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Lead Stories: Friday, September 5, 2008

Video: Ryan Shay Segment on ESPN E:60

Posted May 1st, 2008 at 9:00 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field

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Athlete Ngetich Perishes in Ongoing Kenyan Violence

Posted January 21st, 2008 at 1:22 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

The ongoing violence in Kenya has claimed the life of marathoner Wesley Ngetich, according to his manager Hussein Makke. The 34 year-old athlete was shot in the chest with an arrow today during fighting in his hometown of Trans Mara, not far from Masai Mara.

“They spoke to his sister-in-law who said they took him to the hospital and he passed away,” Makke explained in an e-mail message to Race Results Weekly. “I don’t have any further information at the moment.”

Makke got the news of Ngetich’s death from his on-site manager in Kenya, Francis Kamau.
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Hundreds Say Goodbye
To Vic Navarra

Posted January 5th, 2008 at 4:15 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Columns, SPOTLIGHT

Nearly 500 people filled Blessed Sacrament Church here this morning to bid their final goodbyes to Victor J. Navarra, the retired New York City Fire Department lieutenant who served as the start coordinator for the ING New York City Marathon for 25 years. Navarra died last Monday at the age of 55, having suffered for more than two years with sinus cancer.

In a life which was defined by service to others, Navarra was remembered for his roles as a family man and neighbor, a firefighter, and an event organizer. He joined the New York City Fire Department in 1977, rising to the rank of lieutenant, and serving 21 years for the department’s Ladder Company 35 in Manhattan.

“The word ‘dedicated’ didn’t even begin to describe Vic Navarra,” a fire department official said during the eulogy portion of Navarra’s funeral. “We have no better ambassador than Vic Navarra to show what this department is all about.”
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NYC Firefighter & Marathon Coordinator Victor Navarra Succumbs to Cancer at 56

Posted December 31st, 2007 at 10:30 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Victor Navarra, the retired New York City firefighter who was the start coordinator of the ING New York City Marathon for 25 years, died this morning after being in a coma for two days. He was 56 and had suffered from cancer which had begun in his sinuses.

“The more someone gives in life, the harder it is to lose them,” said ING New York City Marathon race director, Mary Wittenberg, in a prepared statement. “Vic was a giver. In every way. Of his time, energy, emotions and passions.”

Although he was retired, Navarra volunteered to work at Ground Zero after the attacks of 9/11 in 2001, spending long hours on “the pile” as the rescue workers called the massive heap of rubble left after the World Trade Center was brought down. In 2005 he was diagnosed with malignant tumors adjacent to his sinuses. Efforts to eradicate the cancer failed, and Navarra’s health was failing in the lead-up to this year’s marathon. Nonetheless, he was still engaged in the planning process and was still at the start of the race despite losing his eyesight to the cancer.
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Bobby Doyle Rembrance
Blog / Fundraiser

Posted December 24th, 2007 at 4:18 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

On the blog of Providence Journal sports reporter Carolyn Thornton, runners have been sharing their memories of the late Rhode Island marathoner, Bobby Doyle, who died earlier this month of a heart attack at 58 years old. You can read the posts, or add one of your own, at this link:

http://www.beloblog.com/ProJo_Blogs/running/

In addition, a fundraiser for Doyle’s children (he had three younger children from a second marriage: Brian, 15; Conor, 12; and Mackenzie, 6) will be held in February in Rhode Island, according to George McLaughlin who is organizing the event.
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USATF Release on the Passing of NYRR Founder Ted Corbitt

Posted December 12th, 2007 at 5:48 PM by Andrew Goodman

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Trail / Ultra

Ultrarunning legend, 1952 Olympian, New York Road Runners Founding President and pioneer in the field of course measurement and certification Ted Corbitt died Wednesday of cancer in Houston, Texas. He was 87.

