Runnerville

2010 LOS ANGELES MARATHON

The brand new “Stadium to the Sea” racecourse introduced for the 25th City of Los Angeles Marathon will take the runners from Dodger Stadium in Echo Park to Santa Monica by the sea via some of the most iconic sections of the Los Angeles area. The event has “sold out” for the first time in history at 25,000, and will include 233 “legacy” runners who have run every L.A. marathon since 1986. That, in itself, is a remarkable number.

What’s most intriguing about the new course isn’t just the point-to-point passing of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, Brentwood, and on into Santa Monica. This new course has a net elevation drop of 480 feet, with the second half descending a whopping 325 of those feet! Boston, by comparison, drops 430 feet in total and just 120 feet in its second half. Who knows if all the down hills will affect the quads the way Boston does (watch for how many runners walk downstairs backwards on Monday). There is only one significant hill in the entire second half, coming from miles 20-21, same place as Heartbreak Hill does in Boston. The elevation gain is similar, as well, Heartbreak rising 80 feet, and Purple Heart Hill (it’s at the Veteran’s Administration complex) marching 77 feet up. While Boston is a mild series of downhills through Brookline into Boston’s Back Bay, miles 24 - 26 from Brentwood into Santa Monica descend 81’, 103’, and 73’ respectively. Again, on paper that may make it fast, but we will have to see how the runners legs hold up after the previous pounding. 

Defending men’s champion Wesley Korir (2:08:24 in 2009) came to inspect the course a few weeks back, and said it had 2:06-2:07 speed. I spoke with Runner’s World’s Bart Yasso who also thinks it will be fast based on running the last 8 miles several times. This is the first time the course has had a net elevation drop in its history, as all previous L.A. Marathon courses stayed within the city limits, forcing the runners to return uphill into downtown.

If the runners can manage the first eight miles which have a lot of turns, and can negotiate a 90-foot hill in the fourth mile up First Avenue as the course passes the Frank Gehry-designed Disney Concert Hall, there is a chance for L.A.’s first significant world-class finishing time. Field analysis below the break. Read more…

USATF announced today that the city of Houston, Texas will host both the men’s and women’s Olympic Marathon Trials races for 2012.  It’s the culmination of years of hard work and diligence on the part of the Houston Marathon organizers, who have year after year staged world-class competitions and hosted USATF national half-marathon championships. 

2012 will mark the second time Houston has hosted a Trials marathon.  In 1992 they picked up the Women’s trials after Sacramento, which won the selection, failed to gather the requisite sponsorship support.  The following is from the USATF press release.

The 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials will be held in Houston January 14, 2012, a day prior to the 40^th anniversary of the Chevron Houston Marathon. The races will determine the three men and three women who will represent the United States in the marathon at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

USA Track & Field’s site selection committee, comprised of USATF committee chairs, elite athletes and staff, tapped Houston to host both races. Boston and New Yorkhad each bid to host one Olympic Trials race. The USATF Board of Directors approved the decision at its weekend meeting in Albuquerque, N.M. and the USOC has green-lighted the award. Read more…

               Lel & Adere Win Inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll Mardi Gras Half Marathon

                      Ethiopian veteran runs fastest women’s time ever on US soil.

New Orleans, LA - Febuary 28, 2010 - Former World Half-Marathon Champion Berhane Adere of Ethiopia won the inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll Mardi Gras Half Marathon in New Orleans Sunday, clocking the fastest time ever run by a woman on American soil.  Her 1:07:52 time bested the mark set by America’s Deena Kastor at the 2005 Philadelphia Distance Run by a single second.  Adere, 36, needed to be at her best to hold off New Zealand’s Kim Smith, who finished a close second in 1:07:55, the third fastest half-marathon ever run in the U.S.  On the men’s side, three-time London Marathon champion Martin Lel of Kenya outpaced his countryman and half-marathon world record holder Sammy Wanjiru by 26-seconds, winning in 1:01:07.

The new Rock ‘n’ Roll Mardi Gras Marathon and Half Marathon courses were designed not only to provide a comprehensive tour of post-Katrina New Orleans, but also to be fast. The elite performances validated the hype, with five out of the top six women running personal bests. Adere’s winning time was a huge 25-second personal best for the former two-time Chicago Marathon champion. Smith’s second-place time was a New Zealand national record. Both of their efforts were helped by near-perfect weather conditions, as the day dawned sunny, dry, and windless, with a starting-line temperature in the low 50s. Read more…

John Hancock Financial announced the elite field of 44 athletes from ten countries for the 114th running of the Boston Marathon on April 19. A complete field list follows.

Headlining the field, and recently announced, are defending champions Deriba Merga and Salina Kosgei, and past champions Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, Catherine Ndereba, Dire Tune and Lidiya Grigoryeva.

Read more…

Sunday’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Mardi Gras Marathon & 1/2 Marathon will showcase perhaps the most dynamic half-marathon duel ever staged on American soil. 2008 Olympic Marathon gold medalist and half-marathon world record holder Sammy Wanjiru will battle head-to-head against fellow Kenyan and three-time London Marathon champion Martin Lel as both men set their sites on the April 25th Virgin London Marathon where Wanjiru broke Lel’s course record by five seconds in 2009 after Lel bested Wanjiru in the 2008 race (picture above). Morocco’s  Abderrahim Goumri, third in `08 London, was to have joined Lel and Wanjiru in New Orleans as a tune up for the April 19th Boston Marathon, but has pulled out with an unspecified injury.

“To draw the likes of Sammy and Martin to New Orleans demonstrates our commitment to attract the biggest names in the world of running,” said Matt Turnbull, Elite Athlete Coordinator for the Competitor Group. “We’re excited to have two of the greatest road racers in history at the start line this weekend.”

The first Kenyan to ever win the Olympic Marathon Gold Medal, Wanjiru set the standing half-marathon world record of 58:33 in 2007 at the City-Pier-City Loop in The Hague, The Netherlands. That record marked the third time he had broken the world record at the distance, the first set at age 18.

“The timing of the Mardi Gras Half-Marathon is perfect for athletes like me who are preparing for a spring marathon,” said Wanjiru. “For me it’s a great opportunity to see where I am before London. Really, I am just looking to come and run a solid race and this gives me a great chance to see where I’m at and what condition I am in.”

Read more…

I ran into Meb Keflezighi’s agent/brother Hawi at the Running USA conference earlier this month in San Diego.  Question was which race Meb might use to tune up for  the Boston Marathon on Patriot’s Day April 19th.  Now we know.  He’s heading back to the scene of his greatest triumph, New York, New York to take on the Great One, Haile Gebrselassie, in the New York 1/2 Marathon on March 21st.

 Interesting  choice, and according to Hawi, not a foregone one.  The other viable options included the Gate River 15K in Jacksonville, Florida on March 13th, which doubles as the annual USATF National Road 15K Championship, and the new Rock `n` Roll Dallas 1/2 Marathon the following day in Texas.

Forgetting for a moment the monetary inducements any of the three might generate for Meb, these spring (like the fall) marathon tune up races are more about getting one’s head and body right for the big race down the line, rather than maxing out on that particular day.  So, what may have lured Meb to New York wasn’t just his comfort levels and reception in New York by the N.Y. Road Runners, but the lack of pressure to win the race, what with Haile in the field and all. 

If Meb had gone back to Jacksonville, where he won six times in seven years from 2001 to 2007, the pressure to win would have been great.  Then what if he didn’t? And with the level of competition churning around America these days, though a victory would seem more likely than not, certainly there would be decent money betting the other way. 

As for Rock `n` Roll in Dallas, well, the Competitor Group’s recent modus operandi has been to invite one big name for their event marquee, then let him/her carry the PR weight alone.  Good money in that, but perhaps not the type of atmosphere or competition to best tune up for a marathon major.  

So it is off to New York where Meb can run free and easy, not be expected to win, yet perhaps take a solid shot at a new PR, and who knows, all things fall perfectly…

Most of the time races need racers.  Other times racers need races.  This is one of those times when New York is the perfect stepping stone to Boston for Meb.  Now, where is Ryan Hall prepping for Patriot’s Day?

Reading through a variety of articles this morning, I came across two fascinating pieces that tell a lot about our sport. The first is a piece on Kenenisa Bekele, the world’s greatest distance runner, breaking down how much he made this year from competition. Bekele, who races fairly often during the track season, earned just over $1.1 million this year. The second article is a good insiders view to life as a good, but not superstar, American distance runner in Brett Gotcher, who won $8,000 for winning the U.S. 20k Road Championships this past weekend.

Bekele’s article didn’t surprise me, except for the fact that over half of his $1.1 million came from appearance fees, which to me is simply ridiculous. It will forever boggle my mind that athletes get paid simply to show up at a meet that they should be competing in anyways. The fact that Bekele gets somewhere around four to five times more just for showing up rather than his winning performance makes me sick, and shows EXACTLY why our sport will never, ever be as big as it could be. Read more…

Hint: His last name rhymes with mine.

My friend told me he was in a bar the other night and saw a segment previewing the Usain Bolt-versus-Asafa Powell 100-meter race on ESPN’s pontificating talk show, “Pardon the Interruption” (PTI if you’re “with it”).  Can anyone remember a time when any non-Olympic running event was featured on such a show?  I certainly can’t.

This makes me wonder if Usain Bolt just might be the torch-courier for the sport of track and field in not only America, but the world.  Bolt’s record-setting Olympic trifecta has effectively announced his arrival on the scene, not only as one fast man, but a marketable personality and surprisingly good dancer. During the Olympics, people tuned in faithfully to every one of Bolt’s races, eager to see just how badly he’d beat the competition and how much he’d celebrate afterwards.  Michael Johnson was the last track and field athlete to elicit such a fever.

Now, this once-unknown youngster from a Carribbean island of under 3 million people is arguably the most exciting athlete in the world, having already ignited his track-happy nation and now exciting the world.

At long last Sammy Wanjiru, the Japanese-trained Kenyan, brought order to the marathon world by winning his nation’s first Olympic gold over the classic distance.  But at the same time the tiny Kikuyu tribesman from the Central Highlands city of Nakuru might just as well have been an alien presence landing in Beijing.  That’s how much a re-ordering his 2:06:32 victory in the Olympic Marathon in 85 degree heat and high humidity created.  His run has completely altered the concept of what is possible over 42.2 kilometers.  Now, for the first time, the idea of a sub two-hour marathon has come onto the horizon as a realistic possibility.

No  longer an endurance event, the marathon has become no more than an extended 10,000 meters run in the wake of Wanjiru’s performance.  His laughable series of splits and surges throughout the brutal day just add further disbelief to the historic performance.  In both substance and style Wanjiru flew unperturbed through the zephers of every precept of marathon running.  4:41 for the first mile?!  Are you nuts?  Maybe in London or Berlin or Chicago, the flat, fast big city courses where pacers and cool weather create ideal record attempt racing.  But in championship racing profligage spending of energy would come back to haunt the intrepid for sure in the final 5K. Except it didn’t in Wanjiru’s case. 

1:02:38 through the half!?  Only a handful of marathons had ever registered a faster opening half, and certainly none on an Olympic stage much less on a hot, humid day.  They added no more than a mild irritant to the 5′4″, 112 pound dynamo who now casts his sight on the marathon world record to add to his half-marathon and world junior record over 10,000 meters.

Of the top ten marathon times ever run, Haile Gebrselassie’s 2:05:56 from Berlin 2006 stands out even more than his world record 2:04:26 from Berlin 2007.  The temperature in Berlin `06 was 72 degrees, making it the sole top ten performance run in conditions greater than 60 degrees.  Now add 10-plus extra degrees, high humidity, an Olympic field, no designated, hand picked pace setters, and wild surging.  The mind reels. 

Wanjiru entered the Olympic stadium not on his knees, but in full flight.  He picked it up over the final lap!!!  He wasn’t diminished, just out of territory to run.  He had plenty of gas left in his unimagineable tank.  Yonas Kifle of Eritrea, one of the intrepid five who formed the break away pack through halfway, faded like a real human being would be expected to in the second half.  He completed his Olympic journey in 2:20:03, good for 36th place.  

