Bohemian National Cemetery II - Chicago, IL

Bohemian National Cemetery I - Chicago, IL

Books read in 2013

Between Here and April, Deborah Copaken Kogan
Bleed for Me, Michael Robotham
The Making of a Royal Romance, Katie Nicholl 
Prince Philip: The Turbulent Early Life of the Man Who Married Queen Elizabeth II, Philip Eade
The Black Box, Michael Connelly
The Painted Girls, Cathy Marie Buchanan
The Drowning House, Elizabeth Black
Killing Kennedy, Bill O'Reilly
Argo, Antonio Mendez & Matt Baglio
Mad Women: the Other Side of Life on Madison Avenue in the '60s and Beyond, Jane Maas
Marilyn Monroe: A Case for Murder, Jay Margolis
Amelia Earhart: The Truth at Last, Mike Campbell
Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, Stephen Rebello
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness, Susannah Cahalan
Detroit: An American Autopsy, Charlie LeDuff

Currently Reading: Top of the Morning, Brian Stelter

Track weekend

Jim Kirby

This past weekend had three huge track meets: Penn Relays, Drake Relays and Payton Jordan Invitational. There was an American record and world best set over the weekend.

At the Drake Relays in Des Monies, Iowa, many world-leading performances were set. Jenny Simpson won the 1500m in a world-leading time Friday with the time of 4:03.35. Simpson set a new Drake Stadium record time with that run. Sheila Reid was second in 4:07.92. My Oiselle teammate Kate Grace was third in 4:08.24. Sixth place finisher, Mary Cain, set the all-time high school record in the same race with a time of 4:10.77.

Michael Tinsley, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist in the 400m hurdles, improved on the world-leading time winning the hurdle event in 48.55.  Long jumper Brittney Reese is now leading the world this season with her leap of 22-9.25. Janey DeLoach-Soukup, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist, was second with a jump of 22-8. DeLoach-Soupkup's jump is now the second best in the world this season.

Penn Relays

Queen Harrison won the 100m hurdles Saturday at the Drake Relays with the fastest time in the world this season in 12.71. Harrison defeated the 2012 Olympic gold medalist Dawn Harper (12.74), bronze medalist Kellie Wells (12.78) and fourth-place Lolo Jones (12.79). All four ladies posted the fastest times this season.

Reese Hoffa, Olympic bronze medalist, won the shot put with a throw of 71-2.75. That throw is now the best in the world. Christian Taylor, the 2012 Olympic triple jump gold medalist, set a Drake Stadium record with a leap of 56-2. Taylor broke his old record of 57-1 that he set at the 2011 NCAA Championships.

At the Penn Relays Friday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the University of Michigan women's 4x1500m relay topped Oregon to win the title. Shannon Osika, Jillian Smith, Rebecca Addison and Amanda Eccleston won in a time of 17:15.47. Oregon was second with a time of 17:16.50

Roger Barone/Talk Radio News

Team USA Red with Lea Wallace, Brenda Martinez, Ajee Wilson and Alysia Montano set a new American record by 13 seconds in the women's 4x800m Saturday. The record setting relay time was 8:04.31. Team Kenya was second in 8:07.58 and Team USA Blue with Phoebe Wright, Geena Gall, Alice Schmidt and LaTavia Thomas was third in 8:10.99.

Team USA women's 4x400m relay team defeated Great Britian at the line with a time of 3:22.66 to Great Britian's 3:22.68. On the relay team was Jessica Beard, Natasha Hastings, Dee Dee Trotter and Francena McCorory. Team USA Red men's 4x100m won in 38.26 over Jamaica who finished second in 38.65. Members of that winning relay was Mike Rodgers, Justin Gatlin, Doc Patton and Ryan Bailey. The final USA relay team win at Penn Relays was the men's 4x400m. Team USA Red with Torrin Lawrence, Manteo Mitchell, Bershawn Jackson and Tony McQuay won in 3:00.91. Jamaica was second in 3:01.15.

The last big track invitational of the weekend was the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational at Stanford University Sunday.

