A lot of athletes make the mistake of running before they are even healed and I have seen that too many times to do it myself.   HOWEVER, I do understand them better because I don't like not running and am itching to go on a run.

VIDEO: Khaliff Featherstone, Simon Gratz, wins the 800 at the 12/27 Marine Corps @ NY ArmoryVIDEO: Central Bucks East girls take 2nd in PA #1 time in the 4x200 @ 12/27 Marine Corps @ NY ArmoryVIDEO: Four videos from Christmas City Relays of 4x400 and 55 Hurdles VIDEO: Eight videos from Burdette Classic in field events and short sprints PHOTOS: Photo Gallery of Burdette Classic The start of the big meets in both PA and NY. The Christmas City Relays was host to 7 new meet records including a 12:28.88 DMR from Garden City.  At the Marine Corps Holiday Classic at the New York Armory Khaliff Featherstone, 1:58.09 800, Methacton, 10:33.47 DMR, Central Bucks East 1:44.81 4x200.  At the Robert J. Burdette Classic meet records fell in the boys pole vault, 15-01.00 by Tony Shirk, Phoenixville, and in the boys 4x800, 8:06.13 by North Penn.  Krais was a double-winner in the 60 hurdles (8.68) and the 200 (25.68).  Karen Shump, 46-07.75.  MileSplit will provide on-site coverage at both Marine Corps and Burdette. Also on Friday, at the first of four prelim rounds of this year's Colgate Women's Games in New York, Penn Charter's Elyse Wilkinson posted two strong marks, taking 2nd in the 800 and 4th in the 400. Upper Dublin's Vicky Gocht 5th in each of the same events. Syeeda Gee, Engineering & Science, captured 2nd in the 1500.Photo: Ryann Krais, Methacton, set a meet record in the 60 hurdles, split 24.8 in the 4x200 and won the open 200. Oh, and she ran the 4x400 as well. 2008 PA Indoor Leaderboard:  Girls / Boys

I jog-limped the last 2 laps and barely made it to the finish line…but I did!   But when I crossed the finish line, the shooting pain in my foot got worse and I couldn't walk on it anymore….HOLY CRAP, every time I tried to step on my forefoot, I almost fell down! 

 Schuylkill Valley senior Devan Coon has made a verbal commitment to Arizona State University. Coon is the defending champion and PIAA meet record-holder in the AA 400m dash, has medaled in the 200 and 400 nationally, and owns PRs in the sprints of 12.08 (100m), 24.42 (200m), and 55.17 (400m). More...

2008 PA Indoor Leaderboard: Girls / Boys On Sat 12/22 at the TFCAGP D2 Indoor Meet #4 @ Ursinus College, it was packed at the front of the 800 as Elliott Rhodes, now at Engineering & Science, was the only runner under 2. Five others were under 2:01.6, led by Holy Ghost Prep's Michael Pierce. Rhode's teammate Austin Perron was under 52 to win the 400. Wissahickon's Nick Crits took the 3000. At the TFCAGP D1 Indoor Meet #4 @ Ursinus College, LaSalle, Council Rock North, North Penn, Pennridge and Hatboro Horsham all cracked 11 minutes in the DMR. Neshaminy's Tim Mallory cleared a strong high jump. Pennridge's Craig Sherwood won the pole vault, and Darryl Thomas, Coatesville, took the shot. Lower Merion's Ben Furcht nipped North Penn's Brad Miles by 2/10th of a sec in the 3000. On Fri 12/21 at the DVGTCA Indoor Meet #4 @ Ursinus College, Conestoga ran the #14 all-time association and Ursinus meet record DMR. Downingtown East, Archbishop Carroll and Hatboro Horsham were all under 13 minutes. There was a flurry of fast sophomores at the front of the 60 meter dash. Seniors dominated the 600m. Meghan Lutz, Nazareth Academy, won the mile. Penncrest senior Karen Shump took the shot.On Mon 12/17 at the PCL Girls Indoor Meet @ Haverford College, Cardinal O'Hara senior Beth Kelly appears to be headed in the right direction following a tough cross country season. She captured the mile and the 800. Teammate Sarah Houtmann won three events. Archbishop Carroll senior Caitlin Storbeck was a wire-to-wire winner in the 3000. A day later at the PCL Boys Indoor Meet @ Haverford, the Seans were on... as Bonner's Sean Wilkes won the shot put with a big throw, and Archbishop Ryan's Sean Mallon won two events, taking the 800 and the mile. Steve Werner, Cardinal O'Hara, also won two, taking the 55H and the long jump. Ryan captured the DMR.  Photo Gallery: 12/17/07 PCL Girls Indoor Meet #1 @ Haverford College Photo Gallery: 12/18/07 PCL Boys Indoor Meet #1 @ Haverford College2008 PA Indoor Leaderboard: Girls / Boys

Openings at Octorara, Greensburg-Salem, Upper Darby, Chartiers-Houston, Saint Basil Academy, Strath Haven HS, Lower Merion HS, Gwynedd Mercy College, and Christopher Dock HS.

We received word Friday evening of sad news from Larry Wilson when he informed us of the death of his wife, Mercedes Wilson, which occurred on Friday, December 14, 2007.  The funeral service in her honor will be held on Saturaday, December 22, 2007 at 10:00 AM. More...

