The Boston Marathon's traditional Monday date pushed this week's column back a day.
What did we learn this week?
NBC/Universal has shown its true colors.I planned on starting off this column writing about what happened in the Boston Marathon—and A LOT happened. From the perspective of a fan, though, the biggest news was not about the athletes or what they did.
The biggest news was the tremendous difficulty many of us had in seeing the greatest Boston Marathon of all time. The fact that one of the USA's biggest Olympic-oriented events was so difficult to watch tells us a lot about NBC/Universal, specifically that the corporation is harmful to domestic Olympic sports such as track and field and road running.
The race has, in the past, been on national television. To say that this year's race was on national television is an exercise in semantics. It was on Universal Sports TV, which is not regional, but it most certainly not available everywhere in the country. NBC has not put its full force behind getting the channel wide distribution. The majority of fans simply do not have television as a viewing option for the race.
The only real viewing option for the majority of fans is the companion website, UniversalSports.com, which can only be described as amateur at best. There is no end to the list of problems the site has at almost any time a track fan wants to watch one of their webcasts. Monday was even worse than usual.
Showing posts with label world marathon majors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label world marathon majors. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Thursday, January 06, 2011
Superfan Daily: Glider Gloves
It's winter. You wear gloves. You use an iPhone, iPad, or similar touch-screen device, but have to take off your gloves to use it. So do I.
Recently I bought* a pair of Glider Gloves, which have conductive threads woven into them and allow the wearer to use said touchscreen device without baring skin to the elements. How did they perform?
My iPhone was very responsive to the gloves when I first put them on. After a six-mile run, during which I built up a decent sweat, they still worked but not quite as well. As gloves they're pretty good, but not anything you'd want to use under extreme situations. Yesterday afternoon's weather in Toledo was nothing bitter for the lower Rust Belt--30 degrees, windy and overcast--and my fingers were a bit chilly for the first five minutes, but after that were just fine.
The gloves are a basic stretchy knit style and available at glidergloves.com for $24.99. Athletes, coaches and officials who use touchscreen devices in less than optimal weather would find them useful but pricy.
*I was not compensated in any way for this review, nor did I receive any merchandise. I'm not opposed to free swag, though--send me some if you've got it.
Track on TV
Sydney 2000: Stories of Olympic Glory, 9:00 PM on Universal Sports (reruns at midnight)
Endurance, 11:35 AM tomorrow on Flix
News Links
Runner's World's Racing News has all the headlines: Usain Bolt, Caster Semenya, Bay to Breakers and more.
Track and Field News released its 2010 women's Performamce of the Year rankings. Apparently no one gave any thought to Nadzeya Ostapchuk's massive 21.70 indoor throw.
They also just released their 2010 men's Performance of the Year rankings. David Rudisha is now just the second man to ever go 1-2 (the other is Usain Bolt).
World XC champ Florence Kiplagat will run her first-ever marathon at Boston this April.
Olympic news:
*The IOC is considering auctioning off the US television rights to the next four Olympics (2014, '16, '18 and '20) instead of just the next two. This means a better chance for ESPN, who had been adamant about such a deal and (in my opinion) would do a much better job than NBC.
*Japan is seriously looking at a 2020 bid by Hiroshima.
Britain's Guadian newspaper is running a weekly series on training in the Kenyan highlands. Here is part one.
Recently I bought* a pair of Glider Gloves, which have conductive threads woven into them and allow the wearer to use said touchscreen device without baring skin to the elements. How did they perform?My iPhone was very responsive to the gloves when I first put them on. After a six-mile run, during which I built up a decent sweat, they still worked but not quite as well. As gloves they're pretty good, but not anything you'd want to use under extreme situations. Yesterday afternoon's weather in Toledo was nothing bitter for the lower Rust Belt--30 degrees, windy and overcast--and my fingers were a bit chilly for the first five minutes, but after that were just fine.
The gloves are a basic stretchy knit style and available at glidergloves.com for $24.99. Athletes, coaches and officials who use touchscreen devices in less than optimal weather would find them useful but pricy.
*I was not compensated in any way for this review, nor did I receive any merchandise. I'm not opposed to free swag, though--send me some if you've got it.
Track on TV
Sydney 2000: Stories of Olympic Glory, 9:00 PM on Universal Sports (reruns at midnight)
Endurance, 11:35 AM tomorrow on Flix
News Links
Runner's World's Racing News has all the headlines: Usain Bolt, Caster Semenya, Bay to Breakers and more.
Track and Field News released its 2010 women's Performamce of the Year rankings. Apparently no one gave any thought to Nadzeya Ostapchuk's massive 21.70 indoor throw.
They also just released their 2010 men's Performance of the Year rankings. David Rudisha is now just the second man to ever go 1-2 (the other is Usain Bolt).
World XC champ Florence Kiplagat will run her first-ever marathon at Boston this April.
Olympic news:
*The IOC is considering auctioning off the US television rights to the next four Olympics (2014, '16, '18 and '20) instead of just the next two. This means a better chance for ESPN, who had been adamant about such a deal and (in my opinion) would do a much better job than NBC.
*Japan is seriously looking at a 2020 bid by Hiroshima.
Britain's Guadian newspaper is running a weekly series on training in the Kenyan highlands. Here is part one.
Friday, November 05, 2010
House of Run New York City Marathon preview
This week's House of Run podcast is now available. Yours truly makes an appearance and makes his bold picks for the NYC Marathon: Abel Kirui and Mary Keitany will win, Jared will fail to break 5:00.
Jason and Kevin do a great job with their podcast, in a breezy dry humor. Check it out, it's worth your time.
Jason and Kevin do a great job with their podcast, in a breezy dry humor. Check it out, it's worth your time.
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Chilean Miner Edison "The Runner" Pena on Letterman Tonight
From Deadspin:
He will be the lead guest on tonight’s Late Show with David Letterman. I am definitely recording this one.
Letterman, a runner himself, has been very friendly to distance types. After last year’s NYC win, he had Meb Keflezighi read the Top Ten List. At other times guests have included Alan Webb, Dean Karnazes and Pam Reed.
Letterman hasn’t cornered the market on tracksters. Jay Leno is more partial to throwers, as he was a thrower himself in high school. His Olympic-year guests have included Reese Hoffa and John Godina (against whom Leno competed in a series of silly throws).
How would the average person spend 69 days trapped underground? Edison Peña ran three to six miles daily. Now he's running in the NYC Marathon this weekend. Great. I'll be on a couch, trapped under a pile of wings.Peña was invited to watch the New York Marathon. He decided he’d rather run, and the NYRR gave him an entry. Read the AP story; it’s good. Key quote: "he'll probably reject the hero label, insisting that the focus should be on worker safety, faith in God and the restorative power of sports."
He will be the lead guest on tonight’s Late Show with David Letterman. I am definitely recording this one.
Letterman, a runner himself, has been very friendly to distance types. After last year’s NYC win, he had Meb Keflezighi read the Top Ten List. At other times guests have included Alan Webb, Dean Karnazes and Pam Reed.
Letterman hasn’t cornered the market on tracksters. Jay Leno is more partial to throwers, as he was a thrower himself in high school. His Olympic-year guests have included Reese Hoffa and John Godina (against whom Leno competed in a series of silly throws).
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Boston Marathon Sells Out!
Entry to the 2011 Boston Marathon opened at 9:00 AM Monday. At 5:03 PM no more spots were available.
This is nothing short of astounding. In 2008 the race didn’t fill until February. In 2009 it was full in January. Last year it took a month to fill up.
This is the Boston Marathon, which has qualifying standards. Not just anyone can get in, you have to run 3:10 (men) or 3:40 (women), with progressive breaks for age past 35. For all but a handful of the 40 or so years since limits were set, you just had to get your entry in before the early-March deadline. Thus the annual Last Chance for Boston race in late February...a race which is obviously a pretty pointless endeavor now.
What’s going on here? The Wall Street Journal decided last week that, like original sin, it’s all women’s fault. I pointed out the fallacy of that argument. To put it simply, even if it’s easier for women to qualify for Boston (and maybe it isn’t, and it certainly isn’t significantly so), they certainly don’t take up more than their share of entries. 41% of US marathoners are women, and 42% of last year’s field were women. A one percent difference does not make a race sell out 20,000 spots in eight hours.
A year and a half ago Amby Burfoot wrote up a history of Boston’s qualifying system, and the issues that created them, but he had no idea how things would turn between then and now.
So why are there so many more people who want to run the Boston Marathon?
More people are running marathons. There were approximately 464,000 marathon finishes in the USA and 1.31 million worldwide in 2009 (“finishes” meaning race results; individual runners could be counted multiple times). The domestic numbers are up nearly 50% since 2002, but the international numbers have more than doubled in the same time period.
Marathon finishers in the US and the world, 2002-2009
Source: arrs.net
Why? That’s anybody’s guess. No one really knows. We do know that gym memberships are down significantly over the last few years, and the conventional wisdom is that the economy is bad and running is growing because it’s cheaper than any other fitness activity. But the growth in marathon numbers has been steady for over a decade, long before the economy imploded. It might be a generational thing, but the growth has been remarkably consistent across both genders and all age groups. It’s just one of those things.
More people are running them faster. Big numbers wouldn’t matter for Boston, with its qualifying times, if everyone ran them slow. But people aren’t. MarathonGuide.com’s time breakdowns only go back to 2005, but in those five years the growth in men running sub-3:00 and women running sub-3:30 has been a lot faster than the overall growth in marathoning.
Sub-3:00 (men) and sub-3:30 (women) recorded in the USA, 2005-2009
Source: MarathonGuide.com
2007 was the only setback, probably due in large part to that year’s horridly hot Chicago Marathon. If the trend continues through the end of 2010 – and there’s no reason to believe it won’t – then between 9,000 and 10,000 men and about 8,000 women will run these kinds of times. There weren’t even that many marathoners in the whole country until 1976.
Boston’s limit is about 20,000 runners (plus another 3,000-5,000 for charity runners and sponsor exemptions) and, due to issues of physical space, can go no higher. Looking at the number of US-based runners who beat the toughest standards by 10 or more minutes, plus foreign-based runners, plus older age groups with slower qualifying standards, you can see why there’s a crunch.
Note that overall US marathon numbers have never increased more than 10% in any year since the true boom years of 1974-1984. And that was the time when the Boston Marathon became so overwhelmed that it first required qualifying, and eventually tightened the standard down to 2:50 for men under 40 (since loosened 20 minutes). Consistent double-digit growth in fast marathoning has, apparently, again overwhelmed Boston.
What happens now? Runners World reports that the B.A.A. “will consider re-configuring the qualification and entry process for the 2012 marathon”. Let’s Run is having an unusually productive discussion about it. The only reasonable solution appears to be a time-based one.
There are a lot of options. The standards could be tightened across the board; for example, going back to the early-80s standards of 3:00 for open men and 3:30 for open women. Under this scenario, the race would probably not fill up. The B.A.A. probably doesn’t want this.
Another option would be to have tiered registration openings. In October the race would open to those who have beaten the current standards by ten minutes, and in December to those who have beaten them by five minutes, and in January to everyone else who has met the standard. (This, by the way, is exactly how class registration worked at my university back in the early 90s: academic scholarship students first, athletes and others with time restrictions second, and other tiers after that which I never paid attention to because I was in both of the first two groups.)
Whatever it is, Boston needs to do things differently. The race has always been about qualifications, not timing or luck.
This is nothing short of astounding. In 2008 the race didn’t fill until February. In 2009 it was full in January. Last year it took a month to fill up.
This is the Boston Marathon, which has qualifying standards. Not just anyone can get in, you have to run 3:10 (men) or 3:40 (women), with progressive breaks for age past 35. For all but a handful of the 40 or so years since limits were set, you just had to get your entry in before the early-March deadline. Thus the annual Last Chance for Boston race in late February...a race which is obviously a pretty pointless endeavor now.
What’s going on here? The Wall Street Journal decided last week that, like original sin, it’s all women’s fault. I pointed out the fallacy of that argument. To put it simply, even if it’s easier for women to qualify for Boston (and maybe it isn’t, and it certainly isn’t significantly so), they certainly don’t take up more than their share of entries. 41% of US marathoners are women, and 42% of last year’s field were women. A one percent difference does not make a race sell out 20,000 spots in eight hours.
A year and a half ago Amby Burfoot wrote up a history of Boston’s qualifying system, and the issues that created them, but he had no idea how things would turn between then and now.
