• Race Fueling Made Simple – Staying hydrated during races isn’t as complicated as you might think.
• The 48-Hour Pre-Race Countdown – Training, nutrition and gear tips for the days leading up to your big race.
• Top-5 Tips For Rock ‘n’ Roll Race Week – Use these 5 simple strategies to make your Rock ‘n’ Roll race-week experience less nerve-racking.

(c) 2012 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

NEW YORK — In keeping with American distance runner Steve Prefontaine’s famous “STOP PRE” shirt that he wore at the 1972 U.S. Olympic Trials, U.S. outdoor 5,000m record-holder Bernard Lagat was wearing his own version at the Millrose Games press conference here today. Sitting before a group of reporters in the wood-paneled and trophy-lined Hall of Fame room at the storied New York Athletic Club, the 37-year-old Lagat, who had won a record eight Wanamaker Miles at the meet, sported a one-of-a-kind white tee shirt that read, in all-capital letters, “MARKED MAN.”

Lagat isn’t going after the mile this year and is instead taking on the 5,000m in the 105th edition of America’s oldest indoor track meet with one goal in mind: break the American indoor record. It was a record that he previously held before his rival, former University of Oregon standout Galen Rupp, broke it by 6/100ths of a second in Birmingham, England in February of last year, clocking 13:11.44.

Elsewhere this weekend, Rupp is on the hunt to take down Lagat’s indoor two-mile record (8:10.07) on Saturday at the USA Track & Field Classic in Fayetteville, Ark. This is why Lagat calls himself a marked man. But Lagat has more than Rupp to worry about on Saturday.

In the 5,000m race at the New Balance Track and Field Center at the Armory in Upper Manhattan, Lagat will be competing against NCAA standout Lawi Lalang. A freshman at the University of Arizona, Lalang is arguably the best collegiate distance runner in the United States. The Kenyan citizen won the NCAA Cross Country individual title in Terre Haute, Indiana last November, and clocked a 3:55.09 mile in Fayetteville, on January 28.

Lagat joked that Lalang, who will be there on Saturday to try for the collegiate record of 13:18.12 set by Rupp in 2009, may very well beat him. Lagat and Lalang train together in Arizona under Coach James Li.

“Behind the joke, there is an element of seriousness,” Lagat admitted. “I’ve trained with this kid for a while now. I’ve had two runs in the last two weeks with him. He is running with a lot of ease. We had a tempo run and I struggled. He was just striding along nicely. He is definitely the guy that could take it. He could win the race. And it’s funny, because I may get the record and that would be great, but I want my little guy to get more confidence with this race.”

Rivalries aside, Lagat is happy with the state of the sport presently in the United States. “It’s going to be great, trying for this record again,” he said. “Change is great. Having Galen going for my record and me going for his on the same day is a very good thing for American track and field.”

Lagat contends that his interval training has gone well for this recent indoor record attempt. He’s been doing 1K repeats and going down to as short as 500-meter repeats with “very little rest” between repetitions. “These are the hardest things,” he admits.

Still, Lagat is a realist about his chances at the Armory. “You can’t be too confident. Things have to go really well,” he says. “My body has to feel well and the race itself has to go well. At the same time, the guys we have asked to help us are really going to push that pace. If we hit that pace and my body feels good, and we hit the 2000m and 3000m, marks in a good time, then I will be in a different mindset. If these pacemakers have done a good job, then we are going to go for it.”

Making small adjustments is key to transitioning from night owl to early bird.

For most night owls the thought of being a morning runner sounds like a dream in a far away land. Waking up early when the snooze button is within reach can seem like an impossible feat for a runner more inclined to sleep in and sneak their run in later in the day. For many runners, however, necessity forces them to run in the morning or they risk not running that day. With a job, family, endless errands and responsibilities, finding time for a run later in the day can seem near impossible at times.

Waking up even just a half hour earlier in the morning is one way to ensure your run happens before you set about tackling your daily schedule and responsibilities. Learning to skip the snooze button and become a morning person is the tough part, but Atlanta psychiatrist and psychologist Tracey Marks, who authored the book “Master Your Sleep”, knows anyone can make themselves a morning person. “I do think its possible for people to switch from being night owls to be able to be more energetic and more alert in the daytime,” Marks says.

Related: What Is The Best Time Of Day To Run?

