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November 1, 2015

Photos: Inaugural Banorte Rock ‘n’ Roll Merida Half Marathon

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Published on November 01, 2015 12:01

How Celebrities Fared in the 2015 New York City Marathon

Here's a shot Katrina Bowden tweeted to her followers just before starting the 2015 New York City Marathon.

While the New York City Marathon is known for its enormous field (50,000-plus in recent years) including world-class elite runners leading the way, it also gets its share of public figures running each year. Past celebrities include Diddy, Will Ferrell, Teri Hatcher, Edward Norton, Pamela Anderson, Alanis Morisette and more. Here is a list of notable names who ran the 26.2-mile five-borough race this year.

Nev Schulman, 3:34:31

Schulman, the star of the documentary, “Catfish,” ran his first marathon with great success. He finished in 3:34:31 after going through the halfway point in 1:34:08. He was doing it for the J/P Haitian Relief Fund.

Daniel Humm, 3:35:30

The award-winning chef and co-owner of Eleven Madison Park and The NoMad restaurants in New York City, Humm ran his second New York City Marathon. He finished in 2:51 in 2008. Although much slower than his previous NYCM effort, he ran consistently on Sunday with splits of 1:44:52 and 1:50:38.

James Blake, 3:51:19

The former professional tennis player retired in 2013, but he kept his competitive juices flowing at the NYC Marathon. He’s raising money for the James Blake Foundation, which helps fight cancer. He came through the halfway point in 1:54 and slowed down a bit, but not too badly to jeopardize a sub-4-hour finish.

RELATED: More Celebrities Who Run

Katrina Bowden, 4:19:39

The actress known for her roles in 30 Rock ran New York City for the second straight year to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training. She finished in 4:16 last year. She was a tad slower this year after running the first half in 2:01 and the second half in 2:18.

Ethan Hawke, 4:25:30

The actor of such films as “Training Day” and “Boyhood” ran the marathon with his wife, Ryan, to raise money for The Doe Fund, which aims to develop programs that meet the needs of a diverse population working to break the cycles of homelessness, addiction, and criminal recidivism. Hawke ran evenly throughout the race, with a 2:10:30 split at the halfway point and 2:15:00 over the back half.

David Cohen, 4:29:59

Cohen 49, is the executive vice president and general counsel for the New York Mets. He ran the New York City Marathon for the third time (but his first since 1996) and then immediately headed to CitiField to watch the Mets play in Game 5 of the World Series against the Kansas City Royals. He might have been a bit excited about the baseball game early on, because he went through the first half in a speedy 2:01:26. He closed in 2:28:33 and finished at 2:23 p.m., giving him plenty of time to make it to the game before the first pitch at 8:15 p.m.

Gary Williams, 4:39:32

The Golf Channel host ran New York City for the second straight year. He came through the halfway point in 2:10 this year and closed in 2:30 to beat his 4:46 time from last year.

Tiki Barber, 4:50:56

The former NFL running back and current media personality ran New York City for the second straight year, after finishing in 5:14 last year. He’s running for the PitCChIn Foundation. He’s ranked 26th on the NFL’s all-time rushing list. He improved on last year’s race, but he struggled in the second half after going through the first half in 2:03:38.

Alicia Keys, 5:50:52

The 34-year-old mother of two and acclaimed singer and actress is running her second marathon—but her first in New York, where she was born and raised. She is raising money for Keep a Child Alive, a nonprofit she co-founded which helps deliver HIV medication to African families in need.

The post How Celebrities Fared in the 2015 New York City Marathon appeared first on Competitor.com.

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Published on November 01, 2015 12:00

Meb Keflezighi Sets U.S. Masters Marathon Record at NYC

Meb Keflezighi sprints to the finish line of the 2015 New York City Marathon, en route to a seventh-place finish. Photo: Sarah A. Swiss

Craig Leon, Laura Thweatt both finish top 10 to lead Americans

NEW YORK – Perhaps they should rename the race the New York City Mebathon.

On a day when the lead men seemed content to jog through 20 miles, enjoying the unseasonably late autumn foliage and warm temperatures, the biggest cheers were for Meb Keflezighi, who in 10 runs through the five boroughs (plus one Olympic Trials in Central Park) has more or less made the Big Apple his own personal stage, even meriting a ride at the head of the city’s famed Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade after his 2009 win.

Indeed, the lead men’s back seemed to defer to Keflezighi as they descended the Queensboro Bridge en masse, allowing him to be the honorary leader as they entered the canyon of sound that awaits the runners as they hit First Avenue.

