Cleveland Champs
Philemon Terer, Sarah Kiptoo

Cleveland, Ohio — Kenyans Philemon Terer and Sarah Kiptoo of the AmeriKenya Running Club in Santa Fe, New Mexico battled the fields and then the heat at today’s 36^th Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon to notch the biggest wins of their respective careers.  Terer broke free from Ethiopia’s Tesfaye Dube at 40K on the way to a 2:17:37 win. By dipping under 2:20 Terer added a $3000 bonus to his first place prize. Dube arrived at the Browns Stadium finish 33-seconds later to claim runner up honors.

Under conditions which changed from overcast and 64 degrees Farenheit to sunny and 79, Sarah Kiptoo still managed to chop a remarkable eleven minutes off her marathon PR with her 2:33:41 win.  Two-time defending champion Mary Akor finished second in 2:36:03 while Charlotte, North Carolina teen Alana Hadley completed her much anticipated debut in sixth place with a 2:58:22 clocking.

The 16 year-old sophomore at Ardrey Kell High School was the most compelling story in today’s race without question.  With attention coming from such outlets as the New York Times, the 10th grader who trains 100 miles per week and has a 1:16:43 half marathon PR was gunning for a 2:40 – 2:43 finish, though her coach, father Mark, adjusted that time by 2:00 this morning given the expected warmer conditions. And all was on pace as she came through the half-way mark in 1:22 in third place before the marathon gods decided to intervene.

“Right past the half we took a tight turn, and I wasn’t paying attention,” admitted Alana. “And I stepped wrong or something and my right hamstring twinged.  Then it progressively got worst to the point where I was running seven-minute miles. And whenever I tried to go faster it would hurt even more. So I had to find a pace which would allow me to keep going.”

With the spotlight turned on and expectations high, it would have been both understandable and perhaps even prudent to pull up and live to fight another day. But as we are bound to discover in the coming years, this kid is a fighter who shows the strength of character and mind to push on even when she’s not on her A game.

Alana Hadley

“I never had a thought of dropping out,” she told me at the VIP brunch after the race.  “So many kids are paying attention to how I would do, once I realized I wasn’t going to hit my goal time I said,’OK, 2:50 then. But no way I’m not finishing. I’ve never not finished a race, and I don’t want to ever DNF. So I just tried the best I could. With just two or three miles to go the three hour pacer went by me, and I said to myself, ‘just get in under three.  Just beat that guy.”

The youngster had trained well for her debut, focusing the final eight weeks on the effort under the guidance of her dad Mark who was a runner in collete at the University of Mississippi himself, as was Alana’s mother Jennifer. Mark is a well-regarded coach who brought Molly PRitz to a 2:31 finish at the 2011 New York City Marathon.

In prepping for Cleveland, Mark had his daughter up her easy long runs from 20 to 24 miles, and her faster longer runs from 18 to 20.  She also did a 15-mile simulation three weeks ago at home, going as far as wearing the same outfit she wore today, waking up at the same time, and drinking the same Powerade and water as would be handed out on the course.  Mom and 12 year-old brother Bryce set up an aid station on the three-mile loop that Alana ran five times.

“Alana has an extreme long distance disposition,” Mark Hadley told me yesterday.  “Her PRs from 5K to 10k only slow by 3½ % while most people drop off by 4½ %.  It’s the same when we double from 10K to the 20K or half marathon.

“Mentally I seem to do better processing the fatique at longer distances,” she said.  “And I enjoy them more.”

Toward that end, Alana is not planning on choosing a college based on its running program.  Instead she will focus on which school might offer the best program for her interests in occupational therapy or sports medicine.

“Why should I go somewhere where I’d only be running a 10K maybe two or three times a year when my best distances are longer than that,” she asked rhetorically.  “Why do something I don’t want to do?”

Her sixth place 2:58:22 might not have been the debut she’d hoped for, but it showed that she the 10th grader at Ardrey Kell High is made of sterner stuff than simple talent.  And just like that other 16 year-old who is tearing up the record books on the track this year, Mary Cain, Alana Hadley looks to be a name we’ll see for a long time to come in this sport.

MORE WOMEN’S MARATHON

Race winner Sarah Kiptoo’s previous marathon best had been set last fall in Finland where she ran a 2:44.  As a result she arrived in Cleveland somewhat below the radar.  But like many young Kenyans before her, including last week’s Prague Marathon champion Caroline Rotich, it was after joining the AmeriKenyan Running Club in December that Kiptoo began to see marked improvement.

“She used to go into races tired, so we cut down on her racing schedule and focused specifically on Cleveland,” explained AmeriKenyan RC’s Scott Robinson, who accompanied Terer and Kiptoo to Cleveland.  “She PR’d with her win at the St. Louis Half Marathon in early April at 1:12:51. Then she PR’d again two weeks ago at the Indianapolis Half in 1:12:26.  That’s when we knew she was ready.”

“At the start I was leading Mary (Akor, the two-time defending champion),” explained Kiptoo, from Eldoret, Kenya.  “I knew I was in better shape than in the past.”

California-based Akor had won the Pittsburgh Marathon just two weeks ago (2:37:35), just as she had last year when she came back to win her second Cleveland title in 2:39:49.  And while she ran 2:36:03 today, the lack of fresh legs caught up with her and made the difference in the podium standings.

“We had targeted 2:38,” laughed Scott Robinson. “Then I saw her at 76 minutes at half-way, and I told her, “Sarah, you’re going too fast. But she said, “No. I am OK.”

Evidently so.

MEN”S MARATHON

Cleveland Men’s Lead Pack

This was the fourth marathon for men’s champion Philemon Terer, also of Eldoret, Kenya.  His 2:13:49 PR came at the 2011 Frankfurt Marathon where the pace went out in 62:40 for the first half, after which Terer faded badly in the second half. Today, the halfway was reached in a more modest 69:20 with five men cabled together in the lead pack.

“But he looked like he was jogging,” said Bob Rosen of Amherst, Mass., who serves at Terer’s U.S. based coach. “He surged after that, and only the Ethiopian could go with him.  He tried breaking away with another surge, but when Dube still answered that, he decided to wait till the end for one big move.”

Back home Philemon is coached by former Cleveland 10K champ Yobes Ondieki, the first man to break 27:00 for 10,000 meters on the track.

10KM

In the accompanying 10K, Moroccan Najim El-Qady busted free from Shadrack Kiyai of Kenya and Zap Fitness’s Cole Atkins at three miles to win going away in 28:46. Kiyai took second in 29:31 and Atkins arrived third in 29:53.

Zap Fitness runner Cole Atkins

“I’m pleased with my place,” said Atkins afterwards.  “But when he moved he really took off.  The Kenyan tried to stay with him and then started dying near the end.  Now I wish I would have tried hanging in a half-mile longer cause I was closing down on second at the end, but just ran out of room, but it was really windy from three to five miles.”

In many ways Cole Atkins is still a rookie, himself. Though 27 years of age, he’s only been running for five years after a career spent as a soccer player at High Point University in North Carolina.  But after debuting on the track in 2010 at 29:20 for 10,000 meters, Pete Rea of Zap Fitness came calling.

“I only started running in 2008,” said the Charleston, S.C. native.  “My body has been adjusting to the extra mileage. I was 180 pounds when I began.  I’m glad I figured out I was a runner before too late.”

