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Articles tagged #Shalane Flanagan
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This recipe from Elyse Kopecky is a nutritional powerhouse.
When Shalane Flanagan traveled to Bend, Oregon, to kick off recipe testing for Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow. with me, this Thai Quinoa Salad was the very first recipe to come out of the kitchen.
It was love at first bite. We continued to tweak the recipe, not because it needed much work, but because we secretly wanted an excuse to make it time and again. This is the salad Shalane made on a near weekly basis while training for the 2017 NYC Marathon and 2018 Boston Marathon.
We highly recommend the use of fish sauce (a store-bought condiment) to give the salad a true Thai-inspired umami kick, but if you’re vegan or vegetarian, the salad is crown-worthy made with just soy sauce.
Make this salad on a Sunday night for work lunches all week long or serve as a side dish with a juicy, grilled steak for a dinner set to impress.
Thai Quinoa Salad
SERVES: 5
Ingredients
1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
2 cups thinly sliced purple cabbage
3 green onions, white and green parts sliced
1 cup packed mint leaves, chopped (cilantro works too)
1 cup packed basil leaves, chopped
1 jalapeño or serrano pepper, seeds removed, minced (optional)
½ cup roasted peanuts, chopped
Dressing
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
⅓ cup fresh lime juice (2 to 3 limes)
2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
2 tablespoons honey (or maple syrup)
1 tablespoon fish sauce (such as Red Boat)
DIRECTIONS
STEP 1
Here is a foolproof method to cook quinoa: In a medium saucepan over high heat, bring to a boil 1½ cups water and the quinoa. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed. Transfer to a large salad bowl, fluff with a fork, and set aside to cool.
STEP 2
Meanwhile, put the olive oil, lime juice, soy sauce or tamari, honey, and fish sauce (if using) in a glass jar or bowl and stir to combine.
STEP 3
Once the quinoa is cool, add the carrots, cabbage, onion, mint, basil, and pepper (if using) to the bowl and toss to combine. Add the dressing and toss again. Taste and, if needed, add more fish sauce or soy sauce.
STEP 4
Top with the peanuts. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour or until ready to serve.
This salad will stay fresh in airtight glass containers in the fridge for up to 5 days.
(10/11/2020) Views: 157 ⚡AMPShannon Rowbury proved she can run elite times post-pregnancy. Next year, she hopes to be the latest example that an Olympic career doesn’t end with motherhood.
“Having a child isn’t a death sentence,” she told fellow Olympic runner and mom Alysia Montaño in a recent On Her Turf interview. “You can come back even better.”
Rowbury, a 35-year-old, three-time Olympian, raced this month on the Diamond League circuit for the first time in three years and since having daughter Sienna in June 2018.
It went pretty well. She clocked her second-fastest 5000m ever, a 14:45.11 to place fifth in Monaco.
Only four other Americans have ever gone faster. One is retired (Shalane Flanagan). It’s very possible that two of the others could focus on other distances next summer (Shelby Houlihan and Molly Huddle).
Rowbury is right in the mix to make a fourth straight Olympics, given three U.S. women qualify per event. She can become the oldest U.S. woman to race on an Olympic track since Gail Devers in 2004, and one of the few moms to do so.
Rowbury is the former American record holder at 1500m and 5000m with a pair of fourth-place finishes from racing the former at the last three Olympics.
In 2018, she returned to training eight weeks after having Sienna. Ramping up too quickly led to a stress fracture in early 2019. She felt fatigued from sleep deprivation and breastfeeding and struggled with her identity.
Will I ever be the same? How much do I have left? Who am I without sport?
“I love my daughter,” she said last year, “but I loved my life before as well.”
She kept running. Rowbury placed sixth in the 5000m at the 2019 USATF Outdoor Championships, racing on a lack of training due to the injury. She missed an Olympic or world championships team for the first time since 2007, when she graduated from Duke.
Then in November, she won the U.S. 5km title on the roads in New York City. Rowbury raced for the first time this year in July and is still in Europe, torn while spending three weeks away from Sienna and husband Pablo Solares, a former middle-distance runner from Mexico.
“I felt very strongly that I would never prioritize my career over my family and over my daughter,” she said. “My performance right now is testament to the fact that you can have a healthy, natural weaning process, and you can still compete at a very high level.”
Rowbury partly dismissed motherhood earlier in her career because she was afraid of potential consequences. In more recent years, runners including Rowbury, Montaño and Allyson Felix fought for maternity protection in the sport, such as with health insurance through USA Track and Field and in sponsor contracts.
“I don’t think that any woman should be told she needs to do something in order to compete as an athlete or to pursue her dreams,” Rowbury said.
(08/26/2020) Views: 200 ⚡AMPFifty-six years after having organized the Olympic Games, the Japanese capital will be hosting a Summer edition for the second time, originally scheduled from July 24 to August 9, 2020, the games were postponed due to coronavirus outbreak, the postponed Tokyo Olympics will be held from July 23 to August 8 in 2021, according to the International Olympic Committee decision....
more...Linden says UTMB and Comrades are bucket-list races
The 2018 Boston Marathon champion and one of America’s most beloved distance runners is eyeing up some of the world’s most competitive trail races. While it’s far from a done deal, as she’s still got some unfinished business on the road, Des Linden wants to conquer both UTMB and the Comrades Marathon before her running days are over.
Linden told slowtwitch.com that ultra racing, specifically Comrades and UTMB are bucket list items for her. “I don’t spend too much time on the trails, to be honest, I think that’s why there’s so much intrigue. Exploring Chamonix and the Mont-Blanc region on foot and in a race atmosphere just looks pretty incredible.”
UTMB and the Comrades Marathon are two of the most competitive ultra races in the world. UTMB lasts several days and covers 171K, Comrades is a little shorter running either 87 and 90K depending on the year. Trail running is gaining popularity and as it does, more road runners will move from the marathon to even longer distances. (Side note: American distance legend Shalane Flanagan has also been seen doing some trail runs lately). It’ll be interesting to see, as more elite roadies make the move, if they can catch the best in the trail running business.
Jim Walmsley is a great example of a runner who has been successful at every running discipline – but his dominance lies on the trails. Walmsley made his road marathon debut at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trails. His run there was hyped as one of the most exciting storylines, with some going so far as to claim he had an outside shot at the Olympic team. Walmsley ran extremely well (a 2:15 on the insanely hilly Atlanta course is no small feat) to finish 22nd – a far cry from an Olympic berth, but an impressive debut nonetheless.
While Linden is looking to one day attempt a reverse-Walmsley, and it’ll be interested to watch her trajectory. She could help runners answer the age-old question of: do road results translate to the trails?
(08/16/2020) Views: 160 ⚡AMPShe’s a four-time Olympian for Team USA, and now Shalane Flanagan is a mom.
The former track and field and marathon star announced she and husband Steve Edwards became parents after adopting a newborn son this week.
“By far, the greatest gift we have ever been given. Jack Dean Edwards,” she captioned an Instagram slideshow of the swaddled baby. “On April 28th, Steven and I welcomed Jack with full hearts and open arms into our family through adoption.
“I was not prepared for a love like this."
Jack arrived Thursday at 8:56 a.m., weighing 6 pounds 10 ounces, Flanagan wrote.
The couple previously fostered teenage sisters, and soon after began looking into adoption. Flanagan opened up about the process in a March 2019 article with Women’s Running, saying they had applied for an infant adoption but were also exploring foster adoption.
“There’s such a need and my heart goes out to these kids,” she said. “I feel like Steve and I are in such a fortunate position to be able to give kids care and a home. …
“We may adopt an infant. We may adopt toddlers. We don’t know, but we’re putting ourselves in a position for whatever kids are in need. It’s scary but exciting. It’s a totally different life, but it’ll be fun.”
Flanagan, a native of Marblehead, Massachusetts, who now lives in Portland, Oregon, made her Olympic debut in 2004 on the track, and four years later won a bronze medal that was later upgraded to silver in the 10,000-meter in Beijing. She switched to marathon after that, finishing 10th in London and sixth in Rio.
Along with Des Linden and Kara Goucher, Flanagan helped usher in a new generation of U.S. women’s marathoners, and in 2017 her win at the New York City Marathon ended a four-decade drought for U.S. women’s runners.
She retired from elite racing in October 2019 to pursue a career as a coach. NBC also hired her as an analyst.
Several fellow Team USA stars were quick to congratulate Flanagan on Instagram, including Goucher and Allyson Felix, both of whom are also mothers.
“Congrats Shalane!” Felix wrote. “So happy for you"
(05/01/2020) Views: 264 ⚡AMPDes Linden was undecided whether to race the Feb. 29 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials as recently as a month ago. But now Linden, the 2018 Boston Marathon winner, is not only committed to trials but also the April 20 Boston Marathon.
It would be, at 51 days, by far her shortest break between marathons, which has so far included 19 marathons dating to 2007. She’s 36 years old, and it may be her last Olympic cycle.
“I only have so many more chances at Boston. I love being there. Obviously, the Olympics [window] is closing down as well,” she said. “I like the trials and the competitive way we pick our team. I can’t imagine, at this point, watching either of those races and feeling like I had no effect on either outcome.”
If Linden does make the Olympic marathon team — by placing top three at trials in Atlanta — she would be in line to race four marathons over a little more than nine months when including last month’s New York City Marathon.
Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa and American Sara Hall ran the New York City Marathon on Nov. 3, 29 days and 35 days, respectively, after racing the world championships and Berlin Marathon. Neither finished New York, however.
This past August, when Linden committed to the New York City Marathon, she added that she might not race the trials. After her performance in New York — the top U.S. woman in sixth place — she decided she was ready for the trials-Boston double, which she had been considering since placing fifth at this past April’s Boston Marathon.
As far as how it will impact her trials build-up, Linden said her team will re-evaluate the process weekly. She hasn’t committed to a pre-trials half marathon.
“We’re obviously aware of what’s down the line, so we’re trying to get as much quality as we can without going too deep into the well,” she said. “It’s certainly going to be out there, but we’re trying to run well at both and not say, ‘This isn’t going well,’ and just train through it.”
Linden has been treating every marathon as if it could be her last. She has been incredibly consistent, placing no worse than eighth in her last 11 marathon starts dating to 2013.
Neither of Linden’s previous Olympic experiences was especially memorable. She dropped out of her first one in 2012 with a stress fracture in her femur. She was seventh in Rio, missing a medal by less than two minutes. The Kenyan-born gold and silver medalists were later busted for EPO and are serving lengthy doping bans.
“I don’t feel like I have anything to prove and anything unfinished,” at the Olympics, Linden said in August. “Quite frankly, the last experience is a hard sell to get back out there to try to compete for medals when you’re not even really sure what the field is all about. It’s a little bit difficult to be excited about that with the way we are about the [World Marathon] Majors. People investing in anti-doping have really been solving that problem [at the majors]. It’s a little tricky [at the Olympics], but certainly representing your country is special.”
Linden is the most experienced of a deep group of U.S. Olympic marathon hopefuls after the recent retirement of four-time Olympian Shalane Flanagan.
(12/17/2019) Views: 881 ⚡AMPThe 2020 US Olympic Trials for both men and women took place in Atlanta, Ga on Sunday Feb 29. Runners had to qualify by running certain standards beforehand. The trials are hosted by the Atlanta Track club. The course runs through the heart of Atlanta and past monuments from the 1996 Olympic Games Most countries around the world use a...
more...The 2020 US. Olympic Marathon Trials on Feb. 29 were marked on Gwen Jorgensen’s calendar since her Nov. 2017 announcement that she was leaving the triathlon to pursue running full time in hopes of winning the 2020 Olympic gold medal in the marathon.
But now, less than three months out from the event, Jorgensen announced that she will not run the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials and instead focus on making the U.S. team for the Summer Games on the track in the 10,000 meters.
“It’s a multitude of emotions,” Jorgensen, 33, says. “I’m disappointed. At the same time, I’m also excited. I’m at a point where I’m running 70 miles per week and training is going well. I just know that if I went to the trials, running 70 miles per week, I’d be hoping that I made a team. That’s not what I want to do at an Olympic Trials.
I want to go in confident and knowing that I have the ability to make a team. My goals in the marathon aren’t changing. My timeline is.”
Heel surgery forced Jorgensen, who converted to distance running after winning the Rio Olympic triathlon, to pass up the Feb. 29 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials and focus on the track and field trials in June in the 10,000m and, probably, the 5000m.
She made the decision after recent talks with her coach, Jerry Schumacher, following a difficult recovery from late May surgery to correct Haglund’s deformity.
“I could get bent out of shape and sad about it, but at the end of the day, I’m excited because I know this path that I’m on will not only be a successful route, but I also think it will lead to success long term in the marathon," she says. "I’m confident in my abilities on the track."
Jorgensen’s goal was a lofty one from the onset. No American woman has won gold in the marathon at the Olympics since Joan Benoit Samuelson’s victory in the 1984 inaugural running. The 2020 trials, where the top three finishers qualify for Tokyo, are shaping up to be one of the most competitive races of the year, as American women’s distance running is at its highest level with recent World Marathon Major victories by Shalane Flanagan at the 2017 New York City Marathon and Desiree Linden at the 2018 Boston Marathon.
Even after giving birth to her son Stanley in Aug. 2017, Jorgensen could have returned to the triathlon and arguably been a contender to become the first woman to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals. But she and her family decided to move to Portland, Ore., and once settled there, Jorgensen signed a professional running contract with Nike and joined the Bowerman Track Club.
Jorgensen worked her way to the marathon by racing on the track in the spring of 2018 and ran a few U.S.A. Track and Field road race championships. She says her training went well, nailing all but one workout in 12 weeks. But in the three days before she was set to compete in the Chicago Marathon, Jorgesen battled a fever and underestimated the effects of running while sick. She finished in a disappointing 2:36:23 in her professional marathon debut.
Now fully healed, healthy and recovered, Jorgensen is working her way back to train with her Bowerman teammates. Her day sometimes includes a hill sprints, a track workout, pelvic floor therapist treatment, physical therapy exercises for her achilles and then an evening workout before returning to her family.
“I think it’s important not to be afraid when you need to admit that your goal needs to change,” Jorgensen says. “I’m not going to say that I’m failing because I still want to have my marathon goals, but the timeline has changed. It’s still important to have big goals and to share those goals. It holds everyone accountable.”
(12/05/2019) Views: 629 ⚡AMPThe 2020 US Olympic Trials for both men and women took place in Atlanta, Ga on Sunday Feb 29. Runners had to qualify by running certain standards beforehand. The trials are hosted by the Atlanta Track club. The course runs through the heart of Atlanta and past monuments from the 1996 Olympic Games Most countries around the world use a...
more...One of America’s greatest marathoners has retired to become a coach and a television commentator, and she is speaking her mind about her sport and her top sponsor.
Shalane Flanagan, the four-time Olympian and winner of the New York City Marathon in 2017, called it quits on her running career in October — sort of.
Flanagan, who is 38 and has long trained with Nike’s Bowerman Track Club, is moving into coaching and television work. She will serve as the color analyst for ABC’s telecast of the New York City Marathon on Sunday, and once that is done she will return to Oregon to help coach the elite women who call themselves the “Bowerman Babes.”
There are few women coaching at the highest levels of running, even for female runners, and fewer who can still keep up with the athletes they train. That’s the kind of coach Flanagan plans to be as she moves into the next phase of her career.
“My dream is to become a personal pacer,” she said in a phone interview last week, during which she discussed her decision to hang up her racing shoes, Nike’s connection to the latest performance-enhancing drug scandal and whether, as an analyst, she will criticize runners she is coaching.
So now you are becoming a coach officially. Is that a role you have been playing unofficially for a while?
"Prior to the last year I had always looked at myself as the elder on the team. A little motherly, maybe a bit bossy and mentoring to younger athletes. But ever since I finished my last race in New York a year ago I have known I wanted to coach, and I’ve been observing and watching more with a coaching eye than as a teammate. The last year has been a kind of informal internship," she said.
Why aren’t there more female coaches at the highest levels in track and field?
"I never thought of it as a gender position or role, but having in the last year been in an environment and the arena of the coaching world, it has opened my eyes. At the U.S. championships, there are very few women coaches in the warm-up area, or even agents. It definitely feels strange."
Your sponsor, Nike, which funds your training group, worked closely with Alberto Salazar, who has been suspended from the sport for actions he took as coach of the Nike Oregon Project. Has the company done enough to make you feel that other Nike athletes will not be tainted by all of this?
"They are currently looking at the situation. I am guessing that they are a bit shocked to some degree and they are going to evaluate how they format these teams in the future. It’s a big liability for them. It’s very complicated. I’m proud of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and the efforts they put forth and their commitment to clean sport."
Were you surprised by what you read in the reports about the Oregon Project, that Nike’s chief executive, Mark Parker (who has since left that post), was kept in the loop through emails about experiments with performance-enhancing drugs?
"We train on the Nike campus, but we very much stick to our neck of the woods. We kind of quarantine ourselves. Once Jerry Schumacher broke off with Alberto in 2009, we’ve been very separated. That said, I’m surprised but not surprised by the situation that unfolded. I trained with Kara Goucher sometimes and I was privy to what she was going through, so I am not completely ignorant on the subject. As for Mark Parker’s interactions, I was unaware of those. (Goucher was one of the main whistle-blowers in the USADA investigation.)"
Will you run with the women you are coaching?
"I would love to pace someone like Shelby Houlihan to a 5K record attempt, or really any of our athletes. Being able to do that for them, that’s my motivation."
Did you ever have a coach like that?
"Jerry used to be able to hop in during some sessions. It made it so much more fun. When I was preparing for Boston I would make multiple trips and train on the course for multiple days. Jerry would get on and do workouts with me. I loved so much to have my coach give his body to help me attain my goals.
So what does Jerry say about you commenting on television about runners in your training group?
"Jerry would prefer I not commentate when I have athletes in races. I’m not sure I will change his mind on that aspect."
(11/11/2019) Views: 531 ⚡AMPThe all-women marathon World Record holder won the NYC Marathon for the fourth Time last year after beating compatriot Vivian Cheruiyot and USA’s Shalane Flanagan, who came in second and third, respectively, by more than three minutes. Keitany previously won the race in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
In an exclusive interview with Nation Sport, Keitany said she has prepared well and is ready to fight for the title.
“I’m ready to go to New York and fight to defend my title again for the fifth time having won it four times. I know it’s not easy, but I’m certain the three months training I have undergone will enable me to do my best,” said Keitany.
“I’m happy that I have won the race (New York Marathon) several times and again if I’m to win this time it will turn out historical. To me and my family, winning this marathon the fifth time will be a great achievement.”
For the fourth time in five years, Keitany sped past more than 50,000 runners to win the women’s race with a time of 2 hours, 22 minutes, and 48 seconds last year. This made her time the second fastest in the history of the New York race. Kenya's Margaret Okayo holds the course record of 2:22:31 set in 2003.
Keitany joined Grete Waitz as the only woman to win the New York City Marathon four times or more. She will have to win a few more times to beat Waitz’s record, though. Between 1978 and 1988, the Norwegian runner won the marathon nine times.
Keitany said that the secret to prosperity requires athletes to train well and athletes must learn to persevere because nothing comes easy. She said one should have a dream and must be focused. They ought to have an attitude and should be mentally focused so as to fulfil their goals.
For Keitany, discipline and perseverance are key in her sports career. "You must put God first for you to prosper," she said.
The athlete said training may not be easy but athletes must be disciplined if they are to succeed in sports. Some promising athletes have destroyed their careers due to indiscipline.
Keitany set the women-only marathon record when she won the London Marathon in 2017. She has also held records for best half marathon time and best 10-mile time. She also has titles from London Marathon she won in 2012, 2016, and 2017.
(10/30/2019) Views: 604 ⚡AMPThe first New York City Marathon, organized in 1970 by Fred Lebow and Vince Chiappetta, was held entirely in Central Park. Of 127 entrants, only 55 men finished; the sole female entrant dropped out due to illness. Winners were given inexpensive wristwatches and recycled baseball and bowling trophies. The entry fee was $1 and the total event budget...
more...With happy tears I announce today that I am retiring from professional running. From 2004 to 2019 I’ve given everything that’s within me to this sport and wow it’s been an incredible ride! I’ve broken bones, torn tendons, and lost too many toenails to count. I've experienced otherworldly highs and abysmal lows. I've loved (and learned from) it all.
Over the last 15 years I found out what I was capable of, and it was more than I ever dreamed possible. Now that all is said and done, I am most proud of the consistently high level of running I produced year after year. No matter what I accomplished the year before, it never got any easier. Each season, each race was hard, so hard. But this I know to be true: hard things are wonderful, beautiful, and give meaning to life. I’ve loved having an intense sense of purpose. For 15 years I've woken up every day knowing I was exactly where I needed to be.
The feeling of pressing the threshold of my mental and physical limits has been bliss. I've gone to bed with a giant tired smile on my face and woken up with the same smile. My obsession to put one foot in front of the other, as quickly as I can, has given me so much joy.
However, I have felt my North Star shifting, my passion and purpose is no longer about MY running; it's more and more about those around me. All I’ve ever known, in my approach to anything, is going ALL IN.
So I’m carrying this to coaching. I want to be consumed with serving others the way I have been consumed with being the best athlete I can be.
I am privileged to announce I am now a professional coach of the Nike Bowerman Track Club. This amazing opportunity in front of me, to give back to the sport, that gave me so much, is not lost on me. I’ve pinched myself numerous times to make sure this is real. I am well aware that retirement for professional athletes can be an extremely hard transition. I am lucky, as I know already, that coaching will bring me as much joy and heartache that my own running career gave me.
I believe we are meant to inspire one another, we are meant to learn from one another. Sharing everything I’ve learned about and from running is what I’m meant to do now.I would like to thank: The 5 coaches who guided me throughout my career, Michael Whittlesey and Dennis Craddock (2004-2005), John Cook (2006-2008), Jerry Schumacher (2009-2019), and Pascal Dobert (2009-2019). Each man was instrumental in developing me into the best version of myself.
Jerry, Pascal and I will continue to work together in this next chapter and I couldn’t be more grateful.
Jerry has been my life coach, running coach and now will mentor me towards my next goal of becoming a world-class coach myself. I’m thankful for his unending belief in me.
My family and husband who have traveled the world supporting my running and understanding the sacrifices I needed to make. Their unconditional love is what fueled my training.My longtime friend, Elyse Kopecky who taught me to love cooking and indulge in nourishing food. Run Fast. Eat Slow. has been a gift to my running and to the thousands of athletes.
My teammates, and all the women I've trained with, for pushing me daily, and the endless smiles and miles. They include: Erin Donahue, Shannon Rowbury, Kara Goucher, Lisa Uhl, Emily Infeld, Amy Cragg, Colleen Quigley, Courtney Frerichs, Shelby Houlihan, Betsy Saina, Marielle Hall, Gwen Jorgensen, Kate Grace.
My sponsor Nike for believing in me since 2004 and for continuing to support my new dream as a professional coach. I hope I made myself a better person by running. I hope I made those around me better. I hope I made my competition better. I hope I left the sport better because I was a part of it.
My personal motto through out my career has been to make decisions that leave me with “no regrets”.....but to be honest, I have one. I regret I can’t do it all over again.
(10/21/2019) Views: 762 ⚡AMPThe first New York City Marathon, organized in 1970 by Fred Lebow and Vince Chiappetta, was held entirely in Central Park. Of 127 entrants, only 55 men finished; the sole female entrant dropped out due to illness. Winners were given inexpensive wristwatches and recycled baseball and bowling trophies. The entry fee was $1 and the total event budget...
more...Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya and the current world record holder for the marathon made history today by running 26.2 miles in 1:59:40. His splits were amazing. His fastest kilometer was 2:48 and his slowest was 2:52. At least 19 of his splits were 2:50 on the dot.
He hit the first 5k in 14:13 with his pacemakers right out front. He looked relaxed and smooth. Just watching him gave me goosebumps because he makes it look so easy.
The course in Vienna, Austria was 90% flat and straight. The temperature was just under 50F and the humidity 90 percent at the start which was a little higher than expected. But it did not have any visual effects on Eliud.
Eliud said before the start, “I don’t know where the limits are, but I would like to go there.”
I did a poll on Facebook before the start and all but one person thought he could run sub two hours. One thought he could run 1:55 but most thought 1:59 something.
No, this was not a race. It is not a world record because he was the only one racing, he had drinks handed to him from a bike and he had pacers coming in and out. It was a challenge to see if it was possible for a man to run a sub two hour marathon. And he did it.
In watching the event it was distracting to always see the pacemakers out front until the end but they certainly did their job. It was almost like watching a new sport as the pacemakers came in and got in their formation.
I would have rather have watched Eliud Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele battle it out in Berlin where I think one of them would have run sub 2:01 but I did enjoy watching this challenge. Eliud made it look so easy to run 14:10 5k’s.
Eliud was under an hour at the half way point and finished very strong in 1:59:40. The pacemakers helped Eliud run 2:50 kilometers on the dot from 33k to 40k.
Then with about 500 meters to go the pacemakers let Kipchoge go and he sprinted to the finish line. Shalane Flanagan who was one of the hosts of the You Tube broadcast said, “No way in my life time did I ever think I would see a man run a sub two hour marathon.”
We have now seen a man run a marathon in under two hours. His wife Grace and their three children watched him race for the first time. They were all smiles as was Eliud.
Eliud Kipchoge is an Olympic Champion, world record holder clocking 2:01:39 at the Berlin Marathon last September and now the first man to cover 26.2 miles in under two hours.
(10/11/2019) Views: 974 ⚡AMPMankind have constantly sought to reach new frontiers and to achieve the impossible. From Edmund Hillary reaching the summit of Mount Everest to Roger Bannister’s four-minute mile to Felix Baumgartner jumping from space we have frequently redefined the limits of human achievement and broken new barriers previously seen as simply impossible. After the four-minute mile and the ten second 100m...
more...It’s been four months since 2017 NYC Marathon winner and 2018 third-place finisher Shalane Flanagan had surgery to repair her severely damaged right patellar tendon, and yesterday she happily posted a photo of her first post-surgery run–on a Woodway Boost anti-gravity treadmill–on Instagram.
“I still know how to run!” Flanagan posted. She reports that she ran two-and-ones (two minutes running, one minute walking) for 12 “bliss-filled” minutes at 70 to 77 per cent of her bodyweight. “I was soooooooo excited for today that I actually laid out my running clothes last night (just like I would do before the first day of school when I was a kid).”
Flanagan’s surgery was a patellar tendon allograft and chondroplasty, meaning tissue from a recently deceased person (actually from the hamstring of a 21-year-old) was used to repair her patellar tendon, which was then anchored to her tibia with three screws.
The tissue donor’s family was willing to have her know their identity, and Flanagan reached out to thank them with a personal letter. “I’m moved beyond words knowing what a gift I’ve been given,” she posted.
Anti-gravity treadmills are commonly used to aid in athlete rehabilitation. Air pressure technology allows the athlete to reduce impact while running, and they can transition gradually to supporting their full body weight. According to her posts, Flanagan has been walking and doing strengthening workouts in the gym for some time. Looks like it’s too soon to say when we might see her back on the racing circuit.
In 2017 Flanagan became the first American woman to win the TCS New York City Marathon in 40 years. In 2018 she finished third behind Mary Keitany and Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya.
Runners of all varieties can draw some lessons from Flanagan’s experience: one, don’t take your ability to run for granted. Two, don’t give in to discouragement if you’re injured and can’t run.
(08/14/2019) Views: 856 ⚡AMPOne step at the time. Your are such an inspiration for so many of us. It has to have been tough for you these last few months. You will get through this... 8/14 9:47 am |
Des Linden says she’s running every marathon as if it’s her last. She could have said goodbye on April 15, finishing fifth in defense of her Boston Marathon title, blowing kisses to the crowd after denying regurgitation.
Instead, Linden plans to race the New York City Marathon for the third time and second year in a row on Nov. 3.
The two-time U.S. Olympian placed fifth in 2014 and sixth in 2018 at the five-borough event. She decided to sign up again after a post-Boston break and a weeklong Hong Kong vacation.
“Just been logging a lot of miles deciding what would be next and got the itch to start doing workouts and getting the longer stuff,” Linden said. “It’s the biggest stage in the world, so it’s hard to pass up on that opportunity. It’s a no-brainer. I like tough, technical courses.”
Linden, 36, could become the oldest female U.S. Olympic marathoner since 2004 next year. But, taking the one-at-a-time mantra that Shalane Flanagan adopted late in her career, she’s not (yet) committing to the Olympic trials on Feb. 29.
Neither of Linden’s previous Olympic experiences was especially memorable. She dropped out of her first Olympic marathon in 2012 with a stress fracture in her femur. She was seventh in Rio, missing a medal by less than two minutes. The Kenyan-born gold and silver medalists were later busted for EPO and are serving lengthy doping bans.
“I don’t feel like I have anything to prove and anything unfinished,” at the Olympics, Linden said. “Quite frankly, the last experience is a hard sell to get back out there to try to compete for medals when you’re not even really sure what the field is all about. It’s a little bit difficult to be excited about that with the way we are about the [World Marathon] Majors. People investing in anti-doping have really been solving that problem [at the majors]. It’s a little tricky [at the Olympics], but certainly representing your country is special.”
Linden did acknowledge that a technical, undulating course like New York could provide ideal preparation for the Olympic trials course in Atlanta that, like New York, is not expected to produce fast times. Linden also dismissed it being too tight of a turnaround from the latest of the fall major marathons to a trials in the winter.
Linden did not race fall marathons in 2011 or 2015 ahead of Olympic trials, though the trials race was earlier each of those years. If she does race at next year’s trials, it would mark her shortest break between marathons of what would be her 20 times contesting the distance.
“There’s ample time to recover and get back at it,” she said. “I don’t need to go and run a fast time or get a qualifier or anything. It was just about picking the race that was going to get me excited.”
(08/06/2019) Views: 780 ⚡AMPThe first New York City Marathon, organized in 1970 by Fred Lebow and Vince Chiappetta, was held entirely in Central Park. Of 127 entrants, only 55 men finished; the sole female entrant dropped out due to illness. Winners were given inexpensive wristwatches and recycled baseball and bowling trophies. The entry fee was $1 and the total event budget...
more...In 2017, on November 5, I watched the end of the New York City Marathon on television. I got chills as Shalane Flanagan crossed the finish line, becoming the first American woman to win the race in 40 years. I could only imagine the years of dedication, passion, and resolve behind that extraordinary moment.
(Editor Note - Shalane almost did not run the 2018 New York City Marathon because of pain in her patella tendons. But she was glad she did run placing third. Since then she has had surgery and her recovery is coming along well. Brad spoke with Shalane in 2018 and her advice then is still very timely.)
Trust Your Training
“In the 24 hours prior to the New York race, I had a general calmness about me. I was equipped with fitness and a level of training I’d never achieved before. I didn’t feel worried because I knew deep down inside how prepared I was. I’ve always tried to get so fit that I can’t make a bad decision in my racing because my fitness literally won’t allow me to—it will just carry me. I guess what I’m saying is that the more confident you are in your training, the less nervous you’ll be on race day.”
Motivation Is Contagious
“My job is enhanced 100 percent if I’m surrounded by other like-minded athletes who are going to challenge me and hold me accountable to my goals. My teammates inspire me, and I thrive off their energy. I can literally look to my right and left and say to myself, ‘This woman is such a badass.’ I don’t think I’d still be running if not for my training partners. These women support me through both highs and lows.”
Age Is Only a Number
“Even though I’m 36, I decided to come back after New York because I finally felt the accumulation of all the work I’d put in over the past two-plus decades paying off. It’s like I was finally getting to the good stuff, coming around to the type of endurance runner I’d always wanted to be. I feel like I have more to give, and I’m excited by that. I’m in a major competition with myself. I want to explore my limits, to see what I’m fully capable of—and I think I still have a few special performances in me.”
Drive from Within
“When I was a kid, running gave me something to be good at, to build confidence and fit in. I liked the attention that came along with it. However, that’s not at all why I run now. I feel confident in who I am, and I run because I love it and want to pursue self-mastery.”
Skip the Diet
“People think eating healthy is bland and boring, but I want to crush that notion. You can eat exceptionally well, and it can be awesome and enhance your life. There is lots of disordered eating with young women. I want to show that, yes, you should try to eat very healthy, but you also need fat and you should derive enjoyment from great-tasting food. I’m not about diets or counting calories or measuring nutrients. That’s too obsessive.”
Don’t Overcomplicate Recovery
“Recovery, to me, means sleeping and eating well. If I’m not feeling recovered, I’ll sleep and eat more, and that usually does the trick. Maybe I’ll get a massage, but that’s it. I don’t use any fancy gadgets or anything like that.”
Go All In
“I like to go all in on one extreme for a period of time and then shift to another extreme. For me, this means going all in on running, and then taking a vacation where I go all in on things like family and other pursuits. It’s too hard—physically and mentally—to try to do everything at once.”
Have an Outlet
“Though I just said I like to go all in, I do think it’s important for all serious athletes to have a nonathletic outlet, too. For me, that’s cooking, which is like my therapy. It calms and relaxes me. I was an art major in school, so perhaps cooking is how I express that.”
(07/22/2019) Views: 796 ⚡AMPThe selection policy for the 2020 US Olympic marathon team, cloudy for months after the IAAF announced in March that the qualification process for the 2020 Olympic Games is changing, is quietly beginning to take shape. For those wishing to preserve the best thing about the US Olympic Marathon Trials — top three across the line make the team — there was some good news, but there remains work to be done. After speaking with sources at the IAAF and USATF, here’s where we stand eight months from the Olympic Trials, which will be held in Atlanta on February 29.
The first bit of news trickled out on June 25 in the IAAF Athlete Representative Newsletter, which was promptly shared by agent Dan Lilot on Twitter. The update? After lobbying from USATF, the IAAF Council approved that “national Tokyo 2020 Olympic selection championship/trials in the men’s and/or women’s marathon, held in 2019 or 2020, may be granted Gold Label status if requested by the Member Federations and if the race can meet the Gold Label requirement for number of Gold Label athletes.”
Normally, Gold Label status is awarded to a marathon based on the previous year’s field. So to attain Gold Label status in 2020, the 2019 edition of the race would have to have six men and six women with Gold Label status that year, or seven athletes if it’s a single-gender race (Gold Label status is awarded to an athlete based on their world ranking at the end of the previous year; a marathoner has to be ranked in the world’s top 200 to earn Gold Label status). The 2019 edition of the US Olympic Marathon Trials would normally be the 2019 USATF Marathon Championships, but USATF isn’t holding a marathon championship this year.
So what the IAAF is saying is that USATF doesn’t have to worry about the field at the 2019 USATF Marathon Championships; as long as the Trials has enough Gold Label athletes, it can be granted Gold Label status.
This is good news for American women. Remember, an athlete automatically achieves the Olympic standard by finishing in the top five at a Gold Label marathon. And the women’s race at the US Olympic Trials should have no problem hitting the minimum Gold Label requirements; 11 American women had Gold Label status in 2019, and as of the most recent world rankings, 10 are on track to earn it in 2020. That means that on the women’s side, the Olympic Trials will be able to use the “top three make the team” model. (Also note that Japan, which is holding its first Olympic marathon trials in September, will easily meet the criteria on the men’s and women’s side).
That may not sound like a huge deal, considering nine American women already have the Olympic standard. But consider two women who do not have the standard: Amy Cragg and Shalane Flanagan, both members of the 2016 Olympic team. If it’s a bad weather day on the hilly Atlanta course, it’s not out of the question that third place could be slower than the Olympic time standard of 2:29:30 (Flanagan finished third at the ’16 Trials in 2:29:19). Achieving Gold Label status puts any of those worries to bed. That’s a win for USATF.
On the men’s side, USATF still has some work to do. Only one American man, Galen Rupp, qualified for Gold Label status in the marathon in 2019. And right now, Rupp is the only American man on track to earn it again in 2020 (Scott Fauble and Jared Ward are just outside, at #205 and #210 in the current world rankings).
That means that, based on the criteria the IAAF announced on June 25, there’s no way that the men’s race at the Olympic Trials will qualify for Gold Label status. And the men are the ones who need it: Fauble and Ward are the only Americans with the Olympic standard, and the time standard of 2:11:30 could be tough to hit on the day in Atlanta.
(07/09/2019) Views: 908 ⚡AMPThe standards are tough but the US is running the trials in weather most similar to Tokyo. 7/10 9:54 pm |
The 2020 US Olympic Trials for both men and women took place in Atlanta, Ga on Sunday Feb 29. Runners had to qualify by running certain standards beforehand. The trials are hosted by the Atlanta Track club. The course runs through the heart of Atlanta and past monuments from the 1996 Olympic Games Most countries around the world use a...
more...A course record fell to the wayside at the 2019 B.A.A. 10K, presented by Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Fancy Chemutai of Kenya set a new women’s course record of 30:36.
Presenting sponsor Brigham and Women’s Hospital was represented by 550 runners, who have raised a combined $250,000 through today’s event.
