The Athlete's Lawyer

The wonderful Girls on the Run program is having its 2010 Reindeer Romp 5K race at Reston Town Center December 4th, 2010.  Girls of all ages are encouraged to participate, no matter what speed, training level or pace.  Race organizers suggest that athletes arrive by 6:30am, as the race begins at 7:30am.  It will likely be cold at that early hour, so dress in layers – you can always peel off a layer or two !

When it is cold outside, Triathlon Trial Lawyer Doug Landau likes to wear long sleeved shirts that he can pull over his hands to stay warm.  Having studied sports medicine, sports injury lawyer Landau has seen how important keeping a safe body temperature can be to athletes of all ages and sizes.  Another cold weather strategy to keep his extremities warm includes holding the hand warmers that skiers often use, as well as socks over cold fingers !  A lightweight cap keeps the head warm, and can be tucked in the waistband in the back if one starts overheating mid-race.  Mrs. Landau, also of the Herndon law firm ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. favors the UnderArmor type mock turtleneck shirts, as they keep her core temperature up, stretch and do not constrict.   There may be as many as 7,000 Northern Virginia girls & their “buddy runners” as well as 3,000 supporters, well wishers and cheer leaders !  The race logistics include: 7,000 Bananas, 5,000 Feet of Steel Barricade, 130 Volunteers and 7,200 Finisher Medals !

Runners warming up for the start of the Ashenfelter NJ 8km road race championship in Glen Ridge, New Jersey on Thanksgiving

The Ashenfelter 8K Classic (A8K) is a United States Track & Field-NJ Championship Road Race which is open to everyone… walkers, joggers, runners and racers. The race is produced by the Glen Ridge Educational Foundation. This traditional Thanksgiving Day running event will be held on Thursday, November 25, 2010.  The 8K (4.97 miles) USATF-NJ MASTERS 8K CHAMPIONSHIP has prize money awards (Age Graded, Male/Female, for USATFNJ Members Only).  There are special mugs for finishers in the Top 100, male and female.  Since 2000, the top 100 male time has dropped from 35:54 (7:13/mile) to 33:43 in 2005 (6:47/mile) to 32 minutes in 2008 (6:28/mile average pace) !  Doug Landau of the Herndon Law Firm ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. was still heading out when he saw the leader, sporting a Princeton Tiger singlet, heading for the finish line in under 25 minutes !  It’s a very competitive field.

To date, the Ashenfelter 8K Classic has raised over $100,000. Since 2005 the main beneficiary has been The Glen Ridge Educational Foundation, a not for profit 501(c)3 organization.  In addition, liek several other Thanksgiving time athletic event that Triathlon Trial Lawyer DOug Landau has participated in , this championship event was collecting used, smelly running shoes !  Joggers, walkers and runners could donate old or un-used athletic shoes to soles4souls.  Collection boxes were available at Fleet Feet Sports, Murdoch Shoes, and at the race Registration.

It is not often that one sees the Federal Government recall of high end, expensive bicycles.  However, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced a recall of 370 bicycles due to an unsteady frame.  According to Giant Bicycle Inc., the 2011 model Giant Anthem bicycles can potentially crack at the seat post, posing a fall risk for riders. There have been no reports of injuries as of yet, the company said.
According to the PR Newswire. Giant Bicycle dealers sold these bikes to athletes nationwide during August 2010 for between $2,200 and $3,500.  If you or someone you know has one of these bikes, contact the PCSC at once and make sure not to ride this unsafe sports product.

Team Hammer Down CrossFit (with Coach Todd Katz in the Blue shirt) successfully trains runners of all shapes and sizes

As part of the Herndon Virginia Turkey Trot 5k this year the Herndon Community Center race organizers are joining with Nike and their Reuse-A-Shoe Recycling Program. The run organizers are collecting used running shoes which will later be ground up into small pieces and used to make basketball courts, track fields, playgrounds, floor tiles, new shoes and apparel. Shoes will be collected at the Herndon Community Center until November 20th.  Injury lawyer Doug Landau of the Herndon law firm ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., cannot believe that someone would voluntarily take his smelly, worn running and athletic shoes ! If you have old rubber soled shoes that are no longer fit to wear, bring them to the Herndon Community Center on Ferndale and donate them to a worthy project (and give them a “second life” as a track or playground !).

Recycling rules from the Herndon staff to remember:

-We can only recycle athletic shoes (running shoes, sneakers,etc)
-We accept all brands of shoes
-No shoes containing metal
-No cleats or dress shoes
-No wet or damp shoes
-No sandals or flip-flops

The Chantilly Youth (CYA) U-17 BLAST girls travel soccer team won their last game today securing their season championship in the Old Dominion Soccer League (ODSL)

The Chantilly “BLAST” U-17 girls soccer team won their final season match 8-0 and secured their league championship this afternoon at Fairfax County’s Poplar Tree Park.  The Chantilly Youth Association (“CYA”) travel soccer team, despite sometimes being short-handed due to only 9 or 10 girls making it to a game because of other commitments, only gave up one goal this season.  More importantly, their coach announced that they had won the Sportsmanship Award as well.
Always playing exciting soccer, the purple clad CYA girls on the “BLAST” never showed any of the rancor or egotistical conduct that mars the records of other teams, especially in the ranks of major professional sports.  Furthermore, some of the girls compete for their high school soccer, cross country, tennis and other sports teams.  While Doug Landau coached several members of the “BLAST” when they were members of his CYA “Jumping Green Grasshopper” teams before they went up to travel soccer, they are now superbly lead by Coaches Ray and Irwin.  The team practices in Herndon Virginia near Dulles Airport, and plays its matches in Northern Virginia.  The “BLAST” was a finalist in the Spring 2010 U-16 Division of the Old Dominion Soccer League (“ODSL”) which fosters Travel Soccer and Sportsmanship.  Hoping to keep the roster together for another successful indoor season, Coach Ray noted that they may have to expand their roster if they are going to continue their winning ways in the U-19 division.

Road racing in Richmond is safe, fun, entertaining, challenging and popular thanks to the Sports Backers Triathlon Trial Lawyer Doug Landau has competed in the National Duathlon Festival, Monument Avenue 10km, HCA 8k, Cross Country Championships and other events in the Capitol of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

UPS bag drop at the Richmond Marathon Races - runners could drop off their bags and dry clothes after warming up and then pick them up after crossing the finish line

My wife participated in the Half Marathon, which had course amenities like junk food stops and wet washcloths.  Once again, the Herndon Reston area sports injury lawyer participated in the HCA 8km (5 mile) road race, along with Brodie Reid, who was also attending the “by invitation only” annual Virginia Trial Lawyers Association (“VTLA“) Advanced Workers Compensation Law Retreat.  Richmond’s races are famous for friendly and courteous volunteers who treat you like more than just a bib number.  There were musical groups at today’s race and one nearly every mile on the scenic course of the Monument Avenue event, along which several of Landau’s clients and lawyer friends live and work.  Runner’s World magazine  selected Richmond as a site for their Runner’s World Challenge and to confirm what the Sports Backers have been saying all along: The SunTrust Richmond Marathon truly is “America’s Friendliest Marathon”!

Defective bicycle products, components and frames can cause permanent and fatal injuries to innocent cyclists

Having seen athletes injured by defective sports products, Herndon Reston injury lawyer Doug Landau believes that if generally accepted engineering principles can reduce or eliminate the risk of permanent injury or death, then it is incumbent upon a manufacturer and supplier to do so or face liability for the harms and losses their products cause consumers.  There are some basic concepts that apply to manufacturers of consumer products that are placed into the stream of commerce.

When products are placed into the stream of commerce, the products must be reasonably safe.  Companies have a responsibility to eliminate all foreseeable hazards from their products, if feasible.  If hazards cannot be eliminated without jeopardizing the utility of the product or making the product prohibitively expensive, then the hazards must be re-engineered, guarded or re-designed so as to avoid injury or death.  The guards must effectively prevent accidents and not introduce other types of dangers into the product.For those dangers that cannot be safely or economically re-designed, consumers must bewared of all dangers associated with the use of the sports products.  Because there are strict time limits for claims against sports product and equipment makers, if you or someone you know has been injured by a company’s deceptive or dangerous product, e-mail or call us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. (703-796-9555) at once.

Herndon Virginia Triathlon Trial Lawyer Doug Landau took only 25 seconds per transition at the Hagerstown Duathlon, however, that is longer than many television commercials !

As a trial lawyer, Doug Landau has seen the attention spans of juries hearing injury case testimony in Court shrink. And while shortening his transition times to 25 seconds each at his last race in Hagerstown resulted in a first prize, even that length of time is too long according to many tv advertising agencies !

The importance of presenting the facts in an accidental injury case in short, easy to understand segments mirrors the shortening of presentations on tv, the internet and on PDAs. Television commercials are shrinking Read the rest of this entry »

The "Pink Bank" is the home of HPC - Herndon's Compu Trainer Bike facility where Susan Hefler trains current and future cycling and triathlon champions

The facts speak for themselves.  With top finishes in the bike portion of triathlons this season it’s official, Triathlon Trial Lawyer Doug Landau is now a better cyclist than he is a runner !  The Herndon Reston sports injury lawyer owes this improvement on two wheels to the intense winter training sessions at HPC in Herndon.  Susan Hefler is a top trainer of teen, elite and masters bicycle racers, and trying to stay with them is what kept Landau cycling hard all winter long.

Classes are starting, and HPC has acquired even more advanced VO2 max testing equipment.  So stop by our neighbor’s facility and check out Compu Trainer biking at the pink bank next to Great Harvest Bakery (home of the wonderful healthy free samples) !  Coach Hefler reports that over 100 cyclists have already signed up for the Fall training session.  To register, CLICK HERE

Anita Freres, who trains with HPC and races Doug Landau in the indoor Compu Trainer classes in Herndon, ran 20:01 and was a top 5k finisher

There were so many runners, joggers, walkers and families that even organizers needed several starting lines to accommodate everyone ! The Anthem Great Pumpkin 5k was staged in conjunction with the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce Oktoberfest which featured local restaurants, amusement rides, live entertainment and the Annual Pumpkin decorating contest!!

Reston Herndon injury lawyer Doug Landau was the runner up in his age group with a time of 20:24.  The ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. triathlon trial lawyer was 51st out of 1,393 finishers.

The Race beneficiary was the Inova Heart and Vascular Institute which provides the full spectrum of diagnostic and interventional cardiac services as well as electrophysiology, cardiac and thoracic surgery including minimally invasive surgery, heart and lung transplantation, and implantation of artificial heart devices. The Institute also offers prevention and risk reduction through classes and cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation.