Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: Nine sweet days of running (marathon! 5000m! 100m! 10000m!)

Like most of us, I've been watching a bit of Olympics. For me, it's part of the job working on a news website -- it's good to get in the game of Olympics coverage. I'll be bookmarking and checking Runner's World (and Running Times) but mostly, I want to catch as much stuff live as possible. The beauty is that most finals take place prime time Beijing time which means those who have the week off (me!) and those who have TV at work (me!) can watch running mid to late morning.

This Saturday's going to be a doozy. The fastest man on earth? The marathon showdown? I'm really excited about watching Deena Kastor face off against Paula Radcliffe. Runner's World is calling for none of them to win (see their forecasts here). Unfortunately, I'm going to be doing my 30K race as the women are running so i'll have to PVR the thing.

You can see all the predictions on that Runner's World/Running Times page.

Then of course on the last day of the Olympics will be interested in watching how the Kenyans do in the Beijing climate. Also, since there are no Canadians running, I'll be rooting for Ryan Hall and Brian Sell and Dathan Ritzenhein. I'm so impressed by Hall but who doesn't like the workman story of Brian Sell.

Here are the times for the running events...

Eastern Time	Beijing Time	Event
Fri. 15 - 10:45 am	Fri. 15 - 10:45 pm	Women's 10,000m Final
Sat. 16 - 10:30 am	Sat. 16 - 10:30 pm	Men's 100m Final
Sat. 16 - 7:30 pm	Sun. 17 - 7:30 am	Women's Marathon
Sun. 17 - 9:30 am	Sun. 17 - 9:30 pm	Women's 3000m Steeplechase Final
Sun. 17 - 10:30 am	Sun. 17 - 10:30 pm	Women's 100m Final
Sun. 17 - 10:45 am	Sun. 17 - 10:45 pm	Men's 10,000m Final
Mon. 18 - 9:10 am	Mon. 18 - 9:10 pm	Men's 3000m Steeplechase Final
Mon. 18 - 9:35 am	Mon. 18 - 9:35 pm	Women's 800m Final
Tue. 19 - 10:10 am	Tue. 19 - 10:10 pm	Women's 400m Final
Tue. 19 - 10:50 am	Tue. 19 - 10:50 pm	Men's 1500m Final
Wed. 20 - 10:20 am	Wed. 20 - 10:20 pm	Men's 200m Final
Thu. 21 - 7:30 am	Thu. 21 - 7:30 pm	Women's 200m Final
Thu. 21 - 9:20 am	Thu. 21 - 9:20 pm	Men's 400m Final
Fri. 22 - 8:40 am	Fri. 22 - 8:40 pm	Women's 5000m Final
Fri. 22 - 9:15 am	Fri. 22 - 9:15 pm	Women's 4 x 100m Relay Final
Fri. 22 - 10:10 am	Fri. 22 - 10:10 pm	Men's 4 x 100m Relay Final
Sat. 23 - 7:30 am	Sat. 23 - 7:30 pm	Men's 800m Final
Sat. 23 - 7:50 am	Sat. 23 - 7:50 pm	Women's 1500m Final
Sat. 23 - 8:10 am	Sat. 23 - 8:10 pm	Men's 5000m Final
Sat. 23 - 8:40 am	Sat. 23 - 8:40 pm	Women's 4 x 400m Relay Final
Sat. 23 - 9:05 am	Sat. 23 - 9:05 pm	Men's 4 x 400m Relay Final
Sat. 23 - 7:30 pm	Sun. 24 - 7:30 am	Men's Marathon