101-Year-Old Fauja Singh Breaks His Own Record Marathon Time

I posted here last October about Fauja Singh, the India-born Brit who broke the marathon record for over-100-year-olds in the Toronto Marathon.  Singh ran in yesterday's London Marathon an incredible 7:49:21, smashing his own previous record of 8:11:05.  He is retiring from running marathons but states that he will continue running shorter distance races, 5k to half marathon, and wants "to be remembered as the person who ran till the end."

101-Year-Old Marathon Champ Fauja Singh

Kenyans Win in London

There were fast times in this morning's London Marathon, with Kenyans Mary Keitany and Wilson Kipsang winning women's and men's races in 2:18:36 and 2:04:44, respectively. For a REALLY indepth analysis of the races read this excellent post over at the blog The Science of Sport, written by Ross Tucker and Jonathan Dugas.  For a completely different view of the London Marathon, read this BBC report.

London Marathon Men's Winner Wilson Kipsang

London Marathon on Sunday

A brief post here... I am in the car with my daughter Stephanie on our way to Louisville KY. She is finishing up her doctorate in counseling psychology with an internship in Louisville, which
begins in June, and needs to find a place to live, so she asked her mama to go with her. But I wanted to post a couple videos here from Briton David Bedford on upcoming London Marathon this Sunday.

A little about David Bedford..  The current race director for the London Marathon, Bedford held the world record at 10,000m (27:30.80) in 1973, and the British record for 3,000m steeplechase and 5,000m.

David Bedford on the elite women running London...

and elite men..

Heat - The Story of This Year's Boston

With high temps well into the 80's, winning times at this year's Boston were more than nine minutes slower than last year.  Kenyans Wesley Korir and Sharon Cherop won with times of 2:12:40 and 2:31:50, respectively.  The top three spots in both men's and women's races went to the Kenyans:

Men:
1.  Wesley Korir                       2:12:40     Kenya
2.  Levy Matebo                       2:13:06     Kenya
3.  Bernard Kipyego                 2:13:13     Kenya

Women:
1.  Sharon Cherop                    2:31:50     Kenya
2.  Jemima Jelagat Sumgong   2:31:52     Kenya
3.  Georgina Rono                   2:33:09      Kenya

Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai, the man who has run the fastest marathon ever in 2:03:02, last year in Boston, dropped out of the race this year due to what was reported as cramping at around 18-19 miles.  Congratulations to US elite runner Jason Hartmann from Colorado who ran an even-paced race to come in fourth in a time of 2:14:31!

I was tracking Sara (BAA texts you your runner's 5k, 10k, half, 30k splits and finish time), knowing that the heat was going to slow her considerably.  Through the halfway point, she was doing okay, then the pace went way down after that.  I figured she just decided to let it go and run for fun.  And as soon as I heard from her after the race, that's what she said.  In fact, she said it was really weird...   the BAA had put up huge screens urging runners to "slow the pace," all fire hydrants were open, medical carts and motorbikes were everywhere helping people, EMT stationed every two miles, people sitting in medical tents...

All is not lost..  Sara has already qualified for Boston 2013 with her 3:11 in Jacksonville last December, her Boston training has made her stronger, and now she knows the Boston course!

Boston Inspiration

This is so nice, I just have to post it...    dedicated to Sara:

Mutai and Kilel Will Defend Their Titles in Boston

The Olympics later this summer are playing an extensive role in upcoming Boston Marathon.  Our US Olympic Marathon team was determined at the Trials in Houston on January 14 of this year (see my posts here).  Those on the team will be sitting out any marathon competiton (including Boston), along with those elite athletes who ran the Olympic Marathon Trials who are planning to try for a spot at a different distance event at trials in June.

But this week and next will decide the Olympic team for the Kenyans, with top Kenyan runners in Rotterdam this Sunday, Boston on Monday, and London next Sunday.  Last year's Boston winners were Kenyans Geoffrey Mutai and Caroline Kilel, and both are back to not only win again but earn their places on the Olympic team.  They will have much competition (a good thing IMHO, as it makes everyone better!) with a field including 2010 Boston winner Robert Cheruiyot, 2010 NYC winner Gebre Bebremariam, 2011 Amsterdam and Rotterdam winner Wilson Chebet, Chicago 2nd place finisher Wesley Korir, and Chicago 3rd place finisher Bernard Kipyego, on the men's side; and on the women's side 2011 Boston 3rd place finisher Sharon Cherop, 2011 Boston 4th place finisher Caroline Rotich, 2011 NYC winner Firehiwot Dado, and 2011 NYC 2nd place finisher Buzunesh Deba.

A note here about Geoffrey Mutai...   his win in Boston last year in a time of 2:03:02, though the fastest marathon time in history, is not recognized as a world record by the IAAF.  From Wikipedia:

In order for a performance to be ratified as a world record by the IAAF, the marathon course on which the performance occurred must be 42.195 kilometers and measured in a defined manner using the calibrated bicycle method and meet other criteria that rule-out "artificially fast times" produced on courses aided by downhill slope or tailwind. The criteria include:

• "The start and finish points of a course, measured along a theoretical straight line between them, shall not be further apart than 50% of the race distance."
• "The decrease in elevation between the start and finish shall not exceed an average of one in a thousand, i.e. 1m per km."

The Boston Marathon course is a point-to-point race, meaning it can be wind-aided (which it was last year), and it has a slight overall downhill slope.

Mutai not only won Boston in record time last year, he also broke New York's record time in last November's NYC Marathon (2:05:55), making him the only person ever to win both Boston and New York in one year.

Following are videos of Mutai and Kilel's wins in last year's Boston Marathon:

Continuing Countdown to Boston

We're a week out from the Boston Marathon now--wish I was running!!  Remembering the times I ran...   it was a noon start then, it's now 10 am.  I remember that it would get cooler toward the end, whereas here in SoFL, it just gets warmer during your long runs, that is, if you do them in the morning.

I found this video from last year's Boston, some "sights and sounds."  Enjoy!

Kathrine Switzer - Marathon Woman

We think nothing of women running these days, but it hasn't always been this way. In fact, it's only been in fairly recent history that women have been "allowed" to enter races longer than a half mile, and you would never ever see a woman out jogging for exercise just 45 years ago. We have Kathrine Switzer to thank for bringing us out of the dark ages, for her courage in entering the 1967 all-male Boston Marathon. As women were forbidden to run the race, Switzer entered under the name "K. Switzer" of Syracuse. She ran the race with several men including her coach and her boyfriend. At one point, race director Jock Semple noticed her in "his" race, ran onto the road, and tried to pull her out of the race. The men around Switzer blocked him, kept him away and she went on to finish the race.                      

1967 Boston Marathon - Race officials trying to pull Kathrine Switzer out of the race

This race was just the beginning for Switzer.  She went on to organize running events that brought about worldwide social change for women, and helped to establish a women's marathon in the 1984 Olympics.  Her own running included a 1974 win at the New York City Marathon in a time of 3:07 and a lifetime personal best of 2:51.  I read her book, Marathon Woman, when it came out several years ago (have it here on my "recommended books" list).  Here is an interview with her a few years back:



You can get her book here from Amazon.com: