Running News Daily

The 2019 Yuengling Shamrock Marathon Weekend generated a total impact of over $21 million for the local Virginia Beach economy

The 2019 Yuengling Shamrock Marathon Weekend was hosted in Virginia Beach on March 15-17. The Yuengling Shamrock Marathon, Anthem Shamrock ½ Marathon, TowneBank Shamrock 8K, and Operation Smile Shamrock Final Mile welcomed participants from all 50 states and multiple countries.

In total, there were over 45,000 runners, walkers and spectators that took part in the festivities.

“Events such as the Shamrock Marathon Weekend drive visitation to Virginia Beach during our shoulder season and boosts the local economy considerably while raising awareness that Virginia Beach is a year-round destination with many activities and experiences to enjoy,” said Brad Van Dommelen, Director of the Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The economic study conducted by San Diego State University also determined that the event created over 14,000 total hotel room nights. It also generated $800,000 in taxes and fees and contributed $150,000 for its charity partners.

“Absolutely hands down the best race weekend ever! From the start til the after party, well organized! Our group of 20 will definitely be back,” said a 2019 participant.

The Yuengling Shamrock Marathon Weekend returns for its 48th running on March 20-22, 2020

Margaret Kuras of Vanuatu wins half-marathon in socks, no shoes

Margaret Kuras, 20, of Vanuatu, a nation of Pacific islands between Australia’s eastern coast and Fiji, won the XVI Pacific Games half-marathon yesterday wearing white athletic socks without shoes. Her time was 1:29:55.

According to the Pacific Games News Service, she had won all the distance events in Vanuatu in bare feet before competing at the Games, which were held in Samoa. Kuras finished 15 seconds ahead of Dianah Matekali and Sharon Firisua of the Solomon Islands, in second (1:30:10) and third place (1:32:36).

It seems Kuras felt some pressure to wear footwear for the race, but donning socks was as far as she was prepared to go. “Wearing socks is a personal decision that I made because I had never run with shoes on before, so I didn’t feel comfortable running in shoes at these Games,” she told the news service. “When I tried the shoes on, my feet felt too heavy and I didn’t like it.

“I was nervous to run without shoes on, because I could see everyone else with shoes on, but I knew that wearing shoes was not an option for me if I wanted to win, so I chose to run with socks on instead. I know there are a lot of young people back home who have never run with shoes on, just like me.

“I would like to tell them that shoes and other gear are only there to help us be more comfortable when running, but they are not the reason why we win. Our talent, determination and hard work are the reason why we win.

“So I would like to encourage them not to be afraid to expose their talents so they can have the same opportunities that I was given.”

Kuras said her brother Sam, who was also running the half-marathon, slowed down to run with her and encourage her in the final metres of the race, for which she expressed gratitude. (No word on whether Sam was wearing running shoes.)

Kuras also won silver in the women’s 10,000m on Thursday.

How high-tempo training with elite Ethiopians helped Briton Tom Evans to place third at the Western States 100 this year

Tom Evans spent two months in Ethiopia training with elite marathon runners to prepare for this year’s Western States 100 mile ultra marathon. The training paid dividends as he finished third with the fastest ever time by a non-American runner of 14 hours, 59 minutes and 44 seconds.

“The slowest runner [in the Ethiopian running group], except for me, was a 2:08 marathoner,” the Briton said. “That made it very interesting. Their tempo runs were on dirt tracks with rolling hills, so were perfect for Western States.”

“They would run until they dropped and we were being followed by a car so they’d be picked up,” Evans said. “At first, because of the altitude, I was the first to drop out but I began to get used to the elevation.”

WSER100 is one of the most prestigious 100 mile races in the world. It takes place in California, starting at altitude before descending into deep, hot canyons. Jim Walmsley won this year’s race in a record 14:09:28.

The brutal tempo sessions in Ethiopia were fuelled by fierce rivalries, with runners motivated by the hope of being picked up by foreign agents and given the opportunity to race and earn money abroad.

“It’s almost becomes survival of the fittest,” Evans said.

The “sag wagon” that accompanied the runners was always a tempting respite from the sessions.

“You can drop out when ever you want,” he said. “So, it’s about how much you want it. It was really good mental strength training as they were always going fast and furious.”

Being in a new environment forced the former soldier to be more flexible in his attitude to training.

“You had no idea what was going to happen. I had kids throw rocks at me one day,” he said. “It was such a culture shock. I just had to deal with what was ahead of me day by day.”

Evans said he had learned from them the importance of strong contrasts between hard and easy sessions.

He felt not all of the training was relevant to his competition goals. The other athletes in the group were all preparing for marathons or half marathons, so their longest run was just two hours. Evans would sometimes head out for eight hours at a time.

“They thought I was absolutely mental,” he said. “They couldn’t get over how much volume I was doing. But they were fascinated. They really respected what I was doing.”

There were no coaches on hand to force runners on to the track or trail, but the total immersion experience meant they were not necessary.

“I became so attuned to my body. I was making decisions to drop out of sessions all based on feel,” he said.

Evans, who has won the CCC event at the Ultra Marathon du Mont Blanc (UTMB) week, could feel the effects of his training when he ran WSER100.

“I just felt so much more efficient,” he said. “So, at the end, I was still able to run hard.”

“For me, coming third in my first 100 miler was a best-case scenario,” Evans said. “I knew it was possible, I just didn’t know if it was probable.”

For now, Evans is going back to shorter races of about 50km to 100km, but he said the experience had “lit a fire” in him. 

“I definitely want to come back and see if I can improve my place, if not my time.”

Time for Runners to Reconsider Glucosamine?

A new study shows the inflammation-reducing supplement might benefit the heart as well as joints.

Many runners have used glucosamine and/or chondroitin supplements for decades, hoping to avoid or alleviate knee pain and other arthritis symptoms. Many stopped about 10 years ago when studies cast doubt on its effectiveness. Now a new study has determined that glucosamine sulfate may lower risk of heart disease and stroke by 15 percent or more.

Does that make glucosamine a two-fer? It’s too soon to know for sure. But what runner doesn’t want stronger joints and a more resilient heart? The two form the very foundation of any successful training and racing program. You need both.

The new heart study, published in the British Medical Journal, was conducted with British citizens enrolled in that country’s impressive U.K. Biobank database, which is being used in more and more health studies. Biobank allows epidemiologists to take a deep dive into data from a large number of subjects, and also to “slice and dice” groups while controlling for potentially confounding factors.

As Tulane University obesity researcher Lu Qi notes: “Biobank is one of the largest cohorts with sufficient power to perform analysis on the relation between glucosamine and disease outcomes.” Qi was senior author of the new report looking into cardiovascular issues.

His paper looked at nearly 500,000 healthy adults who were followed for an average of seven years. During that time, those who took a glucosamine sulfate supplement were 15 percent less likely to have a heart attack or stroke than those who did not. Risk of fatal heart attack or stroke dropped by 22 percent.

Why? That’s not known for sure. However, Li speculates that it could be related to glucosamine sulfate’s anti-inflammation properties. Chronic inflammation contributes to arthritis, and many heart experts now believe it’s an important factor in cardiovascular disease as well. “Previous studies have suggested that glucosamine may affect inflammation status,” notes Li. “Of course, the evidence is preliminary and needs to be verified by more studies.”

Runner enthusiasm for glucosamine may have cooled since 2006–2010 when a series of papers based on GAIT (“Glucosamine condroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial”) found no convincing evidence for a lessening of arthritis pain. While the GAIT results produced no significant reduction from arthritis pain in the entire subject group, a subgroup with moderate to severe pain did gain a statistically significant degree of pain reduction. These subjects with more pain might be analogous to runners who subject their joints to heavy pounding week after week.

More recent Japanese studies continue to support glucosamine for joint health. A group from Tokyo’s Juntendo School of Medicine has been investigating glucosamine sulfate (alone, without chondroitin) in college athletes. One experiment followed 41 soccer players, half taking glucosamine sulfate, half a placebo.

After 12 weeks, the researchers compared the collagen health of the players. Those taking glucosamine exhibited no “type II collagen degradation” such as that often seen among endurance athletes. The authors concluded: “This confirms that glucosamine exerts a protective action on cartilage metabolism in endurance athletes.” Collagen is a fibrous, flexible protein that adds structure and strength to the joints.

Sure, soccer ain’t running. But it bears similarities, and forces the knees to stop and go, and torque, much more than running.

At any rate, it’s probably glucosamine’s safety profile that has made it so attractive to so many runners through the years. There seems little risk in trying glucosamine sulfate—at 1500mg to 2000mg a day—when your joints begin to protest your running program. (Several studies indicate it might take three months or so to feel the results.) And if glucosamine lowers chronic inflammation and makes your heart stronger, too, what’s not to like about that?

Russian track and field athletes are still the most tested for doping

Russian track and field athletes were the most tested for banned performance enhancing drugs in the first six months of this year compared to other sports, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) said in a report on Wednesday.

The report states that in the period between January and June included, a total number of 675 Russian track and field athletes underwent doping tests.

Russian track and field athletes remain to be in a particular focus of RUSADA since the All-Russia Athletics Federation (RusAF) is still trying to reinstate its membership status with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

According to RUSADA, Russian champion in 800m running Sergei Dubrovsky is the most tested athlete for doping in the country based on the results of doping tests of the first half of the year, according to which the 24-year-old runner underwent nine doping tests procedures within the stated period. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) still has not granted Dubrovsky a neutral status that allows one to participate in international events. 

The world’s governing body of track and field athletics suspended RusAF’s membership in late 2015 following a wave of anti-doping rules violations and put forward a host of criteria, which the Russian ruling body of track and field sports was obliged to implement in order to restore its membership in the global federation.

The IAAF, however, permitted clean athletes from Russia to participate in international tournaments under the neutral status of Authorized Neutral Athlete (ANA) until the membership of the RusAF was reinstated. IAAF’s previously issued neutral-status permissions for Russian athletes expired on December 31, 2018.

On December 18, 2018, the IAAF Doping Review Board approved an updated version of the Guidance Note for Authorized Neutral Athlete (ANA) status applications and sent the document to the RusAF.

The RusAF started accepting neutral status applications from the country's track and field athletes on December 19, 2018. The world’s governing athletics body has already granted neutral-status permits to 118 Russian track and field athletes.

Plenty of runners are qualifying for the 2020 Boston Marathon even though the time standards are five minutes faster across all age groups

Even With Tougher Standards, Plenty Of People Are Qualifying For Boston That makes it likely that not every applicant for the 2020 race will be accepted into the marathon during the annual September registration period.

Instead, runners will be facing what’s become an annual rite: guessing the “cutoff” time—how much faster than their qualifying times they had to be in order to gain entry into the race, because the race field is filled by the fastest runners first.

Last year’s cutoff was 4 minutes and 52 seconds. In all, 7,384 people who qualified were unable to get into the race.

For the past six years, as interest in qualifying for Boston has skyrocketed, not everyone who has qualified for the race has gotten in. The race accepts only about 24,000 time qualifiers. (Another 6,000 run for a charity or have another connection into the race that doesn’t require a qualifying time.) Tom Grilk, the BAA’s chief executive officer, told Runner’s World in February that the field size is unlikely to change soon and would require the cooperation of the eight cities and towns that the race passes through on its way from Hopkinton to Boston.

Race organizers had hoped that by tightening the qualifying times, fewer runners would be in the frustrating position of hitting the time needed for their age and gender but not gaining entry to the race.

“We adjusted the times last year, because we wanted to respond to runners and put more stringent qualifying times in effect for 2020, rather than wait longer and have even more runners achieve the standard but then be unable to be accepted due to field size limitations in 2020 and 2021,” a BAA spokesperson wrote in an email to Runner’s World.

Instead, the stricter time standards seem to have motivated potential Boston runners to train better and race faster. Some of the bigger qualifying races in the first half of 2019 have produced nearly the same number of qualifiers as they produced in 2018. Here’s a look at how some of the biggest feeder races into the Boston field have played out.

At the Boston Marathon this year, which every year qualifies the greatest number of people for the following year’s race, 8,883 bettered the time they needed for the 2020 race, according to data the BAA gave to Runner’s World. Last year, 9,254 hit the standard at Boston for the 2019 event. The decline is less than 4 percent.

Japanese Nozomi Tanaka missed the national record by miscounting her laps just misses national 3,000m record less than four seconds

This track season has seen a strange amount of mishaps. It started with Hagos Gebrhiwet miscounting his laps at the Lausanne 5,000m and was followed by Jonathan Jones missing the false start at the Monaco 400m and finishing the race.

The latest is from Japanese runner Nozomi Tanaka, who miscounted the laps in her national 3,000m record attempt on Wednesday. Japan Running News reported that with 800m to go (two laps) Tanaka broke away and opened up a sizable lead.

The runner said post-race, “It’s kind of embarrassing, but I lost count of the laps and thought I was on the last lap when I kicked. I didn’t have anything left after that.”

Tanaka finished in 8:48.38, under four seconds off of the national record of 8:44.40 set in 2002.

Jenny Simpson, one of the all-time greatest American runners, made a similar mistake in 2014 when she miscounted the laps in an indoor 2-mile, but still managed to come close to breaking the American record in the event.

World Championship finalist Lopez Lomong also fell victim to the lap miscount in 2012 at Payton Jordan, when he kicked too early but still held on to take the win in 13:11 over 5,000m.

Long Distance Legends Michael Wardian and Dean Karnazes are set for the inaugural MCM50K

The MCM50K is the first of its kind, an urban ultra in Arlington, Virginia and the nation's capital with all the same on-course benefits of a marathon. Event registration sold out in under one hour, attracting enthusiastic runners from all over the US and big names in running. When the runners cross the MCM50K finish line, it will make the event the largest ultra in the United States by nearly double the current record.

“More and more people are looking for what’s next after they’ve run a marathon, and I think this is it,” shares Wardian.

Wardian is hoping to add the MCM50K top finish to his already impressive resume, which includes finishing over 400 marathons and ultras with dozens of top finishes, three 50K and one 100K titles from US Track and Field championships. Wardian is known for outlandish running feats and being a positive character in the running community, most recently running the entire 90-mile Capital Beltway.

“It's an opportunity to put myself out there, have a great experience, get a chance to see even more of beautiful Washington DC, but also to try to get on the podium.” With over a dozen MCM finishes, Wardian hopes this is his time to grasp the lead sharing, “I’m super excited. The Marine Corps Marathon was my first big city marathon I ever did in my life and it’s been a really important part of my career. This is my opportunity to have another chance to win the event, especially with inaugural 50K, a distance I’m quite comfortable with.”

As a northern Virginia native, Wardian hopes to pull from his hometown advantage. “I have a lot of friends and fans who are going to be taking part in the event with me and family that'll be out on the course supporting.”

Standing next to Wardian at the start line will be friend and competitor, Dean Karnazes. “Dean and I have worked and traveled together for nearly a decade. I’m looking forward to hanging out and experiencing this together,” offers Wardian. “I’m sure he’ll be inspiring people to get out there and put their best foot forward.”

Karnazes is known for being a New York Times bestselling author, named one of TIME magazine’s “Top 100 Most Influential People in the World,” one of the fittest men on the planet according to Men's Fitness, and for accruing a wild list of incredible running accomplishments including running 50 marathons in all 50 states in 50 consecutive days.

“The two of us have a really interesting and very close relationship. It’ll be great to see him on the start line,” shares Karnazes. “Mike and I gravitate towards the same type of events, and from a competitive standpoint it’s unbelievable what he’s accomplished.”

Runners will get to interact with Karnazes during the ultra event. He looks forward to enjoying the ultra at a comfortable pace, taking in the inaugural event and connecting with his fellow runners. On the eve of the MCM50K, runners will have a special opportunity to interact with Karnazes and hear motivation from him at the Carbo Dining In. 

Runners will get the chance to interact with Wardian and Karnazes at the MCM50K start line and during their 30+ mile journey. Running an inaugural event is special, and running alongside a few of running idols makes it unforgettable.

An ultramarathoner won the Badwater 135 race through Death Valley, then proposed. (She said yes.)

Moments after he finished the 135-mile run from Death Valley to Mount Whitney, setting a record in the Badwater 135 race, Japanese ultra runner Yoshihiko Ishikawa dropped to one knee. The reason wasn’t fatigue or relief over the accomplishment. He was asking his girlfriend to marry him.

Ishikawa finished the race Tuesday in 21 hours 33 minutes 1 second, breaking Pete Kostelnick’s 21:56:32 mark, set in 2016.

The Badwater race, one of the most prestigious and grueling ultras, started Monday at Badwater Basin in Death Valley, the lowest elevation in North America, and ended at Whitney Portal, the trailhead to the summit of Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States.

The race covers three mountain ranges, with 14,600 feet of cumulative vertical ascent and 6,100 of cumulative descent, according to its website. An ultra is anything longer than the traditional 26.2-mile marathon.

After Ishikawa’s memorable finish and proposal (she said yes), there were plenty of tears.

Last year, Ishikawa, a 31-year-old engineer, won the Spartathlon, tracing the 153-mile route that Pheidippides ran before the battle of Marathon, in 22:54:40.

Patrycja Bereznowska of Poland was the women’s Badwater winner (and second to Ishikawa overall) with a time of 24:13:24 that was more than 90 minutes faster than the record set by Alyson Venti three years ago. Bereznowska also won the Spartathlon, in 2017.

German Katharina Steinruck will return to run the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon on October

For the 29-year-old her marathon comeback after an operation on her heel is the chance to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. The qualifying time is 2:29:30.

The organisers of the Frankfurt Marathon expect up to 14,000 runners to take part in the race, and places are still available.

Katharina Steinruck – still better known to many under her maiden name Katharina Heinig – is the first prominent female runner to be signed up for this year’s Mainova Frankfurt Marathon.

“We are very pleased that Katharina has decided to run in the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon again and we will offer her the best possible conditions to run an Olympic qualifying time,” says race director Jo Schindler.

“I am happy that we can present a top German runner who is also a local champion. Many Frankfurt citizens will identify with her, as she lives and works here in the city,” he adds.

“It is always something special to be able to run the marathon in your home town,” says Katharina Steinruck, who belongs to the police sports team of the state of Hessen. “I have lived in Frankfurt for 15 years and of course I have many friends and colleagues here who will come to cheer me on. I am already looking forward to the awesome atmosphere.”

In the previous two years Katharina Steinruck made a strong showing and achieved time of slightly under 2:30. In 2017 she unexpectedly became German women’s champion in 2:29:29 and came eighth. Despite a short training time after starting the Euro championship in August, in 2018 she reached the finish line in the Frankfurt Festhalle in 2:29:55.

After an operation on her heel last November Steinruck returned to running to win the 7.9km city run in Aschaffenburg in May. Looking forward she is now preparing for the race in her home town on 27 October. Currently she is training in the pre-Alpine Allgäu region of Bavaria.

Victoria Ferreira will run the Napa-Sonoma Half Marathon to honor her Mom

For Cupertino's Victoria Ferreira, entering the Napa to Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon on Sunday is more about the mental than the physical. Sure, it takes much athleticism to complete 13 miles at a runner's pace.

But Ferreira expects to be moved by a higher power — the love and inspiration of her mother, Carmen Ferreira, who died of endometrial cancer last December at the age of 64.

After all, the matriarch named her daughter Victoria because it stands for victory. It must have been a sign. Ferreira is also running for the American Cancer Society Team DetermiNation.

Ferreira, 31, moved from her home and left her NetFlix job last October to spend time with her mother at her parents' home in Miami — with her husband, two dogs, her brother, sister-in-law and their baby, along with her father's dog, cat and bird. It was quite the household.

She started running to relieve stress.

"I dove back into running, and it helped me through the most difficult thing my family has ever gone through," she told Patch. "You always live for that hope. My mom was my best friend."

Ferreira admitted running was an outlet that helped her escape the harsh reality of the demise of someone she loved so much.

"It's funny how I came upon the race," she said. "I'm running for her. So many people loved and cherished her."

When she runs, she imagines her mother flying over her and giving her wings.

Ferreira registered for the Napa to Sonoma race almost by accident. She had already committed to a July 28 half-marathon in San Francisco. Moved with the running spirit, she surfed the Internet, looking for another 13.1-miler. She came across the Napa to Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon, which winds through vineyards and unfolds in the beautiful scenic countryside.

But the race was sold out.

The only way to earn an entry was to raise money for a charity. Ferreira saw that one of the charities was the American Cancer Society.

"Yes," she said at the time. "I want to do it for them."

Six runners clocked a sub 27 minute 10000 with Hagos Gebrhiwet leading the way with 26:48.95

Twelve days after his lap-counting error in the 5000m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Lausanne, Hagos Gebrhiwet made no mistakes in Hengelo on Wednesday (17), winning the men’s 10,000m in a world-leading 26:48.95.

The races doubled as the official Ethiopian trial races for the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019. And, based on tonight's results, Ethiopia will field two strong trios for the men's and women's 10,000m in Doha.

In a race of staggering quality – the best ever in terms of depth for one nation – the top six men finished inside 27 minutes with the first three finishing inside 26:50.

The women’s 10,000m, won by Letesenbet Gidey, was of a similarly high standard with the first 10 women – nine of whom are from Ethiopia – finishing inside 31:00.

On a still night with temperatures around 19C (66F), the men’s race set off at a steady pace with the first 2000m covered in 5:25 and 3000m reached in 8:07. The large lead pack of about 14 men was strung out but all appeared to be running comfortably.

After passing through half way in 13:31 – just outside 27-minute pace for the full distance – Kenya’s Vincent Kiprotich Kibet moved into the lead, tracked by Ethiopia’s Andamlak Belihu, Guye Adola and Abadi Hadis.

Belihu and Kiprotich were still at the front through 6000m while Yomif Kejelcha was positioned near the back of the lead pack. Hadis then took a turn at the front and, followed by Jemal Yimer Mekonnen, pushed the pace.

Eight men remained in the leading pack with 2000m remaining as Hadis still led while Kejelcha was still ominously biding his time. Selemon Barega and Gebrhiwet moved closer to Hadis with three laps to go, then Belihu hit the front of the pack – now down to six men – with 800 metres remaining.

Kejelcha finally made his move at the bell and started his 400-metre kick for home. Barega and Gebrhiwet went with him and moved past him with half a lap remaining. Barega and Gebrhiwet kicked hard down the final straight but Gebrhiwet proved to be the stronger in the closing stages, winning in 26:48.95.

Barega, competing in just his second 10,000m race, finished second in 26:49.46, moving to second on the world U20 all-time list. Kejelcha was third in 26:49.99, the second-fastest debut 10,000m in history behind Eliud Kipchoge’s 26:49.02.

Belihu (26:53.15), Mekonnen (26:54.39) and Hadis (26:56.46) were next to finish. In ninth place, Julien Wanders broke his own Swiss record with 27:17.29, moving to seventh on the European all-time list.

Like the top finishers in the men’s race, Gidey bided her time in the women’s contest before making a move in the final kilometre.

World half marathon champion Netsanet Gudeta and 2015 world 5000m silver medallist Senbere Teferi did most of the leading, taking the field through 3000m in 9:18 before reaching half way in 15:30.69.

Twelve women were still in the lead pack at that point. It was only with 10 laps to go that Commonwealth champion Stella Chesang of Uganda drifted off the back of the pack, leaving 11 women to contend for top honours.

Gudeta still led with four laps remaining but Gidey was starting to make her way through the field, which was now operating at sub-31-minute pace.

Gidey then struck with 1000 metres remaining, immediately breaking up the pack. Gudeta was the only woman capable of sticking with the two-time world U20 cross-country champion and within the space of a lap they had opened up a gap of about 15 metres on the rest of the field.

Still together at the bell, Gidey’s superior speed enabled her to pull away from her compatriot over the final 300 metres and she went on to win in a lifetime best of 30:37.89. Gudeta followed three seconds later in 30:40.85.

Teferi was third in 30:45.14 with Zeineba Yimer taking fourth place in 30:46.24. World cross-country silver medallist Dera Dida (30:51.86) and Tsehay Gemechu (30:53.11), the 10km world leader on the roads, followed in fifth and sixth respectively.

In eighth place, Girmawit Gebrzihair broke the Ethiopian U20 record with 30:53.53. Tsigie Gebreselama, ninth in 30:57.54, also finished inside the previous Ethiopian U20 record which had stood since 2000.

In other events, the previously unheralded Lemecha Girma made a huge breakthrough to win the men’s 3000m steeplechase in 8:08.18, winning by six seconds and moving to fourth on the Ethiopian all-time list. World U20 champion Diribe Welteji won the women’s 800m in 2:00.51.

Joan Benoit Samuelson Is Aiming to Go Sub-3:00 in 2020

In a stack of running resumes, Joan Benoit Samuelson’s sticks out like a neon sign. The running legend, now 62, has won Boston twice (in 1979 and 1983), became the first woman to win gold at the first women’s Olympic marathon in 1984, and set the U.S. marathon record at the time (2:21:21 at the 1985 Chicago Marathon), which still ranks as the fifth-fastest time ever run by an American woman.

What she’s done beyond her prime, however, is really what sets her apart. Last year, at age 61, Samuelson completed the Chicago Marathon with her daughter, Abby, in 3:12:13, averaging 7:20 pace per mile.

Shortly after that race, she announced an ambitious goal for 2019: finishing Boston within 40 minutes of her winning time 40 years ago, when she broke the tape in 2:35:15 in 1979. Samuelson conquered that goal with plenty of room to spare in April, finishing Boston in an even 3:04—just a few minutes shy of the 60 to 64 age group marathon world record (3:01:30 set by Bernardine Portenski in 2010).

Samuelson, who holds the marathon world record for the 55 to 59 age group (2:50:33, which she set in Boston in 2013), has been eyeing her current age group record since last year. After narrowly missing it in Boston, she recently told the Quad City Times that she’ll attempt to break 3:00 at a spring marathon next year—most likely Tokyo on March 1, 2020, or London on April 26, 2020. If she accomplishes her goal, she will be a member of an elite class of runners who have gone sub-3:00 for six decades.

[Smash your goals with a Runner’s World Training Plan, designed for any speed and any distance.]

This won’t be the first age group wall Samuelson has attempted to bust down. At age 50, she placed 90th in the 2008 Olympic Trials, running 2:49:08. Then three years later, when she was 53, she set a record for her age by clocking 2:47:50 at the 2010 Chicago Marathon.

Though Samuelson has never been one to back down from a challenge, she’s not immune to the fact that staying healthy and springing back from injuries gets tougher with age. Despite entering Chicago with lofty aspirations in 2015 and 2017, she was forced to withdraw a few days before the race both years, due to a stomach bug and a knee injury, respectfully. In Boston this year, she competed on a strained calf muscle, she told Runner’s World after the race.

In order to duck under 3:00 in the marathon next year, she’ll need to be diligent—as all runners do—about injury prevention.

“I’m up against the aging process,” Samuelson told the Quad City Times. “I just need to stay injury-free. That’s a hard thing to do these days.”

oollee says ditch plastic wáter bottles will be the oficial wáter sponsor for the Golden Gate Double 8K and Golden Gate 10k/5k August 4

Everyone has a right to clean water, no matter what you look like, how much money you make, or which political party you favor. In America, that right is enshrined in law.

oollee water purifier equips homes and businesses with a high-tech reverse osmosis device. Ditch Plastic Bottles Today!

oollee Water Provider will be the official water supplier for the fifth annual Golden Gate Double 8K, UjENA 5k and Golden Gate 10k events being held August 4 in Crissy Field across from Sports Basement in San Francisco.

oollee Water Provider located in Menlo Park, California says "Drink your water clean, fresh and free of harmful additives and impurities using oollee services.  Limitless clean water in your home every single day."

"We are excited to welcome oollee as our official water provider," says race director Bob Anderson.  oollee will also be awarding the male and female 10K winner one of their water purifier system valued at $2199 each. 

The Golden Gate 10K, UjENA 5K and DOUBLE 8K (5K+3K) courses offer unparalleled views of the Golden Gate Bridge for more than 80% of the course! The course will begin on historic Crissy Field near the Presidio in San Francisco.  Runners will enjoy the gorgeous vistas of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

These races sponsored by Sports Basement are competitive and fun events.  A special Golden Gate finishing medal will be awarded to all 10K and 5K finishers. The featured event is the Golden Gate Double 8K.  Participants will race a 5K at 8am, take a break and then race 3K at 9:15am.  Times are added together for scoring. 

"Double Racing was started in 2010 and nearly 100 events have been staged already," says creator Bob Anderson. 

"If you have not done a Double, you need to experience it," says Lisa Wall social media director for My Best Runs.  "I have run several and I really like the unique aspect of the event."

The event is almost sold out and most likely will be within the next few days. 

Kenya´s Benson Kipruto will Defend his Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon Title in October

"If I can defend my Toronto Marathon title it will be very good for me and for my marathon career," he declares with a smile. He remembers well the joy his 2:07:24 performance brought him and the festivities which followed upon his return to Kenya.

"I started the celebration at the (Eldoret) airport with my family, my friends and my training mates and also my coach," he recalls of the celebration which included drinking fermented milk called Mursik in the Kalenjin warriors’ tradition. "We extended the celebration to my camp. We feasted on some goats with my friends and training mates.

"This year I would like to run my personal best in Toronto. Hopefully, if the weather will be good and also, if the pacemakers do a good job, I am hoping to run maybe 2:06 and maybe try to run a course record."

Kipruto’s best is 2:07:11 set in finishing third at the 2018 Seoul Marathon and he also ran 2:07:21 at the 2017 Gongju Dong-A Marathon in Korea. With three recent 2:07 results he is clearly on the verge of another major breakthrough which could see him tackle the current Toronto course record held by his compatriot Philemon Rono (2:06:52 in 2017).

Asked what his greatest impression from last year’s five day visit to Toronto was he is quick to credit the organizers.

"The people I met, they are friendly like the first one, Alan Brookes the Race Director, he is very friendly," he reveals. "The course itself is good. And also, I think the weather that day was not so good."

Last year runners awakened to temperatures hovering near freezing point and also encountered a strong headwind coming off Lake Ontario. Still, winning this IAAF Gold Label race caught the attention of the world’s marathon running aficionados.

"I would say it opened doors to my future," Kipruto explains. "I was invited to the 2019 Boston Marathon because of Toronto. So my name has grown. (Toronto) was my first victory.

"Boston was a good performance for me; I managed to finish, first of all. I was injured during the race."

Kipruto’s feet were badly blistered during the race. But his coach Claudio Berardelli offers another explanation saying that he pushed Kipruto perhaps too much over the final three weeks of his preparation and so he was also over-trained. Ultimately, he finished a respectable 10th in 2:09:53 within two minutes of the winner Lawrence Cherono, also from Kenya.

Performing at this level has paid dividends for Kipruto. First place in Toronto earns CAD $30,000 while a course record is worth another CAD $40,000. In a country where the per capita income is less than $2,000 it is a lucrative business. He sees it as an investment for the future.

Though he was born in the village of Tolilet he recently bought some land 40 kilometres away in Kapsabet and moved his wife and one-year old daughter, who is called Princess Camille Chemutai, to the place.

Now his family is nearer to the training camp where he resides during the week and where he trains with such elite athletes as Amos Kipruto (2:05:43 personal best), Vincent Kipchumba (2:06:56), Solomon Yego (2:06:23) and Barselius Kipyego (2:07:57). He goes home on weekends.

Roy Englert, 96, added yet another world record to his collection at last week’s USATF Masters Outdoor Championships

96-year-old Roy Englert runs 42-minute 5K to shatter age-group world record, running the 5000m in 42:30.23 to shatter the existing age-group mark by nearly eight minutes at the Cyclone Sports Complex in Ames, Iowa.

The Virginia native, who already held the 95 to 99 age group records for the 800m and 1500m and is a member of the world record 4x100, 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams, broke Frank Levine’s decade-old record of 50:10.56.

The new mark is still pending approval by USATF.

According to a Run Washington profile, Englert lives at a Lake Ridge retirement community and does most of his running on a treadmill: two to three miles for three days a week, or upping the mileage if a competition is nearing.

“It’s fun. It’s not fun while you’re doing it, but it’s fun when you’re finished,” he said. “It’s hard work, actually.”

Englert, a retired attorney, credits his late-career success to not to any natural gift but dogged persistence.

“I don’t consider myself that much of an inspiration. I’m a slow runner,” he told Run Washington. “But I guess I’ve outlasted almost everybody. It gets easier to win when there’s not as much competition around.”

Registration for the 37th Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Half Marathon, 10K & 5K is now open

The 37th annual event will take place on Sunday, February 2, 2020, showcasing Golden Gate Park and the Pacific Ocean while treating finishers to a lively post-race expo.  A fixture on the Bay Area running calendar, participants in all three race distances will test themselves on scenic, net-downhill courses, offering runners of all abilities the opportunity to achieve a personal best. Each year, the race donates $100,000 to four designated local charities.

Owned by the non-profit Pamakid Runners, the 2020 event will feature a one-time prize purse and course record bonus in the half marathon for elite athletes tuning up for the U.S. Marathon Trials in Atlanta, GA.  With over 30 Northern California athletes already qualified for the Marathon Trials, the race will offer an expanded elite program designed to attract a deep field of athletes seeking a fitness benchmark one month out from Atlanta.  

The prize purse will be tiered based on the number of elites entered, with the total purse doubling from $3,000 to $6,000 if more than twenty qualified elites are entered.  In addition, a $500 bonus will be offered to the first runner breaking the existing course records (Men: 1:04:08; Women: 1:15:07).

“We are thrilled to offer an opportunity for our regional elite athletes to use the Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Half Marathon as a target race prior to the U.S. Marathon Trials,” said Michelle La Sala of Blistering Pace Race Management, producer of the event.  

“By offering a prize purse and course record bonus, our region’s best athletes will be able to test their fitness without having to travel. We are looking forward to a deep and exciting race on February 2nd!”

"The Pamakids are excited to present the 37th Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Half Marathon along with our long-time partner, Kaiser Permanente," added Pamakid Runners president Andy Chan. "Our race is positioned four weeks before the Marathon Trials, which makes it an ideal tune-up race.

It's also a great opportunity for the Bay Area running community to meet and support the elite runners who could be representing the U.S. in the 2020 Olympics."

New routes for Canada Army Run 2019

Canada Army Run presents some fantastic opportunities to see our national capital while honoring and supporting our men and women in uniform. Along with the new start/finish location at the Canadian War Museum, the race has just unveiled brand-new routes for the 5K, 10K and half-marathon. Everything happens on Sunday, September 22.

All three of the new courses travel some distance east from the Canadian War Museum on Wellington Street, past the Supreme Court of Canada and the Parliament Buildings. And all three routes cross into Gatineau, so runners get to enjoy the beauty of the National Capital region on both sides of the provincial border.

“Our new location at the Canadian War Museum is an ideal fit for our uniquely military-themed event,” says communications manager Michael Timmermans,  “and Canada Army Run has forged a partnership with the CWM which will help ensure the success of our event for the foreseeable future.”

If you’re running the 10K or the half-marathon, after passing the Chateau Laurier you’ll make a left on Sussex Drive, passing by such renowned Ottawa landmarks as the National Gallery and 24 Sussex Drive (the traditional residence of the Prime Minister and where Justin Trudeau grew up, though during his tenure as PM he and his family have been living at Rideau Cottage, on the grounds of Rideau Hall, the Governor General’s residence).

The 10K and half-marathon routes cross the Alexandra Bridge into Gatineau, Que., passing the iconic Canadian Museum of History along the way.

The half-marathon route encircles the tony Rockcliffe neighbourhood and includes the National Military Cemetery of the Canadian Forces, returning along the Sir George Etienne Parkway beside the beautiful Ottawa River.

For those who want to really push themselves, consider upping the ante with the Normandy Challenge (5K plus 10K) or the Commander’s Challenge (5K plus half-marathon). The challenges are both almost sold out, so register soon to avoid disappointment.

JUST Water cartons will replace 19,000 plastic botles at London´s Asics 10K race

Taking place this weekend, the Virgin Sport ASICS London 10K race (organized by Richard Branson’s Virgin Sport company) will be plastic-bottle free thanks to a new partnership with JUST Water—a sustainable water brand owned by father-and-son team Jaden and Will Smith.

In lieu of 19,000 plastic bottles, runners will receive cartons of JUST water at the finish line this year. During the race, all aid stations will be equipped with recyclable cups, eliminating the use of 40,000 plastic bottles.

In addition to this weekend’s race, Virgin Sport aims to eliminate all plastic bottles—approximately 500,000—from its events this year.

“JUST is incredibly proud to join efforts alongside Virgin Sport at the ASICS London 10K to reduce plastic at the event,” the water company said in a statement.

“Together, we aim to inspire and show that a small change, such as changing your bottled water to a more sustainable option, is something we all can do to create a positive impact on our planet.”

Jaden Smith was only 12 years old when he launched the brand with his father and has been a prominent advocate for providing those in need access to clean water, including in Flint, MI where he installed a JUST mobile water filtration system this year to aid with the water crisis in the region.

On his 21st birthday earlier this month, Jaden Smith debuted the first pop-up of his I Love You Restaurant on Skid Row in Los Angeles, a food truck serving vegan food to people experiencing homelessness—the first of many, according to the young activist.

Strong men´s field runners is expected for Cape Town Marathon

While Stephen Mokoka won last year’s Sanlam Cape Town Marathon in record time, the men’s top 10 was once again dominated by east Africans.

Apart from Mokoka, two other South Africans - Benedict Moeng (sixth) and Desmond Mokgobu (10th) - made the top 10.

With the race organisers expecting more international elite athletes for this year’s race taking place on September 15, it would appear the challenge for South Africans to dominate will be all the more tougher.

The organisers are hosting a ‘50 Days To Go’ Countdown event in the Mother City next Wednesday where they are set to announce "the finest elite marathon field ever assembled on African soil".

Expectations are that Mokoka will be back to defend the title he won in fantastic style. Mokoka, participating in a local event for the first time in years, lived up to his star billing when he got home in a fast time of 2:08:31.

But Mokgobu is going to miss this one out as he will be racing the Doha Marathon around that time while Moeng is likely to participate. Mokgobu’s teammate Pharson Magagane, who finished 21st last year will be back in the race.

An interesting participant this year will be Impala’s TK Moshwetsi who came to the fore during the Comrades Marathon. New to the scene, Moshwetsi surprised most when he held the lead in the ultra two and a half hours into the race and looked to be doing well and seemed strong only to stop after the halfway mark at Drummond.

According to his coach Dave Adams, Moshwetsi was never at Comrades to race or even complete it but was rather using it as preparation for the Cape Town Marathon.

No doubt this year’s race will be a hotly-contested affair what with the organisers also looking to impress the IAAF in their application to have the race upgraded from Gold Label Status to Platinum.

Mekhi Gammons (13) runs 47.86 at the 2019 AAU National Club Championships to break the world age group 400m record

Getting under 48 seconds in the 400 meters is not an extraordinary time for a professional runner but it is for a 13-year-old boy. Mekhi Gammons, an American kid born on July 26, 2005, won his AAU Club Championships race last weekend with an incredible record of 47.86.

To understand the stratospheric record of this teenager, the world record set in 2016 by South African Wayde van Niekerk is 43.03 and the best this season, run by American Michael Norman, is 43.45, so Gammons is just a little more than four seconds slower.

Gammons, runs for the team Miami Gardens Xpress Track and Field Club. 

Mekhi Gammons was very close to the U-18 world record, which since this season belongs to the American Justin Robinson with 44.84.

Amy Cragg Puts Trust in Her Team, and now she’s back training for the 2019 Chicago Marathon after 18 months away from racing 26.2-miles

Cragg, 35, is a member of the Bowerman Track Club, based in Portland, Oregon, under the direction of coach Jerry Schumacher. And now she’s back training for the 2019 Chicago Marathon on October 13, after 18 months away from racing 26.2-miles. The last time was the 2018 Tokyo Marathon, where she placed third in 2:21:41, a personal best by more than five minutes, making her the fifth-fastest U.S. woman at the distance.

In the past year, the overriding goal, Cragg said, was doing whatever was best to ultimately make the 2020 Olympic team. The Olympic Trials are set for February 29 in Atlanta, where the top three finishers who have the Olympic qualifying standard will be named to the team. Cragg still needs to achieve the Olympic standard within the specified window—either by time (2:29:30) or by placing in the top 10 in Chicago. Those are her primary goals for the October race, but as her training tells her more about her fitness in the months ahead, she’ll likely target a few more ambitious secondary goals.

“In training and everything we’re going to protect that goal of the qualifying standard for the Olympics—that’s what we’re going there to do,” she said. “But at the same time if things go well, we’ll narrow the focus of what I want to achieve on race day.”

The Chicago Marathon may serve as a good preview for the February Trials, too. Jordan Hasay, the second-fastest U.S. woman in the marathon, is also planning to compete—her personal best of 2:20:57 was set at the 2017 Chicago Marathon, when she placed third. Hasay has indicated she’d like to set the American record in October, currently held by Deena Kastor in 2:19:36.

Although she was upset to not compete last year, not all was lost for Cragg after she withdrew from the marathon. She started focusing on shorter distances and was thrown into workouts with her teammates, all of whom are Olympians specializing in middle-distance events—and are rather good at them, too. Like Shelby Houlihan, American record holder in the 5,000 meters (14:34.45) and Colleen Quigley, national indoor mile champion.

“It was really hard. It’s a different stimulus than I’m used to,” Cragg said. “They’re the best in the world at what they do. There were a lot of tough moments, putting my head down and hanging on in practice.”

As a result, though, Cragg took third in the national road 5K championships in November and fifth at the U.S. cross-country championships in January. And she believes the focus on quicker cadence will help her in the marathon, too.

“It’s so important to go back to that faster stuff because your legs can almost go kind of dead after all that marathon training—if you’re just running 130 or 140 miles a week, day-in and day-out, all of a sudden those regular runs just naturally start slowing down,” she said. “You need to throw in that extra speed to keep the quality high. There will be five-minute miles thrown into a marathon—it’s not the speed that kills you, it’s the faster turnover.”

The Bowerman women’s group has plenty of members to keep things moving. In the past year, the group has added to its roster, including Karissa Schweizer, a six-time NCAA champion from the University of Missouri; Vanessa Fraser, a nine-time All American at Stanford University; and Elise Cranny, an 12-time All American at Stanford.

70-year-old Sandra Brown produced a sparkling performance to break two world records at 10th Energia 24h ultra in Victoria Park

The Dorset woman firstly broke the 100-mile mark in just 21 hours, 15 minutes and 33 seconds - the 204th time she had gone over 100 miles in a race - before going on to beat Shirley Young's long-standing world age-group record for the 24 hours.

By the time the race had finished, Brown had travelled nearly four miles further than Young's record, hitting just over 113 miles (182km), and amazingly she didn't run once, walking the entire distance.

Defying her age, Brown's performance saw her finish in a very impressive 24th place in the overall standings in a field that had 225 runners set off from the starting line.

In all, Brown's record-breaking feats mean that four world records have been set at Victoria Park in the last three years, which has put the Energia24 into the Guinness Book of Records.

At the top of the field, it was an absorbing battle for the three podium places, with three Cork men in the running until the very end.

The women's race there was plenty of drama as Therese Falk of Norway had led for substantial parts of the contest, only to see Finnish competitor Paula Wright finish strongly and take the victory at 136 miles (218km).

Falk did take silver at 135 miles (216km), while Newtownabbey's Louise Smart came home in third at 132 miles (213km).

Rosslare's Lorraine McMahon also eclipsed the 130 mile mark (210km), meaning four women finished in the top-10 of the overall standings.

Meanwhile, the Willowfield quartet of Tim Brownlie, David Proctor, Gary Morrow and Neil Weir smashed the previous team relay record of 193 miles.

The Dublin Bay Running Club record, set at the Mary Peters Track back in 2015, proved no match for the four as they added another 15 miles onto it, finishing at 208 miles (335km), which will likely not be broken for a long time.

Chelsea Benson qualified for the Olympic Trials set for February 2020 in Atlanta

Chelsea Benson qualified for the Olympic Trials in December when she turned in an impressive performance at the California International Marathon in Sacramento. 

She clocked 2:42:27, which qualifies under the “B standard” set at 2:45:00. 

“Obviously I was pretty excited,” Benson, 36 and a mother of 5-year-old twins, said. “I put in a lot of miles and missed out on some family stuff here and there, so I was excited to be able to convince my body to do something I set my mind to, it felt like my hard work paid off.” 

She had set the goal after running the Philadelphia Marathon in a time of roughly two hours and 50 minutes. A friend of hers told her she could shave that time off with some hard work, and after consulting with a coach, she set a plan with the goal of qualifying for the Trials. 

Benson is no stranger to success in the sport. In high school she qualified for the state meet in both cross country and outdoor track, and then qualified for the NCAA Division 3 National Meets in both sports while running at Allegheny College. 

“I got into running because I wasn’t great at any other sports, to be honest,” Benson said. “I tried softball, soccer and basketball, and I was always okay but never really good. So, I found that I was pretty good at running.” 

With that in mind, Benson joined the Kane High cross country and outdoor track teams, and participated in a club indoor track team during the winter. 

“That allowed me to gain a lot of confidence, and I had coaches who pushed me to do my best,” Benson said. “And then, of course, being from Kane, we knew Amy Rudolph made it to the Olympics, so we had it in the back of our minds while we ran.” 

Now, almost 25 years to the date since Rudolph first qualified for the Olympics, Benson will get her shot in the Trials, but expectations are a little different. 

“A lot of this is about the experience. About 300 of us qualified for the Trials, but only the top three go, and they’re professional athletes,” Benson said. “But to be among the pool of the fastest marathoners in the U.S. is fun and exciting.”

That said, don’t expect Benson to just roll over, either. 

“I’m really competitive, so I’ll go down there to race knowing I won’t make the team, but just to see how I do against the best,” she said. 

She hasn’t set a preferred finish time for herself, in large part because the marathon course in Atlanta is hilly, which yields slower times. 

Kenya has eliminated the wildcard selection criteria for its elite athletes seeking to make the team to the IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar in October

Athletics Kenya (AK) president Jack Tuwei, however, said that reigning world champions and Diamond League Trophy winners would be exempted from the national trials set for Nairobi from August 20 to 22.

"Unlike previous editions, this year only athletes finishing the trials in positions one to three will be assured of an automatic ticket to the World Championships. The criteria is simple; it will be 1, 2 and 3 across the finish line," said Tuwei on Tuesday in Nairobi.

Kenya hopes to send a huge team to Doha, with over 70 athletes expected to make the cut. However, to be considered for selection, every athlete must have achieved the IAAF-mandated qualifying standard in each event.

"Currently, only a few athletes have attained these conditions and therefore there is a need for the coaches and athletes to check their status with Athletics Kenya," said AK competition team leader Paul Mutwii.

Two years ago, Kenya amassed 11 medals - five gold, two silver and four bronze - to finish second behind the United States in the medal standings at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London. Mutwii believes the team has the capacity to recapture the overall title they claimed at Beijing 2015, and wants every athlete to study the championship program to decide if it is possible to double up in certain events.

"We will not deny any athlete who intends to double up at the World Championships as long as the program allows," said Mutwii. "But they must focus more on their traditional event before considering other races."

World 5,000m and 1,500m champions Hellen Obiri and Elijah Manangoi have already hinted at doubling up in Doha.

Along with athletes from Ethiopia, Morocco, Ukraine and Russia, Kenya will also be subject to strict anti-doping measures, and athletes will have to undergo three separate anti-doping tests to be eligible to compete in Doha.

"All athletes must fulfill the anti-doping requirements by the AIU (Athletics Integrity Unit) of the IAAF. It requires the selected athlete to have undergone three out-of-competition and same number of in-competition anti-doping tests before the selection date," said Tuwei.

So far, six athletes have tested positive this year as the AIU and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) tighten the noose on Kenya in an effort to curb doping and have a clean championship.

Kris Carroll and her family have unforgettable memories at the Bix 7 Miler race

My father was born and raised in Davenport. His brother and his family have lived there all of their lives. My dad started running in his 40's, and the Bix has always been his favorite. I think this year is his 30th year running the Bix. I have only run it six or so times, but each time I have run it with him, and I have the best memories.

Seeing my family, running the hilly course in the usually oppressive heat, and staying the rest of the day to enjoy a well-earned Bloody Mary and a few beers while listening to my dad and my uncle reminisce about their days in high school, attending St. Ambrose, their car clubs, and stories about my grandparents.

This past March my Dad was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer. Despite being hospitalized twice in the last couple weeks, he's still training! He knows he can't run the 7-mile course, but he is doing the Quick Bix.

My brother lives in Utah and I live in Massachusetts. We are both coming in and will be proudly walking with him, and who knows, maybe even racing a bit.

He taught us to be runners. He was the 27th U.S. person to run marathons on all seven continents. He took my brother to Antarctica for his first marathon, and took me to Spain for my first. As a family trip, he took us to Madagascar for the most unique and beautiful marathon--which I ended up winning for the women's!

My dad is the most amazing person, and the strongest person I know. A couple weeks ago, he was very weak due to the immunotherapy treatments. It's the first time he's ever been negative. He said that my brother Keith and I would have to push him in a wheelchair in order for him to "run" the Bix.

Today he proudly walked two miles. I'm grateful to run another Bix with him, and that this race is giving him the motivation to keep going and fight to overcome cancer! 

Geoffrey Kamworor, Augustine Choge and Selly Chepyego will support Eliud Kipchoge at the 1:59 Ineos Challenge in October

Three-time World Half Marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor says their mentor and leader fully believes in the project dubbed INEOS 1:59 Challenge, which will be staged in Austria's capital Vienna on Oct. 12.

"The challenge is a golden opportunity and we really believe in him. There are many elements that make Eliud special. Firstly, he is very disciplined and secondly he is very humble and he values everyone the same," said Kamworor on Tuesday from Eldoret.

Kamworor, the bronze medalist at New York Marathon, says Kipchoge is hard working and focused in training and nothing will distract him.

"As we train with him and know him well I believe he can run a sub-two-hour marathon. Since the Breaking2 Project in 2017 he has run faster and faster and with the support and passion of others around him and because of his own self-belief I believe he will do it," added Kamworor.

In 2017 in a mission dubbed Breaking2 Project, Kipchoge ran 2:00:25 in Monza, Italy.

Last September, he lowered the world record by an astonishing 78 seconds when posting 2:01:39 in Berlin and underlined his pedigree by clocking the second-fastest time in history when winning the London Marathon in 2:02:37 in April this year.

Augustine Choge, former Commonwealth 5,000m champion and World Indoor 3,000m silver medalist, has trained with Kipchoge for over 15 years and has been selected as a pacemaker for the INEOS 1:59 Challenge.

"Anything is possible. I am extremely confident because I have seen the focus in his training and his form is better than ever. If Eliud is successful it will be a success for all of us. Should he achieve a sub-two-hour marathon, it will show us nothing is impossible," he said.

Selly Chepyego, who will be competing in marathon at the World Championship says Kipchoge's discipline will be the key in Vienna challenge.

"Can he do it? It is possible. When we look at him in training we are in the best position to judge. Surely, it is possible," she said.

RAM Racing and its Allstate Hot Chocolate 15k/5k series are proud to set up a partnership with Asdeporte in Mexico

As part of the partnership, Asdeporte will be producing three Hot Chocolate 15k/5k race events in Mexico in the coming months. Following the success of the inaugural Hot Chocolate 15k/5k Mexico City in 2019, Asdeporte is launching new Hot Chocolate 15k/5k races in Guadalajara and Monterrey plus returning to Mexico City.

Established in 2008 by RAM Racing, the Allstate Hot Chocolate 15k/5k is an annual favorite on runners’ calendars. Each year over 200,000 participants run for chocolate, making it the fastest growing race series in the U.S. More than one million people have run in a Hot Chocolate 15k/5k race since its inception, with races in 22 U.S cities and Mexico City.

In 2019 the Hot Chocolate 15k/5k race series went international with the inaugural Hot Chocolate 15k/5k Mexico City, the third largest race ever in Mexico with 15,437 finishers. The first-year event sold out weeks before race day with 17,500 registrants.

The Hot Chocolate 15k/5k series combines industry-leading production, technology, and safety standards with award-winning swag bags, finisher’s medals and mugs filled with hot chocolate.

Asdeporte produces world-class endurance events for the largest community of Spanish-speaking athletes in the world, with more than one million active participants. Asdeporte and RAM Racing are committed to delivering best-of-class event experiences to all participants. The production partnership comes at a time of exponential growth for both companies.

“We’re excited to be producing three Hot Chocolate 15k/5k running events in Mexico this coming season,” said Wilbert Moguel, Asdeporte’s Director General. “Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey are all vibrant running communities.”

Jessica Mautner is running the 16th annual Napa To Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon to fight cancer

The piles of ribbons a Napa woman has accumulated from running two marathons and nearly 20 half-marathons are probably enough to supply a gift shop during the Christmas rush.

But of all the races 44-year-old married mother of two Jessica Mautner has trained for, the upcoming Napa to Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon touches a special place in her heart.

That is because the featured charity partner of the race Sunday, July 21 is the American Cancer Society — a cause that has become important to Mautner as her mother-in-law, Elizabeth Mautner, undergoes treatment for the stage IV breast cancer she was diagnosed with earlier this year.

"I'm doing this for her," Mautner said. "I've told her, 'I'm so proud of you. You're so strong.' The least I can do is raise money to find a cure or make treatment easier."

Born and raised in Napa, Mautner could serve as a tour guide for Sunday's race.

"It's beautiful," Mautner said. "Very scenic. The finish in Sonoma Square is a lot of fun. Sonoma is a darling little town, a great end point."

Not unlike other long-distance runners, Mautner still needs a push to get out of the door — even with the course taking place in her beautiful, native North Bay wine country.

Yuta Shitara said after running 2:07:50 and winning the Gold Coast Marathon, If We Ran the Trials Right Now I'd Win

Former marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara (27, Honda) returned to Narita Airport on July 8 after scoring his first-ever marathon win at Australia's Gold Coast Marathon.

Shitara won clocking a course record time of 2:07:50, lending momentum to his buildup for the MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials just over two months away.

During the race Shitara suffered a mishap, bleeding from both nipples early on. "It rained right before the start," he said, "and once I started running it started chafing. I was a little worried about it, but if you want to compete at the top of the game then there are no excuses."

Shrugging it off, even as his uniform soaked up the blood Shitara kept up his fast pace. "My training paid off in this result," he said with obvious satisfaction.

"Winning gives me confidence, and I want to make good use of that after this."Up to now Shitara has followed his own training program, never running longer than 30 km. But, having had problems maintaining his speed in the second half of the race, this time he increased his longest runs to 35 km starting in June. The results paid off on the Gold Coast as he was tough over the last stage of the race, pulling away for the win in the final kilometers.

"In the training camp for this race I had the feeling that I could go 2:07," he said.In the buildup to the MGC main event Shitara plans to begin training together with his twin brother Keita Shitara (Hitachi Butsuryu) in Hokkaido for ten days starting in late July.

Keita, who starred at the Hakone Ekiden alongside Yuta during their days at Toyo University, didn't qualify for the MGC Race. But he will still play a valuable role as Yuta's main training partner like when the two of them were in university, dreaming of someday going to the Olympics as a pair.

"We're going to win this together, the two of us," Yuta said. "At the MGC Race nobody's going to be able to say our training was a waste.

"At the MGC Race Shitara will face the man who broke his national record, Suguru Osako (Nike Oregon Project) and other tough competition. But, he said, throwing down an intimidating challenge to them all, "I've got nothing but confidence that I'm going to win. Even if we ran it right now I'd win."

Cancellation of 2019 Hardrock 100 because the trail is not in good shape because of heavy snow during the winter doesn’t deter ultra community

There may not be a 2019 running of the Hardrock Hundred Endurance Run through the San Juan Mountains, but there will be plenty of trail running events that will provide ultra-running enthusiasts a chance to interact with some of the world’s best athletes.

A week of activities kicked off Sunday in Durango, as running stars Anna Frost, François D’haene, Dakota Jones and Hardrock 100 director Dale Garland will gather at the Durango Outdoor Exchange for a public meet and greet and run.

“I think everyone loves talking about Hardrock and running,” said Frost, a two-time Hardrock 100 champion originally from New Zealand who now also calls Durango home. “It’s a great opportunity for us to have these world-class athletes right here in Durango as well as having the race director of Hardrock here.”

D’haene was one the favorites to win this year’s Hardrock 100 but will have to wait until next year to run for his first chance to kiss the rock, as this year’s run was canceled after a winter of heavy snow that resulted in avalanche debris making many sections of the 100.5-mile loop from Silverton to Telluride, Ouray and Lake City and back to Silverton impassable. There was also big concern about high water with a late runoff from the melting snow.

France’s D’haene, a four-time Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc champion and UTMB course record holder, had planned to spend time running in the San Juan Mountains to prepare for this year’s Hardrock, and he still traveled to Southwest Colorado despite the race cancellation that was announced June 10.

“François D’haene, in my mind, is probably the best runner on the planet in terms of consistency and skill at ultra-running,” Frost said. “He has so much experience. He had a baby boy and was coming for Hardrock and decided to still come anyway. He’s pretty dedicated to his commitment to coming for Hardrock.”

Garland has yet to meet D’haene in person and is eager for him to join the Hardrock community this weekend.

“It does mean a lot when somebody of his stature and with his prestige in the ultra-running community says, you know what, it’s worth it for me to not blow this thing off and rearrange my schedule, I’m still going to enjoy the San Juan Mountains and still gonna be part of the Hardrock community,” Garland said.

Durango’s Jones also will be in attendance along with representatives from Salomon running. Frost said there will be several gear giveaways as well as a donation box to benefit the Silverton community and help mitigate the economic impact of there not being a race this year.

“I know Salomon is doing a special work day on Monday, so they are giving back and being part of the community, which I think is really cool,” Garland said.

How ultra running is helping extreme athletes and others in Colorado battle addiction

On an afternoon 25 years ago, Catra Corbett figured her life was over. 

She looked in a mirror and saw purple dashes under her bulging, red eyes, a face painted white, black lipstick and a sad, tired expression that wondered when her next hit was coming. She looked like an extra in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” She was a go-go dancer who sold drugs and danced all night in clubs. She’d been up three days. 

“This sucks,” she thought to herself, but she saw no way to change it. 

But it did change, after the cops broke down her door and arrested her. A judge, knowing this was her first offense, made her a deal: If she gave up drugs, he would give her a clean slate. If she didn’t, she would go to jail. 

One night in jail scared her enough to give up drugs. She returned to her hometown of Fremont, Calif., away from the club and her friends, and moved in with her mom. She was depressed. She was bored. She wondered if she would stay off drugs. And then she entered a 10K. 

Now she is one of the most successful ultrarunners of all time, a woman who completed more than 250 races and ran 100 miles more than 125 times. She is also the most extreme and famous example of the turnaround that extreme sports see in an unusual percentage of its participants. 

She is the most visible example, with pink hair, bright, colorful clothes and tattoos all over her body, but there are many others. Corbett once said she believed that 50 percent of all ultrarunners are addicts.

That figure is likely too high, especially with the boom in ultrarunning and the waves of extraordinary athletes and tough-as-nails competitors dominating the sport now, but there are many examples that suggest it is not only a piece of its history, it is still a part of the sport, a part that ultrarunning or other extreme sports don’t care to hide. 

Timothy Olson, a recovering addict, won the Western States 100, perhaps the most prestigious ultra, in 2012 and 2013 and once held the course record. Charlie Engle, one of the sports best-known extremists, was a crack addict.

Other extreme endurance sports have attracted addicts as well, such as Lionel Sanders, who signed up for the Ironman triathlon in 2010 to help him beat his addiction to drugs and became a star, finishing second in the Ironman World Championships in 2017. Corbett was clean when she began running, but she said it helped her stay that way. 

“It was mostly the running,” she said in an interview. “It gave me a purpose kept me focused.”  

Experts saw the potential link between exercise and fighting addiction and are now using it to help addicts battle their cravings, even if they aren’t running 100 miles to do it. Even a 10-minute walk, one expert said, can stifle the need for a fix. 

Experts have long searched for solutions to the problem of helping people stay sober when little else seems to work. But more are finding that the solution isn’t frog’s breath or a strange hobby or therapy dog. It’s just a matter of moving. 

“It’s not a magic bullet,” said Alex Murphy, behavioral health consultant with North Range Behavioral Health in Greeley who has treated drug addiction. “But there’s a lot of good things that come from it.”

Those good things include dopamine, along with serotonin, which triggers happiness, and norepinephrine, which helps with energy. Those neurotransmitters are released in generous quantities when you work out, especially when you do it outside. 

Many drugs trigger the release of dopamine — even a brisk, 10-minute walk can release a bit and help an addict fight cravings.

“Dopamine drives both motivation and pleasure,” Murphy said. “The more we can find healthy releases of that, the better. It won’t provide the same levels that the drug will, but it can give you a higher baseline and squash some of the cravings.”

Corbett said the natural high — many call it the “runner’s high,” even though many longtime runners say it’s a gross exaggeration — was a key to keeping herself off drugs. 

Sarah Flourentzou-Lucas doesn't let aggressive cancer stop her from living and dreams of running the London Marathon

An inspirational mum who ran a half marathon one month after having a breast removed is encouraging others to keep fighting. Sarah Flourentzou-Lucas' doctor told her 'not to worry' about a small lump she had found, as it looked like a cyst.

But she was given the devastating news she had a rare form of cancer after waiting for weeks for a follow-up appointment, but medics were unsure what type.

The 39-year-old Worle runner said: "They told me it was a really rare one as they would normally know straight away. "That was the worst part because I was left wondering if I was going to die in a month."

Sarah said a 'weight lifted off her shoulders' when she finally found out what form of breast cancer she had. She had seven rounds of chemotherapy before undergoing surgery to remove her breast.

She said: "This cancer might kill me but it's not going to stop me living. I get bouts of anxiety about it but I can't stay in that position because there is no point in me being here and that isn't a life.

"My motto during my treatment was to take a good day and make it great because the next day I could be on my butt doing nothing."

James Lucas described his wife as an 'inspiration' to other people battling cancer. He said: "We have a running group called #NoExcuses which really encompasses Sarah.

"She is still running and training and doing everything she does despite what she is going through." Sarah carried on her with her exercise regime, completing 17 park runs during her chemotherapy treatment.

Sarah had her breast removed on April 23 and, within four-and-a-half weeks, she completed a half marathon in Edinburgh. She started radiotherapy, but has been told by her doctors she will not go into remission as the odds of her cancer returning will increase at a rate of 2.5 per cent every 10 years.

Sarah has called on men and women to 'check their lumps and bumps', as early detection 'could have saved her life'.

Sarah is now hoping to continue her running aspirations by earning a place in the London Marathon for Breast Cancer Now.

Michelle Lilienthal, a three-time Maine women's champion of the Beach to Beacon 10K, will be seven months pregnant when she toes the line in Cape Elizabeth on Aug. 3

Side by side, Michelle Lilienthal and Gretchen Speed lope around the 400-meter track at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

On this muggy weekday morning, sweat rolls off the faces of the two Portland women. They complete the lap in 90 seconds, which translates to a 6-minute mile pace, then rest before running another.

Lilienthal will do eight such laps, interspersed between 200-meter recovery jogs and two trips to a portable toilet on the far side of the stadium.

“I can’t keep up with her when she’s not pregnant,” Speed says with a laugh. “When I was pregnant with my kids, I (ran) a lot, but I never did (track) workouts. It’s impressive to see her keep it up and be really fit through her pregnancy.”

Lilienthal is a three-time Maine women’s champion of the TD Beach to Beacon 10K road race. She set the Maine course record of 33 minutes, 39 seconds in her first victory, in 2014, and won again in 2016 and 2018.

She will not win in 2019. On race day next month, she will be seventh months pregnant.

That hasn’t stopped her from running or training, but she does promise to dial back her usual intensity on race day – Saturday, Aug. 3.

“I’m trying to not push too hard,” Lilienthal, 37, said as she walked around the track after completing her weekly workout. “I’m so used to pushing myself until I could vomit that I’m trying to rein it in and not make myself feel that way.”

Lilienthal has been a serious runner since her teens, a seven-time Iowa high school state champion who went on to earn all-Big Ten distinction at the University of Wisconsin. She shifted to marathons while in graduate school in Philadelphia, got a sponsorship deal with Saucony that lasted nearly 10 years, and has competed in three U.S. Olympic marathon trials, with a fourth scheduled for late February in Atlanta.

While on the road racing circuit, she met another three-time Beach to Beacon champion, Sheri Piers of Falmouth. It was at the 2013 Beach to Beacon that Piers introduced Lilienthal to Marc Halverson, a former Falmouth High and University of Maine runner. They started dating and, with a nudge from a brutally cold Minnesota winter, Lilienthal moved to Maine in 2014.

They got married in the spring of 2018, and over the winter learned that Lilienthal was pregnant. Since then, she has run three races, the Robert Burns 10K in Westbrook in late January, the Falmouth 4-Miler in April and the Patriot 5K in Gray in May. Each time, she was the top female finisher.

She considered another 5K in June, but Halverson helped dissuade her of that notion. Halverson, 30, said he experienced some initial trepidation about Lilienthal continuing her running regimen.

After 21 months away from the competitive arena, Faith Kipyegon is back to defend world 1,500 title in Doha

Few athletes in global athletics can quite boast the combination of sheer success and zest for living like Faith Kipyegon.

With her naturally vivacious personality coupled with her outstanding competitive record, the world and Olympic 1500m champion appears to have it made.

And after giving birth to her first child, daughter Alyn, in June last year, Kipyegon’s personal life appears as on track as her professional world. Yet after 21 months away from the competitive arena, the 25-year-old has been forced to press the reset button on her career as she starts the build-up to the defence of her 1500m title at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019.

Suffering only three defeats in 14 finals between 2016 and 2017, the diminutive Kenyan was unquestionably the world’s leading woman at 1500m during those two seasons.

However, after climaxing her 2017 season by out-slugging Dutch athlete Sifan Hassan to the 1500m IAAF Diamond League title in Brussels, Kipyegon made the firm decision she wanted to start a family with her husband, Timothy Kitum, the 2012 Olympic 800m bronze medallist.

“It was always my plan to have a baby in 2018 and take a break from the sport,” explains Kipyegon of the logical decision to do so in a non-global championship year.

Kipyegon quickly fell pregnant and opted to take a complete break from running during the entire pregnancy. “I knew this was my resting time.”

She also chose to relocate from Keringet to Eldoret, the home city of her husband, a move principally made to receive additional family support, but which would also lead to a change to her coaching set up.

With her baby in the wrong position, Kipyegon required a caesarean section but on 21 June last year welcomed Alyn to the world.

“She has changed my life a lot,” explains Kipyegon. “Her birth was a really great moment and I have enjoyed being a mum. She acts as an extra motivation for me.”

Settling in to life as a mother, she took a further seven months rest from the sport. By the time she made her return to training in January, she opted to switch coaches from Bram Som, the 2006 European 800m champion, to join Patrick Sang, the prominent coach of world marathon record-holder Eliud Kipchoge and world half marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor.

Tanzania’s Gabriel Geay and Kenya’s Caroline Rotich, were the 15K Boilermaker winners

Gabriel Geay was surprised. Not so much so that it cost him the 2019 Boilermaker Road Race, however.

The 22-year-old Tanzanian held off an unexpected challenge from Mohamed Red El Aaraby, outkicking the Moroccan veteran over the last mile, and winning the 42nd annual 15-kilometer classic in 43 minutes, 36 seconds Sunday.

Geay cut four seconds off his winning time of last year in becoming the first back-to-back male open champion since John Korir put wins together in 2003 and 2004. El Aaraby was three seconds back in 43:39.

“He surprised me,” Geay said. “He’s a strong guy.”

Geay had more than enough, however, to get the best of El Aaraby, a Boilermaker newcomer who set the Beirut Marathon record of 2:10:41 in November.

Caroline Rotich, 35, the 2015 Boston Marathon champion, took the female open title with a time of 49:08, just edging out Iveen Chepkemoi by several strides and one second. Rotich, like Geay, earned $7,000 for her win.

Abdi Abdirahman, 40, and Kate Landau, 42, both of the United States, ran 46:31 and 52:39, respectively, in winning masters titles. They both earned $2,000. Haron Lagat, 35, was the top American male, finishing in 44:21, fifth overall. Belainesh Gebre, 31, lead the American women with a time of 51:03, sixth overall. They earned $3,000 apiece.

None of the times approached Boilermaker course records.

The race started after a delay of about 22 minutes because of homicide investigation off of Culver Avenue. It began under mostly cloudy skies, with a temperature of 69 degrees and some humidity.

A group of about 20 runners separated themselves from the pack almost immediately after the gun went off, with Terefa Debela Delesa of Ethiopia and Stephen Kiptoo Sambu of Kenya setting the pace, as they would for much of the race. The pace was somewhat leisurely, with the first mile taking 4:46.

The lead group was down to eight runners once they reached the turn into Steele Hill Road and Valley View Golf Course, with Geay pressing ahead for the first time. The climb and descent — the fifth mile, downhill, was covered in a little more than four minutes — left it a four-man race, with Geay, El Aaraby, Delesa and Sambu fighting it out. They were still together turning onto Champlin Avenue, but Geay pulled out at Mile 7, and only El Aaraby went with him. They were shoulder to shoulder as they motored to eight miles, past and then made the turn onto Whitesboro Street.

Shortly afterward, Geay began to open things up — two strides, three strides, then a few more.

“I thought maybe I should push,” he said. “I was worried he might come back, but he didn’t.”

Geay opened it up to 30 yards coming down through the wildly cheering crowd on Court Street, and had no trouble cruising in for the win.

“I needed some speed at the end,” said El Aaraby, who was running his first Boilermaker at age 29. “He has more speed than I do.”

Raymond Magut and Judy Cherotich win the Crazy 8s on a new revamped course

A new course for the 30th running of the Crazy 8s 8K in Kingsport, Tenn didn’t bring a new world record to the Model City on Saturday, but it did bring some glowing reviews from runners, both elite and casual.

Raymond Magut broke away from a lead pack of four late in the race to win the $5,000 first-place prize sponsored by Associated Orthopedics of Kingsport. His finishing time was 22:52, which was the slowest winning time since 2006, when Julius Kiptoo won in 22:59.

“I liked the course. I felt good about my race,” Magut said. “I will try to come back in the future.”

Judy Cherotich took home the women’s title in 27:57, which was the fastest winning female time since 2014.

“This was a fun race. I really liked it,” she said.

The first American male was Martin Hehir (Philadelphia) in 23:27, which was a personal best. His sixth-place finish broke a two-year streak by ZAP Endurance athletes in the top five, but it kept a three-year streak of Americans finishing in the top eight.

Hehir was able to outsprint his Reebok and former Syracuse teammate Colin Bennie in the final stretches to gain top American honors by 3 seconds.

“It’s always a battle between Colin and I to see who will get to the finish line first. This was the first time in a long time that I had raced this late, and I really liked how the streets were lined with candles,” Hehir said. “The atmosphere for this race was so much fun.”

Joseph Panga finished in second place (23:00) while Wilson Kibogo (third in 23:06), Simion Chirchir (fourth in 23:11) and James Ngandu (23:23) rounded out the top five for the men’s field.

Nicole DiMercurio (Lenoir, N.C.) was the second female in 29:09, and Kerri Toney (third in 30:21) rounded out the top three females.

Crazy 8s torchbearer Michael Smelser finished in 38:22 alongside his brother Mark.

The final registration numbers for the 8K was above 2,400, which is up from last year.

A memorial to victims of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings is taking shape in Boston

Light pillars that form the nucleus of the memorial are being installed Wednesday morning near the finish line on Boylston Street.M

“I think it’s important just to memorialize what happened here, again, it’s about the resilience of Boston and the way this city came together,” said Patrick Brophy, chief of operations for the city of Boston.

For the last several months artist Pablo Eduardo and his team of more than 50 have worked building and molding the pieces.

Twenty-two foot bronze spires are being installed at 755 Boylston St., the location of the second bomb that claimed the lives of 8-year-old Martin Richard and Boston University student Lingzi Lu.

Another set of spires will be placed next week at the second Marathon marker, near the finish line where Krystle Campbell died.

The monument also will incorporate decorative bronze-cast light poles.

Planning began four years ago for the $2 million memorial, which has undergone substantial redesign to satisfy the hopes and expectations of families who lost loved ones.

Three spectators were killed and more than 260 others were wounded in the April 15, 2013, attacks, and a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer later was fatally shot by the bombers as they tried to steal his gun.

Boston officials also envision a larger monument that will involve input from bombing survivors.

Usain Bolt claims next generation of Jamaican sprinters are ‘spoiled’ and have lost motivation

Olympic sprint great Usain Bolt sees struggle ahead for Jamaica’s men at the world championships, claiming the Caribbean nation’s “spoiled” young sprinters lack the discipline to train and the hunger for success.

Bolt, who won eight Olympic gold medals and led Jamaica through a golden era in sprinting, said he felt motivation levels had fallen since his retirement after the London world championships in 2017.

“I don’t think it is going to get any better because I think these youngsters are a little bit spoiled,” the 32-year-old told Reuters from his home in Kingston on Tuesday, pointing to their attitude to training.

“I must say yes about that when it comes to sprinting in Jamaica right now on the male side.

“When I was around I think the motivation was there and we worked hard and the level was high, but now that I have left the sport, I feel like it has dropped.

“Not that I’m saying [it’s] because I left the sport, but now that I have left, it has dropped for me and Glen Mills, who is a top coach that I look up to.”

The 100 and 200 metres world record holder’s comments echoed sentiments put forward by Jamaican sprint coaches Mills and Stephen Francis, who feel the nation’s male sprinters are not cutting it at the highest level.

Bolt bowed out of London with a bronze in the 100m and suffered a hamstring injury during the 4x100 relay as Jamaica’s men’s team missed out on a medal for the first time since 2005 in Helsinki.

The Jamaican men also had a disappointing Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast last year, picking up bronzes in both the 100m individual and relay events despite the relatively weak fields.

Bolt was more positive about Jamaica’s hopes in the women’s events at the Sept. 28-Oct. 6 world championships in Doha, with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson jointly holding the year’s best time of 10.73 seconds in the 100m.

“Again I think that the females will do well,” said Bolt.

“If we are going to fail, it will be on the male side, but I feel like the females will hold up their end and will do well, but we’ll see what happens.”

Bolt said Jamaica’s women simply had more ambition and drive than their male counterparts.

“It’s the fact the females, I must say, are smarter,” he added.

“I personally believe that because they want to be rich ... They want to be great, they want to accomplish things in life so they work towards certain things.

“They want to develop and go on to do big things. I don’t think that the males are there.”

Mom of three runs 3:11 Marathon Pushing a Triple Stroller

Last year, Cynthia Arnold shattered the world record for pushing a three-kid stroller through the Missoula Half Marathon. After that race, she decided to go for the full marathon record.

And this year, Arnold shattered that record, as well, going nearly an hour faster than the previous record-holder. Arnold crossed the line in 3 hours, 11 minutes, 53.7 seconds.

While it looks like Arnold pushes through the 26.2 miles with ease, she said it’s no small task.

“The kids are a year heavier, and I was feeling that. The stroller felt really heavy this year,” said Arnold, a Polson native.

Arnold said she wasn’t even hitting her pace times prior to the race, but on race day some new energy kicked in. 

“The neat thing that happened this year was that there were a lot of spectators who knew what I had done last year and that I was going for the marathon this year, so there were a lot of people there saying things, personal things, actually addressing me about it, and that was a neat experience and really touching,” Arnold said.

On top of the 26 miles, Arnold said one of the biggest challenges was keeping the kids comfortable during the three-plus hours.

“They’re usually in the stroller more like one hour to one hour and 20 minutes, so it was a little over twice as long,” Arnold said. “So, that was going be a big challenge for us, which is where Margarite kind of came in. I thought she could read to them. They like I-spy, so she could initiate I-spy if they were kind of getting tired or bored.”

Three world records later and the kids getting bigger every year, Arnold said this was most likely the last competitive run she’ll do with the kids, but that doesn’t mean she’s done at the Missoula Marathon. She plans to run it by herself in 2020.

Cigna returns as Presenting Sponsor of the Marine Corps Marathon

Global health service company Cigna (NYSE:CI) is returning for a second year as presenting sponsor of the Marine Corps Marathon® (MCM) to honor and thank U.S. military members, veterans, and their families and to support health and wellness in the community. Now in its 44th year, the MCM celebrates the commitment of the more than 30,000 runners and thousands of spectators who gather at this historic 26.2-mile journey through our nation’s capital.

"It’s a privilege to partner again with the Marine Corps Marathon to honor our brave military service men and women and their families," said Brian Evanko, president, U.S. government business, Cigna. "We are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with the veterans and other athletes who are toeing the starting line this year, as we celebrate the power of the communities and support systems that got them to where they are today."

"Cigna has demonstrated a sincere appreciation for the military community and a genuine commitment to veterans. Combined with their dedication to improving health for all, MCM participants and their supporters were rewarded with a staggering array of meaningful interactions and engagements with Cigna," said Rick Nealis, Director, Marine Corps Marathon Organization.

In addition to serving as a presenting sponsor, Team Cigna runners will participate in the MCM and the MCM10K on Oct. 27, 2019. This year, Cigna will sponsor more than 50 athletes to participate on Team Cigna from Achilles International, a non-profit organization that helps people with disabilities participate in mainstream athletic events.

Could an american woman win the Chicago Marathon this year? Very strong field is lined up

There haven't been three American women in the top five at the Chicago Marathon since 1994, and the 2019 field has a good shot at changing that, Jordan Hasay, Amy Cragg, Stephanie Bruce, Lindsay Flanagan and Emma Bates have a chance at rewriting Chicago Marathon history this fall.

On October 13, one of the strongest-ever American contingents will line up in Chicago for a race that hopes to see Deena Kastor’s American record fall.

Hasay announced in May that she would be returning to Chicago to target the American record and yesterday the remainder of the American elites were announced for the world major. This field includes the five women mentioned above who all own sub 2:30 personal bests.

Cragg, who was the 2016 U.S. Marathon Olympic Trial champion, is an interesting addition to the field. She’s run the fifth-fastest time in American history and ended a 34-year medal drought by taking home a World Championship bronze in 2017.

She’s barely raced since running her personal best at the 2018 Tokyo Marathon, but we’re excited to see what she can do come the fall.

There haven’t been three American women in the top five at the Chicago Marathon since 1994, and this particular field has a good shot at changing that.

Woman only runs backwards because it’s more fun than forwards says Shantelle Gaston-Hird

We can only imagine the potential for sprained ankles and accidentally tripping over, but one runner loves going backwards instead of forwards. Shantelle Gaston-Hird, 32, even runs backwards while training on the treadmill in the gym. She says she just finds it ‘so much more fun than running forwards. 

As you might imagine, she gets some funny looks while out on her jogs. She said: ‘I get catcalled every time I go out for a run, but when you run backwards all they say is ‘you are going the wrong way’ which is so much nicer than a white van man making inappropriate comments!

”Initially it was a bit of fun, but after researching backwards running I realized that it is a great cross-training exercise, and a great work out for your abs.”

Shantelle first tried running the wrong way as part of a team building exercise in 2013 – but before long she was hooked, and running backwards several times a week. The sport, she says, has a vast amount of benefits not just for physical health but for mental wellbeing and socializing, whilst also being a very accessible sport for anyone who wants to get involved. Shantelle has been running backwards for six years, has competed in competitions and set up a weekly club for any other budding backwards runners to enjoy the sport, coined retro running.

“It’s fun and a great workout,” she says, “the confidence that you obtain from retro running is incredible, I’m an ultra-runner and middle-distance triathlete so it compliments my training really well.

“I now organize the Retro Mile event on the first Saturday of every month so that other people can come and try retro running in a safe environment. 

”I even had a teenage boy tell me that he loved it and asked if we could do another one, his mum was said to me if I can make a teenage boy smile, I must be doing something right.”

The Great Run Company has announced that the Stirling Marathon will be canceled for 2020

The Great Run Company has announced that the event will not continue this year. Taking to social media, the organizers said: “We’ve taken the difficult decision not to stage the Great Stirling Run from 2020.

When the great Stirling Run was conceived three years ago, it was our ambition to build a world-class marathon in Stirling. Whilst we’ve created a great event, we haven’t been able to deliver that ambition.”

The Stirling XCountry event, which took place for the first time in January, has also been axed as it too, was deemed not to be financially viable.

A number of reasons have been voiced by locals and previous runners as to what the main reasons are for the failure of the event to continue.

The event was hosted on the same day as the London Marathon, which is one of the world’s biggest sporting events and attracts more than 40,000 participants every year.

Commenting on the Facebook announcement, a disgruntled local said: “Gutted! I had hopes that this race in my hometown would grow. Such a beautiful route and great support in the villages in town! Was London being the same day the downfall?”

Another added: “You could have doubled the number of entrants on a different weekend.”

Others have argued that it is far too soon to pull the plug on the sporting spectacle, given that it has only been running for three years.

To top it off, there was also only a £200 prize for the winners of the elite races, which was unsurprisingly unsuccessful in attracting a world-class field to Stirling for the event.

There are a lot of students who will be disappointed at the news, given that the university’s athletics and triathlon clubs have been represented in both the marathon and half marathon distances over the last three years.

It has been a great opportunity for members to produce personal best times on a home stage.

Students have also used the Stirling Marathon to raise money for charities of their choice, and to promote health and well-being in the area.

A Stirling Council spokesperson said: “This is obviously a disappointing decision but our focus is already very much on bringing new events to Stirling.”

Sifan Hassan breaks women world record for the mile clocking 4:12.33 in Monaco

Sifan Hassan, who arrived on the Stade Louis II track tonight July 12 as the third fastest miler of all time, departed the Herculis EBS Diamond League meeting as the fastest, having produced a marvel of a final lap to finish in 4:12.33, thus breaking the 23-year-old mark of 4:12.56 held by Russia’s 1996 Olympic 800 and 1500m champion Svetlana Masterkova.

Hassan had said on the day before the race that she intended to run “three or four seconds” faster than her best of 4:14.71, set in London in 2017.

As things turned out, she failed in that ambition; not that she looked too put out about it after the race as she lay on her back with a radiant smile on her face.

After the field had been paced through 800m in 2:08.20, Hassan moved into the lead with 600 metres remaining, with Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay the only runner in touch at that stage.

Hassan, who had broken the 5km road race world record in the Principality in February, simply cut loose over the final lap and was suitably rewarded for her enterprise by the digital clock.

In her wake the effort of chasing told on Tsegay, who faded to fourth in a season’s best of 4:18.31 as Britain’s Laura Weightman came through to finish second in a personal best of 4:17.60 and Gabriela Debues-Stafford of Canada took third place with a national record of 4:17.87.

“I knew I could run fast but the first 800 was a bit slow, so after that I wasn’t thinking it would be a world record,” Hassan, the European 5000m champion, said. “When I crossed the line I was so surprised.

“After you run a last 400 like that, and set a world record, it gives me so much confidence over 5000m. I want to double over 1500 and 5000m in Doha and the way I finished the last 400 there, it’s amazing!”

Hassan said she had been lifted by the crowd in the closing stages of the race. “That made me extra happy,” she said. “It was a beautiful last lap with the crowd supporting me.”

Her next race, she said, would be a 5000m. “I don’t know where yet. The one world record I would love would be the 5000m.” 

Before the start of the women’s mile, re-named the Brave Like Gabe Mile, a short film clip was shown featuring the US runner Gabe Grunewald who fought cancer for so long before succumbing earlier this year, and the crowd showed their respect and appreciation.

Two other Monaco world record breakers - Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba, who set the current 1500m world record of 3:50.07 on this track four years ago, and Kenya’s Beatrice Chepkoech, who set a new world 3000m steeplechase mark here last year – had been due to race but had pulled out.

Whether their presence would have also have produced a world record race remains an open and, now, irrelevant question.

A group of 122 people broke the record for the most runners linked to complete a marathon

Last Sunday (July 7 2019) hundreds of people descended on Tenby, Wales, to take part in The Wales Marathon 2019. 

Amongst the runners were a group of 122 people hoping to break the record for the most runners linked to complete a marathon.

Running for Cancer Research Wales, the participants were linked with more than just rope, with each of the runners having been affected by cancer in some way.

Organiser Neal Gardner, a Royal Mail employee, was no stranger to this record. He organised an attempt in 2009, securing the title with 30 linked people completing The Wales Marathon in Newport.

"My mum sadly lost her fight to cancer in 2002, at just 48," he said the day before this latest attempt. 

"I began fundraising and it eventually led me to a Guinness World Records title. We first broke this world record in London 2009 with 30 runners. The very same record that we will be attempting to win back tomorrow.”

Since then, the record has grown and grown, and has been held by participants from marathons held in Cologne, London, Paris, Milwaukee, Würzburg and Calgary.

However, after a hearing that a friend of his had been diagnosed with cancer, Neal decided to reclaim the title, 10 years after his first attempt.

"In October [2018] I received the sad news that a very good friend and work colleague, Pip Morgan, had been diagnosed with stage four cancer. It was time to do it all again!"

The successful attempt included many of Neal’s fellow Royal Mail colleagues and Dale Evans, Cancer Research Wales Events Manager, who helped to organise the attempt.

Organised into 30 rows of four runners, the team were successful, with the last person crossing the line in 6 hours and 47 minutes. 

Record-breaking participant Cath Diment said afterwards: "Hope you are still buzzing like me, I haven’t stopped talking about what we achieved!"

"Many of our runners have been affected cancer in some form. Hearing each person’s reasons for running was incredibly inspiring and really did provide the motivation to dig deep."

"As well as breaking a Guinness World Records title, our runners’ efforts are also helping to fund important research into the prevention, early diagnosis and better treatment that will benefit cancer patients in Wales and beyond."

Strong field of American runners will join previously announced superstars Galen Rupp and Jordan Hasay at the Chicago Marathon on October 13

“This year’s elite field highlights an exciting resurgence we are seeing in American distance running right now,” said Bank of America Chicago Marathon Executive Race Director Carey Pinkowski. “We have a deep pool of American runners who are coming to Chicago to run fast, and we cannot wait to welcome them in the fall. We could see new American records and a lot of personal bests in October.”

With a PR of 2:20:57, Jordan Hasay leads this year’s women’s field as the second-fastest American woman in history and the fastest to ever run the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Hasay hopes to put Deena Kastor’s long-standing American record, 2:19:36, in jeopardy.

But Hasay’s primary competitor won’t be the clock alone – Amy Cragg, Emma Bates, Stephanie Bruce, Lindsay Flanagan and Taylor Ward represent a strong contingent of U.S. women all vying for podium finishes. 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. Chicago’s history could be rewritten this fall.

Cragg, a member of Nike’s Bowerman Track Club since 2015 and the winner of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon trials, enters this year’s field as the fifth-fastest American woman in history with a personal best of 2:21:42. Cragg stunned the world at the 2017 IAAF World Championships Marathon when she ended a 34-year medal drought by taking home the bronze. While she hasn’t raced much in 2019, she won the one-time Road to Gold eight-mile road race in Atlanta in March.

Galen Rupp, a two-time Olympic medalist in the marathon (bronze) and 10,000m (silver) and the current holder of four American records, stands out in the men’s field as the 2017 Bank of America Chicago Marathon champion and as one of the fastest runners in U.S. history with a PR of 2:06:07. While it will be difficult to match the foot speed of someone like Rupp, several American men have the potential to run significant personal bests and place inside of the top ten.

Brogan Austin, Chris Derrick, Scott Smith, Diego Estrada, Dathan Ritzenhein, Noah Droddy and Brendan Gregg are among some of the top Americans in this year’s field. Austin closed out 2018 with a career-boosting win, a national title and a huge personal best, 2:12:38, at the California International Marathon. Prior to that breakthrough performance, he broke the course record at the Indiana Monumental Half Marathon, clocking 1:02:39. He built on his 2018 momentum by winning the Road to Gold eight-mile road race in March.

The Chicago Marathon will be Austin’s third go at the marathon. Derrick, a native of Naperville, Illinois and the 2013-2015 U.S. Cross Country champion, made his highly anticipated marathon debut in Chicago in 2017, running 2:12:50 to finish ninth. He followed up his debut performance with a ninth-place finish in 2:13:08 at the 2018 New York City Marathon.

Derrick, one of the elite pacers for Nike’s Breaking2 project in 2017, is one of the most versatile runners in the field with PRs of 13:08 in the 5,000m, 27:31 in the 10,000m, and 1:01:12 in the half marathon. 

Smith, a 4:01-miler, experienced a huge breakthrough in the marathon in 2017 when he posted a 2:12:21 in Frankfurt, and then he hung on to finish sixth overall at the 2018 Boston Marathon (the now infamous year where runners endured whipping winds and freezing rain). He trains with Northern Arizona Elite, and he has represented the U.S. internally in both the half marathon and marathon at the IAAF World Championships. Smith’s strongest performance came in May when he finished second at the USATF 25K national championships. 

Estrada has been a favorite among Chicagoans, ever since his 2016 breakout performance in Chicago and his second-place finish at the 2017 Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle. After slipping on a bottle at the 10K mark during his Chicago debut and badly twisting his ankle, Estrada rallied to finish eighth overall (first American) in his still-standing personal best, 2:13:56. He finished 16th in 2017 and he did not race a marathon in 2018. Estrada hasn’t raced much on the roads in 2019, but his half marathon speed (1:00:51) and 2:13 PR indicate that he has the talent to be a top marathon runner heading into 2020.

Ritzenhein (“Ritz”), a three-time Olympian and the fifth-fastest American in history, enters Chicago with one of the most impressive resumes. He has broken 13 minutes in the 5,000m, run 27:22 in the 10,000m, collected four national titles, and earned a bronze medal at the 2009 IAAF World Championships Half Marathon. He set his marathon PR seven years ago in Chicago, 2:07:47. At 36 and now racing with the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, Ritzenhein is a veteran, but his 1:01:24 half marathon earlier this year still makes him a top contender. 

Droddy and Gregg both bring massive potential to this year’s field. Droddy, always a crowd favorite, ran his personal best, 2:16:26, in Chicago in 2017, but his half marathon best, 1:01:48, suggests that there is room to demolish his PR this fall. Gregg made his debut in Chicago in 2014 in 2:18:30, and he experienced his best performance in 2018 at the California International Marathon, running 2:13:27. 

This year’s field also includes 25K American record-holder, Parker Stinson, and exciting debuts from Reed Fischer and Justin Gallegos. In 2018, Gallegos became the first professional athlete with cerebral palsy to sign a contract with Nike.

Kinsey Middleton and Malindi Elmore are both seeking a spot on Canada's Olympic marathon team going to Tokyo

Kinsey Middleton and Malindi Elmore both ran their first marathons in the last nine months, Middleton becoming Canadian champion at Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon last year, and Elmore making a strong debut at Houston in January.

Though they are at very different points in their lives and careers, their times were almost identical (2:32:09 and 2:32:15), and both are now chasing a spot on Canada’s Olympic team in the marathon. Middleton and Elmore will contest the Canadian Marathon Championships (which double as the Canadian Olympic marathon trials) at Scotiabank on October 20.

Middleton, 26, claims to have learned a lot from her first marathon. A native of Boise, Idaho, which is at 800m altitude and surrounded by mountains (she has dual citizenship, since her mother is Canadian), Middleton has relatively easy access to higher altitudes for training purposes.

She says she may plan to surpass the 190K peak weekly mileage she reached during last summer’s build, with the goal of getting even faster.

Malindi Elmore 39, represented Canada at the 2004 Olympics, the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the 2011 Pan Am Games, then became a triathlete for a while before returning to running. She has two children, and is in the midst of a comeback after retiring from her career as a 1,500m runner seven years ago–a comeback that surprises even her.

“I didn’t see this coming at all,” Elmore told us last month after her third-place finish at the Vancouver Sun Run. “I didn’t even think this was possible a year ago. I started running for fun and then the marathon went really well along with my 10K and half training. I’m feeling fresh again.”

Middleton and Elmore went two and three at this year’s Vancouver Sun Run, behind Canadian 10K and 10,000m champion Natasha Wodak.

The Kenyan marathon team has worked extra hard and hopes to sweep this year's World Championships in Doha, Qatar in October

Kenya's marathon team head coach Richard Metto says Kiplagat, who is the Boston marathon silver medalist and her colleagues, Dubai Marathon champion, Ruth Chepngetich and Sally Chepyego will be hard to beat and hopes they sweep the medals in the marathon.

"Kiplagat returns inspired seeking a hat-trick of gold medals at the World Championships. It will be her fifth attempt and she has won a medal in each of the three races she was involved in Daegu, Korea and in Moscow, Russia. It's only in Beijing 2015 that she finished fifth. I don't think the team requires another motivation," Metto said on Thursday in Nairobi.

The men's team has defending champion Geoffrey Kirui, Amos Kipruto, who finished second in Berlin Marathon last year and the 2018 Paris Marathon champion Paul Lonyangata.

But speaking in Ngong, in the outskirts of Nairobi where the team is training, Kiplagat revealed she still has the hunger to excel in marathon despite being 39-years-old.

"I still have a dream to win a third marathon title at the World Championships," said Kiplagat. "It will go down well with my record in dominating the world championships."

Kiplagat finished fifth in Beijing as defending champion and was second in London losing to Bahrain's Rose Chelimo.

Chepngetich, the fastest marathoner this year after her exploits at the Dubai Marathon with a course record in a time of 2:17.07, says the country has an abundance of talent.

"Depending on how the training goes, I think we have a very strong team. Kenya has never lacked talent in the marathon," she said.

Chepngetich who cites her victory in the Turkish capital last year, where she set a new course record of 2:19.35, as her best race so far says she is training adequately for that particular event.

"It all goes down to preparation, I believe nothing is impossible when one has prepared well," said the athlete.

Despite Chepngetich being the third fastest woman in the history of the marathon after Briton Paula Radcliffe (2:15:25) and Kenya's Mary Keitany (2:17:01), she still does not see the need of having a coach.

"I will not be having one any time soon, I think training with my colleagues does well for me. Some athletes think I am weird, but I like it that way," she added.

Justin Gallegos, a runner with cerebral palsy, is set to run the 2019 Chicago Marathon

Gallegos, a runner with cerebral palsy, plans to run the 2019 Chicago Marathon, race organizers announced on Thursday. 

The Oregon senior completed his first half marathon in May 2018 and finished the 13.1-mile course in two hours and threes minutes. Gallegos became the first professional athlete with cerebral palsy to sign a contract with Nike in October 2018 and with his reaction went viral in a film captured by a film crew. 

Before signing with Nike, Gallegos played a major role in the company's testing and promotion of the Fly Ease running shoe that features a zipper on the heel to assist someone with putting the shoe on.

“I’ve always wanted to work myself up to a full marathon and beyond,” Gallegos said in May 2018. 

Gallegos will have his chance to complete a marathon this October in Chicago.  

This year's Chicago Marathon professional men's field includes Olympic bronze medalist and 2017 Chicago Marathon champion Galen Rupp and two-time Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein.