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Philadelphia Distance Run Celebrates 30th Edition on Sunday
Posted September 13th, 2007 at 1:30 PM by David Monti
Section: News & Results, Marathons
Hugging the banks of the Schuykill River for most of its 21.1 kilometers, the Philadelphia Distance Run has for 30 years been consistently the fastest half-marathon in the United States.
According to the Association of Road Racing Statisticians, the Distance Run has three times been the scene of the men’s half-marathon world record, and twice the venue for the women’s. The first occasion was in 1982 when Kenyan Michael Musyoki ran 1:01:36. Three years later, American Marc Curp ran 1:00:55 which was until just last January the North American half-marathon record (broke by Ryan Hall). In 1990 Mexican Dionicio Ceron lowered the mark to 1:00:46. On the women’s side, Joan Benoit Samuelson, the 1984 Olympic Marathon gold medalist, set third half-marathon world record in Philadelphia with a 1:09:10 clocking in 1983. She followed up the next year with an even better mark of 1:08:34.
But it’s the sheer volume of fast times in Philadelphia which has given this race its well-earned reputation for speed. In the 29 previous editions men have broken 61 minutes five times and 61:30 20 times. On the women’s side, 69 minutes has been broken three times and 70 minutes ten times. The list of previous winners include some of the sport’s best-ever athletes: Deena Kastor (2005), Catherine Ndereba (1996, ‘98, ‘99, 2000, ‘01 and ‘02), Benoit Samuelson (1983, ‘84, and ‘85), Khalid Khannouchi (1997, ‘99, and 2000), Steve Jones (1988), and Rod Dixon (1980, ‘81) to name a few.
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Kogo smokes Parelloop 10-K; nearly sets world record
Posted April 1st, 2007 at 3:57 PM by David Monti
Section: News & Results
Micah Kogo, the Kenyan who ran a world leading 26:35.63 for 10,000m at Brussels last September at age 20, smoked the flat course at the Parelloop 10-K today in Brunssum, Netherlands, recording the third-fastest certified 10-K ever on the roads: 27:07.
On record-standard courses (no net elevation loss and start/finish separation less than 5 km) his mark is second all-time only to the IAAF-ratified record of 27:02 set by Haile Gebrselassie at Doha in 2002.
“I felt strong today but the wind in the last kilometer was too much,” said Kogo in a statement released by his manager, Ricky Simms, of PACE Sports Management in Teddington, England. “I knew I was inside 27:00 mins pace at 9 km but I lost seven seconds in the final km with a 2:49 split.”
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Who had the more impressive Boston Marathon debut?
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The Final Sprint
On March 15, 2010
SDrunner said:
Great review, I wrote one on the Ironman Road Trainer HRM, which is similar to this one, without the...