Delly Carr/triathlon.org

The highlights of the evening were Ben True winning the men's 5000m over Evan Jager. True held off Jager at the line winning the event in 13:14.44 seconds. Jager finished in 13:14.60. True and Jager both achieved the A standard for the upcoming World Championships later this year in Moscow.

Betsy Saina of Iowa State won the 10,000m in 31:37.22. That is the third-fastest time ever run by a college athlete. Saina's time is the second fastest in the world this year. In the same race, Oregon's Jordan Hasay broke Oregon's and the Pac-12's record in the 10,000m in 32:06.64 to finish sixth. Even though she finished sixth, Hasay was second among the college athletes.

Colorado's Emma Coburn, a 2012 Olympian, broke the meet and stadium records and got an A standard in the women's 3000m steeplechase. Coburn won the event in 9:28.26. That time is the fastest in the world this season.

Alistair Brownlee, 2012 Olympic triathlon gold medalist, raced in heat 2 of the men's 10,000m at Payton Jordan. Brownlee finished second in his heat with a time of 28:32.48 behind Jose Antonio Uribe Marin (28:30.80). Last weekend, Brownlee won the Omegawave World Triathlon in San Diego. in 1:47:16. He was in the 10K at Payton Jordan because he wanted to qualify for the English Commonwealth Games team next year.

Glass City Half Marathon

I ran the Glass City Half Marathon Sunday in Toledo, Ohio.

It started to rain about 45 minutes before the start of the race. It was just sprinkles at first. I didn't mind running in sprinkles. The race started and I settled into a pace. When I heard a volunteer yell out 9:27 for the first mile, I knew this half wouldn't be fast. My goal coming into this half marathon was just to have fun and finish. That was my plan because I ran a 50K last weekend in Madison, Wisconsin. I wonder if I went the entire distance of 100K, what my legs would have felt like.

Coming by the second mile, my time was 18 something. I knew I needed to pick up the pace if I wanted to finish under two hours. That is when the sky opened up and it really started to rain. I ignored the rain as best as I could. As soon as my socks and shoes were soaked, I was worrying about developing blisters. Thankfully that never happened.

I kept chugging along and I crossed the 10K mark in 57:29. That really wasn't bad. I thought if I could keep up the pace, I could run it under two hours.

Somewhere around the 7-8 mile mark, I bumped into a guy I know. I said hello to him and he turned around and joined me on the course. He was there to cheer on friends. He asked if I was on pace and I actually didn't know because I hadn't looked at my watch in a while. We talked about some of our friends who were running the marathon. He said they were on pace and doing well. We said our goodbyes and then I looked at my watch. I slowed down while talking with him. Oops. When I crossed the 9 or 10 mile mark, I was two minutes behind. I knew it was going to be difficult to make that time up.

The last couple of miles were run into a slight headwind. I tried going faster, but I don't think it worked. I was also trying to avoid the major water puddles. But I think my feet found their way into all of them. My socks were soaked with water. I could tell my socks were heavier because of the water. I kept thinking that I was almost done and I could take care of those in a little while.

I was thrilled that I actually caught a few people and passed them during the last mile. Usually that never happens to me. As I entered the Glass Bowl and ran to the finish line, I noticed the big timer and I failed to have run under two hours. I missed the mark by 2:50. I finished the half in 2:02:50. That wasn't my worst half ever, but it is pretty good since I did run a 50K a week ago.

Even though I didn't break two hours, I'm glad I ran the race. I had a fun time, even with the rain and I love Toledo's course. I will be back for a fourth time next year. I'm just not sure if I will run the half marathon for the third time or the marathon for the second time.

Official Results - Glass City Half Marathon
Time: 2:02:50
Overall place: 883/2243
Age group: 62/223
Gender place: 352/1326

Track & Field

runnerspace.com

If you are a fan of track and field like I am, this is your weekend. There will be so much track to watch on TV and online. Take your pick of events: the Penn Relays, Drake Relays and Payton Jordan Invitational.

The Drake Relays from Des Moines, Iowa will be streamed live on ESPN3 tonight from 7:30-9 p.m. EST and will be on ESPN2 Saturday from 8-9:30 p.m. EST. The Penn Relays will be shown live on Saturday on NBC from 1-3 p.m. EST and Universal Sports Network live from 3-5 p.m. EST. The Payton Jordan Invitational will be streamed live on Flotrack on Sunday, April 28. To see the Invitational sign up to be a Pro subscriber on the site.

