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Lead Stories: Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Mikitenko Will Not Chase WMM Title in New York

Posted September 30th, 2008 at 8:00 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

In a surprising development, newly crowned real,- Berlin Marathon champion Irina Mikitenko said she would not attempt to win the 2007/2008 World Marathon Majors series title and the attendant USD 500,000 award by competing in the ING New York City Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 2. The three-time Olympian is currently tied with Ethiopian Gete Wami for the series lead with 65 points, and Wami’s participation in New York has already been announced.

“Money isn’t everything,” said Mikitenko at a press conference in Berlin today. “I’ve already done very well, winning London and Berlin. If you’re in a sport at this level, you need goals and targets, and my goal is next year’s World Championships marathon here in Berlin. The most important thing is to win. If you win, money follows.”
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Mikitenko Hoping for Home Country Win in Berlin

Posted September 25th, 2008 at 5:47 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

A German woman hasn’t crossed the finish line first at the real,- Berlin Marathon since Uta Pippig won in 1995, her third Berlin victory. But, with 2008 Flora London Marathon champion Irina Mikitenko in the race, organizers hope that will change on Sunday for the 35th edition of the race.

Mikitenko, 36, was the surprise winner in London with a 2:24:14 personal best, breaking away with a 5:13 24th mile to drop Gete Wami of Ethiopia and Svetlana Zakharova of Russia.

“I had so much energy left,” she said through a translator after her race in London. “I knew I could run much faster.”
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London Marathon Signs with Virgin Group

Posted May 16th, 2008 at 9:30 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Margarine and skimmed milk are out and airplanes and financial services are in, at least at the London Marathon.

Beginning in 2010 Virgin Group, the diversified conglomerate founded by Sir Richard Branson, will be the title sponsor of the London Marathon, led by their Virgin Money financial services division.

“I’m delighted that Virgin will be sponsoring the London Marathon,” Branson said through a media release. It’s an epic and inspirational event and raises a fantastic amount of money for great causes. It’s the single biggest fundraising day on the planet and we want to make it even bigger, our aim is to help runners smash the £1/4 billion in five years.”
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London Marathon to Announce New Title Sponsor

Posted May 12th, 2008 at 2:24 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results

Beginning in the spring of 2010, it won’t be called the “Flora London Marathon” any longer. But what will be the new name?

Journalists have been asked to assemble at the Tower Hotel on St. Katharine Way in London on Friday, May 16, to find out which company will be the London Marathon’s new title sponsor.

Race Results Weekly (RRW) spoke on background to a high-ranking London Marathon official on the day of the Boston Marathon who said that the London event had been pitched by five well-heeled sponsors all vying for the privilege of bankrolling the world’s top spring marathon.

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London Marathon Champions Return for BUPA London 10,000

Posted May 7th, 2008 at 10:28 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Britain’s two leading organizers of road races have joined forces to launch a new event slated for Monday, May 26. Dubbed the BUPA London 10,000, the event will be jointly produced by the Flora London Marathon and Nova International and will feature Martin Lel (Pictured) and Irina Mikitenko, the 2008 Flora London Marathon champions.

“We are delighted to have such strong elite fields for the first ever BUPA London 10,000,” said David Bedford, race director of the Flora London Marathon. “To have our current Flora London Marathon champions on the start line is a great boost for us in our first year.”
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2008 World Marathon Majors Series Continues With Boston Marathon

Posted April 21st, 2008 at 1:31 PM by Adam Jacobs

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

The 2008 World Marathon Majors (WMM) series continued today with the crowning of the men’s and women’s champions at the 112th running of the Boston Marathon. The inaugural WMM men’s champion Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot of Kenya moved into second place in the 2007-08 series championship in becoming the youngest four-time Boston Marathon champion. Ethiopia’s Dire Tune added her name to the series leaderboard in the closest women’s finish in the history of the race.