Cole finished a solid fifth at the recent Broad Street 10 miler in Philadelphia, ringing up a 47:44 PR. Next up will be the Portland Track Festival in couple weeks and then the half marathon in Duluth at Grandma’s Marathon.

“It’s the USATF National Half championship,” said Cole.  “And they have really good time bonuses. Sub-66 gets you an extra $500, sub-67 gets $750, and sub-64 is worth $1000 over and above the prize money.”

Grandma’s Half will be his debut at the distance.  He’ll have two top five finishes in his last two competitions to bolster his confidence.

In the women’s 10K, 2011 runner up Risper Gesabwa of Kenya got over the hump and beat two-time defender Everlyne Lagat 33:22 to 33:42 to take he 10K women’s title.  31:51 Crescent City Classic 10K champ and pre-race favorite Alice Kimutai finished a disappointing fourth in 34:01.  Madison, Ohio’s Jessica Odovcic was top local and top American in fifth in 34:18.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson with Bernie & Jack Staph

In all a record field of nearly 22,000 runners toed the lines in the series of races in Cleveland this weekend, 5K, 10K, half-marathon and marathon.  This was the 11^th year with Rite Aid Drug Stores as the title sponsor.

Event Executive Director Jack Staph and race director Ralph Staph continue to put on a first-class event in one of the nation’s longest running race weekends.

Running legends Anne Audain, the seven-time 10K champ and event record holder at 31:45 and Boston and New York City Marathon icon Bill Rodgers were on hand to lend their support and inspiration.

END

From the beginning the Cleveland racing weekend has been sponsored by a drug store chain.  It’s been a good fit.  For the first 20 years the race was sponsored by home-grown, family-owned Revco Drug Stores.  Then in 1998 Revco sold out to CVS Drugs out of Woonsocket, Rhode Island before CVS then turned the chain over to Rite Aid, which has been the title sponsor since 2003.

Cleveland Impressario Jack Staph

Through 34 of the event’s 36 years Jack Staph has headed the operation, first because he was an avid runner himself (he’s done seven marathons), but also because from 1972 to 1997 he served as senior vice president, secretary and general counsel for Revco, D.S., Inc. When Revco sold its chain of stores to CVS in 1998, Jack stayed on as race director before buying the event outright in 2001, the last year CVS was the sponsor. In 2003 Jack signed Rite Aid as title sponsor, and the relationships is now in its 11^th year.  As other events have come and gone, Jack and his Cleveland events continue to thrive.  In 2010 Staph was named to the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame for meritorious service to the sports community. He is currently in his second year as a member of the Running USA Board of Directors.  And since 1989 Jack’s son Ralph has helped his dad work on the marathon, and is now the event race director.

Health Screenings at Expo

Besides the full range of running events, what else makes Cleveland’s race weekend unique is its expo at the International Exposition Center.  While all the normal running-related booths are on hand, there is also a series of health stations which plays right into the health and wellness focus of Rite Aid.  Here at the expo runners can check their blood pressure, Body Mass Index (BMI), blood glucose level, cholesterol, while also screening for allergies.  The world-renown Cleveland Clinic is also at the expo ready to assist with general sports health and wellness information.  Seems sore knees is the number one issue on the minds of runners during day one at the expo.Throughout its history Cleveland has hosted many of the world’s best runners, and been witness to some eye-popping performances, topped by Joseph Kimani’s 27:20 10K world record in 1996.  New Zealand native Anne Audain is back again this year as a presenter. In the 1980s and early `90s she won the 10K a record seven times and remains the event record holder 1t 31:45, though a new course is now being run.

This weekend Abraham Kogo of Kenya and Mary Akor of the USA look to defend their marathon titles while Julius Koskei and Everlyne Lagat, again of Kenya, defend their 10K wins from 2012. Tonight the AL Central Division leading Cleveland Indians open a four-game series against the visiting Seattle Mariners at Progressive Field.  As ever, mid-May in Cleveland promises to be one of the highlight sports weekends of the year.  And so far the weather is cooperating.  Fingers crossed. Go Tribe!

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     It will be a difficult year ahead for the B.A.A. and the city of Boston as they walk the fine line between security, safety, and the open road of welcome that has always been the hallmark of the world’s oldest marathon.  This decision is an excellent first step.

BOSTON – The B.A.A., organizer of the Boston Marathon, is issuing an invitation to participate in the 2014 Boston Marathon to official entrants in the 2013 Boston Marathon who were unable to cross the Boylston Street finish line. More than 5000 official starters were affected on Monday, April 15 at the 117th Boston Marathon when the race was stopped at 2:50 p.m. ET.

For those too young to remember, track used to be a big deal in this corner of the left coast. Not just because of people like Steve Scott and Thom Hunt, or in latter days with Meb Keflezighi and Monique Henderson.  It was the meets that dotted the calendar, whether in Balboa Stadium downtown, or over at the Sports Arena for the Jack-in-the-Box Indoor meet.

San Diego Union Tribune scribe Nick Canepa has spent 40 years chronicling all things sports in this town, but as he wrote in a February 2012 column it was track that provided his most lasting memory.

“But, for me, nothing tops the night of (Eamonn) Coghlan’s mile on the Sports Arena boards during the Jack-in-the-Box Indoor Games. It was electrifying. He blew the roof off the joint. If you had never seen a track and field event in your life, even if you were the losers’ parents, you had to feel what it’s like to be a page in history.”

The thought of what track once was can raise goosebumps or loosen tears depending on your mood.  But rather than escape into the past two young men with the future of the sport in mind hatched the idea for Re-Run San Diego over the last year.

University of Maryland grad Pete Hess and North Carolina alum James Kehaya got connected through James’ wife Alice Schmidt, the two-time U.S. 800 meter Olympian.  It was after moving to San Diego two years ago from the east coast that Hess began taking up the sport again and soon became the training partner for Alice under the tutelage of 1984 Olympic 800 meter champion Joaquim Cruz.

“I’d run a 4:06 mile in college,” said Pete, “and as I trained with Alice I became close with James and Coach Cruz.  We began thinking, ‘there really isn’t any attention paid to track out here, yet the fun run community is so huge. We wondered why that didn’t transfer over to the pros? So we came up with the idea, why not put on a showcase meet in a fun environment so folks who had never gone to a track meet would see how exciting it can be, and maybe we could build some new fans for the sport.”

Thus a 5K road race was proposed with the entry fee doubling as the ticket price to the track meet.  And to add to the connection, there will also be a raffle staged after each of the four track events, men’s and women’s 800 meters and the one mile runs.  But the raffles will be tied to the individual athletes rather than the events.

“We will have boxes out front with every athlete’s name on them,” explained Pete.  “And each 5K runner will receive six raffle tickets.  They can put all their tickets in one athlete’s box, or pick however they want.  That way if Duane Solomon wins the 800, we will only pick a ticket from the Duane Solomon box.  Hopefully, that will connect the fans to the athletes and create an extra reason to cheer.”

Re-Run San Diego is a labor love for sure, as the meet is being privately funded this first year.

