CHICAGO – Registration for the 2012 Bank of America Chicago Marathon closed in record time today as the maximum 45,000 participants signed up in six days for the 35th anniversary event. Demand to run the iconic race has increased significantly in recent years, closing 25 days faster than the previous record established last year. A decade ago, the 2003 event closed in 35 weeks.

“Enthusiasm to run the Bank of America Chicago Marathon is at an all-time high with record breaking interest, and we plan to match that level of enthusiasm by providing participants with a first-class race experience at the 35th anniversary event,” said Bank of America Chicago and Illinois Market President Tim Maloney. “Bank of America is proud to create opportunity for 45,000 passionate runners to achieve their goals on race day and to deliver a world class event that has a profound economic and charitable impact on the Chicago community and beyond each year.”

Entry into the sold-out event can still be obtained through the Bank of America Chicago Marathon Charity Program, which has generated more than $70 million for local, national and global causes since its inception in 2002. More than 90 affiliated nonprofits have available entries for the 2012 race. Visit www.chicagomarathon.com for charity program details and information on how to register by joining a charity team.

“What a way to begin the 35th anniversary Bank of America Chicago Marathon with our field filling up in record time. It is truly a testament to the first-class experience we provide to each and every runner on the streets of Chicago,” said Bank of America Chicago Marathon Executive Race Director Carey Pinkowski. “This marks the start of an exciting journey for the participants, as well as for our partners in the community, the City of Chicago, our sponsors and our volunteers. Staging the Bank of America Chicago Marathon is a team effort, and we’re excited to work together to put on a stellar event on October 7 for everyone involved.”

World-record holder Patrick Makau is on the short list to represent Kenya in the Olympics this summer. Photo: IAAF

On Tuesday, the Kenyan Athletics Federation named 12 athletes who stand a chance at representing their country at the 2012 Olympic Marathon. Not surprisingly, world-record holder in the marathon, Patrick Makau is one of them. On the women’s side, world champion Edna Kiplagat has been named.

The Federation also announced that the final six runners (three male and three female) will be selected after the spring marathon season on April 30.

Other males chosen include Boston and New York champion, Geoffrey Mutai, double world champion, Abel Kirui, and Chicago winner Moses Mosop. Additionally, Frankfurt champ Wilson Kipsang and Emmanuel Mutai are on the provisional roster.

“Arriving at the names was not easy since 150 men and 50 women made the A-Standard qualifications,” said Athletics Kenya president Isaiah Kiplagat . “Selectors looked at consistency, the ability to win without pace making, discipline and commitment to represent the country when deciding the names.”

Abel Kirui expressed his pleasure at making the first cut.

“I had a vision that I would run the Olympics in 2012 and I’m really ready for it and my mission is to be in the mix for the final squad in April,” he said.

For More: IAAF

Several members of the Hansons-Brooks distance project work together at the 2010 Chicago Marathon in an effort to post an Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying time. Photo: PhotoRun.net

There are three ways an athlete can qualify for America’s most exclusive marathon.

Written by: Linzay Logan

Running fast enough to qualify is half the battle in making it to the Olympic Marathon Trials, the race that will decide who will represent the United States in the marathon at next summer’s Olympic Games in London. But making the team is not the main goal for each of the 383 runners toeing the line in Houston this Saturday. Sure, the likes of folks like Meb Keflezighi, the 2004 Olympic Marathon silver medalist, and Desi Davila, the runner-up at the 2011 Boston Marathon, have their sights set on making the Olympic team, but for most of the 225 women and 158 men who qualified for the race, getting the chance to run in the celebrated race is their ultimate goal.

To punch their ticket to the Trials, runners had to post a qualifying time at a marathon, half marathon or 10,000-meter track race. Eligible men needed to run 2:19:00 or faster in the full marathon, under 1:05 in the half marathon or sub-28:30 in the 10K during the two-year qualifying window which closed in mid-December. Women had to run 2:46 or faster in the full marathon, under 1:15 in the half marathon or sub-33:00 in the 10,000 between Jan. 1, 2010 and December 11 of this past year. Those runners who met the qualifying standards at the USA Marathon Championships in 2008 (for men) or 2009 (for women) were the first runners granted entry into the race.

According to the data released last week by USA Track and Field, there are a few stand-out courses that yielded several Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying times. Two of the most popular marathons in the U.S–the Boston Marathon in April and the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in October–are also near the top of the list for producing the most Trials qualifying runners. Thirty-nine marathoners qualified at Boston and 43 runners met the standard in Chicago. Topping the list, however, is the California International Marathon with 47 qualifiers, with Grandma’s Marathon totaling the fourth largest amount of Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying runners with 30.

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Donate it.

John Crowley, coordinator of the North Georgia chapter of Medals4Mettle holds some donated medals. Photo: Rome Tribune

For some, the finisher’s medal draped around the neck at the end of a long, hard race is an especially poignant moment. For others, the tradition is an exercise in waste. Many runners don’t know what to do with these things–which can oftentimes weigh as much as a pound.

If you find yourself in the latter group, here’s a solution for your unwanted finisher medal: donate it.

Medals4Mettle is a non-profit organization that facilitates the gifting of these medals.

What do they do with them?

A network of physicians and volunteers take your medal, attach a new ribbon to it, and award it to children and adults who are fighting a debilitating disease and are not capable of completing a running race.

They are competing in their own contest–a struggle just to live.

Medals4Mettle was started by Dr. Steven Isenberg. After completing the 2003 Chicago Marathon, he visited a colleague was was hospitalized. His friend suffered from prostate cancer.

“I want you to have this,” Dr. Isenberg said. “You are running a much more difficult marathon than the one I completed.”

For More: Rome News Tribune

U.S. Women's Soccer players Hope Solo, left, and Alex Morgan, right, at the 34th annual Chicago Marathon on Oct. 9. The two joined teammate Abby Wambach in a charity relay for Bank of America.

The U.S. women’s soccer star ran part of the Chicago Marathon to raise money for charity.

Written by: Cielestia Calbay

Breakthrough soccer star Alex Morgan is best known for making headlines at this summer’s Women’s World Cup in Germany with her goal against Japan. But last weekend, she traded in her cleats for running shoes as she teamed up with Bank of America for its “Let’s Run Together” campaign alongside teammates Abby Wambach and Hope Solo.

The three ran a portion of the 34th annual Chicago Marathon as part of a charity relay program and were each given a $5,000 charitable contribution to their choice of Bank of America organizations.

Morgan, who chose to donate to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, served as team co-captain with Wambach and Solo, leading 13 other individuals chosen from hundreds of applicants who’d detailed how their participation would benefit their local communities.

“I was really excited for the marathon because I’d never been in that type of involvement before. Just surrounding myself with 45,000 runners was amazing,” said Morgan. “It was a fun cause to come together as a team just months after the World Cup; I think that’s why Bank of America chose us – because of our teamwork in Germany.”

Morgan says she felt inspired watching the runners cross the finish line, and even expressed her interest in pursuing marathons when she retires from soccer.

Long distance races aren’t part of the norm for soccer players because it slows their fast-twitch muscles and could even be detrimental to their training that focuses on speedwork and agility.

“I can definitely see myself training for a marathon after soccer. We talked about how far we could run and we felt that we could run longer. Hopefully [this marathon] won’t be my last,” said Morgan.

At just 22-years-old, Morgan was the youngest player on the U.S. roster at this summer’s World Cup. She’s a forward for the Western New York Flash and a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team, which she made history as the first Berkeley women’s soccer player to be drafted in the first round of Women’s Professional Soccer.

An all-around athlete, Morgan attributes her early involvement in a variety of sports to her success today because she was able to gauge where her strengths and weakness lay.

When asked what advice she has for those who want to challenge themselves athletically, she says, “Live in the moment and just have fun. We often spend too much time thinking about how to do something perfect but if we just enjoy it, then we can succeed.”

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William Boland won the satellite Chicago Marathon in Afghanistan last Friday. Photo: U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Brandon Pomrenke

Over 45,000 runners took part in yesterday’s Chicago Marathon. However, in Afghanistan, the numbers were a little different last Friday as 70 soldiers took part in a satellite race of the marathon at a NATO base in Kabul.

The winner of Afghanistan’s Chicago Marathon was Air Force Captain William “Billy” Boland,  who crossed the finish line in 3:19:02.

“It really was awesome,” Boland, 28, said during a phone interview. “I’m really looking forward to getting back to the United States and being able to run another marathon at a much lower altitude and with much cleaner air. I think it’d be kind of fun to see how fast I could do it then.”

Captain  John Paul Zimmermann organized the race. Thus far, he’s run 10 Chicago Marathons and is seeking to run 50 by 2050. Zimmermann contacted Chicago Marathon officials and told him he would miss this year’s race. Marathon organizers responded by sending him four boxes of bibs, race tee shirts, and finisher medals.

The Afghanistan version of the marathon was comprised of ten loops that wound through the heavily guarded base.

For More: Chicago Tribune

Written by: David Monti

(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

Liliya Shobukhova, shown here winning last year's Chicago Marathon, three-peated to win this year's race in course-record time. Photo: PhotoRun.net

CHICAGO — In some ways, the race was over before it started.

Liliya Shobukhova, the two-time reigning Bank of America Chicago Marathon champion from Russia, knew she was guaranteed her second consecutive World Marathon Majors series title, and the attendant $500,000 prize, even before she heard the starter’s gun this morning (the only woman who could have challenged her, Kenya’s Edna Kiplagat, had withdrawn from next month’s ING New York City Marathon because of injury assuring Shobukhova of the title).  There was every incentive to coast here today.

Related: Record Win For Mosop In The Windy City

But showing the desire and mettle of a true champion, Shobukhova, 33, attacked the flat course which begins and ends in Grant Park, despite unseasonably warm temperatures.  She said her training pointed to a potential 2:19 result today, and that’s what she wanted.

“I think that to run sub-2:20 you have to use new tactics,” Shobukhova told the media after becoming the second-fastest women in history with her sparkling 2:18:20 victory, the #4 time in history.  ”You have to try something else.  That’s why I decided to go fast right away.”

