has run it knows, Boston hurts you. It pounds the quads into pulp, and terrorizes the hamstrings with its rolling hills and uneven pavement. You can have all the tailwind in the world, but that won't guarantee you a pain-free race; just ask Kim Smith.

Secondly, for all their charms, Berlin, Frankfurt, and Rotterdam are all about the records. They are pancake-flat courses and the organizers always provide multiple pace-setters to give the favorites a chance to tuck in and draft at 1:02 half-marathon pace. Nothing wrong with that, but the only pace-setters at Boston are the actual runners who hear the siren song that whispers in their ears that it's ok to go out fast because they feel so GOOD in the early miles.

Now, about that wind...

I am almost an old-timer now, and as such, I am qualified to tell you that a marathon day such as April 18, 2011 comes along only once every 15-20 years. In fact, the last one was in in 1994. I had the good fortune to run Boston that year. It was a cool day and there was a strong tailwind for the first half of the race. I vividly remember passing under a banner that had been strung across Rt. 135 at about the 15K mark and seeing it blown nearly horizontal in the direction I was heading. I was giddy with the feeling of having hit the meteorological jackpot. Eventually, that strong Southwest breeze became more of a crosswind, but for a while, I felt like I had someone pushing me from behind. I ran 2:31 that day, which is by far my best time at Boston. A lot of other people ran fast that day, too. For example...

In 1994 Cosmas Ndeti won his second of three consecutive races in a course record (and lifetime personal best) 2:07:15. Uta Pippig won her second of three consecutive races in a course record (and lifetime personal best) 2:21:45. Heinz Frei won the men's wheelchair race in a course record (and lifetime personal best) 1:21:23. Jean Driscoll won the women's wheelchair race in a course record (and lifetime personal best) 1:34:22. Well, you get the idea...

The wind helps. It helps a lot. But don't try to figure out exactly how much; that path leads to madness. Not everyone benefits from the wind equally. And you still have to be smart enough not to go out too fast. People crash and burn with a tailwind at their back, too.

For the same reason, don't get all huffy about how records set at Boston should be recognized. They shouldn't. We should just appreciate them for what they are. Really, really impressive fast runs that leave us pretty much speechless. Even Ryan Hall, who recorded the fastest marathon ever run by an American (perhaps quieting his critics for a few days, at least) seemed unable to put it into words.

"I'm a 2:04 marathoner," he said. For once, I'm ready to join him and the choir and shout out, "Amen!"


Sub 2:05 Marathons prior to 4/17/2011 (including Boston):

1. Gebrselassie 2:03:59 (2008)
2. Gebrselassie 2:04:26 (2007)
3. Kwambai 2:04:27 (2009)
3. Kibet 2:04:27 (2009)
5. Makau 2:04:48 (2010)
6. Gebrselassie 2:04:53 (2008)
7. Tergat 2:04:55 (2003)
7. Mutai, G. 2:04:55 (2010)
9. Korir 2:04:56 (2003)
10. Kipsang 2:04:57 (2010)

Sub 2:05 marathons after 4/18/2011 (including Boston):

1. Mutai, G. 2:03:02 (2011)
2. Mosop 2:03:06 (2011)
3. Gebrselassie 2:03:59 (2008)
4. Gebrselassie 2:04:26 (2007)
5. Kwambai 2:04:27 (2009)
5. Kibet 2:04:27 (2009)
7. Mutai, E. 2:04:40 (2011)
8. Makau 2:04:48 (2010)
9. Gebrselassie 2:04:53 (2008)
10. Gebrmerriam 2:04:53 (2011)
11. Tergat 2:04:55 (2003)
11. Mutai, G. 2:04:55 (2010)
13. Korir 2:04:56 (2003)
14. Kipsang 2:04:57 (2010)
15. Hall 2:04:58 (2011)