Marks notes that making this change is not an overnight marvel, but requires making a change to your lifestyle.  “It really is more of a lifestyle change. It’s not a quick fix,” Marks says. “If you’re up until midnight on your iPad [becoming a morning person] is not going to work.”

A runner who makes small adjustments to his or her sleep schedule and works toward becoming a morning person–rather than trying to make the switch over night–will find more success. Here are some of the small lifestyle changes Marks suggests for making the transition to from night owl to early bird.

More Video: Viva Meb! Meb Keflezighi wins U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials

Related: Keflezighi Takes Homes First Olympic Marathon Trials Title

View more videos at: http://nbcsandiego.com.

Many records have been broken in the marathon as more and more talented track athletes forgo racing on the oval for chasing fast times on the roads. This includes Dylan Wykes, originally of Kingston, Ontario, who debuted in the marathon at the tender age of 24, running 2:15:16 at Rotterdam in 2008. Now 28, Wykes has lowered his personal best to 2:12:39. The Providence College alum also competed in the marathon for Canada at the 2009 IAAF World Championships, where he placed 33^rd.

Related: Wykes Runs Away With Half-Marathon Title In Arizona

But on March 4, Wykes faces a do-or-die situation at the Lake Biwa Marathon in Japan, where he hopes to run under the Canadian Olympic standard of 2:11:29 and secure his spot on the 2012 team that will compete in London. At the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in October, he faded to a disappointing 2:12:56 finish.

We spoke with Wykes from the rarefied air of Flagstaff, Ariz., where he’s been training for his final attempt to qualify for the Games. So far Wykes seems to be right on track, as he captured the P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Half Marathon title on January 15 in 1:02:38, winning by nearly six minutes.

Competitor.com: What is your mindset going into your race in Japan?

Dylan Wykes: Just to try and get after the standard. I only have one goal, you know: to meet the Canadian standard. So that’s been my focus, and that’s what I’m going to be focusing on.

How have you dealt with the pressure in your preparations?

I think I’ve put the most pressure on myself, more than anyone else. To be honest, I’ve been trying to keep things pretty low-key, and focus on what I have to do. I’ve just been trying to focus on my own training and get to a point where running the standard is realistic. So I’ve just been trying to focus my energies there, and not worry too much about the pressure.

Since missing the standard in October, how have you rebounded from that disappointment to refocus?

It was definitely disappointing. I looked at Scotiabank as my Olympic Trials, so to speak, and I really wanted to get the standard there on that day, so it definitely took me a while to get back into things and wrap my head around the idea of going through another cycle of training for a marathon. But my coach was on top of things straight-away, and he had a plan and tried to make me realize that my race in Toronto definitely wasn’t a failure. If anything, it was a step in the right direction and we had to keep building on the training that I’d done over the last couple years, and hopefully get fit enough to get the job done in Japan.

What is the importance of making a trip to the Olympics?

It’s something that, even as a kid, you dream of. I don’t think I necessarily as a kid thought of being an Olympian in running, but in general, you think how cool it would be to be an Olympian. Since I’ve gotten into running, that’s been a huge goal of mine. You have time goals and stuff like that, but being an Olympian is something that’s the pinnacle of our sport, in my opinion. To be able to make the Canadian team would be pretty special.

How does a good tune-up like your half marathon a few weeks back give you confidence as you look ahead to race day?

It’s hard when you’re training for a marathon, when you do a race, whether the tune-up race gives you a lot of information or doesn’t. I know people can go out and run a really good half marathon in their build-ups, and then they don’t seem to be able to put it together on the day. But that race for me in Arizona, it was what I was looking for. I wanted to run under 63 minutes, and I did that. So it definitely tells me I’m heading in the right direction for Biwa. I can’t read too much into it and sit back now and tell myself I’m ready to go; I think there’s still work to be done in the coming weeks.

Some marathoners look at this standard and approach it not so much as a race, but as a day to run the standard, and worry about racing at the Olympics. Will you approach your race similarly?

I tend to get out and race pretty aggressive, so I’ll probably give myself a bit of a buffer in terms of pace that I want to go. I just have to feel it out. I think you have to go out pretty aggressively in order to run 2:11:30. If you look at the American Olympic Trials, guys like Brett Gotcher and Andrew Carlson, they would have gotten the Canadian Olympic standard, right? But they were out in about 64:30 for halfway, so I think that’s the way everyone realizes how to race the marathon these days. I don’t actually know what that’s going to mean, if I’m in a pack or I’m going to be out on my own, but I’m just going to have to take it as it comes and hope that everything comes together on the day.