“We expect a lot of race day registration,” Hess told me. “But if we can get over 500 the first year it would be a positive start.  We’ll make the stadium look great. Flotrack will stream the meet live.  People who see the meet will love it and tell their friends.  Then we’ll start working on improving it for 2014. But we want to keep the meet under an hour and a half.  I’ve been involved in track since high school, and we just need to be as inventive as we can to showcase the sport to new fans.”

You can feel the passion both Pete Hess and James Kehaya have for their event and the sport. The only sad thing is that James and wife Alice Schmidt won’t be in town to see his meet come off.  After creating Re-Run and serving as its mid-wife, James re-entered the military, and by happenstance must report to his new duty station this Sunday in Florida. So he and Alice are driving across country even as many of their friends and competitors are flying into San Diego to his meet.

Besides the four pro races, Re-Run San Diego will also feature two ElliptiGO Mile exhibitions to start off the track competitions, staged by one of the event’s partners, ElliptiGO, which is based in nearby Solana Beach.

“The race I’m most looking forward to is the men’s 800,” admitted Pete.  “We have (Olympian) Duane Solomon, Lopes Lomong, Boaz Lalang, and Eric Sowinski is on fire this year. Geoff Harris is another Olympian (Canada), and Charles Jock is coming home (2012 NCAA 800 champion, UC Irvine).

“But we hope the milers can take a crack at Jim Ryun’s stadium record (3:55.3).  It’s one of the most historic records on American soil.

(In 1965 Jim Ryun was a 17 year-old  high school senior out of Wichita East in Kansas. San Diego hosted the national AAU Championships. That evening Ryun sealed his legend when he beat 1964 Olympic 1500 meter gold medalist Peter Snell of New Zealand, silver medalist Josef Odlozil of Czechoslovakia and the American record holder Jim Grelle.  Ryun’s 3:55.3 not only won him the national championship, it broke Grelle’s American record, and stood as the U.S. high school record for over 35 years.

Balboa Stadium 1960s

One year later, local high school star Tim Danielson of Chula Vista High School ran 3:59:4 in Balboa Stadium, becoming only the second high school runner to accomplish a sub-4:00 mile. Decades later at the 1988 Michelob Games, former American Mile Record holder Steve Scott ran a 3:56:06 mile, marking the last time a sub-4:00 mile was run at Balboa Stadium.)

“We’re not having any pacesetters, just pure racing,” Hess confessed even after stating he’d like to create some sub-4:00 buzz.  “People who don’t go to many track meets don’t understand pacing anyway. However, we will have a $500 bonus for the leader at the bell if the time is under 2:58 to incentivize fast running.”

The athletes and mangers have embraced the Re-Run San Diego meet, and why not?  Hess and Kehaya have put this together out of their own pockets and passion, young men invested in the future of track and field in San Diego.

“I’m from New Jersey,” said Pete.  “Tonight is game six of the NBA eastern conference playoffs between the Knicks and Celtics. I love the Knicks, and I hate the Celtics.  We don’t have that kind of rivalry in track, and that’s what we have to try to build. I also love this city. It’s amazing.  Once the athletes compete here, this could become a hub for the sport. The athletes know we’re young and excited to promote this sport. We’re moving forward, even if just one or two fans at a time.”

David Torrence, Mary Cain, Eric Sowinksi racing Re-Run

The Re-Run San Diego 5K begins Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m.  The ElliptiGO Miles roll out at 10:10 a.m. followed by the pros, beginning with the women’s 800 meters at 10:30 a.m.

In the women’s 800m, 16 year-old Bronxville, New York high school sensation Mary Cain goes against 2012 Olympians Geena Gall and England’s Lynsey Sharp who was recently named European 800m Champion due to a Russian failing a drug test. The U.S. high school record belongs to the late Kim Gallagher who ran 2:00.7 in 1982.

In the men’s 800m race there will be four Olympians from London, led by fourth-placer Duane Solomon whose 1:42.82 in the Olympic final was the second fastest 800 in U.S. history.  Also on board is Iowa grad Eric Sowinski, the new 600m U.S. Record Holder who beat Solomon at the Millrose Games in March. And joining the battle will be hometowner Charles Jock 2012 NCAA 800 meter king.

In the men’s Mile, Pablo Solares and bay Area TC pal David Torrence will lead nine sub-4:00 men against Ryun’s stadium record. Solares is also going after the Mexican National Mile record of 3:58.18 (He currently holds the 1500m and 800m national marks.)

The sport is coming off outdoor season openers at Mt. Sac, Penn & Drake Relays, and the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford. Next stop, Balboa Stadium in San Diego.  Nobody has been able to make that statement in 25 years.  And so we welcome one and all to Re-Run San Diego, a unique combination of road and track which celebrates full participation, then identifies and rewards excellence.  Thanks to Pete Hess and James Kehaya for bringing track back to San Diego.

END

That truce remains largely in place today as the sport has formed up around independent contractor and event models that have rebuffed top-down cohesion while maintaining a vestige of its the amateur past by hiding what stakes it does offer in shoe contracts, appearance fees and time bonuses.  Add the revolving door of anonymous champions who come and go with increasing regularity up front as we tout fast times rather than fast individuals, and the lack of stars and rivalries breaking out of running’s insular bubble further erodes public consumption beyond the quadrennial binging at the Olympic Games.

And so here we are with a sport mired in irrelevancy in the overall sporting landscape with only drug use and Jamaica’s Usain Bolt holding Q Scores of public recognition. But now, in the wake of a successful London Olympics, and on the verge of a World Championships in Moscow, the IAAF has embarked on a social media program to assist in raising athlete profiles via what they call the IAAF Athletes’ Hub.

The following letter was sent out yesterday to athlete managers throughout the world from the office of Nick Davies, IAAF Deputy General Secretary and Director of Communications:

Dear Athletes’ Representative,

On behalf of the IAAF, I am proud to present a new exclusive promotional initiative which will be launched very soon on the IAAF official website. 

In its long term communications and promotions strategy, the IAAF is constantly looking at new ways to help promote the sport and its stars and it is with great pleasure that we are in the process of introducing the IAAF Athletes’ Hub. 

The IAAF Athletes’ Hub will be accessible via the Fans section of the www.iaaf.org and all of the IAAF’s Social Media platforms. Our aim, with your help, is to open the IAAF Athletes’ Hub later this month.

The IAAF Athletes’ Hub will be the number one landing page where athletics fans from all over the world will be able to follow the latest updates from all of our sport’s stars. The IAAF Athletes’ Hub will automatically generate the latest of each athletes’ Facebook posts and tweets onto this centralised platform creating a unique source of information solely and entirely dedicated to the athletes. 

In order to be successful and attain our goal of increasing even further athletes’ exposure in the ever growing world of Social Media we will need your athletes to subscribe to the IAAF Athletes’ Hub… 

…We sincerely hope that you will embrace this new initiative and will help us make this a success. We truly believe that the IAAF Athletes’ Hub can soon become the number one reference for fans, media and sponsors around the world and will contribute to increase the profile of each of your athletes. 

 Nick Davies, IAAF Deputy General Secretary and Director of Communications

Here are a few manager responses:

• “I don’t know much about it yet, but it is encouraging that the IAAF are taking the initiative on social media ideas.”

– Ricky Simms, Pace Management (top client, Usain Bolt).

• “Of course everybody wants to attract traffic to sites and Facebook pages.  All I know is that there might be some sponsors will claim Twitter and Facebook-accounts as well.  So I am not sure the stars can just give it to IAAF without consequences.”

- Michel Boeting, One4One Sports Management (top clients include Wilson Kipsang and Emmanuel Mutai, London Marathon champions.)

• “Yes, of course it seems a good initiative. My impression is that MLB, PGA, NFL, do good jobs of giving their sports’ fans a centralized place to go follow athletes, and it is great to see that the IAAF is thinking in these terms, rather than the every-man-for-himself pattern of the past. This certainly can be of help to athletes, as it helps bring more focus to athletes and not just events… As you are likely to point out, it is also up to us as managers to get some of our more reticent athletes to participate, and to go a step further than just sending out messages about “today’s workout” or “I’m really excited about my next race.”

– Brendan Reilly, Boulder Wave (top clients include Constantina Dita, `08 Women’s Olympic Marathon champion, and Edna Kiplagat, 2011 World Marathon champion.

• “I would always go for it… For all clients.  Getting out there is a must…Of course, it remains to be seen if the take-up on the IAAF initiative will be sufficient, and carry some credibility.   Once time comes for branding athletes, for athletes to wear 2 or 4 logos, this could be as important as agents/athletes website and their participation in FB/TW communities.”

– Zane Branson, International Athletes Consultancy (top client, Patrick Makau, marathon world record holder).

The animus that decades of forced servility engendered in athletes and the assumption of the divine right of federations to rule as they saw fit has made for a furtive political landscape. As one cynical responder put it, “It always looks good when one unifies streams, but the IAAF doesn’t have much of a history of letting go.  So we’ll see what happens if some movement by athlete groups decides to use this social media aggregation as the obvious platform to shout for change.”

The past is always prologue, but it needn’t be dispositive.  Good will on both sides will be needed if the sport hopes to find the corrective for a decades-long decline that should motivate one and all to pull together rather than continue a debilitating internecine struggle. Creating stars and developing rivalries is one way to grow public interest.  The IAAF Athletes’ Hub might well be one path taking us in that direction.

END

San Diego “Run To Boston”

Runners like to complete what they’ve started, as it’s an untidy diary with a distance undone.  That’s why 55 members of the San Diego running and triathlon communities met yesterday morning at Ski Beach along Mission Bay to complete a journey they began but couldn’t complete the previous week.

Last Sunday they’d gathered in a much larger number to metaphorically “Run to Boston” in memory of and support for those who lost their lives, limbs, and innocence at the Boston Marathon finish line bombings on April 15th.  That gathering in San Diego was mirrored throughout the nation and in many places around the world, for such is the fierce community spirit of runners.  But it is a long 3043 miles from Ski Beach to Boylston Street in Boston, and they had only posted 2270.

Mike Rouse handing out “Boston Strong” pins

Boston Strong pin

“Thanks for coming out,” began Mike Rouse as the crowd gathered round.  “Our goal is to finish getting to Boston.  We only got to Ohio last week, and we don’t want to stop there.”

While Rouse was the spokesman, Stephen Johnson and Mike Daly were the two who came up with the idea.

“We were trying to figure something different to do than just a regular run,” explained Stephen Johnson. “But Mike Daly came up with the idea of attaining the mileage.”

These runs weren’t simply metaphorical, donations were also being taken to assist those whose lives had been unalterably changed by the heinous act in Boston.

Mike Daly, co-creator “Run to Boston”

“There have been 14 amputations as a result of the Boston attack,” Mike Daly told the crowd. “We will offer our support to them as best we can. The Challenged Athletes Foundation has already flown 30 people to Boston to begin the process of helping the people who were injured, help both mentally and physically. ”

Local race promoter Kathy Loper came to Ski Beach with newly printed “Boston Strong” on the back of two of her event shirts, the San Dieguito Half Marathon and the End of Summer Run.  She passed out the shirts to any who wanted one, only asking that a donation be made to either the Challenged Athletes Foundation or the One Fund Boston.

“The early estimate of expenses that it will take to redo homes and cars, and buy prosthetics for each person who lost a limb is $220,000,” she explained.  “One Fund Boston has already raised $26 million. This tragedy really united us, even more than 9-11.”

“I’ve qualified for Boston several times, but never run it,” said Justin Wolfe, who came to Ski Beach with his wife Laura and their seven-month old son Wyatt.  “But I think it is really important that the numbers indicate a greater emphasis on being present at Boston next year, a show that resolve never changes in the running community.  When bad things happen, the running community steps forward as an example of community to others.”

As the group took off on their 10 mile run, I was left to walk around Ski Beach waiting to record the mileage as the runners drifted back.  As I walked I came upon one of the city’s Park and Rec workers cleaning the area in anticipation of the sun-worshipers and picnickers who would arrive after the morning marine layer had burned off around 10:30 – 11 a.m.

“Are you with the running crowd,” he asked as I waved hello.

“Yes, but I can only walk now. They are running for the Boston bombing victims.”

“I know.  They were out here last week, too.  It’s just sad that it takes an event like that to bring us together.  Unity only seems to come in difficult times when it should be there all the time.”

Ski Beach

The soft lapping waves kissed the shore as the morning marine layer enveloped the bay. A few resolute dog walkers made their way along the wide green lawns, but this early in the morning the only sound along the bay was the steady footfalls of the runners echoed by the rapid murmur of well-trained, emotion-filled hearts.  Slowly, after an hour the runners began returning in twos and threes, each filling out a mileage form to add to the total, and write comments to “our friends in Boston.”

“Boston stay strong,” read one.  “Runners all over the country have your back.”

“I’ll be back,” said another.

“Stay the course,” wrote a third.

Wyatt Wolfe Staying Strong for Boston

In all, the runners amassed an additional 534.36 miles along the bay.  Mike Rouse figured that the additional 28 members of the San Diego Track Club who were competing in the La Jolla Half Marathon up the coast would have joined in for the Ski Beach run, so he counted their 366.8 miles as well, to bring the day’s grand total to 911.16 miles.  That made the two week “Run to Boston” total 3181.16 miles, enough not just to get to Boston, but to get back on the Mass Turnpike and make it to the New York state border.

The New York City Marathon may be larger, London richer and Chicago and Berlin faster, but there remains only one Boston in the marathon world.  That sanctity was defiled April 15th by two young men who took the easy path to infamy.  The resolve that defines the running community throughout the world refused to let that act be the final word on Boston 2013.  They’ve been answering back ever since, and will continue to do so until April 21, 2014.

Kathy Loper – Boston Strong

Runners like to finish what they start.  But only 17,580 marathoners finished Boston this year before the bombs went off on Boylston Street.  In last year’s high heat 21,554 came across the line, and in 2011, assisted by cool tailwinds, 23,879 completed their task.  Yesterday in San Diego one community’s journey was metaphorically completed, but the spirit that began the “Run to Boston” has a long way to go. You can join the effort by ordering a “Boston Strong” tee shirt at KathyLoperEvents.com. Just make sure to contribute to the One Fund Boston or the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF). The finish line beckons, but the road will always go on.