So why are there so many more people who want to run the Boston Marathon?
More people are running marathons. There were approximately 464,000 marathon finishes in the USA and 1.31 million worldwide in 2009 (“finishes” meaning race results; individual runners could be counted multiple times). The domestic numbers are up nearly 50% since 2002, but the international numbers have more than doubled in the same time period.
Marathon finishers in the US and the world, 2002-2009
Year | US Finishes | % increase | World Finishes | % increase |
2002 | 323,793 | 643,685 | ||
2003 | 334,417 | 3.3% | 690,876 | 7.3% |
2004 | 361,985 | 8.2% | 780,390 | 13.0% |
2005 | 384,621 | 6.3% | 995,601 | 27.6% |
2006 | 402,299 | 4.6% | 1,004,346 | 0.9% |
2007 | 406,574 | 1.1% | 1,170,254 | 16.5% |
2008 | 425,888 | 4.8% | 1,210,322 | 3.4% |
2009 | 464,293 | 9.0% | 1,310,172 | 8.2% |
Why? That’s anybody’s guess. No one really knows. We do know that gym memberships are down significantly over the last few years, and the conventional wisdom is that the economy is bad and running is growing because it’s cheaper than any other fitness activity. But the growth in marathon numbers has been steady for over a decade, long before the economy imploded. It might be a generational thing, but the growth has been remarkably consistent across both genders and all age groups. It’s just one of those things.
More people are running them faster. Big numbers wouldn’t matter for Boston, with its qualifying times, if everyone ran them slow. But people aren’t. MarathonGuide.com’s time breakdowns only go back to 2005, but in those five years the growth in men running sub-3:00 and women running sub-3:30 has been a lot faster than the overall growth in marathoning.
Sub-3:00 (men) and sub-3:30 (women) recorded in the USA, 2005-2009
Year | Men <3:00 | % increase | Women <3:30 | % increase |
2005 | 5,400 (approx) | -- | not available | |
2006 | 7,041 | 30.4% | 5,588 | -- |
2007 | 6,372 | -9.5% | 5,402 | -3.3% |
2008 | 7,275 | 14.2% | 6,386 | 18.2% |
2009 | 8,293 | 14.0% | 7,168 | 12.2% |
2007 was the only setback, probably due in large part to that year’s horridly hot Chicago Marathon. If the trend continues through the end of 2010 – and there’s no reason to believe it won’t – then between 9,000 and 10,000 men and about 8,000 women will run these kinds of times. There weren’t even that many marathoners in the whole country until 1976.
Boston’s limit is about 20,000 runners (plus another 3,000-5,000 for charity runners and sponsor exemptions) and, due to issues of physical space, can go no higher. Looking at the number of US-based runners who beat the toughest standards by 10 or more minutes, plus foreign-based runners, plus older age groups with slower qualifying standards, you can see why there’s a crunch.
Note that overall US marathon numbers have never increased more than 10% in any year since the true boom years of 1974-1984. And that was the time when the Boston Marathon became so overwhelmed that it first required qualifying, and eventually tightened the standard down to 2:50 for men under 40 (since loosened 20 minutes). Consistent double-digit growth in fast marathoning has, apparently, again overwhelmed Boston.
What happens now? Runners World reports that the B.A.A. “will consider re-configuring the qualification and entry process for the 2012 marathon”. Let’s Run is having an unusually productive discussion about it. The only reasonable solution appears to be a time-based one.
There are a lot of options. The standards could be tightened across the board; for example, going back to the early-80s standards of 3:00 for open men and 3:30 for open women. Under this scenario, the race would probably not fill up. The B.A.A. probably doesn’t want this.
Another option would be to have tiered registration openings. In October the race would open to those who have beaten the current standards by ten minutes, and in December to those who have beaten them by five minutes, and in January to everyone else who has met the standard. (This, by the way, is exactly how class registration worked at my university back in the early 90s: academic scholarship students first, athletes and others with time restrictions second, and other tiers after that which I never paid attention to because I was in both of the first two groups.)
Whatever it is, Boston needs to do things differently. The race has always been about qualifications, not timing or luck.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
What's On the Weekend
Professionals
The Berlin Marathon, a World Marathon Major, will be run in the German capitol on Sunday.
Live webcast: 2:50 AM, German News Channel N-TV
Previews: IAAF / Universal Sports / Examiner.com: men, women / Mzungo.org / Associated Press / Athletics Weekly
The Vodafone Half Marathon of Portugal, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, will be run in Lisbon
The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, an IAAF Silver Label Road Race, will be run in the Ontario
Previews: Runner's Web / Guelph Mercury
The Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile will be run in New York City
Live webcast: 12:50 PM at NYRR.org
Live webcast: 12:50 PM at NYRR.org
Previews: Running USA Wire / Track and Field News / Runner's World: men, women / Universal Sports: men, women / Radio New Zealand / WomenTalkSports.com
Colleges
The 25th annual Roy Griak Invitational will be run at Minnesota
Live webcast: 10:00 AM at Flotrack.orgMeet website / Flotrack coverage / Spectator info & directions
Previews: Gophersports.com: men, women / Minnesota Daily
The Stanford Invitational will be held on Saturday on the Stanford Golf Course (aka "where we let Tiger Woods play golf on our cross country course").
Meet info / GoStanford.com preview
The 73rd Brooks Cowboy Jamboree will be held on Saturday at Oklahoma State.
Meet info / Flotrack coverage
OKState.com preview
All the rest
Track on TV
Diamond League Brussels rerun, 10 AM Friday and 3:30 PM Sunday on Universal Sports
2010 Boston Marathon rerun, 1:30 PM Friday on Universal Sports
Continental Cup Day 2 rerun, 5 PM Friday on Universal Sports
Endurance, 1:45 AM Saturday on Showtime Extreme
2009 Berlin Marathon rerun, Noon and 6:30 PM Saturday on Universal Sports
Diamond League Zurich rerun, 3:30 PM Saturday on Universal Sports
Big Ten Icons: #19 Suzy Favor Hamilton, 12:30 AM and 11:30 AM Sunday on Big Ten Network
Monday, November 02, 2009
It Had To Happen
Some yahoo at CNBC.com named Darren Rovell, who writes their Sports Biz blog, put up a short post titled "Marathon’s headline win is empty". Noting that Meb was not born in the USA,
I'm willing to bet the house that Rovell didn't know the previous American (male) NYC champ, Alberto Salazar, was also not born in the USA and is a naturalized citizen. Heck, for that matter the last American male Olympic marathon medalist before Meb, Frank Shorter, wasn't born in the USA.
And the American medalist prior to Shorter? Johnny Hayes in 1908. Born in New York City...to Irish immigrants. Dirty foreigners!
Keflezighi’s country of origin is Eritrea, a small country in Africa. He is an American citizen thanks to taking a test and living in our country.As someone at Let's Run pointed out, this is jingoistic, not racist. It's also ill-informed. Track fans know that Meb emigrated at the age of 12, hardly a ringer, and had all the "benefits" of US society.
Nothing against Keflezighi, but he’s like a ringer who you hire to work a couple hours at your office so that you can win the executive softball league.
I'm willing to bet the house that Rovell didn't know the previous American (male) NYC champ, Alberto Salazar, was also not born in the USA and is a naturalized citizen. Heck, for that matter the last American male Olympic marathon medalist before Meb, Frank Shorter, wasn't born in the USA.
And the American medalist prior to Shorter? Johnny Hayes in 1908. Born in New York City...to Irish immigrants. Dirty foreigners!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
World Rankings Update - Marathon
Now that the spring majors are done, let's see how the top marathoners stack up.
MEN
1. Tsegay Kebede, ETH, 214
2. Deriba Merga, ETH, 212
3. Samuel Wanjiru, KEN, 184
4. Duncan Kibet, KEN, 180
5. Jaouad Gharib, MAR, 172
6. James Kwambai, KEN, 168
7. Patrick Makau, KEN, 151
8. Abel Kirui, KEN, 148
9. Daniel Rono, KEN, 116
9. Vincent Kipruto, KEN, 116
11. Haile Gebrselassie, ETH, 108
12. Emmanuel Mutai, KEN, 106
13. Ryan Hall, USA, 100
14. Bazu Worka, ETH, 92
15. Tekeste Kebede, ETH, 88
16. David Kiyeng, KEN, 80
17. Yemane Adhane, ETH, 76
18. Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot, KEN, 72
19. Rachid Kisri, MAR, 66
20. David Mandago, KEN, 56
20. Hendrick Ramaala, RSA, 56
22. Gashaw Asfaw, ETH, 46
23. Moses Kimeli Arusei, KEN, 44
24. Deressa Edae, ETH, 42
25. Samuel Muturi Mugo, KEN, 34
Why is Kebede ranked two spots ahead of Wanjiru despite the results of Sunday's London Marathon, where Wanjiru beat Kebede? Because these rankings reflect points earned rather than merit.
If neither athlete ran again this year, T&FN's year-end World Rankings would definitely put Wanjiru ahead of Kebede. And by October, that's likely what will happen here. Kebede has run two marathons plus a good half-marathon since my "season" began in early November, whereas Wanjiru has only London (plus a lackluster half that earned him nothing). For Kebede to gain any more points, he must do better than his Fukuoka win. Wanjiru, on the other hand, doesn't have to do much this fall to overtake the top spot…besides keeping #4 Duncan Kibet, the winner of the blazing Rotterdam race, form overtaking him.
WOMEN
1. Irina Mikitenko, GER, 160
2. Mara Yamauchi, GBR, 152
3. Salina Kosgei, KEN, 137
4. Dire Tune, ETH, 133
5. Kara Goucher, USA, 120
6. Yoko Shibui, JPN, 114
7. Yoshimi Ozaki, JPN, 104
8. Mizuho Nasukawa, JPN, 100
8. Liliya Shobukova, RUS, 100
10. Bezunesh Bekele, ETH, 92
11. Yuri Kano, JPN, 90
12. Aselefech Mergia, ETH, 88
13. Svetlana Zakharova, RUS, 84
14. Berhane Adere, ETH, 79
15. Atsede Baysa, ETH, 74
16. Helena Loshanyang Kirop, KEN, 73
17. Nailya Yulmanova, RUS, 72
18. Atsede Habtamu, ETH, 60
18. Yukiko Akaba, JPN, 60
18. Inga Abitova, RUS, 60
21. Ashu Kasim, ETH, 59
22. Yoshiko Fujinaga, JPN, 52
23. Christelle Daunay, FRA, 50
24. Yukari Sahaku, JPN, 48
24. Marisa Barros, POR, 48
24. Irina Timofeyeva, RUS, 48
Mikitenko's dominant London win has her rightly at the top of the rankings, followed by London runner-up Yamauchi and the Boston podium finishers of Kosgei, Tune and Goucher.
If there's a "sleeper" to watch, it's Japan's #7 Yoshimi Ozaki, winner of the Tokyo Marathon. She will be running the World Championships in Berlin, along with #6 Yoko Shibui, who she soundly defeated in that race. Like Wanjiru, Ozaki has only that one race to her credit which leaves her ranked a bit below what she deserves. So far this season, only Mikitenko's London win was a better race than Ozaki's Tokyo win.
MEN
1. Tsegay Kebede, ETH, 214
2. Deriba Merga, ETH, 212
3. Samuel Wanjiru, KEN, 184
4. Duncan Kibet, KEN, 180
5. Jaouad Gharib, MAR, 172
6. James Kwambai, KEN, 168
7. Patrick Makau, KEN, 151
8. Abel Kirui, KEN, 148
9. Daniel Rono, KEN, 116
9. Vincent Kipruto, KEN, 116
11. Haile Gebrselassie, ETH, 108
12. Emmanuel Mutai, KEN, 106
13. Ryan Hall, USA, 100
14. Bazu Worka, ETH, 92
15. Tekeste Kebede, ETH, 88
16. David Kiyeng, KEN, 80
17. Yemane Adhane, ETH, 76
18. Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot, KEN, 72
19. Rachid Kisri, MAR, 66
20. David Mandago, KEN, 56
20. Hendrick Ramaala, RSA, 56
22. Gashaw Asfaw, ETH, 46
23. Moses Kimeli Arusei, KEN, 44
24. Deressa Edae, ETH, 42
25. Samuel Muturi Mugo, KEN, 34
Why is Kebede ranked two spots ahead of Wanjiru despite the results of Sunday's London Marathon, where Wanjiru beat Kebede? Because these rankings reflect points earned rather than merit.
If neither athlete ran again this year, T&FN's year-end World Rankings would definitely put Wanjiru ahead of Kebede. And by October, that's likely what will happen here. Kebede has run two marathons plus a good half-marathon since my "season" began in early November, whereas Wanjiru has only London (plus a lackluster half that earned him nothing). For Kebede to gain any more points, he must do better than his Fukuoka win. Wanjiru, on the other hand, doesn't have to do much this fall to overtake the top spot…besides keeping #4 Duncan Kibet, the winner of the blazing Rotterdam race, form overtaking him.
WOMEN
1. Irina Mikitenko, GER, 160
2. Mara Yamauchi, GBR, 152
3. Salina Kosgei, KEN, 137
4. Dire Tune, ETH, 133
5. Kara Goucher, USA, 120
6. Yoko Shibui, JPN, 114
7. Yoshimi Ozaki, JPN, 104
8. Mizuho Nasukawa, JPN, 100
8. Liliya Shobukova, RUS, 100
10. Bezunesh Bekele, ETH, 92
11. Yuri Kano, JPN, 90
12. Aselefech Mergia, ETH, 88
13. Svetlana Zakharova, RUS, 84
14. Berhane Adere, ETH, 79
15. Atsede Baysa, ETH, 74
16. Helena Loshanyang Kirop, KEN, 73
17. Nailya Yulmanova, RUS, 72
18. Atsede Habtamu, ETH, 60
18. Yukiko Akaba, JPN, 60
18. Inga Abitova, RUS, 60
21. Ashu Kasim, ETH, 59
22. Yoshiko Fujinaga, JPN, 52
23. Christelle Daunay, FRA, 50
24. Yukari Sahaku, JPN, 48
24. Marisa Barros, POR, 48
24. Irina Timofeyeva, RUS, 48
Mikitenko's dominant London win has her rightly at the top of the rankings, followed by London runner-up Yamauchi and the Boston podium finishers of Kosgei, Tune and Goucher.
If there's a "sleeper" to watch, it's Japan's #7 Yoshimi Ozaki, winner of the Tokyo Marathon. She will be running the World Championships in Berlin, along with #6 Yoko Shibui, who she soundly defeated in that race. Like Wanjiru, Ozaki has only that one race to her credit which leaves her ranked a bit below what she deserves. So far this season, only Mikitenko's London win was a better race than Ozaki's Tokyo win.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Boston Marathon reactions
Results
AP article / IAAF recap
My thoughts on this morning's Boston Marathon…
Why was it not on TV? It was on Universal Sports, but almost no one gets that. It was carried on ESPN's foreign affiliates, such as Canada's TSN.
I'm not sure either Ryan Hall or Kara Goucher could have won, but I think both followed strategies that made it more difficult.
Goucher's strategy was jog 20 miles and race 10k, which allowed far too many athletes to hand around. The longer I saw Dire Tune in the picture, the more I thought about a) her close win a year ago and b) her track world record. Based on Tune's post-race stretcher cart-off, if the pace had been pressed earlier I doubt she would have beaten Goucher.
Hall's press from the gun / wait and see strategy didn't get rid of anybody except runners that weren't going to make a difference anyway, and it may have used up just enough energy that he couldn't respond when Merga made the real break. Had he been able to keep it close, he might have been able to reel in Merga near the end.
I think both of these strategies can be considered playing from a position of weakness; Hall's in fear of a too-slow race and Goucher's in fear of a too-fast one. Like poker, you'll only win in marathoning from a position of weakness if the cards break just right.
Did you see who was #1 in my men's road race rankings last week? Deriba Merga.
Did you see who was #3 in my women's road race rankings? Dire Tune. First (Aselefech Mergia) wasn't in the race and second (Vivian Cheruyiot) isn't a marathoner. Goucher was fourth and Kosgei way back in 37th.
I watched it online (I taught during the early miles and kept my students busy during the real nitty-gritty). I'm so glad I didn't get to hear Larry Rawson's awful announcing. From the Let's Run thread: "The holy grail: Larry Rawson has managed to combine 'the shoes weigh the same as two slices of bread' AND 'leg turnover' in one sentence."
Are either Hall or Goucher interested in winning Boston specifically or just a major marathon in general? Because everyone says Boston has a learning curve. It's no surprise that the same Kenyans keep coming back to there every year. London, Berlin and Chicago don't have a learning curve: pacemakers + flat course = brainless running 'til you're the last one standing.
If Boston and New York get far and away the lion's share of domestic marathon media attention, and shoe companies invest in American marathoners in order to sell sporting goods in the USA, why don't their contracts provide strong incentives for Americans to run New York and/or Boston?
Late Edits: I don't want it to sound like I think Hall and Goucher threw away wins; most likely, Merga and Kosgei would have won in any case. But I don't think they gave themselves the best chance to win.
The race got decent coverage on ESPN. It was in the "Mailbag" segment on PTI (Tony Kornheiser joked that Tune should have dove at Kosgei's feet) and prominent on SportsCenter (that fat tub of goo John Kruk said he was late to the studio because he ran the race).
AP article / IAAF recap
My thoughts on this morning's Boston Marathon…
Why was it not on TV? It was on Universal Sports, but almost no one gets that. It was carried on ESPN's foreign affiliates, such as Canada's TSN.
I'm not sure either Ryan Hall or Kara Goucher could have won, but I think both followed strategies that made it more difficult.
Goucher's strategy was jog 20 miles and race 10k, which allowed far too many athletes to hand around. The longer I saw Dire Tune in the picture, the more I thought about a) her close win a year ago and b) her track world record. Based on Tune's post-race stretcher cart-off, if the pace had been pressed earlier I doubt she would have beaten Goucher.
Hall's press from the gun / wait and see strategy didn't get rid of anybody except runners that weren't going to make a difference anyway, and it may have used up just enough energy that he couldn't respond when Merga made the real break. Had he been able to keep it close, he might have been able to reel in Merga near the end.
I think both of these strategies can be considered playing from a position of weakness; Hall's in fear of a too-slow race and Goucher's in fear of a too-fast one. Like poker, you'll only win in marathoning from a position of weakness if the cards break just right.
Did you see who was #1 in my men's road race rankings last week? Deriba Merga.
Did you see who was #3 in my women's road race rankings? Dire Tune. First (Aselefech Mergia) wasn't in the race and second (Vivian Cheruyiot) isn't a marathoner. Goucher was fourth and Kosgei way back in 37th.
