Posted on 04 October 2011.
Singer David Cook, who won the 7th season of the reality singing contest American Idol, has announced that he plans to run the 2012 Los Angeles Marathon.
David is running to raise money for Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure (ABC2). Cook lost his brother Adam to brain cancer back in 2009 at the age of 37-years old after a 11-year battle with the disease.
You can DONATE to his cause HERE!
The 27th L.A. Marathon will take place on March 18, 2012.
Posted in Celebrities, Marathon, RunningComments (0)
Posted on 01 October 2011.
The 2nd Annual Southern Tennessee Plunge Marathon & 1/2 Marathon took place earlier today in Winchester, Tennessee.
It was chilly at the start and windy throughout, but the race conditions overall were great.
2011 Southern Tennessee Plunge Marathon Finisher’s Medal (Perhaps the best of 2011!)
Here is a look at the top male and female finishers from the full and half marathon events:
Top Male STP Marathon Finishers
Top Female STP Marathon Finishers
View List of All Marathon Finishing Times
Top Male STP Half Marathon Finishers
Top Female STP Half Marathon Finishers
Posted in Marathon, ResultsComments (1)
Posted on 28 September 2011.
Here is the finisher’s medal from the 2011 Fox Cities Marathon that took place on September 18, 2011.
Michael Heidke won the race with a time of 2:39:25.
The Marathon Maniacs held it’s annual reunion at Fox Cities this year.
[medal image submitted by @scottstader]
Posted in Bling, Featured, Marathon, MedalsComments (0)
Posted on 26 September 2011.
Here is the 38th Berlin Marathon finisher’s medal from the grand marathon that was run on September 25, 2011 where Patrick Makau set the world record in a time of 2:03:38.
More 2011 Berlin Marathon Stories
[medal image via @runkino who set his own PR at the race in a time of 3:38 (just a week after running 104 miles in 24 hours). Congrats, Kino!]
Posted in Bling, Featured, Marathon, MedalsComments (1)
Posted on 25 September 2011.
Kenya’s Patrick Makau destroyed Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie world record in the marathon when he ran a 2:03:38 at the 38th Berlin Marathon on Sunday in Berlin, Germany. Makau broke Gebrselassie’s world record by 21 seconds.
2011 Berlin Marathon Live Blog & Photos
Haile had the lead and set the pace for most of the race before stepping off the course around the 27th km with what appeared to be either a side cramp or bad back. He started back but was unable to finish.
Top 10 Berlin Male and Female Winners/Finishers
Posted in Celebrities, Marathon, RunningComments (4)
Posted on 24 September 2011.
2011 Berlin Marathon Live Blog Coverage & Results: (REFRESH FOR UPDATES)
10:32am – 38th Berlin Marathon Male and Female Elite Results (LINK)
10:25am – UK’s Paula Radcliffe finishes 2:23:46 (unofficial)
10:20am – Kenya’s Florence Kiplagat wins the women’s title in a time of 2:19:44 (unofficial)
Patrick Makau Smashes World Record at 38th Berlin Marathon
11:04am – RECORD NEW WORLD MARATHON RECORD for PATRICK MAKAU IN 2:03:37
11:00am – 18 seconds ahead of the pace with about 1 km to go.
10:58am – 1:57:15 at 40km for Patrick Makau (2:03:40). Less than 6 minutes til we know…
10:57am – Florence Kiplagat at 1:56:10 at the 35km mark.
10:56am – Approaching 40km for Patrick Makau. 2:03:20 projected finishing time. 39 seconds ahead of the WR pace that Haile holds.
10:53am – 10 minutes until we have a new record. Will it fall? I’ll let you know in 10 min.
10:52am – 38km for Makau
10:49am – 15 minutes til a World Record for Patrick Makau
10:47am -6km to go!
10:46am – Makau with a 2:37 lead over Haile. Edwin Kimaiyo is 2:44 back.
10:44am – 1:42:16 for Makau at the 35km. The world record is in sight. Let’s go Patrick!
10:43am – Makau is trying to repeat…he won Berlin last year.
10:36am – 51 seconds ahead of WR at 33km
10:33am – 49 seconds ahead of the world record pace at 32km for Makau.
10:30am – Patrick Makau is at the 30km mark in 1:27:38. 2:03:02 predicted finishing time which would be a new world record. 12km to go.
10:26am – Florence reached 25km in 1:23:15. Paula Radcliffe is back by a large margin now.