Snow on April 1st Bodes Ill for Marathoners

As the snow began falling Thursday evening, it brought back memories of 1997 -- the year Boston was socked with an April Fool's Day blizzard that dumped two feet of the white stuff on the city. For those too young to remember that storm, let me (and Wikipedia) refresh your memory:

"During the peak of the storm from about 11 p.m. March 31 to 3 a.m. April 1, snow fell in Boston at an almost unheard-of rate of 3 inches (76 mm) per hour, some of the heaviest Boston had ever seen. Numerous lightning strikes and thunderclaps accompanied the extremely heavy snow, which accumulated one foot (12 inches (300 mm)) in just that four hour period. Moderate to heavy snow continued through mid-morning before tapering off." (Wikipedia)

Unlike the winter of 1997, which was -- up until that unusual blizzard -- a mild one, 2011 has been a bear of a year for snow. The last few weeks haven't been bad, but January and February were brutal. I have to admit, I thought we were through with winter. Maybe it's cabin fever, but I just can't wait for the first really warm day.

But there's a group of people that probably hopes it stays cool for a while longer. I'm talking, of course, about all those poor folks who have trained through this miserable winter to run the Boston Marathon. They were out there every weekend in January and February and March, defying frostbite and slippery roads to get in those long runs. They are the ultimate winter warriors, their bodies and minds toughened by the elements. They probably didn't even notice the snow falling last night. In fact, there's only one thing that these runners fear...that it will be 70 (or 80 or 90) degrees on Patriots Day. There is nothing more unfair than training for four months in sub-freezing temperatures only to be hit with a scorcher on the big day.

Unfortunately, and despite today's wintry mix, that nightmare scenario might be the most likely, or so says a researcher from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Dr. Rolf Paoli, who heads the NOAA's long-range meteorological forecasting service and is himself a veteran of six Boston Marathons, recently published an article on the NOAA web site that provides historical evidence for a definite weather pattern that has affected Boston a dozen times in the last sixty years.

According to Paoli, the pattern is characterized by colder-than-usual temperatures for up to six weeks in late February and March, culminating in a significant storm (sometimes cold rain, sometimes snow) on April 1st. In every case, this pattern has been followed by a dramatic warming trend within 2-3 weeks. More ominously, in every year that the pattern occurred, the temperature on Patriot's day exceeded 70 degrees.

Notwithstanding my own hankering for a nice spring day, this is not at all good news for the legions of winter-blooded runners who are not acclimated to heat and will be trying to cover 26.2 miles on April 18th in what might feel like tropical conditions.

According to Paoli, he became interested in the phenomenon after running the 1997 race less than three weeks after that massive April Fool's Day storm. The temperature on Patriots Day hit 78 degrees and he struggled just to finish. He ended up with a trip to the medical tent (for bad blisters) and a much slower time than he had hoped for. As he states in his article:

"I began to wonder if the weather had ever shifted so suddenly. I discovered it was actually fairly common. What was surprising when I examined the historical data was to see this correlation -- almost 100% -- between a storm on April 1st and a hot day on the day of the race. It would be foolish to claim that anyone can predict the weather so far ahead with absolute certainty, but the correlation appears to be too strong to be a coincidence."

Not all scientists share Paoli's view that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between April 1st storms in Boston and the weather on a specific day almost three weeks later. Researchers in Yale University's Department of Atmospheric Statistics point out that even a hundred years of data is not enough evidence to draw conclusions. Associate Professor Ari Pollof is quoted to that effect:

"If a convenience store sells two winning lottery tickets, people might think there is good luck involved, but in fact, it is nothing more than an unlikely coincidence. This supposed connection between snow on April 1 and the weather for the Marathon is similar -- it is curious, but ultimately the product of pure and simple chance."

Still, according to this statement on the BAA web site, the race is taking no chances with what might simply be a matter of chance. The strange connection between April 1st snow and a Patriots Day heat wave has, apparently, caused them to plan for more water consumption and more utilization of on-course and post-race medical facilities for treating heat-related injuries.