tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489Sun, 28 Sep 2008 10:51:47 +0000Running Related News and Commentary from an Ethiopian perspective.http://www.roocha.net/noreply@blogger.com (roocha)Blogger204125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-8807722719146206108Sun, 28 Sep 2008 09:18:00 +00002008-09-28T06:51:47.087-04:00 Just when everyone thinks there is nothing more Haile can do, he pulls out another magic trick out of his bag. In today's race, Haile had an unexpected company up to 35km. Winning, let alone breaking the record, was in doubt according to race commentators. Haile shook off his last challenger after 35 km and showed his heart with an all out sprint on the last stretch to dip under the 2:04 barrierhttp://www.roocha.net/2008/09/20359.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (roocha)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-4731622353252472819Sat, 13 Sep 2008 18:04:00 +00002008-09-13T14:27:14.466-04:00Meseret Defar defeated Vivian Cheruiyot in the 5,000M at the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart avenging last week's defeat. It would have been a disaster had she lost. Glad to see her back on track. The the Women's 1,500M featured to huge Beijing disappointements. In the battle of huge disappointers Maryam Yusuf Jamal defeated the enigmatic Gelete Burka.http://www.roocha.net/2008/09/meseret-defar-gets-revenge.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (welemta)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-7203557008458213822Sat, 06 Sep 2008 02:50:00 +00002008-09-05T23:06:46.506-04:00Meseret Defar was defeated by Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN) in the 5,000M at the Memorial Van Damme meet in Brussels. Meseret was niped at the end by Vivian Cheruiyot. Looks like Meseret is not running with a clear head and she may have lost a step. Needless to say she needs to get back on track. Sileshi Sihine once again reminds us that he is one of the great 10,000 M runners to ever live by http://www.roocha.net/2008/09/meseret-defeated-again.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (welemta)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-917605945690811326Tue, 02 Sep 2008 02:18:00 +00002008-09-01T22:59:50.179-04:00 Kenenisa continued his rampage winning the 3,000 m at the Gateshead British Grand Prix in a World Leading time of 7:31.94. He has hinted that this will be his last race for the season. Despite him being in great shape and having an amazing year no world record will be set this year.http://www.roocha.net/2008/09/kenenisa-again.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (welemta)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-6852044832289653899Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:04:00 +00002008-08-29T17:50:37.130-04:00 It's back to the track for Kenenisa Bekele as he races in the Golden League meet in Zurich. Reader Zemede has posted a link to view the race live in about 30 mins. http://www.trackshark.com/videos/2008/goldenleague/ The race will be on at 3:35 EST 12:35 PST and 19:35 GMT. Zemede, thanks for the link. Update: Kenenisa set a World Best of 12:50.18 at the 5,000M. He had overcome poor http://www.roocha.net/2008/08/golden-league.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (welemta)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-1825005912654025416Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:39:00 +00002008-08-27T17:46:59.956-04:00OK. I admit I am tired of the Olympics. I am ready to move on physically and mentally. Physically, over the past two weeks I have been transformed into a couch potato. Browsing the net and flipping TV channels. Now, instead of watching others run I need to get out and do my own running. Mentally, I am tired of thinking and talking about medals, federations, events etc.. Before I move one I http://www.roocha.net/2008/08/beijing-closure.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (welemta)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-64116478885734202Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:01:00 +00002008-08-27T18:08:37.246-04:00We are ordinary guys. We found that we conversed about running a lot. We started this blog because we love running. We feel very lucky that people read our blog and we feel privileged that we can share our thoughts with you. When we started this blog we just wanted to write. We never had a firm plan so this blog has exceeded our expectations. The more we blog the more we run about running. We http://www.roocha.net/2008/08/we-are-ordinary-guys.