Running News Daily

Tyler Pennel is Ready for Long-Awaited Marathon Comeback At TCS New York City Marathon

With little fanfare, Tyler Pennel has quietly established himself as one of America's top marathoners over the past five years. Despite often being overshadowed by bigger names from high-profile training groups, he's won a national title, played a decisive role in the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, and finished in the top five at an Abbott World Marathon Majors race. But he's also dealt with a series of frustrating injuries that have disrupted his momentum and left some unanswered questions about his true potential.

With the next Olympic Trials looming this winter, the 31-year-old Pennel will make his comeback at the distance on November 3, at the TCS New York City Marathon. It will be his first marathon in 18 months and only his fourth race at any distance this year. "I'm a little nervous," Pennel told Race Results Weekly in a recent telephone interview from Blowing Rock, N.C., where he lives and trains as part of the On ZAP Endurance group. "That first race back is always a shock to the system. A lot of it is mentally remembering what it feels like to race."

Pennel grew up in Golden, Colo,, and had an impressive career at Western State College (since renamed Western Colorado University), winning the NCAA Division II title over 10,000 meters as a senior in 2012. He joined the ZAP Endurance group shortly after graduating and made his 26.2-mile debut at the Twin Cities Marathon in 2014, which doubled as the USA Track & Field championship that year. He pulled off a surprise win that day, setting a still-standing personal best of 2:13:32.

He carried that momentum into 2015 with a series of strong results on the roads and track (including lowering his best in the mile to 3:58.99), and headed into the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials riding high with confidence. Perhaps too high. On a hot day in Los Angeles, Pennel took the lead in the 16th mile and forced the pace for the next several miles. The tempo ultimately took a toll and he faded to fifth place in 2:14:57, missing a spot on the squad for the Rio Games by just under two minutes.

"The Trials was my second marathon, and I think since I had a good first one maybe I was a little bit overconfident," he says. "Initially when I made that move I felt great. That first mile that I led I was almost shocked nobody went with me. That's how good I felt. It wasn't until after I started pressing after that first mile of leading that it really hurt."

Since that disappointment, a variety of injuries prevented Pennel from consistently training and racing. He's put together some bright spots, including finishing eighth at the TCS New York City Marathon in 2016 and running to a gutsy fourth-place finish at the 2018 Boston Marathon during the now-infamous nor'easter that turned the race into a cold, wet and windy war of attrition. But after taking third-pace at the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta in July 2018 he didn't race again for 11 months, first battling a sacral stress fracture, followed this past winter and spring by a bout of osteitis pubis (inflammation of the tissues around the pubic bone). That's the same injury that plagued marathoner Laura Thweatt.

Pennel has been healthy since May, but raced sparingly during his preparation for New York. "The build-up has been really stellar," says On ZAP Endurance coach Pete Rea. "He was able to train through the summer and put together a full marathon build-up cycle. In terms of actual true consistency and healthy running for months and months, that had not happened for Tyler since 2016 until these last six months."

Pennel has been making adjustments to his routine to avoid injuries, including taking one day off from running each week. "If anything I would say he has really made a conscious effort to try to hit fewer home runs in training since, in some respects, that's what got him in trouble in the past," Rea says. "He's actually running more quickly at a lower intensity. He's working less-hard in terms of intensity, but it seems far more comfortable than it did a few years ago."

(10/29/2019) ⚡AMP
by Runners web

2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Marathon, registration now open

Qualified athletes may now register for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Marathon, to be held on February 29 in Atlanta, Georgia, USATF and Atlanta Track Club announced today.

Registration closes January 22, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

About Atlanta Track Club .- Atlanta Track Club is a nonprofit committed to creating an active and healthy Atlanta. Through running and walking, Atlanta Track Club motivates, inspires and engages the community to enjoy a healthier lifestyle.

With more than 30,000 members, Atlanta Track Club is the second largest running organization in the United States. In addition to the AJC Peachtree Road Race (peachtreeroadrace.org) – the largest 10K running event in the world, the Publix Atlanta Marathon, PNC Atlanta 10 Miler and Invesco QQQ Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon, Atlanta Track Club directs more than 30 events per year.

Through the support of its members and volunteers, Atlanta Track Club also maintains a number of community initiatives including organizing and promoting the Kilometer Kids youth running program to metro Atlanta youth, honoring high school cross country and track and field athletes through Atlanta Track Club’s All-Metro Banquets and supporting the Grady Bicycle EMT program.

 

(09/13/2019) ⚡AMP

Kenyan Geoffrey Kamworor will skip the World Championships at Doha, Eyeing NYC Marathon title instead

Having said earlier this month that he intended to contest the 10,000m title in the world championships for a third time. 

Kamworor, who recently won Kenya’s national championships in the 10,000m, says he prefers to focus on the TCS New York City Marathon, which he narrowly won in 2017 over countryman and former world record-holder Wilson Kipsang. It was Kamworor’s eighth marathon. This year’s event runs November 3, which is only 10 weeks away.

Kamworor, who has also won the world half-marathon championships three times, made the announcement today, after winning the 10,000m title over Rhonex Kipruto and Rodgers Kwemoi in Nairobi yesterday. (Kipruto ran the fastest 10K time on American soil at the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta last month in 27:01.

Kamworor was second in the 10,000m at the 2015 world championships, and sixth in 2017. The last time a Kenyan man won the 10,000m in the world championships was 2001, when Charles Kamathi took the title from Haile Gebrselassie in Edmonton.)

Sir Mo Farah of the UK has won the last three world championships, but Farah, too, has given up the track in favour of the marathon. He will race the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 13.

According to the announcement, Alex Oloitiptip has been selected to represent Kenya in the 10,000m in Doha.

(08/23/2019) ⚡AMP
by Anne Francis

Kenyan Stephen Sambu will be looking for his fifth Falmouth Road Race title this Sunday

After coming up a little short in his bid to become the first person to ever win five Falmouth Road Race titles after claiming four in a row from 2014 to 2017, Kenyan Stephen Sambu aims to make history once again on Sunday, August 18, in the 47th running of the Falmouth Road Race.

Sambu fell shy of the feat when Canadian Ben Flanagan shocked the field last year to become the first North American to win the race in 30 years. Sambu faded to a fourth place finish in the 2018 race.

With Flanagan out of action with an injury, Sambu is considered the favorite, along with his friend Leonard Korir, of the United States, to take the crown. Sambu and Korir battled in one of the most memorable finishes in race history in 2017, with Sambu edging his buddy down the final hill in the Falmouth Heights to take the crown.

Americans Sara Hall and Des Linden will return for the 47th running of the New Balance Falmouth Road Race to highlight the women's field.

Sambu won the New Balance Falmouth Road Race every year from 2014-2017, becoming the first four-time winner of the men’s open division in race history. The runner-up in two of those victories was Korir, a 2016 Olympian at 10,000 meters, who will represent the US this fall at the IAAF World Championships. In 2017, Korir nearly denied Sambu his place in the history books in a fight to the finish that saw both athletes awarded the same time.

Sambu and Korir will be challenged by a tough international field that includes Thomas Ayeko of Uganda, who finished seventh in the 2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships; David Bett of Kenya, who won the B.A.A. 10K in June; and Silas Kipruto of Kenya, winner of the 2019 Cooper River Bridge Run.

Massachusetts native Colin Bennie, who was the top American at the AJC Peachtree Road Race on July 4, and Scott Fauble, a top contender to make Team USA at the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials in February and the Falmouth runner-up last year, should be in the hunt.

(08/14/2019) ⚡AMP
by Rich Maclone

Stephen Sambu of Kenya and Leonard Korir of the U.S., Sara Hall and Des Linden will return for the 47th running of the New Balance Falmouth Road Race

Stephen Sambu of Kenya and Leonard Korir of the U.S., who together staged an epic battle to the finish line in 2017, and Americans Sara Hall and Des Linden will return for the 47th running of the New Balance Falmouth Road Race, organizers announced today.

The fields for the Wheelchair Division presented by Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital Cape Cod and the Aetna Falmouth Elite Mile will be announced next week.

Sambu won the New Balance Falmouth Road Race every year from 2014-2017, becoming the first four-time winner of the men’s open division in race history. The runner-up in two of those victories was Korir, a 2016 Olympian at 10,000 meters who will represent the U.S. this fall at the IAAF World Championships. In 2017, Korir nearly denied Sambu his place in the history books in a fight to the finish that saw both athletes awarded the same time.

Sambu and Korir will be challenged by a tough international field that includes Thomas Ayeko of Uganda, who finished seventh in the 2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships; David Bett of Kenya, who won the B.A.A. 10K in June; and Silas Kipruto of Kenya, winner of the 2019 Cooper River Bridge Run. Massachusetts native Colin Bennie, who was the top American at the AJC Peachtree Road Race on July 4, and Scott Fauble, a top contender to make Team USA at the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials in February and runner-up here last year to Canadian Ben Flanagan, should be in the hunt.

Flanagan’s season has been cut short by injury, but he will return to Falmouth to speak on a Past Champions panel at the Health & Fitness Expo, hand out gift bags at bib pickup and run with a group of local youth.

In the women’s open division, Hall – who finished second here in 2015 – comes in as the reigning USA 10K champion, and in her long career has won U.S. titles at distances ranging from the mile to the marathon. Fellow American Des Linden, a two-time OIympian and the 2018 Boston Marathon champion, will make her Falmouth competitive debut after running with the pack here last year in celebration of her Boston victory.

“It’s beautiful,” said Linden of the course after her 2018 run. “It helps you forget it’s really hard. Some really impressive things have been done on this course. It’s cool to cover it, and it would be really fun to race it.”

They will face a deep women’s field, highlighted by a trio of Kenyans: 2012 New Balance Falmouth Road Race Champion Margaret Wangari, 2018 NCAA 10,000-meter champion Sharon Lokedi and Iveen Chepkemoi, who recently finished second in the Boilermaker 15K in Utica, N.Y.  Also challenging will be two athletes from Great Britain: Lily Partridge, the 2018 national marathon champion, andTish Jones, who will compete in the marathon at the 2019 World Championships. 

