Great Weekend Event at 2013 Running Summit East

"The will to win means nothing if you haven’t the will to prepare.” 

Juma Ikangaa, 1989 New York City Marathon winner

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend 2013 Running Summit East. There were so many outstanding coaches, athletes and experts attending the two-day event in Morristown, New Jersey, USA.

With Sage Roundtree, PhD and Matt Fitzgerald

Among the outstanding world-renowned speakers were the legendary Coach Joe Vigil, PhD, Coach Vern Gambetta, Coach Peter Thompson, Coach Andrew Allden, Sage Roundtree, PhD and Mark Fitzgerald.

The Agenda covered very informative sessions such as; Improving Running Mechanics; Training for the Middle Distances; Performance Weight Management for Runners; Recovery: The Key to Performance; Design More Effective Sessions with New Interval Training; Yoga Class; Effective Strength Training for Middle Distance & Distance Running; Athletic Success from Childhood to Champion; Brain Training for Runners; Run Faster by Finding Your “Inner Kangaroo” (via  Bio-Energetics & Bio-Kinetics) and; Yoga, Strength, and Flexibility.

With legendary Coach Joe Vigil, PhD

During lunch and dinner sessions, attendees had the precious chance to sit with the awesome speakers, ask them direct questions and share various experiences. It was truly great to just sit, listen, understand and appreciate the knowledge, experience and wisdom of the world-class coaches. The coaches also recalled the names of various famous coaches and athletes such as; Coach John Tansley (formerly at Glendale Community College, Glendale, California), Forrest Beatty (440 yards champion from Herbert Hoover High School, Glendale, California), Coach Vern Wolfe (University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California) and Dwight Stones (1972 Olympic Gold medalist in Men's High Jump). 

The vast amount of knowledge which was provided to the attendees covered; latest advanced fitness and training methods, techniques, as well as sound fundamental concepts. The coaches covered various aspects of relaxation, flexibility, stress management, endurance and performance. In addition, specific insights were provided on; strength, posture, stability, landing, agility, quickness, foot stride, and foot length.

With Coach Vern Gambetta

During the event, much to everyone’s surprise, Coach Vigil showed the video of his current athlete Brenda Martinez (USA) winning the bronze medal in the Women’s 1500 meters at the IAAF World Track & Field Championships held in Moscow, Russia. Coach Vigil got a standing ovation as Brenda Martinez was not even supposed to be on the medals podium.

Best part was to hear very insightful stories about legends and world-class elite athletes such as; Jim Ryun (USA), Usain Bolt (Jamaica), Kip Keino (Kenya), Ben Jipcho (Kenya), Ron Clarke (Australia), Mamo Walde (Ethiopia), Brenda Martinez (USA), Steve Prefontaine (USA), Lasse Viren (Finland), Emil Zatopek (now Czech Republic), Mary Decker (USA), Roger Bannister (UK), Deena Kastor (USA) and so many more.

Looking forward to attending 2014 Sprint & Speed Summit.


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