hello peeps...

Been a while but i have been a very busy boy!

Training and working has taken control of my life. I know training is going well when my social life gets boring and I start acting like its my stag party when i finally get on the beers! I race in two weeks in Bristol and hope to decide then if i will run the Chicago marathon 11th October or give myself another two weeks and run the Frankfurt marathon. 

Just got back from a very fun trip to Berlin where I watched an extremely well organised championships. Berlin did a great job and will certainly get my vote when they go for the next European Olympics!

I did not think I would be amazed by the Bolt Show again but I reacted the same way Michael Johnson did during the 100m! Wowza!

There were some great races during the championship that were down to a change of guard in many distances. The 800 and 1500 for the men and women were very open and all lived up to expectations. The only failing of the championships was the female 800m winner Caster Semenya and that fault lies at the feet of the iaaf (again).

I did enjoy a bit of banter with many people over the South African's gender (the top national anthems she should have collected the medal too are as follows:

Man I feel like a woman! - Shania Twain

Girls and Boys- Blur

Stand by your man - Tammy Wynette (especially the lyrics 'Sometimes It's Hard to Be A Woman')

I'm every Woman - Whitney Houston

and my personal favourite:

Can You Feel It? - Jackson Five

Pub jokes aside, I find it so sad that the governing body has failed the sport again. The iaaf failed the sport by bringing the winner (they officially allowed to run) into disrepute! They failed Caster's human rights by sending her out to slaughter whilst publicly questioning her femininity.

They only decided to investigate this matter two weeks before the championships (despite Caster being known to them 3 months prior)! Well done Lamine Diack (known as Lame Richard to his friends), you attempted to ruin the first athletic championships in decades not tainted with drug talk! Instead you decided to mismanage a situation that will no doubt ruin this young persons life! Kelly Holmes makes a very good point in this article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/8220188.stm)- she was humiliated being asked hours before a final to take a gender test in front of the whole world!

"She obviously has a manly build and even a deep voice but that means nothing especially at 4am in my local club!"  

What happens if Caster takes the test and passes? It is funny how the iaaf avoid drug rumours incase they get sued but decided to screw this issue up! I would put some money down now that she passes a test and the iaaf get sued! All of which would have been avoided if they actually had some control over this failing sport that has only been temporarily resuscitated by Sir Usain Bolt!

For years I have been asking myself the following questions over and over again - Why is it always athletics that hits the press with negative news like this? Surely other sports have these issues? If other sports do, does athletics have a problem managing these issues or failing to hide them under the carpet?

Can someone out there please answer this?