Running News Daily

Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge will once again attempt to become the first athlete to break the two-hour marathon barrier in an event being staged in London later this year

Dubbed the INEOS 1:59 Challenge, this race against the clock -- to be staged in late September or early October -- is being backed by Britain's richest man Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire owner of chemical firm INEOS, which recently purchased British Cycling's Team Sky.

"It's human nature to push boundaries," said the INEOS 1:59 Challenge website. "The drive to learn and achieve more is in our DNA. In Autumn this year Eliud Kipchoge, with support from INEOS, plans to redefine the limits of human achievement by breaking the last great barrier of modern athletics -- the two-hour marathon."

Last week Ratcliffe and INEOS were accused by environmental protesters of "sportswashing" -- using sport to enhance reputation -- an accusation the Briton completely rejects.

Speaking to reporters ahead of cycling's Tour de Yorkshire, Ratcliffe took aim at those who criticized his company's fracking project, claiming the majority of environmental groups he has met are "ignorant" of the process, adding it remains a cheap source of energy.

Current world record holder Kipchoge recorded a time of 2:00.25 during a similar event at Monza -- home of the Formula One Italian Grand Prix -- in 2017 wasn't recognized as a world record as it did not adhere to the rules laid out by athletics' governing body, the IAAF, notably in the way he was helped by "in-out" pacemakers. The London attempt will also not be ratified.

The 34-year-old Kenyan set a new record time for the London marathon earlier this month as he claimed a fourth triumph in the event -- a record for a male athlete.

His time of two hours, two minutes and 37 seconds was the second fastest marathon of all time -- just behind his own world record of two hours, one minute and 39 seconds which was recorded in Berlin in September 2018.

"This would really surpass everything because this will go in the history as far as the human family is concerned," Kipchoge told reporters ahead of Monday's event launch, which took place 65 years to the day since Britain's Roger Bannister became the first man to break the four minute mile.

According to reports, Kipchoge's attempt in London will use a number of pacemakers who run laps, while dipping in and out of the action, in order to maintain the astonishing pace of two minutes, 50 seconds per kilometer needed to go under two hours.

"It is not about recognition or ratification but to make history and to pass on a message that no human is limited. Running the fastest-ever marathon of 2:00.25 was the proudest moment of my career," added Kipchoge.

Ratcliffe also had to defend INEOS over its use of plastics after its acquisition of Team Sky, which had been leading a campaign against single-use plastics and Ocean Rescue campaign.

"We've spent 30 years working on the INEOS project and made it very large and very profitable," Ratcliffe said.

"We make $5-7 billion a year in profit so there's no harm in investing a modest amount of that into very worthy sporting endeavors which we enjoy.

"If they inspire people towards a healthier lifestyle, that's a good thing but there's also nothing wrong in investing money in something simply enjoyable. I like the theatre, I like opera. But I prefer sport."

Ratcliffe, a keen cyclist and a well known running enthusiast, also sponsors children's running charities, GO Run For Fun and The Daily Mile, with the aim of getting more young people into the sport.

"If Eliud has got a fantastic crowd cheering him on, its going to make a bit of difference and we don't need to make a lot of difference to make up 26 seconds," he told reporters.

"I was in the pace car in front of Eliud for the London Marathon and he was looking very serene and comfortable. He's still getting better.

"Eliud is the finest marathon runner there has ever been and I think it will be very inspirational, to get kids putting running shoes on.

"It would be an extraordinary achievement. It's almost super-human, isn't it really? To break two hours in a marathon is quite unthinkable."

Yuki Kawauchi and fiance Yuko Mizuguchi, yes fiance won the BMO Vancouver Marathon titles

An engaged couple from Japan won the BMO Vancouver Marathon, the first time two Japanese runners who have taken home gold in 20 years.

And attendance was at an all-time high, with 18,000 runners from around 65 countries participating in one of three distances.

Yuki Kawauchi and Yuko Mizuguchi came out the champions with finishing times of (02:15:01) and (02:41:28) for the marathon.

The recently-engaged couple arrived in Vancouver last week for their first Canadian marathon, and won.

2018 Boston Marathon winner Kawauchi broke the course record of 2:18:37 set by Luka Chelimo from Kenya in 2015.

“They really pushed me to this record,” Kawauchi says in a press release, speaking of second and third-place finishers Feyera Gemeda Dadi and Chelimo. “It’s not an easy course, but it’s a very beautiful course, I would definitely recommend coming here to enjoy it and get the most out of it, it’s a great event.”

He was impressed by the scenery and support from the crowd, as was women’s title winner and fiancee Mizuguchi.

“Running around Stanley Park in the midst of all that nature really gave me a nice boost,” she says in a release. “Being able to see the ocean and the mountains – at some parts of the race, I found myself kind of distracted looking at how beautiful the ocean was.”

Hillary Too was on pace to set a course record at the 42nd Lincoln Marathon but then the wind and heat took charge

Hillary Too won the 42nd Lincoln Marathon with a time of 2 hours, 21 minutes and 6 seconds.

The win was Too’s first at the Lincoln Marathon.

He was on pace to set the course record at the halfway point, but the sun started to shine and temperatures rose, making it a little difficult during the second half of the race.

“I was feeling good after the first half,” said Too of Mosoriot, Kenya. “On the second, it was just getting hot. I could feel that, it was just getting warmer.”

Too said another large factor in the first half was having good pace setters who are running the half-marathon.

Once those runners are done, the race changes.

“It was only me pushing the pace,” Too said. “That is a lot different and harder. The second half, the wind was there, too. I was going into the wind. That’s why I was struggling a bit.”

Too’s “struggling” time was the fastest since 2015, when Edward Tabut ran his second straight 2:17:07 Lincoln Marathon.

Too’s personal best in a marathon is 2:17:02, which he ran in Moline, Illinois, in September 2016.

Misiker Demessie, 32, won the women’s marathon, a week after taking runner-up in the Silo District Marathon in Waco, Texas.

She said the Silo District Marathon was just a tune-up for this week’s winning time of 2:50:14. She was in second place for almost the entire race, but took over the lead in the last two miles and won her first Lincoln Marathon.

Lincoln native Hayley Sutter led for most of the race before falling back in the final five miles. Sutter finished in third place while Kaci Lickteig, of Omaha, took second.

Demessie rested the entire week before running Sunday. She said she ran intervals every day, but didn’t go out for any runs of more than a mile.

It was all about keeping her body in form but not overworking it she said, and the plan worked.

“My body was a little heavy,” Demessie said. “It’s very hard to go back to back. This week was all easy training. Just some 100s (meters) and some intervals to keep form.”

Demessie pointed to the half-marathoners as an important part of her race, as well.

“It’s nice because of the pace," she said. "The half marathon is a little push to me and the half-marathon ends and it’s just me then. Then my pace comes down a little."

Gabriel Geay of Tanzania and Rosemary Wanjiru of Kenya won the 2019 Lilac Bloomsday 12K Run on Sunday

The pair of winners split a $10,000 “super bonus” for winning the culminating event on the 2019 PRRO Championship Circuit on top of their $7,000 purse for their Bloomsday win.

Geay won Bloomsday’s elite men’s race for the second time in three years.

The 22-year-old kicked ahead of Benard Ngeno late in the 43rd annual race, clocking in at 34 minutes, 50 seconds.

Geay, who finished 15th last year after taking the 2017 title, was neck and neck with Ngeno during the final stretch before outkicking the Kenyan on Monroe Street.

Geay is the sixth runner in Bloomsday history to win multiple men’s elite races.

Wanjiru, 24, was the women’s winner in an unofficial time of 39:05 in her first Bloomsday. She took a sizable lead on Doomsday Hill and opened it to 200 meters in the long straightaway down Broadway.

Second-place finisher Vicoty Chepngeno, 25 of Kenya, had just turned onto Monroe Street as Wanjiru crossed the finish line.

Wanjiru won the 2019 Cherry Blossom 10-mile run earlier this year, setting a record in the process.

Susannah Scaroni won the women’s elite wheelchair division in a course-record time of 29:58, breaking Tatyana McFadden’s time of 30:42. This is Scaroni’s fifth Bloomsday win.

The 28-year-old from Tekoa, Washington, was participating in her 14th Bloomsday. Scaroni participated in the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Games.

The elite men’s wheelchair race was won by Aaron Pike, 36, of Park Rapids, MN, in his eighth Bloomsday race. Pike is a dual sport paralympian and participated in the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Games. Pike had placed second at Bloomsday twice.

Leonard Korir and Stephanie Bruce won the USATF Half Marathon titles in Pittsburgh

On a cool, damp Sunday morning in the City of Champions, Leonard Korir, 32, from Colorado Springs, CO and Stephanie Bruce, 35, from Flagstaff, AZ won the USATF Half Marathon titles, clocking 1 hour, one minute, 53 seconds and 1:10:44, respectively. Against top U.S. fields, Korir earned his 9th national title and second USATF Half Marathon title, and Bruce earned her second national title.

In the men’s 32nd national half marathon championship, Stanley Kebenei, Korir and Andrew Colley took an early lead with fast mile splits of 4:41 and 4:42 at Miles 3 and 4. At nine miles, Korir made his move and took a lead, followed slightly behind by Kebenei.

Korir kept a 4:45 minute per mile pace until the end, breaking the tape four seconds ahead of Kebenei at 1:01:53 and securing the 10th fastest half marathon championship performance of all time. Colley finished in third at 1:03:11.

“I like how Stanley pushed the pace early on and kept the race honest,” said Korir, a 2016 U.S Olympian. “I knew I had a good push at the end. We are teammates, so I was glad to help him get a personal best.”  

In the women’s 23rd national half marathon championship, the leading pack of six runners included Sara Hall, Bruce, Katy Jermann, Bethany Sachtleben, Samantha Palmer and Emma Bates.

At mile 5, Bruce, Hall and Bates pushed the pace and broke from the pack. At Mile 12, Bruce made her move and with her final push was able to finish in 1:10:44, the 9th fastest female half marathon championship performance of all time. Hall finished in second with a time of 1:11:04, and Bates took third with a time of 1:11:13.

“Running with Sara and Emma today, we made it like a boxing match,” Bruce said. “Everyone took turns at the lead, and we were pushing each other.”

Jim Walmsley Runs Faster Than Anyone Ever for 50 Miles, Yet World Champ Hideaki Yamauchi Wins 100k

Prior to Saturday’s HOKA ONE ONE Project Carbon X 100k race in Sacramento, California American ultramarathon star Jim Walmsley said anything can happen in an ultra.

Saturday’s race proved that.

Walmsley broke the world best and American record by going through 50 miles in 4:50:08 (old world best was 4:50:51 by Bruce Fordyce in 1984; Barney Klecker’s American record of 4:51:25 was the oldest American road record on the books) and less than three minutes later he  was sitting on a table on the side of the course. Soon after, he was walking. Walmsley was reduced to high-fiving two-time defending world 100km champion Hideaki Yamauchi as Yamauchi ran by en route to victory in the 100km race in 6:19:54, over 10 minutes outside the 6:09:14 world record.

American Patrick Reagan ended up second in a personal best of 6:33:50 and Walmsley, who had to work hard not to get lapped by Yamauchi (each lap was almost 4.7 miles long), finished 4th in 7:05:24 on a day where the race started in near-perfect 51-degree conditions at 6 a.m. and ended in a blazing sun and 70+ degree heat.

American Sabrina Little was the only female finisher in 7:49:28.

The race was billed as a world record attempt at 100k, but Walmsley was also trying to break the 50-mile world best en route, and for the first 10k, the front three runners — Walmsley, Yamauchi, and Tyler Andrews, running his first race longer than 50k and also targeting the 50-mile world best — surprisingly ran within striking distance of one another on roughly 6-hour 100k pace. Yamauchi had talked about going out at a more modest pace, but afterwards said the downhill opening miles felt fine, so he ran faster than expected as he hit 15k in 54:06 (6:00:40 pace).

No human being has ever run faster for 50 miles than Jim Walmsley did today.

However, the fastest 50 miles in the history of the world had taken its toll and Walsmley immediately was reduced to a shuffle as he started jogging down the course after crossing 50 miles.

He told race commentator and training partner EricSenseman, who was in a car right in front of him, “I’m F’d.”

Any shot at the 100k world record was now out of Walmsley’s mind.

But there was a problem. To be given the official world best and American record for 50 miles, he would have to finish the 100k race (for some unknown reason, there is a rule that interim splits only count as records if the full race distance is finished).

A little more than two and a half minutes after breaking the record, Walmsley was walking on a bridge on the course. He then sat down on a drink station table and dumped water over his head and took gels. After a couple of minutes’ rest, Walmsley started walking again on the course.

Just a tad more than 10 minutes after he had run faster than anyone ever for 50 miles, Yamauchi went by Walmsley as Walmsley gave him a high five.

Now the questions that remained were how fast would Yamauchi run to the finish and could Walmsley make it to the finish.Yamauchi had gone through halfway well ahead of world record pace (he was at 3:00:34, the world record is 6:09:14), but just before 50 miles he slowed noticeably, going from just around 6:00 mile pace to over 6:30 for the two miles to 50 miles.

The world record shot was gone, but Yamauchi was still was on pace for a PR (previous PR of 6:18:22). However, on the final lap, the heat and early pace really took its toll on one of the most accomplished 100km runners in the world, as Yamauchi ran over 7:00 mile pace and had to settle for the victory in 6:19:54.

Meanwhile, Walmsley realized he might be lapped by Yamauchi and upped the pace of his jogging to hold off getting lapped by 22 seconds.

The one guy able to get a PR was Patrick Reagan, who ran the first 50km nearly exactly how he planned, going out in 3:09:11 and hanging on to a 6:33:50 PR.

In the women’s race, Japan’s Aiko Kanematsu dropped out between 43 and 48 miles, which meant Sabrina Little was the only finisher and winner in 7:49:28.

Results below.

Men - Hideaki Yamauchi JPN (6:19:542) Patrick Reagan USA (6:33:50 PB3) Yoshiki Takada JPN 6:52:024) Jim Walmsley USA (7:05:24) Mike Wardian USA (7:29:126) Tyler Andrews USA DNF

Walmsley’s time at 50 miles was a new pending world best/American record of 4:50:08 (old record 4:50:51 by Bruce Fordyce). 

Women) Sabrina Little 7:49:282) Aiko Kanematsu DNF

Jack Randall, and Anne Flower won the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati Ohio Sunday

Two past winners of the Flying Pig Marathon, Jack Randall and Anne Flower, were crowned again as champions at the 2019 Flying Pig Marathon powered by P&G, which had a record weekend field of 43,691 for the 21st running of the event.

Randall, 24, from Pleasant Ridge, a suburb of Cincinnati, who also won the marathon in 2017, won this year in a time of 2:28:58, almost five minutes better than his 2017 time.

Randall came from behind, overcoming longtime leader Alex Gold near the 22 mile marker.

Randall now lives in Dayton, Ohio and has run the Cincinnati race twice.  Winning each time.  

Anne Flower was the women’s winner for the 2019 Flying Pig Marathon. 

It’s her second win, previously winning the Flying pig in 2016. 

Flower went to Anderson High School where she trained under track coach Kerry Lee, another well-known face at the marathon.

Belfast Marathon more than doubled the number of participants on their new flatter and faster course

Kenyans Caroline Jepchirchir and Joel Kositany took the victories in the first Sunday running of the Belfast City Marathon.

Jepchirchir set the fastest ever women's time in Belfast, with a 2:36.38 clocking, as she repeated her 2018 win.

Kositany secured his fourth Belfast men's triumph as he crossed the line in two hours 18 minutes and 40 seconds.

This year's event was staged on a new course which organisers hoped would ensure faster times.

Jepchirchir's time was 12 seconds inside the previous Belfast course record set by Ukraine's Nataliya Lehonkova in 2013.

However, Kositany's winning time was almost five minutes slower than Negewo Ararisa's 2012 Belfast course record.

Kositany, who previously won the Belfast event in 2013, 2015 and 2016, finished eight seconds ahead over compatriot and last year's winner Eric Koech with 2017 victor Bernard Rotich completing an all-Kenyan men's podium three further seconds back.

The race has been held on a Sunday for the first time in its 38-year history.

It began at 09:00 BST at Stormont Estate in east Belfast, and ended in Ormeau Park in south Belfast. 

Belfast City Council agreed on changes to the route in June. Areas not previously covered included the Lisburn Road, Andersonstown and the Waterworks.

The new flatter route had led to a 60% increase in entries, organisers said with over 18,000 participants.

Dazza and Salpeter were the winners at the Prague international marathon

 Almahjoub Dazza of Bahrain won the Prague international marathon on Sunday while Lonah Chemtai Salpeter of Israel was the fastest woman in the race, clocking a record time.

Dazza pulled away from a group of four leading runners with about two kilometers to go clocking 2:05:58.  It was the second fastest time in the history of the race.

Dawit Wolde was second in 2:06:18, five seconds ahead of another Ethiopian runner Aychew Bantie.

Salpeter left behind the rest of the field 10 kilometers into the race and ran alone to finish in 2:19:46, a new race record and a PR.  

Who is going to make up the Kenya marathon team for the 2019 World Athletics Championships? Kipchoge is taking a pass

Kenya marathon team for the 2019 World Athletics Championships will be selected next week Athletics Kenya president Jack Tuwei has said

The biennial athletics showpiece event will be held in September and October in Doha, Qatar,

London Marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge will forfeit his spot in the Kenya team for the World Championships and instead opt to defend his title at Berlin later this year.

Kipchoge will miss out on the Kenya team said he shall defend his title in Berlin with another new record next year.

"Berlin forever," said Kipchoge when he set the world record at 2:01:39.

This year's Berlin Marathon will be held on Sept. 29, just one week before the World marathon championships in Doha, Qatar on Oct. 5.

Tuwei told Nation Sport that the team will be named early so that they can start early preparations for the race that will for the first time in the championships history start at midnight.

“The first marathon season has come to an end and we will be using the races of that season to select a strong team,” said Tuwei. 

The AK president also said that the team that will be selected will thereafter head to residential camp.

“Doha is very hot and the selected team will have to train in hot conditions as one way of adapting,” added Tuwei.

Meanwhile, Berlin Marathon runner-up Amos Kipruto will be the man to watch in the Prague Marathon this Sunday.

Kipruto who has been training in Kapsabet, Nandi County pulled out of the Tokyo Marathon after picking up an injury in training.

“I’m fully healed and my preparations for the Prague Marathon has been good,” said Kipruto.

“When I ran with Kipchoge in Berlin, he inspired me so much especially after he broke the world record and I finished second behind him,” added the athlete. 

Kipruto emerged the winner in Rome Marathon in 2016 which was his debut before finishing in 12th position in the Amsterdam Marathon, where he clocked 2:09:06 the same year.

In 2017, Kipruto won the Seoul Marathon in 2:05:54, before finishing fifth in the Amsterdam Marathon in 2:05:43.

Zev Rosenberg was Paralyzed, Now He’s Running The Pittsburgh Marathon To Honor Tree Of Life Victims

When Zev Rosenberg hit his head while working at his HVAC business in 2015 and lost feeling throughout his body, his first reaction wasn’t panic ― it was calm calculation about how long it would take for someone to find him. 

“It was about 2:00 p.m. If my wife hadn’t heard from me by 5:00, she’d probably start to worry a bit, but she wouldn’t want to bother me, so she probably wouldn’t call anyone until 6:00 or 7:00,” he recalled. “I was like, ‘I could be here for a couple hours, so buckle up.’”

It’s perhaps not your typical response to paralyzation from the neck down, but Rosenberg isn’t your typical guy. The 57-year-old, who suffered a spinal cord injury that temporarily paralyzed him and made him an incomplete quadriplegic, ran a marathon just a year after his injury ― and will run the Pittsburgh Marathon on May 5 to honor the 11 people killed in the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in 2018. 

Rosenberg, who first began marathoning at age 49, was moved by the fact that the race this year falls between two Jewish holidays: Yom Hashoah, the day of Holocaust remembrance, and Yom Hazikaron, the Israeli day of remembrance for soldiers and victims of terror.  

HuffPost chatted with Rosenberg about his decision to run the Pittsburgh Marathon, his connection to the tragic Tree of Life attack and what message he hopes to send through his participation. 

I have an incomplete injury, where the cord is damaged. In that instance, you don’t know what it’s going to be. Maybe you’ll have a full recovery, maybe you’ll have a partial. The only way you’re going to know is to keep hacking away at your abilities and try to see how good you can get and how to better tolerate the injury. 

The time I was actually paralyzed was rough; it wasn’t clear what was going to happen. I try not to think about it so much. When I got to the hospital, nothing changed for three days. On the fourth day, I started to stand and I said, “If I can stand, I can walk. And if I can walk, I can run. Eventually.”

The important message is run, respect, remember. Run is the activity, respect for our first responders and guardians who run toward the fire, the shooting, while others are running away ― all the dispatchers, mechanics ― everyone involved deserves our respect, and to remember. We need to remember the victims and that this really happened. There are kids coming up today who have no idea what 9/11 is. This race comes between Yom Hashoah and Yom Hazikaron, that’s the message of memory of that magnitude that we have to have for what happened in this place.

Panuel Mkungo from Kenya won the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon Clocking 1:03:26

It was a wet and soggy Saturday for the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon.

The race began in front of the JW Mariott downtown, and more than 35,000 people participated in the event.

"I think it really is the perfect combination of Hoosier hospitality. There's 500 entertainers all around the route, it's the lap around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it's just the month of May in Indianapolis, people love it, there's an electricity in the air," event organizer Sabrina List said.

It started with a 5K at 7 a.m., and then the first wave of the mini began at 7:30.

Panuel Mkungo from Kenya won the mini with a time of 1:03:26. The female first place finisher was Ivy Kibet from Colorado Springs with a time of 1:12:10.

"I am very happy today. I want to thank my family and my friends for this beautiful race.

I just want to say thank you for the management of this race, it's a beautiful course and I am happy for running in this city in Indiana. It is my first time being here," Mkungo said.

The 500 Festival continues through the month of May with the Breakfast at the Brickyard on May 18 and then the parade May 25.

13-year-old Eli Carr is going to be running Pittsburgh Half-Marathon in Honor of Mother

40,000 runners will be picking up their bibs at the Health and Fitness Expo for the 2019 Dicks Sporting Good Pittsburgh Marathon, but for one runner this race is extra special.

Eli Carr had to get special permission to run the half marathon because he's only 13 years old. He's running in honor of his mother."

"I'm running with my mom's teacher friend, Deisha Clayton," Carr said. "She's been amazing and helped put this all together."

Eli said Deisha posted on Facebook that she was going to run the Pittsburgh Marathon in honor of her friend Carolyn, his mother.

"Eli had seen that and he came to me and said, 'Dad I want to do that,'" said Eli's father, David.

"I wanted to do something in her honor, and I this would be one of the perfect thing to do," said Eli.

His mother was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in March of 2018 and passed away in November.

At 13-years-old, Eli is a wrestler at Wendover Junior High and placed 2nd in the state championship this year, but is too young to run the race.

Eli wrote a letter to the race committee saying he wanted to run for his mom. It was approved.

"I was so happy I couldn't believe it," he said.

On Sunday, Eli and Daisha will run the 13.1 miles together, and have raised over $3500 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, an organization that was really dear to Carolyn.

"He wants to help other people that are going through the fight that Carolyn went through," said David.

A proud Dad who said he's anticipating a wave of emotions to take over him as he watches Eli cross the finish line.

"I'm extremely proud of actually both my sons how they've handled all of this and always wanting to be positive about everything," he said. "It's a reflection of Carolyn and I see her living through them. It's pretty cool."

And Eli knows his mom will be watching.

"I think she would be really proud," he said.

Strong men’s field is set for the Prague Marathon this weekend

Mathew Kipkoech Kisorio, who recorded a lifetime best of 2:04:53 in Valencia last year starts as the fastest in the men’s field, but he may still be feeling the effects of the Eldoret Marathon, which he won two weeks ago in 2:12:38.

Al Mahjoub Dazza finished just half a minute behind Kisorio in Valencia in December, clocking a Moroccan record of 2:05:26 in what was just his second marathon to date.

He contested the Birell Grand Prix in Prague in 2017 so will be vaguely familiar with the streets of the Czech capital.

Kisorio’s brother, Peter Kimeli Some, is the third athlete in the field whose PB is quicker than Prague’s course record of 2:05:39. Some clocked 2:05:38 to win the 2013 Paris Marathon and came just a minute short of that mark when finishing third in Daegu last year in 2:06:49.

Amos Kipruto reached the podium at two World Marathon Majors last year, placing third in Tokyo in 2:06:33 and then clocking 2:06:23 to finish second to Eliud Kipchoge when the Kenyan set the world record of 2:01:39 in Berlin.

One year prior, Kipruto won in Seoul in 2:05:54 and followed it with a PB of 2:05:43 in Amsterdam.

Solomon Kirwa Yego also set his PB in Valencia last year, clocking 2:06:24 for eighth place. This will be his second marathon in Prague, following his 2016 run – his debut at the distance – when he finished third in 2:08:31.

Other strong Kenyans in the field include Paul Maina and 2009 world half marathon silver medallist Bernard Kiprop Kipyego.

Ethiopia’s Aychew Bantie, the runner-up in Kosice last year in a PB of 2:08:15, will also be on the start line alongside Ukrainian Olympian Oleksandr Sitkovskyy and Spain’s Hamid Ben Dauod

Kenyan´s Bornes Jepkirui is back in the Czech capital to defend her title at the Prague Marathon on Sunday

Twelve months on from her convincing victory at the Volkswagen Prague Marathon, Bornes Jepkirui is back in the Czech capital to defend her title at the IAAF Gold Label road race on Sunday.

Jepkirui clocked a PB of 2:24:19 in Prague last year, winning by 54 seconds. Earlier this year she finished third in Osaka in 2:26:01, the second-fastest time of her career.

But given the quality of this year’s Prague Marathon field, the Kenyan may not have it all her own way again.

Since winning the European 10,000m title last August, Israel’s Lonah Chemtai Salpeter has shown fantastic form on the roads, winning over 10 miles in Zaandam and 10km in Rome, clocking a national marathon record of 2:24:17 to win in Florence, and more recently setting another national half marathon record to finish second in Prague in 1:06:09.

Lucy Cheruiyot finished two places behind Salpeter in Prague earlier this year, running 1:08:27. Although the Kenyan is a regular in Czech half marathons, the 22-year-old will still be stepping into the unknown on Sunday as it will be the first marathon of her career.

Amane Beriso is the fastest in the field. Her PB of 2:20:48 was set three years ago and she finished second in Prague in 2017, clocking 2:22:15.

Mamitu Daska’s PB of 2:21:59 dates back to 2011. Although she hasn’t bettered 2:25 since 2013, she finished third at the 2017 New York City Marathon against a quality field.

USA’s Kellyn Taylor-Johnson, who set a big PB of 2:24:29 last year, could challenge for a podium position. Getnet Yalew, who has represented Ethiopia at various major championships, should also feature among the leaders.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian Olympic Committee to take steps to get the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to monitor the Russian Athletics Federation

Last March the IAAF Council, meeting in Doha, reported that "there are no changes in the status of the Russian Athletics Federation", which has not taken part in international competitions since 2015 due to the accusations of doping.

"The Russian Olympic Committee wants to take comprehensive measures to re-establish the status of the Russian Athletics Federation in the International Association of Athletics Federations and to ensure that all members of the Russian Olympic team take part in the XXXII Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020 (in Japan) without restrictions ", says the text of the order.

The Russian Olympic Committee has "a deadline until December 2, 2019" to take the aforementioned measures.

Likewise, Putin ordered an increase in efforts "to protect the rights and interests of Russian athletes internationally."

The Russian president also decided to study the possibility of presenting Russia as a candidate to host the World Games of the Association for Sport for All in 2024 (Tafisa, by its English acronym).

In November 2015, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accused Russia of violating anti-doping rules and recommended to the IAAF to remove Russian athletes from international competitions.

In 2015 the IAAF suspended the FAR for the consequences of the doping scandal and since then extended the suspension on more than one occasion by estimating that it has not complied in all with the roadmap to combat doping.

Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha won the 5,000 easily at Payton Jordan invitational last night clocking 13:10 along with other top performances

The big names at the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford's Cobb Track and Field stadium in Palo Alto, Calif. all got wins last night. 

Clayton Murphy won the 1500 (3:37.59) comfortably, Jessica Hull won the 1500 (4:12.08).

 Allie Ostrander the steeple, Jenny Simpson got the win (15:21) over Rachel Schneider in the 5,000.

Yomif Kejelcha won the 5,000 easily (13:10 for him, 13:17 for 2nd) and Sifan Hassan’s 10,000m debut (31:18) was a success.

Ben True won the 10k (27:52) but no one got the Worlds standard.

New Balance professional Jenny Simpson won the women's 5,000 meters in her outdoor season opener in 15:21.12.

Simpson, who last ran an outdoor 5,000 in August of 2013 in Switzerland in a personal-best 14:56.26 after capturing the USATF title that year, was competing at Payton Jordan for the first time since winning the 1,500 in 2010 in 4:08.11.

Simpson ascended to No. 3 in the world this year in the 5,000, also achieving the IAAF World Championships standard.

This year's Red River flood is forcing the organizers of the Fargo Marathon to make some course changes

With many parts of the route still muddy or flooded, the maps are going to be changed quite a bit, according to Marathon director Mark Knutson — though the revised maps have not yet been released.

Knutson says paths along the river are being eliminated because of high waters and unsafe running conditions.

Oak Grove, Gooseberry and Lindenwood parks, as well as Jack William Stadium and the Hjemkomst Center have been removed from routes.

"Those have to go away, there's just no way that'll get down (the water) and the other piece is, even if the water gets down, they're just dirty they have to get cleaned up," Knutson said.

A map of the revised routes has not yet been provided but the Veteran's Memorial Bridge will be included.

Colorado Runner Geofrey Terer is back to defend his 2018 victory at Lincoln Marathon

The 42-year-old Geofrey Terer is back to defend his 2018 victory. Terer won last year's full marathon in 2 hours, 29 minutes, 37 seconds.

Running last year his first-ever Lincoln Marathon, the 41-year old from Colorado Springs, Colorado, took the lead from Lincoln’s Eric Noel — the 2016 winner — between miles 16 and 17 and cruised to the finish line in 2 hours, 29 minutes, 37 seconds.

Terer’s time bested Michael Zeigle’s record of 2:32:41 in the 40-44 age bracket set in 1992. His winning time was just over four minutes slower than 2017 winner David Tuwei.

“I just increased the pace a little bit around Mile 17, and he (Noel) wasn’t able to maintain it,” Terer said. “There was quite a lot of cheering along the way with the race, and that was very, very nice.”

With temperatures creeping into the 70s and virtually no breeze on the course, staying hydrated proved to be key for the 13,500 runners competing in either the half- or full marathon.

“It was a little warm, and when it’s warm like this you lose a lot of water,” Terer said. “Around Mile 25 I got tired and hit the wall. Cooler weather is OK.”

Though it was Terer’s first Lincoln Marathon, it wasn’t his first race in Nebraska. He ran the Nebraska State Fair Marathon in 2015 and 2016. He decided on a whim to register for Lincoln.

Terer has won previous marathons, including the 2016 and 2017 Missoula, Montana, event.

Current champion Eric Koech returns to defend his title at Belfast City Marathon this weekend

This Sunday's 38th Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon has broken all entry records and is fast approaching some 5,000 applications.

This is a clear result of both the historic switch to a Sunday event plus the attraction of an entirely new faster course which eliminates the old tortuous lengthy climb on the Antrim Road.

Current champion Eric Koech returns to defend his title from a year ago when he enjoyed a two minutes victory margin over fellow Kenyan Dan Tanui in a time of 2 hrs 18 mins 19 secs.

This win made up for the 37 year old's runner up spot in 2016 when he lost out to Joel Kositany.  Eric has not raced since his victory in Belfast as he is determined to repeat last year's result. 

However, this is far from a foregone conclusion such is the caliber of the opposition which is probably the best ever.  It includes three times previous winner Kositany who took the titles with some ease in 2013, 2015 and 2016.   However, Joel has bitter memories of last year when he was joint leader with Koech and looking comfortable with less than 3 miles to go.

He then suffered the athlete's ultimate nightmare of a pulled hamstring after which he painfully struggled to the finish for 3rd over 5 minutes behind the winner.

This experience has made him more determined to achieve a record 4 victories and finally surpass the 3 wins of John Mutai over ten years ago.

The 31 year old certainly has the pedigree to do this given the fact that he has the fastest marathon best in the field of under 2 hrs 10 mins.

Koech and Kositany will however have to keep a wary eye on yet another Kenyan Bernard Rotich.  He is also a former winner from 2017 when he secured victory in 2 hrs 16 mins which is the 3rd fastest time on the old course.

Thirty-two-year-old Rotich who was also second in 2013 is possibly the biggest danger of all next Sunday as he has the best recent form.  He followed up his Dublin Marathon victory of 2017 with a very useful time in the same race last October of 2.14.18.

Gideon Kimosop is also a Kenyan from the Rift Valley who has easily the most experience of racing in the Province.  He is a treble winner of the Deep RiverRock Belfast City Half Marathon and was 2nd over the full marathon distance in 2015.

For Eilish McColgan, the forthcoming IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, represent an exciting opportunity what she calls her second home

“I'd love to break into the top five or to break 14.40,” Eilish reveals. “Either of those and I'll be really happy!” If that happens, she’ll gladly credit her mother.

“My mum’s the driving force behind everything I do and I wouldn't have achieved anything without her behind me all the way.”

Mother Liz is permanently based in the Arabian Gulf country working as a kids coach at the Al Saad Sports Club for the Doha Athletics Club, which she established following her move in 2014.

“I always knew I would get into coaching when I retired as I started to coach athletes before my own career was over,” said Liz, who at 54 still runs every day and works out in a gym twice a week.

“When I arrived in Doha, I gave some motivational talks in the international schools and it became very clear that a lot of kids wanted to run but there were no opportunities for them, so I set up a little running group that grew very quickly and then developed DAC.” Given her athletics CV, Liz is in high demand.

“Eilish is a very talented athlete and I feel she has a lot more to go in her running,” said her mom Liz, who also took silver at the 1987 World Cross Country Champioships, the 1988 Olympic 10,000m and 1989 world indoor 3000m.

“She has a lot of room for improvement in her endurance and hopefully we will see that in the next few years as she moves up in distance.”

For next year, the two have decided a move to the 10,000m for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and then the marathon in 2021. That’s a distance Liz knows well, with victories in New York, Tokyo and London among her numerous laurels.

“I love training in Doha,” Eilish says. “Of course the weather can be challenging but it's a beautiful country with fantastic sporting facilities.

“2017 was by far my best season to date - I managed to stay much more consistent with regards to injury and illness and it made such a huge difference to my performance and confidence too.”

“I went into races knowing I was in the shape of my life and ready to perform. That confidence continued to snowball and it was the first season I had broken some of my mum’s personal bests too, so that was really special and really helped to drive me on to run faster!”

In 2018 she raced to 5000m silver at the European Championships in Berlin and recorded a 4:08.07 indoor 1500m personal best, yet illness affected her performances at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, as she trailed home in sixth in both the 1500m and 5000m.

Her form however returned with a 4:25.07 track mile, a 54:53 10-mile debut on the roads and then a 31:51 10km road lifetime best in Doha in the New Year, before illness struck again, causing her to place only seventh in the European indoor 3000m final last month.

“I had a horrible start to the year with a virus so silver in Berlin meant a lot to me - being able to turn the year around and finishing on such a high.

“It's frustrating but I'm making some small changes to my travel plans, sleep routine, diet and even my training schedule to try improve my immunity.” 

Bylahalli Raghunath Janardan, 86, will be one of the oldest participants in the TCS World 10k

At 86, Bylahalli Raghunath Janardan looks like the last person who needs a walking stick. Instead, the retired octogenarian has a Raleigh bicycle that accompanies him everywhere.

By 9.30am, he has already cycled 15km from his home to Kanteerava Stadium, where he tells us that next month, he will be taking part in the TCS World 10k marathon, making him one of the oldest participants at the event.

Janardan has run 13th Bengaluru marathon, in addition to his 16 full marathons and 64 half marathons. One might assume then that he has been running all his life but Janardan’s first full marathon was at the age of 72, which he completed in five hours and 40 minutes. It was a 42-km marathon but he was unable to finish it, an experience he still repents sometimes.

“At the 4-km mark, I was chased by some dogs who almost bit me. Then again, at 16km, I stumbled since the road was too narrow in Madikeri. At this point, the doctors present advised that I stop the run.

It was the one and only time I’ve actually listened to my doctors,” recalls the former Indian Railways employee, adding, “I repented it soon after because I had already finished the hilly portions of the run. The rest would have been easy.”

Janardan’s tryst with fitness started post a diagnosis of major epilepsy at 62 – a decision that left him shocked but not devastated.

“I refused to believe it initially. Under my family’s compulsion, I took the required medication for nine months. But then I didn’t want to anymore. I hated being dependent or feeling unproductive because of the medication,” he shares.

Thus, he soon started venturing on bicycle rides, and covered close to 75 km in the first ride he took to Devanahalli to watch his son’s sitar performance. “I managed the whole ride just fine, and this was on a cycle that weighed 22kg.

The next day, I did the same and after this, I told my family members that I didn’t want medication anymore,” he says, adding that he saves close to `3,000 per month by avoiding fuel and medication.

The octogenarian shares that he never feels old and thanks to the marathons he runs, he’s constantly surrounded by young people.

The cycle too helps him relive his ‘lost boyhood days’. Now that the fitness bug has bitten Janardan, he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon and has even found some cheerleaders along the way. During an obstacle race, he recalls feeling apprehensive about having to climb a 12-feet high tyre wall, cross over a beam and make his way down on the other side. “As I wondered how to do this, another woman came up and told me she had been watching me complete tasks that even she couldn’t do.

She motivated me to try this one too and I didn’t just try, I succeeded as well,” he says.Next up on Janardan’s list? “A 24-hour endurance test at Kanteerava Stadium, where I want to cover around 100 to 120km either in July or August,” he says confidently.

Kory Kennedy outruns his challenges by training for 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in Batman suit

It may require a double-take but your eyes are not deceiving you if you’ve seen Batman running around Kokomo.

A man wearing the Dark Knight’s outfit has been running around the city for the past few months. Kory Kennedy says he started wearing the suit to stay warm while training during the winter months but has kept wearing it because of the reaction he gets.

“They love Batman,” said Kennedy. “This is actually what I want. To make people have a better day and have things go better with them when they see me dressed up as Batman.”

Kennedy gets stopped by kids and adults, giving out high fives, selfies and hugs.

But the training is serious work for Kennedy as he prepares for races throughout the year. He’s been in more 10Ks and half-marathons than he can count and usually finishes near the top of the field.

The fact that he can run at all is remarkable. When Kennedy was 8 years old, he was involved in a serious car accident that left him with a brain injury, muscle damage and legally blind.

He has no vision in his right eye and partial vision in his left.

“God wasn’t ready for me yet. He said it’s not time for you to come up yet, you’ll still be alive,” said Kennedy.

Kennedy started running in middle school and did track and cross country in high school. In May, he plans to run in his third OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon.

He says he hasn’t decided if he will wear the Batman outfit. It might be too warm.

However, in March he wore the suit as he ran in Carmel’s Lucky Clover Run and finished first in a field of nearly 800 runners.

Mo Farah has declined a place in the IAAF World Championships marathon after his substandard showing in London at the weekend, with the 36-year-old expected to announce a return to the track

The four-time Olympic champion finished fifth in the London Marathon on Sunday – three minutes and two seconds behind winner Eliud Kipchoge – as his road career hit a stumbling block.

Farah broke the European record at the Chicago Marathon last October, but was far from guaranteed a medal over 26.2 miles with 17 athletes running faster in the last 12 months.

He is set to defend his title at the Vitality London 10,000 race later in May, with the Briton thought to be considering the same distance for Doha 2019.

The three-time 10,000m world champion has previously spoken about missing the track.

"Having seen my fellow athletes, who I've competed against in the past, and watching the European Indoor Championships on TV, I was thinking 'Oh man! I want to get back out there'," Farah said in March.

"That's just me. If things are going well and I've got a chance to win a medal, then I'd love to come back and run for my country.

"Part of me when I watch track races I'm like, 'can I still do it? I want to do it'. I do miss the track."

British Athletics announced that the men's line-up in Doha will consist of Callum Hawkins and Dewi Griffiths, with Charlotte Purdue and Tish Jones going in the women's' race.

Caster Semenya loses her battle with the IAAF but is considering an appeal

South African 800m Olympic champion Caster Semenya is considering an appeal after losing her landmark legal case against athletics’ governing body, the IAAF, in a decision that could end her career as an elite athlete.

The ruling by the court of arbitration for Sport means that Semenya, who has not been beaten over 800m since 2015, will have to take medication to significantly reduce her testosterone if she wants to run internationally at events between 400m and a mile.

The sports scientist Ross Tucker, who was part of Semenya’s team of experts at Cas, believes it will mean the South African could run the 800m in around seven seconds slower – turning her from a world-beater into an also-ran at that event. However the indications are that she may decide to step up to the 5,000m, where the IAAF’s new rules regarding athletes with differences in sexual development (DSDs) do not apply.

The surprise verdict was announced by the court of arbitration for sport on Wednesday after three arbitrators had spent more than two months deliberating over the complex and highly contentious case.

Announcing its ruling, Cas agreed that the IAAF’s policy was “discriminatory” to athletes with differences in sexual development (DSDs) such as Semenya. However two of three arbitrators accepted the IAAF’s argument that high testosterone in female athletes confers significant advantages in size, strength and power from puberty onwards, and said the policy was “necessary, reasonable and proportionate” to ensure fair competition in women’s sport.

It means that all DSD athletes, who are usually born with internal testes, will have to reduce their testosterone to below five nmol/L for at least six months if they want to compete internationally all distances from 400m to a mile. The IAAF, which welcomed the news, said its policy would come into place on 8 May.

Semenya was expected to be a cornerstone of the SA athletics team that will compete at the IAAF’s world championships in Doha from September 28 to October 6‚ and the Tokyo Olympics next year from July 24 to August 9.

London Marathon winner Brigid Kosgei says she does not know what is next for her at the moment

London marathon champion Brigid Kosgei says she will relish the challenge to defend her title in the English capital in 2020.

Speaking in Nairobi upon her arrival from London, Kosgei, who is also the Chicago marathon winner, says she has no fear of any athlete and will be ready to take on any challenge in future race.

"I say thank you for Kenyans for cheering me. I have done to London and done something good. I hope next year I will go there and do something better," said Kosgei on Tuesday.

For now, Kosgei will take a deserved rest to shake off the fatigue as she discusses with her coach Erick Kimaiyo and management over her next race in 2019.

"I want to prepare well for the next race. I hope to be a winner again wherever I will go. I must thank my coach Kimaiyo for having believed and trained me," she said.

Kosgei, who in 2018 was second to Vivian Cheruiyot, returned to the English capital and proved her worth as she obliterated her mentor to win the race with Cheruiyot settling for silver.

She however says due to the high number of elite runners in the race, it is always hard to hit fast time as each will sit back to wait for a sacrificial lamp to step forward and lead.

"But for me, I knew I had trained well and after 21km I decided it was time to go. We were watching each other, me, Vivian and Mary Keitany. I believed in my strides and it was good that I won. Even the few times that Cheruiyot pulled away, I was not worried. I don't fear anyone because as long as my legs are strong, I always focus on winning," she said

Kosgei had prepared for a fast time but not a personal best. "I don't know what is next for me at the moment. After recovering, my body will show where next I will go," said Kosgei.

It is now three wins in a row for Kenya women in London after Keitany won in 2017, Cheruiyot in 2018 and now Kosgei in 2019.

London Marathon offered edible seaweed drinks instead of plastic bottles

Over 30,000 edible drinks capsules made from seaweed were handed out to runners at the London Marathon, in a bid to reduce plastic waste.

The marathon was the largest ever trial of Ooho capsules – biodegradable pods that can be filled with water or other beverages.

You can either consume the pods whole, or bite into them to release the liquid. Made from a seaweed-based substance, the discarded wrapping will naturally decompose in four to six weeks – roughly the same time as a piece of fruit.

Ooho pods are made by Skipping Rocks Lab, a London-based startup led by Royal College of Art graduates Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez and Pierre Paslier.

During the marathon, the capsules were filled with energy drink Lucozade Sport Orange and handed out to runners from a station 23 miles into the 26.2-mile course.

Introduction of the capsules formed part of a push from London Marathon organisers to make this year's event the most sustainable marathon ever.

Last year an estimated 760,000 plastic bottles were thrown onto the city's streets by runners and spectators. The target for 2019 was to bring this number down by 215,000.

The total number of drinks stations was reduced from 26 to 19, including the one distributing edible Ooho pods. Plus two of the stations were handing out drinks in compostable cups.

To further reduce the marathon's carbon footprint, plastic bottles dropped in the London were taken to a recycling plant.

"It's really simple because it’s a membrane, and membranes are the technology that nature uses to encapsulate things using the minimum amount of material," explained Gonzalez.

Beet juice enhances athletic performance giving to the athletes an amount of nitrate in a natural food source

Runners have experimented with a broad array of aids in pursuit of a performance edge. A popular one today that seems safe and backed by solid data is the juice of beets, for the nitrates they contain.

Inorganic nitrate is added to cured and processed meats to extend their shelf life and give them their distinctive pink color. It’s also naturally found in spinach, arugula and beets. In the past decade, new evidence has suggested that the nitrate in these vegetables enhances athletic performance and may also increase cardiovascular health in old age.

The first clue came in 2007, when Swedish researchers reported that three days of sodium nitrate supplementation lowered the oxygen demand of nine cyclists and triathletes as they worked out, compared with a placebo of table salt. It also increased the blood plasma levels of nitrite, a byproduct of nitrate.

That study caught the eye of exercise physiologist Andrew Jones of the University of Exeter in England. Usually, the oxygen demand of exercise is fixed, he says, so for a short-term intervention to change that “was unusual.”

Although it wasn’t clear how nitrate was doing what it did, Jones knew that green leafy vegetables and beets were rich sources. So he conducted a study, reported in the Journal of Applied Physiology, giving eight men active in recreational sports an equivalent amount of nitrate in a natural food source like beet juice.

The volunteers consumed 500 ml (17 ounces) of beet juice every day for six days. Then, after a break of 10 days, the groups were switched around and drank another drink for an additional six days.

By the last three days of the six, nitrate concentration in the blood of those drinking beet juice was almost doubled and their systolic blood pressure (which measures the pressure in your blood vessels as your heart beats) fell by an average of 6 points. The oxygen cost — the amount of oxygen consumed — when they exercised on a stationary bicycle was reduced by 19 percent.

“When we asked them to continue to exercise to exhaustion, they were able to go longer,” recalls Jones, who co-wrote a review on dietary nitrates in the 2018 Annual Review of Nutrition.

From then on, research on beet juice, beet juice concentrates, whole beets and nitrate salts started to pour in.

Nitrate itself doesn’t do much in the body. It first has to be converted to nitric oxide, a gas with numerous physiological roles — in blood vessel dilation, muscle contraction and transmission of nerve signals, among others. People obtain that nitric oxide in two ways: either through the action of the enzyme nitric oxide synthase, which catalyzes the amino acid L-arginine to produce it, or from nitrate ingested in food.

Scott Wietecha won the St. Jude Rock and Roll Marathon for the seventh time

Scott Wietecha was greeted at the finish line by his family as he won the St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon for the seventh straight year.

Wietecha’s wife handed him his medal after finishing the race in 2 hours, 34 minutes.

“You always want to win because people are rooting for you and it’s so much pressure,” Wietecha said after the race. “Any time I can get it done and win. I got 12 more months I can relax.”

More than 30,000 people ran the race. Organizers estimate more than $2 million was raised for St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

Last year Wietecha got pushed late because he had to take a bathroom break between miles 18 and 19.

This year he chose to slow down because he thought he had a more comfortable lead than he actually did.

"Someone told me I had about a three-minute lead so I said, 'Umm, three minutes, I can kind of chill,'" Wietecha said. "And then I was feeling sorry for myself because of all the hills; I hate hills and these hills were brutal."

Not long after that Wietecha was told Wilson was closing in on him and only about 20 seconds back.

Wietecha did not panic. The slower pace had helped him regain his energy and he had plenty left for the final two miles.

Sir Mo Farah is disappointed on his performance at London Marathon

Mo Farah finished fifth in Sunday’s London Marathon in 2:05:39, three minutes behind winner Eliud Kipchoge. Farah went into the race hoping for a big result, but came away shy of his goals.

Farah fell off of the leaders at roughly halfway but maintained a strong position throughout the race. The runner told the London Marathon post-race, “I didn’t feel great at the start but I followed the pace maker.

I felt good halfway and by 20 miles a gap was there. My aim was to reel them back once the pacemaker dropped out but wasn’t able to. I am disappointed as training went well.”

When asked about the Haile Gebrselassie controversy, Farah said, “I didn’t think the fuss affected my run and I wasn’t distracted by the build up, it was all about London today and so I put my head down, did my best.”

While a 2:05:39 wasn’t exactly what he was looking for, it’s still less than 30 seconds off his personal best and European record of 2:05:11, and a fifth-place finish among one of the best marathon fields ever assembled is no joke.

In Sunday’s race, only seven months after his world record run, Kipchoge ran the second-fastest time in history over the marathon distance and became the first man to win four London Marathon titles.

Kenyas Agnes Tirop will return to the Garden City to defend her title

In 2018, Agnes Tirop set a course record of 31:19 at the TCS World 10K after managing to shake off Ethiopia’s Senbere Teferi with just 250 meters to go.

Teferi, who won the RAK Half Marathon earlier this year in a national record of 1:05:45, is also back in Bengaluru while other familiar faces on the start line include Kenya’s Caroline Kipkirui and Ethiopia’s world half marathon champion Netsanet Gudeta, who were third and fourth in 2018.

Add into the mix the presence of Kenya’s world record-holder Joyciline Jepkosgei and Ethiopia’s Tsehay Gemechu, who leads the 2019 10km world list after her win in Valencia in 30:15 and it promises to be every bit as exciting as the men’s contest.

“Every year the quality of the elite fields for the TCS World 10K Bengaluru gets better and this year is no different,” said Vivek Singh, joint managing director of race promoters Procam International.

“We have world record-holder Joyciline Jepkosgei and five male athletes whose personal best is well below the course record.”

Stephen Kiprotich third best at Hamburg Marathon

Uganda’s former World and Olympic Champion Stephen Kiprotich showed he is still a key performer on the big stage, with a superb 3rd place finish in the Haspa Hamburg International Marathon Sunday morning.

Kiprotich led for stretches, but he failed to break away from the chasing pack. Ethiopia’s Tadu Abate in 2:08:26 won eventually, with countryman Ayele Abshero edging out Kiprotich for second.

It is his 3rd straight top 10 finish in the event, at which he was 5th in 2017 and second last year.

Kiprotich, 30, has won two major global titles but victory in a big city marathon is still missing so far in his running portfolio. He however did win the Enschede marathon in 2011 with 2:07:20, before his 2012 Olympic and 2013 World Championship victories.

The elite runners, including Kiprotich, will share 300,000 Euros.

Jordan Tropf was not well known by others at the Big Sur Marathon but he took the lead from the start and pulled away to the finish

The Big Sur International Marathon had more than 4,000 runners tackle the 26.2-mile course along the Pacific Ocean on Sunday.  

Jordan Tropf was the winner clocking 2:25:21.

This is the first year in a long time that a new face has won the marathon.

D'Ann Arthur, 31, of Redondo Beach won the women's overall division clocking 2:45:41. Arthur is in residency for orthopedic surgery in Southern California.

Tropf is a Navy doctor from Silver Springs, Maryland, who said that he set a personal record on Sunday. He was the race leader from start to finish. 

Defending male champion and local favorite, Adam Roach, 33, of Pacific Grove, placed second.  Michael Wardian placed fourth and was first master.  

Adam and Michael have dominated the annual race the past few years, having won the last seven races between them. But Wardian told Roach before the sun came up Sunday to be aware of Jordan Tropf, who won the Baltimore Marathon in 2017.

“I didn’t know he was even in the race until Michael mentioned him on the ride out,” said Roach, a Pacific Grove resident.

Tropf wasn’t on the list of elite runners entered in the race, although he is ranked among the nation’s top 200 marthoners having run 2 hours, 27 minutes and 23 seconds at the Boston Marathon on April 15 and 2:26.45 in the Marine Corps Marathon in October.

But Roach wasn’t sure which runner Tropf was until a few miles into race. By then, the Navy doctor had become a blur ahead of him, running off with the men’s division in 2:25:22.

“I had set a goal to get under 2:30,” said the 27-year-old Tropf, who is in the Naval Academy. “I just went out and ran my race and didn’t worry about anyone else.”

D’Ann Arthur of Redondo Beach didn’t let a night out for a wedding slow her down, as she went out and won the women’s race in 2:48.40 — nearly 13 minutes faster than last year’s winning time.

Tropf set a blistering pace that caught Roach — a five-time champion at Big Sur – off guard. He led from the start and gradually extended his lead throughout the 26-mile, 385-yard majestic course.

Running a 5:32 mile pace, Tropf’s time was nearly four minutes faster than Roach’s winning time last year and over five minutes faster than Wardian’s winning time in 2017.

Mathew Kimeli and Senbere Teferi were dominant victors at the UAE Healthy Kidney 10-K

Ethiopia’s 2015 world 5000m silver medallist Senbere Teferi won in a course record of 30:59 ahead of Kenya’s Monicah Ngige (31:52) and Ethiopia’s Buze Diriba (32:20).

Mathew Kimeli, who owns the event’s second-fastest ever mark with his runner-up run at the 2018 edition of the race (27:19), this time clocked 27:45 to win.

Ethiopia’s Girma Bekele Gerba placed second with a time of 28:07 and Kenya’s Edwin Kibichiy was third with a time of 28:21.

Winning by 22 and 53 seconds in 27:45 and 30:59, respectively. Kimeli, a 21-year-old Kenyan who represents adidas, improved on last year's runner-up finish, cruised the second half of the race solo.  Teferi, a 23-yer-old Ethiopian who also runs for adidas, set a new event record, the first sub-31:00 in the 15-year history of the event which raises money for kidney disease research and treatment.

A year ago, Kimeli and training partner Rhonex Kipruto worked together in pursuit of the Central Park record and the $30,000 bonus that came with it. Kipruto took home the paycheck for his 27:08 victory, while Kimeli finished second in 27:19. He returned to New York as the pre-race favorite and acted like it, immediately moving to the front of the lead pack from the start.

Through the first mile (4:31), Kimeli was joined by fellow Kenyan James Ngandu, Gabriel Geay of Tanzania and Girma Bekele Gebre, a New York-based Ethiopian. Kimeli ratcheted up the pace with a 4:20 second mile, first dropping Ngandu before Geay also started to struggle to maintain contact. Running the tangents of the curved roadway with precision, Kimeli dropped Gebre as the course climbed the steep Harlem Hill at the north end of the park. Between 3 miles (13:14) and 5 kilometers (13:45) Kimeli accelerated sharply and broke away.

"I could see that he was going to challenge me on the hill, so I decided that was the time to push it," Kimeli told Race Results Weekly.

At the certified 8-kilometer split (22:08) Kimeli's lead had grown to 17 seconds and his only competition was coming from the clock. The demanding course took its toll, however, as he split 14:00 for the second 5-K to reach the finish in 27:45, still the sixth fastest time in race history.

"The course is good, but today I didn't have a challenger so that maybe we could push together," Kimeli said. "I was comfortable, although I didn't have anybody to support me, other than the [cameraman's] motorbike. The spectators cheered for me and that helped. Maybe next year I'll try to set a new course record."

Gebre crossed the line second in 28:07, while Edwin Kibichiy of Kenya, the 2017 NCAA champion in the steeplechase for the University of Louisville, moved up for third in 28:21. Another Kenyan, Dominic Korir (28:24), and Geay (28:43) rounded out the top five.

Teferi, a week away from her 24th birthday and in her United States racing debut, made an aggressive bid for the Central Park record, Lornah Kiplagat's 30:44 set at the 2002 NYRR New York Mini 10-K. She broke away from Kenya's Monicah Ngige early in the race, attacking the early miles. By halfway (15:31), the record seemed out of her reach, but Teferi continued to press.

Indeed, she covered the second half even faster (15:28) to break the tape in 30:59. Although she missed Kiplagat's mark, she was well under the previous event record of 31:17, set by Joyce Chepkirui of Kenya in 2014.

"I was trying to break the record, but there were a lot of hills at the beginning and by 2 kilometers I knew I was off the pace," said Teferi through a translator, who owns a pair of IAAF World Championships silver medals from 2015 in cross country and the 5000 meters. "I kept on trying after that, I didn't give up hope. I didn't succeed, but I was trying."

Ngige, who finished third in this race the past two years, held on for second in 31:52. Defending champion Buze Diriba of Ethiopia was third in 32:20, followed by Risper Gesabwa (33:26) of Mexico and New Yorker Harriott Kelly (34:19).

Kimeli and Teferi both earned $10,000 first-place prizes (part of a $60,000 purse) in the New York Road Runners-organized event, which featured 7696 official finishers.

Kyle King a 29-year-old marine won the men’s race at the Eugene Marathon clocking 2:18:04

The Eugene Marathon had to alter its course to accommodate a start and finish at Autzen Stadium this year.Organizers might want to make the change permanent.

Between the men’s and women’s Eugene Marathon and Half Marathon on Sunday, there were 18 new names added to the event’s all-time top-10 lists. And on a cool, sunny morning when it seemed so many were running fast, Kyle King and Jennifer Bigham proved to be the fastest.

King, a 29-year-old marine competing in just his second marathon and first since 2014, won the men’s race in 2 hours, 18 minutes, 4 seconds. It was a 45-second victory and the third fastest time in the 13-year history of the Eugene Marathon.

It was also well below the Olympic Trials ‘B’ standard of 2:19.00 (the ‘A’ standard is 2:15:00).Bigham, a 37-year-old mother of three children under the age of 10, got her first win after running “15-20” marathons since her first in 2004. She also reached the finish line inside unchallenged in 2:41:37 — the fifth fastest finish all-time in Eugene, and also easily met the Olympic Trials ‘B’ standard of 2:45:00 (the ‘A’ standard is 2:37:00).“I’ve been trying for the Trials standard for eight years,” Bigham said.

“This is a dream come true.”It was also the only pre-race goal she set for herself. So imagine her surprise when the Pittsburgh resident found herself in the lead once the half marathoners went off in another direction.

“When they cut off, people started saying ‘You’re the first woman,’ and I was kind of shocked,” said Bigham, a steeplechaser and cross country runner during her collegiate career at Ohio State. “It gave me some confidence but it also made me say ‘Keep it cool, chill out.”

Seattle’s Claire DeVoe was second in 2:42:46 (sixth all-time), Perry Shoemaker of Vienna, VA. was third in 2:43:33 (eighth all-time) and Meaghan Nelson of Boise was fourth in 2:44:36.King, an artillery officer based at Buckley Air Force Base outside of Denver who ran distance at Eastern Washington at Oklahoma, said he didn’t know what to expect in his race after only recently beginning to train for the 26.2-mile race.

“Honestly, it went way better than expected,” King said. “I hadn’t been seriously training for like six years. I really had no idea what type of shape I was in so I guess I was in better shape than I thought.”So much so that he struggled at times to stick to his desired pace.

“I really wasn’t too experienced with the marathon so right around miles 10-13 I was chomping at the bit to start going, but I kept telling myself ‘Wait, wait, it’s too early,’” King said. “Then at mile 15 my legs just wanted to go so I opened it up a little bit.

”Second-place finisher Anthony Tomsich of Vancouver, British Columbia finished in 2:18:49 (fifth all-time), and Patrick Richie of Portland was third in 2:19:16 (seventh all-time).

The TCS World 10K promises to deliver enthralling head-to-head competition at the The 12th edition of the race

Kenya’s Geoffrey Koech and Vincent Kiprotich Kibet finished 2018 as the third and fifth fastest men over 10km in the world last year with 27:18 and 27:21 respectively, both times considerably faster than the Bengaluru course record of 27:44 set by their compatriot Geoffrey Kamworor in 2014.

Koech, the fastest man in the field, hasn’t been in quite the same sparkling form in his two outings so far this year, both half marathons, but is hoping that dropping down in distance will pay dividends. Kiprotich Kibet, meanwhile, won in Wurzburg earlier this year in 27:35.

Ethiopian duo Birhanu Legese and Andamlak Belihu both know what it’s like to win on Indian roads having respectively won the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K and Airtel Delhi Half Marathon in December and October last year.

Legese, second in Bengaluru last year, has also started the year in winning fashion by taking the honours at the Tokyo Marathon in 2:04:48 in March while the 20-year-old Belihu was eighth at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.

Factor in Turkey’s in-form Kaan Kigen Ozbilen, who has already had quick marathon and half marathon outings this year, and Kenya’s ever-competitive two-time world medallist Bedan Karoki, who was second behind Legese at the Tokyo Marathon last month, and the men’s race promises plenty of thrilling high-quality action.

The TCS World 10K Bengaluru 2019 has a total prize fund of US$213,000, with the men’s and women’s winners taking home US$26,000.

Ruth Chepngetich sets Japanese’s all-comers Half-Marathon record at Gifu

Ruth Chepngetich ran away from a loaded field at the Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon on Sunday (28) to win the ninth edition of the IAAF Gold Label road race in 1:06:06, the fastest half marathon ever recorded in Japan.

The Kenyan, who won this year’s Dubai Marathon in 2:17:08, took 98 seconds off the previous course record set by world record-holder Joyciline Jepkosgei in 2017.

Chepngetich set out fast and by 5km (15:10), the lead pack consisted of just three runners – Chepngetich, Joan Melly Chelimo and Evaline Chirchir.

But Chirchir and then Melly were dropped before Chepngetich reached 10km in 30:45. She continued to push the pace, passing 15km in 46:44 and 20km in 1:02:41, winning comfortably in 1:06:05.

Melly Chelimo was nearly two minutes behind with 1:08:01 and Chirchir was third in 1:08:07, improving her PB by more than four minutes. World marathon champion Rose Chelimo was never a factor and finished seventh with 1:12:58.

In contrast to the women’s race, a large lead pack formed during the early stages of the men’s race as 10 men were together at 5km (14:18). When course record-holder Bedan Karoki started to push the pace 20 minutes into the race, the lead pack reduced immediately to five men.

The leader’s pace soon slackened and Japanese half marathon record-holder Yuta Shitara joined them in front. Seven runners were in the lead pack at 10km (28:42), then Nicholas Kosimbei made a bid to break away about 37 minutes into the race, and only Karoki and Amos Kurgat were able cover the move.

When Kurgat started to push the pace three minutes later, only Karoki went with him. But soon even Karoki was slowly drifting backward. Kurgat’s two-second advantage at 15km (43:05) grew to 30 seconds by 20km (57:29) and he crossed the line in a PB of 1:00:34.

It was his second consecutive half marathon victory and PB, following his 1:01:06 run at the Japanese Corporate team Half Marathon Championships in February. Karoki, the 2014 champion, finished second in 1:01:07.

Kipchoge wins London Marathon for record 4th time while Brigid Kosgei wins the women’s race as American women finish 6th and 12th

Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya ran the second-fastest time ever to win the London Marathon for a record fourth time Sunday, and compatriot Brigid Kosgei swept to victory by almost two minutes in the women's race.

The 34-year-old Kipchoge pulled clear of Ethiopian runners Mosinet Geremew and Mule Wasihun in the final 10 minutes to complete the course in 2 hours, 2 minutes, 37 seconds on a blustery day in the British capital.

Only Kipchoge has run a marathon quicker than that, when breaking the world record in Berlin in September in a time of 2:01:39. With more twists and turns, London is typically a slower course than Berlin - making Kipchoge's display even more exceptional.

"I'm happy to win on the streets of London for the fourth time and to make history on a day that the event has raised 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion)," said Kipchoge, who won in London in 2015, '16 and '18.

Geremew finished 18 seconds behind, and Wasihun a further 21 seconds back. Nobody has run quicker to finish a marathon in second or third place.

Home favorite Mo Farah - a four-time Olympic champion on the track - could not live with the pace, dropping away at the 14-mile mark and finishing a distant fifth at the end of a week when he was involved in an extraordinary public feud with retired distance-running great Haile Gebrselassie.

Kosgei bettered her second-place finish in last year's race by winning in 2:18:20 for her second victory in the World Marathon Majors, after Chicago last year. She ran the quickest-ever second half of a women's marathon.

Compatriot and defending champion Vivian Cheruiyot finished in a time of 2:20:14 and Roza Dereje of Ethiopia was third, 37 seconds further back.

Dan Romanchuk, a 20-year-old American, won the men's wheelchair race ahead of Switzerland's Marcel Hug. The women's wheelchair race was won comfortably by Switzerland's Manuela Schar, the 2017 champion.

In her debut at the distance, American Emily Sisson (photo) ran 2:23:08 to finish sixth at the London Marathon this morning. This is the fastest American woman time in a woman only race.  Her training partner, (photo) Molly Huddle, finished 12th in a personal best of 2:26:33.

Sisson’s time makes her the sixth-fastest American in history on a record-eligible course.

Eliud Kipchoge clocked the second fastest time in history to wins the London Marathon

Eliud Kipchoge win the men's London Marathon posting a negative split.  He lead a group of several at the half marathon mark clocking 1:01:35 there.  The pace quicken right away as mile 14 was clocked in 4:31.  

World record holder Eliud waves to the crowd as he takes the win with a time of 2hrs 2 mins and 37sec. That’s the second fastest time in history.  He said he was coming here to win but he certainly did more than this.  

Second place was also under 2:03.  Mosinet Gerewen from Ethiopia clocked 2:02:55 followed by Mule Wasihun also from Ethiopia, in 2:03:16.  These are the three fastest times of the year.

Brigid Kosgei from Kenya won the woman’s race in 2:18:20.  She smashed the field.  Vivian Cheruiyot also from Kenya was second clocking 2:20:14.  

The battle at the London Marathon is going to be starting in just a few hours

Sir Mo Farah has twice competed in the London Marathon, finishing in eighth place in 2014 and in third spot in 2018.

The four-time Olympic champion will face stiff competition to win race, which will come in the form of defending champion and world record holder Eliud Kipchoge.  On top of this Eliud has only been beaten once in the marathon.  Wilson Kipsang beat him in Berlin as he set a world record.  

Farah is well aware of the momentous task on his hands and is hoping his fellow Brits can help guide him to victory.

”All I can ask from the crowd is to give me as much information as possible, as I go through the last 10 miles in particular," he told Sky News. "If I'm leading, if I'm behind, the more information I have the easier it is.

“This race means a lot to me. I finished third last year and this year I believe I can give it a little bit more."

Kenya’s Kipchoge is the favourite to win the marathon this year having set a new world record in Berlin last September.

"Eliud is a great athlete and the world record holder," Farahsaid of Kipchoge. "I'm going to go out there and give it my best."

"Racing against Eliud in London was learning the hard way - but I believe I learned a lot," Farah added when asked about last year's race.

Mo Farah and Eliud Kipchoge are two of the favourites to win the London Marathon.

"After each race, you get a bit better, that bit more experienced. I believe I could have gone a little bit faster in Chicago - 2:04-something, but I don't know.

"It's nice to be back in my home city; it's really exciting. I feel more nervous and hungry again. I'm not used to winning in the marathon, so I feel like I've got my mojo back."

The battle in the women’s race could even be more exciting and in fact a world record could be in the makings.  

It looks like the weather could be good for marathoning.  Rain maybe early but the temperature should be in the mid forties.  The wind might be as strong as 10mph.  

In total over 40,000 participants have entered and over one billion pounds have been raised for charity since the Marathon was first run.  

Defending London Marathon champion Vivian Cheruiyot, says a women-only world record could be broken Sunday

Vivian Cheruiyot appears in a confident mood ahead of Sunday’s Virgin Money London Marathon, and with good reason.

The defending champion returns to the UK capital as a 66:34 half-marathoner, having improved her PB to claim victory in Lisbon last month. That run, she says, paired with her performances in training, proves she’s in even better shape than last year, when she defeated a field including her fellow Kenyan Mary Keitany after a superbly-judged race which resulted in a 2:18:31 PB.

“I am in better shape because last year I changed things and the programme of last year and this year has been the same,” says the 2016 Olympic 5000m champion, who made her marathon debut in London in 2017.

“We normally compare (the training of) last year and this year and I did better than last year which means I am in better shape than last year so I am happy about that.

“I also did a personal best at the half-marathon in Lisbon so I think I am going to run good on Sunday.”

Twelve months ago, in challenging hot conditions, Keitany and Tirunesh Dibaba had been accompanied by male pacemakers as they set their sights on Paula Radcliffe’s world record of 2:15:25. Keitany stormed through half way in 67:16 before fading in the final miles, with Cheruiyot coming through for victory after having sat back off the lead pack initially.

This time the race will feature female pacemakers, as it did in 2017 when Keitany ran her women-only world record of 2:17:01 to secure her third London Marathon title.

World half-marathon record-holder Joyciline Jepkosgei heads the lead group of pacemakers and will be joined by Dorcas Tuitoek and Edith Chelimo. Eunice Chumba will pace a second group.

While Dibaba won’t be racing on Sunday as she is expecting her second child, Keitany does return and the pair will also be joined by two other sub-2:19 runners – Chicago champion Brigid Kosgei and Berlin winner Gladys Cherono.

Cheruiyot believes a women-only world record could be on the cards.

“The male pacemakers, they were quicker (last year) because the ladies wanted to run 2:15. I think now people are trying to run 2:17,” she says. “It’s possible (for the women-only world record to be broken) on Sunday if the weather is good because I know the athletes are very strong.

“I’m going to try my best (to break the record herself). It will depend on how my body responds. If it is going to respond very well, I am in good shape and I’ll try to do my best.

“If it’s going to be 68 (minutes) at half way, that is okay for me, I can stay with them all the way through. Last year 67 was too fast.

“Running a PB in Lisbon really gives me confidence because mostly I did it alone. We have people pacing us here so my chances of running 2:17 are very high.”

Since making her debut two years ago, Cheruiyot has raced three more marathons – in Frankfurt (first in 2:23:35), London and New York (second behind Keitany in 2:26:02) – and, despite missing the track, she insists she won’t be returning to in-stadium action.

“I miss it a lot because I really liked running on the track, especially the 5000m – it was really enjoyable for me,” says the 35-year-old four-time world track gold medallist.

“We used to go for 40 minutes, one hour training (for the track), but now you have to do 40km for training – it’s very hard.

“When I started training for the marathon I was like ‘I’m going to finish the training, I’m going to be tired forever!’ But now I am catching up, I am used to it and I love it now.”

Course records fall at the 42nd anual Madrid Marathon

Kenya’s Reuben Kerio and Ethiopia’s Shasho Insermu set race records at the 42nd Rock ’n’ Roll Madrid Marathon, crossing the line of the IAAF Gold Label road race in 2:08:18 and 2:26:24 respectively on Saturday (27).

While the 25-year-old Kerio led a Kenyan clean sweep of medals, Insermu obliterared the previous record by over four minutes, getting the better from her fellow Ethiopian Fetale Dejene Tsegaye on a perfect day (10C at the start).

Led by pacemakers Emmanuel Bett of Kenya and Ugandan cross-country specialist Timothy Toroitich, the main pack set off at a steady 3:03/km pace. The opening 10 kilometres were covered in 30:39 with 16 men still in the lead.

The pace increased in the following five-kilometre section and they went through 15km in 45:33 and reached the half-way point in 1:03:54 with Toroitich still in the lead. Bernard Kiprop Koech, Kiprotich Kirui, Kipkemoi Kipsang and Ethiopia’s Sisay Jisa ran closest to the pacemakers by then.

With the clock reading 1:19, Jisa fell injured and was forced to stop. Shortly afterwards Eliud Barngetuny lost contact with the main pack at the 29th kilometre.

Once Toroitich dropped out, Kirui took charge of the pace and only Kerio, Kipsang and Kiptoo managed to stay at his shoulder while the local favourite Javier Guerra could not live with their pace and ran in fifth alongside Nicholas Kirwa.

The lead pack reached 30km in 1:31:08 and with four men still in the group it became clear they were on pace to break the race record of 2:09:15.

The long-legged Kerio made his move at the 36th kilometre and he soon opened a clear gap over Kipsang, Kirui and Kiptoo. By 40km (2:01:35) the leader had built a 22-second margin on Kipsang and 24 on Kirui, having both secured podium places in detriment of a fading Kiptoo.

Kerio crossed the finish line in 2:08:18 to take nearly a full minute off the previous race record. Kipsang (PB of 2:08:58) and Kirui (2:09:05) also dipped inside the previous mark set in 2014. To the delight of the crowd, Guerra finished fifth in 2:10:19, a couple of seconds behind Kiptoo.

“This is my first win at an IAAF Gold Label event so I’m over the moon,” said Kerio. “In addition I ran 2:08 low which means a much faster time competing at sea level so I hope to be in the 2:05 region shortly.”

Paced by compatriot Fikadu Kebede, Ethiopia’s Shasho Insermu, a 2:23:28 performer, set out with the intention of breaking the 2:30:40 race record set last year, but she had a hesitant first 10km, covered in 35:41 in the company of compatriots Tsegaye Dejene, Beshadu Bekele, Gebeyanesh Ayele and Hemila Wortessa.

Shortly after 15km, reached in 52:24, Insermu had built up a sole lead while her three compatriots ran together, helped by 2006 5000m European champion Jesús España, a recreational runner nowadays after his retirement last summer

Insermu, contesting her 11th marathon, cruised to the half-way point in 1:13:00, some 1:15 ahead of record schedule and 20 seconds clear of debutant Tesfaye, Bekele and Ayele.

Taking advantage of Kebede’s pacing duties, Insermu maintained her rhythm for the rest of the event, despite the second half of the circuit being the toughest part.

By 30km, reached in 1:43:28, the leader still held a 20-second advantage over Tesfaye but Bekele and Ayele’s speed decreased dramatically as they lost 1:48 by then. Finally, the gap between the experienced Insermu and debutant Tesfaye increased and the only question remaining was how much the course record would be broken by.

The 26-year-old Insermu won in style in 2:26:24 with a 41-second advantage over Tesfaye while Bekele completed an Ethiopian sweep in 2:32:15.

“Once I knew I would run in Madrid in April, I set myself the goal of setting a new race record as a lot of people said it was not possible to dip under the 2:30 barrier,” said Insermu. “I thought I might clock 2:27 so my performance was even beyond expectations.”

Former double World Marathon Champion Abel Kirui will try to break Eliud Kipchoge’s course record in Sunday’s Haspa Marathon Hamburg

The current world record holder clocked 2:05:30 in his debut marathon here back in 2013. Kirui also wants to break 2:05 for the first time in his career. With a personal best of 2:05:04 the Kenyan is the second fastest runner on the start list behind Ethiopia’s Ayele Abshero, who features a personal record of 2:04:23. In an extraordinary deep men’s field 16 athletes have already broken 2:10. There are five women who have run sub 2:25.

Mexico’s Madai Perez and Dibabe Kuma of Ethiopia head the entry list with personal records of 2:22:59 and 2:23:34 respectively. Jessica Augusto of Purtugal, who won the race two years ago, returns to Hamburg. A very strong group of Japanese elite runners will be in contention as well.

Organisers expect a total of 35,000 athletes to compete in the Haspa Marathon Hamburg. This includes all the races.  Almost 14,000 have entered Germany’s biggest and fastest spring marathon.

In the men’s race no one has come close to Eliud Kipchoge’s course record since the Kenyan ran 2:05:30 six years ago. But Abel Kirui is confident that he can change this. Asked about his goals for Sunday, he said, "My ambition is to break the course record...I know that the course is a flat one. So if the weather is cool then I will go for a fast race,“ said the 36 year-old, who won the World Championships’ marathons in 2009 and 2011. Additionally he won the silver medal in the London Olympic marathon in 2012.

"I hope to go through half way in 62:30 and then run the second half a bit faster to finish sub 2:05,“ explained Kirui, who ran 2:07:07 in very warm conditions in London a year ago.

Two Ethiopians who placed second and third at the Haspa Marathon Hamburg last year return to the race: Ayele Abshero is the fastest runner on the start list with a personal best of 2:04:23. The 28 year-old ran his best time for four years last year in Hamburg, when he clocked 2:07:19 for third place. „

"Winning this race would be great. But the field is a very strong one. I would be happy if I could finish in the top three. I will go with the first group,“ said Abshero. Tadu Abate was the runner-up in 2018 with 2:06:54 as a debutant, crossing the line just 20 seconds behind fellow-Ethiopian Solomon Deksisa. "My training went well, I had no problems and I am in fine form,“ said 21 year-old Abate.

There are two Olympic Champions in Sunday’s race. For the third time in a row Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda will compete in the Haspa Marathon Hamburg. The marathon gold medallist from London 2012 was second here in 2017 and fifth last year with 2:07:31 and 2:07:57 respectively.

It will be interesting to see if Ezekiel Kemboi can have an impact in the marathon. The 36 year-old Kenyan won two Olympic titles (2004 and 2012) and four World Championship gold medals in a row (2009 to 2015) in the steeplechase.

With a total of 16 runners who feature personal bests of sub 2:16 and another seven who have run under 2:12 the Haspa Marathon Hamburg has a depth few other marathons can match. 

In the women’s race two years ago Jessica Augusto celebrated one of her biggest career victories in Hamburg, when she took the race in 2:25:30 despite very tough weather conditions including hail showers.

"If you have been successful then you are happy to come back to that race,“ said Jessica Augusto, who suffered of a career threatening tibia bone head injury in 2018.

"I did not opt for surgery and the conservative treatment did work. Since December I am able to train normally again,“ explained Jessica Augusto, who targets at least a podium place on Sunday.

Regarding times she wants to make an early statement regarding Olympic qualification. "While the international qualifying time is 2:29:30 I will need to run considerably faster to be selected, because there are six of us who compete for three places. I hope to run around 2:25 on Sunday,“ said Augusto.

Jessica Augusto is the fourth fastest on the start list behind Madai Perez of Mexico (2:22:59), Ethiopia’s Dibabe Kuma (2:23:34) and Mao Kiyota from Japan (2:23:47). Unfortunately world half marathon Joyciline Jepkosgei cancelled her start in Hamburg. The Kenyan felt not ready yet for her marathon debut. 

Fellow Kenyan Jackline Chepngeno could produce a surprise on Sunday. The 26 year-old moved up to the marathon distance last year and clocked a personal best of 2:24:38 in Amsterdam, where she finished sixth.

"I want to break my personal best in Hamburg and compete well,“ said Chepngeno.

Bill Burrows a Lung cancer survivor is participating in Oklahoma Marathon

Runners come from near and far for the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon.

Officials say all 50 states will be represented, along with 11 countries.

Each runner has their own reason to compete.

For one man who beat lung cancer, the finish line never looked better.

"Before I was 50, I was like anybody else - work all the time, not eat right. I smoked for 35 years," said Bill Burrows. "I got a $79 lung scan, which I didn't think I needed `cause I was in pretty good shape. And they found cancer. And I thought, 'I`m done. That's it.'"

Three weeks later, he underwent a successful surgery and is now cancer free.

"So I'm running now for people who can't run, helping people remember what happened during the bombing. You being there shows that we care about what's going on," he said.

Gene Dykes, 71, is looking to break the Big Sur International Marathon record for his age group this weekend

For someone who has done two marathons 24 hours apart, two weeks between Boston and Big Sur may seem like an eternity for Gene Dykes.

Unlike others that have challenged themselves by doing the two marathons in a short time span, it’s not the reason Dykes is running in Sunday’s 34th Big Sur International Marathon.

Instead, the Philadelphia resident is calling it unfinished business from his last trip out west to run the world-renowned course.

“They took my record away when I was 65,” Dykes said. “I owned the course record in my age class for about two months. Then it was discovered on paper that someone ran faster years earlier.”

Ray Piva set the record in the 65-69 age division in 1992 at 3 hours, 10 minutes. Dykes ran 3:26.44 in 2013.

Dykes, 71, can’t get that record back. But he’s looked at the record in the 70-older division — 3:46.36 by Heinrich Gutbier in 1997. His eyes are set on rewriting the mark, adding to his mantel of record-setting accomplishments of late.

“I shouldn’t have trouble beating that mark,” said Dykes, who broke the Boston Marathon record in his age group on April 15, clocking 2 hours, 58 minutes, 50 seconds. “It’s how fast do I want to go.”

What could derail Dykes from shattering the record is he will run the race with his daughter, who is roughly 30 minutes slower than him in a marathon.

“It will depend on how long we run together,” Dykes said. “I’m going to try and get her to run a little harder in the first half. Then I’ll do a negative split the last half of the race.”

While Dykes is six years older than during his last appearance on the Monterey Peninsula, he’s gotten faster covering marathons of all kinds. Most of his personal bests have come in the last year.

“I hired a coach a few years back,” Dykes said. “I just keep dropping time. It’s more of a retirement achievement.”

This will be Dykes’ third crack at Big Sur, but the first time he’s running it after tackling Boston in the same year.

“I guess I’ve always wanted to do Boston-Big Sur,” Dykes said. “Running marathons close together is nothing new to me. It seemed like a good time to do it. Two weeks is plenty of time to recover.”

Dykes’ accomplishments as an ultra distance runner have gained nationwide attention. Last year, the Wall Street Journal labeled him “Earth’s fastest 70-year-old distance runner.”

After setting the record at Boston, men’s winner Meb Keflezighi tweeted “Special shout out to 71-year-old Gene Dykes, who ran an outstanding 2:58.50.”

For someone who didn’t run his first road race until 12 years ago, Dykes has become one of the top ultramarathon runners in his age class in the world.

“I was a jogger my whole life,” Dykes said. “I wasn’t very good in track in high school or college. I was a mediocre runner at best. So I golfed and bowled a lot. I jogged for fun.”

That is until Dykes got in with what he now jokes as a bad crowd — a group of runners, who talked him into his first road race, a half marathon in 2006.

From that point, running became an addiction. Dykes ran well enough that his time allowed him to bypass the lottery for the New York Marathon.

“I could not pass that up,” Dykes said. “So I ran my first marathon. I ended up earning a qualifying time for Boston. So I had to do that.”

By his estimation, Dykes will do 10 to 20 road races a year ranging from 200 miles to the regular 26-mile, 385-yard marathon.

“I race longer and more frequent,” Dykes said. “I’ve done five 200 milers. It’s an endurance race. The clock is running. You run when you can and sleep when you have to. I’ve done them in four days.”

Six weeks before Boston, Dykes completed a 200-mile race, a 100-mile event and two 50-mile races in 2019.

“Every year I try and stretch the boundaries,” Dykes said. “I don’t know if I can do it. So there’s only one way to find out. The hardest part is finding time to sleep. Four hours over four days isn’t much.”

Dykes comes into each race with a plan. After completing his ultra road races — totaling 400 miles — he began preparing for Boston with the mindset of breaking the record in his age division.

“I told my coach you’ve got six weeks to get me under three hours at Boston,” Dykes said

Half marathon world-record holder Kenyan Abraham Kiptum, suspended before London Marathon

Kenyan Abraham Kiptum, the half-marathon world-record holder, was provisionally suspended for a biological passport violation, the sport’s anti-doping watchdog announced two days before Kiptum was to run the London Marathon.

Kiptum, 29, made no mention of the case at Wednesday’s pre-race press conference in an interview with LetsRun.com. Kiptum said his goal for Sunday’s 26.2-miler was to lower his personal best of 2:05:26.

On Oct. 28, Kiptum surprisingly broke the half-marathon world record by five seconds, bringing it down to 58:18 in Valencia, Spain. He has raced marathons since 2015 and was to make his major marathon debut Sunday.

Countryman Eliud Kipchoge is the overwhelming favorite in London. Brit Mo Farah and Ethiopian Shura Kitata are the top challengers in the world’s strongest spring marathon.

Over 26,000 entries were received for UTMB races and only 10,000 were accepted. Changes are being made in their system for 2020

It’s no secret that it’s been getting harder and harder to get into the UTMB races over the years. It’s hard to get the points, then you have to get lucky in the lottery. There’s been a 68% increase in applications just over the last 3 years. For this year’s races there were more than 26,000 entries for the 10,000 places across all the races.

The UTMB believes that having to get so many points isn’t good for runner health and they need to keep on doing it year after year to keep their points. This is because most have to keep applying because the lottery is so strict.

The solution, UTMB believes, is to lower the number of points required to enter the lottery, and to make the lottery more flexible. This should come as good news to many runners!

The current system requires: 15 points collected over 2 years, via a maximum of 3 races for the UTMB8 points collected over 2 years, via a maximum of 2 races for the TDS8 points collected over 2 years, via a maximum of 2 races for the CCC6 points collected over 2 years, via a maximum of 2 years for the OCC

The new requirements for 2020 will be: 10 points collected over 2 years, via a maximum of 2 races for the UTMB8 points collected over 2 years, via a maximum of 2 races for the TDS (no change)6 points collected over 2 years, via a maximum of 2 races for the CCC4 points collected over 2 years, via a maximum of 2 races for the OCC

So from next year you can get your points by only doing one big race per year.

And the lottery system will now become more flexible. Runners who don’t get in on their first attempt in the lottery will have better chances of being selected in following years by getting an additional ticket. If you’re unsuccessful a second time, you get another ticket, and so on. The idea is that the probability of being selected is therefore proportional to the number of times a runner has failed to gain entry in the previous years. Runners can also decide to apply for a difference race each year – you don’t have to keep going for the same one.

For example you can go for the UTMB the first year, then for the TDS the next year, or take a break, maintaining your extra ticket. This is good news for pregnant women, who will be able to maintain their number of tickets while taking a break.

In addition to this change to the lottery system, from 2021 runners can collect ‘running stones’ by finishing a limited number of race selected by UTMB. These ‘running stones’ will be recorded on a database and when they have collected an agreed number they can get a direct entry into a UTMB race of their choice, bypassing the lottery altogether. If they don’t have enough ‘running stones’ they can still trade them in for more tickets in the lottery.

The number of stones needed for UTMB will be 18, for the TDS and CCC will be 15, and for the OCC it will be 12. The stones will be available from the ByUTMB races (1 ITRA point = 3 stones) and UTWT races (1 ITRA point = 1 stone). These stones will be available from January 2020 and we will bring you more details as we get them.

Russian Fedor Shutov and German Tom Gröschel are the favorites for the Metro Düsseldorf Marathon

Fedor Shutov is the favorite for the Metro Marathon Düsseldorf on Sunday. The Russian, who is competing as an Authorised Neutral Athlete (ANA), holds the fastest personal best in the elite field with a time of 2:11:26.

While Tom Gröschel is in the national focus, fellow German Anna Hahner returns to marathon racing on Sunday after a long injury break. Both are the favorites for the national championships, which are included in this race.

The international qualifying times set by the IAAF for the World Championships in Doha in late September will be a target for a number of athletes in Düsseldorf, among them a group of South Americans. For the men this time stands at 2:16:00 while the women’s mark is 2:37:00.

Including races at shorter distances a record total of around 20,000 runners have entered the 17th edition of the METRO Marathon Düsseldorf. Around 3,500 will compete in the marathon.

Strong field has been assembled for the PZU Cracovia Marathon and the course record will be under attack

The 19th edition of the PZU Cracovia Marathon taking place in Krakow this Sunday, marks the first time that the race has been given IAAF Bronze Label status and appropriately strong fields have been assembled.

Hopes are high that the current course records of 2:11:34 by Berga Birhanu Bekele and 2:28:14 by Tetyana Gamera may be broken.

Philip Sanga Kimutai is the fastest man in the field. The 35-year old Kenyan has bettered 2:07 three times in his career, topped by 2:06:07 in Frankfurt in 2011 and has achieved podium finishes in multiple major races, including Vienna, Rome and Eindhoven.

Cybrian Kotut could start as the marginal favorite. The Kenyan won the 2016 Paris Marathon in a PB of 2:07:11 and finished third in Frankfurt in 2:07:28 the same year, but this will be a comeback race for him as he has competed since December 2017.

With a best of 2:08:35, Japan's Kentaro Nakamoto might not be the fastest runner in the field, but he is hugely experienced and extremely consistent, having finished in the top 10 at four global championships.

France’s Abraham Kiprotich, world ranked No.75 in the marathon, is another top contender. He won in Daegu in 2013 with a PB of 2:08:33 and followed it with victories in Istanbul and Taipei in 2017.

Kenya’s Josphat Leting, Philip Kangogo and Wycliffe Biwott all stand good chances of making it on to the podium, as does 2016 Krakow runner-up David Metto, who won three marathons last year, including two in Poland.

Kenyan duo Gladys Kipsoi and Eunice Jeptoo will start as the favourites for the women’s race. Kipsoi clocked a PB of 2:27:32 in Houston last year, while Jeptoo has gone even faster, with a 2:26:13 win in Eindhoven in 2017.

Nastassia Ivanova's best of 2:27:24 dates back to 2012, but the Belarusian has competed well in recent seasons, winning in Warsaw in 2017 and 2018 and finishing fifth at the 2018 European Championships.

Germany’s Katharina Heinig has bettered 2:30 in each of the past three seasons, with a best of 2:28:34 set in Berlin in 2016.

Two Ukrainians in the field are also possible contenders. Natalia Lehonkova won in Dublin in 2017 with 2:28:58, while 2008 Krakow winner Olga Kotovska has a PB of 2:28:47.

Bedan Karoki and Eunice Kirwa, both past winners of the Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon, will return to defend their titles this weekend

Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon, Also known as the ‘Naoko Takahashi Cup’ as it is held in the home town of the 2000 Olympic marathon champion, the men’s course record of 1:00:02 was set by Karoki when he won in 2014, while the women’s course record of 1:07:44 was set by world record-holder Joyciline Jepkosgei in 2017.

Karoki, world ranked No.13 in road running, will be aiming to become just the second two-time men’s champion in Gifu. Since his last run in Gifu, Karoki earned world silver medals at cross-country in 2015 and at the half marathon in 2016.

He also improved his half marathon PB to 58:42 in 2018 and earlier this year clocked a marathon best of 2:06:48 to finish second in Tokyo.

His main challengers are Eritrea’s Samuel Tsegay, who has a best of 59:21, Abraham Kipyatich, world ranked No.79, and Uganda’s Abdallah Mande, world ranked No.30. Tsegay’s best was recorded back in 2014, but Kipyatich and Mande both set PBs at various distances in 2018 so will likely be bigger threats to Karoki.

Yuki Kawauchi, the 2018 Boston Marathon champion, is the most famous Japanese runner in the field, but national half marathon record-holder Yuta Shitara is the fastest of the domestic entrants. Shitara’s half marathon best is 60:17 recorded in 2017.

Two time Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon champion Eunice Kirwa Jepkirui leads the loaded women’s field. The Olympic marathon silver medallist set an Asian half marathon record of 1:06:46 in Istanbul in 2017 in what was her last race over the distance.

The 2015 world bronze medallist didn’t race at all in 2018, though, and she may need to be at her best if she hopes to win her third title in Gifu.

Joan Melly Chelimo, world ranked No.3 in road running, has the fastest PB of the field. The Kenyan clocked 1:05:04 in Prague last year, making her the fourth-fastest woman in history for the distance.

Ruth Chepngetich, world ranked No.1 in the marathon, heads to Gifu in the form of her life. She won this year’s Dubai Marathon in 2:17:08, the third-fastest time in history, and followed it with half marathon performances of 1:06:09 and 1:05:29.

World marathon champion Rose Chelimo will be aiming to improve on her PB of 1:08:08, while Ana Dulce Felix, Mimi Belete and Gotytom Gebreslase are also in the field.