Running News Daily
Top Ten Stories of the Week
11/27/2021
These are the top ten stories based on views over the last week.
Kiplimo breaks world half marathon record in Lisbon
Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo broke the world record* at the EDP Lisbon Half Marathon on Sunday (21), clocking 57:31 at the World Athletics Label road race.
The world half marathon champion won by more than two minutes and took one second off the previous world record set by Kenya’s Kibiwott Kandie in Valencia last year.
Kiplimo, who finished third in the 10,000m and fifth in the 5000m at the Tokyo Olympics earlier this year, passed through the first 5km in 13:40, having already dropped the rest of the field.
By the time he reached 10km in 27:05, he had a lead of about one minute over the chase pack and was well on schedule to break Kandie’s world record.
Kiplimo passed through 15km in 40:27, the fastest time ever recorded for the distance and indicative of a sub-57-minute finish. With no nearby competitors to work off, Kiplimo’s pace dropped slightly in the closing stages, but he managed to just finish inside the world record, crossing the line in 57:31.
Ethiopia’s Esa Huseyidin Mohamed finished second in 59:39, just ahead of compatriot Gerba Beyata Dibaba, who was given the same time for third place. The top nine men all finished inside 60 minutes.
The women’s race was a close affair as Ethiopia’s Tsehay Gemechu won in 1:06:06 from Kenya’s Daisy Cherotich (1:06:15) and Joyce Chepkemoi (1:06:19).
Leading results
Women1 Tsehay Gemechu (ETH) 1:06:062 Daisy Cherotich (KEN) 1:06:153 Joyce Chepkemoi (KEN) 1:06:194 Hiwot Gebrekidan (ETH) 1:08:005 Vibian Chepkirui (KEN) 1:08:026 Ethlemahu Sintayehu Dessi (ETH) 1:08:167 Yitayish Mekonene Agidew (ETH) 1:08:188 Jess Piasecki (GBR) 1:09:449 Tsige Haileslase Abreha (ETH) 1:10:3110 Debash Kelali Desta (ETH) 1:11:01
Men1 Jacob Kiplimo (UGA) 57:312 Esa Huseyidin Mohamed (ETH) 59:393 Gerba Beyata Dibaba (ETH) 59:394 Hillary Kipkoech (KEN) 59:415 Ibrahim Hassan (DJI) 59:416 Milkesa Mengesha (ETH) 59:487 Antenayehu Dagnachaw (ETH) 59:488 Edmond Kipngetich (KEN) 59:499 Isaac Kipsang (KEN) 59:5210 Solomon Berihu Weldeslassie (ETH) 1:00:00
(11/21/21) Views: 93World Athletics
Everything you need to know for the 85th Manchester Road Race
The 85th Manchester Road Race (MRR) is almost here and runners from all over the country are lacing up their running shoes.
The race was forced to be held virtually in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But with vaccinations, and efforts made by the state and race officials, the race will happen in person for the 2021 race.
Here's what you need to know:
How to Watch
The race will be held on Thanksgiving Day.
FOX61 and CW20 will broadcast the race entirely. Fans who cannot make it out to Manchester on the day can watch it live on TV or stream it on FOX61.com, FOX61 News App, ROKU and Amazon Fire TV apps and on the FOX61 Youtube page from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
The race will be rebroadcast in its entirety on CW20 starting at 4 p.m.
The race will start at 10 a.m. sharp. It will begin and end on Main Street at Oak Street. From there, runners will head onto Charter Oak Street where they will hit the first mile.
At the second mile, runners will head onto Highland Street before turning onto Porter Street where they will hit the third and fourth mile.
The length of the course is 4.748 miles.
COVID-19 Safety Measures
With COVID-19 still impacting the community, race officials have implemented safety measures.
Officials strongly urged everyone participating to be fully vaccinated before race day, which includes athletes, volunteers, and fans.
Additionally, officials mandated that all of the elite runners, many of whom are coming from out of state, provide proof of vaccination.
Masks must be worn at all of the MRR indoor events and on shuttle buses transporting runners and spectators to the race.
The MRR canceled its indoor Spaghetti Supper and Charlie Robbins Luncheon this year due to the mask requirement.
While masks are not required outdoors, race officials are asking runners, volunteers, and spectators to still wear masks and follow social distance protocols as much as possible at the race and all the associated events.
Elite Runners
Sam Chelanga, winner of the 2013 MRR, and Edna Kiplagat, who won the women's title at the 2019 race, will return this year.
Other world-class male athletes who have entered this year’s 4.748-mile Turkey Trot include Ben Flanagan, who won the Falmouth Road Race in August and finished eighth at the 2019 MRR; Drew Hunter, the 2019 USA indoor two-mile champion who won the national 5K road championship in New York City on Nov. 6; and Olympian Donn Cabral, who was second at the 2015 MRR and has had seven top-10 finishes in Manchester.
Cabral, a graduate of Glastonbury High School who was the NCAA champion in the steeplechase when he competed for Princeton, was the fastest runner (23:00) in last November’s Virtual Manchester Road Race.
Weini Kelati, who won the women’s national 5K road championship in New York City on Nov 6th with a time of 15:18, and Monicah Ngige, the fourth-place finisher at this year’s Boston Marathon who had a fourth-place finish here in 2018 (25:02), are also expected to make strong showings in the women’s race.
(11/22/21) Views: 92Jennifer Glatz
China's ultramarathon tragedy and the survivors threatened for speaking out
When Zhang Xiaotao woke up he was in a cave and somebody had lit a fire to keep him warm. He had no idea how he'd got there.
Zhang's frozen unconscious body had been found by a passing shepherd who'd wrapped him in a quilt and carried him over his shoulders to safety. He was one of the lucky ones.
In May this year, 21 competitors died at an ultra-running event in northern China hit by extreme weather conditions: hail, heavy rain and intense gales caused temperatures to plummet, and nobody seemed prepared for it.
Only a small number felt comfortable talking about what happened - and some have been threatened for doing so.
The sun was out on race day in Baiyin, a former mining area in China's Gansu province. Some 172 athletes were ready to run 62 miles (100km) through the Yellow River Stone Forest national park.
The organisers were expecting good conditions - they'd had mild weather the previous three years. They had even arranged for some of the competitors' cold-weather gear to be moved forward along the course so they could pick it up later in the day.
But soon after Zhang arrived at the start line, a cold wind began to blow. Some runners gathered in a nearby gift shop to take shelter, many of them shivering in their short-sleeved tops and shorts.
Zhang started the race well. He was among the quickest to reach the first checkpoint, making light work of the rugged mountain trails. Things started to go badly wrong just before the second checkpoint, some 20km into the course.
"I was halfway up the mountain when hail started to fall," he later wrote in a post on Chinese social media. "My face was pummelled by ice and my vision was blurred, making it difficult to see the path clearly."
Still, Zhang went on. He overtook Huang Guanjun, the men's hearing-impaired marathon winner at China's 2019 National Paralympic Games, who was struggling badly. He went across to another runner, Wu Panrong, with whom he'd been keeping pace since the start.
Wu was shaking and his voice was trembling as he spoke. Zhang put his arm around him and the pair continued together, but quickly the wind became so strong, and the ground so slippery, that they were forced to separate.
As Zhang continued to ascend, he was overpowered by the wind, with gusts reaching up to 55mph. He'd forced himself up from the ground many times, but now because of the freezing cold he began to lose control of his limbs. The temperature felt like -5C. This time when he fell down he couldn't get back up.
Thinking fast, Zhang covered himself with an insulation blanket. He took out his GPS tracker, pressed the SOS button, and passed out.
Closer to the back of the field, another runner, who goes by the alias Liuluo Nanfang, was hit by the frozen rain. It felt like bullets against his face.
As he progressed he saw somebody walking towards him, coming down from the top of the mountain. The runner said it was too cold, that he couldn't stand it and was retiring.
But Nanfang, like Zhang, decided to keep going. The higher he climbed, the stronger the wind and the colder he felt. He saw a few more competitors coming down on his way up the mountain. His whole body was soaking wet, including his shoes and socks.
When he finally did realise he had to stop, he found a relatively sheltered spot and tried to get warm. He took out his insulation blanket, wrapping it around his body. It was instantly blown away by the wind as he'd lost almost all sensation and control in his fingers. He put one in his mouth, holding it for a long time, but it didn't help.
As Nanfang now started to head back down the mountain, his vision was blurred and he was shaking. He felt very confused but knew he had to persist.
Halfway down he met a member of the rescue team that had been dispatched after the weather turned. He was directed to a wooden hut. Inside, there were at least 10 others who had decided to withdraw before him. About an hour later that number had reached around 50. Some spoke of seeing competitors collapsed by the side of the road, frothing at their mouths.
"When they said this, their eyes were red," Nanfang later wrote on social media.
Zhang, meanwhile, had been rescued by the shepherd, who'd taken off his wet clothes and wrapped him in a quilt. Inside the cave, he wasn't alone.
When he came to, about an hour later, there were other runners also taking refuge there, some of whom had also been saved by the shepherd. The group had been waiting for him to wake up so they could descend the mountain together.
At the bottom, medics and armed police were waiting. More than 1,200 rescuers were deployed throughout the night, assisted by thermal-imaging drones and radar detectors, according to state media.
The following morning, authorities confirmed that 21 people died, including Huang, who Zhang overtook, and Wu, the runner he'd kept pace with at the start of the race.
A report later found that organisers failed to take action despite warnings of inclement weather in the run up to the event.
As news of the deaths broke on social media, many people questioned how the tragedy could have happened. Some competitors, such as Zhang and Nanfang, chose to write about their experiences online to help people understand what it was like.
But Zhang's post, written under the name 'Brother Tao is running', disappeared shortly after it was published.
When Caixin - a Beijing-based news website - re-uploaded his testimony, a new post appeared on the account a week later, begging the media and social media users to leave him and his family alone.
It later transpired that Zhang had suspended his account after people questioned his story. Some accused him of showing off for being the sole survivor at the front of the pack, others had sent him death threats.
"We don't want to be internet celebrities," he wrote online, adding that the man who saved him had also faced pressure from the media and "other aspects".
"Our lives need to be quiet," he wrote. "Please everyone, especially friends in the media, do not disturb me and do not question me."
The survivors weren't the only ones to find themselves put under pressure.
One woman, who lost her father in the race, was targeted with social media abuse on Weibo after questioning how her father was "allowed to die". She was accused of spreading rumours and using "foreign forces" to spread negative stories about China.
Another woman, Huang Yinzhen, whose brother died, was followed by local officials who she claimed were trying to keep relatives from speaking to each other.
"They just prevent us from contacting other family members or reporters, so they keep monitoring us," she told the New York Times.
In China it's typical for relatives of those who have died in similar circumstances - where authorities face blame - to have pressure placed on them to remain silent. For the government, social media attention on any possible failings is not welcome.
A month after the race, in June, 27 local officials were punished. The Communist Party secretary of Jingtai County, Li Zuobi, was found dead. He died after falling from the apartment in which he lived. Police ruled out homicide.
Short presentational grey line
The Baiyin marathon is just one of many races in a country that was experiencing a running boom. Its tragic outcome has brought the future of these events into question.
According to the Chinese Athletics Association (CAA), China hosted 40 times more marathons in 2018 than in 2014. The CAA said there were 1,900 "running races" in the country in 2019.
Before Covid hit, many small towns and regions attempted to capitalise on this by hosting events in order to bring more tourism into the area and boost the local economy.
After what happened in Baiyin, the Chinese Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection accused organisers of some of the country's races of "focusing on economic benefits" while they are "unwilling to invest more in safety".
With Beijing's hosting of the 2022 Winter Olympics just months away, China has suspended extreme sports such as trail running, ultramarathons and wingsuit flying while it overhauls safety regulations. It is not yet clear when they will restart. There have been reports that not even a chess tournament managed to escape the new measures.
But without events like these, people wishing to get involved, perhaps even future star athletes, are finding themselves frustrated. In some cases, as Outside Magazine points out, athletes could take matters into their own hands, venturing into the mountains without any regulation whatsoever and putting themselves at risk.
Mark Dreyer, who runs the China Sports Insider website, wrote on Twitter: "If this incident has removed the top layer of the mass participation pyramid - as seems likely - there's no telling what effect that would have at the lower levels.
"The long-term effects of this tragic - and avoidable - accident could also be significant."
(11/21/21) Views: 74
Top fields gather for Cross Internacional de Italica
The Cross Internacional de Italica in Santiponce on the outskirts of the Spanish city of Seville – the fifth Gold standard meeting in the current World Athletics Cross Country Tour – always boasts a mouth-watering line-up, and this year’s race on Sunday (21) is no exception.
The men’s 10,092m contest features one of the most promising distance runners, Ethiopia’s Tadese Worku, who was the last victor here in January 2020. The 19-year-old is the current world U20 cross country and 3000m champion, has recently shown impressive form with a 26:56 clocking at a 10km road race in Herzogenaurach and should be tipped as one of the favorites. He will be joined by his fellow Ethiopian Nibret Melak, a 12:54.22 5000m performer this year.
They will face stiff opposition from the whole Atapuerca podium, as Eritrea’s Aron Kifle, Burundi’s Rodrigue Kwizera and Uganda’s Joel Ayeko will also be in contention. The latter’s compatriot Thomas Ayeko, Burundi’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo and Eritrea’s Yemane Hailesilassie should also rank in the top 10 on Sunday.
Spanish hopes rest on the European U23 cross country bronze medalist Abdessamad Oukhelfen. The 22-year-old has proven to be in fine form at this early stage of the season, with third and fifth-place finishes in San Sebastian and Atapuerca respectively. Watch out too for Carlos Mayo, who also made the top 10 in Atapuerca and will be aiming to match that feat here.
Eritrea’s Rahel Daniel Ghebreneyohannes managed an upset victory in Atapuerca last weekend, defeating a mighty Kenyan armada featuring Beatrice Chebet, Margaret Chelimo and Norah Jeruto who were second, third and fourth-place finishers respectively there following a tight and intriguing finish. The four of them will clash again over 7910m on Sunday and the battle for the win promises to be epic.
Reportedly, the unheralded Eritrean competed in Atapuerca wearing two right shoes, but despite that disadvantage she got the better of a world-class line-up and will be eager to prove her victory was no fluke.
Daniel’s top performance is a 14:55.56 5000m clocking from Hengelo last June, but she couldn’t advance to the final at the Tokyo Olympics. Meanwhile, the Kenyan triumvirate holds impressive backgrounds. While Chelimo is the reigning world 5000m silver medalist and defends her victory in Santiponce last year, Jeruto boasts the third fastest ever time in the 3000m steeplechase thanks to a 8:53.65 performance. As for Chebet, the 2018 world U20 5000m champion was runner-up behind Chelimo in 2020 and narrowly beat Chelimo and Jeruto in Atapuerca.
Another Kenyan, Eva Cherono, was eighth at the 2019 World Cross Country Championships and will make her second outing this autumn after a winning 19:17 clocking over four miles in Groningen last month.
To add more quality to Sunday’s field, organisers also announced the late addition of Ethiopia’s Senbere Teferi. The 26-year-old came sixth at the Tokyo Olympics over 5000m and bettered her lifetime best for the distance to an impressive 14:15.24 this season. Teferi will be aiming to regain her 2017 win here and seems ready to do so after her 14:29 overwhelming victory and outright women's world 5km record of 14:29 in Herzogenaurach in September.
The most remarkable Europeans on show will be Turkey’s Yasemin Can and Italy’s Nadia Battocletti; the former having claimed four consecutive European cross country titles and the latter having finished just outside the top 10 in Atapuerca.
Previous winners in Santiponce include Kenenisa Bekele (2003, 2004 and 2007), Fernando Mamede (1984 and 1985), Paul Kipkoech (1987 and 1988), Paul Tergat (1998 and 1999), Moses Kipsiro (2008 and 2009), Leonard Komon (2010 and 2011), Linet Masai (2010 and 2012) and Paula Radcliffe (2001), among others.
Weather forecasters predict a rainy day and a temperature of 18ºC by the time of the event.
(11/19/21) Views: 68World Athletics
Geoffrey Kamworor, Lawrence Cherono and Guteni Shone confirmed for Valencia Marathon
Valencia will once again become the epicentre of the running world on December 5, when it holds the Valencia Marathon Trinidad Alfonso EDP, a World Athletics Elite Platinum Label race that in 2021 wants to continue making history by breaking records.
And to achieve this, it will count on some of the best athletes in the world including Geoffrey Kamworor, Lawrence Cherono and Guteni Shone.
Kamworor, winner of three world half marathon titles and two world cross-country titles, is eager to improve on his 2:06:12 PB, set on his debut at the distance back in 2012. Since he had to withdraw from the Tokyo Games due to injury, the two-time New York Marathon champion from Kenya has been preparing exclusively and conscientiously to achieve a great result in Valencia.
Cherono is coming off a fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics. The 2019 Boston and Chicago champion will return to the scene of his 2:03:04 PB, a time which makes him the fastest in the field.
Herpasa Negasa, the 2019 Dubai runner-up, and 2019 Valencia winner Kinde Atanaw are the other sub-2:04 performers in the field.
Ethiopia’s Andamlak Belihu, who finished fifth over 10,000m at the 2019 World Championships and at the 2020 World Half Marathon Championships, will be making his marathon debut. The 22-year-old’s PBs of 26:53:15 for 10,000m and 58:54 for the half marathon point to a potentially fast time for the full marathon distance.
Although no one in the women’s field has a PB faster than 2:20, organisers are hopeful that barrier will be broken again in Valencia for the third year in a row.
Guteni Shone came close to that mark last year when finishing second in Dubai with 2:20:11. Fellow Ethiopian Azmera Gebru is also less than a minute shy of the barrier, thanks to her 2:20:48 PB from the 2019 Amsterdam Marathon.
Kenya's 2018 Prague Marathon champion Bornes Chepkirui, Ugandan record-holder Juliet Chekwel and three-time Rome Marathon champion Rahma Tusa of Ethiopia are also in the field. Marathon debutante Dorcas Tuitoek is also one to watch.
“This year’s marathon is extremely competitive, as we like it in Valencia,” said elite athlete coordinator Marc Roig. “I don’t rule out a sprint finish in both the men’s and women’s races – in fact, I’m counting on it. The athletes know that Valencia offers one of the best courses for achieving personal best times. And this, with the level of runners we have, can easily translate into several athletes breaking the course record. By how much? We will see on December 5.”
(11/19/21) Views: 64World Athletics
The United Airlines NYC Half will be held March 20, 2022 after being cancelled in 2020 and not held in 2021 due to the pandemic
New York Road Runners (NYRR) has announced the return of the United Airlines NYC Half on March 20, 2022, after being cancelled in 2020 and not held in 2021 due to the pandemic.
Next year’s race will get back at full scale with an expected field of 25,000 runners – marking the first NYRR race to return to its traditional field size. The event is one of the organization’s signature races taking a 13.1-mile run from Brooklyn to Manhattan.
“In early March 2020, the United Airlines NYC Half was one of the first mass sporting events to be cancelled during the onset of the pandemic,” said Kerin Hempel, CEO, NYRR.
“We are extremely excited for the glorious return of this popular race. It will be reflective of our city’s vigour and serve as a defining moment as we bring our races back to full scale.”
The course showcases New York City’s historic landmarks, popular parks, views from the Manhattan Bridge, and diverse neighbourhoods. Starting at Prospect Park in Brooklyn the race passes Grand Army Plaza, the United Nations, Grand Central Terminal, and Times Square, before ending near the TCS New York City Marathon finish line in Central Park.
Additionally, the race will host hundreds of children taking part in the Rising New York Road Runners youth event featuring a 1,500m out-and-back course on Seventh Avenue in Times Square.
The 2022 United Airlines NYC Half field will consist of both guaranteed and non-guaranteed entrants. Runners can receive guaranteed entry through a variety of methods, e.g., for NYRR members who complete four qualifying events in 2022 and have an active membership by the last qualifying event.
Non-guaranteed applicants can register for a chance to run through the entry drawing. The application period for all guaranteed entrants and the entry drawing for non-guaranteed entrants opened at 13:00 EST on November 18 and closes at 23:59 EST on December 1.
The drawing for non-guaranteed applicants will take place on December 8, and runners will be notified of their entry status.
(11/20/21) Views: 63
A former athletics coach John Lees has been handed a lifetime ban from the sport for misconduct towards athletes
John Lees, who coached athletes who represented Great Britain at senior level, appealed against a five-year sanction issued in February.
But an independent appeal committee, chaired by Jane Mulcahy QC, found him guilty of five charges relating to his misconduct towards athletes.
An additional two charges were admitted by Lees, who was based in Edinburgh.
The panel concluded: "We are left with the view that [Lees] habitually behaved inappropriately, had disregard for the rules and, as we have already noted, had no idea of boundaries."
Scottish cross-country champion Mhairi Maclennan was one of the athletes to testify against Lees.
Waiving her right to anonymity, she said: "For me, today marks what I hope to be the end of a very long journey.
"This experience has certainly tested me in ways I never imagined possible. I'm immensely proud of all the athletes that have spoken up in this case, and I stand with all athletes, past and present, from our group.
"I hope that our story helps to change the narrative and sets a precedent that athletes will no longer suffer in silence."
Lees had appealed against the decision in February to ban him from coaching and also against the length.
On Thursday, charges against Lees were found proven by the appeal panel of sexual touching, making a sexualised comment to a female athlete, endangering an athlete's safety by "causing injury by administering a chiropractic adjustment" and providing chiropractic adjustments while not being appropriately qualified.
The further charges admitted by Lees related to massaging an athlete at his home address when she was under 18, and making inappropriate and sexualised comments to athletes in his training group.
UK Athletics' (UKA) submission to the appeal panel said: "[Lees] has shown a blatant disregard for the rules and an insistence on doing things his way... he could not even acknowledge that what he did was wrong."
The panel concluded that his conduct was "very serious".
It added: "Further, we are very troubled by his attitude and his continuing failure… to take any responsibility or to accept his conduct was wanting in any way.
"Our unanimous view is that [his] conduct and failure to accept any need for change renders him untrustworthy and unsuitable to work as a UKA licensed coach now or in the future.
"We have therefore decided that the appropriate sanction is the permanent withdrawal of [his] UKA coaching licence."
Mark Munro, the interim chief executive of UK Athletics, added: "We are pleased with the decision by the panel. Athletics cannot tolerate the type of behaviour highlighted in this case.
"This decision shows that welfare is at the front and centre of UK Athletics' concerns and at the heart of what we stand for."
(11/19/21) Views: 56Laura Scott
Norah Jeruto and Rodrigue Kwizera triumph at Cross de Italica
Kenya’s Norah Jeruto and Burundi’s Rodrigue Kwizera secured victories at the Cross Internacional de Itálica on the outskirts of Seville in what was the fifth World Athletics Cross Country Tour Gold meeting of the season, held (21) on a cloudy but dry day.
Right from the start of the women’s 7.9km contest, Jeruto took command of the race and led a quartet that included compatriot Beatrice Chebet, Ethiopia’s 5km world record-holder Senbere Teferi and recent Atapuerca winner Rahel Daniel. Margaret Chelimo, the defending Cross de Italica champion and world 5000m silver medallist, was a few seconds adrift of the leaders within the first few kilometres.
While Jeruto and Chebet took charge of the pacing duties, Teferi and Daniel ran at the back of the lead pack. Just before the halfway point, Chelimo made contact with the lead group and moved to the front alongside Chebet and Jeruto. Daniel, meanwhile, began to lose contact after the fourth kilometre as the race became a duel between the Kenyan trio and Teferi.
Half way through the final circuit, Teferi couldn’t live with the pace being set by Chelimo and Jeruto. Chebet lost ground on her compatriots in the final kilometre, leaving Jeruto and Chelimo to battle for victory.
It briefly seemed as though the long-legged Chelimo would reel in the long-time leader, but Jeruto, who this year clocked a world-leading 8:53.65 in the steeplechase to move to third on the world all-time list, found an extra gear in the home straight to win marginally ahead of Chelimo, herself two seconds clear of Chebet.
The men’s 10.1km event began at a moderate pace, set by the Spanish duo of Carlos Mayo, a 27:25.00 10,000m performer, and the 40-year-old Ayad Lamdassem, a creditable fifth at the Tokyo Olympics in the marathon. Shortly before the third kilometre, world U20 3000m champion Tadese Worku moved to the front to whittle down the leading group to six other men: fellow Ethiopian Nibret Melak, Uganda’s Thomas Ayeko, Eritrea’s Aron Kifle, Kwizera, Mayo and Abdessadam Oukhelfen.
The first significant move came some 15 minutes into the race when Kifle, the winner in Atapuerca last weekend, put in a surge to leave Ayeko and the Spaniards behind within a matter of seconds. Kifle and Worku then took turns at the front with Melak and Kwizera tucked behind.
Throughout the closing loop, Worku tried to shake off Melak, Kwizera and Kifle, but Kwizera was able to stick to the teenager’s relentless pace. After negotiating the tricky final bend, Kwizera overtook Worku with relative ease to take the biggest win of his career so far in 28:33, one second ahead of the defending champion Worku, while Melak secured third spot in 28:42, seven seconds clear of Kifle.
“Winning the Itálica permit is incredible for me,” said 22-year-old Kwizera, who finished 11th at the 2019 World Cross Country Championships. “I’m doing very well this cross country season and hope to maintain this. I feel very comfortable in cross country races but I also would like to improve my career bests on the track (13:34.65 for 5000m and 28:21.92 for 10,000m).”
(11/22/21) Views: 56World Athletics
Be ready for the 126th Annual YMCA Turkey Trot
There are still spots left to participate in the 126th Annual YMCA Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day in Buffalo.
Race organizers say there a few spots remaining, but they believe they will reach the 12,000 capacity before Thanksgiving.
The 8k course begins on Delaware Avenue in North Buffalo and finishes downtown near the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center.
Pre-race packet pickup will take place Monday, Nov. 22 through Wednesday Nov. 24 at the Independent Health Family Branch Y located at 150 Tech Drive in Amherst near the ECC North Campus.
Runners can pick up their packets daily between 10:00 am and 7:00 pm on those days. It is recommended to pick up your packet prior to race day.
However, if you can't pick up your packet, before the race, you can pick it up on Thanksgiving Day between 7:00 am and 8:30 am at the Delaware Family YMCA.
If you cannot run in person, you can participate in the virtual Turkey Trot between Thursday, Nov. 25 and Sunday, Nov. 28.
As always, in-race participants are invited to take part in the Annual Costume Contest before the event. Contestants need to be ready to take the stage in front of the Delaware Family YMCA at 8:25 a.m. Prizes will be awarded for best group and individual costumes.
Proceeds from the YMCA Turkey Trot help fund Y programs that empower youth and improve community health.
If you are participating, you are asked to remember to bring your ID, wristband and mask during the race.
(11/22/21) Views: 56
2021 California International Marathon is looking for more volunteers
Thousands of runners are preparing for the California International Marathon, which takes place in less than two weeks. This year there’s a shortage of volunteers to pull off the massive event, race organizers said.
More than 10,000 runners from across the state and country participate in CIM. For the past 38 years, the event has relied on volunteers to power the race.
The Sacramento Running Association needs about 2,500 volunteers to fill all the necessary tasks on race day. Some school groups and clubs have had to pass due to their own COVID-19 safety guidelines.
Scott Abbott with the Sacramento Running Association said the race may be early in the morning but it’s “real exciting.”
“Whether it's working outdoors, doing aid stations, being a course monitor, helping load buses, even working out at the expo on Friday and Saturday — there are so many opportunities to get involved and be part of this event,” Abbott said.
(11/23/21) Views: 56KCRA Staff
