Week 4

Friday, October 12

Red, White, and True Blue

Of the major contenders at this November’s U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Men’s Marathon, none has had a better build up than Arizona’s Abdi Abdirahman. Others may have had individual performances of note, or trained just as well, but Abdi has had two very strong years in a row, and enters the Trials as co-favorite with good friend, Meb Keflezighi, the 2004 Olympic Marathon silver medalist. Twice an Olympian at 10,000 meters, Abdi has run three marathons to date, each one significantly better than the last. If he continues along that improvement curve in New York, one of the three berths on the Olympic Marathon squad will almost certainly be his.

“He feels he can beat anybody,” says his coach, Dave Murray. “He doesn’t care who is in the race. He doesn’t go to be top 10 or top five. He tries to win. He has a better chance in the marathon than on the track to do that. But time means nothing; place is everything.” [More]

Thursday, October 11

Abdi, Mayor of Tucson

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Wednesday, October 10

Pushing the Distance

Coach Dave Murray stands near the finish line of the University of Arizona track looking east to the line of mountains framing the backstretch.  For 35 years, Murray had coached the Wildcats from this vantage point, producing such distance running standouts as Ed Mendoza, Amy Skieresz, Marc Davis, and Martin Keino. But Murray’s number one protégé has been Abdi Abdirahman, the two-time Olympian and three-time USA champion at 10,000 meters.

Tonight, Abdi, as he is universally known, is back on home turf under Murray’s careful eye, preparing for the biggest race of the year, the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Men’s Marathon in New York City on November 3. [More]

Tuesday, October 9

Abdi's Journey

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Monday, October 8

The Mayor of Tucson

Abdi Abdirahman makes the most of what life has given him

Abdi Abdirahman hopped into his black 2007 GMC Denali and rolled out of the driveway of his three-bedroom home on the far western edge of Tucson. The car’s 22-inch Scorpion rims glinted like torch-fire in the fading sunlight, a not-so-gentle reminder of the June day’s 107-degree heat.

“This is what I tool around in—the Mayor of Tucson,” joked Abdi as he slipped a CD into the dash. “But this one isn’t tricked out like my first one. This is just a stock model. The first had four TVs, 24-inch rims, and 12-inch subwoofers. This is more the mature Abdi.” [More]