Chemutai earned breakaway wins thanks to tactical moves made early in her race. After crossing the halfway mark in 15:25, Chemutai began to leave the rest of the women’s field behind, pulling away as she made her way towards Kenmore Square.
Splitting 8K in 24:33, Chemutai knew she was on course record pace and buckled down for the final minutes of racing. At that point, she had nearly a 25-second lead on countrywoman Brillian Kipkoech and was on pace to shatter Shalane Flanagan’s 30:52 course best.
“I saw it was coming, that the course record was coming,” she said. When asked if that motivated her, she smiled and said, “yeah, sure!”
Triumphantly crossing the finish in 30:36, Chemutai established a new course record. The time also ranks tied for second fastest in the world this year.
“I enjoy being in Boston and enjoyed to win. It was very hot. It was hot,” said Chemutai of her Boston road racing debut. “I was going for the course record, it was in my mind.”
Kipkoech placed second in 31:04, with 2015 Boston Marathon champion Caroline Rotich taking third in 31:58. Top American honors went to Aliphine Tuliamuk, eighth place in 32:27.
The men’s open race was a fierce battle between Kenyans David Bett, Daniel Chebii, and Stephen Sambu, alongside Tanzania’s Joseph Panga. With opening miles of 4:34 and 4:33, the men’s leaders came through 5K in 14:16 and then began to push the pace even more. The quartet broke from the field, and clocked a 4:29 fourth mile, setting up for a final push down Commonwealth Ave. towards the finish.
It was Bett who had the best sprint of the day, making the turn onto Charles Street first and holding off the hard charging Chebii, who would finish a second behind, 28:08 to 29:09. Sambu rounded out the top three in 28:11, followed by Panga (28:14).
(06/23/2019) Views: 904 ⚡AMPThe 6.2-mile course is a scenic tour through Boston's Back Bay. Notable neighborhoods and attractions include the legendary Bull and Finch Pub, after which the television series "Cheers" was developed, the campus of Boston University, and trendy Kenmore Square. ...
more...2017 TCS New York City Marathon champion Shalane Flanagan had surgery to repair her right patellar tendon at the Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado yesterday, and described the situation in an Instagram post earlier today.
Torn patellar tendons typically do not heal on their own, and Flanagan posted on Monday that she would be traveling to Colorado for surgery.
She says her right patellar tendon (which connects the kneecap to the shinbone) was 75 per cent detached, leading the surgeon to graft a new tendon from a cadaver into Flanagan’s leg. She had injections of PRP (platelet-rich plasma) and bone marrow concentrate using bone marrow from her hip into both knees in an effort to speed healing. (PRP has been used with various other famous athletes such as Tiger Woods and Rafael Nadal, but there has been very little research on its efficacy.)
The surgery was done by Dr. Robert F. LaPrade, a complex orthopedic knee and sports medicine surgeon at The Steadman Clinic in Vail.
In 2017, Flanagan was the first American woman to win the New York Marathon in 40 years. Last year she finished in third place, behind Mary Keitany and Vivian Cheruiyot.
It was just after that that she revealed the extent of her knee pain. She will likely spend the next few months recovering from surgery.
(04/25/2019) Views: 912 ⚡AMPThe first New York City Marathon, organized in 1970 by Fred Lebow and Vince Chiappetta, was held entirely in Central Park. Of 127 entrants, only 55 men finished; the sole female entrant dropped out due to illness. Winners were given inexpensive wristwatches and recycled baseball and bowling trophies. The entry fee was $1 and the total event budget...
more...With her sights set on a return to London in a month, Elmira native Molly Huddle opened the outdoor track season with a runner-up finish in the 10,000 meters Friday night at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, California.
Huddle, 34, posted a time of 30 minutes, 58.46 seconds at Stanford's Cobb Track and Angell Field. Emily Sisson won in 30:49.59. Sisson's time was the sixth-fastest ever for an American woman, with only Huddle and Shalane Flanagan having run quicker times.
Huddle's time was good enough to top the standard of 31:25 for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, though she would still need to qualify for Tokyo at next year's U.S. Trials. Huddle set the still-standing American record in the 10,000 at the 2016 Rio Olympics with a sixth-place time of 30:13.17.
After the meet, Huddle credited Sisson with helping to push her to a sub 31-minute race.
The meet included both professional and college runners. Allie Ostrander of Boise State took third in 32:06 in the 10K invitational race behind Sisson and Huddle.
Huddle is tuning up to compete in the London Marathon on April 28. It will be the fourth career marathon for Huddle, who finished fourth at the New York City Marathon in November after placing third in her marathon debut there in 2016. She ran the Boston Marathon last year. Sisson, who is Huddle's training parter, will make her marathon debut at London
(04/23/2019) Views: 901 ⚡AMPThe London Marathon was first run on March 29, 1981 and has been held in the spring of every year since 2010. It is sponsored by Virgin Money and was founded by the former Olympic champion and journalist Chris Brasher and Welsh athlete John Disley. It is organized by Hugh Brasher (son of Chris) as Race Director and Nick Bitel...
more...2017 TCS New York City Marathon champion Shalane Flanagan, who finished third at the same event last year and confessed she almost did not run due to knee pain, posted yesterday that she will need surgery to repair tears in her patellar tendons.
Flanagan has not raced since the 2018 NYC marathon.
Flanagan, who grew up in Massachusetts, sat in the broadcast booth at Monday’s Boston Marathon for WBZ TV, the local CBS affiliate.
Last year, she finished a disappointing seventh, in extremely challenging weather conditions, with a time of 2:46:31, though there was no indication she was dealing with injury until the late fall.
The marathoner has had one of the strongest running careers in American distance history. She began as a high school star, continued her dominance at the University of North Carolina, and then went on to win Olympic and World Championships medals, and set American records which still stand today.
(04/22/2019) Views: 1,182 ⚡AMPThe first New York City Marathon, organized in 1970 by Fred Lebow and Vince Chiappetta, was held entirely in Central Park. Of 127 entrants, only 55 men finished; the sole female entrant dropped out due to illness. Winners were given inexpensive wristwatches and recycled baseball and bowling trophies. The entry fee was $1 and the total event budget...
more...Worknesh Degefa, 29, built up a commanding lead and even through Kenya's Edna Kiplagat closed the gap in the last few miles Degefa went on the win clocking 2:23:31 at the 2019 Boston Marathon. Edna Kiplegat of Kenya started to break away from the rest of the chase pack at about 30K, trying to run the Ethiopian leader down, but the gap was too wide. Edna Kiplagat finished 44 seconds back clocking 2:24:14. Jordan Hasasy from the US finished third clocking 2:25:20.
Going into the race Degefa was ready to run well. This January in Dubai, Worknesh Degefa set an Ethiopian national marathon record with her 2:17:41 second place finish. With that result she became the fourth fastest women’s marathoner in history.
Historically a half marathon specialist, Degefa’s top ten half marathon times (2013-2016) were run with an average time of 67:30. Her personal best was recorded at the 2016 Prague Half Marathon where she finished second in 66:14. She earned the silver medal at the 2015 All African Games Half Marathon. Degefa made her debut in the marathon in 2017 with a win at the Dubai Marathon, which she says is her proudest accomplishment.
Degefa trains in the Oromia region of Ethiopia in Arsi and Assela because of its altitude and good weather for training. Her coach is Gemedu Dedefo. Her favorite foods are rice and pasta and she enjoys traveling in Europe.
Jordan Hasay finished third again this year. Choosing Boston to make her debut in 2017, Jordan Hasay ran 2:23:00 to finish third. She set an American women’s debut record by three minutes and recorded the fourth fastest time ever run in the race by an American woman behind Shalane Flanagan, Desiree Linden and Joan Benoit Samuelson.
After Boston, Hasay ran the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and once again finished third, but improved her time to 2:20:57, becoming the second fastest American woman marathoner of all time. Besides making the podium in both the Boston and Chicago Marathons, Hasay set a half marathon personal best time of 67:55 with her sixth-place finish at the 2017 Prague Half Marathon.
During the race she set a 15K personal best of 48:21 and a 20K personal best of 64:32. She also won the 2017 U.S. national titles in the 20K, 10 Mile and 15K. Hasay was injured during 2018, but after surgery on her foot has made a complete recovery.
Hasay has been running since she was 12 years old and grew up in Arroyo Grande, California.
Last year's winner Desiree Linden finished fifth clocking 2:27:00. The weather was not a factor this year unlike last year.
(04/15/2019) Views: 1,353 ⚡AMPThe 124th Boston Marathon originally scheduled for April 20 was postponed to September 14 and then May 28 it was cancelled for 2020. The next Boston Marathon is scheduled for April 19, 2021. Among the nation’s oldest athletic clubs, the B.A.A. was established in 1887, and, in 1896, more than half of the U.S. Olympic Team at the first modern...
more...Success for reigning USA Olympic Trials Marathon champion Amy Cragg did not come easily or quickly. Indeed, the 35 year-old Nike Bowerman Track Club athlete nearly quit the sport before her true talent really showed through, eventually carrying her to Olympic Trials wins in both 2012 (at 10,000m) and 2016 (marathon), four USA titles, and a 2:21:42 marathon personal best. It’s been a long, and sometimes bumpy, road.
“Definitely, I’ve made some mistakes along the way,” Cragg told Race Results Weekly in a telephone interview from Prague where she’ll be running the Sportisimo Prague International Half-Marathon on Saturday. “I’ve learned from them and that’s kind of led me to here. So, every once in a while I’ve looked back and I’m, like, I should have done this differently or this differently. But, the reality is that I might not have ended up here. I think I’m in a really good place.”
Working with coaches Jerry Schumacher and Pascal Dobert and Bowerman teammate Shalane Flanagan since the end of 2015, Cragg has blossomed into one of America’s best at 26.2 miles. After winning the February, 2016, Marathon Trials on a brutally hot day in Los Angeles, she went on to finish ninth in the Olympic Games Marathon in Rio.
She backed up that performance a year later with a thrilling, late-race charge at the 2017 IAAF World Championships marathon in London, taking the bronze medal (the first medal for a USA woman at those championships in the marathon since 1983), and only missing the silver by a fraction of a second.
She recovered from her London race well, then ran the Tokyo Marathon in February, 2018, finishing third in an excellent 2:21:42. That performance made her the fifth-fastest American of all time behind only Deena Kastor, Jordan Hasay, Flanagan and Joan Samuelson.
"I love where I’m at,” Cragg continued. “I love my team and my coach. Just living in Oregon, that’s been incredible. I think overall, those rough moments, those times when I considered stopping have made me a stronger athlete. I’m glad I went through that. It’s hard to say that. Those times, I think I really learned a lot from them.”
Cragg is at an unusual juncture in her career. She hasn’t run a marathon in over a year. She built-up for Chicago last October, but ended up withdrawing from the race after she and her coaches felt that her training hadn’t brought her to the fitness she would need to run her best. They had intense discussions, she said, about what to do next.
“When I pulled out of Chicago last year the big talk was, OK, what do we really want to get out of the next two years?” Cragg said. “I’ll probably be in the sport two years and reassess. The big thing is making another Olympic team and trying to perform well in Tokyo. Everything we do from here on out, that’s the goal to make that team and we’ve been working back from there.”
Cragg decided not to do a spring marathon this year. Instead, she worked with her Bowerman teammates Shelby Houlihan, Marielle Hall, Courtney Frerichs, and Karissa Schweizer to get ready for the USATF Cross Country Championships last February where she finished fifth in her first national cross country championships in nine years.
A month later she ran the special Road to Gold test event in Atlanta where she was able to run on the 2020 Olympic Trials course. Uncontested, she covered the 8-mile route in 43:23 and won by a minute. She told Race Results Weekly that the Atlanta race was essentially the kick-off of her Trials training.
“I felt pretty good,” Cragg said. “I think I’m in a good position and I’m pretty excited to get into the bigger miles. For me, that makes a huge difference. I feel ready to start that, which is exciting for me.”
Saturday’s race in Prague is the next logical step on Cragg’s long journey to Atlanta next February for the marathon trials and Tokyo for the Olympics next August. On Prague’s flat, record-eligible course Cragg wants to race hard with the goal of improving herself as a marathoner.
(04/05/2019) Views: 1,102 ⚡AMPStart the RunCzech season with one of the biggest running events in the Central Europe! Every year the Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon excites spectators with performances of elite athletes breaking records. Enjoy a course with incomparable scenery in the heart of historic Prague that follows along the Vltava river and crisscrosses five beautiful bridges. Take in majestic views of the...
more...With her 30:49 10,000m on Friday night at Stanford, 27-year-old Emily Sisson is behind only Molly Huddle and Shalane Flanagan in American history. Sisson will next tackle her marathon debut on Apr. 28 in London.
Marathon training is already showing a lot of promise for 26.2 newcomer Emily Sisson. With just under a month remaining until her debut.
The race was executed with teamwork from Sisson, 27, and her training partner Huddle, 34, who are both coached by Ray Treacy. The runners switched off leading every few laps for the majority of the race in Stanford, California, which set the tone for a pace aimed to break the 2020 Olympic qualifying standard.
Both runners competed at the 2017 IAAF World Track and Field Championships together and are currently in the middle of training to compete at the London Marathon in April, which made the return to the track all the more exciting.
(04/01/2019) Views: 949 ⚡AMPThe London Marathon was first run on March 29, 1981 and has been held in the spring of every year since 2010. It is sponsored by Virgin Money and was founded by the former Olympic champion and journalist Chris Brasher and Welsh athlete John Disley. It is organized by Hugh Brasher (son of Chris) as Race Director and Nick Bitel...
more...Boston Marathon champions Meb Keflezighi, Tatyana McFadden, Bill Rodgers, Joan Benoit Samuelson, Greg Meyer and Uta Pippig will join Shalane Flanagan, Ryan Hall, Deena Kastor, Becca Pizzi and Team Hoyt as ambassadors for this year’s race.
“As Patriots’ Day nears, we welcome our 2019 Elite Ambassador Team for the Boston Marathon,” said John Hancock Chief Marketing Officer Barbara Goose.
“Through their mentorship and inclusiveness, these accomplished athletes inspire runners of all ages and abilities during race week and throughout the year at John Hancock sponsored events.
The team has become an integral part of our community.”
Ambassadors will cheer on the 30,000 participants racing from Hopkinton to Boston on Patriots’ Day and attend media, community and race week events, including making appearances at the Runner’s Seminar at the Expo, surprise “meet and greets” near the finish line, and at the John Hancock Elite Athlete press conference on April 12 at 10 a.m. at the Fairmont Copley.
(03/28/2019) Views: 924 ⚡AMPThe 124th Boston Marathon originally scheduled for April 20 was postponed to September 14 and then May 28 it was cancelled for 2020. The next Boston Marathon is scheduled for April 19, 2021. Among the nation’s oldest athletic clubs, the B.A.A. was established in 1887, and, in 1896, more than half of the U.S. Olympic Team at the first modern...
more...2012 Olympic 10,000m silver medalist Sally Kipyego, who will be running her first marathon as an American.
We break down the elite fields below, but we start with some analysis of Kipyego, who is returning to racing in 2019 after missing most of the past two years.
When John Hancock announced the 2019 US elite field for Boston last month, we noted that there is currently a “Studly Six” in US marathoning — Amy Cragg, Jordan Hasay, Molly Huddle, Shalane Flanagan, Des Linden, and Sally Kipyego (who has never before run for the US). At the time, only two of those women (Hasay and Linden) were entered in Boston, but the updated field released today included Kipyego’s name, which spices things up quite a bit.
Kipyego, 33, became a US citizen in January 2017 but has only raced once since. She took 2017 off to have a baby, giving birth to daughter Emma in July 2017, but her return to training took longer than anticipated and she did not race again until June 2018, where she was just 10th at the BAA 10K in 34:32. Kipyego was slated to run the NYC Marathon last fall, but was forced to withdraw a month before the race, citing malaria and pneumonia.
But Kipyego remains a monster talent, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see her on the plane to Tokyo with Team USA in 2020. At Texas Tech, she became the only woman to win three NCAA XC titles, and after turning pro, she put together a track career more successful than any of her US contemporaries: PRs of 14:30 (four seconds faster than the American record) and 30:26 (only Flanagan and Huddle have run faster among Americans) for 5k and 10k on the track, and a pair of global 10k silvers at the 2011 Worlds and 2012 Olympics. She’s also run 68:31 in the half marathon, and in her only career marathon finish she was 2nd in NYC in 2016, one spot ahead of Huddle.
The question, of course, is whether Kipyego can return to that form after a long layoff. We will learn a lot about her over the next three months, and that begins next weekend in Houston, where Kipyego is entered in the half marathon. Should Kipyego run well there, there will be a lot of hype for Boston.
(01/12/2019) Views: 732 ⚡AMPAdrianne Haslet, a professional dancer who lost her left leg in the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, was in serious condition in hospital after being struck by a car on Boston’s Commonwealth Avenue on Saturday. Haslet posted the information on Instagram, it was picked up by the Associated Press and retweeted by Haslet’s friend Shalane Flanagan, third-place finisher in last year’s New York City Marathon.
Hasket was in a crosswalk at the time. She says she was “thrown into the air and landed, crushing the left side of my body… I’m completely broken. More surgery to come.”
According to the AP report, the driver claimed he was turning and did not see Haslet because it was dark out and raining, and because she was wearing dark clothing. He was charged for failing to stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
Haslet was in the crowd near the finish line in 2013 when she was injured in the second blast. She had shrapnel wounds in her right leg, and her left leg had to be amputated below the knee. A highly ranked competitive ballroom dancer, Haslet was able to recover and return to dancing with her prosthetic leg, and in 2015 she performed a dance at the Boston marathon finish line.
(01/07/2019) Views: 763 ⚡AMPShalane Flanagan has been toying with the idea of retirement for several years. But retirement will have to wait until after this year’s New York City Marathon.
She was supposed to retire after last year’s New York City Marathon, where she became the first American woman to win the title in four decades.
Since then, Flanagan faced heartbreak at this year’s Boston Marathon, where she finished in a disappointing seventh place under difficult conditions. Flanagan had hoped to win the race in front of a hometown crowd, as she’s from Marblehead, Massachusetts. Many thought Boston could be her last marathoner ever.
Now she’s announced a return to the New York City Marathon this fall. "When I experienced winning New York last year, it was like when you're sitting on your couch and finally something happens that you didn't realize would happen and it excites you,"
Flanagan said. "But this was my real life! It was the outcome of always wanting it and not knowing if I was going to get it. And suddenly everything I'd worked for was validated. I got it." Flanagan currently trains with the Bowerman Track Club in Beaverton, Oregon.
The New York City Marathon goes on Sunday November 4th, 2018.
(08/13/2018) Views: 1,650 ⚡AMPThe New York Road Runners announced 2018 Boston Marathon champion and two-time U.S. Olympian Des Linden will run the 2018 New York City Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 4.
In April, Linden, 34, became the first American woman in 33 years to win the Boston Marathon despite battling rainy and cold conditions. Last year's New York City Marathon was won by Shalane Flanagan, who became the first female American champion in the race in 40 years.
Flanagan, 36, contemplated retirement after her win but decided to run the 2018 Boston Marathon, where she finished sixth. Flanagan has yet to commit to a fall marathon.
Linden is looking to become the first woman to win the Boston Marathon and New York City Marathon in the same year since Norway's Ingrid Kristainsen in 1989.
(06/27/2018) Views: 1,670 ⚡AMPThe weather Monday in Boston was more than bad, it was terrible. Shalane Flanagan posted, “Those were the most brutal conditions I’ve ever run in.”
One elite woman just kept putting one foot in front of the other faster than anyone else until the end. Desiree Linden even at one point waited for Shalane at a bathroom stop.
This brief break, might have helped Desiree get life back in her legs as well. Desiree caught back up to the lead pack but Shalane couldn’t hang. In the end Desiree won by nearly four minutes and became the the first American woman to win the Boston Marathon since Lisa Rainsberger in 1985.
Afterwards she said there were many moments she wanted to drop out but she kept on going. Was it worth it? For her efforts she was given a check for $150,000. She could have easily not finished.
It is interesting to note that according to the race director 95.5% of those who started finished. Very impressive but then again marathoners are a different breed.
(04/17/2018) Views: 2,062 ⚡AMPDID YOU KNOW: Cheryl Bridges, now Cheryl Treworgy, once held the American and world record in the marathon. Cheryl Bridges was born December 25, 1947 in Indiana.
She began her running career as a sophomore at North Central High School in Indianapolis. In her senior year in high school, she competed in the national cross-country championships. In 1966, she became the first female athlete in the U.S. to receive an athletic scholarship to a public university — Indiana State University. She graduated in three years with a degree in physical education.
In 1969, she finished fourth in the World Cross Country Championships in Scotland. She set the American records in the 3 mile and 5,000 meter distances. On December 7, 1971, Bridges ran her first marathon, finishing the Culver City Marathon in a world record time of 2:49:40.
She had a lot of ideas and ambitions. She was the holder of a patent on utility sports bras and was the former buyer and part-owner of Frank Shorter Sports stores.
Cheryl, now 70, is a professional photographer for her own company, Pretty Sporty, and was recognized in 2010 as Track and Field Writers of America Photographer of the year.
Cheryl is the mother of Shalane Flanagan, who among other achievements set an American record in the 2008 Summer Olympics Beijing in the 10,000m and won the New York City marathon on November 5, 2017.
Shalane is going after a dream on Monday. This dream is to win the Boston Marathon. Her mom would be proud.
Cheryl Bridges appeared on the March 1969 cover of Distance Running News.
(04/11/2018) Views: 2,249 ⚡AMP“Focused, determined, and stubborn. Let’s crush this week,” posted Shalane Flanagan last week on Instagram.
Then Friday it was announced that Carrie Underwood's new music video "The Champion," showcases a series of inspiring moments in history including footage of Shalane winning the New York City Marathon to Martin Luther King Jr. giving a speech....
Shalane Flanagan then posted, “The lyrics and imagery gives me chills and makes me want to go crush a run and cry at the same time.” Wow, how can you not love her? The Boston Marathon is now only weeks away. There is a lot of pressure on Shalane but one thing is for sure, she is going to give it all she has.
(This photo Jeff Cohen took shows a very determined woman. As they say “a photo is worth a thousands words.”)
(03/05/2018) Views: 1,754 ⚡AMP