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Lead Stories: Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Two Half-Marathons To Watch For This Weekend

Posted April 4th, 2008 at 2:30 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results

Amongst the many road races scheduled for this early Spring weekend, there are two half-marathons on both sides of the Atlantic to watch for, each playing a different role in the running marketplace.

In Berlin, Germany, the massive Vattenfall Berliner Halbmarathon will be held for the 28th time and boasts over 20,000 entrants, according to race director Mark Milde. The field is also packed with top talent, led by 2007 IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships silver medalist, Patrick Makau of Kenya. Makau, with a personal best of 58:56, is one of two athletes entered with a sub-one hour personal best. The other is compatriot Joseph Maregu who has a 59:45 to his credit. Jonathan Maiyo (1:00:10), William Todoo (1:00:12), Isaac Macharia (1:00:48) and Eshetu Wondimu have all broken the 61 minute barrier and should also be in contention for the podium.
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26.2 - vs. - 13.1:
13.1 reasons for running a half-marathon before attempting your first full

Posted June 4th, 2007 at 6:08 PM by Bridget Sullivan

Section: Running & Training, Health & Fitness, Exercise

Let’s get this one simple fact straight: you do not have to run a marathon to be considered a “real runner.” Anyone who pounds their feet on the pavement in repetitious monotony, automatically knows how many miles are in a 5K, and doesn’t laugh when someone bellows out the word “fartlek,” is a REAL runner.

But since the running boom officially “boomed” a second time with Oprah’s 26.2 feat in 1994, not to mention her triumphal landing on the cover of Runner’s World magazine, more and more runners continue to spin their feet at the distance. Dubbed “everyman’s Everest’ by former professional runner and current Runner’s World executive editor, Amby Burfoot, the marathon of the twenty-first century attracts everyone from the taut and toned twenty-year-olds to the Ben & Jerry fifty-year-olds. Gone are the days of the first boom where everyone ran hard, everyone ran more than 70 miles per week, and almost everyone belonged to the same gender.

According to a recent article in the New York Times, 410,000 runners hit the finish line last year, as opposed to 277,000 in 1994. And there are no signs of slowing down: the Chicago Marathon shut down registration for its famously flat October race earlier than ever before.

But why the sudden rush to the summit when there at least 13.1 reasons to run a half before you land on top of the world?

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