10:26am – Makau has a sizable lead now.
10:25am – Haile is back on the course but is over a minute back. Never underestimate the heart of this champion, but it is looking like he will have no chance to win today.
10:24am – Haile Gebrselassie is DONE! DNF FOR HAILE – He was so strong but has stepped off the course and is done.
10:23am – Haile and Makau are starting to posture each other as the gaming is in full effect now.
10:21am – The pacemakers are falling as the leading men will have to fight it out over the last 15km to see who will win today.
10:19am – Haile Gebrselassie is showing some signs of fatigue. I’d still never bet against him. Never underestimate the heart of a champion and the world record holder.
10:16am – Patrick Makau has taken over the lead (albeit a short one) at the 25km split. Still tightly bound near the top for the men.
10:13am – 19 seconds back is Paula from Florence at the halfway point for the women. Florence continues to run strong (and fast). There might be something wrong with Paula who often has injuries pop up from time to time in between her greatness.
10:09am – Paula has lost 8 more seconds to Florence at the 2okm mark and is now 17 seconds back. Flo hit 20km in 1:06:32
10:04am – At the half way point the men are on a world record pace with 5 men within a second.
10:00am – Men hit 20km at 58:30
9:58am – A rather boring race to this point as the men are nearing the halfway point.
9:55am – Haile has too many pacers in my opinion. As a viewer, they make it hard to see him during the race. I have nothing against pacers in general but they should be limited to 1 or 2 per runner.
9:52am – Florence Kiplagat is at 15km split in 49:50 with Radcliffe 9 seconds back. Radcliffe is continuing to lose distance. Commentators race side think she might be having an issue or injury.
9:46am – Haile 15km split – 43:51
9:39am – Overhead look at Paula and Flo’s lead pack (w/ Flo’s pacers)
9:34am – Paula and Florence reach 10km at 33:16.
9:32am – Very fast pace so far led by Haile. Edwin Kimaiyo and Patrick Makau are there as well. Lead men did 11th-km in 2:55.
9:30am – Men reach 10km at 29:17 (Haile) 2:03:30 pace
9:28am – Haile and his pacing team (below).
9:23am – Florence and Paula just hit the 7km mark. The men are at the 8.5km mark.
9:20am – Haile running at about 23 KPM
And Florence Kiplaglat is leading the women at the 5K mark in 16:37. Radcliffe is literally on her heels.
9:16am – Haile hits the 5K mark at 14:36
9:07am – Berlin is the third largest marathon in the world. 1. New York City, 2. Chicago
9:04am – 3rd time in marathon history that the male and female marathon record holders have been in the same race.
9:04am – 40,963 runners today starting the race. 23% are women.
9:03am – This is Radcliffe’s first marathon since the birth of her second child.
9:00am – And we are off!!!!! The 38th Berlin BMW Marathon is now underway.
Almost perfect conditions: Sunny, only a slight wind, 12 Celsius at the start. Humidity is still a bit high with 75 %
8:58am – Could the Berlin Marathon bibs be any bigger? Placards!!
8:57am – Paula Radcliffe is being mentioned most often at the moment on Twitter with tweets offering her the best of luck.
8:55am – Mixed field today, so sorry women….no world records (STORY!!!)
8:50am – 10 minutes til the start! 125 nations represented.
8:41am (Berlin time) – Several tweets about horrible organization at the start of the Berlin Marathon.
All of the elites are ready to try to set new World Records (or is it World Bests?)
Universal Sports LINK to Watch the Race Live
Will Paula Radcliffe win her 4th Berlin Marathon today? Or perhaps will Irina Mikitenko be able to pull off the upset?
2011 Berlin Marathon Elite Field
MEN
Haile Gebrselassie ETH 18.4.1973 2:03:59
Patrick Makau KEN 2.3.1985 2:04:48
Gilbert Yegon KEN 6.8.1988 2:06:18
Driss El Himer FRA 4.4.1974 2:06:48
Hendrick Ramalaa RSA 2.2.1972 2:06:55
Samuel Kosgei KEN 20.1.1986 2:07:47
Simon Munyutu FRA 27.12.1977 2:09:24
John Kyui KEN 20.10.1984 2:10:00
Emmanuel Samal KEN 5.6.1989 2:10:27
Mikhail Lemaev RUS 23.11.1986 2:10:41
Edwin Kimaiyo KEN 9.2.1986 2:11:22
Sergey Rybin RUS 30.9.1985 2:11:48
James Theuri FRA 30.10.1978 2:12:05
Pedro Nimo ESP 5.6.1980 2:12:10
Joseph Chirlee USA 14.2.1980 2:12:10
Dan Robinson GBR 13.1.1975 2:12:13
Yohanis Abera ETH 13.1.1987 2:12:44
Falk Cierpinski GER 17.5.1978 2:13:30
Jose Moreira POR 5.5.1980 2:13:37
Martin Beckmann GER 15.7.1977 2:13:42
Jose-C. Hernandez ESP 17.3.1978 2:13:46
Martin Fagan IRL 26.6.1983 2:14:06
Ben Whitby GBR 6.1.1977 2:15:09
Andi Jones GBR 10.10.1978 2:15:20
Stefano Scaini ITA 4.5.1983 2:16:48
Markus Weiß-Latzko GER 6.7.1984 Debut
WOMEN
Paula Radcliffe GBR 17.12.1973 2:15:25
Irina Mikitenko GER 23.8.1972 2:19:19
Lidia Simon ROM 4.9.1973 2:22:54
Lidiya Grigoryeva RUS 21.1.1974 2:25:10
Tatyana Petrova RUS 8.4.1983 2:25:53
Nailya Yulamanova RUS 6.9.1980 2:26:05
Rosaria Console ITA 17.12.1979 2:26:45
Anna Incerti ITA 19.1.1978 2:27:33
Claudia Dreher GER 2.5.1971 2:27:55
Anne-Mette Aagaard DEN 5.8.1973 2:35:00
Maja Neuenschwander SUI 13.2.1980 2:35:07
Eri Okubo JPN 2.6.1983 2:35:24
Helen Decker GBR 12.9.1979 2:35:43
Michelle Ross-Cope GBR 31.1.1972 2:36:02
Rebecca Robinson GBR 28.10.1982 2:37:14
Amy Whitehead GBR 29.7.1978 2:39:27
Florence Kiplagat KEN 27.2.1987 Debut
Sonia Samuels GBR 16.5.1979 Debut
Berlin Marathon Twitter Photos
Posted in Events, Marathon, Results, RunningComments (3)
Posted on 23 September 2011.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (I.A.A.F.) has given the middle finger to women marathoners all across the world.
Per the New York Times the IAAF will no longer recognize records that women marathoners set when sharing road courses with male marathoners.
The world governing body for track and field decided in late August that records in women’s road racing will count only if they are set in women’s-only events, to nullify the benefits of pacesetting by faster male runners, a dynamic that can exist in some marathons, half-marathons and 10-kilometer races where men and women are in the same field.
How silly is this ruling? Very….for example:
What was understood to be the women’s world marathon record — the 2 hours 15 minutes 25 seconds that (Paula) Radcliffe ran over 26.2 miles at the 2003 London Marathon, in a mixed race with male pacesetters for elite women — is now out of consideration. So is the 2:17:18 she ran at the Chicago Marathon, another mixed race, in 2002.
What is now the record — yet only the third-fastest race that Radcliffe has run — is the 2:17:42 that she ran in London in 2005. In that race, elite women started 45 minutes ahead of the men’s field, racing and finishing separately, now a common practice in major marathons.
It gets even sillier! The IAAF now calls Radcliffe’s 2:15:25 a ‘World Best.’ So it is no longer the ‘World Record’ but is now a ‘World Best.’
“I also think it is a little unfair to set it like that retroactively,” Radcliffe told Runner’s World.
AUDIO LINK to Radcliffe talking about the IAAF decision.
World Best? That sounds like a cheesy saying off a button from a party store that you give your boss or mother of your kids.
Mary Wittenberg (assumed to be a female), RD of the New York City Marathon and on the IAAF’s road racing commission, had this to say about the new rule:
“The I.A.A.F. wanted to show that women can stand on their own two feet, that they don’t need guys to help them get to world records,” Wittenberg said. “There’s definitely a difference. Women run faster with men as pacers, about a two-minute differential on average.”
The Big Lead’s Sam Eifling, in his blog post on the rule change, put it this way:
And then there was this joint statement by the Association of International Marathons (with 300 member marathons) and the World Marathon Majors (representing the Boston, New York, Chicago, London and Berlin marathons): “The current situation where the fastest time is not now recognized as a record is confusing and unfair and does not respect the history of our sport.”
“It’s a move that could only have been made by an organization that doesn’t know its public relations ass from its elbow,” is how Philip Hersh wrote it in the Chicago Tribune, a family newspaper.
But one of the few charms of road running is that it often allows women and men on the same field, at the same moment. And elite women distance runners tend to hold up relatively well against men. The current women’s world record in the mile, for instance, is about where the men’s world record was 94 years ago. In the marathon, Radcliffe’s times would have beaten the men’s record as recently as 1958.
Professional marathoner Sarah Stanley had this to say about it when I asked her about the ruling:
“The new ruling is absurd. A world record is a world record regardless if it is run in mixed company. Have we reverted back a few century’s? We shouldn’t separate women from the men in races. It is a equal opportunity sport and elite men and women need our support.”
It’s a dumb ruling and to apply it retroactively by take records away from women who have already celebrated setting world records…years ago is even dumber.
When will the IAAF rule that no record can be set at a race where elite runners have specialized sports and nutrition drinks laid out at aid tables for them before the race? That seems like more of an unfair advantage than women running with male pacesetters. Shouldn’t all the runners at a marathon have to drink the same water and sports drink on the course?
I mean if we are going to start dissecting marathoning just for the sake of creating controversy.
[image: Leah Thorvilson]
Posted in Marathon, RunningComments (2)
Posted on 14 September 2011.
Last year, the Southern Tennessee Plunge Marathon & 1/2 Marathon took place in Winchester, Tennessee in early October. Not many knew much about the event, but those that showed up were more than impressed by the organization, bling, and swag from the 1st year race.
The half marathon had 150 runners while the full marathon had 48 finishers. Race Director Whitney Franklin is expecting to build on those numbers for the 2011 version.
This year the full marathon course is suppose to be even faster (fewer hills) and the finishing bling (medals) for both races will be even better than the inaugural version. We’ve been given a preview of the finisher’s medals and they are VERY nice.
Franklin added, “The course is not pancake flat, but it’s not extremely challenging either. It has a few rolling hills and is very scenic, especially around Tims-Ford Lake.”
Both races start and finish on the square in downtown Winchester.
Also, the Southern Tennessee Plunge Marathon is offering all RunItFast.com readers a $10 discount for the race. Just use the code ‘RunItFast’ when signing up.
Run It Fast will also be giving all runners who sign up with the ‘RunItFast’ code a RunItFast.com running tech shirt as well.
The race also offers prize money both to the top runners in the full and half races.
Marathon (Male and Female): 1st – $350, 2nd – $300, 3rd – $250
Half Marathon (Male and Female): 1st – $200, 2nd – $150, 3rd – $100
Top Masters and Grandmasters will receive prize money as well.
Posted in Half Marathon, MarathonComments (1)
Posted on 13 September 2011.
Marathon running god Hal Higdon in his latest blog entry warns runners against excessive barefoot running, especially on pavement, but does believe that ‘going bare’ in moderation is good to strengthen the feet and ankles (and help with athlete’s foot).
…But I worry that the movement toward minimalist shoes is merely a marketing fad ignited by a best-selling book. How can a shoe be barefoot? Isn’t that some sort of oxymoron? And I saw one ad for “barefoot vegan” shoes. So now there are different models depending on your diet? I continue to do some barefoot running (which is good for the muscles of your feet), but only on grass, soft tracks or hard beaches. If the fad sends someone out on a 5-miler barefoot on pavement, unless that person was born in Ethiopia, it’s going to result in more business for podiatrists…
Read Hal’s Full Blog Entry on the Dangers and Benefits of Barefooting
Posted in Running, ShoesComments (2)
Posted on 05 September 2011.
Here is the much anticipated finisher’s medal from the 2011 Tupelo Marathon that took place in Tupelo, Mississippi on September 4, 2011.
The Tupelo Marathon medal annually wins awards as one of the most popular marathon medals with marathoners each year.
The hippy inspired ‘Skull & Crossbones’ medal and race shirt make this one of the more popular marathons in the South every Labor Day weekend.
Was the medal from the Tupelo Marathon a hit or miss this year?
RELATED: 2010 Tupelo Marathon Finisher’s Medal
[medal photo submitted via Daniel Solera, shirt- Jeff Matlock]
Posted in Bling, Featured, Marathon, MedalsComments (1)
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