Shobukhova, and Ethiopia’s Ejegayehu Dibaba –making her marathon debut– and Japan’s Kayoko Fukushi stayed with their original plans to run under 70 minutes for the first half.  With the help from of male pacemakers, the trio ran through halfway in 1:09:25.  Shobukhova felt confident.

More from Competitor.com: Shobukhova Eyeing 3-Peat At Chicago Marathon

“Before coming here, me and my coach decided 100% that we had to run 1:09:30,” she said with the help of a translator.  ”Why?  I could go faster, but it wasn’t necessary.  I had to find my rhythm and correct breathing. Never be afraid to run fast if your training shows it.”

As the temperature rose above 70°F (21°C), the challenge of Dibaba and Fukushi melted away.  Fukushi was the first to fall back –but not apart; she held on to run a personal best 2:24:38 in third place despite experiencing stomach distress at 20K– and Dibaba was already six seconds behind by 25K.  Running 16:15 from 25 to 30 kilometers, Shobukhova put the race away and was only running for the history books. With her distinctive waddle, Shobukhova glided all the way to the finish to win by nearly four minutes.  She became the first athlete to win three consecutive marathons here, locked in her Olympic team berth, and won a pile of money.  Adding together her appearance fee, prize money, time bonus for breaking 2:20, private place bonuses typically given to top stars, and the winner’s bonus her sponsor Nike will pay her, today’s race was worth close to $1 million for Shobukhova.

“I’m so happy with my result, especially with the national record, with the three-peat, and the successful selection to the Olympic Games of 2012,” she said looking stunned.  ”I am overwhelmed at this time.  I’m shocked.  For all of this job I have done, I got the appreciation I wanted from myself.”

Behind Shobukhova, Dibaba, who was a late entrant into the race, ran an excellent debut in 2:22:09, the third-fastest debut ever.  She achieved that mark despite dealing with pain in her left calf.

“It was a little feeling on my left leg, but it’s OK,” she said through a translator, surely happy with her $50,000 second place prize.

The first American was 29 year-old Jeannette Faber who ran a personal best 2:36:58 and got under the “A” standard of 2:39 for the USA Olympic Trials Marathon (Faber had qualified previously under the “B” standard of 2:46).  She finished third overall here, and won $10,000 as the top American.

Written by: David Monti

(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

Moses Mosop, shown here shattering the world 30K record in June, won this morning's Chicago Marathon in course-record time. Photo: PhotoRun.net

CHICAGO — Although both he and his coach, Renato Canova, insisted that an Achilles injury from over the summer had left him at only “85%” fitness, Kenya’s Moses Mosop nonetheless ran away from the field in the second half of the race to break the late Samuel Wanjiru’s two year-old course record by four seconds, clocking 2:05:37 and winning the Bank of America Chicago Marathon this morning.

Related: Million Dollar Day For Shobukhova In Chicago

Mosop, 26, the IAAF world record holder for 25,000m and 30,000m on the track, survived the race’s first big surge just past the halfway mark (1:02:54), which dropped American hopeful, Ryan Hall, and cut the lead pack of contenders to five.  The 14th mile was covered in 4:36, part of a pattern of somewhat jerky pacemaking, Hall said.

More from Competitor.com–World Record Ambitions: Exclusive Interview With Moses Mosop

“The pacers would see a slow split on the back of the truck then hit it,” Hall contended.  ”I think our splits were all over the place.”  He added: “It was kind of taking me out of my rhythm.”

The five contenders –Kenya’s Mosop, Wesley Korir, Bernard Kipyego, and Evans Cheruiyot, and Ethiopia’s Bekana Daba– were running in a tight bunch behind the last of three pacers, Ethiopia’s Tillahun Regassa. Korir, the two-time Los Angeles Marathon champion, decided at the 30K fluid station that it was time to break up the race.

“If I was going to finish on the podium, I had to do something,” said Korir, the former NCAA star at the University of Louisville.  ”At the moment I was feeling really good.  I just saw an opportunity, I’m going to go.  If they come for me, they come for me, but I’m going to go.”

Photo Gallery: Moses Mosop Shatters 30K World Record

Korir’s move was explosive, and in a few seconds the pack was strung out and Korir had a 20 meter lead (he ran 4:38 for the 19th mile).  But Mosop was quick to respond, and soon caught up.

“I knew I was awakening a lion that was asleep,” Korir lamented.

Mosop soon left Korir, and held the kind of pace that few men are capable of.  He had already 14:31 from 25 to 30K, then cut down to 14:29 from 30K to 35K.  The lion was fully awake.

“I tried to go ahead, then I say someone will follow me and we can go together,” Mosop explained.  ”Then I say, let me try to push.”

Although he slowed in final kilometers, he had already put the race out of reach.  His time was the fastest ever on U.S. soil on a record-quality course (all-comers record).  He won $100,000 in prize money, plus a $50,000 bonus for breaking the course record, in addition to his appearance fee and any side bonuses.  Mosop said he thinks he can go faster.

“When I was 100% I run 2:02,” he said matter of factly.  ”One hundred percent.”

Korir, who had fallen behind Kipyego, battled back to get second in a two-minute personal best of 2:06:15.  Kipyego got third in 2:06:29, also a personal best, and Daba fourth (2:07:59).  Hall held on for fifth in 2:08:04, the third-fastest time of his career.

“I’m happy with that,” Hall told reporters.  ”My third best marathon ever. I thought I was in better shape than that.”

Ryan Hall ran away from the field to win the Olympic Marathon Trials in November 2007. Photo: PhotoRun.net

Written by: David Monti
(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission. 

CHICAGO — Ryan Hall did his easy morning run here Friday along Chicago’s lakefront bicycle path.  Keeping to the grassy apron next to the paved path whenever possible, he wore a white Asics cap pulled low to block the powerful morning sun rising over Lake Michigan.  He was alone, just the way he usually was during his entire build-up for Sunday’s Bank of America Chicago Marathon which he will be running for the first time.

“It’s like being in church,” Hall told a small group of reporters who spoke with him here yesterday.  ”Honestly, it’s like my sanctuary.  I love to run, and I can push myself really hard on my own.”

Photo Gallery–Looking Back: Ryan Hall Wins 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon

Hall, 28, the USA half-marathon record holder, is a solo operator in a world dominated by marathoners who train in groups under the direct supervision of a coach.  Instead of working with a traditional coach, Hall is essentially self-coached using the ideas put forth by an informal group of advisors.  He clearly relishes this approach.

“I call it faith-based coaching,” he said.  ”That’s really what I’m trying to do.  In the Bible it ways ‘in abundance of counselors there is victory.’”

His key advisor is Matt Dixon, an endurance coach who is a former professional triathlete (Hall’s photo appears on Dixon’s homepage at purplepatchfitness.com).  Hall said he also gets advice from his physiotherapist, Dr. John Ball, his father Mickey, and his wife Sara amongst others.  However, it is clear that he is setting his own training schedule based mostly on what he learned from Terrence Mahon at the Mammoth Track Club, his previous coach, but that he has “switched it up” a bit and made the interval sessions longer and more intense.

“So, instead of doing a typical interval day of ten by a ‘K’ (kilometer), I do 20 by a ‘K,’” Hall explained, sounding more like a coach.  ”So, I was basically doing 12 miles with the interval work.  So, those days were a lot bigger.  My long runs were big and hard and a little bit longer than before.”

While Hall said he had company from a somebody on a bicycle on his last long tempo run, and ran one key workout with is younger brother Chad, he was mostly logging 100-mile weeks alone.

“I love to warm up with people, I like to cool down with people, but I love to workout on my own,” Hall added.

So comfortable is Hall with being on his own, he and Sara no longer have a permanent address.  They rented out their two homes in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., where Hall previously lived and trained under Mahon, and Hall said he plans to sell his house in Big Bear, Calif.  The Halls now divide their time between Flagstaff, Ariz., where they rent coach Jack Daniels’s house when Hall is doing altitude training, and a rented property in Redding, Calif., where the Halls recently joined a church they had been following online.

“It’s funny because I never thought I’d move to Redding,” said Hall, a devout Christian.  ”I’d never thought I’d live there, but there’s a great church there that Sara and I have followed, Bethel Church.  They have a really good website, Bethel.tv, and we always watch their church services wherever we are in the world.  We wanted to be part of the church there.  So, when we’re at sea level, we’ll train there, when we’re at altitude we’ll train in Flagstaff.”

Hall said he is in better shape than when he ran his personal best 2:04:58 in Boston last April, saying “I’m feeling good and snappy.”  But some feel his love of front running will make it hard for him to win.  In his only marathon victory, in the 2008 USA Olympic Marathon Trials in New York City, Hall broke away from the field just past the halfway mark and ran the second half of the race alone in 62:45.  Here, it will be hard for him to run away from the likes of Moses Mosop (2:03:06 PB), Bazu Worku (2:05:25), Evans Cheruiyot (2:06:25) and Marilson Gomes Dos Santos (2:06:34) amongst others.

“I’m learning to embrace who I am, you know?” Hall said about his front-running style.  ”Maybe it’s getting old.  I don’t know.  I think anyone who has watched me race sees me come to life when I’m in the front, and that’s how I run best.  I know at strategic points in the race I know I need to put myself in the front, and I feed of the enthusiasm and excitement that I get from being in the front.”

The last American man to win here was former world-record holder Khalid Khannouchi, who ran 2:05:56 in 2002.  Earlier that year, Khannouchi clocked 2:05:38 in London, then a world record and the still-standing American record (Hall’s time from Boston doesn’t count as an American record because the Boston course is point-to-point and downhill).  Nonetheless, Hall has to be thinking of how the Boston time would translate on Chicago’s flat record-standard course.  He was clearly uncomfortable assessing that.

“I don’t know.  I try not to think about the time too much,” he groaned.  ”Because, honestly, when you train and you think this is marathon pace…”

Hall stopped to ask what his 2:04:58 worked out to per mile and was told by Runner’s World veteran writer Amby Burfoot that it was 4 minutes and 46 seconds.  He continued: “I don’t like to think about that.  Same with my half-marathon best time.  It doesn’t seem like that should be half-marathon pace because it never feels that easy in practice.  But, I don’t know.  I think that day (in Boston) was a gift from God because I had no business running that fast.”

