Run It Fast®

Kenyan Marko Cheseto, an All-American runner for the University of Alaska-Anchorage, had both of his feet amputated due to severe frostbite, after he disappeared for over 48 hours in Anchorage.  Both feet were amputated above the ankle.

Cheseto disappeared on Sunday evening, Nov. 6, wearing jeans, running shoes and a light jacket — no gloves, no hat, no boots, no cellphone. It snowed more than a foot while he was missing and temperatures dropped into single digits.

Then, at about 3 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 9, he was found wandering outside a hotel near the university. The night manager at the SpringHill Suites said paramedics who responded to the hotel’s 911 call were unable to remove Cheseto’s shoes because they were frozen to his feet.

Cheseto was hospitalized with hypothermia and severe frostbite at Providence Alaska Medical Center, where he remains, the university said.

Marko seemed apologetic for his disappearance and vowed to help pay back the Anchorage community for it’s support of him.

“As some may know, I’ve been going through a lot of personal issues,” Cheseto said. “While I am still recovering — both physically and emotionally — I will do my very best to give back to the community that has helped me so much and to my home country, Kenya.

Cheseto recently had to deal with the suicide death of fellow countryman and teammate, William Ritekwiang, who killed himself back in the Spring.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Marko. Hopefully, he can recover and finish his education at UAA where he has been excelling in the classroom.

2011 Flying Monkey Marathon Winner Ben Schneider

Minneapolis native Ben Schneider won his 4th consecutive Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon on Sunday with a time of 2:38:38.

Here are his winning times from the past four years (most recent first): 2:38:38, 2:38:27, 2:38:56, and 2:36:25.

Gary ‘Avatar’ Krugger, the 2nd human to run a sub-3 hour marathon in all 50 states, came in second place in 2:55:51.  Feb ‘The Great Memphian’ Boswell rounded out the podium with a fleet 3:00:36.

Side note: John ‘You all know what I had for breakfast’ Ramsay came in fourth place.

Top 10 Flying Monkey Marathon Men

1. Ben Schneider – 2:38:38
2. Gary Krugger – 2:55:51
3. Feb Boswell – 3:00:36
4. John Ramsay – 3:00:45
5. Greg Kyle – 3:04:19
6. Jeff Mires – 3:07:36
7. Doug Boomer – 3:15:00
8. Josh Hite – 3:18:10
9. Jason Chidester – 3:19:49
10. Drew Watson – 3:20:40

Flying Monkey Female Winner Traci Falbo with Fan Club

Traci Falbo repeated as the female winner of The Monkey.  She blistered her competition with a 3:13:49 and finished 7th overall.

She ran a 3:21:43 last year in winning and a 3:44:28 back in 2009.  Congrats to Traci on the repeat!

Meredith Smith was the 2nd female Monkey across in 3:26:51 while Candice Schneider, wife of Ben (overall winner), took third place in 3:31:04

Top 10 Flying Monkey Marathon Women

1. Traci Falbo – 3:13:49
2. Meredith Smith – 3:26:51
3. Candice Schneider – 3:31:04
4. Theresa Saupe – 3:37:56
5. Rachel Randall – 3:43:06
6. Kristen Suvick – 3:43:28
7. Stephanie Spurgat – 3:47:03
8. Ashlee Tidwell – 3:47:23
9. Sonia Mariano – 3:54:17
10. Jessica Vihon – 3:54:25

2011 Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon Medal

View ALL of the 2011 Flying Monkey Race Results BELOW Continue Reading

Ohio native David Riddle smoked the JFK 50 Mile ultramarathon on Saturday in Maryland with a time of 5:40:45.  Virginia’s Michael Wardian finished nearly as fast in 2nd place in 5:43:24.

Cassie Scallon was the first female finisher in 6:31:22.

2011 JFK 50 Mile Results (Top 10)

1. David Riddle – 5:40:45 (6:49 pace)
2. Michael Wardian – 5:43:24
3. Jeffry Buechler – 5:53:25
4. Kalib Wilkinson – 6:05:05
5. Michael Arnstein – 6:07:54
6. Zach Bitter – 6:11:59
7. Jon Lawler – 6:13:50
8. Matthew Lavine – 6:15:22
9. Jake Reed – 6:16:39
10. Ethan Coffey – 6:21:55

Notable Friends of the Program

• Dink Taylor – 6:59:56
• Hideki Kino – 10:43:00

First and second place finishers gain automatic entry into the 2012 Western States 100.

View Full JFK 50 Results

The 2011 Philadelphia Marathon was run on Sunday in Philly.  Here is the finisher’s medal from the race.

It was a tragic day for the sport as two runners died near the finish of the race.

The marathon was won by Folisho Tuko with a finishing time of 2:19:16.

[Medal photo submitted by John Longo. Follow him on Twitter @speed13jl]

New York native Folisho Tuko won the 2011 Philadelphia Marathon on Sunday in a time of 2:19:16.  He barely edged out Californian Kevin Pool who finished just six seconds behind at 2:19:22.

2011 Philadelphia Marathon Medal

Third place went to Hollary Cheruiyot who was less 41 seconds back of 1st with a time of 2:19:57

2011 Philadelphia Marathon Top 10 Results

1. Folisho Tuko – 2:19:16
2. Kevin Pool – 2:19:22
3. Hollary Cheruiyot – 2:19:57
4. Tyler Gruszewski – 2:20:46
5. Jynocei Basweti – 2:21:01
6. David Bedoya – 2:21:53
7. Philip Kamau – 2:22:02
8. Terrance Shea – 2:24:05
9. Christopher Zablocki – 2:24:11
10. Nicholas Wheeler – 2:24:15

Mariska Kramer was the first female finisher with a time of 2:35:46. Tezeta Dengersa (2:44:05) and Jodie Conway (2:44:09) rounded out the top three females.

View Full Searchable Results on Philadelphia Marathon Website (HERE)

RELATED: Tragic Day in Philly, 2 Runners Die During Philadelphia Marathon

[image: philly.com]

Bad news out of Philadelphia earlier today as two marathoners died during the 18th annual Philadelphia Marathon.

One was a 21-year old who died at the finish line and the other was a 40-year old who collapsed less than 1/2 mile from the finish.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

According to a source, the 21-year-old male is Jeffrey Lee, a California native. Mr. Lee was a senior nursing and business student at The University of Pennslyvania.

Both were rushed to the hospital where they passed away from heart attacks.

Several others were sent to the hospital out of the 25,000 runners that ran the race.

The deaths add to number of those that have already died at marathons this year.

Our thoughts and condolences go out to the families of these two.

We asked on Twitter (@runitfast) where you were running this weekend and a record 41 of you responded!

The most popular events this weekend according to you will be The Flying Monkey Marathon in Nashville, Philadelphia Marathon, Route 66 Marathon in Oklahoma, and Big Sur in California..

Good luck to everyone running this weekend, especially all of you that are running your first 1/2, full, or any distance.  Run It Fast!!!!

Joshua Holmes – @bayou – The 6th Flying Monkey Marathon #MonkeyMarathon

Michele Gonzalez – @nycrunningmama – Knickerbocker 60k in Central Park!! =)

Kiki – @CapnKeeks – I’m running in the Moonlight 4-Miler in Indianapolis on Saturday night. I can’t wait.

Emma Marlow – @emmamarlow – 8.5km in preparation for my 10k race in 3 weeks time #prepgoing well #10km

Gerard Pescatore – @GPescatore – Running 26.2 miles in Philly as a rabbit for my wife as she attempts to qualify for Boston!

Ravelle Mohammed – @ravmo – I’ll be running in LA, along #SantaMonicaBeach

Brad Dulay – @braddulay – Philly Marathon!

Carrie Tarver – @CarrieTarver – I will be at The Ultracentric this weekend running the 24hr race :D!

Amy Ringler – @amyb_714 – halfy is Kansas City-the Gobbler Grind!

Karla Thomas – @kjoto – Fall Classic 10k at beautiful UBC

Half the Girl – @Half_The_Girl – Warrior Dash Central Texas!!

Karen A. – @Karen_Ferri – Philly Marathon!!!

Alberto Barrantes – @AlbBarrantes – Madrid. Spain. About 15 kms.

Beth Lynch – @bethlynch – Running around my neighborhood!

Melissa – @assilem529 – Lincolnwood Turkey Trot!

Lauren McIntire – @Elbiechic – Philly! Doing my first half

Willie May – @williewaysworld – Mesquite Tri States Marathon

TJ – @MrsRMH – #MonkeyMarathon in Smashville

Georgina Walker – @Georgina_w7 – route 66 marathon in Tulsa oklahoma!!! First solo marathon, but feels like home territory so I’m ready to dominate! #livefit

Jarrett Moore – @j_d_moore – @route66marathon Tulsa,OK

Gregory Wilson – @gdubWW – Big Sur Half Marathon on Sunday

Ian Harper – @ianhar01 – Flying Monkey Marathon – I’ll try to stay one step ahead of the Monkeys

Theresa Unruh – @RNrunnerdiva – The Route 66 half marathon, Tulsa, Oklahoma!! My first half ever!!

Lisa Gonzales – @runlikeacoyote – I’m doing 20 miles tomorrow on any hill I can find!

Nathan Kreeger – @KreegSauceRuns – NC Marathon, High Point, NC

Doug Thielen – @dthielen – IM AZ this Sunday! Woot!

Peter G – @peterg11742 – Eisenhower Park, 10 miles

Navin Sandarangain – @navin48 – Doing a half around the block in Montego Bay

Hannah Violin – @hannahviolin – doing the st louis track club marathon relay!

Rugged Radnage – @RuggedRadnage – i am not racing this weekend but organising a10k which is on sunday Rugged Radnage 10k…does that count? 🙂

Joe Herkenstein – @JoeHerkenstein – I’ll be doing a 20km (10km out and back) along the towpath of the Birmingham Canal on Sunday

Suann – @SuannTris – Ultracentric 12 hour! Grapevine TX

David – @DavidRoadRunner – Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon  #monkeymarathon

Hudi – @RunHudi – Tiberias (Galilee) Marathon, Here We Come!

Rigo Tellez – @rigotellez – I’ll run the Mesquite Tri States Marathon. It’ll start in Utah, cross Arizona and finish in Nevada.

Ange Clas – @AngeClas – my wife  @01jodiekelly and me are running the gospprt half marathon on Sunday. Hoping the wind stays down

Aaron Johnston – @aarongeek – recovery run from SA marathon / training run for the @austinmarathon

Craig Brett – @craigbrett – Swindon 10k

Amy G – @AmyG11742 – Team Challenge Long Island 10-12 miles

Scott Stader – @ScottStader – Philly Marathon!! State #20

Monkey Trent – @hhFlyingMonkey – Hey, I will be running the #MonkeyMarathon!

Finisher’s medal from the 2011 Charlotte’s Thunder Road Marathon that took place on November 12, 2011 in North Carolina.

Strong medal, full of color with a nice thick, printed ribbon to top it off.

Charlotte’s Thunder Marathon Website

MORE PHOTOS OF MARATHON/ULTRA MEDALS AND BUCKLES

[Medal photo submitted by Eric Stanbro.  Congrats to Eric who had a PR of 3:51:10.  Follow him on Twitter @ess286]

Sulaiman Seriki completed his first 100 mile ultramarathon back in October at the Heartland 100 in Kansas with a time of 23:16:00.

For his encore, just a few weeks later, he tackled and completed the challenging Pinhoti 100 Mile ultramarathon in Alabama on November 5, 2011.

Sulaiman after the race, “Pinhoti was tougher than I thought, but I’m glad I finished within time limit.”

He was kind enough to send us a photo of his badda-bling buckle from completing Pinhoti.

A very nice 100 mile buckle and well earned by Sulaiman.

MORE PHOTOS OF MARATHON/ULTRA MEDALS AND BUCKLES

[Buckle photo submitted by Sulaiman Seriki]

As we covered the Javelina Jundred 100 mile ultramarathon Saturday night we quickly realized that Hal Koerner had set a course record of 13:47:46.  Shortly after Hal’s finish, Liz Howard totally destroyed and crushed the previous female course record of 17:11:32 (Jamie Donaldson) with a finishing time of 15:47:00.

She has now put her historic race into a race report on her blog.  In it she details her 101.4 mile journey in the 1st installment (read HERE) and her ER visit and hospital stay in the 2nd installment (read HERE).

Here is a quick tidbit from the 2nd installment of Liza’s race report:

I made it to a lovely private room and spent the next ten minutes trying to convince another tech that I should be fed.

“But I ran 100 miles and I’m REALLY hungry.  Actually it was 101.4 miles.  And  I’ve only had a couple of handfuls of Garden Herb Triskets since I finished six hours ago.”

“The kitchen doesn’t open for two more hours.”

I didn’t strangle the tech because my legs weren’t really serviceable anymore and it would have been too difficult with the urinary catheter they’d inserted anyway.

Read more at: Liza Howard’s Javelina Jundred Race Report (Part 1) and (Part 2)

Javelina Jundred 100 Mile Buckle

Related: Hal Koerner Crushes Javelina Jundred 100 Miler Course Record (Results)