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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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Kenyans Kithi & Kosgei Win Medtronic TC 1 Mile With Record Times

Posted May 9th, 2008 at 4:30 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Road Racing

Kenyans Josephat Kithii and Rose Kosgei won last night’s Medtronic TC 1 Mile, each taking home $4,000 in prize money and setting event records.

“I’m really excited for race officials who put on a $4,000 first place prize purse for a one-mile race,” said second place Haron Lagat from Kenya through a press release. The first place prize is the second highest for a road mile in the United States trailing only the Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile in New York City which pays $5,000.

Kithii was hoping to break the four-minute barrier and pocket an additional $10,000 time bonus. Although he fell well short that mark, he still set a new event record with a 4:09 finish time, easily topping Luke Watson’s 4:16 event record set in 2006. Lagat was very close behind and was also credited with the same time. American Jordan Fife was third in 4:10.
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Tollefson Confirmed for Medtronic TC 1 Mile

Posted May 7th, 2008 at 4:30 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Road Racing

Despite missing last Sunday’s Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational meeting at Stanford due to an illness, Team USA Minnesota’s Carrie Tollefson will line up for tomorrow evening’s Medtronic TC 1 Mile in Minneapolis, her manager Rich Kenah confirmed.

“Yes,” wrote Kenah in a short text message from his BlackBerry. “She is running.”

Tollefson’s key rivals will be Tiffany McWilliams, Emily Brown, Marina Muncan, Rose Kosgei, and Meskerem Legesse. A $4,000 check awaits the race winner with the chance to earn an additional $10,000 bonus for a sub-4:28.00 finish time.
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Fast Milers Headed to Minneapolis

Posted May 6th, 2008 at 2:15 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Road Racing

Thursday’s Medtronic TC 1 Mile will give 2600 citizen athletes a chance to test themselves at the sport’s classic distance, while a much smaller group of elite athletes will be running all-out for significant cash prizes. It will be the fourth annual edition for Minnesota’s most important road mile.

The venue will be Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. A mass wave of about 1000 runners will start things of at 6:50 p.m., followed by age-group and championship waves beginning at 7:53 p.m. The elites, running for a $25,000 prize money purse, will bring the show to a rousing close. A special $10,000 bonus is on the line for the first man to break 4:00.00 and the first woman to break 4:28.00.

Steve Sherer (Pictured)leads the men’s entry list. The 27 year-old athlete and former Michigan State Spartan, ran 3:56-flat during the indoor season, and finished third in the AT&T USA Indoor Championships at 1500m.
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American Record for Flanagan At Cardinal Invitational

Posted May 5th, 2008 at 12:30 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

She’d never run a 10,000m race before, but Shalane Flanagan can safely say that she’s already mastered the distance on only her first try at Sunday’s Peyton Jordan Cardinal Invitational. Helped by excellent pacemaking provided by Kenya’s Rose Kosgei and a spirited battle with New Zealand’s Kim Smith which went right to homestretch, the 26 year-old Olympian toppled Deena Kastor’s American record with a sparkling 30:34.49 clocking.

“Thanks to the New York Road Runners, they set me up with a rabbit and that gave me a cushion,” Flanagan told a clutch of reporters after the race. “It really worked out very well.”
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Star-Studded Meet At Stanford Tomorrow Night

Posted May 4th, 2008 at 11:30 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Just 18 miles north of this San Jose suburb, one of the most important meets for distance runners held in the United States will take place at Stanford University. Packed with talent, the Peyton Jordan Cardinal Invitational turns the running industry on its head: top stars actually pay entry fees to compete and there are no appearance fees or cash prizes.

So what’s the draw? Perfect weather for achieving all-important Olympic Games qualifying times. When the sun sets at this time of year in Palo Alto, the winds calm down and the temperature drops, becoming comfortably cool. There is already very low humidity.

The key races are the top sections of the men’s and women’s 5000m and 10,000m, led by double world champion Bernard Lagat. Although he won the world titles last summer at both the 1500m and the 5000m, he doesn’t have an Olympic Games “A” standard time in the longer distance: 13:21.50. Working with other coaches, managers and the New York Road Runners, the men’s 5-K will be set-up by pacemaker Christian Hesch for a 13:10 to 13:20 finish time.
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Johnson Defends Freihofer’s Run for Women 5-K Title

Posted June 3rd, 2007 at 8:45 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Pulling away from course record holder Asmae Leghzaoui with 800m to go, Benita Johnson defended her title at the 29th Freihofer’s Run for Women 5-K here today. Breaking the finish tape in 15 minutes and 22 seconds, she earned $10,000 for her victory.

Johnson, 28, the 2004 IAAF World Cross Country 8-K champion, carefully metered her effort today, hanging back a bit in the first kilometer (which is uphill) after Kenya’s Rose Kosgei went right to the front with Leghzaoui. Johnson would have none of it.
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