In the end, the pace got serious in the final miles and Keflezighi was left in somewhat in arrears—“Those guys have leg turnover I don’t have anymore,” he said—but still managed to finish seventh in 2:13:32, a time that gave him a couple of masters records for his day’s work. Keflezighi’s name will now supplant those of course record holder John Campbell (2:14:34 from 1990) and American holder Mbarak Hussein (2:13:52 from Twin Cities in 2006).

“I’ve run this race 10 times and I have stories from every year,” said Keflezighi, whose training had been hampered by some hamstring niggles in the last month. “I knew the masters records were in reach, and fortunately the pace was slow enough early on that I could run in a pack and get pulled along.”

Keflezighi will do his usual thorough recovery routine, then gear up for next February’s Olympic Trials, where he’ll hope to make his fourth U.S. team. “To represent my country one more time would be amazing, to have my daughters be there old enough to appreciate it—it won’t be easy, but I’ll be ready.”

If Keflezighi’s story is well known and seems almost scripted for Hollywood, that of Craig Leon, who finished one place behind him as the second American in 2:15:16, is almost equally storybook. A walk-on distance runner at Ohio University, Leon seemed almost shocked by finishing just behind the American marathoning legend. “This might be the worst buildup I’ve had going into a marathon,” said Leon, who now trains and works in Eugene. “I had plantar fasciitis that really curtailed my training, and then a month ago I got sick. But that might have been a blessing in disguise, because when I started back running I was pain free, and I felt great during the race. At about 20 miles I thought ‘if I can keep this rolling, I can get a PR [2:13:52]’ but that’s when the leaders took off and I was kind of on my own the rest of the way.

“I have no business being with these guys on the track—I think I’ve broken 30 minutes twice—but the one thing I do well is run marathons. I’m as proud of my run today as my race in Boston in 2014 [12th in 2:14:48]. I’ll take a few weeks to recover, then start building up for the Trials. I think it’s a pretty wide-open race, so I just want to be able to be in the mix.”

One person who definitely won’t be in Los Angeles for that race is the woman who equaled Keflezighi’s performance, placing seventh as the first American. Before the race Laura Thweatt had said the marathon trials were not an option, and she stuck to that assertion in spite of running an excellent 2:28:23 debut. “I still have some unfinished business on the track, and I’m going to focus on the 5,000 and 10,000 at the track trials.”

For someone running her first race at the distance, Thweatt, who won the U.S. cross country championship in February, looked extremely comfortable and confident, even taking the lead for a few moments near the halfway point. But that shouldn’t come as a total surprise, since she’s coached by Lee Troop, a three-time Olympic marathoner for Australia.

“She executed just about perfectly,” said Troop, “but the whole point was for her to get a taste of what the marathon is like, and build up her strength for track.”

“The marathon definitely has its highs and lows,” said Thweatt. “Around 20 miles Mary [Keitany] took off and it was really challenging the rest of the way and I just had to put my head down and grind. The 10,000 is a grind in a different way but today will really help me psychologically.”

So for the three top Americans, an autumn’s jog through the five boroughs proved to be just what each wanted heading into next year’s all-important Olympic buildup.

The post Meb Keflezighi Sets U.S. Masters Marathon Record at NYC appeared first on Competitor.com.

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Published on November 01, 2015 12:00

2015 New York City Marathon Top 10 Finishers

Here are the 2015 TCS New York City Marathon top individual results.

MEN

1. Stanley Biwott, Kenya, 2:10:34

2. Geoffery Kamworor, Kenya, 2:10:48

3. Lelisa Desisa, Ethipoia, 2:12:10

4. Wilson Kipsang, Kenya, 2:12:45

5. Yemane Tsegay, Ethiopia, 2:13:24

6. Yuki Kawauchi, Japan, 2:13:29

7. Meb Keflezighi, U.S., 2:13:32

8. Craig Leon, U.S., 2:15:16

9. Birhanu Dare Kemal, Ethiopia, 2:15:40

10. Kevin Chelimo, Kenya, 2:15:49

WOMEN

1. Mary Keitany, Kenaya, 2:24:25

2. Aselefech Mergia, Ethiopia, 2:25:32

3. Tigist Tufa, Ethiopia, 2:25:50

4. Sara Moreira, Portugal, 2:25:53

5. Christelle Daunay, France, 2:26:57

6. Priscah Jeptoo, Kenya, 2:27:03

7. Laura Thweatt, U.S., 2:28:23

8. Jelena Prokopcuka, Latvia, 2:28:46

9. Anna Incerti, Italy, 2:33:13

10. Carolina Rotich, Kenya, 2:33:19

For searchable results, go to this NYRR link.

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Published on November 01, 2015 09:45

Biwott, Keitany Win 2015 New York City Marathon Titles

Meb Keflezighi sprints to the finish line of the 2015 New York City Marathon, en route to a seventh-place finish. Photo: Sarah A. Swiss

Amid cool weather and overcast skies, Kenyans Stanley Biwott and Mary Keitany ran away from strong fields to win the 2015 New York City Marathon races on Sunday.

Keitany, a 33-year-old mother of two from Kenya, repeated her 2014 victory in Central Park by breaking away from the women’s lead back near mile 21. Although she slowed from her sub-2:20 pace, she ran alone for the final 5 miles to win in 2:24:25. She became the eighth woman to win back-to-back New York City Marathon titles.

Ethiopian Aselefech Mergia was second in 2:25:32, while countrywoman Tigist Tufa was third in 2:25:50. Laura Thweatt of Boulder, Colo., was the first American finisher, placing seventh overall in 2:28:23 in her marathon debut.

In the men’s race, a pack of eight runners—including defending champion Wilson Kipsang and American Meb Keflezighi—remained in contention through mile 19. But Lelisa Desisa, Stanley Biwott and Geoffrey Kamworor splintered the back and ran stride for stride for 4 miles until it became a two-person race between Biwott and Kamworor through the final 2 miles in Central Park.

Although Kamworor hung on, Biwott, a 29-year-old former dairy farmer, proved to be the strongest of the day, winning in 2:10:34, about 14 seconds ahead of Kamworor. Desisa was third in 2:12:10, while Kipsang hung on for fourth in 2:12:45. It was the first major marathon victory of Biwott’s career.

Meb Keflezighi, 40, was the top American, placing seventh in 2:13:32 to break the 25-year-old New York City Marathon masters record (John Campbell, 2:14:34) and Mbarak Hussein’s 2006 American masters marathon record (2:13:52).

For searchable results, go to this NYRR link.

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Published on November 01, 2015 09:13

Tenacious Tiki Barber Tackles Second New York City Marathon

Tiki Barber.

For much of his life, Tiki Barber spent autumn Sundays getting tackled by linebackers and safeties as he amassed 10,449 yards as the most prolific running back in New York Giants history.

On Sunday, Barber, 40, endured a pounding of a different sort as he tackled his second TCS New York City Marathon. He was running while representing N.Y. Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia’s PitCChIn Foundation, an experience he hoped would be smoother and less painful than his debut at the distance last November, when he made a rookie mistake that almost threw his run for a backfield loss. He finished that race in 5:14:37.

“I got to the race and felt good,” he recalled. “I had done all the training I was supposed to do. We’re in Wave 1, we start, everybody’s flying past me because these are like 6-minute milers, and I’m trying to keep up. I ran the first 2 miles in about 14 minutes and I died about mile 15. So that was my learning experience. I had talked to Shalane Flanagan right before the race and I said give me one piece of advice. She said “don’t be a hero at the beginning, and don’t be a coward at the end.” I did the exact opposite. I went through the half in 1:58, and wound up finishing in 5:14. So that second half was pretty painful.”

Barber, who had sprinted and long jumped in high school—”I loved track, my dream was to be an Olympian,” he said—had never run more than 4 or 5 miles before attempting to cover 26 through the five boroughs. This year, he ran a lot more New York Road Runners races, including three half marathons, to gain the feel for long distance he hopes will make this year’s race faster and more pleasant. Among the most important is a feel for even pacing, and how important it is for a successful marathon.

He ranks 26th on the NFL’s all-time list with his career total of 10,449 yards rushing—a total of just under 6 miles—but gives much respect to the distance running community. Barber, who since his retirement from football has transitioned to an equally successful radio and TV career, feels the mental challenge of distance running is almost greater than the physical.

“The reason I say that is in football it’s a shared responsibility, it’s like ‘this guy’s depending on me.’ I know I have to do my job otherwise nothing gets done. But in running, it’s like if my body starts to fail, I’m just gonna chill. Or I’m on a long run on a weekend, I hit 2 hours, I’m supposed to go 3, nah, you know what, I’m good, I’m gonna go home. You can’t do that in football. So the mental side of training and competing is harder because it’s easier to quit.”

The tenacious mental outlook that made him one of the NFL’s best running backs, plus the experience gained in the past 12 months, apparently helped Barber make it to the finish in Central Park without going into overtime this year. Even though he struggled a bit in the second half again—his splits were 2:03:38 and 2:46:28—but it hardly matters since he set a new PR of 4:50:56.

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Published on November 01, 2015 07:40

October 31, 2015

Photos: Elites Steal The Show at AACR Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia

Tim Ritchie (1:01:24) and Maegan Krifchin (1:09:52) led 23 men and 19 women to U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon qualifying times at the AACR Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon on Saturday. Check out these great images of the race from PhotoRun.net.

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