THE BROOKS BLOG

"I hope runners and running fans across the country will join me this week in a long, loud salute to Brian Sell. Few American distance stars deserve it more. Ritz and Teg and Meb and Abdi and Alan and Ryan have lifted our spirits in recent years, and we needed that.

"But Sell punched us in the gut, took our breath away, and won our hearts when he achieved the Impossible Dream. In the decades to come, his story will be told, as it should be, to more young American runners than any number of sub-3:50s, sub-13:00s, and 2:06s. For this simple reason: Sell had to scrape his way to the top mile by teeth-gritting mile. You think he’s got an Alter-G in the basement? An altitude tent upstairs? Maybe, but I doubt it."

>>Read Amby Burfoot’s full post on Runner’s World here

Brooks T6 Racer

Now available for hungry road racers everywhere: the Brooks T6 Racer and Racer ST 4.

Simply put, these two shoes define performance for racing flats on all competitive levels. At the United States’ 2008 Men’s and Women’s Marathon Olympic Trials, roughly 30% of the athletes in the men’s race and 25% of the finishers in the women’s race were sporting Brooks racing flats.  Brian Sell’s shoe at the Olympic Marathon was a special version of the T6 Racer, and Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington captured her second world title in Kona last year in some Brooks T5’s. Now you can get the latest versions of these blazing fast shoes.

So what’s the difference between the T6 Racer and Racer ST4?

The T6 Racer provides an ultra-lightweight (6.1 oz), minimal, unrestricted, neutral ride. It’s designed for runners with an efficient stride who don’t need “a lot of shoe” when competing. The Racer ST 4 offers a bit more substance and stability for those wanting some medial support.

What changed compared to the last versions?

The uppers for both shoes were tweaked. The T6 Racer had the overlays in the toebox eliminated, which aided the flexibility in the forefoot. The updated upper of the Racer ST 4 focuses on even better securing of the foot to the base of the shoe, ensuring there is no wasted motion and that all energy is spent moving forward.

Of course, both shoes have cool new colors too!

Brooks Racer ST 4

Check out the latest interview with 2008 Olympian (and Hansons-Brooks athlete) Brian Sell, over at The Cassidy Feed. Brian talks about how he balances running with family and work… how every day is “try to beat Sell day”… and why he thinks hard work and dedication trump natural talent.

The Twin Cities Marathon hosted the U.S. Men’s Marathon Championships yesterday and Brooks placed four athletes in the top nine!! The race broke open in the last few miles, but for most of the race Hansons-Brooks athlete Mike Morgan led the field.

1 Fernando Cabada     2:16:31
2 Matt Gabrielson      2:17:38
3 Edwardo Torres      2:17:54
4 Mike Morgan 2:17:58
5 Mike Sayenko    2:19:18
6 Trent Briney            2:19:57
7 Chad Johnson 2:20:47
8 Fazil Bizuneh          2:20:52
9 Joshua Eberly    2:21:40

“Brooksie Half Marathon” in Michigan (yes, that is really the race name)  In the inaugural race with over 2500 competitors, four Hansons-Brooks athletes took the top four spots!

1 Brian Sell 1:08:19

2 Patrick Rizzo 1:08:19

3 Kyle O’Brien 1:08:19

4 Mike Kilburg 1:08:20

On the team side of things Brooks hosted two of the biggest cross country meets in the country between the Sunfair Invitational in Yakima, WA and the Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, PA.

Paul Short Run (4000 competitors)

http://eliterunning.com/photos/index.php?g2_itemId=158465

Sunfair Invite (2500 competitors)

http://www.flotrack.org/videos/play/74645 (great video from a local high school)

According to a story in The Flint Journal, Hansons-Brooks team member Brian Sell will be running in the inaugural Brooksie Way in Rochester, Mich., this Sunday.

While there is no prize money in the Brooksie Way, the race will include U.S. Olympic marathoner Brian Sell and some of his teammates from the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project. Sell said they will run the race as a workout at 5:20-per-mile pace in preparation for national events later this fall.

Also in the field will be former Boston Marathon winners Bill Rodgers and Greg Meyer. Meyer, 53, said Rodgers, 60, will run around 7:00 pace and that he will run around 7:30 pace.

Go Brian! Go Hansons!

Read the whole story here.

In 2007 Saturn equipped all of our Brooks field team, THE BROOKS GURUS, with new Saturn Outlooks. Our Gurus are in the field each week visiting specialty running accounts, attending group runs, working events, and can be found wherever runners gather! They now travel to all all of these events in style thanks to Saturn and after this latest car wrap……they will be showing some serious support of our star Olympian Brian Sell!! Check it!

Check out Brian’s post-race interview over at Flotrack…Thank you Brian - you did the USA and Brooks proud!

Beijing- Day 7
Marathon Day!!  Today was the Men’s Olympic Marathon and team USA ran well.  The young Kenyan stole the show by breaking the Olympic record by three minutes on a warm day here in Beijing.
Ritz, Hall, and Sell moved up throughout the race to end up 9th, 10th, and 22nd overall.  Sell was in 66th place at 10k and around 40th at halfway.  The team ran tough and no one left anything out there on the course!  This was the deepest marathon field ever assembled and the US should be proud.
The Hansons-Brooks ODP has come a long was since starting their partnership in 2003 and so has Brian Sell!  Congrats to both on their first Olympics and here is to hoping for many more!!!
Tonight we are off to watch the closing ceremonies and try some Peking Duck.  It has been a great experience here in Beijing and one none of us will ever forget.  I hope to see many more of our athletes running down the dream in London 2012!  Run Happy, Run London……….

Beijing- Day 6
Today we headed out for an early morning 10 miler and talked about all the possible outcomes of tomorrow’s race. I wouldn’t put anything out of reach for our team!! All three are very fit and from what I have heard all three have different race strategies which should make it all very interesting.
After our run we headed to the great wall of China! This was such an amazing site and we saw many other athletes there including Shawn Johnson from the US Gymnastics team. Such a small girl!!
The wall was so amazing and believe it or not….so was the lunch we had afterwards at a family style Chinese eatery. I find myself eating more healthy here than in the US, minus the occasional McDonalds run.
We are headed over to the stadium tomorrow at 6am to watch Brian’s race! There are 15 of us in the cheering section but pretty much the whole Ludus Tour group of 300 will be behind Brian and the US team! Can’t wait…..make sure you all watch and cheer for the team!
On a completely unrelated note I would just like to tell you that my bathroom has no tub. I pretty much shower in the bathroom itself and the water just runs all over the place. The water stays there all day and it is just kind of gross. You have to wear shoes in their the rest of the day so that you aren’t walking into puddles. Anyway, just FYI.

Here are two more updates from our Brooks track fan (Jesse Williams) in Beijing!

Beijing- Day 3
Here is a quick video from last night at the track. Ludus Tours does a great job here and they were nice enough to give us tickets to their suite!! We were like little kids in a candy store…

Beijing- Day 4
Woke up for a 6am and had my first Beijing rainy run! It actually felt really nice and we also found a great park to run in today as well. Has some breakfast with the Sell family this morning and they told me that Brian was doing some interviews today with NBC for their marathon coverage.
Yesterday the weather was pretty nice all day (just mid 70’s) but the forecast is still calling for marathon day to be much warmer. That is great news for Brian since he seems to do so well in harsh conditions!
Tomorrow we are off to do a little souvenir shopping and hit the track meet again. The US track and field team has been having a horrible Olympics! Hopefully the marathon team can end this games on a high note!