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Lead Stories: Sunday, September 7, 2008

97th ING Bay to Breakers Returns on Sunday in San Francisco

Posted May 14th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Road Racing

Part parade, part fashion show, and part road race, the 97th ING Bay to Breakers returns to the streets of San Francisco on Sunday, and organizers expect some 70,000 runners and walkers (about half of them unregistered) to take part.

Up front, the race is serious business. Elite athlete coordinator Josh Muxen has assembled a strong field to chase a $74,000 prize money purse, including a special $25,000 ING Battle to the Breakers bonus which will be awarded to the first athlete to cross the finish line. That could be a man or it could be a woman; women are given a four minute and 40 second headstart based on the difference between the male (33:42) and female (38:22) course records.

In addition, there is a $5000 bonus for the first man and first woman to reach the top of Hayes Street Hill, a beast of a climb which begins at the two mile mark on Franklin Street, rises 201 feet, and covers a distance of 0.69 miles. Athletes can pocket the bonus as long as they also finish in the top-20.
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Boston Marathon Boosts Prize Money for 2008

Posted April 15th, 2008 at 4:00 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Winning the Boston Marathon just got 50% sweeter.

At next Monday’s 112th running of America’s oldest marathon, the male and female winners will receive $150,000, a hefty boost over last year’s $100,000 payment. Thanks to the sponsorship of John Hancock Financial, the Boston champions will now receive the largest prize money check of the five commercial events of the World Marathon Majors.
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Planning Ahead, Utrecht Hopes for 10,000m World Record in 2009

Posted April 15th, 2008 at 11:17 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Event organizer Arjan Pathmamanoharan is hoping to bring the women’s world record for 10,000m to the Dutch city of Utrecht in 2009. Pathmamanoharan has secured financial the backing to offer a 100,000 Euro (USD 158,000) bonus to the women who can beat the 15 year-old standard of China’s Wang Junxia set in Beijing in 1993: 29:31.78. Wang’s mark remains the only sub-30:00 10,000m clocking by a woman.

“The organization will invite the best athletes as Lornah Kiplagat, Tirunesh Dibaba, Ejegayehu Dibaba, Meseret Defar, Paula Radcliffe and Vivian Cheruiyot for this spectacular event, in which they can win the bonus of 100,000 Euro,” Pathmamanoharan explained in a press release.
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TFS News Briefs: 3/22/08

Posted March 22nd, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Cross Country, Track & Field, TFS News Briefs, Masters

Preview Of Oregon Preview
Eugene, OR’s Register-Guard, arguably THE track & field newspaper, has a preview of the University of Oregon’s Oregon Preview track & field meet which will serve as the unveiling of the newly renovated Hayward Field, which arguably may be THE track & field stadium.
Read more at: [Register-Guard]

The Man Who Would Be King
Joseph Ebuya of Kenya is profiled in Kenya’s Standard. He is vying to upset the great Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia to become the 2008 world cross-country champion. “I want only gold,” he said. “I know that if we keep up with him from the first minute we have a chance of beating him.”
Read more at: [Standard, Kenya]

Show Me the Money!
Of course we all know that cross-country athletes are in it solely for financial gain, not for the love of the sport. Here’s an article on the IAAF detailing the prize money for the 36th IAAF World Cross-Country Championships which will be held on March 30th, 2008 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Read more at: [IAAF]
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New Time Bonuses Spice Up Bolder Boulder 10-K

Posted March 11th, 2008 at 11:30 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Road Racing

Organizers of the DICK’S Sporting Goods BolderBOULDER 10-K announced yesterday that they would cease to run the professional athletes on a separate criterium course used since 1998, and had beefed up their athlete compensation package with generous time bonuses.