Allie Kieffer, who finished fifth in the 2015 TCS New York City Marathon; Melissa Dock, the top American woman here last year who competed for Team USA at the 2019 Bolder Boulder;Molly Seidel, the 2015 NCAA 10,000-meter champion; and Nell Rojas, winner of the 2019 Grandma’s Marathon and daughter of Ric Rojas, who competed for Harvard and at one time held the 15K world record, round out a solid American lineup.

Three-time winner Caroline Chepkoech of Kenya will not return to defend her title.

First prize in the men’s and women’s open division is $10,000, part of a total $126,000 prize purse for Race Week events, which include the Aetna Falmouth Elite Mile the evening before the 7-miler. In addition, the men’s and women’s winners will seek to prevail in “The Countdown.”

A beat-the-clock handicap race, “The Countdown” features a finish-line clock that starts when the first woman breaks the tape, counting down the number of minutes and seconds the winning man has to beat, according to a pre-determined formula. If the clock runs out before he crosses the line, the victorious woman wins a $5,000 bonus; if it doesn’t, the winning man takes home the money. The time to beat this year is 3 minutes and 35 seconds.

(08/08/2019) ⚡AMP

Everything you need to know about the 2019 Bix 7 men's field

Last year, for the first time ever, a male runner from Ethiopia won the Quad-City Times Bix 7, overcoming the legion of Kenyan runners who always populate the field.

This year it might be time for a break-through from another African nation: Tanzania.

Gabriel Geay, a 22-year-old runner from the country directly to the south of Kenya, must be regarded as one of the favorites to prevail in the annual 7-mile jaunt through the streets of Davenport.

He already has had a phenomenal year on the U.S. road racing scene, winning the Lilac Bloomsday 12k and Bay to Breakers 12k in May and crossing the finish line first in the Utica Boilermaker 15k little more than a week ago. He also had top-five finishes in perhaps the two biggest 10ks around: The Peachtree Road Race and Bolder Boulder.

Geay first came to U.S. as a 19-year-old in 2016 attempting to run Olympic qualifying times for 10,000 meters and 5,000 meters. He narrowly missed in both but decided to stick around and run a few road races, and claimed his first big victory at Peachtree. He came back the following year to win Bolder Boulder and Lilac Bloomsday.

With the withdrawal of three-time Bix 7 champion Silas Kipruto from the field, there now is only one runner entered in the men’s field who has competed in the Davenport race as an elite invitee.

Kenya’s Kenneth Kosgei placed 12th in his only visit here a year ago.

Kipruto was seeking to break the Bix 7 record for most top-five finishes by a men’s runner — he has done it six times — but he informed race officials last week that he would not run because of a lack of fitness.

The Bix 7 men’s championship has been won seven times by a runner named Korir.

John Korir won a record five times (in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2004) and Leonard Korir did it twice (2013 and 2015).

This year’s race will include Kenya’s Dominic Korir. Korir (no relation to the previous Bix champs), who may be better suited to the hilly course than almost anyone.

Dominic Korir trains at high altitude in Colorado Springs and in April he won the Horsetooth Half-marathon, a race that begins with a grueling 1.8-mile climb up something called Monster Mountain.

It sounds even more imposing than the Brady Street Hill.

Jarius Birech will be among the most experienced Kenyans in this year’s Bix 7 field.

He’s just not that experienced in races in which he isn’t required to leap over hurdles and bound across small pools of water. Birech, 26, was the top 3,000-meter steeplechase runner in the world in 2014, winning the African championships and taking the silver medal in the Commonwealth Games that year. He twice has run the steeplechase under eight minutes, a feat that’s only been accomplished 38 times in history.

But he just now is starting to become more involved in events other than the steeplechase.

He has shown promise, however. Birech won a major cross country race in Italy earlier this year and also won the Crescent City Classic 10k on a very flat course in New Orleans.

(07/26/2019) ⚡AMP

Kenyan Rhonex Kipruto, 19, won the men's elite race with a record-breaking time of 27:01, the Atlanta Track Club said, not only that, he ran the fastest time ever on American soil

Spurred on by the chance to pocket $50,000 course record bonuses, Kenyans Brigid Kosgei and Rhonex Kipruto broke the women’s and men’s course records, respectively, at today’s 50th AJC Peachtree Road Race 10-K in Atlanta.  Kosgei, the reigning Chicago and London Marathons champion, clocked 30:22, ten seconds under Lornah Kiplagat’s 2002 record of 30:32.  Kipruto, the reigning world U20 10,000m champion, ran 27:01, just three seconds under the late Joseph Kimani’s 1996 standard of 27:04.  Both athletes were also awarded $8,000 as race champions.

Kosgei had to fight for her victory right to the line.  She was one of four women in contention at the four-mile mark (19:36), all Kenyans: Fancy Chemutai, Agnes Tirop, Caroline Chepkoech Kipkirui and Kosgei.  The quartet was still together through 5 miles (24:44), and appeared to be too far behind the course record pace to achieve the bonus.

“I think the race for the record is gone on the women’s side but we have an outstanding race,” said commentator Craig Masback on the NBC SportsGold broadcast.

Tirop was the first to be dropped when Kosgei accelerated with 26 minutes and 45 seconds on the race clock.  Looking back a few times, she continued to press the pace and appeared to break away to try for the record alone. But less than two minutes later, Kosgei appeared to have blown up.  Chemutai, the winner of the B.A.A. 10-K nearly two weeks ago, passed Kosgei.  Seconds later, Tirop also passed her.

Gritting her teeth and clearly in pain, Kosgei found some extra energy and rejoined the fight.  Using the downhill section of the course before the finish, she upped her pace and as the finish line came into view, and she and Tirop were shoulder to shoulder and running all out.  Kosgei angled to the right just before the tape causing Tirop to cut left behind her losing a step.  At the line Kosgei had a step on Tirop, but both women were given the same time of 30:22.  Chemutai ended up third in 30:32.

Kipruto mostly raced the clock today.  He passed through the one-mile mark in 4:21 (the lone pacemaker Brandon Lasater had already dropped out), and by two miles (8:25) only his younger brother, Bravin Kipkogei Kiptoo, was able to stay with him.  Kipruto blasted through the 5-K in 13:12, and four miles in 17:19.  His 5-mile split was about 21:50, which put him slightly behind course record pace.

But like Kosgei, Kipruto took full advantage of the final downhill section into Piedmont Park.  Sprinting full-out to the line with his unique toes-out running style, he got the record.

“Wow, this guy is a sensation,” said Masback.

Kipruto’s brother got second in 27:31 and Kennedy Kimutai, another Kenyan, finished third in 27:56.

The top Americans on the day were Colin Bennie on the men’s side in 29:10 (8th place) and Emily Sisson on the women’s side in 32:03 (7th place).

About 60,000 runners entered the race today which was founded by the Atlanta Track Club in 1970 when only 122 athletes finished.  It is now the world’s largest fully-scored 10-K.

(07/04/2019) ⚡AMP
by David Monti

Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins has a fondness for the AJC Peachtree Road Race

His connection to the world’s largest 10K race, which celebrates its 50th running Thursday, goes deep.

Not only has Collins himself run it, but his father, Billy, ran in the first Peachtree in 1970. Billy Collins, who died in 2015 at the age of 64, loved the Peachtree, Geoff Collins said.Beyond that, Collins grew up in a family of runners for whom the Peachtree was an annual event. 

Collins, himself a runner growing up who has one marathon to his credit, has memories that may sound familiar to many Atlantans. Members of the Collins family ran the 6.2-mile race in the morning, “and then we would have a huge family barbecue in the Briarcliff area,” he said. 

“That was a great tradition for our entire family for a long, long time, centered around the Peachtree Road Race.” Billy Collins was no mere casual jogger, an identity that hardly existed in 1970 before the running boom took hold in the U.S. To be a competitive runner at that time required a different outlook and mindset, according to Jeff Galloway, the winner of that first Peachtree. Galloway went on to compete in the 10,000 meters in the 1972 Olympics and become an esteemed elder in the Atlanta running community.

“Even though the highly competitive, focused runners are still looked on as a little obsessive – or a lot obsessive –the bottom line today is that there are a lot of people who are running and understand the benefits of running,” Galloway said.Back then, there was no such consensus, at least among non-runners. It makes Billy Collins, then 19, stand out all the more.

Collins, in fact, blazed through the first Peachtree, finishing in 40 minutes, seven seconds, good for 19th among the 110 finishers, a group that has earned prized status as pioneers in a cherished event.

(07/02/2019) ⚡AMP
by Ken Sugiura

America’s Biggest Road Race Is Atlanta’s Fourth of July Tradition

Thursday will be the 50th running of the Peachtree Road Race, a 10K that has become an Atlanta Fourth of July tradition. The idea for the race came in 1969 when Tim Singleton, then Georgia State University’s cross-country coach, and a few friends were driving back to Atlanta after running a Fourth of July race in Fort Benning, Ga. They thought, why not create one ourselves?

“July 4, 1970, was that first Peachtree with 110 finishers. We call those our original 110,” said Rich Kenah, executive director of the Atlanta Track Club, and Peachtree’s race director. (Singleton died in 2013.)

Now the event is the largest race in the country, with 54,570 finishers in 2018, and Kenah expects the number to be closer to 60,000 this year. (For comparison, the New York City Marathon had 52,813 finishers last year.) It’s a draw for pros, too, with $200,000 in bonus prize money up for grabs. The race has also doubled as the U.S. 10K women’s championships three times, and the men’s 10K championships four times. It even has its own shoe.

But what about the heat?, I asked Kenah.

“If you live in the southeast, you’re accustomed to hot, humid conditions through the summer,” he said. “It is what in part keeps Peachtree special.”

If you’re thinking of hopping in this year — too late. The race is sold out. You either need to be a member of the Atlanta Track Club, or gain entry through a lottery to make it in for 2020.

(06/30/2019) ⚡AMP

Kenya´s Rhonex Kipruto will be the man to beat at AJC Peachtree Road Race

On July 4, Kipruto will be chasing an even-larger bonus at the AJC Peachtree Road Race —$50,000 in honor of its 50th Running - for breaking the event record of 27:04."I wouldn't put it past him," said Sam Grotewold, director of professional athletes at New York Road Runners, which puts on the Central Park race. 

