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Lead Stories: Saturday, July 4, 2009

Boston Marathon 2009:
Live Race Coverage - WOMEN

Posted April 20th, 2009 at 12:14 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Marathons

OFFICIAL RESULTS:
1. Salina Kosgei (KEN) - 2:32:16 ($150,000)
2. Dire Tune (ETH) - 2:32:17 ($75,000)
3. Kara Goucher (USA) - 2:32:25 ($40,000)
4. Bezunesh Bekele (ETH) - 2:33:08 ($25,000)
5. Helena Kirop (KEN) - 2:33:24 ($15,000)
6. Lidiya Grigoryeva (RUS) - 2:34:20 ($12,000)
7. Atsede Habtamu (ETH) - 2:35:34 ($9,000)
8. Colleen De Reuck (USA) - 2:35:37 ($7,400)
9. Alice Timbilili (KEN) - 2:36:25 ($5,700)
10. Alina Ivanova (RUS) - 2:36:50 ($4,200)

By virtue of her second-place finish, Tune moves into second place in the 2008-2009 World Marathon Majors Series with 40 points. Kosgei now has 30 points, putting her in a tie for third.

12:08 p.m. - After last year’s thrilling duel between Dire Tune and Alevtina Biktimirova, which resulted in the closest women’s finish ever in Boston — this year’s finish remarkably has eclipsed that, with Salina Kosgei beating Tune by just one second.

12:06 p.m. - 2:32:15 is the unofficial winning time of Salina Kosgei, with Dire Tune likely 1 second, or less, behind.

12:05 p.m. - Kara Goucher finishes in third, followed by Bezunesh Bekele in fourth.

12:05 p.m. - Tune flashes in front! Then Salina Kosgei answers! Tune back in front as they near the tape! In the final steps, Kosgei takes it!
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USA 15-K Championships On Tap for Saturday in Florida

Posted March 12th, 2009 at 1:48 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Road Racing

The 32nd edition of the Gate River Run will take place on Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla., and will serve as the USA 15 km Championships for both men and women for the 16th time. A prize money purse of $58,000 is on the line, and eight Olympians have committed to the race, USA Track & Field reported.

Defending champion Andrew Carlson leads the men’s field. In extremely winding conditions last year, Carlson won by nine seconds over Dan Browne, 44:12 to 44:21. He pocketed the $12,000 first prize plus an additional $5,000 “equalizer” bonus for getting to the finish line ahead of Olympic marathon bronze medalist Deena Kastor who, with the other elite women, had a five minute head start.

“I’m from North Dakota so I’m used to wind,” Carlson said after the race.
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Boston Marathon Completes Elite Fields

Posted February 19th, 2009 at 11:26 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Organizers of the Boston Marathon announced today that they have completed their elite fields for the 113th edition of the race scheduled for Monday, April 20.

In addition to defending champions, Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot of Kenya and Dire Tune of Ethiopia, and key USA challengers, Ryan Hall and Kara Goucher, who had been previously announced, elite athlete coordinator Pat Lynch has signed an additional group of strong challengers.

On the men’s side, 2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon champion Evans Cheruiyot of Kenya (2:06:25 PB), has been added along with Beijing Olympics fourth-placer and 2009 Chevron Houston Marathon champion Deribe Merga of Ethiopia (2:06:38).
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Olympic Marathon Trials ‘08:
Elite Athlete Profile:
ELVA DRYER

Posted April 12th, 2008 at 6:10 AM by thefinalsprint.com

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics

A two-time U.S. Olympian, Elva Dryer has developed her athleticism since high school with patience and hard work. She first began to train seriously at Western State College in Colorado, refining her skills for a promising career on and off the track. She was a 16-time NCAA Division II All-American and a seven-time national champion at Western State.

After graduating in 1996, Dryer continued to race and train. She posted respectable indoor times in the mile, 3,000m, and 5,000m events before extending her skills to the roads, cross country and outdoor track. In 1998, Dryer produced several strong international performances, placing eighth at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships 4K and ninth in the mile at the Goodwill Games with a PR of 4:31.12.
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2008 Previews & Predictions: Women’s Marathon

Posted January 24th, 2008 at 12:30 PM by Jared Markowitz

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics

The marathon promises to be one of the marquee events in women’s track and field in 2008. Among the highlights will be an epic showdown in London, a thrilling U.S. Olympic Trials, and Paula Radcliffe’s last chance at Olympic glory in Beijing. These and a few other huge races should provide many memorable moments and will define many careers. I will again try to make predictions based on as much hearsay, personal bias, and circumstantial data as I can gather.

The first big event on the 2008 women’s marathon calendar is the Flora London Marathon, which will be held on April 13. This race feature’s several of the world’s top female marathoners including World Record holder Radcliffe, World Marathon Majors Champ Gete Wami, Dubai Marathon champ Berhane Adere, Svetlana Zakharova, Constantina Tomescu-Dita, and Benita Johnson.
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USA Half-Marathon Titles
Up for Grabs in Houston

Posted January 13th, 2008 at 8:30 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

With deep fields but no clear favorites, Sunday’s USA Half-Marathon Championships hosted by the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon look to be wide open races. Most athletes are only in the base phase of their training cycles, either recovering from, or in the early stages of preparing for, important marathons. Expectations amongst the top entrants are modest, despite the $12,000 winner’s purse.

“I was in the same boat last year at this time,” said defending women’s champion Elva Dryer in a telephone interview last night from Houston. Prior to last year’s championship, Dryer was just restarting her training after running the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon in October.

This year, she’s had even less recovery time after placing sixth at the ING New York City Marathon last November. However, Houston offers her a good chance to see where her training stands for April’s USA Olympic Team Trials - Women’s Marathon in Boston. A two-time Olympian at 10,000m, Dryer has an excellent shot of qualifying for her first Olympic marathon.
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Looking Back On The 2007 New York City Marathon

Posted November 30th, 2007 at 6:30 PM by J. R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons

The Champions
At the 38th ING New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 4, Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain led wire-to-wire in the women’s race and pulled away from Gete Wami of Ethiopia, 2:23:09 vs. 2:23:32, while Martin Lel of Kenya kicked ahead in the final mile to win the men’s division over Abderrahim Goumri of Morocco, 2:09:04 vs. 2:09:16. Both champions notched their second ING New York City Marathon titles, and Lel became the first man in history to win both the Flora London Marathon and ING New York City Marathon in the same year.
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NYC MARATHON ‘07: Radcliffe Wins Second NYC Title; Wami Earns World Marathon Majors $500k

Posted November 4th, 2007 at 12:08 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Special Features, Live Race Coverage

After taking a hiatus from racing to have a child, World Marathon Record Holder Paula Radcliffe quited the doubters and made a loud and impressive statement this morning in her first 26.2 mile race since giving birth.

Britain’s Radcliffe dominated one of the most talented fields of female marathon runners ever assembled to win the 2007 ING New York City Marathon; her second NYC title.

The marathon became a two-person race after about the second mile, when Radcliffe and Wami made strong moves and opened a lead on Prokopcuka, Grigoryeva and Ndereba. After increasing their lead by over a minute, Radcliffe and Wami never looked back. Radcliffe assumed the lead, but was then followed by Wami throughout the remainder of the race.

Over the Williamsburg Bridge and through the roaring crowds of First Avenue, Radcliffe refused to make a move and allowed Wami to remain just over her shoulder. At various points during the last two or three miles Wami seemed too close to comfort. Despite Radcliffe’s constant efforts to lose her, Wami never trailed by more than 3 or 4 feet and even took the lead for about 2-3 seconds on the 26th mile.

As the pair entered the park, Wami gained what would be a very short-lived lead of 2-3 feet. Radcliffe came flying back a few seconds later with an intense, final surge that officially shut the door on Wami’s hopes of winning the race.

Radcliffe finished the race in a near-course record of 2:23:09. Wami, showing basically no signs of fatigue from her victory at the Berlin Marathon last month, finished second (2:32:32) and defending champion Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia came in third (2:26:13)

Despite being unable to overtake Radcliffe, Wami has a lot to celebrate: She held onto her lead in the World Marathon Majors series to win the $500,000 prize purse.

America’s Elva Dryer came in sixth; finishing in a time of 2:35:15.

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NYC MARATHON ‘07: Women Complete 15k; Radcliffe and Wami Dominate Field

Posted November 4th, 2007 at 10:30 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Special Features, Live Race Coverage

Radcliffe and Wami continue to lead the women’s field at course-record-setting pace and they fly by the 15k mark.

Their overall time is 50:12 which translates into a 5:23/mile pace. Having made their moves so early, Radcliffe and Wami have managed to run in the lead at a pretty consistent pace that ranges from 5:16-5:21.

However, they have still been able to increase their lead; now ahead of Prokopcuka, Ndereba and Grigoryeva by 1:28.

American Elva Dryer has begun to catch up to that second pack of leaders and now trails Radcliffe and Wami by a little over 2 minutes.

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NYC MARATHON 2007:
Elite Athlete Profile:
ELVA DRYER

Posted November 4th, 2007 at 7:00 AM by thefinalsprint.com

Section: News & Results, Marathons

One of America’s top distance runners, Elva Dryer ran her first marathon in 2006 and finished 12th in the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon (2:31:48). She made the 2000 U.S. Olympic team at 5000 meters.

In 2003, she finished second in the 10,000 meters at the USA Outdoor Championships; another runner-up finish the next year—at the Olympic Trials—earned her a spot on her second Olympic team, and she was the top American in the 10,000 at the 2004 Games, finishing 19th. Dryer won four NCAA Division II titles at 3,000 for Western State College (CO).

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