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3/9/2019

Yomif Kejelcha smashed the Indoor Mile World Record clocking 3:47.01 in Boston Sunday

Yomif Kejelcha from Ethiopia broke the world indoor mile record when he clocked three minutes 47.01 seconds during an invitational meet in Boston on Sunday.

The 21-year-old smashed the 22-year-old record of 3:48.45 set by Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj in 1997.

Kejelcha had come within one hundredth of a second of the record when he clocked 3:48.46 at the Millrose Games in New York last month.

The twice world indoor 3,000 meters champion was also targeting the indoor 1,500m record but narrowly missed it with a 3:31.25.

This makes Kejelcha, who is coached by Alberto Salazar, the third-fastest in the 1500m behind compatriot Samuel Tefera's February world record of 3:31.04 and El Guerrouj's 3:31.18

Eariler in the week Oregon live reported, “As promised, Nike Oregon Project coach Alberto Salazar has declared the NOP’s Yomif Kejelcha will be running for a world indoor record in the 1,500 meters -- and, possibly, the mile -- in the Bruce Lehane Invitational Mile Sunday at Boston University.

Salazar said making a world-record assault public puts pressure on the runner making the attempt, but also causes the runner to focus. And, he thinks, world-record attempts create the kind of publicity and attention the sport needs.

"If we’re going for a record in Boston, people are going to know," Salazar said then. “If we say we’re going for it, we’ll go for it.”

He told DyeStat’s Doug Binder on Wednesday that Kejeclha is fit and ready.

“He likes the 1,500 (meters), but I think the mile is more prestigious,” Salazar told Binder. “He’s going for the 1,500 record, and afterwards just hopes to maintain so he can get the mile as well.”

This is how the race in Boston unfolded as described by the IAAF. 

Kejelcha followed three different pacemakers for the opening laps and passed through 809m in 1:52. Worried the pace wasn't quick enough, he moved past the final pacemaker about two minutes into the race and was then out in front alone.

He was inside 2:51 with two laps remaining and kept up his swift pace for the last 400 metres. The clock had already ticked over to 3:31 by the time he passed the 1500m checkpoint, but he – and the eager fans – would have to wait until after the race to find out his official split. His immediate concern was reaching the finish line of the mile.

Kejelcha dug in deep and crossed the line in 3:47.01, taking 1.44 seconds off the previous world indoor record set by Hicham El Guerrouj in 1997. Moments later, his 1500m split was confirmed at 3:31.25, making him the third-fastest indoor performer in history behind Tefera and El Guerrouj.

Kejelcha's mile time is also an outright Ethiopian record, bettering the outdoor mark of 3:48.60 set by Aman Wote.

America's Johnny Gregorek (second photo)  finished second in 3:49.98, moving to sixth on the world indoor all-time list, just 0.09 shy of Bernard Lagat's North American indoor record.  This is the seventh best time by an American Indoor or outdoors according to LetsRun.  

(03/03/19) Views: 270

Brent Weigner heads the USA group for the Eastern Caribbean Challenge starting March 8, that is 7 marathons in 6 countries in 7 days

We are a few days away from the start of this epic 7 Marathons, 6 Countries, 7 Days cruise adventure called the Eastern Caribbean Challenge 2019.  The group includes runners from around the world with exceptional running resumes.  Nine of the 12 runners who have completed a marathon in 100+ countries will be part of this challenge. Combined, these runners have completed over 4,000 marathons in 180+ countries around the world.. 43 participants from 14 countries will touch down in Guadeloupe to start the challenge.

Here are three of the participants: 

Dr. Brent Weigner (USA):  Brent Weigner (second photo)  is the king of Marathon Globetrotting. He holds multiple World Records in long-distance running. The 70-years old retired Geography teacher has run a marathon in 170 countries which is a World Record.  

He also holds the World Record for completing a marathon on all 7 continents ten times. Moreover, Brent is the only runner in the world to have completed an ultramarathon at both North and South Pole.  What makes his accomplishments even more amazing is due to the fact that he is a 3-times cancer survivor.  Brent is also part of the Run The World 4 Challenge which started March 1 and will last 30 days.

Sidy Diallo (France):  Sidy Diallo (third photo) is a 63-year-old French diplomat and barefoot runner, based in Paris. He was 55 when he ran his first marathon. To-date, he has completed 191 marathons in 73 countries, including 48 marathons in 2013. He is a seven continents marathon and ultramarathon finisher.