"You could tell (in New York) that you were watching something special even from the first mile or two." And that New York race wouldn't even be Kipruto's fastest 10K of 2018: In September, he won the Birell Grand Prix Prague 10K in 26:46, just two seconds off Komon's world record.

Set by Joseph Kimani in 1996, the Peachtree event record of 27:04 still stands as the fastest 10K ever run in the U.S. and is tied for ninth-fastest in the world. (The net downhill elevation of the Peachtree course means that times here are not eligible for official U.S. or world records.)  

Kipruto said recently that his training is going well, declaring: "I am ready to tackle the race."Coached by the famed Brother Colm O'Connell, an Irish missionary at St. Patrick's school in Iten, Kenya, Kipruto finished sixth in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships earlier this year and is coming off a victory at the Stockholm Diamond League meet on May 30 in 26:50.16. 

That's not only the fastest 10,000 meters on the track since the 2017 World Championships, but one of the fastest in almost eight years.  And he's only 19 years old.  "Distance runners run better as they get into their late 20s," said Jeff Galloway, winner of the inaugural Peachtree in 1970.

(06/29/2019) ⚡AMP

For the first time in its 48-year history, the NYRR Mini 10K, will host the USATF 10K championships

For the first time in its 48-year history, the NYRR Mini 10K, which takes place in New York’s Central Park on Saturday, will host the USATF 10K championships. Stephanie Bruce will step up to defend her national title, which she earned at last year’s Peachtree Road Race. (She was seventh at the Mini 10K last year.) If she wins, she will earn USD $20,000.

Bruce is also the reigning American half-marathon champion.

Americans Aliphine Tuliamuk, Emily Sisson and American marathon record-holder Deena Kastor, all past national 10K champions (Tuliamuk in 2017, Sisson in 2016, Kastor in 2007) will join Bruce on the start line, as will Jordan Hasay, Sara Hall and Laura Thweatt.

USATF.TV will broadcast the race live starting at 7:40 a.m. ET. 

(06/07/2019) ⚡AMP

The NYRR New York Mini 10K will Host Women’s USATF 10 km championship

The NYRR New York Mini 10K, the world’s original women-only road race, will serve as this year’s USATF 10 km Championships for women on Saturday, June 8, New York Road Runners announced today. More than 200,000 women have finished the race since it began in 1972, making it one of the most impactful women’s races in running history, and it will be the first time it plays host to a national championship race.

“The Mini is one of road running’s crown jewels, and by adding the USATF 10 km Championships to the mix, the 2019 race will be one for the books,” said Chris Weiller, who heads up professional athletics for NYRR. “New York Road Runners has a proud history of supporting women’s athletics. To host what is sure to be an amazing group of American athletes, led by Stephanie Bruce, is an honor for us and a privilege for New York City.”

Taking part in this year’s USATF 10 km Championships will be Stephanie Bruce, who won her first national title in her decade-long career in 2018 when the USATF 10 km Championships was hosted by the AJC Peachtree Road Race; she also finished seventh at the NYRR New York Mini 10K last year.

“The NYRR New York Mini 10K has a storied tradition and I’ve been racing it since 2009,” Bruce said. “It has long been one of my favorite events as a professional. I was thrilled to hear NYRR received the bid to host the USATF 10 km Championships in 2019. I look forward to lining up against a stellar field, as I look to defend my 10K road title from 2018.”

The 2019 USATF 10 km Championships will offer a $75,000 prize purse – the most-ever for a single gender USATF 10 km Championships – including $20,000 for the first-place finisher and will be streamed live on USATF.TV. The women’s 10 km Championships have taken place every year since 1978 and since 2002 have been a part of the USATF Running Circuit, which features championships from one mile through the marathon and consistently attracts the best American distance runners.

(01/17/2019) ⚡AMP

Gwen Jorgensen added to the 2018 Chicago Marathon field

The Bank of America Chicago Marathon announced today that defending champion Galen Rupp and American superstars Jordan Hasay, Amy Cragg and Laura Thweatt will be joined by a strong field of American runners at the 41st annual Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Gwen Jorgensen joins one of the deepest American women’s fields in the history of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Hasay currently ranks second on the list of all-time American marathoners with her 2:20:57 run at last year’s Chicago Marathon. Her time was the fastest American time ever run on U.S. soil. Cragg moved up to the fifth spot in U.S. history earlier this year with her 2:21:42 performance in Tokyo, and Thweatt claimed the ninth spot in London last year after she finished in 2:25:38. The last time three American women finished in the top five in Chicago was 1994, and the last time U.S. women claimed the top two spots was 1992. That could all change in 2018. Jorgensen’s potential in the marathon remains unknown. She debuted at the New York City Marathon just nine weeks after she won gold in Rio in the triathlon. Given her lack of marathon-specific training, she impressed with a 14th-place finish and 2:41:01 time. Jorgensen grew into a legend as a triathlete: in addition to her gold medal (the only Olympic gold in the triathlon in U.S. history), she also won two world titles and an unprecedented 17 ITU World Triathlon Series races. She took most of 2017 off to welcome her first child, and since making the leap into a full-time professional running career, she won the 2018 Stanford Invitational 10,000m in 31:55, she finished fifth in the Peachtree road race, she finished seventh in the 10,000m at the USATF championships, and she finished fourth in her half marathon debut at the U.S. Half Marathon Championships in 1:10:58. Jorgensen trains with Cragg and Shalane Flanagan as part of Nike’s Bowerman Track Club. (08/27/2018) ⚡AMP

