Kenya’s Mary Keitany came into the 2010 ING New York City Marathon in wide-eyed wonder. Hailing from the Baringo District of Kenya the talented young athlete was visibly overwhelmed by the scope of the event and the sheer size of the city, itself. At the pre-race press conference she could barely whisper her answers to questions posed by the collected media throng. Though she harbored fears of the distance, too, this being her debut at the marathon, it in no way compared to the anxiety engendered by the stage she had found herself upon.
On race day Keitany gave in to her fears, following the moderate pace (1:15:47 at the half-way mark), before falling victim to fellow-Kenyan Edna Kiplagat’s late-race winning surge and American debutant Shalane Flanagan’s Central Park kick. Keitany finished her first marathon in third place in 2:29:01, looking every bit the frightened young woman who had first flown into town.
That all changed five months later in London. A 2009 World Champion at 25K and the Half-Marathon, in February 2011 Keitany ripped a new half-marathon world record at the RAK Half-Marathon in the United Arab Emirates (1:05:50). Then, having processed both the marathon distance and the big-city atmosphere of New York, she was ready and willing at the 2011 Virgin London Marathon. Mary knew exactly what lie ahead. And what fear there was lie in the hearts of her competition. (more…)
SET UP SHOW “THE WOMEN’S RACE”, WHO WILL WE SEE TODAY ON OUR SHOW
JO PAVEY
JESSICA AUGUSTO
MOLLY HUDDLE (5k DASH RUNNER)
DATHAN RITZENHEIN (5k DASH RUNNER)
CELEBRITY: JENNY FINCH
CELEBRITY: GBENGA AKINNAGBE (FROM HBO’S THE WIRE)
BUZUNESH DEBA – ETHIOPIA
JOURNALIST – NEIL AMDUR (FORMER SPORTS EDITOR – NY TIMES)
11:05JO PAVEY – 2011 Great Britain 10,000m champ…Debuted in London 2012, 19th place in 2:28:24…5th, 2004 Olympic 5000…4th, 2007 World Championships 5000m
11:15 CELEBRITY: JENNIE FINCH – 2x Olympic medallist Women’s Softball…Running for Timex which will donate $1.00 to NYRR Youth Program for every runner she passes…Last year N.Y. Football Giant wide-receiver Amani Toomer ran 4:13 and passed 25,000 runners.
11:25JESSICA AUGUSTO – Portuguese runner who ran her debut in London 2011, finishing 8th in 2:24:33…Only two Portuguese women have ever run Top 10 in NYC, Albertina Dias in 1994 (8th), and former European and World Champion Manuela Machado who finished 2nd in 1995…Jessica’s dad, Arnaldo, used to call her “my little Rosa Mota”, for the 1988 Women’s Olympic Marathon champion…Dad died of cancer just six weeks after the London Marathon…Jessica has his name tattooed on her right arm…Her boyfriend, Eduardo Carvalho, was Portugal’s goalkeeper on the 2010 World Cup team.
11:35GBENGA AKINNAGBE – FROM HBO’S “THE WIRE” will be running for “All for Africa.”
11:40MOLLY HUDDLE & DATHAN RITZENHEIN – The two national champions will be running the NYRR 5K Dash to the Finish on Saturday morning…Dathan will update his progress heading toward the Houston Olympic Marathon Trials in January…Molly, Notre Dame High School in Elmira, NYC, then University of Notre Dame, too…American record holder 5000m…2011 USATF 5000m champion…She is the training partner of NZL’s Kim Smith in Providence, R.I…Dathan debuted in NYC 2006…8th in 2010 (2:12:33).
11:45 Buzunesh Deba – The Bronx-based Ethiopian has the chance to be the first NYC trained athlete to win the hometown marathon…Deba has already captured the Los Angeles and RnR San Diego Marathons this year, and is well aware that last year’s ING NYC Marathon women’s champion Edna Kiplagat won in L.A. before taking the NYC crown.
11:55 JOURNALIST: NEIL AMDUR –Amdur covered countless marathons as a sports reporter for the New York Times, where he was sports editor for 12 years, and is still running—after 35 years) In his “Head to Head” on the Women’s Marathon World Record with Tim Hutchings on NYRR.org, he wrote: “Too much energy has been expended in recent years on rules and regulations at the expense of marketing the sport. As a result, track and field and road racing have virtually disappeared from the public consciousness outside of the few major road races that are staged in high-profile metropolitan areas. Yes, more participants are showing up for marathons and half-marathons, but there is no connect between these runners and issues such as mixed-gender fields, world bests, or world records. If more effort were spent promoting the unique personalities of world-class runners and the glories of the sport, if more energy were utilized to extol the healthy benefits of running, the IAAF and other governing bodies could really be providing a service.”
12:00 CLOSE TO SHOW (PROMOTE TOMORROW’S SHOW / DAILY COOL DOWN / NYC MARATHON OPENING CEREMONY, ING NYC MARATHON)