***

About The Author:

Jon Gugala is a freelance writer based in Santa Cruz, California. His work has appeared in Running Times, Runner’s World, and elsewhere. Follow him on Twitter @JonGugala.

(c) 2012 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission

Meseret Defar of Ethiopia is going for an unprecedented fifth straight 3000m title at the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul in March, after taking gold at every edition of the biennial championships since 2004.

“With my third title, I equaled Gabriela Szabo’s record,” said Defar in an interview in Boston last Saturday where she competed in the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, clocking a world-leading 8:33.57 in the 3000m.  ”With the fourth title, I became the first woman to do it.  This would be my fifth, and I will pray that God will help me.”

The Romanian Szabo won the 3000m titles in 1995, 1997 and 1999.

“I’m in great health and I trained very well before coming here,” Defar continued.  ”Starting the season this way has given me confidence.”

Defar’s husband Tewodros Hailu said at the time that she might contest the same distance in Karlsruhe next Sunday, and the websites of the meet and the German athletics association have since reported that she is scheduled to run there on February 12, and challenge the 2010 meet record of 8:41.24 set by Sylvia Kibet of Kenya.

The 5000m world silver medalist Kibet, and the 2009 world 10,000m medalist Meselech Melkamu of Ethiopia join Defar on the start list of the IHM Karlsruhe women’s 3000.  The 2011 indoor world leaders Yenew Alamirew of Ethiopia and Augustine Choge and Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya are scheduled to contest the men’s 3000m there.

“I wanted to run below 8:30 here, and my fitness level should have permitted me to do that,” said the 2004 Olympic 5000m champion Defar in Boston after finishing more than 12 seconds ahead of runners-up Gotytom Gebreslase of Ethiopia and Siham Hilali of Morocco there.  ”But it’s my first race (this season) and the pace was somewhat uneven, and it wasn’t possible. But I’m pleased with the race.

“I want to run just one other race before the World Indoor Championships,” said Defar, who will likely wrap up her pre-championships season in Karlsruhe, and lamented the absence on the 2012 calendar of some of the indoor meets or races of which she has fond memories.  ”The competitions at some of my favorite locations have been cancelled. Stuttgart is a favorite venue of mine, and that competition is not taking place this year. Stockholm is another place I love; (the women’s long distance race at) the meet isn’t taking place there this year.”

Defar set still-standing world indoor records at both venues, running 8:23.72 for 3000m in Stuttgart in 2007 and 14:24.37 for 5000m in Stockholm in 2009.

She came within less than a second of the 3000m mark in 2010 when she clocked 8:24.46 in Stuttgart, and she ran the second fastest 3000m time of 2011, 8:36.91, in Stockholm, a time eclipsed by only her training partner and fellow world indoor medalist Sentayehu Ejigu, who ran 8:30.26 in Birmingham.

The 2010 Doha bronze medalist Ejigu will be aiming to make the World Indoors team again, Defar said. “She’s training, but I don’t know what upcoming races she has scheduled,” Defar explained.

Outdoors in 2012, Defar will concentrate on trying to regain the Olympic 5000m title she lost in Beijing to compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba, but she hasn’t ruled out attempting the 10,000 as well. “At the moment, I am thinking of the 5000m,” she said.

Defar pursued the distance double at the 2009 and 2011 IAAF World Championships, but took 5000m bronze both times behind Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya. After a stellar 2011 season that earned her the prestigious Laureus Sportswoman of the Year Award, Cheruiyot can be counted on to pose a major obstacle at the London Olympics for Defar, as will a fit Dibaba, who returned from an injury absence to win a 10K on the road on New Year’s Eve before taking a 9:21.60 two-mile victory in Boston on Saturday.

However, neither one of those women is expected in Istanbul.  Dibaba has never contested the World Indoors and said in an interview on Saturday that she will not be doing so this year, either. The 2011 double world outdoor champion Cheruiyot, who took silver behind Defar in the Doha indoor 3000, has not yet confirmed her intentions to run in Istanbul.

(c) 2012 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

London Champion Mary Keitany will take part in the upcoming RAK Half Marathon. Photo: All Athletics

Organizers at the RAK Half Marathon announced Thursday an extremely robust elite field set for the February 17th race in the United Arab Emirates. Kenyans Mary Keitany and Geoffrey Mutai headline the event, which is in it’s sixth year.