Wharf to Wharf elite field is strong and fast times are expected

The Wharf to Wharf race in California has a lot of history to it, some of which Flagstaff is tied to. In 2014, Ben Bruce became the last American male to finish in the top three of the six-mile race that starts at Santa Cruz Wharf and ends at Capitola Wharf. He recorded a third-place finish that year in 28:07.29. That same summer, Aliphine Tuliamuk, who now runs for NAZ Elite and has since become a United States citizen, finished third while running for Kenya, a country that has dominated the course over the years. Fast forward a year. A longtime Flagstaff running icon who moved from town in 2017, Nick Arciniaga crossed the finish line in 10th in 28:27.44. Then in 2017, former Northern Arizona Lumberjacks standout distance runner Diego Estrada took sixth at 27:47.81. Now, as the race enters its 46th year, NAZ Elite hopes to add to the history books as it sends Stephanie Bruce to compete on the women's side, and Scott Smith and Craig Lutz on the men's side. All three will face a stellar and challenging field. And the timing couldn't be much better for the team. "This made sense on the calendar," said NAZ Elite head coach Ben Rosario. Bruce, who placed fourth at Wharf to Wharf in 2013, is coming off her first-ever national title at the Peachtree Road Race USATF 10K Championships on the Fourth of July, and her body is feeling up to the task of taking on another race before breaking for the fall marathon season. She'll face an imposing field that consists of NYC Half-Marathon winner Buze Diriba of Ethiopia, 2015 Boston Marathon champion Caroline Rotich and Wharf to Wharf 2017 runner-up Monicah Ngige of Kenya, who finished behind only Diriba a year ago. (07/20/2018) ⚡AMP

Sam Chelanga is retiring from running to enlist in the U.S. Army but why now?

Sam Chalange is going to retire from professional running after finishing 4th at the USATF 10k Championships at the Peachtree Road Race July 4 in Atlanta. Chelanga, 33, is going to enlist in the U.S. Army. On July 29, he will report to Fort Jackson in South Carolina for basic training.  Then it will be off to Officer Candidate School in Fort Benning, Georgia, beginning October 15.   Even though Chelanga says he grew to love running, he was never motivated by medals or glory. He won four NCAA titles and five U.S. titles on the roads as a pro (he became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2015).  Other things were moe important to him, a college degree, helping his family and home village back in Kenya, representing the United States, supporting his wife, Marybeth, and their two sons.  When asked what his proudest accomplishment in running was, he says that it wasn’t a race, but instead the moment when he realized he was actually going to graduate with a college degree “because that is why I started running.” The obvious question is why now? He was the top American finisher at last year’s World Cross Country Championships, finishing in 11th place. This year, Chelanga ran a half marathon personal best of 60:37 in Houston in January, finished 14th at the World Half Marathon Championships in March (again, he was the top U.S. finisher), and won the U.S. 25K title in May. He has plenty left in the tank. Which is precisely why Chelanga felt it was important to join the Army now. “I’ve done everything that I wanted to do in running,” says Chelanga, who achieved personal bests of 13:04 in the 5,000m and 27:08 (still the collegiate record, set in a very famous race where Chris Solinsky ran 26:59 and Galen Rupp 27:10) in the 10,000m. “I’ve got more than I asked for when I came in…I don’t want to wait until I’m old. I feel young, I feel fresh, I feel like I have a lot of energy and I want to take this job when I’m going to serve at the best level of my ability.” (07/06/2018) ⚡AMP

Tyler Penner says he surprised himself by placing third at the Peachtree 10k today

America’s Tyler Penner surprised himself today at the AJC  Peachtree Road Race 10k.   He wrote, “In such a strong field I didn't know how well I could run. I had been working out alright, but not fantastic. Last week, I felt awful, and my confidence was not where it usually is. All that carried over to the race. I felt terrible in the first half, with doubts creeping into my mind. I was drifting off the back of the back at times, almost just wanting to let them go. I took a few minutes regroup and reset. I told myself, "I've made it this far, be tough, all that strength from the marathon should be kicking in anytime now." Surprisingly that worked. I began to stick my nose in the race, eventually getting to the front truly believing I could win. Unfortunately the speed at the end was not quite there, but it's coming back.”  Tyler finished third clocking 28:49 only four seconds back of Bernard Lagat.  It was a hot and humid day and this is a challenging course.   (07/04/2018) ⚡AMP

Mission accomplished, a five-time Olympian Bernard Lagat wins AJC Peachtree Road Race