At the Penn Relays Thursday night, my Oiselle teammate Karaleigh (Millhouse) Foster won the Olympic Development Women's 5000m. Foster's time was 15:54.66 and set a new person record by 12 seconds. Watch the video of Kara's interview with runnerspace.com after her win.

Books read in 2013

Between Here and April, Deborah Copaken Kogan
Bleed for Me, Michael Robotham
The Making of a Royal Romance, Katie Nicholl 
Prince Philip: The Turbulent Early Life of the Man Who Married Queen Elizabeth II, Philip Eade
The Black Box, Michael Connelly
The Painted Girls, Cathy Marie Buchanan
The Drowning House, Elizabeth Black
Killing Kennedy, Bill O'Reilly
Argo, Antonio Mendez & Matt Baglio
Mad Women: the Other Side of Life on Madison Avenue in the '60s and Beyond, Jane Maas
Marilyn Monroe: A Case for Murder, Jay Margolis
Amelia Earhart: The Truth at Last, Mike Campbell
Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, Stephen Rebello
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness, Susannah Cahalan

Currently Reading: Detroit: An American Autopsy, Charlie LeDuff

1 Mile Road Championships

runnerspace.com

The USA 1 Mile Road Championships took place Tuesday in Des Moines, Iowa.

Thirteen ladies ran the race and my Oiselle teammate, Kate Grace, won the championship in 4:43.02 over Sara Hall (4:43.61). Defending USA 1 Mile Champion Heather Kampf finished in third in 4:43.69. Watch the women's race.

Garret Heath won the men's 1 Mile Road Championship in 4:02.79. At the line, Heath defeated Jeff See who finished second in 4:02.91. Coming in third was Leo Manzano in 4:03.59. Watch the men's race.

Women's 1 Mile Championship
1. Kate Grace 4:43.02
2. Sara Hall 4:43.61
3. Heather Kampf 4: 43.69
4. Sarah Bowman 4:44.09
5. Gabriele Anderson 4:44.80
6. Shannon Rowbury 4:45.39
7. Alice Schmidt 4:46.15
8. Renee Tomlin 4:46.73
9. Ashley Miller 4:40.29
10. Kellyn Johnson 4:50.74
11. Geena Gall 4:51.48
12. Meghan Peyton 4:54.10
13. Dawn Grunnagle 4:57.59

Men's 1 Mile Championship
1. Garret Heath 4:02.79
2. Jeff See 4:02.91
3. Leo Manzano 4:03.59
4. Craig Miller 4:03.60
5. Travis Mahoney 4:04.47
6. Miles Batty 4:04.53
7. Liam Boylan-Pett 4:06.11
8. AJ Acosta 4:06.34
9. Tony Filipek 4:08.52
10. Brian Gagnon 4:09.98

Mad City 100K

I ran the Mad City 100K (USATF National Championship) Saturday in Madison, Wisconsin.

I was really excited to be able to run this distance the 100K. I have been wanting to run this distance for a couple of years.

There weren't too many of us signed up to run the 100K distance. Only 16 of us all together. The morning started out pretty chilly in the low 30s. Most of us started the race with a jacket/long sleeves and pants. The race was started by another 100K runner who just ran the Boston Marathon. The Race Director thought it would be appropriate for him to start the race with a simple 'Go'. So we went with that simple word.

The first climb of the race was over a small bridge leading into the park. We had to run up the hill and come back down. The second hill was a very long incline. I don't know how long it actually was, but it was a grind. Once reaching the top of the hill/incline, we were rewarded with a downhill. The next hill/incline was about a mile later. Another tough grind that lasted a long stretch. The fourth and last climb of the loop was heading to the aid station at 3.8 miles. This climb wasn't as long, but it did it was still a tough one.

The first two laps went well for me. I was feeling great and was sticking to my game plan. I wasn't spending too much time at the aid stations and I was still running. During the third loop, my calves started getting tight. I knew when that happened, it wasn't going to be the day that I wanted. I kept running and somewhere during the middle of the loop the tightness loosened up. That gave me a sigh of relief. I thought I got through a rough patch and I could keep going.