Dubbed the International Team Challenge when it was debuted in 1998 and introduced team scoring as a major component of the race, the BolderBOULDER ran separate single gender races for the professional men and women on a criterium course after the conclusion of the massive citizens race which remained on the event’s traditional point-to-point course. For the 2008 edition of the race, scheduled for Memorial Day, May 26, the pros will be back on the traditional course with the masses competing for a $110,600 prize purse based on international team scoring PLUS the new time bonuses.
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Kastor Could See Sizeable Payday in Jacksonville Tomorrow

Posted March 7th, 2008 at 1:30 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results

Deena Kastor could see a sizeable payday at tomorrow’s Gate River Run in Jacksonville, Fla., which serves as the U.S. 15-K championships for both men and women.

Already the U.S. record holder for 15-K (47:15), Kastor will be looking for her sixth title in Jacksonville, worth $12,000. However, she may pick up an additional $5000 should she finish ahead of the first man (the elite women are given a five minute headstart). That seems likely given that the men’s field is not as strong as in previous years.
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$19,000 Prize Money Purse for Riker Danzig Newport 10,000

Posted March 3rd, 2008 at 10:30 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results

The fifth annual Riker Danzig Newport 10,000, set for Saturday, May 10, in Jersey City, N.J., is offering a $19,000 prize money purse, organizers announced today. The flat 10-K, which boasts beautiful views of Manhattan across the Hudson River, also serves as the USATF-NJ Open Championship for men and women.

“The Newport 10,000 has traditionally attracted outstanding elite runners including 2006 ING New York City Women’s runner up, Tetyana Hladyr, who set the course record of 32:00 in 2006,” said race director Mark Zenobia via e-mail. “Catherine Ndereba, Jemima Jelagat, Julius Kibet (men’s record of 28:42) and Linus Maiyo have also competed,” he added.
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Prize Money Doubled for Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathon

Posted February 28th, 2008 at 1:30 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Organizers of the Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathon, held on conjunction with the well-known Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minn., announced that they have doubled the prize money purse for the 2008 edition of the race, scheduled for Sunday, June 21. This will be the second year that the half-marathon will offer cash prizes.

“The addition of a cash purse in 2007 helped us attract a quality field of elite runners, and we expect this increase will bring in an even stronger group of half marathoners this year,” said Scott Keenan, executive director of Grandma’s Marathon, in a prepared statement.
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Gebrselassie Hoping for Perfect Race in Dubai

Posted January 16th, 2008 at 8:00 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Setting a world record is never easy, but it’s particularly difficult in the marathon. Not only must an athlete spend three to four injury-free months training for a single competitive effort, he must have near-perfect conditions: a flat course, excellent pacemaking, ideal weather, and a well-marked and measured course. A little luck doesn’t hurt, either.

Heading into Friday’s Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon,
Haile Gebrselassie is hoping that all of these factors will line up in his favor so he can break his own world standard of 2:04:26 set in Berlin last September. In short, he’s looking for the perfect race.

“The top priority is not the money,” Gebrselassie said referring to the $1 million bonus for a new world record race organizers have on offer. “It’s the race. But the marathon is not an easy event, you cannot predict. Everything is perfect, I hope it will be more perfect for the race.”
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Training for Dubai, Gebrselassie & Kiplagat Face Different Challenges

Posted January 7th, 2008 at 3:34 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

With the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon looming in just 11 days, Haile Gebrselassie and Lornah Kiplagat are making their final preprations, each facing their own special challenges.

Gebrselassie, the world record holder and #2-ranked marathoner in the world last year in Race Results Weekly’s rankings, is dreaming of the $1 million bonus on the line for toppling his own world best of 2:04:26 set in Berlin last September. Well, at least his Dutch manager Jos Hermens is.

“I and he are certain he can do under 2:04,” Hermens is quoted by race organizers as saying last week.

But Gebrselassie himself is more circumspect. “Yes, I did 2:04 in Berlin,” Gebrselassie told race organizers via telephone over the weekend. “But everything was perfect, the weather, the course, the pacemaking. Sure, it’s possible to do under 2:04, but everything has to be perfect again.”
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