Bernard Lagat wanted to see it again. He was determined to return to Atlanta and win The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race after finishing fifth a year ago. Mission accomplished: With a time of 28:45, Lagat won the 2018 Peachtree Road Race.  “I wanted to come back again, and I wanted to win this,” Lagat said. “So I trained so hard. I decided not to race in some other races before this. My last race was in March. From March until this, there’s a lot of races I missed. But I thought it wouble be worth the sacrifice.” Lagat, a five-time Olympian, prepared for the hill challenges presented in the course. He had a much deeper understanding of it than a year ago. (07/04/2018) ⚡AMP

Stephanie Bruce wins the women's elite at the AJC Peachtree Road race

Stephanie Bruce, of Flagstaff, Arizona, won the 2018 Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race. It was Bruce’s first Peachtree win with a time of 32:21, defeating defending champ Aliphine Tulimuk (32:29). The victory also clinched Bruce the USA Track and Field 10K championship. “It was a long time coming,” Bruce said. “I’ve been trying to win a national title for the last 10 years.” Bruce has two sons, Riley and Hudson. She was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2010, but has battled through the condition as one of the country’s top runners. She won first in the Synchrony Financial Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Half Marathon in January. She won second in the Freihofer’s Run for Women 5K on June 2, and third in the USATF Outdoor Championships 10,000 meters in June 21. When she crossed the finish line, Bruce dropped to her knees. “It was relief, it was all the years of putting in hard work,” she said. “It was the heat and humidity Atlanta provided. The crowds were incredible. This really is ‘Running City USA.’” (07/04/2018) ⚡AMP

America's Lopez Lomong 10,000m track champion says it would be amazing to win Peachtree 10K too

Fresh off his national title in the 10,000m on the track one week ago, Lopez Lomong (Portland, OR) will compete for a 10 km title on the road for the first time as the AJC Peachtree Road Race will be Lomong’s 10K road debut. At the USATF Outdoor Track and Field Championships last month, Lomong unleashed a furious kick on the final lap to become the only man in history to win U.S. titles in the 1,500m and the 10,000m on the track. “The Peachtree is one of America’s most amazing events,” said Lomong. “It is my honor to come and run the streets of Atlanta. It’s a U.S. championship so it would be amazing to win it, but even to be a participant is massive.” Lomong, the torch-bearer for the United States at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, will join previously announced contenders like U.S. Half Marathon Champion Chris Derrick (Portland, OR), his teammate in the Portland-based Bowerman Track Club and Bernard Lagat (Tucson, AZ), a five-time Olympian who smashed the AJC Peachtree Road Race masters course record (28:42) in 2017. Also in the men’s field are the top two American men from the rain-soaked and raw 2018 Boston Marathon: Shadrack Biwott (Folsom, CA), and Tyler Pennel (Blowing Rock, NC). Reigning USATF 25 km champion Sam Chelanga (Colorado Springs, CO) and 2016 Olympic marathoner Jared Ward (Kaysville, UT) will also compete. Last year’s Peachtree runner-up Shadrack Kipchirchir has withdrawn from the race, as has Abdi Abdirahman. “We are excited to welcome athletes who have won American titles, set American records and represented the United States around the world to Atlanta’s celebration of running and country on July 4,” said Rich Kenah, Executive Director of Atlanta Track Club and Race Director of the AJC Peachtree Road Race. “The AJC Peachtree Road Race has a rich history of crowning the legends of road racing and that history will continue in the race’s 49th running.” (07/02/2018) ⚡AMP

Lamar Perlis, 93 is not the fastest but will be the oldest male running the Peachtree 10K July 4th

Some runners are motivated by a desire to record personal-best times in every race they complete. Others are inspired by the idea that their favorite snacks are waiting just beyond the finish line. Lamar Perlis is unfazed by either of these things. He keeps moving to avoid an imaginary street sweeper. “I picture this enormous street sweeper at the end of the race,” he said. “I just keep thinking to myself, ‘Lamar, just stay well ahead of that street sweeper.’ That’s going to be constantly on my mind. I don’t care how fast I run as long as it’s faster than that street sweeper.” At 93, Perlis may not be the fastest participant, but he is the oldest male competitor running  in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race July 4.  He won the 90 plus division in 2016, finished second last year and will try to reclaim his title this Fourth of July. (06/29/2018) ⚡AMP

Olympic Triathon gold medalist, Gwen Jorgensen is set to race the AJC Peachtree Road Race

2016 Olympic triathlon gold medalist Gwen Jorgensen will chase a national title at the AJC Peachtree Road Race on July 4 in Atlanta, which for the second consecutive year will serve as the USATF 10 km Championship for men and women. Jorgensen, the reigning Olympic triathlon champion as well as the 2014 and 2015 World Champion has retired from triathlon to pursue professional running. “I am thrilled to be racing in the AJC Peachtree Road Race,” said Jorgensen. “I am really excited to race the 10K on a hot and hilly course.”  The 49th AJC Peachtree Road Race is one of the nation's most recognizable Independence Day traditions. Jorgensen, whose 10K road personal best is 32:12, will face defending AJC Peachtree Road Race champion Aliphine Tuliamuk (Flagstaff, AZ), who has won U.S. titles this year in the 25K and the half marathon. They will compete against previously announced athletes such as Sarah Pagano (Boston, MA), last year’s runner up; Stephanie Bruce (Flagstaff, AZ), who placed third in the 10,000m in Des Moines and Sara Hall (Flagstaff, AZ) whose 2:26:20 at the 2018 Ottawa Marathon made her the 10th fastest American woman of all time in the marathon. (06/28/2018) ⚡AMP