END

One Heart Beating True

Mo Farah – Center of Attention in London

The focus of the British press before, during and after last Sunday’s 33rd Virgin London Marathon was on local Olympic champion Mo Farah’s  half-way-only test run for next year’s full distance debut. Even Tsegay Kebede’s final kilometer win over a faltering Emmanuel Mutai was couched in the context Farah ’s first half presence.

Was this what race officials hoped when they signed Farah after recruiting “the greatest marathon field in history”? Or was it simply an indication that today’s version of such a field is incapable of holding public attention on its own?

Whichever, when a local show pony like Mo Farah who had no intention of completing the race dominates race news coverage, which he did, it’s a clear indication that running has a problem that fast times alone cannot solve. What London 2013 revealed was the continuing lack of connection between an audience and the current crop of the world’s top distance runners. And one wonders whether the sport either notices or cares.

Sunday’s unfortunate collision between wheelchair world record holder Josh Cassidy of Canada and Ethiopia’s Women’s Olympic Marathon champion Tiki Gelana at a 15K aid station, while regrettable, is a simple enough problem to correct. Just start the wheelchairs ahead of the runners like every other marathon in the world does. But how to correct the lack of rooting interest in the sport of marathon running is quite another issue, altogether, and one that Mo Farah can only do so much to improve when he laces up for real in London 2014. Maybe he can convince his training mate and fellow Olympic track medalist Galen Rupp of the United States to join him against the big cats from East Africa, because unless we find a way to broaden fan interest beyond the Horn of Africa, this sport will continue to slide toward Mo Farah-like gimmicks and the increasing emphasis on the dog-and-pony show behind.

DOG & PONY

SIDESHOW

I can hear the howls already. But the East Africans are not the culprits, though they are the public face, and thus bear a modicum of responsibility.  It’s more the sport’s overseers who must shoulder responsibility by first acknowledging the problem, then addressing it.

Even the athlete managers, who one would assume would be interested in raising the public profile of their clients, won’t do anything until the events themselves apply pressure by declaring media fitness as necessary as race fitness. But to date they’ve shown no inclination in that direction whatsoever.

GENERATIONAL TREND

It’s been 26 years since Ibrahim Hussein became the first Kenyan champion of the New York City Marathon.  And as anyone who even modestly follows the sport can tell you, in the ensuing generation that single champion has hailed an onslaught unmatched in any other sport in world history.

Charmers Haile & Paul

But excellence isn’t the issue here. Fan interest is. Africans have so dominated the sport over the last two decades, yet have added so little beyond race day speed that, regardless of their times, almost nobody knows or cares who wins even the biggest races anymore.

Yes, of course, there have been exceptions like Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia and Paul Tergat of Kenya, the great champions of the 1990s and early 2000s who teamed with Moroccan-born Khalid Khannouchi in London 2002 to produce a three-star showdown that remains the most compelling in London history.  In that race Khannouchi’s world record time was a product of the competition, as it should be, rather than the goal of the enterprise.  Who would win was the paramount issue.  The time, while important, was secondary.

But none among today’s A-list runners shines with anything near the same brilliance as those exceptional personalites.  Thus, time has become the focus. What’s more, today’s champions rise and fall with such Whac-A-Mole rapidity, that there is no such thing as a career anymore. Instead anonymous interchangeable parts come and go, making it impossible to generate public interest or develop supporting skill sets to underpin the speed.

I recall a young Ethiopian runner being invited to the Los Angeles Marathon several years ago. I forget her name, but that’s not important (or maybe it’s telling). Anyway, at the pre-race press conference at Dodger Stadium not only could she not speak to the press, she couldn’t even lift her chin off her chest to look at us. Now, we might not have been the most attractive lot, granted, but the press represents the public, the public represents the sponsors, and sponsors represent the money. If you want to run for just a trophy, fine, hide, demur, deflect, avoid. But if you want to take home money, then running from point A to point B should only part of your job. But to date that aspect of the trade has never been considered of primary concern.

As I told L.A. recruiter Bill Orr, “Bill, how can you invite a lady like this? She may be an elite athlete, but she’s not a professional athlete. There’s a difference. What if she wins the race? It’d be a disaster.”

Yet more times than not, that’s exactly where we find ourselves. Even at last Sunday’s post-race media gathering in London, when the top three athletes were presented on stage many of the reporters paid no attention to the barely audible non-responses. In partial jest I suggested that the guy conducting the interviews should be wearing a dental smock, because it was like he was trying to pull teeth.

I can hear the charges already. But kids, I’m a lifelong fan; I care. These athletes are friends of mine. I understand the cultures from which they hail. I know it isn’t easy to get up in front of a crowd and articulate your experiences in what is essentially a second or third language. I’ve traveled to east Africa many times and maintain close contact with both Kenyan and Ethiopian runners alike. I’m not here just to point fingers, but to suggest the need to address the issue, and begin to treat this sport as if it were truly professional. Because if we continue in this vein, we’re going to kill the golden goose, which is the direction things are headed.

DIMINISHING RETURNS

I spoke with one marathon director last weekend in London who told me pointedly, “this story is going to end; running fast alone is not enough. We are in discussions right now asking if this is how we want to continue, with an emphasis on elites. Our ambition is be among the top ten marathons in the world, but we are trying to find a solution to make the sport more attractive, and depend less on finishing times. The question isn’t ‘who won?’, but ‘what time?’ We are trying to figure how we can stand out from the rest, and right now we know we are on a dead-end road.”

And this event has one of the fastest courses in the world, and a sub-2:06 winning time with major names as past champions. But they are asking, ‘what will bring in new fans and sponsors?’, and fast times are no longer the answer.

“There needs to be passion,” said the director. “People are fans of teams in other sports as well as individual athletes. But even if we brought Mo Farah to our city, nobody would know who he is. People only know Usain Bolt.”

This is not the first time this subject has been broached, but in this PC-world of ours it is always a touchy issue, misread as racist or anti-African. But that just skirts the issue. Besides, I won’t accept such a label. It is a problem the athletes, their managers and the events must not shy away from. We already have seen the consequences of this generational trend as road races continue to become more and more a series of clown shows and Jerry Lewis-like charity fund-raisers rather than sporting events.

When I covered the Boston Marathon for WHDH-TV years ago, my anchorman was John Dennis who is now the #1 morning sports radio host in Boston on WEEI-AM’s Dennis & Callahan Show. Dino used to operate a consulting business called MediaWise in which he coached athletes in dealing with the media. That’s media lessons to predominantly American athletes on how to conduct interviews and improve their media skills.

It’s long past time for running to wise up, too, to take the advanced running talent that is undeniable and laudable, and form it into a more compelling media presentation.  Top runners can’t afford to short-change either distance or speed training. Why shouldn’t they be expected to develop the rest of their professional duties with equal attention? Either that or the dog and pony show will continue to overwhelm what was once a robust sport with a wide and varied fan base. Bow-wow.

END

Wheelers roll up on lead women

London, England — The second lead story from yesterday’s Virgin London Marathon – the first was Mo Farah’s half-way test run — was the collision between wheelchair record holder Josh Cassidy of Canada and 2012 Women’s Olympic Marathon gold medalist Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia at an aid station at 15K.  Hardly the headline race organizers would have hoped to generate after they’d invited the best race fields in event history.  But that’s the point, they did it to themselves with an asinine starting schedule which sent the 5:20 per mile women runners out 20-minutes before the 3:30 per mile wheelers. Do the math.

London Route

As the course twisted toward the 15K mark through the Rotherhithe neighborhood, the lead women came up to one of the eight elite aid stations set up every 5K throughout the course. The 15K drink station was set up on the left hand side of Quebec Way, a narrow lane as it is. Furthermore, the athletes had just gone through a series of twists and turns as they made their way on an inside loop between the eight and 12-mile marks. Suddenly from behind the men’s lead wheelchair pack came rushing on headed for the same aid table.

As Tiki Gelana cut left to grab her bottle, Josh Cassidy was caught with a veering runner in his path. He tried to angle by but had nowhere to go but the table itself, which he hit after colliding with Gelana who went down, causing the rest of the two packs to scatter like blown leaves.

After finishing in 20th position, Cassidy angrily lashed out at race organizers for the race set up.

“It’s something I have mentioned before,” he told the BBC. “I don’t know who’s responsible but every year we come to overtake the women, there’s 10 chairs going at 20mph and the poor women are scrambling to find their feet.”

Winner of the 2010 London Marathon and 2012 Boston where he set a world best time of 1:18:25, Cassidy suffered a few minor scrapes and bruises, but was more upset about the condition of his racing chair. “I have a brand new $2,000 pair of wheels that are damaged. Who’s going to pay for them? Things have to change.

“The safest thing would be to have the chairs start first because one of these years a woman is going to have a leg broken, a career ruined. It’s just not worth having this program if the races are going to suffer.”

What’s key there is that the wheelers have told organizers about the problem before, but to no avail. Then last night, the London Marathon released a very tepid statement of its own, making the incident seem like an act of God that no man could have foreseen or controlled.

“In the 33rd Virgin London Marathon today, an unfortunate accident happened between Olympic champion Tiki Gelana in the elite women’s race and Josh Cassidy, the world’s fastest wheelchair racer, next to a feeding station.

“We regard this as a racing incident which happened in the midst of two fiercely contested battles between some of the best marathon competitors in the world.

“We understand that the athletes involved were very frustrated by what happened as it clearly had an impact on their prospects in the races, but we believe neither competitor was to blame.

“We have spoken to both athletes about the incident and are satisfied that they accept it was an accident and do not hold any person or organisation responsible.

“It’s against this background that we will consider any future improvements in consultation with our athletes and all the relevant partners and stakeholders.”

No organization responsible? Who put the aid station there? Who arranged the start times that put the two packs at the same station at the same time? Are they serious?

The whole thing reminds me, in some ways, of one of the early Los Angeles Marathons. In that race organizers started the challenged athletes ahead of the mass foot race by ten minutes or so. As any five year-old could have predicted the lead pack of runners travelling at sub-5:00 per mile pace, along with the array of police and press vehicles, quickly came up on those brave souls walking significantly slower down Figueroa Street.

Riding in the lead TV vehicle giving commentary for KCOP-13, I spat out something intemperate like, “It’s a very simple proposition in this sport: fast in front, slower to the back. That way nobody runs up anybody else’s backside unless it’s in competition. You want more people competing in the challenged division? Fine, then just keep the starting order the way you’ve got it now.”

Needless to say, the followers of the challenged division called into the TV station by the dozen to register their complaints against the Lemon Drop Fool making such commentary, somehow taking it as a slight against the walkers. But, though my wording might have been suspect, the message was not. Fortunately, the bosses at KCOP stuck up for me, and very quickly race organizers altered the arrangement of start times for future races.

Yesterday’s tangle between the lead wheelers and the lead women was inevitable, especially given the increased number of chairs competing in the new Boston-London Wheelchair Challenge which awarded bonus money to the top wheelers based on their finishing places at last week’s Boston Marathon and yesterday’s London. While the organizers of both races should be applauded for this new enhancement to the chair division, they can’t then set the event up in a fashion that muddles the results and jeopardizes the athletes.

While I hadn’t covered the Virgin London Marathon for many years until yesterday, I’ve been told this system of start times has long been in place without incident. But looking at the nature of the course itself, it was just a matter of time before such a coming together was bound to occur.

This could well be one of those situations where an old schedule is maintained for no other reason than “we’ve always done it this way, and it’s always worked”, regardless of the wisdom of the set-up.  That it hadn’t caused an incident before is no excuse to have allowed it to continue until it did.

In the end the wheelchair world record holder was left with a damaged piece of equipment and the women’s Olympic Marathon champion was eliminated from the competition by something other than her competitors. It’s not the legacy one would have anticipated for London 2013.

END

Prince Harry and Richard Branson with London Champs Priscah Jeptoo & Tsegay Kebede

London, England — On a glorious spring morning for racing Ethiopia’s Tsegay Kebede and Kenya’s Priscah Jeptoo took home the glory at today’s 33rd Virgin London Marathon. In winning their respective races in 2:06:04 and 2:20:15 against fields of staggering depth and quality, the two athletes from neighboring East African nations returned the focus of the sport to international goodwill and competition rather than the infamy and horror visited on the Boston Marathon this past Monday. But though the two pro fields were as good as they come, the two races could not have been much different.

With a men’s field billed as ‘the greatest in history’ and comprised of five World Marathon Majors course record holders, the Olympic gold and silver medalist from London 2012, and six of the ten fastest men in history, the men had “world record” aspirations throughout the build-up to London 2013.  At the starter’s command they blew out of Blackheath behind their designated pacers like air from a punctured balloon; 4:38 for the first mile, 28:56 for 10K, 61:34 at half-way. Crazy speed, but was the world record under attack or was it luring these men into its briar patch of pain?

The women’s field was loaded as well, but with Paula Radcliffe’s 2003 course and world record of 2:15:25 so far out of range, talk about a record performance never took hold. Accordingly, the women went out conservatively, 34:11 at 10K, 1:11:49 at the half, allowing the distance to dissipate before the fireworks were released.

MO FARAH Test Run for 2014

On a perfect day to race with temperatures in the 40sF, humidity low and winds non-existent, the men quickly established a ten-man pack. Tucked into the fold was England’s own double Olympic track champion Mo Farah who was signed to run only the first half this year before taking on the full distance in 2014.  In contrast the reigning world record holder Patrick Makau of Kenya, whose 2:03:38 from Berlin 2011 was the bulls-eye the men were targeting, never entered the mix, even in the early stages.

EAST AFRICAN SHAKE DOWN

Notwithstanding Makau’s absence, the pack broke down along the traditional Kenyan-Ethiopian divide with Olympic champion Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda and Yared Asmerom of Eritrea thrown into the East African mix. Defending champion Wilson Kipsang of Kenya was joined by countrymen Stanley Biwott the Paris course record holder (2:05:12), Emmanuel Mutai, the 2011 London champ and course record holder (2:04:40), and Geoffrey Mutai, the 2011 Boston (2:03:02) and New York City course record holder (2:05:06). The Ethiopians were led by Tsegaye Kebede, the 2010 London winner and Chicago 2012 course record setter (2:04:38), Feyisa Lilesa, 2nd in Chicago behind Kebede, and 2012 Dubai Marathon champion Ayele Abshero (2:04:23).

