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Photos from the 2010 Flying Monkey Marathon in Nashville’s Harpeth Hills.

Ben Schneider won the race with a time of 2:38:27 (Full Story).

Traci Falbo was the fastest female finishing at 3:21:20 (Full Story).

Many elite and freak runners were at the Monkey this year, in addition to Ben and Traci, including Dallas Smith, Chuck Engle, Josh Hite, Michael Henze, Naresh Kumar, Angela Ivory, Gary Krugger, Morgan Cummings, Catie Caldwell, Chris Estes, Meredith Smith, and Samantha Green among many others.

(Check back later for more photos…maybe)

Here is a sneak peak of the 2010 Flying Monkey Marathon poster that was leaked online earlier this week.

The popular cult-like marathon takes place this Sunday, November 21st, 2010.  The up-and-down course is located in Nashville’s Harpeth Hills.

The event filled up in just 32 minutes this year and is limited to approximately 275 runners.

Many veteran Monkey runners claim the marathon is one of the 10 most difficult marathons in the United States.

Check out the Flying Monkey Marathon Website for more details.

Beth McCurdy Yelling Encouragement at Dena Farris Cyr

Some runners love having a pacer to help them reach their distance and time goals, while other runners despise or never need one.  Pacers can often be silent while running beside or in front of you. However, sometimes they can yell at you louder than a drill sergeant laying into Gomer Pyle at basic training in order to motivate you.

Here is what veteran runner Beth McCurdy had to say about pacing:

Most runners define a pacer as “an experienced runner who sets the pace in a marathon to help another runner reach their goal finish time”. If someone paces me, I prefer the laid back approach of simply running along side of me and maintaining a fairly steady pace. Volunteer pace leaders in marathons are great for this purpose.

However, sometimes a more, shall we say, aggressive approach is necessary for certain individuals-maybe even a little bit of lying. “If you don’t stay with me, YOU are NOT going to make it”. Or, “After this gravel road stretch, we are there!”

Beth can be seen in the photo above yelling ‘encouragement’ to her friend Dena Farris Cyr.  It should be noted though that Dena owns a Boot Camp Franchise called Operation Boot Camp.  So Dena likely responds very well to the way Beth is pacing her here at the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon.

Do you like having a pacer when you run?  Does a pacer help you run harder/faster or just help the time fly by?

Ethiopian Gebre Gebrmariam won the 2010 ING New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 7, 2010 with a time of 2:0814.  He beat Kenyan Emmanuel Mutai, by over a minute, as Mutai finished in 2:09:18.

Kenyan Edna Kiplagat was the fastest woman winning with a time of 2:28:20, barely edging out American Shalane Flanagan by just 20 seconds (2:28:40).

Elite Men’s 2010 NYC Marathon Results

1. Gebre Gebrmariam (Ethiopia) – 2:08:14
2. Emmanuel Mutai (Kenya) – 2:09:18
3. Moses Kigen Kipkosgei (Kenya) – 2:10:39
4. Abderrahim Goumri (Morocco) – 2:10:51
5. James Kwambai (Kenya) – 2:11:31
6. Meb Keflezighi (USA) – 2:11:38
7. Marilson Gomes Dos Santos (Brazil) – 2:11:51
8. Dathan Ritzenhein (USA) – 2:12:33
9. Abel Kirui (Kenya) – 2:13:01
10. Abderrahime Bouramdane (Morroco) – 2:14:07

Elite Women’s 2010 NYC Marathon Results

1. Edna Kiplagat (Kenya) – 2:28:20
2. Shalane Flanagan (USA) – 2:28:40
3. Mary Keitany (Kenya) – 2:29:01
4. Inga Abitova (Russia) – 2:29:17
5. Kim Smith (USA) – 2:29:28
6. Christelle Daunay (France) – 2:29:29
7. Ludmila Petrova (Russia) – 2:29:41
8. Caroline Rotich (Kenya) – 2:29:46
9. Madai Perez (Mexico) – 2:29:53
10. Buzunesh Deba (USA) – 2:29:55

View Results of All 2010 ING New York City Marathon Finishers

Congrats to Subway’s Jared Fogle, Chilean miner Edison Pena, and everyone else who also ran the 2010 NYC Marathon

The finisher’s medal from the inaugural Tennessee Ragnar Relay from Chattanooga to Nashville (195 miles).

