2011 Fannie Blankers-Koen Hengelo Games, official results, note by Larry Eder

(Flag of Hengelo, the Netherlands)

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It is early on Monday morning, 30 May 2011. I am just about packed up and am finishing some notes on the 2011 FBK Hengelo Games. The meet ended a few hours ago. I spent most of the evening watching a replay on Dutch television of the meet.

The meet, in its 31rst incarnation in Hengelo, was, by all accounts a strong success. World leading marks in the men’s shot put, women’s 1,500 meters, equal world leader in the men’s 110m hurdles.

That is where the statistics stop. For me, a track & field meet is all about the competition. In the sport of track & field, one is only as good as their last performance, and this meet proved that. Maryam Jamal is on a streak in the women’s 1,500 meters, and her move from third to take the win on the final stretch was exciting. The men’s 1,500 meters was even more agonizing, as the first four runners ran within .4 of a second of each other, fighting to the finishing tape.

The men’s shot put had World Champions from 2005, 2007 and 2009 battling with the 2008 Olympic champion, as well as the World Indoor champ from 2008. European medalists and Commonwealth games medalist abound, and, for all of the competitors, it was about the competition, as afterwards, they spent hours challenging each other to games of air hockey, golf and telling bad jokes.

The two 5,000 meter races were fascinating. In the womens’ race,  Meseret Defar’s leg speed is there and she is rounding into shape very well. But, so are the young runners behind her, and Defar will have to realize that any of those four women could be challenging Defar in Daegu in two months. And many more, but Meseret Defar seems to thrive on the challenge, like many in this sport. 

The men’s 5,000 meters had five men together with one lap to go. Yenew Alimarew, the Doha 3,000 meter winner, threw in surges here at 2,600 meters, 3,400 meters and just past 4,000 meters. When it came time to sprint, Alimarew was spent. This was Edwin Soi’s race, and his last lap of 59 seconds showed who was king today. Still spent, Alimarew still ran 13:02 and missed the win by less than three seconds! Yenew Alimarew will be dangerous wherever he runs. 

And then, there were the surprises. Danielle Carruthers is one of America’s top 100 meter hurdlers. Tonight, she showed it. Hurdling exquisitely, and leaning at the finish, Carruthers needed all of her experience to take this race from Kellie Wells and Dawn Harper, the 2008 Olympic champion, with LoLo Jones, the 2008 and 2010 World Indoor Champion, in fourth.
Besides the men’s shotput, the toughtest event to make the World Champs team on will be the 100 meter hurdles.

“ I got me a fearless heart…”

Two events, however, made me smile. First, it was the men’s pole vault, where some of the best athletes in the sport play chess with their attempts at clearing the bar. Tonight, Tim Lobinger of Germany, and Derek Miles of the US, both, 39 years old, went 1-2 because they a) actually cleared heights, b) assessed the challenges, and picked which heights to gamble on and which heights to hold off.

Tim Lobinger, 2008 Olympic Games, photo by PhotoRun.net

Then, it was the final race of the meeting, the men’s 100 meter finals. Last Thursday night, Kim Collins, the 2003 World Champion, was all but ignored in his 10.12 in taking fourth. The truth was, with the worst start in the race, Collins had moved up to fourth, in a race where Usain Bolt had to put in a real effort to catch Asafa Powell. His performance might have suggested good things to come.

On this cool, sunny Sunday evening, Kim Collins, a sprinter in his early to mid thirties, had a splendid start and capitalized on that early effort, to win the 100 meters from athletes much younger, in a good 10.05.

Kim Collins, 2003 World Championships, Paris/St.Denis, France, photo by PhotoRun.net

After the event, I saw Tim Lobinger, tying his poles on his car, and preparing to drive 600 kilometers to his next competition. He was smiling as I told him that every guy over 30, over 40, hell over 50, was cheering him on, after his victory. Lobinger smiled and laughed.

When I saw Kim Collins later that evening, his smile probably had never left his face since the race ended! Kim Collins recognizes how fortunate he has been as a world class sprinter for over a decade, and now, even in great shape, the wins may not come as often. But tonight, tonight at the 2011 Fannie Blankers-Koen Hengelo Games, Kim Collins, the 2003 World Champion, is on the top of the world. So should Tim Lobinger, and so should Derek Miles. All three have cheated gravity, and defeated athletes a bit younger than them…

Derek Miles, 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials, photo by PhotoRun.net

Steve Earle, one of the best writers of American country music, once observed, ” I got me a fearless heart, strong enough to get you through the scary parts, it’s been broken many times before, A fearless heart just comes back for more..”

Track & Field is about highs and lows, times when our words are
stuck in our throat, as five runners fight for each inch, trying to get
to the finish line first, or, for five straight throws, shot putters just throw the
shot out of the ring, farther and farther, until the most emotional
thrower of them all, lets go with a scream, begging the sixteen-pound
metal ball to defy gravity and go, farther, and farther, until we all
become just, well part of the throw, and, as we yell our encouragement when
the shot hits with a single Thud, we let out a collective roar, as we have seen an athlete at his or her best, and we have witnessed a hard fought
victory.

The pursuit of track & field disciplines makes absolutely no sense in this modern world. And, in that senselessness, comes the importance of running, jumping and throwing. Every time we run, jump, or throw, that little voice of practicality that is everywhere, gets quieter and quieter. The Greek poet Plutarch was right, as he once noted, a few thousand years ago,  ” I would rather excel in the knowledge of that is excellent, than in the extent of my power and possessions.”

A 10.05 100 meters is excellent, as is a pole vault of 18 plus feet, or a 5,000 meters run under 4 minutes and 20 seconds a mile, or yes, a seventy foot shot put throw.

Most humans will never achieve such performances. However, it is while at a sporting event, that we become something other than ourselves, for those few hours, we find importance in the strangest things-running, jumping and throwing.
  
Kim Collins, Tim Lobinger ( and yes, Derek Miles) all pursued senseless activites, and all have fearless hearts…and we are all better for those facts….