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We salute Sophia Hollander ofThe Wall Street Journal, whose article is linked at "More," for raising this question, which media types and the sport's insiders often discussbut hardly ever in print. Here are a fewpoints to consider at the top: First of all, at least 43,000 of the 45,000 people entered in the ING New York City Marathon could care less whether this 26.2-miler is a world record course or not, whether it's likely to produce a 2:03 or a 2:07 or a 2:11 winning time.(And most of the marathoners, particularly foreign entrants like the 3,400 Italians and 3,000 French people, relish the tour of the city they get to experience on the run. If you're going to have a marathon touching in all five boroughs, which was the whole point of going from Central Park to the city streets in 1976, you pretty muchhave to have the spectacularly inspiring Verrazano Narrows Bridge start on Staten Island, with New York Harbor below. And you have to proceed from there to Brooklyn, and along the wide avenues which can accommodate the enormous throng of runners. How would you get from Brooklyn to Queens other than over the Pulaski Skyway? Or from Queens to Manhattan other than over the Queensboro Bridge, which spills the runners out in front of the ecstatic crowds on First Avenuethe only East Side avenue wide enough to handle themand provides what is perhaps the marathon's most exhilarating moment?
The race takes the most direct, and shortest, trip to the Bronx from there. The Bronx, where I lived until age five, is a far more splendid and variegated land than its public image suggests, and the small section of the borough visited by the marathon is hardly its garden spot. As quoted by Ms. Hollander, American marathon recordholder Deena Kastor observes "to be in no man's land when you need the energy the most is pretty disheartening."
That's a challenge that a five-borough New York City Marathon, if it's going toremain a five-borough one, may never be able to surmount. Yes, the course can be tinkered with; a few years ago, the entrance to Central Park from Fifth Avenue was changed to 90th Street from one closer to 103rd Street which was steeper and narrower and required one more change in a runner's rhythm. The essential nature of the New York City Marathon was not altered at all by this switch. It would be if the Bronx were ignored.
There is truth in Ms. Hollander's observation that "the challenging topography and slower times run on New York's course has prompted some of the world's greatest runners to bypass the city in favor of other faster races, and has led others to call for changes to the course itself," and Chicago's main appeal as an autumn alternative for elites is that it is so flat and fast. "You can see a point at an athlete's career where it just makes sense to bring them to our event," states Chicago Marathon Race Director Carey Pinkowski.
Most of the 125,000 people oh, let's say 98.6 percent who applied to get into last Sunday's ING New York City Marathon don't care that it's slower than Chicago or London or Berlin. Last Sunday in New York, fans of world class marathoning did get to see men's and women's competitions with myriad lead changes and tense tight battles until the late stages. They won't witness anything like this in Berlin or the United Arab Emirates, where races with less than a handful of legitimate contenders are set up as time trials on surfaces as flat as 400-meter tracks. Perhaps moreso than any of the other so-called World Marathon Majors, the New York City Marathon is always a thrilling athletic contest.
"The course has been the same for how many years now, 35, 33-some years? So I think that she's probably taking a good look at that," Carey Pinkowski says of the New York layout and of his World Marathon Majors colleague, New York Road Runners President and CEO Mary Wittenberg. "We've looked at this very, very hard the last several years," notes Wittenberg. "Every year, every time, the benefits outweigh any benefits of a change." She adds "running through the five boroughs, which is really fundamental to us and to the race, outweigh the challenges of not being a fast, flat race. It's a course that's stood the test of time for very good reasons."
We concur on this. We also think she shouldn't try to block the Bronx from getting its own marathon. "The Bronx problem" is one that the New York City Marathon will never solve, so let's be kind.
Rudisha, Oliver, and Gay Are IAAF Athlete of the Year Finalists
The IAAF Male Athlete of the Year will be announced at the WorldAthletics Gala in Monaco on November 21. Online fan voting played a role in determining the finalists, and they are 800-meter world record-holder David Rudisha of Kenya, American record-holding hurdler David Oliver, sprint superstar Tyson Gay, Eritrean distance ace Zersenay Tadese, and Norwegian javelin thrower Andrea Thorkildsen.(photo of David Oliver by Victah Sailer)
McGregor Is 'Satisfied' With Her Effort But Wants a Quicker Marathon
Team USA Minnesota's Katie McGregor set a personal best of 2:31:01 at the ING New York City Marathon, placing 11th among the women and second (behind Shalane Flanagan) in the USA Women's Marathon Championship. She was in the lead pack for 21 miles. "It was great to have a big group to run with since there was some wind," says McGregor. "I felt like I ran a smart race overall. I didn't accomplish the main goals I set for myself (sub-2:30 time and top ten or better finish), but I am still satisfied with the way I ran my race. I know that I am capable of running faster in the future." McGregor won the women's division of 2010 USA Running Circuit (her teammate Antonio Vega won the men's division) after national titles at 15K, 25K, and 10 miles.
Appendectomy Keeps Sarah Shay Out of NYC Marathon
The older sister of the late Ryan Shay, who was a large part of the inspiration for his starting his own running career, had hoped to run through the five boroughs last Sunday to raise money ($26,200) and awareness for wounded war veterans. But she ended up having an emergency appendectomy in a Manhattan a couple of hours before the race began. "Isn't it crazy?" Shay said weakly, from her hospital. "I'm just really sad. I didn't care if I ran slow. I just really wanted to be out there running." She had begun having acute stomach pain on Saturday and went to the hospital as her condition got worse.
Is Anyone Going to Beat Sam Chelanga at NCAA Cross Country?