Hall said he is trying to guard against overconfidence which hurt his performance at the ING New York City Marathon in 2009 (he finished fourth).  He said that “to come in low,” as he did in Boston last April after a disappointing 65 minute half-marathon in New York City the month before, was the best way for him to perform his best here.

“It’s funny, that sometimes you come into your race so confident… and then it’s so easy to fail when you come in high,” he said.  ”So, I’m learning to come in low, even if my training has gone really well.  Be like, expect this to be hard, expect this to be a battle.  Don’t come in all (high) on your horse.”

No matter what happens in Sunday’s race, Hall has some domestic business to deal with after he leaves Chicago.  There’s the matter of getting that house in Big Bear Lake ready for sale.

“Right after this, I’m flying back to Big Bear, getting all of our stuff out of there, and putting it on the market,” Hall said, sounding like your average suburban homeowner.  ”We’re trying to downsize our life.”

Moses Mosop, shown here shattering the world 30K record in June, says he's "not in shape" for Sunday's Chicago Marathon. Photo: PhotoRun.net

Written by: David Monti
(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission. 

CHICAGO — The second fastest man ever over the standard marathon distance, Kenya’s Moses Mosop, has been struggling with a sore tendon on the outside of his left ankle which he said today will likely hamper his performance in Sunday’s Bank of America Chicago Marathon here.  The injury had already caused him to miss some training.

More from Competitor.com: Exclusive Pre-Chicago Marathon Interview With Moses Mosop

Mosop, who clocked 2:03:06 at last April’s Boston Marathon before setting world records for 25,000m (1:12:25.0) and 30,000m (1:26:47.4) at the Prefontaine Classic last June, was surprisingly frank with reporters here today about his condition.

“For me this time I’m saying I’m not in good shape,” he told Race Results Weekly in a brief interview.  ”I have a leg problem.”

Photo Gallery: Moses Mosop Shatters World 30K Record

When asked to specify the location of the problem, the 26 year-old Kenyan pointed to the outside of his left ankle and began to rub the area with his finger.  He then replied “I’m not sure” when asked if the tendon would hold through a 42-kilometer race.

“We will try on Sunday,” he said.

Mosop’s coach, Renato Canova, told Race Results Weekly yesterday that his athlete had missed a month of training, and that he was not in the same kind of shape as when he ran Boston or Prefontaine.  Canova said that his athlete in his best form could run four consecutive 29-minute 10K’s during a marathon in ideal conditions which would produce a 2:02:22 result.

“But not now,” he said.

Moses Mosop had the fastest debut marathon in history this past April with his 2:03:06 finish at the Boston Marathon. Photo: PhotoRun.net

The 2:03:06 debut marathoner runs his second 26.2-miler in Chicago on Sunday.

Interview by: Sabrina Yohannes

Moses Mosop of Kenya was a medalist at the 2005 track and 2007 cross country world championships, but the next few years were not as fruitful. So some months after winning Milan’s Stramilano half marathon in 59:20 in March 2010, he decided to make his marathon debut at Boston in April 2011. That proved to be wildly successful when he placed second after pushing his Kenyan compatriot Geoffrey Mutai almost to the finish line, and the pair ran to unprecedented 2:03:02 and 2:03:06 finishes in optimal race conditions.

Mutai’s time was not recognized as a world record due to the course having an excessive net drop in elevation and being unidirectional, which allowed the continued benefit of a tailwind. But Mosop felt he could break the then-world record of 2:03:59 on a different course, and he set his sights on the Chicago Marathon, which takes place this Sunday, October 9. The men’s field includes American Ryan Hall, who ran 2:04:58 in Boston, and three others who have run under 2:07.

More from Competitor.com: Watch The Chicago Marathon Live Online

Mosop broke the long-standing track world records for 25,000m and 30,000m on the track at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene on June 3, running 1:12:25.4 and 1:26:47.4 respectively, before taking third in the BAA 10K on June 26.

After his competitions in April and June, and again a few days before heading to Chicago, Mosop talked to Competitor.com about his races and his world record designs, including his thoughts on Patrick Makau’s new world record of 2:03:38.

]]> http://running.competitor.com/2011/10/interviews/world-record-ambitions-exclusive-interview-with-moses-mosop_39377/feed 145 http://running.competitor.com/2011/10/news/watch-the-chicago-marathon-live-online_39353 http://running.competitor.com/2011/10/news/watch-the-chicago-marathon-live-online_39353#comments Thu, 06 Oct 2011 11:27:06 +0000 News http://running.competitor.com/?p=39353

And there’s no catch: it’s free.

Written by: David Monti
(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

Viewers can watch the Bank of America Chicago Marathon for free on the Web. Photo: OhioRunning

Fans can watch the Bank of America Chicago Marathon live online and free of charge this Sunday, thanks to the race’s broadcast partner, NBC Chicago.

Race organizers reported this morning that fans can connect to http://www.nbcchicago.com at 7:00 a.m. Central time (8:00 a.m. Eastern, 1:00 p.m. GMT) to watch NBC Chicago’s full broadcast.  The free live stream is available globally, organizers said.

