Re: t-and-f: National Depth--Marathon

[Dan Kaplan]

Is the men's marathon the most densely populated (by a few countries) so
far, or have there been others more lopsided?

Dan

--- Roger Ruth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> The charts summarize the number of athletes each country placed in the 
> world top-100 outdoor rankings for 2004 (plus ties) and the 
> highest-ranked of these. Since one or two placings may represent only 
> exceptional individuals, rather than national program strength, I've 
> listed only countries with three or more athletes in the top 100 (plus 
> ties). The data base drawn upon is the world deep list from Mirko 
> Jalava's web site . This use of the data is 
> with permission (his) and thanks (mine).
> 
> 
> MEN'S MARATHON 2004   
> Country Top 100 Highest
> 
> Kenya 47   1
> Japan 14  12
> Ethiopia   6  14
> Italy  5  21
> Tanzania   5  53
> Morocco3   8
> Portugal   3  34
> 
> 18 countries represented
> 100th = 2:11:27
> 
> 
> WOMEN'S MARATHON 2004 
> Country Top 100 Highest
> 
> Japan 18   1
> Russia16  14
> Kenya 13   2
> China  8   6
> Ethiopia   7  12
> United States  7  34
> Italy  5  25
> Romania3  12
> 
> 26 countries represented
> 100th = 2:32:06
> 


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t-and-f: National Depth--Racewalking

[Roger Ruth]

The charts summarize the number of athletes each country placed in the world top-100 outdoor rankings for 2004 (plus ties) and the highest-ranked of these. Since one or two placings may represent only exceptional individuals, rather than national program strength, I've listed only countries with three or more athletes in the top 100 (plus ties). The data base drawn upon is the world deep list from Mirko Jalava's web site . This use of the data is with permission (his) and thanks (mine).


MEN'S 20K WALK 2004			
Country Top 100   	  Highest

China20			10
Russia19			 1
Japan 7			23
Spain 6			 8
Mexico 5			12
Belarus 5			24
Ecuador 4			 4
Poland 4			 6
Italy 4			11
Germany 4			17
United States		 3			50
Colombia			 3			73

26 countries represented
100th = 1:23:44


WOMEN'S 20K WALK 2004			
Country Top 100   	  Highest

China20			 1
Russia19			 2
Spain 8			 6
Romania 5			 7
Italy 5			 9
Greece 5			20
Belarus 5			22
Portugal			 4			25
Australia			 3			 8
Ukraine 3			33
Japan 3			45
Mexico 3			57
United States		 3			91

24 countries represented
100th = 1:35:02

(Even if the walks aren't your favorite thing, it's fun to see the close competition between China and Russia in the 20K events.)


MEN'S 50K WALK 2004			
Country Top 100   	  Highest

China26			 3
Russia			 	11			 1
Italy 8			28
Mexico 7			19
Poland 6			 2
Spain 6			10
Slovakia			 3			32
Portugal			 3			35
France 3			38
Japan 3			44

26 countries represented
100th = 4:04:18


WOMEN'S 10K WALK 2004			
Country Top 100   	  Highest

Russia22			 6
China12			22
Spain 6			 5
Portugal			 6			 7
Romania 6			12
Australia			 6			28
Japan 6			36
Italy 5			 1
Greece 4			 3
Belarus 4			18
Mexico 4			52
Poland 4			67

25 countries represented
100th = 49:50.38

You may have noted that the top-ranking U.S. athlete in the four charts above is respectively #50, #91, #67, and none. I realize how little are my qualifications for commenting on the walks, and I have no intention of belittling the achievements of those who do participate in the event, but it seems to me this inheres in the country's very limited club system. As long as development of elite athletes depends on the college programs, and as long as the colleges depend on the high schools for basic skill development, and as long as there's no way any teenager is ever going to consider the exaggerated hip movements of racewalking to be a "cool" thing to do, there's very little opportunity for change. 

t-and-f: Ken Cormier- Lydiard influence propels him to Foot Locker National Title

[Ricky Quintana]

By Ricky Quintana
Interviewed on December 17, 2004
It seemed apropos that in the same weekend of Arthur Lydiard’s death,
Ken Cormier of Douglas, AZ(population, 14,000) would be the one in the
hunt for the title in the final 200 meters at the Foot Locker Cross
Country Championships in San Diego, CA on Dec. 11. Cormier, the west region 
champion,
had taken a page from the Lydiard method putting together three
successive 100+ miles per week during the summer and maintaining high 
mileage
throughout the cross country season.
Using a potent finish, Cormier powered past a tiring Andrew Bumbalough,
the south champion, to win the race in 15:22; just two seconds up on
Bumbalough. For the second year, an unheralded newcomer had burst on to
the high school distance running scene in a thrilling win.
Cormier’s path to success reads like a made for TV movie. After
finishing a dismal 79th place finish at the West Regional, 1:26 behind the
race winner, last year, Cormier vowed to win the region and the national
title this year.  Training in the hills around his isolated Mexican
border town, the home schooled Cormier ran night in day during the summer
reaching a peak of hitting a peak of 120 miles per week late in the
summer.
Unchallenged in Arizona during the cross country regular season,
Cormier won the state championship, improving by over one minute over his
junior time. He, then made due on his pledge, winning the West Region on
the hilly and challenging Mt. Sac course and the national title in San
Diego, CA.

RQ: After finishing 79th last year at the west regional, how do you
feel after reaching your goal of winning Foot Locker Cross Country
Nationals?
Cormier: It's kind of weird. It's been like a week. It's kind of weird
to look back and say ' Wow, I did that. I won the national
championship.' It feels great.
I've been on cloud nine all week. I really haven't done that much. I've
been happy all the time no matter what.
RQ: When you were coming back that last 200 or so and you were behind
Andrew Bumbalough, what were you thinking?
Cormier: When I started my kick, 200 meters out, I felt that I was
going to win it. I felt so strong and I was feeling so fast. I just thought
I was going
to win that final 200 meters. I just felt I could out kick him. It was
kind of weird. When you start to run really fast in competition, you
just kind
of black out for a while. It started to come to me and I was like '
Wow, I won.' What was going through my mind was ' I could do this. It's
just right there.'
RQ: When you were coming down the final 200m, you kind of drifted over.
Do you and Andrew collide at all?
Cormier: On no. I really felt I was in front of him. You have to veer
off the right to get to the finish line. I really didn't
feel like running a whole lot of distance. I felt like I was ahead of
him. I saw the tape and I was. I moved to the inside because I knew
it was the shortest distance. I had made that decision the day before
when I was looking at the course. It would almost be a straight line to
the finish.
RQ: It seems that you didn't have that much competition during the
course of the year.
Cormier: No, I didn't here in Arizona. I think my closest race was like
22 seconds. In a
way that was good. It really helped me to build up my confidence. I
would have liked to have run
some faster races in my season. I probably would have run faster at
nationals. It would have been
just a better run. But you know, it's just something you have to live
with.
RQ: What were you thoughts going into the West regional not having
raced against some of these kids?
Cormier: Going into the West regional, I knew I could qualify. That was
my only goal.
That was undoubtedly the best I ever felt during a race. Ever. When we
hit two miles, I felt like
we were jogging. I was so controlled. I just felt so good.
So that race really really helped my confidence for nationals.
RQ: What were your PR's in track?
Cormier: 9:20 and 4:18.
RQ: Were those at altitude?
Cormier:  No, those were actually at 1,000 feet. I was sick when I ran
those though. I was sick at
my state meet. Actually, my 4:18 came two weeks into the track season.
And then at state, I got really
sick and I had to drop all my races except the 3200m. I ran 9:20.
RQ: I guess there were no post season races for you.
Cormier: No, no post season races.
RQ: What were your cross country PR's last year?
Cormier: I think I ran 16:18 on basically the same state course. This
year, I ran 15:10. I think
I took off about a minute for 5k from last year.
RQ: Did you have an opportunity to see last year's race?
Cormier: Friday afternoon, me and a bunch of other guys watched the
tapes from 2000 to last year.
RQ: Did you have any flashback's to last year's race?
Cormier: Yeah, it was kind of like that. Withrow and me weren't
expected to win so it was kind of the same thing again.
RQ: You're home schooled and compete for your high school, is that
correct?
Cormier: Yes, that correct. Arizona state law says that if