Welcome to the Science of Sport, where we bring you the second, third, and fourth level of analysis you will not find anywhere else.

Be it doping in sport, hot topics like Caster Semenya or Oscar Pistorius, or the dehydration myth, we try to translate the science behind sports and sports performance.

Consider a donation if you like what you see here!


Did you know?
We published The Runner's Body in May 2009. With an average 4.4/5 stars on Amazon.com, it has been receiving positive reviews from runners and non-runners alike.

Available for the Kindle and also in the traditional paper back. It will make a great gift for the runners you know, and helps support our work here on The Science of Sport.



Thursday, April 22, 2010

Merga takes consolation prize in Boston

Ethiopian third in race, but is unofficial dancing champ

Like everyone else, our eyes are now on London this weekend, however we are still reminiscing about the amazing races in Boston on Monday.  In case you missed them, check our live coverage and post-race analysis before looking ahead.  

Our London preview will follow soon, but in the mean time we will have one look back at Boston.  This year Deriba Merga, the hard and aggressive running Ethiopian who won the 2009 race, looked well enough to repeat and reap the rewards from his early race attacks.  He and Cheruiyot went clear with many miles to go, although the young Kenyan dropped Merga en route to his course record.  Merga hung on for third but finished nearly three minutes back from the winner and lost another minute to second-place Tekeste Kebede.

But all was not lost for Merga, because some time after the race he went on to win an impromptu dancing contest between the elite runners.  Therefore The Science of Sport are proud to crown him the unofficial Marathon Running Dance Champion.



Special thanks to the photographer who was in the right place at the right time to capture this, and also for posting it, and also to our friends at LetsRun.com for the link.

Seriously now, all eyes are on London now so watch for our preview before Sunday!

Jonathan

3 Comments:

Anonymous said...

When I saw the word 'amazing', I thought he had done the splits, or break dance on back or even a 'moonwalk'.

Alas..what an exaggeration, sorry. What did we think, these guys don't like to hang out and do some bad dancing too?

Ross Tucker and Jonathan Dugas said...

Hi Anonymous

Where exactly did you see the word "amazing"? We used it to describe the Boston Marathon, which I'm sure you will agree were pretty amazing.

Not sure what you were expecting. No one thought these guys don't like to hang out - but have you seen this kind of clip before? I think it's a nice light-hearted view of the athletes, myself. Not an indictment of their dancing or social skills, or our misconceptions of them.

Regards
Ross

JM said...

The inability for a highly trained long distance runner to make powerful lateral moves is painfully evident here! ha!

I remember trying to play basketball near the peak of my marathon training

impossible!