 Video of Chanelle Price's #6 all-time 1000m Dec 15 @ Bishop Loughlin Games in New York At Saturday's Bishop Loughlin Games at the New York Armory, Easton SR Chanelle Price began her assault on the US prep record books with a passing shot #6 All-Time 1000m of 2:47.85. Methacton's Ryann Krais won the 55H and was a close 3rd in the 300m to Central Bucks South SR Ijeoma Iheama. Simon Gratz SR Khaliff Featherstone ran a 1:20.84 for 600m and was 3rd in the 300m. Wesley Lavong, Methacton, won the shot put. His brother Carlton, was 2nd in the long jump and 5th in the triple. Holy Ghost Prep took 2nd in the 4x800. Tory Worthen, Council Rock South, took 2nd in the pole vault.  Story: Worth the Price - ArmoryTrack.com's Christopher Hunt talked with Chanelle Price after her race.  Photo of Chanelle Price by Tim Fulton, ArmoryTrack.com - a MileSplit.us Affiliate  Also on Saturday, at the TFCAGP D1 Meet #3 @ Ursinus, Craig Sherwood, Pennridge, cleared a 14' PV; and Jermaine Lowery, Father Judge, took the 60m H. In the TFCAGP D2 Meet #3 @ Ursinus, Engineering & Science zipped to a 3:32.2 4x400; and the 55m Dash was close with Ben Petrak, Kennett, Sean Unterkoeffler, Exeter, and Idris Kasumu, Springfield-Montco, all timed at 6.7. At the Dickinson College Invitational, State College SR Christie Johnson cleared 5-06 in the high jump, but amazingly had to settle for 2nd to a MD athlete, on misses. Strong 55m from Romarr Mayne, Reading and 55H from Harrisburgh's Leon Bullock. At the Franklin & Marshall Inv, Downingtown West's Christen Arnold leapt over 17' in the long jump and won the 200m. Lampeter-Strasburg SR Quinn Staley cleared 14-00 in the pole vault, and McCaskey's Bernardo Asencio busted the 8-second barrier in the 55H.  On Friday at the DVGTCA Indoor Meet #3 @ Ursinus, Conestoga won the 4x200 and 4x400. Council Rock North rocked the 4x800, closing in on 9:45. Coatesville SR Kaleena Gray got close to 42' in the shot. Phoenixville SO Courtney Kedra flirted with 18' in the long jump. Swenson showed a continuation of their depth, with Shanae Bailey winning the 60m and Anthonia 'Mouse' Ballard  winning the 60H.   On Wednesday, at the Hill School Indoor Invitational, Methacton's Ryann Krais and Spring-Ford's Heather Giovagnoli got in gear for the indoor season using diverse combinations of events with generally the same outcome, success. Krais is increasing her emphasis on the multis this season, and did two of the five Pentathlon events, two for wins.

On Sunday at the Seton Hall Games, Easton senior Chanelle Price posted the #12 all-time 500 meter dash, going 1:13.22. All DVGTCA and TFCAGP results posted. At the DVGTCA Meet #2 @ Lehigh, Karen Shump went two-and-O for the season with a 4-foot+ winning shot. Chester and Council Rock O'Hara battled in a close DMR. Rhian Jones, Haverford, and Alix Williams, Strath Haven, busted a minute in the 400. Also at Lehigh, in the TFCAGP Division I, Central Bucks East senior Josh Izewski eclipsed 8:55 in the 3000. Adam Haun, Council Rock South neared 22' in the long jump. Derek Hynes, Central Bucks South, cleared 14' in the pole vault. Joining him with the early state lead in that event was Phoenixville's Tony Shirk, who did it at the TFCAGP Division II meet. Holy Ghost Prep cracked 11 minutes in their DMR win. Penn Charter's Shawn David also long jumped close to 22'. PA All-Americans Neely Spence, Kacey Gibson and Carly Seymour - Photo by John Herzog At Foot Locker, Neely Spence moved into the top 5 at the halfway point and continued to move up into 3rd before finishing 4th. Carly Seymour finishes in 9th place after running in the top 10 for most of the race. Kacey Gibson earns all-american with her 12th place finish. Mark Dennin finishes 13th in the boys race. Vince McNally 27th and Chris Aldrich 31st. Click here for complete Foot Locker coverage. Click here for the rest of the weekend's meets, both XC and indoor PA's All-Time Foot Locker Results Story: PA's six Foot Locker Finalists left nothing on the course. Boys Post Race Interviews: Mark Dennin (PA) / Chris Aldrich (PA) / Vince McNally (PA) Girls Post Race Interviews: Neely Spence (PA) / Carly Seymour (PA) / Kacey Gibson (PA) Foot Locker Photos: Race Photos by Don Rich, John Herzog and Don Rich / Friday's Course Preview Foot Locker Videos: MileSplit Foot Locker Video Page (All Videos) Full Coverage on our national page MileSplit.US Boys Race Video / Girls Race Video Webcast Archive    

I haven't hit any really high mileage, but I'm happy to even hit 60 at the moment because of school, work, and running.  The semester has been pretty crazy and from the looks of it, it's only going to get busier!   But hey, that's what I signed up for!  The thing is that I am getting my teaching degree the same time as my master's, here in Switzerland you have to have a special degree to teach, but then of course, in Switzerland, teachers make as much as doctors do in the States and are much more respected, as they should be!