THE BROOKS BLOG

Melissa White

Kudos to Hanson-Brooks runner Melissa White , who finished eighth at 2:32:55 in the 2009 Chicago Marathon on Sunday. White shaved five minutes off her personal record and was the second U.S. woman to cross the finish line.

Hansons teammate Patrick Rizzo finished tenth in the men’s field. He also achieved a PR with a time of 2:15:48.

>>Read the Detroit Free Press story

Good luck to Brooks athlete Scott Jurek at this year’s Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc: 166 km and 9,400 m of + altitude change! For updates check out Scott’s fan page on Facebook or his Twitter feed. Go Scott!

Desiree Davila of the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project finished 11th overall and was the 2nd American at the IAAF World Championships last weekend in Berlin!  With her time 2:27:53, Desi now has the second fastest marathon time for US women in 2009. Check out her interview below and take notice: Desi has cemented her spot as a favorite for the 2012 London team with this performance….Go Desi!

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Brooks held its first annual I.D. (Inspire Daily) Run Camp from June 18-21, 2009. Sixty-five Brooks I.D. members made the trip to Seattle for four days of running, fun, Brooks footwear and gear previews, and much much more. First stop: a tour of Brooks HQ in Bothell, followed by three intensive days at Crystal Mountain, near Mt. Rainier.

For recaps of the event, check out the blog postings of I.D. Member Jean Pommier, popular run blogger Frayed Laces, and Steve DeKoker, who runs the I.D. Program at Brooks.

Jean Pommier
Jean, a transplanted Frenchman who recently ran the Western States 100, lives and works in the Bay Area. Not only did he fully participate in all the activities at I.D. Camp—he also blogged each night. His posts are full of incredible detail, plus great accompanying photos.

• Brooks I.D. Camp - Day One (More Day One photos)
• Brooks I.D. Camp - Day Two (More Day Two photos)
• Brooks I.D. Camp - Day Three (More Day Three photos)
• Brooks I.D. Camp - Day Four (More Day Four photos)

Frayed Laces
Frayed Laces. a k a Laura Kloepper. is a highly popular blogger in the running community who was invited to the camp to participate, observe, and, of course, blog!

• Brooks I.D. Run Camp Part I
• Brooks I.D. Run Camp Part II
• Brooks I.D. Run Camp Part III
• Letter from Brooks I.D. Run Camp Day One
• Letter from Brooks I.D. Run Camp Day Two
• Invitation to Brooks I.D. Run Camp

Steve DeKoker
See Steve’s July I.D. Newsletter for his recap of the inaugural Brooks I.D. camp.

ATLANTA, GA. – Melissa White and Nick Arciniaga each had strong showings for Hansons-Brooks at the 40th running of the Atlanta Track Club Peachtree 10-kilometer road race. The Peachtree 10km also served as the 2009 United States men’s 10km road championships and drew a star-studded field of America athletes.

White finished an impressive 17th overall and was the 5th American female to cross the finish line in a time of 33 minutes and 37 seconds.

Arciniaga had a breakthrough performance finishing the race in 29 minutes 45 seconds for a new 10km personal best, bettering his old mark by a full minute. Arciniaga finished 30th overall in the deep men’s field and was the 17th American to finish.

The Hansons Luke Humphrey also had a solid performance, finishing as the 20th American in the field in a time of 29 minutes and 51 seconds.

Sammy Kitwara of Kenyan ran away with the overall title in his Atlanta debut. Kitwara covered the 6.2-mile course in 27 minutes and 21 seconds.

Abdi Abdirahman won the U.S. Championship in a time of 28 minutes and 11 seconds. Abdirahman was seventh overall.

The top seed in the women’s field, Lineth Chepkurui of Kenya, won her first Peachtree race in 31 minutes and 19 seconds.

With more than 55,000 registered participants, the Peachtree race is the largest 10km race in the United States. Participants from 47 states and the District of Columbia competed in this year’s event.

The normally balmy race began at 7:30 a.m. with temperatures in the upper-60’s with low humidity. The coolest starting temperature recorded since the event’s inception was 62 degrees in 1986 and 1989.

Joseph Kimani, of Kenya, holds the course record of 27:04 in 1996. Lorhan Kiplagat holds the women’s course record of 30:32, from her 2002 Peachtree victory.

Former Hansons-Brooks runners Nick Cordes and Leigh Daniel, now Brooks athletes, are racing three other couples to the altar on NBC’s “TODAY Throws a Wedding.”

You can help them win their dream wedding by voting for them: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30370935/. But hurry, voting ends Friday!

One online vote not enough to convey your best wishes for Nick and Leigh? Text the number 4 to 46833. Standard text messaging rates apply.