Sidy completed his first barefoot marathon on October 11, 2015, in Zagreb (Croatia), and has already run 42 barefoot marathons and one ultramarathon (90 km), in 21 countries. For more information, please visit his website: www.sidy42k.com.

Lichu Sloan (Taiwan): Lichu (first photo), at age 70, is the oldest female on the trip. She has completed 222 marathons in 81 countries across all 7 continents. She qualified for, and ran Boston Marathon, three times; ran 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 weeks; completed all World Marathon Majors and a marathon in each of 50 US States and D.C., two times. Lichu started marathon running at age 52.

(03/06/19) Views: 147

Dr. Zab Mosenifar, 70, has run every day of his adult life, and he is set to run his 100th marathon this Saturday at the Catalina Island Marathon

Zab Mosenifar, MD, professor and executive vice chair of the Department of Medicine, is a man of routines. He has spent his entire career at Cedars-Sinai, lived in the same house for 39 years and runs every day—rain or shine, without fail or exception.

"I don't remember a day I haven't run in the last 50 years," said Mosenifar, 70, who also serves as the Geri and Richard Brawerman Chair in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and as medical director of the Women's Guild Lung Institute. "I also don't remember ever being sick in my adult life."

On Saturday, Mosenifar will run his 100th marathon—the Catalina Island Marathon, rated the sixth toughest in the world, a rugged course he has already conquered 37 times. By the time he completes this latest marathon, Mosenifar will have run roughly 5.6 times around the Earth, a total of about 135,200 miles.

"Only my last car had more miles on it than my own knees," said Mosenifar, although he admittedly shares that he has only owned three cars in his entire life—all black Porsches—that he drives until they can be driven no more.

Mosenifar laces up his Hokas by 5 a.m. each morning, then he's out the door running in the Santa Monica Mountains. Monday through Thursday he runs six miles. On Fridays, he's alongside a group of men he's trained with for years and runs eight miles. On the weekends, he goes 11 to 12 miles—a total of 50 miles per week.

After each run, Mosenifar enjoys a cup of black coffee and half a bagel. He's in his office at Cedars-Sinai by 7 a.m., and by noon he's sipping on vegetable soup for lunch. Without fail, he takes an espresso break at 3 p.m., using the same yellow mug his daughter—now 30—made for him as a young child. And for dinner every night, Mosenifar enjoys a dinner of pasta with pesto and a salad with his wife of 35 years, though she eats a different meal altogether.

Mosenifar's love of medicine, specifically pulmonary care, came from his father—a lifelong smoker who never developed emphysema.

"I was always fascinated with medicine even as a child, mostly because I watched my father smoke, and even at age six or seven I felt like something was wrong with his habit," said Mosenifar. "He lived until he was 87, ultimately dying of a heart attack. His journey and endless energy led me on a lifelong pursuit to better understand why only about 20 percent of smokers get lung disease."

The collective pressures of a life in medicine led him to running, which continues to be his best form of relieving stress.

"I use running not just for my own solitude, but as a tremendous release of stress from work, because there can be some really tough, sad days," said Mosenifar. "I am disciplined. I am not someone who will have a few drinks. I go home and go for a 10-mile run, even if I already ran in the morning. That's my bar. That's how I try to get over some of the stresses of my life."

He completed his first marathon 45 years ago in Philadelphia. Since then, Mosenifar competitively has run all the big-city marathons—at a record 3 hours flat—as well as international races in European countries and marathons in Death Valley, CA, during the dead heat of summer. Today, Mosenifar finishes his races in about 4 hours and 35 minutes, typically finishing in first or second place for his age group.

"Catalina remains my favorite marathon, by far," said Mosenifar. "It mimics my daily runs in the mountains." And though his eyes are set on Catalina this weekend, Mosenifar said he isn't focused on the milestone number of 100 completed marathons.

(03/07/19) Views: 127

Legese pulled away at 30k and ran alone to the finish line of the Tokyo Marathon clocking 2:04:48

 Ethiopian Birhanu Legese cruised to victory at the Tokyo marathon on Sunday, winning in a time of two hours, four minutes and 48 seconds in miserable conditions to claim his first major title.  It was raining and 41 degrees at the start and throughout the race.  

The 24-year-old was part of a small leading group for the first 30 kilometres before pulling away easily from runnerup Kenyan Bedan Karoki (2:06:48) and strolling to victory.

Karoki's compatriot Dickson Chumba, twice a winner in Tokyo, was third.

With rain lashing down for much of a frigid morning, it was never likely to be a fast race.

Japan fancied their chances of a homegrown male victory for the first time since 2010 but Suguru Osako, who set a new Japanese national record in October, struggled to stay with the leading group and pulled out with an injury 30 kilometres in.

The 27-year-old, touted as Japan’s best hope of delivering Olympic marathon gold when Tokyo hosts the Games in 2020, was distraught as he limped from the route.

Ethiopian Ruti Aga won the women’s race in a time of 2:20:40, edging out compatriot Helen Tola by 21 seconds.

While the cold and wet conditions served as an enemy for many of the elite runners, Legese put on a convincing performance and posted the second-best time in the event’s history, behind only Wilson Kipsang’s record 2:03:58, set in 2017.

“The weather was tough and it affected the result a little bit,” Legese said through an interpreter. “There were a lot of difficulties like the cold and the breeze, but because this course is a good course, if the weather had held up, I’m confident that I would’ve been able to run under 2:04.”

Ethiopians have now won the women’s marathon in Tokyo in six of the last eight editions.

(03/02/19) Views: 79

Greece Olympian Alexi Pappas new movie Olympic Dreams will premiere in Austin Texas March 8-17

Greek runner Alexi Pappas’s new film, Olympic Dreams, will premiere in the Narrative Spotlight category at the SXSW film festival in Austin, Texas from March 8-17. Pappas, who set a national record for Greece in the 10,000m at the 2016 Olympics in Rio and ran her first marathon in Chicago in 2018, co-directs and stars, as she did in Tracktown in 2016.

The new film, which was shot during the 2018 Winter Olympics in Peongchang, is a series of vignettes featuring Penelope (played by Pappas), a slightly insecure cross-country skier, and Ezra (played by comedian Nick Kroll), a volunteer dentist in the Olympic village.

Pappas is an alumna of both Dartmouth and Oregon, and has always loved to indulge her creative side while also competing on the track. Pappas is reportedly hoping to run the marathon at the 2020 Olympics, representing Greece. 

(03/01/19) Views: 55

Mary Wineberg and Mark Ramler have been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon

Olympic gold medalist Mary Wineberg started running track at Walnut Hills High School and earned a track scholarship to the University of Cincinnati, where she graduated in 2002. After her college career, she ran professionally and was twice ranked top 10 in the World in the women’s 400 and was a Gold Medalist in the 2007 World Championships.

She won the gold medal for the USA in the 4x400 relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In 2018 she was inducted into the Cincinnati Public Schools Athletic Hall of Fame and the University of Cincinnati Athletic Hall of fame and has published a book, “Unwavering Perseverance,” about her life and career. An elementary school teacher and motivational speaker, Wineberg has participated in several Flying Pig events, including the Queen Bee.

Ramler is a sixth generation Campbell County resident, and resides in Newport’s East Row Historic District where he is actively involved in the neighborhood, home tours, planning committees, and serves on the City’s Historic Preservation Commission. 

He is actively involved in the Newport Business Community as well, and is President of the Newport Business Association.

“We are honored to have Mary and Mark join our Board of Directors,” said Iris Simpson Bush, executive director of the Flying Pig Marathon. “Both have been with us for many years as participants and volunteers, and we are excited to see the contributions they can bring to the board.”

(03/05/19) Views: 50

Laura Muir Retains European Indoor 3000m Title in Glasgow

Running in front of a partisan home crowd in Glasgow, Laura Muir used a spectacular close, running her final 200 meters in 28.32 and successfully defend her title in the 3,000 meters in a championship record of 8:30.61. In the process, she crushed the Wanamaker Mile champion, Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen, who ran a respectable 8:34.06 but was utterly helpless on the last lap.

After sitting on Klosterhalfen for the second half of the race, Muir took the lead at the bell, and her acceleration was a sight to behold. Once she was around Klosterhalfen, the gap between the two runners began to grow exponentially, and what was expected to be a close race was over midway down the back straight. But even then, Muir would not let off the gas, powering through the line to take down Klosterhalfen’s world leader of 8:32.47 as well.

Muir covered her final 1500 meters in 4:05 flat, a time that, when coupled with Muir’s 28.32 final 200, would be enough to win most 1500 races on the planet. And making the performance all the more impressive was the fact that it was Muir’s second race in the span of two-and-a-half hours; she ran 4:09 to qualify for the final of the 1500 earlier in the day.

Klosterhalfen, who had fresh legs after opting out of the 1500, was content to sit behind leader Eilish McColgan of Great Britain in the race’s early stages. But, correctly fearing Muir’s kick, Klosterhalfen tried to take the sting out of her opponent’s legs by hammering the final mile. She took the lead at 1400 meters and dropped a 66.17 for the next 400 meters, but would need to do more than that to drop Muir.

Muir will return to the track on Sunday evening for the 1500 meters, and after today’s race, it seems a formality that the Brit will complete a second consecutive 1500-3k double.

(03/02/19) Views: 47

Sam Long claims the men title at the Kaiser Napa Valley Marathon

Sam Long of Boulder, Colorado, a professional triathlete, was the overall champion of the 41st annual Napa Valley Marathon. Long came from two minutes behind at the 18-mile mark and passed Zack Sims, the leader, of Atlanta with just three miles to go in the point-to-point race that is sanctioned by USA Track & Field.

Long crossed the finish line in the front parking lot area of Vintage High School clocking 2:32:33. Sims, running in his first marathon and his first distance in a race over 10K, was second in a time of 2:34:58.

“I gave it everything I had at 20 miles,” said Long, running in only his second marathon race. “It’s a beautiful area, a beautiful course, and a great race. The last two miles felt like they took 30 minutes. I just told myself just to give it all. (Sims) had a phenomenal race.

“I didn’t really expect to overtake him. I knew it was a hope. Anything can happen in the last three miles of a marathon. I’ve been in that position when you get passed. It’s pretty rough. But that’s just life these days, you know.”

Greg Krathwohl of San Francisco was third in a time of 2:42:17.

Liza Reichert won the women’s title, finishing fourth overall, and secured the “B” standard, also qualifying for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the marathon. Reichert ran 2:44:06. The “B” standard for the trials is 2:45:00.

Reichert said her primary goal was to hit the trials qualifying mark.

“It was exciting to win,” she said. “It’s a little off my personal best but I knew that this was a challenging course. It was a little bit off of what I had hoped to run time-wise today. But mission accomplished.”

(03/04/19) Views: 39

25-year-old Taylor Pierce is running her first Boston Marathon to help support the Joslin Diabetes Center

Taylor Pierce will be running her first Boston Marathon in April as a member of Team Joslin to support the Joslin Diabetes Center, a diabetes treatment and research facility in Boston.

Pierce is now a clinical research coordinator at Joslin. Together, she and her team study the disease and help conduct different drug trials focusing on finding treatments and pursuing a cure for diabetes and its complications.

Their latest project focuses on the impact type 1 diabetes has on pregnant women.

No stranger to running, this will be Pierce’s seventh marathon — but her very first time running Boston. She has joined the Heartbreak Hill running group in preparation for April 15.

Pierce hopes to raise at least $7,500 to help researchers continue their work developing more efficient treatments and ultimately finding a cure for diabetes.

(03/05/19) Views: 39

The blond super star Jordan Hasay is set to run the 45th Huawei Roma Ostia Half Marathon Sunday in Italy

Last year, Galen Rupp was the American star at the Huawei Roma Ostia Half Marathon. For the 45th edition, on March 10, 2019, twenty-seven-year-old Jordan Melissa Hasay, also as Rupp, grew up and settled under the technical direction of Alberto Salazar at the prestigious Nike Oregon will be on the starting line.

Jorday Hasay, undoubtedly, has sport in the DNA. Her father was a basketball star, while her mother Teresa, was a national swimmer in England.

Hasay placed third in the 2017 Boston Marathon in 2017, clocking 2:23:00, a record for an American athlete in the debut at the distance. Her best marathon time is 2:20:57.  

She has had some injury situations of late but she is now healthy and is looking forward to racing in Italy this coming weekend.  

(03/03/19) Views: 38