Want to be a PUMA-sponsored athlete?
Enter for a chance to get a 1 year running contract with PUMA. For the second straight year, PUMA is calling all unsponsored milers to the prestigious Mt. San Antonio College Relays (Los Angeles) for the PUMA Mile on Friday, April 16 at 7:45pm PST. The event will be aired LIVE on Flotrack.org. All entries must be received by April 9, 2010 via email. Submit entries to pumamile@puma.com.
For more rules/entry info check this page on Flotrack.
Ross Martinson from Philadelphia Runner discusses all the key items one needs as the weather gets warmer and runners start to head outside. He showcases PUMA’s Spectana alongside Brooks and Asics, and talks accessories. You need to watch this to get ready for the Spring.
The Spectana is PUMA’s most stable trainer, and also offers one of the most comfortable rides on the market. Maximum stability comes from the patented M2D+ medial support technology. It’s a lightweight, unrestricted, and self-tuning material design that works like corrugated cardboard – the inner waves combine structural rigidity with superior cushioning when and where you need it. For maximum cushioning, PUMA has lined the Spectana with full-length IdCELL and a dual layer OrthoLite X40 sockliner. Plus there‘s a few millimeters more blown rubber in the forefoot to guarantee a comfortable ride. Built on the widest platform PUMA offers, with some of the best cushioning available, the Spectana is a perfect match for runners seeking a comfortable everyday stability trainer.
Bored with the same old trainer?
Looking for reliable performance, but a little more excitement?
Then look no further - the Ventis has arrived.
Our latest entry to the neutral category, the Ventis comes packed with everything you’d expect from a high-performing everyday trainer. Sandwich mesh for better breathability. Best-in-class comfort with an Ortholite sockliner and EverFoam in the heel. Our patented duoCELL cushioning unit in the heel for maximum shock absorption. And our Fast Forward design allows for the most effortless toe-off in the industry.*
*says us.
Want to buy a pair of your own? US and Canadian fans at this link. EU fans here.
From the Washington Post: March 17 - Usain Bolt will compete in the rarely contested 300-meter race at the Czech Golden Spike meet in May. Organizers said today that Bolt will attempt to break the world mark in the distance on May 27 in Ostrava. Michael Johnson holds the current mark of 30.85 seconds. The IAAF does not recognize it as a world record, as the distance is not used at major events. Bolt will receive $30,000 if he sets a world best in the 300.
Also, Sky Sports published a recent article about and interview with Usain. The following are excerpts.
Following a hectic winter of media, charity, awards, sponsorship and ambassadorial engagements, most would not have been surprised if Bolt had started 2010 in lackluster fashion. But then again, this is Bolt we’re talking about; the 6ft 5in speed demon who has not only revolutionized athletics but also world sport with his laid-back, science-defying ability which has captured the hearts of the sporting public.
“That is my personality,” Bolt explained. “I don’t think it helps me to run fast if I am nervous and tense, so I just be myself. People seem to like it so I have kept doing it. Training is going well. I had a lot of engagements and functions to attend before Christmas so I was a bit behind in my schedule but now I am in hard training to get ready for the summer. I don’t enjoy the long-distance work in the winter but it is necessary to build a good endurance base. I took one month completely off training (after the Berlin World’s last August) but I was playing a lot of football and cricket so I kept fit.”
“I will probably run 400m in the future but not for a few years. I prefer to run 100m and 200m. My 2008 and 2009 seasons were great. I achieved great things and hope to continue doing well.”
What’s next for Bolt? First, the release of an illustrated book, detailing his global domination this autumn - with a full-length biography set to come out after the 2012 London Olympics - and secondly, the inaugural IAAF Diamond League competition this summer.
“The IAAF Diamond League should be great. Sprinting is very strong at the moment. Everyone is talking about where and when Tyson (Gay), Asafa (Powell) and I will race. It’s going to be fun.”
PUMA celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Boys and Girls Champs in Jamaica.
Who will be the next Usain Bolt? Who will top Shelly-Ann Fraser? In Jamaica these questions are regularly thought and spoken, most of all in the national stadium when the Boys & Girls Athletics Championships are taking place.
