News and notes for this weekend--August 19th & 20th...
After some time off from the blog to rest and recover from the IAAF World Track & Field Championships in London, glad to say that we are back!
Some news items:
Former Puyallup resident and reigning USATF 10000 meter champion Hassan Mead (left/photo by Paul Merca) competes in Sunday’s 3000 meter run at the IAAF Diamond League stop in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Mead will run in a field that is headlined by Nike Oregon Project’s Mo Farah, the reigning world and Olympic champion at 10000 meters, who is running in his final track race on British soil, as he makes the transition from the track to the roads.
The Müller Birmingham Grand Prix is the final opportunity for invited athletes to earn points towards the two final meets in the IAAF Diamond League series, the Weltklasse Zürich meet on August 24th, and the AG Memorial Van Damme meet on September 1st.
Saturday, three time winner Katie Mackey of the Seattle based Brooks Beasts will run at the Aetna Falmouth Elite Mile in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
Mackey, who became the first man or woman to win the Falmouth Mile three times, will face a field that includes fellow Beasts Natalja Piliusina and Hannah Fields, along with Canadians Nicole Sifuentes and Kate Van Buskirk; South African Olympian Dominique Scott, and last year’s third place finisher Heather Kampf.
Yorks faces a field that includes New Zealand’s Nick Willis, a two-time Olympic medalist at 1500m who competed in the 1500m at last week’s IAAF world track & field championships; American rising stars Craig Engles and Colby Alexander; and fellow Beast Garrett Heath.
For the first time, the races will be streamed on the New Balance Falmouth Road Race Facebook page. The link is available here.
From a few days ago, both British Athletics and USA Track & Field issued a joint press release announcing that the two federations will contest a dual meet at London Stadium next year.
Entitled ‘The Meet’ and hosted by British Athletics, the event will be staged July 21, 2018 at the London Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, East London, site of the wildly successful 2017 IAAF World Championships.
It will feature a new, fast-paced format designed to appeal to new audiences at one of the most celebrated athletics stadiums in the world in a two-hour format that will have a blend of running, jumping, hurdles, and relay events.
“USATF is thrilled to collaborate and innovate with British Athletes on ‘The Meet,’” USATF CEO Max Siegel said. “Team competition captures the attention of fans in a way that brings excitement, attention and focus to our sport. ‘The Meet’ will bring track and field back to the future by reviving dual-meet team competition in a way that caters to modern fans.”
“‘The Meet’ will provide audiences with a fantastic head-to-head match between British Athletics and USA Track & Field, and promises to be one of the biggest events in athletics in 2018,” said Niels de Vos, British Athletics Chief Executive Officer.
NOTE: The Falmouth Road Race, British Athletics, and USA Track & Field contributed to this report.
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