Unfortunately that feeling didn't last too long. The tightness of my calves came back during lap 4. Besides the tight calves, I also developed hip pain on both sides. When that happened, I started a pro and cons list in my head of why I should or shouldn't stop at the next lap for a 50K. I ran another lap, which felt much slower then lap 4. When I was running to the finish line to complete my fifth lap, I had a discussion with the RD. I told him what was going on: the pain in my hips and my tight calves. I said I was stopping and he agreed that was probably best. There was no reason to keep running to try to injure myself. Running is too important to me. I finished running 50K in 6 hours and 14 minutes.


I was disappointed I didn't go the full distance of 100K. It has been my goal to complete this race for a while. On the other hand I am happy because I did run 31 miles and enjoyed myself on the course. I did what I felt needed to be done. So it was still a good day. Any day I can run is a good day.   If you are ever interested in running the Mad City 50K relay, 50K or 100K, I recommend it. The course is looped through the wonderful city, neighborhoods and lakes. It is so beautiful.

Favorite photos from April 15-19, 2013

Books read in 2013

Between Here and April, Deborah Copaken Kogan
Bleed for Me, Michael Robotham
The Making of a Royal Romance, Katie Nicholl 
Prince Philip: The Turbulent Early Life of the Man Who Married Queen Elizabeth II, Philip Eade
The Black Box, Michael Connelly
The Painted Girls, Cathy Marie Buchanan
The Drowning House, Elizabeth Black
Killing Kennedy, Bill O'Reilly
Argo, Antonio Mendez & Matt Baglio
Mad Women: the Other Side of Life on Madison Avenue in the '60s and Beyond, Jane Maas
Marilyn Monroe: A Case for Murder, Jay Margolis
Amelia Earhart: The Truth at Last, Mike Campbell
Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, Stephen Rebello

Currently Reading: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness, Susannah Cahalan

WNBA draft

David Butler II/USA Today

The WNBA draft took place Monday at the ESPN studios in Bristol, Connecticut. In the 17 years of the WNBA, there were three top prospects: Skylar Diggins, Elena Delle Donne and Brittney Griner. WNBA commissioner Laurel Richie said these three ladies will change the landscape of the league.

The Phoenix Mercury had the first overall pick and it was no surprised who they chose: Brittney Griner from Baylor. Griner left college as the second all-time scorer in women's NCAA history with 3,283 points. She is also tops the list of blocked shots, men and women's, with 748. Griner was the first NCAA player to score 2,000 points and block 500 shots.

The second pick was to the Chicago Sky. They chose Delaware's Elena Delle Donne. At Delaware, Delle Donne scored 3,039 points. That places her fifth on the all-time scoring list for the NCAA. Delle Donne was the second-leading scorer in the nation this past season with 26 points per game.

The Tulsa Shock had the third pick and selected Notre Dame's Skylar Diggins. Diggins left Notre Dame with school records in points (2,357) and steals (381). Diggins is the only Notre Dame player to have over 2,000 points, 500 rebounds and 300 steals in a career.

The 2013 WBNA season starts May 24 at San Antonio. The Silver Stars host Indiana Fever at 8 p.m. EST.

Round 1: 

01. Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury
02. Elena Delle Donne, Chicago Sky
03. Skylar Diggins, Tulsa Shock
04. Tayler Hill, Washington Mystics
05. Kelsy Bone, New York Liberty
06. Tianna Hawkins, Seattle Storm
07. Toni Young, New York Liberty
08. Kayla Alexander, San Antonio Silver Stars
09. Layshia Clarendon, Indiana Fever
10. A'dia Matthies, Los Angeles Sparks
11. Kelly Faris, Connecticut Sun
12. Lindsey Moore, Minnesota Lynx

Round 2:

01. Alex Bentley, Atlanta Dream
02. Sugar Rodgers, Minnesota Lynx
03. Kamiko Williams, New York Liberty
04. Davellyn Whyte, San Antonio Silver Stars
05. Nadirah McKenith, Washington Mystics
06. Chelsea Poppens, Seattle Storm
07. Emma Meesseman, Washington Mystics
08. Diandra Tchatchouang, San Antonio Silver Stars
09. Jasmine Hassel, Indiana Fever
10. Brittany Chambers, Los Angeles Sparks
11. Anna Prins, Connecticut Sun
12. Chucky Jeffery, Minnesota Lynx

Round 3:

01. Shenneika Smith, New York Liberty (from Washington)
02. Nikki Greene, Phoenix Mercury
03. Olcay Cakir, New York Liberty
04. Brooklyn Pope, Chicago Sky
05. Angel Goodrish, Tulsa Shock
06. Jasmine James, Seattle Storm
07. Anna Marie Armstrong, Atlanta Dream
08. Whitney Hand, San Antonio Silver Stars
09. Jennifer George, Indiana Fever
10. Alina Iagupova, Los Angeles Sparks
11. Andrea Smith, Connecticut Sun
12. Waltiea Rolle, Minnesota Lynx

Boston Marathon photo

John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe

Bill Iffrig, 78, lies on the ground as police officers react to a second explosion at the finish line of the Boston Marathon in Boston, Monday, April 15, 2013. Iffrig, of Lake Stevens, Wash., was running his third Boston Marathon and near the finish line when he was knocked down by one of two bomb blasts. 

My husband and I sat on the couch watching World News with Diane Sawyer on ABC Monday. The show was expanded to an hour covering the attack at the Boston Marathon. At the end of the program, photos from the chaos were shown. The photo above taken by John Tlumacki of The Boston Globe was shown on the screen. My husband and I both said what a great photo it is. A very powerful image.

This image by Tlumacki is the cover of the this week's Sports Illustrated. This image is iconic now. Anytime I see it, I will remember the Boston Marathon bombings. Just like the Thomas E. Franklin photo taken on 9/11 of the firefighters raising the flag at the destroyed World Trade Center.

Thomas E. Franklin

Boston Marathon

Michael Dwyer/Associated Press

The Boston Marathon was marred by two bombs that exploded near the finish line Monday. The blast killed three people and injured more then 140 people.

Before the day was ruined, there were many great performances. Especially from American runners. The women had two top 10 finishes in Shalane Flanagan in 4th place with a time of 2:27:08 and Kara Goucher in 6th place in 2:28:11.

Charles Krupa/Associated Pres

The women's race was won by Rita Jeptoo of Kenya in 2:26:25. Coming in second was Meseret Hailu of Ethiopia in 2:26:58 and Sharon Cherop of Kenya placed ahead of Flanagan in third with a time of 2:27:01.

The USA men had a fantastic day too. There were three American males that finished in the top 10. The first American to cross the line was unsponsored runner Jason Hartmann in fourth place for the second year in a row in 2:12:12. Daniel Tapia was 9th in 2:14:30 and Craig Leon followed behind him for 10th place in 2:14:38.

Charles Krupa/Associated Press

The close men's race was won by Ethopia's Lelisa Desisa in 2:10:22. Kenya's Micah Kogo was 2nd in 2:10:27. Gebre Gebremariam was 3rd in 2:10:28.



WOMEN
1. Rita Jeptoo KEN 2:26:25
2. Meseret Hailu ETH 2:26:58
3. Sharon Cherop KEN 2:27:01
4. Shalane Flanagan USA 2:27:08
5. Tirfi Tsegaye ETH 2:28:09
6. Kara Goucher USA 2:28:11
7. Madai Perez MEX 2:28:59
8. Diane Nukuri-Johnson BDI 2:29:54
9. Ana Dulce Felix POR 2:30:05
10. Sabrina Mockenhaupt GER 2:30:09

MEN
1. Lelisa Desisa ETH 2:10:22
2. Micah Kogo KEN 2:10:27
3. Gebre Gebremariam ETH 2:10:28
4. Jason Hartmann USA 2:12:12
5. Wesley Korir KEN 2:12:30
6. Markos Geneti ETH 2:12:44
7. Dickson Chumba KEN 2:14:08
8. Jeffrey Hunt AUS 2:14:28
9. Daniel Tapia USA 2:14:30
10. Craig Leon USA 2:14:38