Live blogging from the 2010 Tennessee Ragnar Relay from Chattanooga to Nashville.

PHOTOS FROM BUMPSHACK RACING at RAGNAR

CHECK OUT THE MASSIVE TN RAGNAR RELAY BLING

LIVE BLOG

Bumpshack Racing Final Time – 27 hrs 39 min 21 seconds
– 32nd of 160 Overall
– 10th of 79 Open Division

Team R3 won the relay in 19:47:09
2nd Place: TR2 Slug Monkeys 23:43:47
3rd Place: Blue Suede Shoes 24:12:46

View 2010 Ragnar Relay Tennessee Full Team Results

Sat 1:38pm – We are done. Totally rocked it. Everyone had a blast and really ran it fast. Will update more later. Life calls! On road home, stopped at Sonic getting sweet tea to assist in my toughest leg the past row days.

Travis brought us home with our 36th overall leg. We met him as a team of 12 there on 1st ave. We ran the last 200 yards as a team and crossed the finish line together.  A very happy and joyous occasion for us all.

Perhaps cheesy, but I couldn’t have asked for a better team. We all got along extremely well and had a really fun time pushing each other across 195 miles in 27 hours and 39 minutes.

“Great challenging event that pushes you to the max both physically and mentally. Would totally do it all over again…with some rest of course.” – Josh Watson

Sat 12:30pm – Done with my and Chad’s legs. 15.3 miles. Tough. Get text when done that wife and baby in ER. Baby stopped breathing for bit, turned blue. Three x-rays and bloodwork on baby. Not sure what’s wrong, maybe obstruction in stomach. Speeding home shortly after done.

Miller is currently running next to last leg, then Travis and we are done.

Sat 8:33am – Kirk came in strong but spent. Van 1 set a high standard throughout. Those guys can now shower (at Tommy’s condo), relax, and start the party (at Hooters) if they can still move.

Van 2, led by Estes, is off to finish this off.

Sat 6:58am – Van 2 with little to no sleep. I have none as most have little if any. I did get a very cold shower in the girl’s locker room at the school we stopped by. Very cold Shower and old-school open for the locker room to see! Oriental woman walked in astonished I was using their shower. But I chatted her up and she became friendly telling me about her running so far. About 8 other women walked in during this time all with the same look. I finished getting dressed and told them I enjoyed it and we’d do it again some time.

Chad is injured so I am going to attempt his leg, as well, after my 9 mile leg in a bit. Won’t lie, I have no clue how my body will respond to 15.3 more miles on no sleep, after 2 fast legs already in the tank, but we as a team will get it done some how.

Van 1 during this time has continued their torrid pace. Gene, Josh Watson, Flowers, and Tommy are done with all of their legs. Van 2 should take over again around 8:30am to bring this home and to our bling at the end of the rainbow.

Sat 3:30am – Chad’s run across Shelbyville turned into a skip-to-my-Lou across Shelbyville as the ‘One-Legged Pony’s’ calf started acting the fool.

Scott ‘Heather’ Miller is out running abacus fast. Travis is up soon, then we are off to attempt sleep as Van 1 takes over.

Sat 2:30am – Just finished my 2nd leg (21st overall). It was very cold so I just took off at about 7:25 pace for first 3 miles. I felt good, so I kept pushing hard. Did last 3.8 at about 7:04 pace. Caught some people on last mile. Finished 6.8 mile leg at 49:09, 7:13 pace. So much better than first crap run. (New pace record for Bumpshack Racing so far).

One-Legged Pony Richardson is currently running through Shelbyville. Rest of guys in Van 2 have nicknamed me ‘Hot Flash.’ I have tried to shorten this to ‘Flash’ but to no avail.

Garth ‘Darth’ Bentley is seriously doing a great job getting us to these exchange points and supporting us along the route.  ‘Darth’ just got renamed as ‘Hoke’ for you ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ fans.

Sat 1:30am – Estes said he had a hard time breathing but still set the fastest pace for our team, so far, at 7:15 for his 2.7 mile leg.  We will see how long this stands.

Fri 11:15pm – At exchange waiting on Van 1 that has, like Sherman, blazed through their second set of legs. The entire team Gene, Watson, Flowers, Tommy, Andy, and Kirk have really ran fast. Watson was about 7:30 pace, Flowers 8:08.

Estes is ready to take off on a short 5kish leg once Kirk reaches him. Estes plans to set the fastest pace of the race for the team once he starts.

“Holmes, take your headlamp into the porta-potty, you can’t see crap in there!” – Chad ‘One-legged Pony’ Richardson

Fri 10:10pm – Watson finished his 2nd leg in 43:08 – very fast. Two very fast runs for him. He’s on fire.  Flowers running now.

Fri 10:00pm – Still waiting at fancy Italian place in Winchester (oxymoron?!) for our food…Van2.  The fancy Italian place took about 2 hours to serve and feed us but was worth the wait. Great food and bonding time with Van 2.  Our van, mostly strangers before the race, has quickly become friends and fans of each other.

“She was wearing tutu, and she blew me away!” – Travis Lampley

Fri 8:38pm – Travis ‘Quad City DJ’ brought us down off the mountain. 1/3 of the legs are in the books. Van 1 is back running with ‘Mean’ Gene starting round 2 of their legs. Both vans got to spend a good amount of time together at this last exchange.

Van 2 is now off in search of food and relaxation.

“It was rough, but it was fun!” – Travis Lampley

Fri 7:30pm – Scott Miller had a very fast run thru Sewanee before handing off to Travis.

“Knock’em off!” -Scott Miller

Fri 6:07pm – Estes battled the mountain and sleet and rain and some how pushed it hard. Brandon then took over for leg 8 and smoked his leg on top of the mountain. I took leg 9 which was a ‘Support’ leg which really means no course-support, that it’s up to your team.  Myself and team figured this out about 3.5 miles in. I struggled hard the first 4 miles before finding a semi-decent balance the last 2. The thin air, cold, and just my suckness made it a tough leg for me.  Still managed a decent pace.

Chad took over for leg 10 as darkness totally took over.  He looked strong when we just passed him.  It is getting colder, but everyone is running really well. Our 2nd runs, starting with Van 1 here in a bit will start to challenge us all as it gets colder.

Garth is doing a great job navigating the van.  About time to eat!

“Thinking about the Lonestar concert at the end helped me garner the strength and courage to conquer the mountain.” – Chris Estes

“I ate a potato, so bring on my next leg.” – Brandon ‘Spud’ Piacine

“I think I pulled my hammy hanging a left at that last stop sign.” – Garth Bentley (Van 2 Driver)

Fri 3:46pm – Van 2 is off and going. Estes is currently attacking the mountian. He looked very strong when we passed him in the van. The van struggled but made it up the mountain.  Brandon is now waiting at the exchange spot for Estes to meet him. Just as Brandon hopped out it started raining and sleeting.  It’s starting to get fun.  I’m up after Brandon, then Richardson, Miller, Lampley.

At the Van exchange where vans switched Kirk came in extremely fast and soaked. He ran as fast as he ever has. He seemed tired but excited.  Ready to run!  I will update pics as soon as I have a 3G signal.

Fri 1:42pm – Van 2 is checked in at exchange 6 and ready to go. Flowers ran a strong 3rd leg, as did Tommy. Andy is currently running then Kirk.  The weather has been cold, raining, sunny, warm, repeat!

Estes is ready to climb Mt. Eagle and fly with the birds.

Garth tried to put window paint on our van to decorate…below the windows, on the paint.  Immediate panic and dash to bathroom for towels to wash it off.

Van 2 in van, staying warm, waiting on Van 1 and Kirk to arrive.

Thanks to Scott Miller for the usage of the computer and wifi-card.

Fri 12:05pm – Gene smoked leg 1 in 65 minutes. Cab setting the bar high. Great start.

Fri 11:00am – Gene is off at the start after proposing to a girl in the stands during intros. Very cold at the start.  Ran into some Jackson friends, Jennifer Vailes Jones, Mandy Hill Reeves and her husband Randy Reeves as well.

Us Van 2 guys are currently at the Mellow Mushroom carbing up.  Chad and myself thought it would be a good idea to split and finish off a 16-inch Hawaiian pizza before our first leg.

Fri 9:26am – In van, on way to start line. Photos on link above.

Friday 7:15am – Up, quick shower, then down to meet rest of team to see them off at start. I couldn’t turn my brain off. Fell asleep about 3:00am. Will get food with Van 2 runners at some point. Estes is ready for some bling.

Thursday 10:00pm – Met up with Chris Estes and Tommy Dabbs in Nashville at Tommy’s place around 1pm. We got a quick bite at The Corner Pub before van driver Jon Arnold graciously picked us up to take us to the team meeting spot in Murfreesboro. Everyone quickly introduced themselves to the guys they didn’t know.

We then boarded our respective vans and headed down to our luxury hotel, the Microtel (yes, mirrors on every wall. Gene and Kirk were pumped to be sharing a room), in Chattanooga. After a gaffe by the hotel, giving half the guy’s room we headed to Carraba’s for a nice pasta-carb load and socializing among ourselves.

Then 7 guys boarded van 2 to head back to the hotel for some sleep while the remaining 5 runners and our teo drivers headed to the Fox and Hound for drinks. Most of our leadoff van headed to the Hound so it could me an interesting start to the morning.

I passed out the team shirts to the guys who came back, and everyone seemed to approve. About to attempt some sleep. Van 2 plans to head to the start with Van 1 to see them off.

Check back tomorrow for updates when the connection allows.

It’s going to be a blast.

I will be live blogging my experience doing my first Ragnar Relay race.  Our 12-person team, Bumpshack Racing, consists of myself Joshua Holmes, Scott Flowers, Kirk Catron, Tommy Dabbs, Chris Estes, Gene Caballero, Travis Lampley, Brandon Piacine, Scott Miller, Andy Schmeltzer, Chad Richardson, and Josh Watson.

Each Ragnar team (except the Ultra teams) consist of 12 runners split into two separate vans with each runner running 3 legs throughout the relay.  Every runner must stay in the same order throughout the race.

We are fortunate to have Garth Bentley and John Arnold driving our vans throughout the relay.

We will be meeting up in Murfreesboro tomorrow afternoon, hopping in two 15-person passenger vans, and making the trek down to Chattanooga to get settled in for pasta, socializing, and perhaps even a little bit of rest for our 195-mile journey starting on Friday morning.

Van #1 – Gene, Watson, Flowers, Dabbs, Schmeltzer, Catron
Van #2 – Estes, Piacine, Holmes, Richardson, Miller, Lampley

Most of my updates during the live blog will be centered around Van #2 since that is where I will be spending most of my time.  There will be several times during the relay though where both vans will be together.

Ragnar Relay Website

Race Start Time: November 5, 2010 – 11:00am (Downtown Chattanooga)

(Refresh Page for Updates Until the Race is Over)

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Photos from the 2010 Tennessee Ragnar Relay of Team Bumpshack Racing

Read Bumpshack Racing’s Ragnar Live Blog

2010 Finisher’s Medal/Bling for Bumpshack Racing Powered by RunItFast.com

Josh Watson ready for leg 2

Estes ready to start van 2 off at Leg 7

Bumpshack Racing

Kirk finishing leg 6 STRONG

Tommy Dabbs taking over from Scott Flowers

Ran into fellow Jacksonian Jennifer Vailes Jones at the start. Jennifer is Justin Vailes twin sister.

Kirk giving Gene water during leg 1.

Gene at the start clock.

Team photo at start.

Ready to roll!

Estes and Brandon

Gene Caballero and Chad Richardson at Thur night dinner.

Joshua Holmes and Jon Arnold

English marathon runner Marie-Louise Stenild will attempt to gain entry into the Guinness Book of World Records this week as she aims to run 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days.

If she can pull off the feat she would be the first woman ever to do so.

The effort is also raising money for the Adam Rogers Trust, named for a 13-year-old who did of a brain tumor.

She plans to run the L.A. Marathon ‘Stadium to Sea’ course on Monday in Los Angeles.

Here is a look at the locations and dates where she plans to pull this off:

Best of luck to Marie-Louise on this remarkable challenge.

View Marie-Louise’s Website

CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod wrote an article in the New York Times a couple of days ago complaining about people at his job asking him how fast he ran his first marathon.

Axelrod in the piece refers to the day after a traditional Sunday marathon as ‘Marathon Monday.’

He seems quite perturbed in the piece by his co-workers congratulating him and then following it up by asking, “So, what was your time?”

There was no way this fine fellow, whom I would charitably describe as no stranger to the buffet table, could have had the faintest understanding of what a good time for a 46-year-old first time marathoner might be. Or a bad time, for that matter.

I’m certain that if I’d answered, “3:15:20” or “5:05:47,” it would have been met with the same blank stare as when I told him “4:30.” That’s because he had no earthly idea what the difference might be.

Ouch! I’d hate to be the co-workers who refused to ask or talk to him about his marathon.

I think it’s important to remember that although your marathon might be a huge deal to you, that it means very little or nothing to your co-workers and perimeter friends.

Often they are just being casual and humoring you with interest after watching you limp around the office.  It’s only natural to ask, “What was your time?” or “How long did it take you to do that?”

To the non-marathoner, they usually have no clue how long it takes to run such an obscene distance.  Often times it is more impressive to the person asking the question when you reply with how many hours it took you to finish a marathon.  The mortal friend just can’t conceptualize how someone could run for that long.

For the record, Axelrod ran his first marathon, the New York City Marathon (2009), in 4 hours and 30 minutes.  A very solid time for a 46-year old, first time marathoner.

Jim just needs to relax though about people asking him about his time.  It’s part of the running and marathon game, even more so to non-marathoners.

Also, when you’ve run a really good or fast marathon you want people to ask.

It’s always better to be asked than to blurt out or boast how fast you completed 26.2 miles.

He will likely find out that if he continues to run marathons that people will stop asking him about them all together.

Next time you see Mr. Axelrod ask him what time he ran his last marathon in!

So what are your thoughts on Marathon Monday etiquette?

The Boston Marathon is a Super Bowl of sorts for marathon runners.  There is usually around 25,000 spots for the race with 6,000 of those going to charities and corporations.  That leaves around 19,000 coveted positions for runners who BQ’ed (Boston Qualified) at marathon races throughout the country over the past year.

Last year it took nearly two months for the race to fill up.  Every year before that you could register almost up until race day for the most part.

Yesterday, the first day you could register for the 2011 Boston Marathon, the race filled up in just eight hours.  26,800 runners registered on the Boston Athletic Association website between 9:00 AM and 5:03 PM.

Extreme marathoner Chuck ‘Marathonjunkie’ Engle and others kept dibs on Facebook as the registration numbers kept rising throughout the day. Engle and others claimed computer issues with the Boston Marathon website made it hard early on in the day to sign up.

What does all of that mean?  It means a lot of runners that set the goal of running Boston and qualified at a race during the past year will have to try to qualify again now for the 2012 Boston Marathon.

It does seem a bit harsh and unfair.  One day, one shot, one good internet connection in order to run the Super Bowl of marathons.

Well, there is always next year….maybe!

RELATED: The 10 Best Marathons to Qualify for Boston