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Barus to Challenge Sub-2:07 Men Kiplagat and Kipsos in Sunday’s Frankfurt Marathon
Posted October 25th, 2008 at 9:23 PM by Bob Ramsak
Section: News & Results, Marathons
Kenyans William Kiplagat and Vincent Kipsos, both sub-2:07 marathoners, are among several key protagonists at Sunday’s 27th Dresdner Kleinwort Frankurt Marathon on Sunday.
But despite their solid credentials the field on the men’s side promises a wide open race over the relatively flat course through Germany’s financial center and fifth largest city. Among the key challengers is another Kenyan, Benson Barus, whose 2:08:34 career best from two years ago could be under threat.
“The field is very strong so I can’t say if I am going to win, but I will give my best,” said Barus, a former world junior 10,000m champion. Four weeks ago the 28-year-old lowered his personal best over the half marathon to 59:41 with his victory over a notoriously flat and fast course in Udine, Italy. Despite that solid performance, Barus said his play book calls for a conservative first half. “I am running my own race. I’ll try to run around 64 minutes for the first half.”
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Kenyan Athletes Trying to Cope With Unrest
Posted January 5th, 2008 at 2:00 PM by David Monti
Section: News & Results
While the horrifying death of Kenyan Olympian Lucas Sang and the wounding of world marathon champion Luke Kibet have made headlines, much of the information coming out of Kenya from the athletics community is that most athletes remain safe, but training and travel has been curtailed due to the obvious dangers.
Agent Lisa Buster reports that world marathon champion Catherine Ndereba and her husband Anthony Maina are safe, but housebound in Nairobi. Road runner Linus Maiyo, who lives in Eldoret, is unable to train and is staying indoors.
Tom Ratcliffe, who manages marathoners Stephen Kiogora, Evans Rutto and Ben Maiyo says that his athletes are fine, but hesitant to go out for training. “Most guys are staying in their home areas, as they want to stay close to their families and do not want to travel,” he wrote in an e-mail message.
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Gharib, Limo and Rutto Headline Chicago Field
Posted September 12th, 2007 at 7:05 PM by David Monti
Section: News & Results, Marathons
A great battle is in store at the fastest marathon in the United States when the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon celebrates its 30th edition on Sunday, Oct. 7.
Making his Chicago debut will be two-time world champion Jaouad Gharib of Morocco. Boasting a 2:07:02 personal best, Gharib snagged the world titles in both Paris in 2003 and Helsinki in 2005. He passed-up this year’s world championships so he could be best prepared to win a World Marathon Majors title in the fall. Chicago’s extremely fast course should play to his strength as a runnner who prefers a pace which is both steady and fast.
The man who won Chicago in 2005, Felix Limo (Pictured) of Kenya, should be Gharib’s top rival. Limo, who also won London in 2006 and Berlin in 2004, has four sub-2:07 marathons to his credit. At London last April he was in the hunt for victory in the final meters, but finished third to Martin Lel and Abderrahim Goumri in nail-biting sprint finish. Limo had planned to run Chicago last year, but an injury forced him to scratch from the race.
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111th Boston Marathon: Pre-Race, Elite Field Notes
Posted April 16th, 2007 at 9:20 AM by Jared Markowitz
Section: News & Results, Marathons, Special Features, Live Race Coverage
Welcome to the The Final Sprint’s LIVE coverage of the 111th Boston Marathon! This year’s event promises to be as intriguing as ever, as the B.A.A. has once again assembled illustrious international fields for both the men’s and women’s races.
On the women’s side, defending champ Rita Jeptoo will face stiff competition from Boston native and Olympic Bronze Medalist Deena Kastor and the 2005 and 2006 ING New York City Marathon Champion and current World Marathon Majors leader Jelena Prokopcuka. Other race favorites include Mexico’s Madai Perez and Russia’s tandem of Lidiya Grigoryeva and Lyubov Denisova.
On the men’s side, two-time champion and course record holder (2006) Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot will try to lock up the World Marathon Majors Championship and the $1 million prize purse with a victory. Cheruiyot will be challenged by last year’s runner up Ben Maiyo, 2005 champion Hailu Negussie, and many other tough competitors including American Peter Gilmore.
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Support chasingKIMBIA’s “Auction for Education”
Posted March 28th, 2007 at 2:23 PM by Adam Jacobs
Section: Columns, SPOTLIGHT
chasingKIMBIA is excited to announce the Auction for Education and to formally introduce The KIMbia Foundation.
The hope is to raise awareness about the current state of education in Kenya and to offer people an opportunity to support education-related projects there. (Click here to see a video about this initiative!)
The Auction for Education
Up for bid is a custom pair of KIMbia racing flats signed by Ben Maiyo and Stephen “Baba” Kiogora. This New Balance RC205 racing flat has been customized specifically for the KIMbia athletes. On the front is the KIMbia Athletics logo and on the back is the Kenyan shield. This is the same shoe that Ben and Baba will wear during the 2007 Boston Marathon.
The auction has officially opened with a starting bid of $100. It will close at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time on April 7th. The winning bid will go to support one of three education-related projects in Kenya (the winner’s choice).
“chasingKIMBIA” to begin it’s second season
Posted February 16th, 2007 at 8:30 AM by David Monti
Section: News & Results, Marathons
“chasingKIMBIA”, the web-based documentary series which chronicled the training and racing of a small group of mostly Kenyan athletes, has opened its second season.
In 2006 the documentary followed seven athletes as they prepared to run in the World Marathon Majors events in Chicago and New York. Most of the footage was shot in Boulder, Colo., where they were training at the time under coach Dieter Hogen.
For the 2007 season, the focus shifts to Iten, Kenya, as the athletes prepare for their spring marathons, including Boston, London and Rotterdam.
“The goal of ‘chasingKIMBIA’ is to promote the elite athletes in our sport,” said Tom Ratcliffe, the athlete agent who runs the project. “Running fans know the Kenyans are successful, but most can’t name more than a handful of athletes. At the major marathons the spectators clap idly as the lead pack runs by. With this project we’re hoping to connect the athletes with the fans.”
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Who was America's most-valuable male runner in 2008?
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On January 8, 2009
Joe said:
Hey Nick, First of all I want to tell you what an inspiration you are to me. I am an "old timer" (just...