Run It Fast®

The ING New York City Marathon is making changes to it’s guaranteed entry guidelines.  First, the Boston Marathon changed it’s registration guidelines and now it’s NYC’s turn to do the same.

NYC, like Boston, is having to make changes in wake of the plethora of marathoners that have popped up in the last decade.

The NYC Marathon is making the changes so that non-guaranteed runners will have a chance, via the lottery, of gaining a spot.

We believe that non-guaranteed entry is an essential element of the democracy of our marathon, and that it enhances the diversity of the marathon field. In order to preserve non-guaranteed entry at the ING New York City Marathon, we are changing some standards and policies.

Here is a look at the ING NYC Marathon Guaranteed Entry Changes:

The following guaranteed entry methods are changing:

Qualifying by cancelling entry. In the past, applicants to the marathon who canceled their entry according to cancellation guidelines were eligible for guaranteed entry to the following year’s race, and could continue to cancel (and receive guaranteed entry) in subsequent years. Our new policy preserves the cancellation policy but prohibits guaranteed entry by this method following a second consecutive cancellation.
Example: Jane is accepted to run the ING New York City Marathon 2011. She develops an injury and cancels her entry. Jane is eligible for guaranteed entry to the 2012 marathon; however, if she enters and then cancels her entry to the 2012 marathon, she is not eligible for guaranteed entry in 2013.

Note: Entrants who cancel and apply for guaranteed entry the following year must meet the application deadline and pay all applicable fees.

For guidelines on cancellation through a charity, consult your charity.
For guidelines on cancellation through an International Travel Partner, consult the ITP.
For Athletes with Disabilities cancellation guidelines, click here.

Qualifying by being denied entry three consecutive times. In the past, applicants to the marathon have been eligible for guaranteed entry if they have been denied entry three years in a row. This policy will be gradually eliminated. Applicants denied entry for the three years 2009-2011 will be eligible for guaranteed entry in 2012. Applicants denied entry for the three years 2010-2012 will be eligible for guaranteed entry in 2013. Applicants denied entry for the three years 2011-2013 will not be eligible for guaranteed entry in 2014.
Example: John applies for non-guaranteed entry in 2011 and is denied. If John was also denied entry in 2009 and 2010, he is eligible for guaranteed entry in 2012. If this is only John’s second consecutive denial, and he is also denied entry in 2012, he is eligible for guaranteed entry in 2013. If he is denied entry in 2011, 2012, and 2013, he is not eligible for guaranteed entry in 2014.

Qualifying by finishing 15 previous New York City Marathons. The ING New York City Marathon offers eligibility for guaranteed entry to runners who have finished 15 or more New York City Marathons. We will discontinue this policy, though we will grandfather in all runners who accumulate 15 or more finishes as of 2015.
Example: Joe has finished 15 New York City Marathons as of 2011. Joe is eligible for guaranteed entry in 2012. Bob, who has finished 11 New York City Marathons as of 2011 and also finishes in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015, is eligible for guaranteed entry in 2016 and going forward. Ed, who accumulates only 14 finishes by 2015, is not eligible for guaranteed entry in 2016, nor going forward (using this guaranteed entry method).

Qualifying with a fast marathon or half-marathon time. The time qualifying standards will be tightened to 75% of age-graded times in five-year increments:

Read all about the new changes on the NYC Marathon Website (HERE)

Boston and NYC are great marathons, but there are hundreds of marathons in the United States alone now. Many of them are just as exciting and challenging.  Most are a lot easier to gain entry to, get to, and run a PR-worthy race.

Houston marathoner Suzy Seely recently became the second woman to run a sub-4 hour marathon in all 50 states.

She finished the Casper Marathon in Wyoming to reach 50 states but had to go back to New York to run a sub-4 hour marathon there to reach the historic milestone.  Seely had run and finished the ING New York City Marathon there back in 1997 but it took her over 4 hours. She ran the marathon that day with her daughter.

How she became interested in running a marathon in all 50 United States:

Seeley, who was named an “outstanding marathoner” in 2005 by marathonguide.com, has now run 161 marathons. She undertook the 50-state effort at the urging of Steve and Paula Boone, the Humble couple who founded the 50 States Marathon Club (website). But it wasn’t until Seeley had completed more than 30 that she started to take it seriously.

So on Sunday, Suzy ran the Wineglass Marathon in Corning, NY in 3:22:16 to reach the sub-4 hour, 50 state feat.

Suzy is now part of the prestigious 50Sub4 Marathon Club (website).

Seely’s PR is a 3:14:52 at the 2006 Austin Marathon.

Congrats to Suzy on an amazing accomplishment.

Read More on Suzy Seely

[hat tip to Chuck Engle]

“I used to do a little, but a little wouldn’t do it, so the little got more and more. I just keep trying to get a little better, said a little better than before” – ‘Mr. Brownstone’ (GNR)

The Lean Horse 100 Mile Ultra Marathon took place on August 27-28, 2011. The race started about 8 miles west of Hot Springs, South Dakota at 6am just as the sun was starting to peak over the Black Hills.

The race was created by running legend Jerry Dunn who ran 200 marathons in 2000 and the New York City Marathon 28x in a row on the NYC course before running the official NYC Marathon on the 29th day.  He did a similar thing with the Boston Marathon as well.  Sports Illustrated even did a brief piece on him back in 2002.

Lean Horse is run on the George S. Mickelson Trail for about 90 miles. The rest of the race is on pavement for about 8 miles and grass/trail for 2 miles. The Mickelson trail is composed of crushed gravel. The surface is extremely smooth and fast for a 100.

About 120 runners started the 100 mile race and 77 finished. A 50K and 50 miler also started at the same time –  so the trail, which is fairly wide, was a bit congested for a few early miles.

It was a warm morning which was an indicator of how hot it would get later on that morning and afternoon. Temperatures seemed to reach the low 90’s from around 11-4.  The trail doesn’t provide too much shade so the sun was hitting us square on for several hours.  This created some runner tan lines that a candy cane would be jealous of.

I hadn’t run in any sort of elevation in a long time so I wasn’t sure how it would impact my running, if at all.  The race started at 4,200 feet above sea level and climbs slowly for the first 50 miles. At mile 26 it reaches 5,500 before dipping back down to 5,200 a few miles later before climbing to the highest point at 5,882 around mile 38.

The elevation was not a factor to me. I just didn’t seem to notice it during the race.

During the heat of the day I could hear the echo of many native prairie rattlesnake’s rattle echoing off the sides of the low mountains I was running between.

Dunn’s main objective is wanting everyone to finish the race. He is lax on some minor things in hopes that as many runners as possible can finish 100 miles. The 30 hour time limit is not relaxed though. All runners have to finish before that time to get an official time and belt buckle.  Those runners finishing in less than 24 hours get a sub-24 buckle.

The race allowed for 4 drop bags that we would cross 7 times at miles 9, 16, 29, 48, 64, 76, and 83.  I found that was very adequate for us non-crewed runners. However, aid stations seemed a bit too spread out at times, especially during the hottest part of the day.  Some aid stations were 6.6 and 8.3 miles apart. That made conservation of water a must at times, especially for those going light with just a handheld water bottle.  A good number of runners had a crew, but I didn’t see any real advantage to that. To me it seemed like a major burden to the family, friend, or hired help that was having to stay awake to help his or her runner.  A crew is not at all necessary for this race.

I had a great first 50 miles. My fastest on record at 11:16:00. At mile 48 though  I started to slow. After running for 11 hours in the heat, and the last 6 on so in direct sun and temps in the 90’s, I was tired. The climb back up from 48 to 58 was grinding. I just wanted to lay down and take a nap.  A runner who had caught me tried to cheerlead and pace me through those miles, but I eventually told her to go on.  I didn’t want to slow anyone else down, especially when they were feeling so good and strong.  A runner must make hay while the sun is out – metaphorically speaking. I later found out that she made a lot of hay and had a really great race.

The course elevation profile makes it out to look as if when you get to mile 55 that it will be downhill the rest of the way home.  This is not true. There are countless climbs…albeit none that are backbreaking. After turning around at mile 48 you climb from 5,018 feet back up to 5,882 feet around the Crazy Horse Monument at mile 58/59.  From that point to the finish it is a pretty nice overall decline in elevation but it rolls a lot.  Most of the elevation drop came in the last 14 miles.

My stomach wasn’t happy for most of the race. Porta-potties were scarce, but big rocks on the side of the trail were available from time to time.  If you ran up on one of these spray-painted rocks then I feel sorry for you. It must have been the bears, bisons or mountain lions.  Too much honey can be a bad thing….so I hear!

There were parts in the last 10 miles where the road was 30 feet wide and the drops so steep that the locals likely ski and snowboard down them in the harsh South Dakota winters.  I’ve never seen a downhill I couldn’t use to my advantage though and at that point I was so ready for the race to be over so I refused to break on the downhills and sped past many runners who thought I had been shot out of a cannon. I did my 95th mile in 9:16 and averaged 12:25 for the last 10 miles.

There has to be a part of every race where you Run It Fast no matter what type of runner you are.

In the last 10 miles I passed nearly 25 runners. No one passed me besides Marc Johnson who came back with 2 miles to go to re-pass me after I had passed him around mile 95.  We talked and ran the last 2 miles in together and looked out for snipers who might be aiming for us from behind. We pushed each other harder than if we had been alone.  I told him he was the stronger runner at that point and that I wasn’t going to race him to the finish.  It was Marc’s first 100 miler, and he did a great job finishing fast.  It was a very nice last couple of miles to finish my second 100 miler.

I finished the Lean Horse 100 in 26:30:57 after being on pace for a sub-24 hour finish for more than 60 miles.  However, I was pleased. I knocked 3 hours and 17 min off my previous 100 mile finish.

The race finished at the Mueller Center in Hot Springs where runners had parked their cars before catching shuttles, vans, cars, scooters to the start line. Dunn couldn’t have been happy when the buses to transport the runners to the starting line were late to arrive.  Almost every runner had hitched a ride from a crewed runner by the time the bus made a cameo.

I hitched a ride from a fellow runner whose wife drove several of us on-edge runners to the start in their family mini-van. Luckily they knew where they were going.

I ran well from miles 1-48 and from 82 to the finish. I struggled from 49-81 but I was still moving well.  I was able to stay healthy throughout the race, unlike my first 100 miler at Rocky Raccoon back in February.  The only real issues I had were two blisters on the ball of both feet and a slightly upset stomach for 70 or so miles of the race.

The Mueller Center is a nice community center that hosted the packet pickup, expo, race Q&A, and finishing line.  A nice spread of food was provided for the runners upon finishing the race there.  Jerry was there to congratulate runners as they finished.  He also had driven his Lean Horse Ale black school bus back down Argyle Road the last few miles yelling encouragement at runners as a cloud of dust kicked up behind the custom ride.

The finisher’s Belt Buckle (see HERE) was extremely nice, shiny, and heavy metal!  A medal was also given to all finisher’s.  Those that placed in their age division received a horse shoe trophy. The male and female winners received a bust of a horse head.

Would I run this race again? Without a doubt! It’s a great place for someone wanting to run their first 100 or PR at the 100 distance.

The town also had a Taco Johns which is 37 and 1/2 degrees of yum!  It made the perfect post-race recovery meal and midnight snack.

Other places I’d recommend to eat in Hot Springs would be Dale’s Family Restaurant and the All-Star Cafe.  Both are local establishments.

Lean Horse 100 Ratings:

• Packet Pick Up/Expo: 8/10
• T-shirt/Goodies: 4/10
• Finisher’s Buckle/Medal: 9/10
• Running Surface: 10/10
• Course Navigability: 8/10
• Aid stations: 6/10
• Race Director(s): 10/10

– joshua holmes (2011)

Lean Horse 100 Website

Norwegian Grete Waitz, one of if not the greatest female marathoner of all-time, has lost a long term battle with cancer at the age of 57-years old on Tuesday (April 19, 2011) in Oslo, Norway.  She had been battling the disease since 2005.

Waitz won the New York City Marathon 9 times. A feat that will never be matched again.  She won every NYC Marathon from 1978 to 1988 with the exceptions of 1981 when Allison Roe won and 1987 when Priscilla Welch won.

She broke the world record three years in a row at the NYC Marathon.  Grete won the London Marathon twice (1983 and 1986) as well.  She had just as much success at the smaller road races she participated in.

Waitz also won a silver medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Apolo Ohno, the most decorated Winter Olympian of all-time, has decided to run the New York City Marathon this fall.

The marathon will be the latest challenge to Ohno who is in intense athletic shape but is not used to endurance competing for longer than a couple of minutes at a time. Most of his speed skating races last anywhere from 40 seconds to just over a couple of minutes.

Subway’s mega-spokesman Jared Fogle (the guy that lost 9 billion pounds and is forever their spokesman) persuaded Ohno into accepting his challenge. Jared asked several other Subway endorsers, but Ohno was the only celeb to say “yes!”

Apolo realizes it will be difficult and much different than the races on ice that he is accustomed to.

“I’m not going to jump out of the starting gates like I’m doing the 500 (meters),” he said. “People will say, ‘Apolo’s looking amazing … now he’s going to the port-a-potty. What’s going on?’ So I do have to change my mentality. I’m going to have to break it up in segments.”

Ohno is a fierce competitor having not only won eight Olympic medals but also the Dancing With the Stars title back in 2007 (with dancing professional Julianne Hough).  So expect Apolo to train hard, run even harder than most expect, and surprise many onlookers and fans at the NYC Marathon.

Ohno has yet to decide if he will compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Be patient and let the running come to you.

… as long as it is “aged with tender loving care.”

I am often approached by beginner runners with questions on how to get faster, how to run longer, what to wear during runs or races, what to eat, etc.  The main questions are usually on the topics of how to run faster and how to run for longer distances.  The answer is, there are no tricks or shortcuts. It takes time to develop speed and endurance.  To improve speed one does have to fine tune speed work sessions into the mix, and with endurance one does have to consistently incorporate long runs into a running regime.  But all this requires time, consistency and patience. It won’t happen over night. Not even close, in most cases.

In the Beginning
I started running after I graduated from Purdue University in May 2000.  I can’t recall exactly why, but I think it was out of boredom.  I had always been very active, but never a runner.  So one day, in early summer 2000, I thought I’d start running.  I ran for about two minutes, and walked for about five minutes or so.  I’m not sure because I didn’t buy a running watch for another six years.

So I kept up this attempt at running for longer periods of time.  I remember, vividly, how difficult at first the  breathing was for me.  I realized very quickly that I had to build up my lung capacity to sustain this ‘running thing’ for longer periods of time.  I kept at it.

Racing Here and There
I ran a few 5ks, and actually finished my first one in just under 25 minutes.  I kept running.  Still no running watch, and I can’t even remember what shoes I had or how often I changed them, or how many miles I ran at a time or at what pace. I just kept running.

In October 2004 I registered for my first half marathon.  I didn’t know anything about half marathons and the farthest distance I had ever run was somewhere between 7-9 miles, I guessed. I joined two other girls who were training for the New York City Marathon on one of their long runs.  It was a few weeks before the Asheville Half Marathon, the half that I registered for, and I ran 16 miles with the two girls.  It was hard, very hard, but I felt good.

I ran my first half marathon, an extremely hilly Asheville Half Marathon, in 1:53:55.  The race organizers didn’t give out finishers medals then, but I didn’t even think about that fact until years later.  And, really, it didn’t matter.

I waited almost a year before I ran my next race (not for any particular reason, I just did), which was the Fireball Moonlite Classic 5k on July 3, 2005, which I finished in 22:10.  After that I ran a few races here and there, but mostly I just ran.  And ran.  And ran.  Oh, and I finally bought a running watch in 2006.

Kickin’ It Into High Gear
After giving birth to my son in March 2008, I was itching to get back in shape.  As soon as I got the much-anticipated ‘OK’ from my doctor, I started running again.  My first run 6 weeks after delivery lasted only 15 minutes, the next was around 28 minutes, and so on.  I ran the Providence Heart and Sole 5 Miler about two months after I gave birth, then the Lexington Medical Center Governor’s Cup 8k a few months later.  In March 2009, nine years after I started running and 5 years after my first half marathon, I ran my second half marathon, the Knoxville Half.

I started running more races, but it wasn’t until January 2010 that I started logging my weekly mileage.  I bought a Garmin in March, ran four more half marathons and started training for my first full marathon … this all occurred 10 years after I first started running.

Moral Of The Story
Be patient, but keep it up!  As a friend and running mentor once told me:  “Don’t force running.  Let the running come to you.”  It may not happen how and when you want it to, but be patient and stick to it.  Believe me, you will be pleasantly surprised and rewarded for your patience and hard work!

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

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?