The track in Finland only has 4 lanes. I thought, How can they hold an international meet on a 4 lane track? I am running the 400 and I wondered what the final would be - only 4 people? But the schedule indicates that the final will consist of 2 heats. I am running the 400, 800, 1500, 3000 and the 8k XC.
--Coreen Steinbach, Syracuse Track Club
Hi,
We are in Helsinki having flown from Jyvaskyla last night. Words cannot express how wonderful this city is. I am utterly in love with Finland.
Yesterday was one long day. I paid the piper for doing so many events. The fact that I just did 4 events at Nationals two weeks added to impact. The 400 was first. There were 2 heats of finals because as I told you it is a 4 lane track. I was in heat two. The winner ran 70 secs - she is Australian and usually runs under 68. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th places ALL ran 74 point. I ended up on the short end of that stick and was 4th. My legs just locked up with @ 3 meters to go. The 1500 was two hrs later. I felt OK but the body was tired and the brain didn't know it!! I ran 5:50 ish (not sure of the final time) and was 4th. I got invited to run the 4 x 200 with the 50-54 team. We averaged 32.6 secs each and did not medal. Geesh, these women are fast.
So a Gold and a Bronze it is. Grateful and thrilled. This has been the experience of a lifetime.
Results:
1500m W60
400m W60
--Coreen
It is a quiet Friday. Everything - I mean everything - is closed in Finland on Good Friday. We took a beautiful walk to the harbor. It is cold but not miserably so. We have had sunny days but today is grey and flurries are here and there; very much like a Syracuse winter day.
My races are going very well. I led the 800 for @ 500 meters and was pleased with the splits. Things got crazy. Three of us were bunched up and I got tripped from behind and almost landed on my face. It was a total accident and the runner was profusely apologetic afterwards. I was third. Results:
The 3000 was yesterday. I led for the first k then a woman from GRB passed me. Kathy Martin is injured but valiantly tried to run the 3000. She dropped out after @9 laps. I stayed behind the leader who slowed to a veritable jog in the last k. I thought to myself, well I can just stay with her and save my legs a little. I was confident that i could out sprint her for the win in the final lap which I did. Results:
I really just love this country. I am having no problem with food it is very vegetarian friendly. Getting to and from the arena is painless.
Below is a photo of a gentleman I met track side who is an IAAF official. Do you think I could run faster if I had THOSE shoes??
Copenhagen
Hi!
I'm not running today - decided to scratch XC. I had made this decision before we left and am glad I did. The weather was very wintry here yesterday - snow and wind; quite forbidding. I heard this morning that the course was very icy and we didn't have enough for a US team anyway. Wasn't about to run on ice.
It is sunnier today and the snow has stopped. Yesterday when it was snowing so hard we still saw people going here and there on their bikes. I saw a woman in a beautiful long red skirt and red vest biking along as if it were a summer day. We also saw kids playing on a swing set oblivious of the weather. I'm sure that's what they do here - they have to be a resilient lot.
I have Fri and Sat off so we will do some more exploring then. This community - Jyvaskyla - is lakeside and there are 16,000 university students. Our hotel is in the heart of the town along a pedestrian walkway with no car traffic so it is very nice.
I am fascinated with the language - it is without a doubt the most obtuse, complex language I have ever been exposed to. Many people speak English so it is very easy to communicate.
We can take a bus to the arena. I went over this morning to run a little and check out the track before events started. It is a very nice facility and the track is motorized to banked or be flat. It isn't elevated at all so when it is flat you think it is just a regular track. I liked the feel of it a lot and more importantly it seemed well ventilated - at least at 8:00 this morning. Here's the thing and I think I told you this before, it is only 4 lanes. I thought at first when I heard this months ago - what the heck? How can they have an international competition on a 4 lane track? I checked for my 400 times and I had a semi on Sat and a final on Sun. I thought HOW are they going to do this? Who qualifies for the final on 4 lanes? So apparently the final is two heats.
When I checked in yesterday they handed me a sheet with "new rules" for the 200/400. So here's the deal: the 400 final will have two heats - the "medal heat" and the "consolation heat". I guess you have to win your heat or be in the top 4 times to advance to the "medal heat". The second heat is to decide 5-8 place. Fortunately, this does NOT apply to my race because we only have 7. We go right to a final now - no semi. There will still be two heats but the top 3 times win.
I am sure people are not happy with this arrangement. I guess the IAAF rules don't even recognize a 200 run on a 4 lane track. But obviously they 200's scheduled. But no records would be recognized.
800 tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.
--Coreen
Notes from Coreen Steinbach from her from 
