Running News Daily
Top Ten Stories of the Week
3/2/2019

St. Petersburg’s Betty Ashley is 97, and just finished her eighth straight Gasparilla Distance Classic 5K

She did it again. Big, bad Betty Ashley of St. Petersburg won her age group in the Publix Gasparilla Distance Classic 5K on Saturday. She won in a walk.

True, big, bad Betty is roughly 5 feet tall, with silver hair, almonds for eyes and a laugh that melts your heart. She looks as if she fell off a charm bracelet.

And it is just as true that Betty is also the only one in her age group, as she has been for the past eight years. Betty is 97.

Meet the champ.

“Age really is just a number,” she said.

If you want to know what Gasparilla is about, walk with Betty, who is listed as Gasparilla’s “most mature participant.” She’ll bring you to the finish line and teach you something along the way.

She was born in 1921. Her first presidential vote, in 1944, was for Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Betty had eight children, but has outlived three of them. Every time she comes to Gasparilla, it feels like her own private party.

“All these people,” Betty said. “All shapes and sizes. It’s exciting. So many people, and they come from all over.”

Saturday, that included three of Betty’s children and 10 members of her family, some of whom came from as far away as Alaska to compete in the 5K with her.

And it most definitely includes Betty’s friend, Jim Oakley, whom she describes as her “Man-ager.” They’re sort of an item, have been for 10 years. They love bookstores, coffee shops, travel and ballroom dancing. Frankly, Betty is a bit of a cradle robber. Jim is only 74.

“The first time I met her was at exercise class,” Jim said. “She’s the best hugger in the world. We go to dance at the senior center and everyone lines up to hug her. Just look at her. She’s cute.”

“She is a very special lady,” said Susan, Betty’s oldest child, who is 70. She competed in the 5K, as did her sister Thelma and brother Carl. They’re all getting up there.

Justus Kipkogei Kangogo and Rhonzas Kilimo will headline the 33rd Electrolit Guadalajara Half Marathon

Veronica Wanjiru and Agnes Barsosio will aim to break 1:10 for the  first time in the event’s history at the 33rd Electrolit Guadalajara Half Marathon.

The women’s race will crown a new champion, a title left vacant by Diana Chemtai, who lowered the previous course record by almost a minute and a half to 1:10:00, the fifth fastest half marathon ever run by a woman on Mexican soil.

Veronica Wanjiru, the fastest in the field with a 1:07:58 personal best, will try to keep the Kenyans on top, as will her countrywomen Agnes Barsosio (1:08:21), Joyce Chempkemoi (1:09:21) and Milliam Ebongon (1:10:34).

Four former champions are back in Guadalajara: Kenya’s three-time winner Risper Gesabwa (2015-2017) and Ethiopia’s Shewarge Alene Amare (2010-2011), as well as Mexico’s Marisol Romero (2013) and Mayra Vidal (2013).

Colombian record holder Kellys Yesenia Arias (1:11:21) could also be in the mix for the leading positions.

For the men´s race, Justus Kipkogei Kangogo, 23, is the fastest in the Kenyan squad, thanks to his 59:31 run in Ostia, Italy, in 2017. Rhonzas Kilimo brings the experience from his runner-up performance in Gualajara in 2018, were only one second separated him from the win.

Six-time winner and course record holder Julius Kipyego Keter is also back to help maintain Kenyan supremacy in the men’s race, which they've won in all but three editions since 2013.

John Langat, Moses Kibet and John Kipsang Loitang, all boasting personal bests under 1:01, should secure close battle for the top prize, which may bring down the course record of 1:02:31 set by Kipyego in 2011.

However, two sub-60 minute runners may have other plans to spoil the Kenyan party. Eritrea’s Samuel Tsegay is the fastest in the field with his 59:21 performance in Copenhagen five years ago. Ethiopia’s Ayele Abshero, who ran 59:42 in 2011, may also feature well for the top positions.

After a successful career on the track, two-time Olympic finalist Juan Luis Barrios returns to Guadalajara, a race he won in 2015 and 2016 to break the Kenyan hegemony.

Leading the Mexican charge, Barrios will be joined by other top local athletes, including 62-minute runner Jose Antonio Uribe, Jose Luis Santana, Juan Joel Pacheco and Juan Carlos Carrera.