This is the first time that the race has been available for free global viewing online.

The Bank of America Chicago Marathon is the second-largest marathon in the country will enjoy its 34-year anniversary this Sunday. It attracts 45,000 runners annually. This year’s edition is expected to be warm with temperatures nearing 70 degrees Fahrenheit three hours into the race.

A world-class field has been assembled with the likes of Moses Mosop and Ryan Hall.

Mosop came in just four seconds behind winner Geoffrey Mutai at this year’s Boston Marathon.

Pacemaker Peter Cheruiyot Kirui hopes to win a medal this month in Daegu, South Korea. Photo: The Standard

He is now running for himself and hopes to medal at Worlds.

Many pacemakers for world-class runners such as Sammy Wanjiru fly under the radar. They are the running equivalent of the cycling world’s domestiques–hard-working athletes with one mission: help the team leader win the race.

The Standard website recently profiled one pacemaker who is stepping out of the shadows and into the limelight: Peter Cheruiyot Kirui. The Kenyan set the pace for late Olympic gold medalist Sammy Wanjiru in the 2010 edition of the Chicago Marathon. He also assisted Patrick Makau in the 2010 Rotterdam Marathon.

But this year, Kirui made a New Year’s resolution for himself: run a qualifying time to make the Kenyan national team for the World Championships in Athletics that are kicking off later this month in Daegu, South Korea.

He did just that last month at the Kenyan National Championships when he clocked 27:32 in the 10,000m.

“I could not believe I had met one of my New Year resolutions,” he said afterward.

After the World Championships, Kirui plans to focus on marathon training as he prepares for the 2012 Rotterdam Marathon.

For More: The Standard

Ryan Hall will be racing the Bank of America Chicago Marathon three months before the U.S. Olympic Trials marathon. Photo: PhotoRun.net

The small gap between the Chicago Marathon and the Olympic Trials doesn’t worry him.

Written by: David Monti

(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

Most top American marathoners will be skipping fall marathons to conserve their bodies for the Olympic Marathon Trials, scheduled for Saturday, January 14, 2012 in Houston. The conventional wisdom says that running two marathons within a two to three month period is one too many.

Ryan Hall disagrees.

Hall, 28, the reigning USA Olympic Marathon Trials champion, thinks that the 96 days he will have between the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and the Trials will be perfect. “I’ve definitely thought through that scenario quite a lot,” Hall told reporters on a conference call today hosted by the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Speaking from Chicago he added: “I actually look at it as the perfect amount of time between Chicago and the Trials. I don’t start my (marathon) training until ten weeks before. It’s actually perfect for me to have 14 weeks between.”

Photo Gallery: Looking Back: Ryan Hall Wins 2008 Olympic Trials Marathon

Hall, who is self-coached and just came off of a high altitude training stint in St. Moritz, Switzerland, figures that after Chicago he’ll take one week completely off, then another to do light running. Then he’ll start his dedicated build-up for Houston. “That should lead me to make good progress to making the Olympic Trials,” he said. “How can I be best prepared for the Olympic team? Chicago just fit in perfectly with my plans.”

In making his decision to run Chicago –a race he withdrew from last year citing fatigue– Hall said he thought backward from the 2012 Olympic Marathon next August 12 in London. Because he has to run the Trials in order to make the team, Hall then asked himself what was the best possible preparation for that race, and concluded that Chicago fit the bill.

He said that he needed to “practice some specific things (and that) Chicago is the perfect place to allow me to practice those things.” He said that this included honing his race tactics and learning how to go for the win in a big marathon and not merely run fast. “In Boston I functioned as the pacemaker,” said Hall who ran a personal best 2:04:58 to finish in fourth place, the fastest time every recorded by a USA marathoner. He continued: “I’ll be able to save my energy for those crucial last miles (in Chicago).”

Race director Carey Pinkowski, who has also recruited Boston runner-up Moses Mosop of Kenya for his event, will have pacemakers leading his race, something that Hall has been craving. He hasn’t run on a flat marathon course with pacemakers since London in 2008 when he ran 2:06:07, his previous personal best. “The great thing about having paced races is you don’t have to think the first 20 miles,” Hall remarked, admitting that staying mentally alert for every kilometer at the Olympics, Boston and New York was fatiguing.”One of the benefits of having a paced race is you don’t have to be mentally engaged the last until the last 15 kilometers.”

A fast time is also on Hall’s mind for Chicago. Because the Boston course doesn’t conform to IAAF and USATF specifications for record setting (the start and finish are too widely separated, and the course has three times the allowable limit for elevation loss), Khalid Khannouchi still holds the official American record of 2:05:38 set in London in 2002.

Hall thinks he can better that mark. “You know what, it’s funny,” Hall mused. “Now that I’ve run 2:04 at Boston, even though that’s not a certified record, I think of myself as a 2:04 marathoner. That’s a big purpose of coming to the Chicago Marathon, is to run fast… to be part of a historic race. It will be nice for me not to function as the rabbit this year, but to tuck in and enjoy the ride. I love to run fast. It would be icing on the cake to get the official American record on the course.”