Keitany, the women’s defending champion, will return to Ras Al Khaimah a year after she set the world record there, running 65:50 to take more than thirty seconds off Lornah Kiplagat’s previous world best of 66:25.  Like many of the athletes announced today, Keitany will be using the February race as an indicator of fitness prior to the April World Marathon Major competitions in Boston and London.  The 30 year-old recently shared her plans to defend her Virgin London Marathon title come April 22.

The men’s elite field features a plethora of long distance aces, led by Mutai, the current World Marathon Majors standings leader and fastest marathoner of all time.  The 30-year-old comes to Ras Al Khaimah ready to prove himself worthy of an Olympic spot, as he is one of six men named in the running for Kenya’s three Olympic Marathon entries.  Mutai will race the RAK Half Marathon before returning to the Boston Marathon, where he aims to defend his 2011 title.

Joining Mutai in the United Arab Emirates will be Rotterdam Marathon champion Wilson Chebet, as well as BMW Frankfurt Marathon winner Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich, both of Kenya. Kipsang Kiprotich is the fourth fastest marathoner of all-time, boasting a personal best of 2:03:42.

Ethiopia’s Tsegaye Kebede and Feyisa Lelisa, bronze medalists at the 2008 Olympic Marathon and 2011 IAAF World Championships Marathon, respectively, will also be competing. In total, nine sub-60:00 half-marathoners will be competing for the $25,000 first place prize.

In addition to Keitany on the women’s side, seven other athletes having run under 70:00 for 13.1 km are entered. Included is 2011 Boston Marathon champion Caroline Kilel, whose personal best of 68:16 is second only to Keitany in the field. Kenya’s Hilda Kibet (68:39), Ethiopia’s Feysa Tadesse (68:44), and Hungary’s Aniko Kalovics (68:58) have all run sub-69 for the distance.

In it’s sixth edition, the RAK Half Marathon is known for extremely fast times, with pacemakers aiding the leaders. The loop course has produced not only Keitany’s world record, but also a 58:52 men’s course record from Patrick Makau. The race is an IAAF Gold Label Road Race.

Former University of Oregon standout Galen Rupp, the current U.S. record-holder in the 10,000m, has a bit of a rivlary going on with Bernard Lagat.

This Saturday, Rupp is hoping to break Lagat’s indoor two-mile mark at the USA Track & Field Classic in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Lagat is a Kenyan-born U.S. citizen. He set the record last year at 8:10.07.

“We’ve got a pacer to bring us through at 4:05, 4:06,” said Rupp’s coach, former New York City and Boston Marathon champion, Alberto Salazar.

Meanwhile, at the Millrose Games on Saturday in New York City, Lagat is hoping break the indoor 5,000m U.S. record that is currently owned by Rupp (13:11.44). Rupp set that mark in Birmingham, England last year on February 19.

For More: Oregon Live

Running is a punishing sport. In training and racing we beat on our bodies, and–let’s be honest–in a masochistic sort of way, competitive runners enjoy the thrill of kicking their own butts to the point of being completely spent when there’s a personal best at stake.

But, our bodies are only human after all and we’re constantly riding the fine line between doing just enough and not doing too much in training. It’s a struggle all runners deal with regardless of ability level–from high school harrier to collegiate standout, and from local weekend warrior to Olympic hero.

Some athletes have been coined as injury prone, and for one reason or another they are more susceptible to getting hurt. Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein is no stranger to injuries, as half of his last year of training and racing was swallowed up by them. When asked if he’s just unlucky and prone to getting injured, his thoughts were rather that when you’re constantly pushing the envelope at the level he trains, it’s just a part of the game.

For Ritzenhein it’s worth taking risks to get a true, one-hundred percent performance out of himself; he could back off more for the sake of being cautious, but that 10% margin of loss wouldn’t grant him a reflection of all he was truly capable of achieving.

By backing off ten percent perhaps one would be injured less–or, you could gamble, go all in and wind up with the race of your life. It’s like walking on the edge of a cliff. Sometimes you fall off and wind up injured, other times you don’t and you wind up with the performance of a lifetime–like Ritzenhein did when he broke the American Record in the 5,000 meters two summers ago.