Corbitt began his running career as a sprinter in Cincinnati and didn’t run his first marathon until he was 32 years old, placing 15th at the 1951 Boston Marathon. At age 54 he ran his 175th marathon, in Boston, in 2 hours 49 minutes 16 seconds, less than one minute slower than his first marathon 23 years earlier. His fastest marathon time was 2:26:44 in 1958. He ran a total of 199 marathons and ultra races during his career and formerly held American Records at 50 miles, 100 miles and 24 hours.

Shortly after the founding of the Road Runners Club of America in February 1958, Corbitt founded the first RRCA chapter in April of that year, the New York Road Runners Club (now the New York Road Runners). Corbitt was elected as the second president of the RRCA at the organization’s 1960 Annual Meeting.
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Olympic Medalist John Woodruff Passes Away

Posted November 1st, 2007 at 6:48 PM by Martha Jones

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

According to The New York Times, National Track & Field Hall of Famer John Woodruff died Tuesday in Fountain Hills, Ariz. He was 92.

Best known for his amazing come-from-behind victory in the 800 meters at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany, Woodruff died of atrial fibrillation and chronic renal failure.

Of the 12 American men who won gold medals at the 1936 Olympics, Woodruff was the last survivor.

While only a freshman at the University of Pittsburgh in 1936, Woodruff took the track world by storm by finishing second in the 800 meters at the National AAU meet, then winning the Olympic Trials.

Despite his inexperience, he was quickly established as the favorite at the Berlin Olympics. He didn’t disappoint, though he had an anxious moment in the final when he found himself boxed in. He pulled a tactical coup, virtually slowing to a stop and waiting until the entire field passed him, then moving into the third lane and sprinting from last to first. His winning time was 1:52.9.
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Video: Questions linger about 2007 Chicago Marathon

Posted October 10th, 2007 at 5:52 PM by Allyson Rosen

Section: News & Results, Marathons

A number of questions still remain from the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon despite the recent autopsy report which determined that the heat was not responsible for the tragic death that took place last Sunday.

Although inside sources have reported that Chicago’s Olympic bid is only in ‘3rd place’, the Windy City’s Mayor Daley feels otherwise. Either way, and as CBS 2’s Chief Correspondent reports, few believe that recent complaints about the marathon will thwart Chicago’s Olympic hopes.

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English marathoner Jane Tomlinson dies after 7-year battle with cancer

Posted September 4th, 2007 at 3:20 PM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Jane Tomlinson, who defied terminal cancer for seven years by running marathons, entering triathlons and cycling vast distances while raising large sums for charity, has died, her family said Tuesday. Tomlinson, 43, died Monday night at St. Gemma’s Hospice in Leeds, her home town in central England.

She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1990. Ten years later, she was told the disease had spread and was incurable, and that she would die within six months. She continued to work as a nurse and, despite the effects of chemotherapy and other treatment, she pursued a grueling exercise program.

She ran three times in the London marathon and was said to be the first terminal cancer patient to finish the race. She ran once in the New York Marathon and competed in an Ironman triathlon in Florida completing a 180-kilometer (112-mile) bike ride, a 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) swim and a full marathon within 17 hours.
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Hundreds gather to remember Mike Long

Posted July 28th, 2007 at 11:22 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results

Under the warm Southern California sun, which no doubt had influenced his sunny disposition, hundreds of family, friends and running industry colleagues gathered at Mission Point Park to remember Elite Racing’s legendary elite athletes coordinator, Mike Long, who died unexpectedly last week at 65.

Tears flowed freely as more than a dozen people came to the podium to remember Long, showering him with praise and sharing their goodbyes.

“For those who never met him words would not suffice,” said writer and television commentator, Toni Reavis, who acted as emcee. He called the diminutive Long, who only stood 5′ 6″ (168cm) tall, “the center around which all we revolved.”

Long’s son, Bruce, said that his father’s sudden death –believed to be a heart attack– was probably how his father would have wanted to go, not caring for lingering goodbyes. “He was never a hospital bed kind of guy,” he said, his sunglasses concealing his tear-swollen eyes.
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