Belayneh Densamo the former Marathon World Record holder should have had more support to train and he had to flee his country and was left for dead

Belayneh Densamo ran the first sub 2:07 marathon 30 years ago. Yet he was not able to run in the 1988 or 1992 Olympics.

Belayneh was born on June 28, 1965 in Diramo Afarrara, Sidamo. He held the world record in the marathon for 10 years (1988-1998). This was the third longest span without the record being broken since the event was first organized at the 1896 Olympics. The record was set when he ran 2:06:50 at the 1988 Rotterdam Marathon in the Netherlands. The record was eventually broken by Ronaldo da Costa at the Berlin Marathon in 1998.

His first international marathon race was in Japan in 1986 where he finished second in 2:08.29.  

He became the second world record holder in the marathon from Africa after his barefoot running compatriot Abebe Bikila.

In 1988 the Ethiopian regime decided to boycott the Games in Seoul.  Densamo could do nothing but accept the dictator Mengistu's decision and not run in the Olympics.

In 1992, Densamo's preparation for the Games in Barcelona was severely disrupted again. In his homeland a fierce battle was going on for political power. Densamo was pressured by a gang to give them money, but did not succumb to the threat.  However, after a bomb exploded under his house, he fled. "I had to protect my family. These were sad times, my head was no longer into running. As the best marathon runner in the world, I should have had all the support to train, but I had to flee and was left for dead. I did not get a fair chance at the Olympics. Very sad.''

Things did improve for him and he did represent Ethiopia at the marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympics, but the hot and humid summer in Atlanta, Georgia was just too much for him and he was among 13 of a field of 130 who did not finish.

Densamo moved from his native Ethiopia to Rotterdam in 2003, he says, but he eventually opted for the United States. He wanted to give his three daughters the chance to get a good education.

The shy man escaped poverty through his running talent, is now a proud family man living with his family in Boston, Massachusetts. At 52 he leads a regular, quiet life.  "When people see me, they estimate me 35 years. I live healthy, I still work hard and I am an assistant coach at Boston University," he says.

This interview was done in December 2018 by Markos Berhanu for Ethiosports. 

The first time a runner will run a sub two hour marathon is expected to be in 2032, according to scientific predictions

Experts predict first sub two-hour marathon will come in 2032.

Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge broke the men’s world record at the Berlin Marathon in September 2018 with a time of two hours, one minute and 39 seconds, edging 78 seconds ahead of previous record holder, Dennis Kimetto.

Using a statistical model to analyse the timings and dates of data provided by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) from as far back as 1950, scientists believe there is a one in 10 chance that the first person to go below the two-hour mark will do so in May 2032.

Publishing their findings in the Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise journal, researchers think the best a male runner will be able to achieve is one hour, 58 minutes and five seconds.

The likelihood of a woman runner breaking the two-hour mark is less likely, at lower than one in 100, with scientists predicting the fastest possible time of two hours, five minutes and 31 seconds.

“Breaking the sub-two hour marathon in an official event has attracted growing interest in recent times with commercial and international momentum building,” said Dr Simon Angus, associate professor of economics at Monash Business School, and author of the paper.

“Prospects of a male athlete going sub-two hours in an IAAF event, even in the near future, would appear high given that the most recent world record reduced the mark by 78 seconds, and the Nike Breaking2 project produced a time just 25 seconds outside this two-hour barrier.

“However, a 13-year wait seems more in line with the evidence.

“While a sub-two hour run could occur any time between now and May 2032, the likelihood of that occurring is extremely rare.

Defending Champions Ben True, Buze Diriba, Ernst van Dyk, and Manuela Schär will Return for defending titles at 2019 United Airlines NYC Half

The 2019 United Airlines NYC Half will feature a star-studded field featuring nine Olympians leading 25,000 runners from Brooklyn to Manhattan in the first race of the 2019 NYRR Five Borough-Series.

The elite field will be headlined by 2018 Boston Marathon champion Des Linden and U.S. Olympic silver medalist Paul Chelimo, who will make his half marathon debut, as well as all four defending event champions: Ben True, Buze Diriba, Ernst van Dyk and Manuela Schär. 

In addition to Linden, the Americans will be represented by two-time TCS New York City Marathon top-10 finisher Allie Kieffer, USATF champion and Pan American Games medalist Kellyn Taylor, 2018 Boston Marathon runner-up Sarah Sellers, and 2018 USATF Marathon champion Emma Bates.

This year, runners will begin their journey on Prospect Park’s Center Drive before taking the race onto Brooklyn’s streets.

For the second year in a row, the course will take runners over the Manhattan Bridge and up the FDR Drive before a crosstown dash on 42nd Street and a turn north on 7th Avenue, through Times Square, and into Central Park.

This year’s less hilly Central Park route finishes just north of Tavern on the Green and will feature a shorter post-race walk-off for runners to exit the park and start their celebrations.

Becky Dunkel earns her second Publix Gasparilla Distance Classic 15K crown

The last time she triumphantly crossed the finish line of the Publix Gasparilla Distance Classic 15K, Becky Dunkel went out fast on a mild morning and won by more than two minutes.

That was three years, a few nagging injuries and one milestone birthday ago.

“I took a lot of time off last year, but it was a good mental break and physical break,” said Dunkel, a newlywed who won the 2016 race as Becky Howarth.

“I started back training in September, and I’ve just been really careful doing all the rehab exercises and feeling really good.”

Her comeback culminated on a toasty Tampa morning when temperatures had reached 69 degrees by the 6:40 start time. Maintaining a pace just below six minutes, Dunkel, 30, earned her second Gasparilla crown, finishing in 55 minutes, 48.67 seconds.

As a Tampa resident, Dunkel, an actuary, earned the $2,000 first-place prize. Kristen Tenaglia, a 34-year-old veteran local racer from Seminole, finished second (57:13.88).

Her time was 62 seconds slower than her triumphant 2016 effort.

The featured event, the Half Marathon is tomorrow Feb 24.

University of Colorado researchers say, testosterone levels for female athletes are based On Flawed Science

New regulations requiring certain female athletes to medically lower their testosterone levels in order to compete internationally are based on “fatally flawed” data, according to new research led by the University of Colorado Boulder.

The paper, published recently in the Asser International Sports Law Journal, comes just as South African Olympian Caster Semenya is set to challenge the controversial new rules in an international court in Switzerland.

The authors have called for a retraction of the original research and asked the International Association of Athletics Federations – the global governing body for track and field – to reconsider the rule change.

“In almost any other setting of science, errors of this magnitude would lead to a paper being retracted,” said lead author Roger Pielke Jr., director of the Center for Sports Governance at CU Boulder.

“And it certainly would not be the basis for broad regulations that have a profound impact on people’s lives.”

In April 2018, the IAAF announced new regulations requiring certain female athletes with naturally high testosterone levels to take testosterone-lowering hormones if they want to continue to compete in the women’s category for the 400-meter, the 400-meter hurdles, the 800-meter, the 1,500-meter and the mile.

The rule, which applies to IAAF-sanctioned international competitions, requires that they maintain serum testosterone levels below 5 nanomoles per liter (nmol/L) for at least six months prior to competition.  Most females have testosterone levels ranging from 1.12 to 1.79 nmol/L while the normal adult male range is 7.7 – 29.4 nmol/L. About seven in every 1,000 elite female athletes have high testosterone levels, according to IAAF.

The association had attempted to put forth similar regulations in 2011 , but that rule was thrown out when the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) – the highest court for international sport – concluded in 2015 that there was a lack of evidence linking high testosterone to “a real competitive advantage” in women.

Aliphine Tuliamuk won the Publix Gasparilla Distance Classic by nearly two minutes and always find ways to give back to others

Aliphine Tuliamuk has an enviable social conscience that extends well beyond road races.

That benevolence was on display in Sunday’s Publix Gasparilla Distance Classic.

After winning the women’s half-marathon in 1:12:29, nearly two minutes ahead of her closest female competitor, Tuliamuk had a medal placed around her neck.

It did not stay there for long.

Tuliamuk, 29, handed the medal to a young girl as an inspirational keepsake.

“It’s all about giving back,” Tuliamuk said.

The Kenyan native was on the receiving end of such kindness 18 years ago. She qualified for her first competitive 10,000-meter race but did not have any shoes.

Tegla Loroupe, the first African to win the New York City Marathon, took care of the problem by handing Tuliamuk a new pair of running sneakers.

The footwear allowed Tuliamuk, who has 32 siblings, to become a distance running specialist. She became so good that she was offered a scholarship to Iowa State. College offered a way out from the difficulties Tuliamuk faced in her village in western Kenya, a place with no roads and few vehicles.

After attending Iowa State for two years (2010-11), Tuliamuk transferred to Wichita State. She was a nine-time All-American in cross country and track and field. Tuliamuk also got her bachelor’s degree in public health, becoming the first from her village to graduate from college.

The ultimate goal for Tuliamuk is to be a nurse to help out back home. She has put that profession on hold to pursue her career as a distance runner.

Executive race director for the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle will run the 40th annual 8K Chicago race for Charity

The executive race director for the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle will run the 40th annual 8K Chicago race, aiming to raise $40,000 for four local youth-based initiatives.

This marks the second year in a row that Carey Pinkowski will run the Shuffle, dubbed the official start to running season in Chicago, and the second year of the race's Charity Matching Campaign.

Last year Pinkowski raised $20,226 for the American Cancer Society. This year, he hopes to double that and raise $40,000 in honor of the race's 40 years for Mercy Home for Boys & Girls, After School Matters, Special Olympics Chicago and Shirley Ryan AbilityLab.

"The Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle underscores the spirit and diversity of Chicago’s running community, a community that has helped us build an iconic event like the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle and a global phenomenon like the Bank of America Chicago Marathon," said Pinkowski.

"And with the ongoing growth and development of our charity programs, these events have continually given back to communities across the world. It is an honor this year to run on behalf of four organizations making a profound difference in the lives of Chicagoans."

"The Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle is one of Chicago’s best running traditions," said Paul Lambert, Chicago market president of Bank of America.

"It’s an honor to be a part of this great running community, and we’re excited to join Carey on his mission to encourage the next generation of runners to get out there and join the Shuffle."

Afera Godfay Berha of Ethiopia broke the women’s Mexican all-comers half marathon record at the 33rd Electrolit Guadalajara Half Marathon

Godfay, 27, clocked 1:08:53 to break the all-comers mark set of 1:09:07 set by Paula Radcliffe when the Briton won the 2000 world half marathon title in Veracruz.

Kenya's Mathew Kisorio won the men's race in 1:01:48, well inside the course record of 1:02:31 set by his countryman and seven-time winner Julius Kipyego Keter in 2011.

Godfay and Kenyan Joyce Chemkemoi set an aggressive pace from the start, covering the opening five kilometres in 15:58, running five second ahead of Naomi Vaati. By the 10km mark, covered in 32:06, she extended her lead to 22 seconds.

Berha made her decisive move in the next five-kilometre stretch and built a 35-second lead by 15 kilometres, reached in 48:41. She then cruised on to become the second Ethiopian woman to claim victory in Guadalajara since two-time winner Shewarge Alene Amare won in 2010 and 2011.

The 27-year old winner, a 2:23:54 marathoner, came within 22 seconds her half marathon best set in 2016. 

Chemkemoi held on for second in 1:10:06 with Vaati, who clocked 1:10:17, finishing third.

Esmerala Rebollo was the first Mexican across the line, finishing fifth with a new personal best of 1:12:52. Her countrywoman, two-time winner Mayra Sanchez Vidal, finished eighth in 1:13:18.

In the men's race, a group of nine took up a conservative pace early in the contest, covering the first five kilometres in 14:13. Kisorio and three other men upped the pace, reducing the lead group to four as they reached 10 kilometres in 29:06. Then Kisorio found an extra gear, dropping his three remaining opponents as he reached 15 kilometres in 43:42, 34 seconds ahead of his closest rival.

Rhonzas Lokitam Kilimo and Justus Kangogo battled for the two remaining spots on the podium, a war Kilimo won as he pulled away to repeat his runner-up finish from 2018, clocking 1:02:43. Kangogo was next, four seconds behind.

Two-time Olympic finalist and two-time winner Juan Luis Barrios was the first Mexican finisher, taking fifth in 1:03:06.

“This performance is the result of running with great athletes who come to produce a great show," said Barrios, now 35. "They pushed hard and I tried to stay with the leaders as long as possible."

Each winner collected MXN 150,000 for their effort ($7,840). 13,568 runners finished the race.