Running News Daily
Top Ten Stories of the Week
10/27/2018

Justin Gallegos is the first athlete with cerebral palsy to be signed by Nike

Justin 'Magic' Gallegos has made history after he became the first ever Nike Athlete with cerebral palsy. Nike surprised the unsuspecting American student at the end of his first ever half marathon in Oregon, which he completed in an impressive time of two hours, three minutes, and 49 seconds. Cameras were there not only to capture his race, but the historic moment - as Nike handed Gallegos a three-year contract. Writing on Instagram, Justin says: "I’m still at loss for words! Thanks to everyone for the love and the support not only the past couple days but the last seven years of my life!" (10/19/18) Views: 577

70-year-old Gene Dykes has been named USATF Athlete of the Week

Gene Dykes from Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania set an American masters 70-74 record in the marathon to earn USATF Athlete of the Week.

Dykes, 70, won the 70-74 age group in the WMA Marathon Championships at the Scotiabank Toronto Marathon, running 2:55:18 to take more than two minutes off his own American record. He was also only 30 seconds off the world 70-74 best, set by Canadian legend Ed Whitlock. Dykes and Whitlock are the only two men over 70 to have broken three hours in the marathon. 

Gene wrote this on FB before the race, "On Sunday I will be running the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, and the big goal is to beat one of the most revered marathon records on the books - Ed Whitlock's M70-74 age group record of 2:54:48, which he ran in 2004 at the ripe old age of 73. 

If all goes well, it will probably be a nail-biter. I've been training hard for about eight weeks and training has gone well."

(10/25/18) Views: 317

Count down to the third Run The World Global Run Challenge

The little country of Palau had a lot to celebrate after finishing 5th in the Run The World Global Run Challenge 2 that concluded October 12.  

Palau's team leader Aaron Salvador posted in the RTW Feed, "This is now the fruit of our labors, those sweats, early morning runs, long runs and running under the rain/heat of the sun are all worth it." 

He himself ran and logged 378 miles during the 44 day event.  Miles ran and logged in Palau totalled 1,187.  Team members only ran more miles in the countries of United States, Kenya, India and South Africa. 

Palau is located in the western Pacific Ocean.  There are mountain and sandy beaches on its east coast and grassy fields surrounded by palm trees in the north.  Current population is just under 22,000.  Aaron and team will be competing again in the up-coming RTW Challenge 3 starting October 29. 

"Our team from around the world is being put together now," says Bob Anderson Team Caption.  "We have runners of all abilities on our team.  Current and past elite runners make up our team as well as runners who have just started running.  All ages run and walk with us from age 11 to age 74." 

34-year-old team member Carmen Gair from South Africa wrote, "RTW Challenge 2 motivated me to log more mileage than I have ever done before in a similar time frame. I can’t wait to see what Challenge 3 brings. Absolutely love being part of this wonderful running community."  

62-year-old Kiranpal Singh Dhody from India will be participating for the third times says, "I love running for fitness...I try to push myself to get good timings in competitions and get podium finishes. The RTW Challenge helps me push myself."  

RTW Challenge 3 starts October 29.  It is easy to participate.  Just run, race or walk and then log these miles (k's) into your My Best Runs account.  

South Africa team leader Lize Dumon posted,  "I haven't realized how precious this RTW community has become to me. It is like an extended running family...It has become a place where I learn so much about running from reading everybody's posts and a place of immense encouragement... bring on Challenge 3."  

This event was created by 70-year-old Bob Anderson who founded Runner's World when he was 17 and published it for 18 years.  "I hope you will join our team," says Bob.  "Sign up by October 29 or join us along the way."      

(10/22/18) Views: 221
Bob Anderson

Yuki Kawauchi felt ashamed of his performance in Chicago but has arrived in Venice with one thing in mind

