Regional
Wigal Gets RRCA Award
Melissa Wigal of the River City Runners and Walkers in Parkersburg, West Virginia, was honored by the Road Runners Club of America for directing the "Outstanding Beginning Running Program" of 2012 in the United States. Melissa could not be at the annual RRCA Convestion in Albuquerque, New Mexico, so West Virginia's RRCA State Rep Tom Kramer accepted the award for her. Tom made a formal presentation to Melissa at the West Virginia State Championship race May 18, the Chick-fil-A 10K at Parkersburg.
Sixteen-year-old Alana Hadley of Charlotte runs 2:58:23 in debut marathon in Cleveland
CLEVELAND– The 2013 Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon weekend opened with a sun-splashed Saturday morning at FirstEnergy Stadium and ended Sunday with a pair of blazing fast times in the men’s and women’s marathons.
The 36th annual event includes a 10K, half marathon and full marathon on Sunday and a 5K and Kids’ Run events on Saturday.
“We’re very pleased with the great times we saw from the runners today,” said Executive Race Director Jack Staph. “We are excited to see that our numbers are continuing to climb in terms of participants and spectators and we’re proud of the fact the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon continues to attract so many elite runners from the United States and around the world to our city.”
Philemon Terer, a 27-year-old runner from Kenya, was the first to cross the marathon finish line with a time of 2:17:37. Terer began pulling away from the other runners a little more than a mile from the finish line, though he spent most of the race alongside Tesfaye Dube.
Dube, of Ethiopia, came in second with a time of 2:18:10, followed by 34-year-old Geofrey Kiprotich, also from Kenya, at 2:19:41.
Among the women, Sarah Kiptoo, 23, of Kenya took first with a time of 2:33:42. The women’s marathon winner from 2012, Mary Akor, 36, finished second with a time of 2:36:03. She was followed by Joanna Johnson, 24, of Oberlin, Ohio who finished in 2:48:43. Alana Hadley, the 16-year-old star runner from Charlotte, N.C., finished in 2:58:23 for sixth place in her marathon debut.
Runners Unable to Finish Invited to 2014 Boston Marathon
B.A.A. issues special invitation to 2013 Boston Marathon starters who did not cross Boylston Street finish line
Running USA wire
BOSTON - The B.A.A., organizer of theBoston 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.
"The opportunity to run down Boylston Street and to cross the finish line amid thousands of spectators is a significant part of the entire Boston Marathon experience," said Tom Grilk, B.A.A. Executive Director.
Faber joins McMahan, Kastor on Team USA Women's Marathon team
Jeanette Faber of Nashville, Tennessee, has set a personal record in each of the 13 marathons she has run, dropping her debut time of 3:28:51 in 2004 by more than 56 minutes.
USA Track & Field announced Faber, Denna Kastor of Mammoth Lakes, California, and Dot McMahan of Oakland Township, Michigan have each qualified for Team USA Women's Marathon Team for this summer's IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia.
Kastor is the veteran of the team and an Olympic bronze medalist. She qualified with a time of 2:32:39 at this year's Asics L.A. Marathon, where she placed third. Kastor owns the fastest time ever run by an American woman with 2:19:36 at the London Marathon in 2006. This marks Kastor's fifth Outdoor World Championships team, but her first time competing at a distance other than the 10K.
NFL STARS & TWIN BROTHERS JASON & DEVIN McCOURTY MAKE A BET TO SEE WHO CAN RAISE MORE $ FOR TACKLE SICKLE CELL
Twin brothers and NFL defensive backs, Jason & Devin McCourty have partnered with Embrace Kids Foundation and launched a campaign against sickle cell disease. The campaign, entitled "Tackle Sickle Cell" aims to educate the public, increase blood donors and raise money & awareness for the fight against sickle cell disease.
Bugs Bunny: 'Turn left at Albuquerque'
By Scott Sullivan
Editor, Michigan Runner
(The annual RRCA National Convention was recently held in Albuquerque, New Mexico. At the same time, the Running Network, of which Running Journal is a member, was also holding its national meeting in Albuquerque. Scott Sullivan, who is also editor of a newspaper in Saugutuck, Michigan, wrote this column after returning home. We thought you would enjoy reading his humorous report. By the way, Bugs was once involved in a "Tortise vs the Hare race." You can located that race on YouTube.com to see who won. )
Michigan Runner publisher Art McCafferty has doctorates out the wazoo. So when he asked if I’d like to visit the home of Bugs Bunny, instead of my usual, “Huh?” I replied to him, “What’s up, Doc?”
Team USA Wins Gold at 24-Hour Championships
Jon Olsen won the World 24-Hour Championships to lead Team USA to win gold in both the men’s and women’s races on Sunday in Steenbergen, Netherlands.
Olsen (Modesto, Calif.) logged 167.568 miles to take the top spot over John Dennis (Takoma Park, M.D.) by more than four miles. Team USA locked up the team competition with 485.012 miles over runner-up Japan’s 467.623 miles.
‘Time began to slow down’ at Boston
By Jamie Merriman
Spa Pacers, Hot Springs, Arkansas
Boston was alive with pre-marathon excitement. We settled into our hotel and began to plan our weekend. Saturday morning we arrive at the Expo early. The convention center was full. People from all over the world were there – picking up packets – buying mementos and securing the coveted “Boston Marathon Jacket.”
By that time the butterflies were in full flutter. The weekend flew by – we visited local attractions including the Sam Adams Brewery – and walked down Boylston Street past where the finish line would be. There were other runners, their families, friends filled with enthusiasm and excitement for what Monday would bring – all the while workers were rushing to complete the finish line area.
Trafeh Sets American Record at USA 25 km Championships
INDIANAPOLIS – A quick early pace and a competitive field helped to propel Mo Trafeh to an American record of 1:14:18 as Dot McMahan took the Women’s title in 1:25:52 at the USA 25 km Championships in Grand Rapids, Mich., hosted by the Fifth Third River Bank Run.
The USA 25 km Championships are the fifth stop on the USA Running Circuit, which will conclude this fall with the .US National Road Racing Championships. The top ten finishers at each race on the circuit qualify to compete in the .US National Road Racing Championships.
Wants to finish what she started
By Kimberly Crist
Florida Striders Track Club
I’ve written previous articles upon returning from the Boston Marathon and each year seems to add a new adventure. This year was unlike any other.
About 40 Jacksonville folks boarded our bus around 6:30 am on April 15 to head to Hopkinton. The bus was very quiet in the beginning but the closer we got to the race, the louder the excitement got.
