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Lead Stories: Saturday, July 19, 2008

Spira Footwear Scores at Detroit Marathon

Posted November 2nd, 2007 at 1:21 PM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Gear & Apparel, Running Shoes

Spira Footwear, the controversial shoe company, scored a major victory at the 30th annual Detroit Free Press Marathon, as the top five male and the top two female winners all competed in Spira shoes.

Christopher Kiprotich of Kenya was the men’s overall winner, finishing the 26.2 mile course in 2:15:15. Countrymen Hillary Lelei, the 2003 winner, came in second with a time of 2:18:1. Henry Githuka finished third in 2:21:52, followed by Dmitry Sivou of Belarus with a time of 2:22:25. Jaroslaw Chichoki of Poland received fifth place in 2:23:22.
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2:04:26 World Record for Gebrselassie in Berlin

Posted September 30th, 2007 at 2:29 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics

Nineteen years ago, a skinny 15 year old did what millions of country kids over the centuries have done. Haile Gebrselassie went up to the big city, to seek his fortune. He was only in Addis Ababa a couple of days, just long enough to run a marathon and struggle, half crippled from the effort, back home to his village 175 kilometres away. He would start running again a week later, when the pain subsided, and the dreams of success returned.

But even he could not have dreamed that what began with a 2hrs 48min marathon round the back streets of Addis, admittedly at altitude, would presage a career which, thus far has netted him 24 world records, the latest coming in Berlin on Sunday morning, at that same marathon distance, but his time some 44 minutes faster, in 2.04.26.
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Berlin Marathon 2007:
Haile Sets WR; Wami Wins

Posted September 30th, 2007 at 9:15 AM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Running in near ideal conditions, Haile Gebrselassie shattered the World record in the marathon, clocking 2:04:26 at the real,-Berlin Marathon today.

Defending his Berlin title, the 34-year-old Ethiopian knocked 29 seconds from the preview record, 2:04:55, set by Kenyan Paul Tergat over the same course in 2003.

Gebrselassie, who had previously broken 23 world records or bests over his career, reached the half way point in 1:02:29.

Kenyans took the next three spots, with Abel Kirui second in 2:06:51, Salim Kipsang (2:07:29) third and Philip Manyim, the 2005 Berlin winner, fourth (2:08:01).

Gete Wami defended her women’s title, winning in 2:23:17, well ahead of Germany’s marathon debutant Irina Mikitenko, who took second in 2:24:49.

Look for additional details later today.

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NYC Half-Marathon releases elite fields; NYRR once again draws world’s best

Posted August 1st, 2007 at 4:33 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

The New York Road Runners released the elite fields for Sunday’s second annual NYC Half-Marathon presented by NIKE. NOTE: TheFinalSprint.com will feature videos of every pre- and post-race press conference, one-on-one video & audio interviews with top elites, and of course, LIVE coverage of the race itself!)

Led by two-time Olympic gold medalist, Haile Gebrselassie, the men’s field has three athletes who have broken one hour for the half-marathon distance, and a total of 11 men who have run 62:23 or better.

Catherine Ndereba, the 2003 world marathon champion who won the inaugural NYC Half-Marathon last year, headlines the women’s field. She’s just one of seven women who have broken the 71 minute barrier (three have run sub-70 minutes).

Former world marathon record holder, Khalid Khannouchi, was forced to withdraw from the race citing a mechanical problem in his stride which had been causing a burning sensation in the ball of his right foot, race officials reported. He and wife Sandra have flown to Barcelona to see an orthodics specialist.
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