And let us not forget Morocco’s Jaouad Gharib, the two-time world champion and close runner up in the Chicago heat bath from last October.  Gharib’s brave silver medal in 2:07:16 also shattered the long-standing Olympic record 2:09:21 set by Portugal’s Carlos Lopes in L.A. `84.  Gharib was dropped at least five times throughout the course of the day, yet each time he managed to claw his way back into contention, except after Wanjiru’s final move at 35K when Ethiopia’s Deriba Merga also let go the tow line.

Americans Dathan Ritzenhein and Ryan Hall both acknowledged the temerity of Wanjiru’s run. 

“To run 2:06:32 in this is incredible,” said Ritz, whose left hamstring and calf cramped badly just past 30 kilometers, but who held on to finish 9th in 2:11:59.

“They went out really fast,” said Hall, tenth in 2:12:33, hoping for better after his 2:06:16 at the London Marathon earlier this year. “I thought it was way too hard, at least for me. I would have died if I went out that fast.”

Then, both Hall and Americ’a third Olympic marathoner, Brian Sell (22nd in 2:16:07) tempered the brutality of the conditions.

“It was definitely warm out there, but not as bad as I was expecting.” - Ryan Hall.

“It was not as bad as I had thought. It wasn’t stifling, but it wasn’t easy.” - Brian Sell.

So, was it the brutal 85 degrees we kept hearing on NBC or not?  Either way, 21 year-old Wanjiru is the undisputed new king of the marathon world, if, that is, he’s even from this world.

END 

I want to point out CNN.com’s page dedicated to the 2008 Olympic Games. (check it out here)  The coverage is not exhaustive and the content limited, but a highlight for me is featured blogger and personal friend Gilbert Tuhabonye.  Gilbert is one of several athletes and CNN correspondents writing posts leading up to and even during the Games, and he couldn’t be a better choice.

Link directly to Gilbert’s posts by clicking here.

As you’ll read, Gilbert’s story is nothing short of miraculous.  He should be dead right now, not winning 10Ks, running 2:20 marathons, or coaching Austin-area runners.  See, Gilbert is from Burundi, where a violent civil war broke out in the early ’90s pitting two ethnic groups — the Hutus and the Tutsis — against each other.  A violent Hutu mob approached Gilbert’s school on October 21, 1993, surrounded it, and allowed the Hutus inside — many of them Gilbert’s close friends — to come outside.

With only Tutsis remaining inside the school, the mob chained the doors and set the school on fire.  The fire burned for hours before Gilbert, badly burned himself but alive, escaped through a window and ran away from the Hutu mob with his back on fire.  The 18-year-old doused the fire in a small pool of water before dragging himself to safety.

The subsequent story is quite long, but Gilbert would go on to attend Abilene Christian University in Texas (my alma mater) on a track and field scholarship, where he was a six-time all-American and a member of seven Division II team track titles.  Post-college, Gilbert moved to Austin, where, working for Paul Corroza’s successful RunTex store, he began winning local races and motivating thousands.  He even began coaching a group of area wannabe adult and child runners — called “Gilbert’s Gazelles” — motivating them with his knowledge of the sport and inspirational story.  He also trains and dreams of representing his home country, Burundi, in a future Olympiad.

(you can read Gilbert’s harrowing story in its entirety here)

Why does this matter?  Because stories like Gilbert’s are what may connect our sport to the masses.  It is inspirational.  It touches all who hear it.  It gives hope.  It represents humanity at its best — and worst.

I think of Lopez Lomong, the former Sudanese “Lost Boy”-turned-Olympian who will represent the U.S. in the 1,500-meter run.  There are probably others who have overcome great odds to make the Olympic team.  I would assert that stories like Lopez’s (and hopefully Gilbert’s in a future Games) may be just as important in the marketing run-up to the Olympics as the promise of blistering times from Jeremy Wariner.

What do you think?