No. No, they are not. Not only because the defending champion (and collegiate 10,000-meter record-holder) from Liberty University is sosupreme, but because most of the runners with the vaguest shot of defeating him are from schools that can contend for the team title (Liberty won't) and they have to worry about not "blowing up." Okay I'm only about 87 percent on what I just typed, and I know David McNeill of Northern Arizona and Chris Derrick of Stanford and one of the Oklahoma State lads and some middle distance runner from Oregon overachieving at the longer stuff might challenge Chelanga. But in a confusing and unpredictable world, I just like to be really sure of something ever once in awhile. I'm pretty sure anyway. Chelanga himself states "the main goal is to be in shape in NovemberI feel like I'm not ready yet." But he will be.(photo of Sam Chelanga by Victah Sailer) Boston Marathon Adds More Entrants
The 2011 Boston Marathon field filled up after just a little more than eight hours of online registration on October 18, but computer glitches kept some who'd tried to register out in the cold. The Boston Athletic Association has been awarding starting bibs to those who can prove they unsuccessfully tried to register during those hours on October 18.
Craig Virgin Cherishes His World Cross Country Crowns Most of All
Virgin has been elected to the USA National Hall of Fame but has asked that his induction be delayed until 2011, when the ceremony will be in St. Louis, near to his Illinois home and, he says, "I hope to have 100 people on hand." Raised on a family farm, Virgin, now 55, still holds a slew of records in his home stateand his three-mile mark in the state cross country championships recently withstood an assault by Foot Locker Cross Country titlist Lukas Verzbicas. "He gave it a great shot," Virgin observes. "At two miles he was ahead of my paceMy hat's off to him." Virgin's been an NCAA champion, an Olympian, and a Boston Marathon runnerup, but he hesitates not a moment in identifying his running career highlight as "winning two world cross country championships. At least for two days in my life, I was the best in the world at something."
Carl Lewis Predicts Usain Bolt Faces 'Big Challenge' in 2012
Bolt, the Jamaican superstar, will be trying to defend his Olympic 100 and 200-meter golds in London in 2012. Lewis observes "the Olympics is two years away and it is amazing what can happen in that time. It's a big challenge. I am the only one who has ever been able to double up and win 100m gold at successive Olympics (in 1984 and 1988) and I can tell you it's a hard thing to do." Lewis also predicts that the 100-meter world record, Bolt's 9.58 seconds, will eventually dip below 9.0. "We will be long gone by then but it is always going to be reduced because people always want to beat the best," he theorizes. Okay, Carl, but will there still be humans inhabiting the planet then?
Matt Long Wishes to Share His Tale of Recovery
The New York City firefighter had run a marathon close to 3:00, but when a bus hit him in 2005, he suffered a crushed left leg and severe internal injuries. Charlie Butler ofRunner's World recalls that when he met Long 18 months later, "he didn't know when or if he would ever be able to run again. He just hoped one day he would be able to run the six mile loop in Central Park and then go have a beer with his buddies." Long, with the help of Butler, tells his tale in"The Long Run"(Rodale, 2010) and he has far surpassed those original hopes. "It took me a long time to find someone as badly hurt as I was," Long observes. "When I found him, I said I would help other people. The human spirit is a tremendously powerful tool. I had been wallowing in things I couldn't do anything about. Once I changed my attitude, things started getting better."
Running Helps Tara Livesay Help Haiti
In the capital of Port-au-Prince, Michelle Hamilton informs us, Livesay "dodges buses, donkeys, and potholes in the 100-degree heat for a larger purpose: Through running, she has raised more than $180,000 to help care for the people of Haiti." Livesay adopted two Haitian children in 2002 and moved from Minnesota to the Caribbean nation in 2006 as a volunteer for Christian nonprofits. Through two marathons she ran, Livesay was able to raise $129,000 for an ambulance and medicine for her community. After Haiti's devastating earthquake in January, Livesay soon found "running was the only thing that made sense to me, that had an element of control to it." Her teenage daughter has now launched her own projects to benefit the Haitian people.
Khannouchi Appears at Central Park Track Club Benefit
Former world and current American marathon recordholder KhalidKhannouchi is a familiar figure to Central Park Track Club members, who've seen on his training sessions in Rockefeller State Park up in Westchester County. Now the CPTCers, who wear orange proudly, will see him in upscale attire at their Fourth Annual CPTC Benefit on November 12, where he'll be an honored guest and featured speaker. The event, with full dinner and open bar, is a 7:00 p.m. at the Olympic Suites at the New York Athletic Club.(photo of Khalid Khannouchi by Victah Sailer)
Melbourne (Florida) Adds a Half-Marathon Relay
The State Farm Melbourne & Beaches Music Marathon weekend will now include a half-marathon relay, with each of two persons running 6.55 miles. This is a chance to get a new personal best for 6.55 miles, folks. The February 5 and 6 weekend also features a 5K, 8K, half and full marathon and a marathon distance hand cycle race. In the 13.1-mile relay, the unique rectangular-shaped course twice crosses the Indian Riveronce at the five-mile mark and then again at about the 12-mile markgiving each team member their own bridge crossing: the signature mark of the event.
Georgia Marathon and Half-Marathon Seek Regional Elites
The Publix Georgia Marathon and Half-Marathon in Atlanta and its environs on March 20, 2011 have implemented a new elite runner program catering to Georgia and runners from the southeastern United States for the March 20, 2011 race. The program will increase the overall prize purse from $11,500 in 2010, to $17,250 in 2011, a 50 percent increase, and offer separate prize schedules for legal residents of Georgia, legal residents of the southeastern U.S. and overall participants. According to the program's specifications, eligible runners will have the opportunity to win prize money from all three categories.