Favorite photos from April 9, 2013

Books read in 2013

Between Here and April, Deborah Copaken Kogan
Bleed for Me, Michael Robotham
The Making of a Royal Romance, Katie Nicholl 
Prince Philip: The Turbulent Early Life of the Man Who Married Queen Elizabeth II, Philip Eade
The Black Box, Michael Connelly
The Painted Girls, Cathy Marie Buchanan
The Drowning House, Elizabeth Black
Killing Kennedy, Bill O'Reilly
Argo, Antonio Mendez & Matt Baglio
Mad Women: the Other Side of Life on Madison Avenue in the '60s and Beyond, Jane Maas
Marilyn Monroe: A Case for Murder, Jay Margolis
Amelia Earhart: The Truth at Last, Mike Campbell

Currently Reading: Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, Stephen Rebello

NCAA National Championships

Melanie Maxwell/AnnArbor.com

The men's national championship game took place Monday in Atlanta. The Louisville Cardinals played the Michigan Wolverines. The Cardinals defeated the Wolverines 82-76 to win the national championship.

Michigan went into halftime with a one point advantage over Louisville 38-37. In the second half, the Cardinals went a 12-3 run. Michigan was not able to make up the difference. Luke Hancock lead the way for the Cardinals with 22 points and Peyton Siva added 18 points.

National Player of the Year, Michigan's Trey Burke lead the Wolverines with 24 points. Freshman guard Spike Albrecht finished with 17 points. Albrecht was 4-for-5 from beyond the three point arch.

Dave Martin/Associated Press

Michigan finished the season with a 31-8 record and Louisville final record is 35-5.

The women's national championship game took place Tuesday in New Orleans. Connecticut Huskies defeated the Louisville Cardinals 93-60.With the win, UConn and Geno Auriemma won their eighth national championship.

UConn was lead by freshman Breanna Stewart with 23 points and 9 rebounds. Stewart was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. She is only the third freshman and the first in 25 years to be named MOP. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis chipped in with 18 points and 9 rebounds. Kelly Faris added 16 points.

The margin of victory was the largest in NCAA Division I women's basketball history. Connecticut finished the season with a 35-4 record. Louisville's record was 29-9.

Dad

John Wayne Clark
April 10, 1942 - August 15, 1998

Thinking of you on your 71st birthday. 

I miss you and love you.
Happy birthday Dad.

Spring Fever 2 Mile Open

I ran the Spring Fever 2 Mile Open Saturday morning. This took place at one of the local college's near my home. The race was run before a college track invitational started. There wasn't too many of us that ran the race, but it didn't matter. I was running against myself and my high school 3200m times.

The race didn't start at the common finish line like most high school 3200m races. We were actually running two miles. The race director had us back up to another line well behind the common finish line. When the gun went off, I was already well behind the leader and first woman. At that point it really didn't matter. I knew she wanted to finish the race in 13-14 minutes. I just wanted to finish in the 16s. 

I thought I ran the race smart. I didn't go off too fast like I always do in 5Ks. It seemed to me that each lap mirrored each other. Besides being very chilly, it was also windy. The backstretch was wonderful because there was no wind.. As soon as we hit the 200m mark and rounded the curve, the wind was hitting us in the face. Every time I hit the wind, I knew it was slowing me down. I just kept my head down and continued going.

I wanted to go the race without being lapped. The leader and I lapped the others in the race. I was lapped at the 200m mark when I had one lap to go. The winner finished the race in just over 14 minutes. As I rounded the curve coming up the home stretch, I looked up at the scoreboard. The time read 16 minutes. I wanted to finish up strong to try and beat my high school 3200m PR of 16:20-16:25. I was thrilled that crossed the finish line at 16:19.80. I beat my best time from high school. But that high school PR was for the 3200m and not 2 Miles.

I finished second overall and was the second female. I had fun running a short race on a 400m track again despite the cold and wind. That was the first time I ran a race on an outdoor track since my high school senior track season back in 1997. I would love to run a race on a track again. Hopefully next year.

Favorite photos from April 4-5, 2013