Hall is also running Chicago to benefit his charity, the Ryan Hall STEPS Foundation. Not only can ordinary runners sign-up to fundraise for his charity –he said proceeds will go to anti-poverty programs in Kenya to honor the late Samuel Wanjiru– but Hall will be donating his prize money to the cause, too. “I’m very excited to announce that I’m pledging all of my winnings to the STEPS Foundation,” Hall declared. He concluded: “The biggest reason is the memory of Sammy Wanjiru. We wanted to see how we could get involved.”

Photo: PhotoRun.net

These are the places to go for your next PR.

Written by: Matt Fitzgerald

So, you want to set a marathon personal record? That means you’re going to have to get fitter than you were when you set your existing PR. It also means you’re going to have to apply everything you learned (probably the hard way) about marathon race execution, from pacing to hydration. But your first order of business is to choose a marathon that is conducive to fast times. We’ve done the research for you and chosen the six best U.S. marathons for PRs.

]]> http://running.competitor.com/2011/07/features/the-6-best-u-s-marathons-to-set-a-personal-record_29440/feed 3 http://running.competitor.com/2011/07/news/gebremariam-to-race-in-world-championship-marathon_31589 http://running.competitor.com/2011/07/news/gebremariam-to-race-in-world-championship-marathon_31589#comments Fri, 01 Jul 2011 13:31:33 +0000 News http://running.competitor.com/?p=31589

Gebre Gebremariam is heading to South Korea in September. Photo: PhotoRun.net

He will then run the ING New York City Marathon two months later.

It’s official: reigning ING New York City Marathon champion Gebre Gebremariam will be representing Ethiopia in this year’s World Championship marathon.

“I will go back to my country to train for the world championships,” he said. “I already made the team.”

The World Championship marathon is being held on September 4 in Daegu, South Korea. Just two months later, Gebremariam will head to New York City where he will attempt to defend his title in the marathon there.

Gebremariam won the 2009 World Cross-Country title. He placed third at this year’s Boston Marathon (2:04:53). Last week, Gebremariam came in second at the inaugural B.A.A. 10K behind Boston Champion Geoffrey Mutai.

On the Kenyan side, neither Mutai nor second-place finisher at Boston, Moses Mosop, will be taking part in the World Championships. Mosop says he will be training for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in October.

Instead, defending world-champion marathon winner Abel Kirui will be in Daegu to represent Kenya. Kirui is Mosop’s training partner.

For More: Universal Sports

I remember one rare year when we, including our husbands, ran the Chicago Marathon. Two nights before the race, Liz and I had a great time catching up in the kitchen as we prepared a new recipe we were excited to sample: pumpkin lasagna. We followed the instructions exactly, but were displeased with the bland result. I still love to eat lasagna two or three days before a marathon, but I created my own concoction that is heavy on antioxidant-rich vegetables and herbs and can be adapted easily to suit your tastes or digestive needs (note: omit meat and use tofu or spinach, or cut back on the amount of cheese and oil) during race week.

For all of you running the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Marathon this weekend, this one’s for you. Good luck!

Roasted Vegetable Marathon Lasagna

8 garlic cloves, separated from stem but not peeled
2 medium-sized carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch thick pieces
1 yellow pepper, deseeded and chopped into 1/2-inch thick pieces
1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped into 1/2-inch thick pieces
1 large yellow onion, chopped into 1/2-inch thick pieces
1 zucchini, chopped into 1/2-inch thick pieces
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lb. lean ground beef, turkey or chicken (can substitute 1 package
firm tofu or 2 lbs. spinach for the meat)
1 6-ounce tub ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon fresh basil, gently chopped
1 teaspoon fresh sage, chopped
1 package spinach or whole wheat lasagna noodles
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-reggiano cheese
2 teaspoons olive oil, or 2 teaspoons butter, optional

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F while preparing vegetables. In a large casserole dish, place garlic cloves, carrots, peppers, onion, zucchini, dried herbs, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper and olive oil and roast in oven until vegetables are soft, approximately 40-45 minutes.

Brown the meat in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. If using beef, when meat is browned, drain in a colander and rinse with cold water to remove excess fat. Shake dry and tumble meat into a mixing bowl. Add ricotta cheese and a sprinkle of salt and pepper, if desired, plus fresh chopped basil and sage. Mix
together and set aside.

If using tofu, slice tofu block into pieces and place in a food processor with ricotta cheese, salt, pepper and herbs, and blitz on low until combined but still retaining a somewhat rugged texture. If using spinach only, wash and chop spinach leaves and combine with ricotta cheese, salt, pepper and herbs.

In a large saucepan, bring crushed tomatoes to a simmer. Add balsamic vinegar and allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat. When vegetables have completed roasting, remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Remove garlic from dish and peel the skins. Add garlic and roasted vegetables to crush tomatoes. Blend (with an immersion blender, regular blender or food processor) vegetables until garlic and vegetables are combined into a thick sauce.

Prepare lasagna noodles according to package directions, ensuring to salt the pasta water. Try to lay out noodles on a flat surface as you are cooking the required amount; if it becomes necessary to stack the noodles, brush noodles with a bit of olive oil to help prevent the noodles from sticking together.