2018 Boston Marathon winner Yuki Kawauchi arrived in Venice, Italy today.  He wrote on Facebook, " I arrived in Venice today.This city is so beautiful. I will run Venice Marathon on Sunday. This will be first race in Italy for me. I heard venetian tiramisu is very delicious.I am looking forward to eat tiramisu after race since it is my most favorite cake. I want to run good race."  On October 20 he ran a 20k race clocking 1:00:48, good enough for second place.  Yuki was very disappointed in his performance at the Chicago Marathon.  Afterwards he called his 2:16:26 19th place finish an embarrassment.  He said he was ashamed and hung his head.  This was his 82nd sub-2:20 marathon. He has run more sub-2:10 marathons since 2011 than the entire running population of the United States put together.  He averages about 11 marathons per year while most of his rivals run two.  He said before the Chicago Marathon that his goal was to destroy the status quo, to show people a different way to approach running and life.  Earlier this month he posted, "I come to win (the Venice Marathon) and I can not wait to do it because, in addition to running, I would like to taste Italian cuisine... Food and marathon will make this weekend unforgettable," says Yuki.    (10/25/18) Views: 169

Adriele Silva hopes to be the first double amputee to finish the New York City Marathon

Adriele Silva, 31, from Brazil looks forward to crossing the finish line of the 2018 TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 4, 2018. A spokesperson for the New York Road Runners believes she will be the first female double amputee to complete the full New York City Marathon. “I hope to inspire people when they see me run and challenge them to go after things that seem unachievable,” said Silva, who will be running her first full marathon. “Where I come from, people often look down on you for having a disability, but I don’t think about that. When I face a challenge, I look for ways to overcome it. I see the possibilities, and that keeps me going.”  Silva’s road to the New York City Marathon began in 2012, when she went to a hospital in her hometown of Jundiai, outside of São Paulo, Brazil, after feeling severe pain. Having received pain medications, she was sent home. Overnight, her situation worsened. She returned to the hospital the next day to find out that her problem was serious — a kidney stone had clogged her urinary tract and caused an infection. Within hours, Silva was in an induced coma. For 20 days she remained comatose, her body fighting a losing battle against the bacteria. During that time, the infection led to a lack of blood circulation in her legs. To save her life, doctors had only one choice: to amputate her legs. They brought her out of the coma to get her consent to proceed with the amputation. When she was finally cleared of the infection after 64 days, the now bilateral amputee left the hospital to go and learn to live again. “Before the amputation, I had no desire to run,” she says. “After it happened, I started getting more interested. I wanted to become normal again.” Since then, Silva has taken up running, cycling, swimming, and other sports. She has participated in 20 running races in Brazil and in China, where she completed the Great Wall Half Marathon in 2018. (10/25/18) Views: 88

Allie Kieffer won the Toronto Waterfront Half as she gets ready for the New York Marathon

Allie Kieffer won the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Half-Marathon Sunday clocking 1:12:44. Kieffer made a name for herself when she was the second American woman to cross the finish line at the 2017 New York City Marathon. After New York she trained in Kenya for seven weeks racking up 110 miles per week. Kieffer will be running the New York Marathon again in a couple of weeks. She most likely used her race in Toronto as a tune-up for New York. Second place female went to Reneta Plis in 1:13:58, and third place to Claire Sumner in 1:14:24. In the men’s race Will Norris took the win in 1:05:30, followed by Chris Balestrini in 1:05:47 and third place went to Lee Wesselius 1:07:21. The highlighted event was the marathon. Kenya’s Benson Kipruto, 27, was the overall winner clocking 2:07:21, with Mimi Belete of Bahrain winning the women’s marathon and breaking the course record of 2:22:43.  Cam Levins set a new Canadian's national record clocking 2:09:22.    (10/23/18) Views: 52

Gene Dykes is only the second person 70 plus to run a sub three hour marathon

70-year-old Gene Dykes, of Philadelphia, only missed breaking Ed Whitlock‘s 70-74 age group record of 2:54:48 at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon yesterday by 34 seconds. Dykes is still the only other person in the world besides Whitlock to run a sub-3 marathon at the age of 70. It happened the first time earlier this year at the Rotterdam Marathon on April 8, just a few days after Dykes turned 70 on April 3. He ran 2:57. “My daughter contacted an Amsterdam newspaper and they splashed my picture on the front page,” Dykes said, joking that “you can get anything you want if you have a lot of chutzpah.” Dykes sets a string of records and it happened again Sunday (Oct 21), with Dykes’ 2:55:18 finish at Scotiabank, just shy of Whitlock’s record. Dykes only took up marathon running at age 58, and he only started breaking records last year, when he broke seven USATF age-group records in a single track race: the 15K, 10 mile, 20K, 25K, 30K, 20 mile, and 2-hour records. Also last year, he was one of only 13 people to run the “triple crown” of 200-mile trail ultramarathons, consisting of the Bigfoot 200, the Tahoe 200, and the Moab 240. And he was the oldest finisher in each. (10/23/18) Views: 43