More Video: Shoe Talk on Competitor.com

Do you have a treadmill that’s gathering more dust than mileage? Or is basement boredom getting the best of you as you run down the road to nowhere this winter?

Outside Interactive is a Boston-based company founded by Gary McNamee that offers treadmill runners a way to virtually run well-known race courses, popular running routes and in exotic international destinations from the comfort of their own machine.

With two innovative products–a Pre-Paced DVD series, as well as the more intuitive Virtual Runner Software–runners can break up the boredom that forces many to give up on indoor running altogether.

Think Outside The Mill: How To Make The Most Of Treadmill Running

The Pre-Paced DVDs work with any DVD player and treadmill. They’re menu driven and give runners the ability to pre-select the desired “pace” they wish the video speed to run. There is also an audio/mute option which allows you to either hear the natural sound that was recorded when the video was made, or simply listen to your own music. There’s also the option to start your run anywhere along a course (at a given mile marker), which gives you the opportunity to perform a number of different workouts on the same part of a course, or spread a number of workouts out along a particular course–say, Boston–over the course of a week. It’s pretty wild!

With the aid of a footpod (included), the Virtual Runner Software package dynamically adjusts the speed of the video based on the pace you’re running. As you speed up or slow down, the video automatically adjusts the pace so you can take in the scenery in real time.

All videos are shot from a runner’s point of view, giving you the opportunity to see popular race courses as if you were actually there. With landmarks, mile markers and even elevation prompts to let you know when to adjust the incline on your treadmill, you can simulate running up Heartbreak Hill from the comfort of your own home. Other popular virtual running options include New York’s Central Park, the Australian Outback at sunrise, rice fields in Bali, or a scenic sunset stroll along the shores of Maui.

“This is very cool,” said Eric Blake, the world -record holder for the marathon on a treadmill by way of his 2:21:40 clocking in 2006. “I actually feel like I’m on the course. With all the twists and turns, it’s like chapters in a book. You feel like you’re making progress. Without realizing it, you’re an hour in. That’s cool.”

“This is truly a game changer,” said Sharon Gayter, who sat a world record this past December for the most miles covered on a treadmill in 7 days when she ran 517.33 miles. “Running over 18 hours a day for 7 days while chasing the records, my biggest challenge was boredom. Outside Interactive has made great strides in making treadmill running more engaging and fun.”

For more information on both of these products, and to check out a video demonstration of a few of the virtual courses Outside Interactive has to offer, visit www.outsideinteractive.com.

I get a lot of e-mails. Most of them are asking me for something, whether it’s to wear their gear at my next race or to promote their business in my column.

But recently, I got a letter from the Arizona State University Cycling and Triathlon Club that stuck out.

Most people think triathletes are a bunch of elitist pricks with a sense of entitlement, that they’ll throw money around to get the best gear as a substitute for hard work. The same has been said about many collegiate student-athletes – trust-fund babies who are given a college degree in exchange for scoring touchdowns and goals.

Though logic would seem to dictate students involved in college triathlon clubs would create some spectacular brand of super-jerk triathlete, the truth is quite the opposite: These kids don’t meet any of those stereotypes.

In the letter I received from the ASU Triathlon Club’s president, Lindsey, was thoughtful, smart, and articulate. Though I currently work at ASU and have been teaching at the collegiate level for 6 years, I’ve yet to meet a student who made such a great first impression. I’ve met multiple members of the cycling and triathlon club at races in the Phoenix area, and I’m always impressed. They’re amazing ambassadors for the sport.

It’s not just ASU’s Cycling and Triathlon Club. Across the United States, triathlon is thriving on college and university campuses, filled with intelligent and committed students.

Members of college or university triathlon clubs will work two or three jobs each summer to buy a secondhand bike, which they will proudly ride until they graduate (and sometimes, for years beyond graduation).

They give up three or four weekends in a row to volunteer multiple races, in exchange for a free entry to one race.

They write countless letters asking for team sponsors, and receive almost an equal number of rejections, all while reading about their school’s partnership with Nike for new football team uniforms or the basketball team’s training camp in Florida.

These students will pile into a cheap rented van and drive for days to participate in the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championships in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Several months later, when Tuscaloosa is destroyed by a large, violent tornado, these students will get back in that same van to help rebuild the community which was so kind and supportive on race day.

When their counterparts are partying into the night, they’re having pasta dinners and going to bed early in preparation for the 5 AM track workout. At breakfast, they tutor each other in math and proofread each research papers to ensure everyone is earning good grades.

These students have absolutely no reason to participate in Triathlon Club during their college career. Most of their future employers, upon seeing this activity on a resume, will scoff and ask, “Triathlon? What’s that?”

These students do triathlon for one simple reason: Because they love to. If these students are the future of the sport, I couldn’t be more excited.

That’s why, when Lindsey e-mailed me to ask if I could help promote their fundraiser for the ASU Cycling and Triathlon Club, I wasted no time in responding with an emphatic yes. If you’re in Phoenix on March 24, there’s a 5K/10K race you simply won’t want to miss. Go register here…you won’t regret it.

If you’re not in the city, please, please, please – check out your local colleges and universities to see if they have a triathlon club. Chances are, the students involved would love your support, whether it’s a donation toward race fees or an invitation to join you and your friends on your next training ride. Trust me – you’ll get just as much out of it as they will.

I recently showed this e-mail to one of my fellow college professors, also a triathlete. Though we both love our jobs, many faculty deal with challenging situations with students, leaving us feeling overwhelmed and underappreciated on campus. As he read the e-mail, his face began to soften. By the time he got to the signature line, he sighed:

“The kids are all right after all.”

Yes, indeed. The kids are all right.

****

About The Author:

Susan Lacke does 5Ks, Ironman Triathlons, and everything in between to justify her love for cupcakes (yes, she eats that many). In addition to writing for Competitor, she serves as Resident Triathlete for No Meat Athlete, a website dedicated to vegetarian endurance athletes. Susan lives and trains in Phoenix, Arizona with three animals: A labrador, a cattle dog, and a freakishly tall triathlete boyfriend. She claims to be of sound mind, though this has yet to be substantiated by a medical expert. Follow her on Twitter: @SusanLacke

(c) 2012 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

Organizers of the Boston Marathon released their elite fields today, and defending champions Geoffrey Mutai and Caroline Kilel of Kenya will be facing very strong competition as they run from Hopkinton to Boston’s Back Bay in the 116th edition of America’s oldest marathon. The event, part of the five-race World Marathon Majors series, is scheduled for Monday, April 16, Patriots’ Day in the state of Massachusetts.

Ethiopia’s Gebre Gebremariam, the 2010 ING New York City Marathon from Ethiopia, and Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot, the 2010 Boston Marathon champion from Kenya, lead the list of Mutai’s challengers. Gebremariam ran Boston last year, finishing third in a personal best 2:04:53, and Kiprono Cheruiyot –who ran his career best time of 2:05:52 when he won Boston two years ago– finished sixth last year in 2:06:43.

Also competing from Kenya, organizers said, are 2011 Rotterdam Marathon winner Wilson Chebet (2:05:27 PB), 2011 Bank of America Chicago Marathon second place finisher Wesley Korir (2:06:15), last year’s third-placer at Chicago Bernard Kipyego (2:06:29), 2011 Fukuoka Marathon champion Josphat Ndambiri (2:07:36), 2011 BMW Frankfurt Marathon runner-up Levy Matebo (2:05:16), 2012 Xiamen Marathon winner Peter Kamais (2:07:37), 2011 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon champion David Barmasai (2:07:18), and 2011 Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half-Marathon champion Mathew Kisorio (2:10:58).

Two Americans, Jason Hartmann (2:11:06 PB) and Antonio Vega (2:13:47) are also entered. Hartmann finished a disappointing 32nd at the USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Houston last month, while Vega was forced to skip the Trials because an injury last year made it impossible for him to train and be ready.

“One of the cornerstones of any top marathon in the world is the elite field,” commented Boston Athletic Association executive director Tom Grilk, whose organization founded and owns the Boston Marathon. “Through the superb collaborative efforts with our long-standing partner, John Hancock, and its recruitment excellence over the past 27 years, the Boston Marathon has continued to thrive on fast times and a true competitive nature. John Hancock’s sponsorship of our elite runners in this year’s event will no doubt once again inspire all those associated with the race. It is a model partnership that works extraordinarily well for everyone.”

The women’s field will also be power-packed. Chasing Kilel will be Kenyans Sharon Cherop and Caroline Rotich. Cherop, the world championships marathon bronze medalist from Daegu last summer, also finished third at Boston last year and has a personal best time of 2:22:39, set in Dubai last month. Rotich is the reigning NYC Half Marathon champion and finished fourth in Boston last year in a career best 2:24:26.

The Ethiopian women’s squad at Boston will be exceptionally good, led by national record holder Aselefech Mergia, who just won in Dubai in a blistering 2:19:31. Joining her will be the 1-2 finishers from last November’s ING New York City Marathon, Firehiwot Dado (2:23:15 PB) and Buzunesh Deba (2:23:19), and 2011 BMW Frankfurt Marathon champion Mamitu Daska (2:21:59).

Russians Galina Bogomolova (2:20:47 PB) and Alevtina Biktimirova (2:25:12) will also be in the field.

John Hancock Financial is celebrating the 150th anniversary of their company this year, and see the Boston Marathon as a great way to express their corporate pride.

“In celebration of our 150th anniversary as a company, this year’s field is faster and more competitive than ever before,” crowed Rob Friedman, Hancock’s sports marketing chief. “We know these talented runners will provide the millions of fans around the world with another spectacular race, and we are counting down the days to April 16th.”

(c) 2012 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

NEW YORK — Thomas Dold of Germany and Melissa Moon of New Zealand won the 35th edition of the Empire State Building Run-Up here last night. This was the first time the race was held at night, and athletes were greeted by a moderate snow squall when they emerged into the cold air outside on the 86th floor observation deck of this city’s tallest building.

Dold, 27, from Stuttgart, won the race for a record seventh time. He climbed the 1576 steps in 10 minutes and 28 seconds, eight seconds ahead of Christian Riedl, a 31 year-old German from Erlangen. Third place went to Mark Bourne, a 38 year-old Australian from Canberra, in 10:55. Former Australian road running star, Darren Wilson of Adelaide, finished fourth.

Dold is now holds more Run-Up victories than anyone, but did not come close to the event record of 9 minutes and 33 seconds set by Australia’s Paul Crake in 2003. Crake, a five-time winner of the event, was paralyzed in 2006 after a cycling accident.

In the women’s contest, Moon won here for the second time (she also won in 2010). The 42 year-old two-time world mountain running champion from Wellington, clocked 12 minutes and 39 seconds, handily beating second place Suzy Walsham, a 38 year-old former middle distance runner from Australia who won this race three times. Walsham, who lives in Singapore, stopped the clock at 13:08. Three-time Ironman triathlon world champion Chrissie Wellington of England finished third in her first attempt at the race, and was timed in 13:15. Wellington had only entered the race yesterday morning.

With the exception of the runners who competed in the invitational section, athletes ran this year’s race in time-trial fashion, going off from the building’s art decco lobby in 10-second intervals. A total of 441 men and 225 women finished the race, according to the New York Road Runners, the not-for-profit race organization which which founded and organizes the event.

London is going to be an important city this year for the world-record holder in the marathon, Patrick Makau. According to a report posted on the Sydney Morning Herald’s Web site, Makau will be entering the Virgin London Marathon in April and then going for an Olympic gold three months later in the same British capital.

“I am ready to run the London Marathon in April and also in the Olympics,” Makau said.

With a blazing time of two hours three minutes and thirty-eight seconds, Makau is the fastest offiical marathoner in history and is on the provisional list of athletes that Kenya is considering for Olympic team selection.

On February 19, Makau will be racing a half marathon in Nairobi, Kenya as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) that is based there.

“The competition will be tough but I am preparing well and I think I will be in good shape,” Makau said.

For More: Sydney Morning Herald

The former marathon world -record holder, Paul Tergat of Kenya, has a relevation to share: Patrick Makau’s world record (2:03:38) won’t be around for long.

Another Kenyan legend in distance running, Ibrahim Hussein, agrees with Tergat. “During my time we were doing 2:08,” Hussein, a three-time Boston Marathon champion, said. ”I was instrumental in convincing Paul Tergat, while he was still a cross-country runner, to switch to the marathon and run a 2:04 which he subsequently did and went ahead and broke the world record.”

Tergat once held the marathon mark at 2:04:55, a time he set nine years ago in Berlin. He thinks Makau’s record will be broken by another Kenyan. “I am happy that the world record came home to where it belongs and I will be much happier if the mark is lowered by my fellow countryman when that time comes,” he said.

Kenya certainly has the depth of talent to pull this off, which doesn’t make Tergat’s remarks that much of a surprise.

For More: Zee News

When Joe Bastianitch turned 35, he took stock of his life: He was overweight, had high blood pressure and cholesterol, and was fed up with his sleep apnea. When his doctor suggested that losing weight might help cure his ailments, Bastianitch immediately changed his life; he started running and eventually dropped 45 pounds. “It’s a part of my life,” says Bastianitch about running. “I wake up in the morning and I run.”

It wasn’t the first time Bastianitch had reinvented himself. When the 43-year-old New Yorker, who splits his time between Italy and his home in Greenwich, Conn., graduated from college, he spent a year working on Wall Street and hated it. He bought a one-way ticket to Italy and left the rest the chance. He worked in his parents’ restaurant when he was growing up, so he used that experience to get jobs in restaurants and vineyards in Italy. When he decided to return to New York City, he partnered with his mother, renowned Italian chef, television cooking show host and cookbook author Lidia Bastianitch, to open Babbo, one of the city’s landmark Italian restaurants. He also partnered with the Food Network star chef and construction cone orange clogs-clad Mario Batali to grow his restaurant empire and open a wine shop.

Never shying away from a challenge, Bastianitch progressed from racing 10Ks to half-marathons to the marathon. He admits to being overzealous with his training for fear of not finishing. “Once you get over the fact that you can run 26.2 miles, then it becomes more enjoyable and you can focus on other things like time and your objectives,” he says. “It’s always a heady experience to this day to run a marathon.” The post-finish euphoria became addictive and soon Bastianitch was completing three marathons per year. But that much pounding and repetition takes a toll and, to hedge the usage injuries Bastianitch began experiencing from running, he added biking and swimming to the mix and, after a few 70.3s, he completed his first Ironman last year in Kona.

Ironically, Bastianitch says it’s a challenge to eat enough when training for an Ironman. “I’m losing too much weight, so I have to actively eat more calories—more than I naturally would,” he says about Ironman training. “I don’t eat dairy, so if you don’t eat dairy, it’s kind of hard. In retrospect, it’s kind of funny.” As long as he maintains his intense training regimen, Bastianitch says he can eat whatever he wants. One of his favorite ways to fuel is with the scoglio, or fish pasta, that follows.

Look for Bastianitch’s new memoir, “Restaurant Man” in bookstores and online.

Chef Joe Bastianich’s Shellfish Pasta

Pomodoro sauce (recipe below)

4-6 medium-sized scallops

8 medium-sized peeled shrimp

8 mussels

8 clams

½ cup white wine

fresh oregano

fresh thyme

olive oil

1 lb. spaghetti

salt and pepper to taste

Heat a small amount of oil in a sauté pan. Saute scallops on medium heat until golden brown on each side or about one minute per side. Set aside. In the same pan sauté shrimp just until they turn light pink. Remove. Cut off the shrimp heads and set aside the shrimp and return the shrimp heads to the sauté pan. Add 1 cup pasta water. Simmer for 10 minutes to create a fish broth, scraping the bottom of the pan with a spatula to release the caramelized bits left over from sautéing. Add fresh springs of oregano and thyme. Salt and pepper to taste. Once the broth is ready, add mussels with a little bit of olive oil and cover with a lid. Remove mussels as soon as they open. Set aside. Repeat with the clams. Remove and set aside.

Boil pasta. While it cooks, strain the fish broth through a sieve. Add back to the same pan, adding half a cup of white wine. Simmer over medium heat to burn off the alcohol. Add scallops back to the pan. Then add half a cup of pomodoro sauce. Add shrimp and a little more pomodoro sauce. Two minutes before the pasta is done, remove from boiling water and add to the sauce pan, stirring to coat with pomodoro cause. Add more pomodoro sauce or pasta water if necessary. Simmer until tender. Fold clams and mussels into the pasta.  Serve immediately.

Pomodoro Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves

1 16 oz. can whole Italian tomatoes

1 teaspoon red chili flakes

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Crush garlic cloves with the heel of your hand. Add to olive oil and sauté until golden brown.

Pour tomatoes into a bowl and squeeze with your hands to break them up. Add tomatoes and their juice to the pan with the garlic. Add salt and pepper and red chili flakes. Simmer over low heat for 45 minutes, adding water to keep the sauce from becoming too thick. Sauce should be a rich red color; if it turns brick red, it’s too thick.