In a large casserole dish, spread a thin layer of the tomato sauce on the bottom of the dish. Place first layer of noodles, with each noodle slightly overlapping the previous noodle, until the bottom of the dish is covered. Add a layer of tomato sauce (enough to cover but not saturate the noodles) and spoon a thin layer of the ricotta-meat (ricotta-spinach or ricotta-tofu) mixture on top of the sauce.

Sprinkle with parmasean reggiano cheese and repeat layering procedure. When last layer of noodles are placed on top, sprinkle mixure with cheese and add optional butter and olive oil. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake in oven for 35 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for 10-15 minutes or until sauce is bubbling and top of lasagna is slightly browned. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Serves 8.

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Sean McKeon, Sammy Wanjiru, Martin Lel, and the author at the 2010 Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Marathon and Half Marathon expo.

Very few runners have ever achieved so much so young.

Written by: Matt Fitzgerald

Recently my competitor.com colleague Mario Fraioli and I began to compile a list of the 100 greatest runners in history, from the mile to the marathon. Our standard is “lifetime achievement in context”, so it’s not a list of the runners with, say, the 10 fastest times at each of the roughly 10 standard race distances between 1500 meters and 26.2 miles. (In which case the list would consist entirely of male runners competing within the past 25 years.) Rather, it is a list of the runners who have won the most big races and run fastest relative to those against whom they have competed, whether a century ago today.

Sammy Wanjiru, who died yesterday at age 24, is on this list.

Mario and I haven’t yet reached the point of ranking our top 100. We’re just completing the process of deciding who’s in and who’s out. I don’t know yet exactly where Wanjiru will end up, but I am certain that the number of runners among our top 100 who accomplished more than Wanjiru did by age 24 is very small. Four major marathon victories (the 2008 Olympic Marathon, 2009 London Marathon, and 2009 and 2010 Chicago Marathons), a world junior record for 10,000 meters (26:41.75), and a world record for the half marathon (58:33, since eclipsed) is more than some of the runners among our top 100 achieved in careers that lasted 10 years longer.

For comparison’s sake, consider Paula Radcliffe, who may wind up among our top 10, on the strength of her two marathon world records (including her “untouchable” 2:15:25), three World Cross Country Championships titles (including a junior title, plus four other world cross medals), six major marathon victories, and World Championships 10,000m silver medal. Of these accomplishments, Radcliffe had achieved none except for her junior title in cross-country by the age at which Wanjiru’s life was cut short. That’s not to take anything away from Radcliffe, of course, but to underscore how rare it is to achieve so much in running so early.

As much as I hate to say it, Wanjiru’s premature demise surprises me less than any other major runner’s untimely death would have. His fatal fall strikes me not as a random accident that came to him with shocking unexpectedness but, sadly, as the almost foreseeable endpoint of the course he seemed to have been on in his life. The same quality that made Wanjiru great may have foreordained his early passing: an almost out of control energy, a way of attacking life and its challenges.

I had the pleasure of meeting Sammy Wanjiru last year, and I was struck by just that quality. He seemed powerless to contain the storm of energy inside him as he bounced around the Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans race expo, signing autographs, answering interviewers’ questions, and posing for photographs, all with an uninterrupted smile on his face.

When, several months later, Wanjiru was arrested in Kenya for attacking his wife and a maid with an AK-47 rifle, I was reminded of something I’d read about Kurt Cobain back in 1991. I was living in Scotland at the time, and Cobain’s newly ascendant rock band, Nirvana, was touring the UK. I was a bit out of the loop during my college junior year abroad and knew nothing about the band when I read a review of one of the group’s shows. The English reviewer was impressed, but darkly so. Cobain seemed such a dangerous fireball that the reviewer had a hard time seeing him living to see his 30^th birthday. Of course, he was right: Cobain took his own life at 27.

Wanjiru was a comet, in his work and his life, much like Cobain. I will never forget watching a 21-year-old Wanjiru run the 2008 Olympic Marathon, taking off at 4:48 per mile from the gun in 85-degree heat, and pressing this reckless pace unrelentingly until all of the best marathon runners in the world besides him exploded. I remember clearly what I said aloud to those I was watching with, over and over, until I was forced to eat my words: “He’s committing suicide.”

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Geoffrey Mutai is out of the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea this summer. Photo: PhotoRun.net

He does not like running in Daegu.

The fastest marathoner of all time will not be competing in the world championships this summer in Daegu, South Korea. Geoffrey Mutai’s reason: he’s been jinxed in Daegu before. Mutai clocked a blazing 2:03:02 in last month’s Boston Marathon.

“I have ran in Daegu. Each time I was jinxed. I have therefore decided to give the event a miss,” he said.

Mutai is instead setting his sights on either the ING New York City Marathon or the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. ”I’m looking at running in Chicago or New York later in the year and I will be talking to the organizers very soon about my intentions to running in either of those events,” he admitted.

The Kenyan champion made this announcement as his country was assembling its world-championship roster. With Geoffrey Mutai out, other world-class runners like this year’s Virgin London Marathon champion, Emmanuel Mutai, and three-time London champion, Martin Lel, will most likely comprise the team.

For More: All Africa.com