The women also took on the East African theme with four Kenyans going up against three Ethiopians. Most aggressive was 2011 World Champion Edna Kiplagat who was ill at last year’s Olympics and seemed intent on making up for that poor performance today. She was joined by namesake (but not relation) Florence Kiplagat, the 2011 Berlin Marathon winner (2:19:44), Olympic silver medalist and London 2012 third-placer Priscah Jeptoo and debutant track star Joyce Chepkirui. The Ethiopians countered with Olympic champ Tiki Gelana, reigning Chicago champion Atsede Baysa, and 2012 Frankfurt champion Meselech Melkamu, making her second marathon start. Edna Kiplagat, Priscah Jeptoo and Tiki Gelana were the most obvious aggressors behind their pacers. But the pace always hovered around the 2:20 mark.

INTO THE DARKNESS

Murderer’s Row

The men sallied out at 2:01 pace, expending precious fuel that they would dearly have loved in the later stages. Stanley Biwott in his first World Marathon Major was not intimidated by the better known names, maintaining a presence near the front. Emmanuel Mutai, though the course record holder and 2011 champ, was rarely spoken of as a race favorite, but there he was ready for the chase. The two fastest men of all time, Makau and Geoffrey Mutai were oddly quiet, Makau not even joining the pack and Geoffrey never making an appearance in the front ranks. Afterwards Geoffrey mentioned a small groin problem while Patrick’s manager, Zane Branson, said Makau simply felt sluggish from the get-go. When they hit the Tower Bridge at 13 miles just before the half, Mo Farah pulled away on schedule, but amped up to return in 2014.“The crowd was absolutely awesome. They just make you go – push on, push on. I really got excited in the middle of the race. The biggest challenge was picking up drinks. I stopped one time and had to go back. It’s really hard, and I made a mess of it. I need to do more training, but I really appreciate the opportunity the Virgin London Marathon gave me, and I’m looking forward to the full marathon next year.”

GELANA GOES DOWN!

Wheelers roll up on lead women

At the 15K aid station in the Rotherhithe neighborhood in the women’s race , which began 20 minutes before the wheelchair competition and one hour before the men’s elite footrace, the lead pack of wheelchair men came roaring up behind the lead women’s pack at sub-3:30 per mile speed. The aid table on Quebec Way was along a narrow twisting road ill-suited for a traffic jam.  As Olympic marathon champion Tiki Gelana cut in to grab her bottle, 2012 Boston Marathon wheelchair champion and world record holder Josh Cassidy of Canada smashed into her as tried to get by on the inside. The women’s pack scattered like frightened pigeons shocked by the intrusion of fast-moving vehicles.

Fortunately, Gelana regained her footing and quickly rejoined the pack. But not 10k later she was gapped and out of contention, all but walking home at the finish. Why they begin the wheelers AFTER the women foot racers who are traveling at nearly a 2:00 per mile slower pace is something which needs serious reconsideration. Josh Cassidy’s wheels were damaged, as well, and he fell out of contention in the wheelchair competition.

Japan’s Yukiko Akaba made a bit of a charge at 20K as she and her countrywomen were looking for a sub-2:24 automatic qualifier for the World Championships in Moscow in August, but that attack soon dissipated. After a half split of 1:11:49, three Kenyans and a single Ethiopian struck out and Akaba soon fell away.

A 16:02 from 25-30K did major damage with Edna Kiplagat and Priscah Jeptoo putting 10-seconds on Florence Kiplagat and another 21 seconds on Meselech Melkamu of Ethiopia. These were two heavyweights going at it. At 20 miles, 1;47:25, Edna tried to break away. Priscah answered. The blows were powerful, you could feel the thunder. Then Jeptoo countered. Good patch, bad patch, surge and respond! Racing at its most intense.

END GAMES

The men were already near the end of their tether as they maintained world record pace. There was going to be carnage, this much we knew. It might even be a race someone could win from behind as wheels would certainly come off at some point.

Four men remained knotted together into mile 18. The 17th fell at 1:19:51, 4:48 for that split. Course record holder Emmanuel Mutai had fellow Kenyan Stanley Biwott with him, while 2012 Dubai champion Ayele Abshero, and fellow Ethiopian Feyisa Lelisa tucked in right beghind on 2:03:20 pace, still under world record schedule.

Priscah Jeptoo in 2:20:15

Finally, at 21 miles Priscah Jeptoo’s pressure became too much, and Edna Kiplagat faltered. Priscah was third here last year then returned to take silver in the Olympic Games. Her training mate and namesake (but not relative) Rita Jeptoo won in Boston last week. This seems to be a training schedule that works.

Priscah looked back only once that I saw, but she was free and clear. She had 58 seconds on Edna at 40k, and her 2:20:15 winning time along the Mall missed her PR by a single second from her third place in 2012. Edna came home in 2:21:32 and Yukiko Akaba of Japan dug deep to finish third in 2:24:43.  Jeptoo fashioned half-way splits of 71:49 & 68:26. 

For perspective, U.S. star Shalane Flanagan ran her half-marathon PR this February in New Orleans in 68:32.

So it was left to the men to finish the day. 1:345:27 at 20 miles, a 4:56 split, but they were slowing, the last 5K the slowest of race at 14:50. Like a danger signal in his yellow vest Emmanuel Mutai pushed to the front with Ayele Abshero the 2012 Dubai champ who DNF’d at London Olympic Marathon, and Stanley Biwott, the Paris Course record holder still going at it.  Behind, Feyisa Lelisa had given up the ghost, and the world record time looked to be toast as well as last two miles had taken 4:51 & 4:56 respectively.

Stanley Biwott then injected pace, pulling away in Mile 22. 1:39:11 a 21, a 4:44 split. But Stanley isn’t a closer. He lost the RAK Half Marathon in the United Arab Emirates in January by two seconds. He lost the 2012 Shanghai Marathon by 4-seconds. He was going early trying to end it. And It’s his BIRTHDAY! Blow out those candles, kid.

But though he fell six seconds back, Emmanuel Mutai hung tough, then regained contact and next thing you knew, went back in front! The early world record pace was causing severe late race damage; nobody felt chipper. Biwott was losing form rather than Mutai upping the pace. This would be survival for all.

FINAL STRETCH

2:04:27 pace at 23 miles, but the last mile bled out in 5:07. This was getting ugly after the early elegance. Mutai was still leading, Biwott in second, Abshero and Lelisa in third and fourth.

1:54:11 at 24 for Mutai, a 5:02 split, and his own course record now looked safe. Biwott was fading badly, Abshero moved into second, Lelisa into third with another contender moving up, 2010 London winner Tsegaye Kebede, the little engine that could was coming.

These east African gazelles may not have fear of the marathon anymore, but when they attack as hard as they did today, the carnage can still be the marathon’s last defense. We saw it in 2009 when the late, great Sammy Wanjiru bested Tsegaye Kebede by 10 seconds in 2:05:10. But that day they went through 10K in 28:36 and halfway in 61:35. No one has gone sub-1:02 for the first half of a marathon and returned with a similar second half except for Patrick Makau in his 2011 Berlin world record. Yet still they try.

THE CHAMPION IS CROWNED

Huge crowds thronged along the Thames River roaring their support.  Mutai was still striding, but the ground was now coming up to meet him as little Tsegay Kebede began showing late race power once again. We’ve seen this little man fight like a champion for years. His epic battle with Sammy Wanjiru in Chicago 2010 remains the defining race of both their careers. And here he was again, arms in tight, the body of boxer, throwing ripping strides late, just 28-seconds back with just over a mile to go. The 2010 London champ was hunting the 2011 winner.

Kebede was coming like a freight train, or was Mutai simply sputtering, running on stumps and fumes? He mentioned trouble with his hamstring in the final mile, but at 2:03:02 Kebede went by and the gap was made! One of the few times we’ve seen a come from behind win in a major. Mutai dug deep, tried to hold, but Kebede simply had too much, had judged his pace, and when it counted most, had it locked.

Kebede, 2nd London Win

2:06:04 for Tsegay Kebede of Ethiopia to take his second London title. Emmanuel Mutai in second in 2:06:34, Ayele Abshero, Ethiopia, in third in 2:06:57. Ethiopia goes 1 – 3.  

In Amharic Kebede means ‘heavyweight’. His parents must have known something. He’s won in Fukuoka 2009, Chicago 2012 and London in 2010 and 2013.  And he’s earned Olympic bronze in Beijing in 2008, too.  In this day and age that is consistency of a singular kind. The man is #1 after this. This was the field to determine the King. Long live Kebede for he wears the crown. 

But in the end the marathon distance itself came out the real winner. Under attack by the flyers out of east Africa for the last two decades, the ancient test of endurance fought back today, laying waste to a men’s field who challenged the strict firewall of endurance through an intemperate first half. Even under ideal conditions, the champion’s second half took an agonizing 64:30.  Brutal! What was once a test of ultimate endurance has been turned to a challenge of speed over distance. But there remains a fine line that the marathon still holds as its own private domain. Test that line at your own peril, boys.  That is the lesson of London 2013.  In all, 35,000 joined in the celebration of marathoning in London, and race organizers will now contribute £2 for every finisher to the One Fund Boston, a fitting reminder of what this sport truly represents.

END

London 2013

London,England – Of course, anything can happen, but on this final day before Sunday’s 33rd Virgin London Marathon the talk around the Tower Hotel hard along the rolling Thames River has turned to the what-ifs.  What if the men go for the world record?  Who will make the first break when the rabbits depart? What if Mo Farah, the double Olympic Brit track champ going along for the ride for the first half, does something beyond sit off the back and observe? What if the stacked field doesn’t go with the pacers and turns inward and tactical instead?  Ah, racing, that most unpredictable of all dramas.

The 2013 London Marathon has been billed as a world record attempt, but with this many top dogs in the hunt, the win is one for the ages, regardless of the winning time.  So for me, the men’s race comes down to motivation.  With the credentials of this field — five World Marathon Majors course record holders, ten sub-2:06 men, including six of the fastest ten in history — every contender has known big success.  But Uganda’s Stephen Kiprotich already has the prize everyone else wanted, the Olympic gold medal from 2012.  Defending champion Wilson Kipsang holds the London title and the Olympic bronze, and is the second quickest marathon man in history off his 2:03:42 win in Frankfurt 2011, just four seconds shy of Patrick Makau’s world record (2:03:38) from Berlin 2011. Ethiopia’s Tsegaye Kebede arrives as the 2012 Chicago course record holder and 2010 London champ.  But it’s Makau and the world’s fastest marathoner, Geoffrey Mutai (2:03:02) from Boston 2011 who stand out as the two most invested in revenge, a powerful emotional tool.

Makua and Mutai were seeming locks to earn selection for the 2012 Kenyan Olympic team based on their superb record performances in Berlin (Makau), Boston and New York City (Mutai) year before last.  But due to the politic permutations in the Kenya athletics federation, neither was taken to London to compete.  This race will be their London Olympics.

Stephen Kiprotich, Olympic Champ

It must be said, however, that given the talent base available in Kenya picking a competitive Olympic Marathon squad was a bit like choosing a competitive proselytizer at the annual Christian Coalition bbq and weenie roast.  So while the Ugandan Kiprotich won Olympic gold, Kenyans Abel Kirui and Wilson Kipsang took home the lesser two medals.  Kirui is the lone medallist not back in London, having had to withdraw with a stress fracture.The world of marathoning has changed significantly since Ibrahim Hussein won Kenya’s first major marathon in New York City 1987.  Boston’s long-time athlete recruiter Patrick Lynch remembers Hussein coming up to him in Seoul at the Games of 1988, and saying, “You know, I met Douglas Wakiihuri (1987 World Champion), and he is not a bad man.”

The point being that back then the Kenyan athletes from different tribes didn’t really know each other the way they do now.  Like baseball players of old who used to come into second base with their spikes high and intentions low, there seemed to be more on the line when the winning share in the World Series might represent nearly double a players’ annual salary.  Today, baseball players stand around second base and discuss investment strategies and mutual promotional appearances.

Patrick Makau, World Record holder

So, too, do Kenyan runners of today tend to train and hang around a lot more with one another than in the previous generation did.  Wilson Kipsang is in the same training camp as Geoffrey Mutai, for instance.  But of all the Kenyans in this year’s London field, Patrick Makau is the loner.  A Kamba tribesman, Makau trains with a small-group of handpicked mates in Ngong, outside Nairobi, some 300 kilometers away from the Central Highlands towns of Eldoret and Iten along the Great Rift Valley where the majority of Kenya’s top men train.

And word is that most of the athletes around Eldoret and nearby Iten had to contend with five weeks of heavy rains this spring season which forced them to reduce their training as the rains turned their ideal dirt training roads to impassable mud.  Athletes who were building toward a peak had to back off for a critical stretch in their training.  Will Makau, who didn’t have to break training down in the lower altitude, have an advantage?

“Feyisa Lelisa (2^nd in Chicago 2012, 2:04:52) is only concerned about Geoffrey Mutai,” says his agent Hussein Makke, whose athlete Lelisa Desisa won the Boston Marathon last weekend.

Last year in London Feyisa Lelisa was the last man standing against eventual champion Wilson Kipsang at 38K, but he ended up crashing to 10^th place in 2:08 at the finish.

“He did a 45K training run the week before when his coach was in Boston,” explained Hussein Makke.  “And Abel Kirui all but walked the final kilometre, too.  So if they run an honest pace, the smartest man will win. If they run stupid, the luckiest man will win.”

People are still talking world record, with an opening half at 61:45.  That pace will take something out of everyone and put them out near the end of their tether.  But at least they will all know where the other guys stand.  If they don’t jump in with the pacers and the race turns tactical, then the tension will ramp up with every passing K as the waiting game plays out.

Remember this, except for Patrick Makau’s 2:03:38 world record in Berlin two years ago, no one who has gone sub-1:02 in the first half of a marathon has closed well in the second half.  With a field this loaded , the odds are stacked heavily against a record.  And with no Olympics or World Championships this year, this is the race to win, regardless the time.

“Some marathons you can predict,” concluded Makke.  “But here I am confused, because the talent is so heavy.  It’s insane, it’s scary.  All I know is that the winner here will be king.”

Yes, king for at least a day.

END

Final weather prediction:  2°C at the start, 8°C at the finish. Sunny. 8kmh to 12kmh wind from Southern direction.