Martin Lel of Kenya and Irina Mikitenko of Germany both earned 25 points in winning last week’s Flora London Marathon, the first of six races in the series in 2008. The next points races in the 2007-08 series will be the Olympic Marathons this August in Beijing. At the conclusion of the two-year series this fall, the male and female point leaders will each be awarded $500,000.
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Ryan Hall: Post-London Recap “It’s Just the Beginning”
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #8)

Posted April 18th, 2008 at 7:00 PM by Ryan Hall

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Ryan Hall

Welcome to the official blog of top U.S. distance runner Ryan Hall as he begins his quest for Olympic gold! Check back every other Friday for Ryan’s latest entry at http://ryanhall.thefinalsprint.com/

As has become my custom before all my best races, my travel to London was crazy. Before breaking an hour at the Houston Half-Marathon it was a monster snowstorm that left us in a ditch and literally snowed in, before London last year it was nearly missing my flight as I realized that the train from San Diego would not drop me off at LAX like I had thought (although my tardiness did result in me getting the last available seat on the plane…in first class), before the Olympic Trials it was the fires and smoke that made for a juggle in travel arrangements and then an earthquake to shake things up just hours before our flight. So when travel got crazy heading to the London marathon you would think I would be excited to know that a good race was on schedule. However, I had a hard time seeing it that way.
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Sara Hall: Success in London for Ryan, Now On To Mt. Sac (Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #7)

Posted April 18th, 2008 at 4:00 PM by Sara Hall

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Sara Hall

Welcome to the official blog of U.S. middle-distance runner Sara Hall. Sara’s list of running accolades include being a former NCAA All- American at Stanford, the 2006 USA 5K road champion, and the 2006 champion at the Continental Fifth Avenue Mile. Check back every other Friday for her latest entry at http://sarahall.thefinalsprint.com/

It’s over. I am definitely running a little lighter these days now that London is behind us, successfully completed! There is so much buildup going into marathons, especially for Ryan since he usually doesn’t race too much leading up to it. Just one shot, make or break, all that training and dreaming coming down to one day.

This year, Ryan seemed a lot less nervous than last year and at the Trials, which helped me stay relaxed too. I take Ryan’s races very personally, because we are a team- whether playing Poker with our teammates (much to the frustration of Ian [Dobson] frustration) or cheering each other on in workouts, we are “Team Hall” and try to do it together and support each other to the point where his races seem like my races, his victories my victories, and his failures mine as well. The Bible puts it well when it says, “a man shall leave his father and mother, be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh”. Since we’ve been married, I definitely feel like we are “one”, so it was great to be able to be there the whole trip to London and experience it all together!
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Josh Cox:
Forgotten Number Four
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #7)

Posted April 17th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Josh Cox

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Elite Athlete Blogs, Josh Cox

Welcome to the official blog of U.S. marathon runner Josh Cox. Every other Wednesday visit http://joshcox.thefinalsprint.com for Cox’s latest blog entry and for more information, also please visit: www.joshcox.com

“Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust.”
–Jesse Owens, 4 time Track and Field Gold Medalist at the 1936 Olympic Games

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.”
–C. S. Lewis

“You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what’s a life, anyway? We’re born, we live a little while, we die. A spider’s life can’t help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone’s life can stand a little of that.”
–Charlotte the spider in EB White’s “Charlotte’s Web”

I get loads of email from strangers. When you write blogs, have Myspaces, Facebooks and a contact button on your website, it comes with the territory. My latest “Miracles” installment solicited a Santa sized bag of digital mail. For every public comment I receive, another five appear in the inbox. If a common theme arises I address it in the comments of the blog – years of blogging tells me this is the best course of action. This way the popular, pertinent issues get addressed. If I’m busy this doesn’t always happen. So before diving into this entry I’ll let the mail senders know I’ll be answering their questions and keeping the comment section of the last blog alive and kicking.
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Lel Is Youngest Man Ever to Win Five Majors

Posted April 15th, 2008 at 1:11 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

The good news just keeps coming for Kenya’s Martin Lel. The 29 year-old leader of the 2007/2008 World Marathon Majors points series has become the youngest man ever to win five Majors events: London three times and New York City twice.

Lel, who sprinted away from compatriot Samuel Wanjiru at the Flora London Marathon last Sunday to win in a course record and personal best 2:05:15, is also the first man to achieve this career milestone before age 30. The previous youngest five-time winner was Khalid Khannouchi, running for both Morocco and the United States, who was 30 years 295 days when he won his fifth lifetime Major at the 2002 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.
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