A couple of the Big Dawgs weren't out at night. Anyone know why? Was it part of the protest about having a mass start for the Night Champs?

-- Swampfox (wmikell@earthlink.net), September 07, 2000

Answers

If anyone was missing, I don't think it had anything to do with the protest (a number of elite runners were upset that the race was a mass start). Fredrick Lowegren initiated the protest and he ran the Natt-SM. Where there some specific missing Big Dawgs you were wondering about? I wonder if some top runners would skip the night champs because they don't want to get worn out. The night champs is part of the Swedish Champs Week (classic, night, short, and relays) if you qualify to run all of the champs, you might want to skip a race to keep fresh.

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), September 07, 2000.

It was Wehlin and Ivarsson and Birklin I was thinking of. In the case of Ivarsson, maybe he just headed home after the Classic since he wouldn't be running in the relay. But, who knows?

-- Swampfox (wmikell@earthlink.net), September 07, 2000.

It was Wehlin and Ivarsson and Birklin

I think I saw these guys in the short champs (though I don't have the results in front of me). So, they didn't go home or get injured. My guess is they just wanted a day off.

-- Michael (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), September 10, 2000.

It turns out that Ivarsson didn't run the Night Champs at least in a little part due to the fact that he was unhappy with the mass start, but mostly because by skipping it he could do the rest of the SM week without needing to take any special vacation from his job. Now, you may ask how I know this, but then how do you know your pineapple is really Hawaian? Or when the rooster is a scarecrow but not a flip- flop?

-- Swampfox (wmikell@earthlink.net), September 13, 2000.