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (welemta)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-5524510558073907095Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:06:00 +00002008-08-25T17:27:27.948-04:00With the Olympic over, the flag wavers are out declaring Ethiopia had a magnificent Olympic. Excuse me but are we watching the same Olympic? Perhaps we are living in an era of low expectations? Perhaps it’s in our nature to flag wave at every opportunity without exploring the underlying reality. Magnificent when your only overachiever is Tsegaye Kebede, a bronze medalist? Magnificent when you http://www.roocha.net/2008/08/if-you-are-not-growing-you-are-dying.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (welemta)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-4133831751058041006Mon, 25 Aug 2008 03:42:00 +00002008-08-24T23:51:36.260-04:00 It's all over! Next stop is London. What can we look forward to?http://www.roocha.net/2008/08/london-calling.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (welemta)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-5439615531383655762Sun, 24 Aug 2008 20:02:00 +00002008-08-24T16:19:15.737-04:00So we know Deriba Merga hit the wall. Who else hit the wall? Yonas Kifle hit the wall real bad. Martin Lel looked bad between 30km and 35km. Tsegaye Kebede was fading when he caught Deriba Merga who was fading even faster. The chart shows that Samuel Wanjiru was unbeatable. Gashaw Asfaw finished strong but he was too far behind. A few runners increased pace over the last 10K. The only runner http://www.roocha.net/2008/08/mens-marathon-who-hit-wall.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (welemta)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-217196948745794932Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:51:00 +00002008-08-23T22:31:38.340-04:00If you have not read the write up on Tsegaye Kebed at IAAF it's a must read. It's great to see someone like him succeed. The results are good. Two Ethiopians fighting for a medal albeit bronze. Given that is a young crew I would take this any day. Best of all, all three finished in the top ten. Tsegaye Kebede third, Deriba Megra fourth and Gashaw Asfaw seventh. It's a statement of the talent http://www.roocha.net/2008/08/mens-marathon-deriba-gave-it-his-best.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (welemta)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-8477966730940128220Sat, 23 Aug 2008 22:16:00 +00002008-08-23T19:40:09.482-04:00 “I am not experienced and it will be my first time running under our national colours. But I am confident about my chances. I will be going for gold.” - Tsegaye Kebede (ETH)http://www.roocha.net/2008/08/open-threadmens-marathon-live.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (welemta)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-1561377149073824967Sat, 23 Aug 2008 22:07:00 +00002008-08-23T23:45:56.121-04:00 Update: Samuel Wanjiru (KEN) ran 2:06:32. So much so for data.http://www.roocha.net/2008/08/fast-race-not.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (welemta)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-4986925621081778955Sat, 23 Aug 2008 22:05:00 +00002008-08-23T19:28:39.289-04:00So far in Beijing, the Ethiopian team has won six medals from three athletes. The mass of Ethiopians gathered at Meskel Square in Addis Ababa to watch the races have been elated, and rightfully so. Olympics are serious business in Ethiopia and every medal is highly celebrated. When we look a bit deeper into the performance of the team, it is hard to overlook the DNFs (drop outs) from Gete Wami, http://www.roocha.net/2008/08/beijing-2008-under-weather.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (roocha)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-7241146731486896415Sat, 23 Aug 2008 22:00:00 +00002008-08-23T18:41:04.565-04:00The 29th Olympic Games in Beijing is winding down and will be over in less than 24 hours. The show and the competition China has put on for the world has been amazing. For all the controversy that was expected- from politics to culture to weather- the games have gone on near flawlessly and China deserves big kudos. It has indeed been a game for the ages. Speaking of ages, literally speaking thishttp://www.roocha.net/2008/08/beijing-2008-one-for-ages.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (roocha)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-7241118044273110666Sat, 23 Aug 2008 19:15:00 +00002008-08-23T22:07:30.325-04:00 This guy has been in the news. After a short stint in an Gonder prison, Ethiopian-born Israeli Seteng Ayele(akaHaile Satayin) is in Beijing. At 53 or 46 years, whatever his real age is, he has no chance to medal but you have to appreciate what he did in Osaka where he finished 19th, ahead of 4 Ethiopian runners. Here are bits from a nice write up “After a race, after a difficult practice, I http://www.roocha.net/2008/08/and-then-there-is-seteng-ayele.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (welemta)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-8361165054455030956Sat, 23 Aug 2008 18:27:00 +00002008-08-23T15:00:02.406-04:00http://www.roocha.net/2008/08/marathon-gold.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (welemta)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-1874577760525208205Sat, 23 Aug 2008 14:49:00 +00002008-08-23T15:04:01.982-04:00This is a loaded marathon field. It normally takes pedigree to win the Olympics. The top favorites: Luke Kibet (KEN) - 2007 World Champion in Osaka. Recovering after being hit in the head by a stone by post-elections rioters. Mubarak Hassan Shami (QAT) - Kenyan-born 2nd Place finisher 2007 in Osaka.Tsuyoshi Ogata (JPN) - 4th in 2007 and 3rd in 2004 WC. He is hoping for "terrible conditionshttp://www.roocha.net/2008/08/mens-marathon-preview.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (welemta)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-1041348242850105932Sat, 23 Aug 2008 12:49:00 +00002008-08-23T09:12:01.577-04:00Two defeats by Hicham El Guerrouge have thought Kenenisa Bekele what he needed to know in this race. He did not fool around. He made the field run an honest 5,000. Bernard Lagat couldn't keep up with the pace and finished a distant 9th. Kenenisa Bekele is not known for being a great tactical racer. He usually just out muscles the field. He may just have acquired that lost art by running an http://www.roocha.net/2008/08/mens-5000-m-final.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (welemta)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-3263421252443719292Sat, 23 Aug 2008 12:07:00 +00002008-08-23T08:10:47.454-04:00Will Kenenisa achieve what Haile was not able to- winning the 5000-10000 double? WIll Kenenisa match Tirunesh and give Ethiopia the double-double? WILL KENENISA BECOME THE FIRST ETHIOPIAN WITH THREE OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALS??http://www.roocha.net/2008/08/open-thread-mens-5000m-fianl-live.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (roocha)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-9131097510401543260Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:59:00 +00002008-08-23T08:00:43.430-04:00Haile Gebrselassie is widely considered the greatest distance runner in history. Two Olympic Gold Medals, four World Championship Gold Medals, 20+ World Records, and great acumen in racing are chief reasons among many why he has been given such title. Haile has accomplished so much in the last 15 years that it has been difficult to imagine anyone ever outshining him. For all that Haile has http://www.roocha.net/2008/08/beijing-2008-chasing-greatness.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (roocha)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-3216651715645612798Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:53:00 +00002008-08-22T15:10:04.243-04:00 Three Ethiopian-born runners on the podium.http://www.roocha.net/2008/08/maybe-it-was-ethiopian-sweep-after-all.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (welemta)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-3356789645602251197Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:41:00 +00002008-08-22T14:42:49.706-04:00http://www.roocha.net/2008/08/let-there-be-peace.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (welemta)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-1878881218150586380Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:01:00 +00002008-08-22T14:45:24.650-04:00 This was a super-ridiculous slow pace. Tirunesh won it in 15:41.40. For perspective, the NCAA Division I Champion won in 15:15.08. It’s crazy to run at this speed at this level. At this pace all bets are off. It's anyone's game. The slow pace was dangerous as Meseret Defar tripped and almost crashed. The slow pace also opened the hole Elvan Abeylegesse exploited. Nonetheless, this was a http://www.roocha.net/2008/08/womens-5000-m-what-race.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (welemta)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-9190905814316965646Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:00:00 +00002008-08-22T04:16:26.947-04:00 We are in for a treat. The race starts at 8:40 am EST. If anyone knows of a working live stream please post the link it in the comments area.http://www.roocha.net/2008/08/open-thread-womens-5000-m-final.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (welemta)