NYC Marathon

[MavKikiNYC]

Gonna be a beautiful day.....

A Lovely Day to Watch (Maybe Not Run) a Marathon
By FRANK LITSKY

Published: November 2, 2003


The weather forecast for today says temperatures should be in the 60's, an idyllic day for a Sunday stroll or an autumn picnic or watching the 34th annual New York City Marathon. Whether it will be a day of dreams for the 34,000 or so serious and recreational runners who will try to cover the 26 miles 385 yards through all five boroughs remains to be seen.

The race organizers have taken extra steps to assure that 31,000 to 32,000 starters will finish. As usual, the race will start at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and end in Central Park, but everything will be an hour earlier. That should help many back-of-the-pack runners finish in daylight and avoid the evening chill. Disabled runners will start at 8 a.m., wheelchairs at 9:05, elite women at 9:35 and elite men and the rest of the men and women at 10:10.

Even with frequent water stations along the way, marathon runners tend to dehydrate during a race. The relatively warm weather is somewhat dangerous for recreational runners, who are not as finely trained as the professionals and are on the course longer. For the pros, warm weather is generally no more than an inconvenience.

"I'm not at all worried about it," said Catherine Ndereba, the women's favorite.

And Rodgers Rop, the men's defender, said, "It's my best weather because I've been training in hot weather."

Ndereba and Rop are Kenyans and accustomed to training in heat. One runner who doesn't like it is Marla Runyan of Eugene, Ore., who finished fourth among the women last year in her marathon debut and figures to do well again.

"I'd like colder weather," she said. "The temperature is more significant for me than the hills."

Any distractions, like too-warm weather, will not be welcomed by the American women who are seeking a qualifying time for the United States Olympic trials April 4 in St. Louis. Any who break 2 minutes 40 seconds will get full expenses paid for the trials. Others who better 2:48 will qualify, but must pay their own way.

There are dollar rewards, too. ING, the Dutch financial services company, has become the race's first title sponsor. With its help, the prize money has been raised to $532,000 plus potential time bonuses. The leading man and woman will each collect at least $100,000 plus a European car, a Smart coupe.

As usual, Kenyan runners are expected to dominate. Last year, Kenyan men finished first, second and third and Kenyan women first, third, fifth and seventh.

Rop, 27, won the men's race last year and then won the Boston Marathon in April.

"My preparation for New York has been good," he said. "I think everything will be going smoothly."

Will he win again?

"I think so," he said. "Every time I run, I think I'm going to win, but I'm more sure now."

One interesting challenger is Laban Kipkemboi, only 25. Last year, in his marathon debut, he finished third here. Three weeks ago, Evans Rutto of Kenya won the Chicago Marathon in 2:05:50, the fastest marathon debut ever, and Dieter Hogen, who coaches Rutto and Kipkemboi in Boulder, Colo., has said Kipkemboi is better.

Kipkemboi understands the economics of the sport.

"If you win a marathon like New York," he said, "you will be very well known in the world and you will be invited to races. You can make a living."

Another potential winner is Julio Rey, a 31-year-old Spaniard who was the runner-up two months ago in the world championships. Before he began running at age 8, he watched his father run marathons for enjoyment and followed his father on a bike.

"I haven't seen the course here," Rey said. "But I was told `piano, piano.' That's Italian for take it easy at the beginning. If I do, I think I can run 2:08."

A time of 2:08 would have won every marathon here except the one in 2001, when Tesfaye Jifar of Ethiopia set the course record of 2:07:43. The same year, Margaret Okayo of Kenya set the women's course record of 2:24:21.

Okayo, 27, is small (5 feet, 95 pounds), but she is a dangerous contender in the strong women's field. She started too fast in the Boston Marathon this year and faded to fourth in 2:27:39. She showed her speed three weeks ago when she ran a half-marathon in 1:07.

"I don't think New York is fast enough for a woman to run 2:20," she said. "But I don't care. I don't think I have any competition."

She may face plenty of competition from other native Kenyans. Joyce Chepchemba, 32, the defending champion, has won marathons in New York, Chicago and London. Lornah Kiplagat, 29, who is a new Dutch citizen, won the New York Mini-Marathon in June, and if she wins today she will collect a $100,000 bonus. Two years ago, Ndereba, now 31, ran the Chicago Marathon in 2:18:47, a world record at the time.

Ndereba won the world championship two months ago, and as she recalled that day she sounded like a winner here as well as there.

"I wasn't tired, and I wasn't sore," she said, "not at all. I was extremely happy."

[bogey]

Other than the absolute finish, is there any other sporting event that is more boring to watch?

[MavKikiNYC]

[MavKikiNYC]

[MavKikiNYC]

Kenyan Margaret Okayo will break her own NYC Marathon Women's record of 2:24.21, in a new course record time of 2:22.30.

Done.

[MavKikiNYC]

1. M. Okayo (KEN) 2:22:30 (CR)
2. C. Ndereba (KEN) 2:23:03
3. L. Kiplagat (NED) 2:23:41





Beautiful.

[MavKikiNYC]

Men's winner is first-time winner Martin Lel in 2:10.29.

[MavKikiNYC]

And now... the news everyone was waiting for.

P.Diddy finished the marathon, with a not-at-all-unrespectable time 4:14.54, winning his bet with Oprah Winfrey that he would better her time of 4:29.

I didn't think that there was any way he'd finish, given that he hadn't trained, and I had dissed him earlier as doing this as mere self-promotion. It pains me to admit it, but his time is actually not that bad.

<tips running cap to P.Diddy>

P. Diddy finishes NY marathon

02.11.2003 - 23:30
In NEW YORK story headlined "Hip-hop star 'P. Diddy' finishes NY marathon" please read in paragraph nine "... Oprah Winfrey's U.S.
Marine Corps marathon..." instead of "... Oprah Winfrey's New York marathon..."

(A corrected repetition follows)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hip-hop music and fashion entrepreneur Sean "P. Diddy" Combs on Sunday completed the New York marathon,
despite suffering leg cramps for about half the distance, as part of an effort to raise millions of dollars for needy city children.

Combs, who performs as "P. Diddy" after becoming one of hip-hop's most successful stars as "Puff Daddy," ran the 26.2 mile course in the
official time of four hours, 14 minutes and 54 seconds.

"I've never experienced mental or physical pain like that," Combs told reporters after becoming the 11,359th to cross the Central Park finish
line out of 35,100 entrants.

"But it was a beautiful experience."

Combs said he raised $2 million for New York's public schools, children suffering from HIV and AIDS and his own charity to foster social
programs.

The rap impresario, who had undercover police officers assigned as bodyguards, was shown on the live NBC-TV broadcast grimacing in
agony from cramps and fending off admirers.

"I was in real trouble and I wanted to stop. It was a life changing experience because I did not stop," said Combs, who ran the marathon, his
first, under his proper name.

Combs, who called the effort "Diddy Runs the City," said in a marathon diary published by the New York Post that he trained for less than
two months and had an injured right knee.

He said his goals were to finish under four hours and quicker than popular talk show host Oprah Winfrey's 1994 U.S. Marine Corps
marathon time of 4 hours 29 minutes. He said he would appear on "Oprah" Monday.

Kenyan Martin Lel won the men's race and his compatriot Margaret Okayo won the women's race. Lel clocked two hours, 10 minutes and
30 seconds and Okayo's time was two hours 22 minutes and 31 seconds.

[MavKikiNYC]

Music and Medals Attract Marathoners


By MARC BLOOM

Published: November 2, 2003


Tricia Coultes, 33, of Lansing, Mich., was among the 20,000 participants in last year's Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in San Diego. She had no interest in running it, was unfamiliar with training methods and knew little about the sport.

Coultes said her goal was to walk the marathon at a pace of 15 minutes a mile and enjoy the sights as part of a weekend vacation.

Coultes had walked previous marathons with her mother but was on her own in San Diego. By the halfway point, she took out her cellphone to call her mother. "I was crying my eyes out," she said. "I told her, `You never told me how hard it would be to do a marathon by myself.' She told me to hang in there."

Coultes was not exactly by herself. In addition to the large field of runners, there were bands with a stage and a sound system every mile to entertain the runners and spur them on to the finish. There were also groups of high school cheerleaders throughout for additional motivation.

Propelled by this popular new style of entertainment-oriented marathon, which is redefining what was once an elite event for superior, highly trained athletes, Coultes finally crossed the finish line in 6 hours 59 minutes, a pace of 16 minutes a mile. "The music gives you more energy," she said.

Coultes, who works for an insurance company, represents a new type of participant that is swelling marathon fields but at the same time slowing them to a crawl. These new adherents, officials say, are changing the marathon from an athletic event to a social event. In doing so, the participants have created running's version of a reality show in which ordinary people with no athletic background can be in the spotlight.

At the forefront of the movement, known as "marathons for everyone," are so-called music marathons, which have sprung up in the last few years. Elite Racing, a company based in San Diego that created the concept, will draw nearly 100,000 participants to its four music marathons next year.

They offer glory without sacrifice to those who barely train but cover the distance; they receive a finisher's medal to wear around their necks.

In addition, at least 20 marathons now offer separate standings and prizes for heavier people once spurned by the event's very thin devotees. Men weighing 200 pounds and up, called Clydesdales, and women 160 pounds and up, called Athenas, are welcomed.

One event with a Clydesdales division is the Cellcom Marathon in Green Bay, Wis. "We wanted to be all-inclusive," said Nadia Farr, a spokeswoman for the marathon, which also featured a Super Clydesdales division for men weighing 250 pounds or more. "We felt we should level the playing field so more people could come out as winners."

Some marathon veterans regard the changes with contempt. They complain that an event in which the quest for Everest-like achievement went along with a disciplined, healthier lifestyle has been watered down to little more than a hike in the park. Proponents of the new breed of marathoner contend that any endeavor that addresses America's obesity problem by getting people to walk is worthwhile.

Coultes, whose next marathon is Elite's inaugural P. F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona in Phoenix in January, said: "Most of the year, I don't train. I'm a couch potato." Even though she said she walks for only four months leading to a race, she has lost 10 pounds this year.

Walkers like Coultes, according to officials, are most responsible for a rise in marathon finishers. Statistics from the USA Track and Field Road Running Information Center in Santa Barbara, Calif., show a 13 percent increase in United States marathon finishers from 1996 (396,000) to 2002 (450,000). Last year, women made up 40 percent of finishers, compared with 26 percent in 1995. The median women's time in 2002 was 4:56:46, compared with 4:15:00 in 1995. The men's median time was 4:20:01 in 2002, compared with 3:54:00 in 1995.

Today's 34th New York City Marathon, which has a field of 32,000, reflects the nationwide trends. The median time for marathon finishers last year was 4:27:02, a pace of 10:12 a mile, compared with 3:59:29 in 1989, a pace of 9:03 a mile. Women were 30 percent of the 2002 field, while in 1989, women made up 18 percent. Subsequently, the starting times for New York's different divisions will be about an hour earlier this year.

"People are coming into the marathon for fitness, not competition," Allan Steinfield, the New York City Marathon director, said in an interview. "Their times are not important. They want the camaraderie. It's not the loneliness of the long-distance runner anymore."

Aware that the new marathoners also want entertainment, Steinfeld said that he was talking with the borough presidents and others about having "bands, choirs and doo-wop groups" along the course next year.

Or at least a tape of "Chariots of Fire" at the 20-mile point, known as the Wall because marathoners' energy tends to run low.

Pushing through the Wall at a brisk three-hour pace, or 6:52 a mile, was what motivated James F. Behr of Staten Island, a Vietnam veteran and former smoker who ran every New York City Marathon from 1975 to 2001. Behr, 56, a high school teacher and everyday runner who broke 3:00 often and once ran a 2:38 at the Boston Marathon, no longer enters New York.

"I resent that the race is now dominated by what the French call poseurs," Behr said. "They want to look like runners and get a medal but they're not running. It's the dumbing down of the marathon."

Behr said that the final straw for him occurred when participants carrying cameras stopped shortly after the start on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to ask others to take their pictures. "Another guy took out a cellphone to brag to someone about his race," Behr said. "And he hadn't even done a mile yet."

On the other hand, Tim Murphy, the president of Elite Racing, extolled his events' open-arms atmosphere. "What I hear most is that the people feel just as cool as the runner trying to break three hours," he said. "It's all about finishing."

JoAnn Dahlkoetter, a sports psychologist in San Carlos, Calif., said that she had previously helped obsessive marathoners learn to cope with pain so they could break three hours. "Now I see people struggling with goals to get under seven hours. Some marathons have a cut-off time where they close the course. These people want to make sure they don't feel like they're getting kicked out."

Dahlkoetter said that, in a startling shift, most newcomers made the marathon their first race. "They've never accomplished anything physical in their lives," she said. "This gives them bragging rights."

Marathoners once served an apprenticeship based on training fundamentals and historical precedence. They started out in five-kilometer (3.1-mile) and 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) races, worked up to a half-marathon and, after advancing to a training regimen of 40 to 50 miles a week and up, found the courage to tackle a marathon. This process often took years.

Today's participants go right into a marathon because the typical five-kilometer race offers little recognition or hoopla and is not perceived as an athletic steppingstone. Coultes's first race was the Honolulu Marathon, which she has done three times. She does not run five-kilometers but sometimes does half-marathons.

Coultes did the Nashville Country Music Half-Marathon with seven other women from her office. She covered the 13.1 miles in 3:04 and turned out to be the event's big money winner. Murphy had offered a sweepstakes in which participants' race numbers and finish times were picked at random. Coultes won $5,000. The winner of the half-marathon, a Kenyan who ran 1:08:54, got nothing.

Murphy's newest music marathon, the Chang event in Phoenix, advertises a fast, flat course, more than 50 bands, 40 cheering squads and cool weather. Murphy said he already had 15,000 entries and would limit the combined fields to about 30,000, a record for a first marathon and half-marathon.

"Murphy has built a recognizable brand," said Phil Stewart, the publisher of Road Race Management, an industry newsletter. "Individuality is what used to set marathons apart. Now we're seeing the reverse of that. He's looking at it in more marketing terms."

Even though the entry fee of $85 will generate around $2.5 million in revenue for the Phoenix race, Murphy said his events lose money. "The Arizona event has a marketing budget of $700,000, the entertainment costs $600,000, and we're spending a total of $3.6 million," he said.

It is too soon to determine if the new marathoners are making a commitment to improved health in the long-term or whether they are taking a one-shot attempt at fun and glory.

"Many events claim large numbers of first-timers year after year," said Stewart, the newsletter publisher. "If that's the case, where are the second-timers?"

But the participants' emotional gratification is clear. Going from obscurity to covering 26 miles on foot, no matter what the pace, can be a transcendent experience.

For Tricia Coultes, the best part comes when she glances back at the finish.

"There are a lot of people behind me," she said. "That makes me feel good."

[Chiwas]

The part that I like the most of New York wasn't honored by the marathon route designers.

[MavKikiNYC]

...which was?

[bogey]

zzzzzzzzz..........


Is the paint dry yet?

[Chiwas]

...which was?

Lower Manhattan.

Downtown. Everything below Central Park.

But I guess it'd be hard to make the race through there. It would be a (more) chaos.

[MavsFanatik33]

I was proud of what P. Diddy accomplished, people train for more than 6 months for this thing and Diddy only had 8 weeks. He raised almost 2 million dollars from New York citizens, celebritys, and the NY mayor to use on 4 public schools in New York who were in deep need of an educational boost.
Good to see that P. Diddy is giving back to the community...