This year is the 100th running of this, one of the biggest high school events in the world. Each year a new set of under-19 talents show the world what they can do, and many Jamaican Olympic gold medalists start out here.
A 16-year-old Bolt caused a stir at the 2003 Champs, age 16, with his record-breaking 200m/400m double in 20.23sec and 45.30sec respectively. “It’s the biggest thing we athletes look forward to every year – I still go every year – it’s like the World Championships or the Olympics,” he said. “It’s very competitive – especially the relays – the atmosphere changes completely when the relays start.”
PUMA has been supporting this important event for the last decade, and is now one of the Boys & Girls main partners. Apart from a visual presence on advertising banners and bib numbers PUMA will again be present by supporting many of the top Jamaican high schools. In fact, PUMA is a full partner of Jamaican track and field from high school to the top athletes. We are not only supporting the national teams competing in the Olympic Games or World Championships, but also helping in the development of track and field on the island.
So when, 100 years after its founding in 1910, a new star rises at the Boys & Girls Champs, PUMA will be right behind them.
Does Usain Bolt ever stop winning? Fresh from winning his second successive Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award, Bolt’s presence in three commercials for the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) helped it win first prize in its category at the International Travel Trade conference in Berlin, Germany today.
The three commercials feature the 100 and 200 meter world record holder running around the island, pausing to admire Jamaica’s beautiful scenery, as well as everyday Jamaicans imitating his famous ‘Lightening Bolt’ pose.
We already posted two of the fun videos. Here’s the third, called “Pose.”
Today Usain Bolt was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for the second successive time at a star-studded ceremony in Abu Dhabi.
Bolt maintained his complete dominance of men’s sprint events in 2009, winning the 100 and 200 meters world titles in Berlin — both in stunning new world record times — as well as helping his nation claim gold in the 4×100m relay.
His performances last August mirrored those of 2008, when Bolt announced himself to the world when shattering world records when winning both sprints at the Beijing Olympic Games.
The 23-year-old is now the first man in history to hold the world and Olympic 100 and 200 m titles at the same time — as well as also securing both world record.
PUMA’s Delilah DiCrescenzo won the individual open women’s title Saturday at the sixth annual North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) Cross Country Championships at the Mt. Irvine Resort in Tobago.
The NACAC Championships contested races for the open men’s 8 km, open women’s 6 km, junior men’s 6 km and junior women’s 4 km.
In the open women’s 6 km DiCrescenzo (New York, NY) and Emily Brown (Minneapolis, Minn.), took control early and ran together until DiCrescenzo moved into the lead at 5 km, cruising to the win in 20:50. Emily Harrison (Flagstaff, Ariz.) moved up to take the runner-up position in 21:02 and Alissa McKaig (Blowing Rock, N.C.) took fourth in 21:35 and Erin Nehus (Indianapolis, Ind.) completed the score for the U.S. in 21:51. The U.S. women scored 12 points to take the team title, 14 points ahead of team Mexico.
Congratulations to Delilah!
Tennis great, Boris Becker, vice chairperson of the Laureus World Sports Academy, has hailed the line-up for this year’s annual awards. “When we founded this 11 years back we never thought we would have a field like this one that includes Roger Federer, Usain Bolt, Lionel Messi and Serena Williams.” Full story here.
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With Usain Bolt significantly faster than any man who has ever lived, I am surprised he is not tempted to make one brief foray on to the boards to claim the world indoor records. As we see in this week’s issue (News, page 6), he has broken up his winter’s training with some races. But if he just made one journey to an indoor arena, he could potentially etch his name into the indoor record books for many years to come. Continue reading here.
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Why Usain Bolt Was Not Time Magazine’s Person of the Year 2009. Phil Butler of Everything PR posts an interesting commentary including this line: “Con: Track and field is still essentially a fringe sport.” Continue reading here.
Wilson Kipketer is one of PUMA’s older athletes and is still the world record holder in the 800m. Kipketer, who was in Jamaica for last weekend’s Gibson Relays at the National Stadium, is a consultant with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) High Performance Training Centre. He warns that while it’s important for athletes to get an early start, putting pressure on young athletes could cause burn-out. “If we start when they’re still young, training them very hard will kill them before they grow up. They never get the maturity to understand the hardship of training, so we need to protect them from that and build them up slowly.” Read the full story here.
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I mentioned in an earlier post about PUMA’s Jamaica Project. We are very proud of this endeavor where we donate support and equipment to give assistance at the developmental level of the sport. Trackalerts wrote a nice article about the project and it’s manager Juliet Campbell, a former St. Jago athlete, who handed out the materials which included training and competition gear and camping equipment. You can read the full article here.
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The Jamaica Observer has an interesting article titled ‘the 400m dilemma.’ A 43.58-second clocking/split by Bolt on the anchor leg of the Racers Lions 4×400 meter team at Saturday’s 34th Gibson Relays, has reignited appeals for the Jamaican sprint king to contest the 400m. Continue reading here.
Posting a blistering relay split time in the 4X400-meter relay at Saturday’s Gibson Relays at the National Stadium, Usain Bolt also propelled his Racers Track Club to a record sprint relay victory in the 4X100.
Bolt ran the final leg in the 4X100 meters for the Racers, who stopped the clock at 38.08 seconds, erasing their own meet mark of 38.10 set last year.
Rising young Jamaican Yohan Blake, Marvin Anderson and Kenroy Anderson linked up with Bolt for the record Racers TC run. The Racers B team that included Antiguan Daniel Bailey, placed second in 38.84 seconds and MVP placed third in 39.37 seconds.
Bolt also contested the 1600-metre relay and delivered a smashing last-leg run that was clocked at a rapid 43.58 seconds. The double world sprint record holder had up to 20 meters to make up on the final leg after receiving the baton behind in fourth position.
Several Jamaican high schools have received additional equipment support from the internationally acclaimed brand, PUMA through their Jamaica Project.
The project is a planned partnership to assist Jamaica’s track and field athletes to produce more of the outstanding achievements which were evident at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the World Championships in Berlin the following year.
PUMA has been sponsoring with cash and kind Jamaica’s world level athletes in several sports for a number of years and this latest initiative was aimed at giving support at the developmental level.
PUMA’s Jamaica Project Manager, former athlete, Juliet Campbell traveled to the schools for the presentations and was very impressed by the response, “It was indeed pleasing to see the different teams assemble for the presentation and hear the athletes and their coaches express their enthusiasm and appreciation for the Puma support. There was clear evidence of a high degree of motivation, it tells me that the future of the country’s track and field is secure.”
Have athletes done all they can? An article from the LA Times thinks so. “But to many sports scientists, the news was evidence of a broader trend. They believe that human athletic performance has peaked, and only cheating or technological advances will result in a rash of new world records.” Continue reading here.
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Along with six others, Usain Bolt is being honored by Queen’s University, Belfast, this year with an honorary doctorate. The only athlete on the list, his doctorate is for distinction in sport. Source.
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Although the often discussed 600-meter clash between world record holders Kenenisa Bekele and Usain Bolt isn’t likely to happen any time soon, the two world record holders raced against each other virtually on Saturday, February 20th in the Virtual Run/Walk for Haiti sponsored by the New York Road Runners. Bolt will cover 400 meters while Bekele will do four miles. “I am delighted to take part in the NYRR virtual Run for Haiti and would encourage everyone to sign up and run for this worthy cause,” Bolt said in a statement provided by his agent, Ricky Simms. Source.
HarperSport has acquired two books by Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. Jonathan Taylor, publishing director of Harper NonFiction, bought world rights in a deal for an undisclosed sum. Taylor said: “Usain is the most iconic sports star on the planet and our global publishing plans for him are exciting and extensive.”
The first book will be an illustrated title, due to be published in October 2010. The second book will be a full-length autobiography, which will be published in autumn 2012, shortly after the Olympic Games in London.
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Bolt may have been the person to save track and field in the face of a number of doping scandals, as well as to highlight the merits of the junior school system. That’s according to International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president, Lamine Diack.
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Usain Bolt scored a goal and assisted his training partner and Commonwealth Games 400m bronze medalist, Jermaine Gonzales on Wednesday. However, in the end, Bolt was on the losing side. His team lost 4-3 in the Bob Marley One Love charity football match played at the National Stadium.
Source: trackalerts.