93-year-old Betty Lindberg is running her 28th Peachtree 10K and she just keeps on going

Betty Lindberg likens herself to the Energizer Bunny because she just keeps going and going. Born Sept. 7, 1924, she is the oldest participant set to run in the 49th annual Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race this Fourth of July. Though there is another competitor who also is 93, Lindberg is exactly one week older than the most senior male runner, Lamar Perlis. This year’s race will be her 28th since completing her first at age 64. The Parkers Prairie, Minn., native was not aware of the Peachtree Road Race until her daughter and son-in-law asked her to drive them to the start line in 1987. At the time, she was not overly enthusiastic about getting up at sunrise on the Fourth of July, but once she witnessed the celebrations at the finish line, she decided to give the 10K a try. Lindberg began training by walking around her neighborhood and hasn’t stopped since. She now works with a personal trainer three days a week, completes races of various lengths throughout the year and follows the Atlanta Track Club’s 12-week program to prepare for the race. (06/27/2018) ⚡AMP

Aliphine Tuliamuk will return to defend her title at Peachtree Road Race July 4

The AJC Peachtree Road Race  will again serve as the USATF 10 km Championship, Aliphine Tuliamuk (Flagstaff, AZ) tops a star-studded women’s elite field that will blaze the trail for 60,000 runners and walkers in the world’s largest 10K. Tuliamuk won last year’s race in convincing fashion and has dominated the U.S. road circuit in 2018, winning national titles in the half marathon and 15K. Most recently, she was the top American and finished second place overall in the NYRR New York Mini 10K in New York City. Despite all her success in the past year, she still considers the Peachtree a career-defining moment. “It’s one of the most memorable races I have ever run,” said Tuliamuk. “I would love to smile until my cheeks hurt and hold my flag until my arms can’t support it like last year.” A win for Tuliamuk will not come easy. 2017’s runner-up Sarah Pagano (Boston, MA) will return. Pagano recently unleashed a punishing kick to win the Freihofer’s Run for Women 5K in Albany, NY. Also in the women’s field is Sara Hall (Flagstaff, AZ), who last month recorded the ninth-fastest marathon time ever by an American woman at the Ottawa Marathon (2:26:20). Emma Bates (Boise, ID) who was second American at Bolder Boulder 10K (behind Tuliamuk) last month, London Marathon 10th place finisher Stephanie Bruce (Flagstaff, AZ) and Allie Kieffer (Buffalo, NY) who was the second American in the 2017 TCS New York City Marathon will all be making their debuts on Peachtree. (06/27/2018) ⚡AMP

Andy Lipman doesn't live to run, he runs to live growing up with Cystic Fibrosis

Andy Lipman is running the AJC Peachtree Road Race for the 22nd time this July 4 in Atlanta. His end goal is more than getting his best time. "A lot of people say they live to run," Lipman told 11Alive. "In my case, I truly run to live." The strength and endurance Lipman displays at 44 is a combination he never imagined growing up with Cystic Fibrosis. He's the first to admit that living the life-threatening genetic disorder has been a series of ups and downs. "When I was about eight years old I read in an encyclopedia people with CF don't normally live to the age of 25," Lipman said, "I was devastated." The knowledge haunted him from childhood until college. "I stopped doing my treatments. I stopped taking my meds," Lipman said. "I was just ready to die." But life wasn't done with Andy Lipman, and in his 20's, he realized there was another path. "I realized I'm still alive. What if I tried?" Lipman said. So he changed his life, beginning a daily regime revolving around weights and running. The effort fueled by the realization he had the chance his infant sister never had who passed away at only a few days old, he only later asked his parents why. "I didn't know how she had passed away until finally in my mid-20's I asked them," Lipman said, learning she also had Cystic Fibrosis. (06/20/2018) ⚡AMP

2020 Olympic USATF Marathon Trials will be held Feb 29, 2020 in Atlanta

Atlanta will host the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials. The city, which hosted the 1996 Olympics, won out over Austin, Texas; Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Orlando, Florida. USATF announced this Monday. "Atlanta's legacy in the sport, their creative commitment to athlete support, and the experience of their event management team were compelling. USATF looks forward to working with Atlanta Track Club, the City of Atlanta and the U.S. Olympic Committee on what promises to be an amazing Olympic Trials," said USATF CEO Max Seigel. The race is scheduled for February 29, 2020 and will take place the same weekend as the Atlanta Marathon. Though no course map has been released, USATF protocol calls for a loop-style course. Atlanta has a deep running and track & field legacy, Atlanta hosted the USATF Indoor Track & Field Championships from 1994-2001, while Atlanta Track Club has emerged as one of the running industry’s leading organizations. With 28,000 members, the Club has been part of the USATF Running Circuit since the circuit’s inception in 2002, regularly hosting the USATF 10K road racing championships in conjunction with the Peachtree Road Race. (04/24/2018) ⚡AMP