Canada’s Cam Levins breaks Jerome Drayton’s national marathon Record in Toronto

Cam Levins had the marathon debut of his life Sunday (Oct 21) at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, crossing the finish line in 2:09:22 and breaking Jerome Drayton’s Canadian national record of 2:10:09 in the process. That record comes with a $43,000 (CAD) payday–$1,000 for every year the record has stood. Levins finished fourth . Kenya’s Benson Kipruto, 27, was the overall winner clocking 2:07:21, with Mimi Belete of Bahrain winning the women’s marathon and breaking the course record of 2:22:43.  Cam was certain a record was within his grasp at the 40K mark. The final two kilometers went by so fast for him that it seemed like a sprint. “It was pretty much a blur, especially the last half-kilometre,” Levins said. “Everything was flying by at that point."  The 29-year-old from Black Creek, B.C., did his best to focus on the finish line where his wife, Elizabeth, mother, Barb, and father, Gus, were waiting.  He eclipsed a national record by former long-distance champion Jerome Drayton – and by a substantial 44 seconds.   “It is such an old record, it is nice to be the one to take it down,” Mr. Levins said. “It’s a good one to check off the list." (10/22/18) Views: 42

Lawrence Cherono shattered the course record at Amsterdam Marathon

Kenyan’s Lawrence Cherono shattered the course record at the TCS Amsterdam Marathon, clocking 2:04:06 at the 43rd edition of this IAAF Gold Label Road Race on Sunday October 21. Running in nearly ideal conditions with cloudy skies and very light winds - Cherono clipped more than a minute from the 2:05:09 course record and lifetime best he set last year. The 30-year-old also broke the Netherlands' all-comers record of 2:04:27 set by Duncan Kibet in Rotterdam in 2009. A lead group of 14, including Cherono and Kenenisa Bekele, sped through the opening five in 14:33 and 29:08 through ten, in range similar to the 14:29 and 29:01 splits that propelled Eliud Kipchoge to his world record run in Berlin last month. The leaders reached 15 in 44:03 and 20k in 59:00, well inside the 59:52 course record pace that guided Cherono last year. When the half was reached in 1:02:11, 11 men still remained in contention.  But after 25 kilometers (1:13:48) the lead group slowly began to unravel. The last remaining pacesetter, Edwin Kiptoo, completed his chores just before the 30 -mark, with Bekele, Özbilen and Alamirew falling back soon thereafter. Cherono switched gears near the city's Filmmuseum before pulling away for the decisive victory. "I am happy with my race," said Cherono, whose performance squalled the fourth fastest run of 2018. "Today the weather that was very good: little wind and an ideal temperature. That made it possible to run harder this year. My goal was to run 2:04 and that worked." Wasihun and Deksisa were next, clocking 2:04:37 and 2:04:40 respectively, also under the previous course record. There was good depth behind them. Kipketer was fourth in 2:06:15, Özbilen fifth in 2:06:24 and Laban Korir sixth in 2:06:33. Abate (2:06:47) and Jonathan Korir (2:06:51) also broke 2:07. Bekele meanwhile didn't finish, dropping out near his hotel at about 40 from where he chose to walk back to his room. (10/21/18) Views: 38

Kenya's Brimin Kipkorir will compete at the more lucrative Athens Marathon instead of Nairobi

Kenya's champion Brimin Kipkorir has withdrawn from Sunday's Nairobi International Marathon and will instead compete at the more lucrative Athens Marathon on November 11. Kipkorir, who clocked a time of 2:12.39 in winning last year's event, said he has been forced to choose between the two races and believes he has more to prove in Greece. "I have great respect for the Nairobi Marathon; it opened the way for me. Now that I have another chance to run in Athens, it is better I take the chance. There are many Kenyans who can run in Nairobi and even beat my time," he said in Eldoret on Monday. However, Kipkorir disclosed that he has been battling an ankle injury, which he picked up in training back in April. But he believes it has gone past its worst stage and will be ready to show the world that he is among the contenders for the title. "I had an ankle injury, but it has healed and I am targeting a podium finish in Athens. I have battled with the ankle injury since April, but am now at my normal fitness and back in training," he said. (10/24/18) Views: 35