I watched it online (I taught during the early miles and kept my students busy during the real nitty-gritty). I'm so glad I didn't get to hear Larry Rawson's awful announcing. From the Let's Run thread: "The holy grail: Larry Rawson has managed to combine 'the shoes weigh the same as two slices of bread' AND 'leg turnover' in one sentence."
Are either Hall or Goucher interested in winning Boston specifically or just a major marathon in general? Because everyone says Boston has a learning curve. It's no surprise that the same Kenyans keep coming back to there every year. London, Berlin and Chicago don't have a learning curve: pacemakers + flat course = brainless running 'til you're the last one standing.
If Boston and New York get far and away the lion's share of domestic marathon media attention, and shoe companies invest in American marathoners in order to sell sporting goods in the USA, why don't their contracts provide strong incentives for Americans to run New York and/or Boston?
Late Edits: I don't want it to sound like I think Hall and Goucher threw away wins; most likely, Merga and Kosgei would have won in any case. But I don't think they gave themselves the best chance to win.
The race got decent coverage on ESPN. It was in the "Mailbag" segment on PTI (Tony Kornheiser joked that Tune should have dove at Kosgei's feet) and prominent on SportsCenter (that fat tub of goo John Kruk said he was late to the studio because he ran the race).
Sunday, April 13, 2008
London Marathon
SPOILER ALERT!
WCSN on-demand video will be located here.
Let's Run's live thread is here.
Or you can scroll down to see what happened.
Results
London Times story
Less Than Our Best live beer blog
In the men's race, a lead group of nine, including Ryan Hall, went through the half in 1:02:13. By 30k four of them, again including Ryan Hall, were dropped. On the drive in to the finish it was between Martin Lel, Samuel Wanjiru and Abderrahim Goumri, with Lel getting the win by nine seconds in 2:05:15, a course record. Hall was in sixth when dropped, but hung on extremely well, came back up to fifth and damn near got fourth (nipped by two seconds). His time was 2:06:17, the best fifth-place time ever and 16th on the all-time world list (and the idiots will argue is an American Record).
On the women's side, the times weren't quite as spectacular but the race was at least as interesting. Pre-race favorite Gete Wami fell hard at about 30k but made a strong recovery to get back with the leaders. She and Svetlana Zhakarova were dropped at 24 miles by Irina Mikitenko, a Kazakh-born German who was running her second marathon ever.
What do these results mean in the larger picture? If you're cheering for Ryan Hall, you'd have to say he's among the favorites for an Olympic medal but by no means the favorite to win. However, I think an Olympic race plays to his strengths. An extremely fast pace simply doesn't happen without rabbits, and his demonstrated late-race staying power is a tremendous tool for either running down a breakaway runner, or being the breakaway himself. As far as the conditions specific to Beijing (heat, humidity, pollution), I cannot say, except that the Americans have a plan.
Martin Lel has proved himself the best marathoner in the world. Yes, Gebrselassie has all those fast times. But he has run against weak to nonexistent fields, while Lel has a three-marathon winning streak in deep races, two with rabbits and one without.
This Irina Mikitenko character is towards the end of her athletic career (she will be days away from her 36th birthday at the start of the Beijing marathon) but at the beginning of her marathon career. The second fact is far more important than the first, and with that career on an upswing (debuted with second in Berlin '07, then won today) she is my favorite to win the Olympic title.
WCSN on-demand video will be located here.
Let's Run's live thread is here.
Or you can scroll down to see what happened.
Results
London Times story
Less Than Our Best live beer blog
In the men's race, a lead group of nine, including Ryan Hall, went through the half in 1:02:13. By 30k four of them, again including Ryan Hall, were dropped. On the drive in to the finish it was between Martin Lel, Samuel Wanjiru and Abderrahim Goumri, with Lel getting the win by nine seconds in 2:05:15, a course record. Hall was in sixth when dropped, but hung on extremely well, came back up to fifth and damn near got fourth (nipped by two seconds). His time was 2:06:17, the best fifth-place time ever and 16th on the all-time world list (and the idiots will argue is an American Record).
On the women's side, the times weren't quite as spectacular but the race was at least as interesting. Pre-race favorite Gete Wami fell hard at about 30k but made a strong recovery to get back with the leaders. She and Svetlana Zhakarova were dropped at 24 miles by Irina Mikitenko, a Kazakh-born German who was running her second marathon ever.
What do these results mean in the larger picture? If you're cheering for Ryan Hall, you'd have to say he's among the favorites for an Olympic medal but by no means the favorite to win. However, I think an Olympic race plays to his strengths. An extremely fast pace simply doesn't happen without rabbits, and his demonstrated late-race staying power is a tremendous tool for either running down a breakaway runner, or being the breakaway himself. As far as the conditions specific to Beijing (heat, humidity, pollution), I cannot say, except that the Americans have a plan.
Martin Lel has proved himself the best marathoner in the world. Yes, Gebrselassie has all those fast times. But he has run against weak to nonexistent fields, while Lel has a three-marathon winning streak in deep races, two with rabbits and one without.
This Irina Mikitenko character is towards the end of her athletic career (she will be days away from her 36th birthday at the start of the Beijing marathon) but at the beginning of her marathon career. The second fact is far more important than the first, and with that career on an upswing (debuted with second in Berlin '07, then won today) she is my favorite to win the Olympic title.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Bank of America Chicago Marathon
The same race that had such disaster last fall recently had a change of sponsors: LaSalle Bank out, Bank of America in. Maybe LaSalle wanted out after the debacle and Bank of America saw a discounted pick-up.
Now comes word that Bank of America is running after Exxon for the "jerkiest corporation" award. From Crooks & Liars:
Just what the Chicago Marathon needs--more bad association.
Now comes word that Bank of America is running after Exxon for the "jerkiest corporation" award. From Crooks & Liars:
Credit-card issuers have drawn fire for jacking up interest rates on cardholders who aren’t behind on payments, but whose credit score has fallen for another reason. Now, some consumers complain, Bank of America (BAC) is hiking rates based on no apparent deterioration in their credit scores at all. . . The major credit-card lender in mid-January sent letters notifying some responsible cardholders that it would more than double their rates to as high as 28%, without giving an explanation for the increase, according to copies of five letters obtained by BusinessWeek. Fine print at the end of the letter—headed “Important Amendment to Your Credit Card Agreement”—advised calling an 800-number for the reason, but consumers who called say they were unable to get a clear answer. “No one could give me an explanation,” says Eric Fresch, a Huron (Ohio) engineer who is on time with his Bank of America card payments and knows of no decline in the status of his overall credit.
Just what the Chicago Marathon needs--more bad association.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
New York City Marathon recap
Men:
1. Martin Lel (Kenya), 2:09:04
2. Abderrahim Goumri (Morocco), 2:09:16
3. Hendrick Ramaala (South Africa), 2:11:25
4. Stefano Baldini (Italy) 2:11:58
5. James Kwambai (Kenya) 2:12:
Women:
1. Paula Radcliffe (UK), 2:23:09
2. Gete Wami (Ethiopia), 2:23:32
3. Jelena Prokopcuka (Latvia), 2:26:13
4. Lidiya Grigoryeva (Russia) 2:28:37
5. Catherine Ndereba (Kenya) , 2:29:08
Full results
Details? Read 'em here:
AP story
IAAF story
ABC News
Race Results Weekly
My thoughts on the New York City marathon...
While NBC did a pretty good job with their 1-hour race recap, it's just not enough. I remember back when ABC did live coverage of the whole thing, and not only did it make marathoning look cool as hell, it made Brooklyn look like an awesome place to live. Kudos to them for pioneering a rather simple innovation--showing splits for each of the previous five miles all at once. Maybe we can get lap splits like this on the track...
When Gete Wami was tracking Paula Radcliffe all the way through Central Park, I thought "We've seen this before--this will be fairly decisive when it comes". Then Wami stepped on the accelerator and...nothing happened. She ran out of gas and Radcliffe destroyed her. Coming on the heels of a long layoff, Radcliffe has now pretty much removed all doubt as to who is the greatest female marathoner of all time.
In preparation for next summer's Olympics, today's race is both a good and a bad sign for Radcliffe. While she raced very well, she also reaffirmed that she is mentally incapable of allowing anyone to run in front of her for even a few steps, and I think that inability to wait and hold back was her undoing in Athens. In a big-city invitational, there are only a few other superstars and pretenders are almost completely absent. In Radcliffe's single Worlds victory, the field was a bit thin and the weather didn't penalize an agressive start. But in Beijing, every good runner will be there and the conditions will kill off anyone who runs the first part of the race foolishly. For that race I wouldn't put down a wager on Radlciffe unless I got 20-1 odds, and I'd take even money on her DNF-ing again.
World Marathon Majors champs:
Men, Robert Cheruyiot (80 pts)
Women, Gete Wami (80 pts)
Did the series accomplish its goals? Without it, Wami would not have doubled back from Berlin, and today's women's race would have been anything but a race. I also think the emphasis on competition rather than time allowed Boston and New York to do away with rabbits (as the courses aren't time-friendly anyway) which in turn created far more interesting finishes. Yeah, I think the five major marathons definitely raised their profiles and professional marathoning as well.
1. Martin Lel (Kenya), 2:09:04
2. Abderrahim Goumri (Morocco), 2:09:16
3. Hendrick Ramaala (South Africa), 2:11:25
4. Stefano Baldini (Italy) 2:11:58
5. James Kwambai (Kenya) 2:12:
Women:
1. Paula Radcliffe (UK), 2:23:09
2. Gete Wami (Ethiopia), 2:23:32
3. Jelena Prokopcuka (Latvia), 2:26:13
4. Lidiya Grigoryeva (Russia) 2:28:37
5. Catherine Ndereba (Kenya) , 2:29:08
Full results
Details? Read 'em here:
AP story
IAAF story
ABC News
Race Results Weekly
My thoughts on the New York City marathon...
While NBC did a pretty good job with their 1-hour race recap, it's just not enough. I remember back when ABC did live coverage of the whole thing, and not only did it make marathoning look cool as hell, it made Brooklyn look like an awesome place to live. Kudos to them for pioneering a rather simple innovation--showing splits for each of the previous five miles all at once. Maybe we can get lap splits like this on the track...
When Gete Wami was tracking Paula Radcliffe all the way through Central Park, I thought "We've seen this before--this will be fairly decisive when it comes". Then Wami stepped on the accelerator and...nothing happened. She ran out of gas and Radcliffe destroyed her. Coming on the heels of a long layoff, Radcliffe has now pretty much removed all doubt as to who is the greatest female marathoner of all time.
In preparation for next summer's Olympics, today's race is both a good and a bad sign for Radcliffe. While she raced very well, she also reaffirmed that she is mentally incapable of allowing anyone to run in front of her for even a few steps, and I think that inability to wait and hold back was her undoing in Athens. In a big-city invitational, there are only a few other superstars and pretenders are almost completely absent. In Radcliffe's single Worlds victory, the field was a bit thin and the weather didn't penalize an agressive start. But in Beijing, every good runner will be there and the conditions will kill off anyone who runs the first part of the race foolishly. For that race I wouldn't put down a wager on Radlciffe unless I got 20-1 odds, and I'd take even money on her DNF-ing again.
World Marathon Majors champs:
Men, Robert Cheruyiot (80 pts)
Women, Gete Wami (80 pts)
Did the series accomplish its goals? Without it, Wami would not have doubled back from Berlin, and today's women's race would have been anything but a race. I also think the emphasis on competition rather than time allowed Boston and New York to do away with rabbits (as the courses aren't time-friendly anyway) which in turn created far more interesting finishes. Yeah, I think the five major marathons definitely raised their profiles and professional marathoning as well.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Weekend Preview
This coming weekend is a big one for marathoning, with the USA men's Olympic Trials on Saturday and the almost-an-afterthought New York City race on Sunday.
The start of the trials will be on NBC's Today Show at 7:35 AM and the network will have a half-hour recap show at 2:00 PM. Live online coverage will be at MediaZone.com.
Sunday's New York City marathon will be live ONLY online; outside the US you can get it for free at WCSN, but in the states you must shell out $5 to MediaZone. NBC will have highlights from 3:00 to 4:00 PM that afternoon. Too bad; some of my earliest memories of track & field were from watching the NYC marathon--to this day, when I'm running in a city park in rainy weather, I still imagine I'm Rod Dixon.
Previews? There are tons. Among the best is, surprisingly, Runner's World (the print mag is little more than craven Yuppie bootlicking, but their website is decent). Other good previews are at NBC Sports, Let's Run, New York Road Runners, and of course T&FN's headlines section has links to just about every other media source. (Yes, USATF has a trials site, but don't bother.)
In a race like the trials, third is as good as first and fourth is as good as last. Who will those three be? I'm terrible at predicting, but I will say that a dark horse always comes through. I'll be shocked if it comes down to only the four favorites (Abdirahman, Hall, Keflezighi and Sell) going for the three spots.
In the one Trials race I saw live (Columbus '92), favorites Steve Spence and Ed Eyestone came through. The dark horse was Bob Kempainen, who was running just the second marathon of his career. If I were to pick one, I'd go with Josh Rohatinsky, who doesn't have the benefit of any marathon experience at all (and only has a single half-marathon to his credit).
The New York City marathon is so devoid of top US men's talent that a friend of mine with a 2:57 PR is seeded 536th out of nearly 40,000 entrants. But the women's race should be a doozy. You've got World Marathon Majors players Gete Wami, Jelena Prokopcuka, Catherine "The Great" Ndereba, and Lidiya Grigoryeva. The inaugural women's crown will come down to Wami and Prokopcuka, but even more interesting is the return of Paula Radcliffe, who has never been beaten in a marathon.
The start of the trials will be on NBC's Today Show at 7:35 AM and the network will have a half-hour recap show at 2:00 PM. Live online coverage will be at MediaZone.com.
Sunday's New York City marathon will be live ONLY online; outside the US you can get it for free at WCSN, but in the states you must shell out $5 to MediaZone. NBC will have highlights from 3:00 to 4:00 PM that afternoon. Too bad; some of my earliest memories of track & field were from watching the NYC marathon--to this day, when I'm running in a city park in rainy weather, I still imagine I'm Rod Dixon.
Previews? There are tons. Among the best is, surprisingly, Runner's World (the print mag is little more than craven Yuppie bootlicking, but their website is decent). Other good previews are at NBC Sports, Let's Run, New York Road Runners, and of course T&FN's headlines section has links to just about every other media source. (Yes, USATF has a trials site, but don't bother.)
In a race like the trials, third is as good as first and fourth is as good as last. Who will those three be? I'm terrible at predicting, but I will say that a dark horse always comes through. I'll be shocked if it comes down to only the four favorites (Abdirahman, Hall, Keflezighi and Sell) going for the three spots.
In the one Trials race I saw live (Columbus '92), favorites Steve Spence and Ed Eyestone came through. The dark horse was Bob Kempainen, who was running just the second marathon of his career. If I were to pick one, I'd go with Josh Rohatinsky, who doesn't have the benefit of any marathon experience at all (and only has a single half-marathon to his credit).
The New York City marathon is so devoid of top US men's talent that a friend of mine with a 2:57 PR is seeded 536th out of nearly 40,000 entrants. But the women's race should be a doozy. You've got World Marathon Majors players Gete Wami, Jelena Prokopcuka, Catherine "The Great" Ndereba, and Lidiya Grigoryeva. The inaugural women's crown will come down to Wami and Prokopcuka, but even more interesting is the return of Paula Radcliffe, who has never been beaten in a marathon.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Berlin Marathon
I woke up in the middle of the night with an upset stomach--I think I got dehydrated at the cross-country meet yesterday. Anyway, I looked over at the clock and saw that it was around 3:30 AM, and thought, "If I got online, I could see the end of the Berlin Marathon. Nah, what's the chance anything interesting is going to happen?"
Well, as it turns out, the pre-race hype was actually right (that never happens!) and Haile Gebrselassie set his umpteenth world record, 2:04:26. (T&FN discussion - Let's Run discussion - WCSN video)
Gete Wami won the women's race and plans to turn around and race again New York in just five weeks, in an attempt to keep Jelena Prokupcuka from catching her in the World Marathon Majors standings.
New World Marathon Majors standings
In other news:
*Paula Radcliffe made her return to racing at the Great North Run half-marathon only to lose to Kara Goucher's American Record / world leader 66:57
*the (finally!) season-ending Yokohama Super Meet was pretty good but the headlines were all about a hamstring injury to Asafa Powell in the 200. Also, not a single pole vaulter made a height!
*yesterday a World Record was set in the 20 km road walk at the final of the IAAF Race Walking Challenge.
and finally,
*Alan Webb and Carmen Douma-Hassar beat fields that were basically exclusively North American (and therefore fairly weak) at the Fifth Avenue Mile.
Well, as it turns out, the pre-race hype was actually right (that never happens!) and Haile Gebrselassie set his umpteenth world record, 2:04:26. (T&FN discussion - Let's Run discussion - WCSN video)
Gete Wami won the women's race and plans to turn around and race again New York in just five weeks, in an attempt to keep Jelena Prokupcuka from catching her in the World Marathon Majors standings.
New World Marathon Majors standings
In other news:
*Paula Radcliffe made her return to racing at the Great North Run half-marathon only to lose to Kara Goucher's American Record / world leader 66:57
*the (finally!) season-ending Yokohama Super Meet was pretty good but the headlines were all about a hamstring injury to Asafa Powell in the 200. Also, not a single pole vaulter made a height!
*yesterday a World Record was set in the 20 km road walk at the final of the IAAF Race Walking Challenge.
and finally,
*Alan Webb and Carmen Douma-Hassar beat fields that were basically exclusively North American (and therefore fairly weak) at the Fifth Avenue Mile.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Road Running News
This morning's Rotterdam Half-Marathon produced four sub-60 clockings in the men's race, led by Kenyan Evans Kiprop Cheruiyot in 59:12. The women's race had somewhat less depth; Berhane Adere had planned a record attempt but decided against it a race time and simply ran for the win, which she got in 1:11:11.
An idea that had been floated a while back was adding some shorter road races to the World Marathon Majors series and scoring them at a lower level (say 5-3-2-1). I'd suggest the IAAF World Road Running Championships, along with the Great North, New York, Rotterdam, Sapporo and Lisbon half-marathons, and the World's Best, New York Mini, Great Manchester and Peachtree 10ks.
An idea that had been floated a while back was adding some shorter road races to the World Marathon Majors series and scoring them at a lower level (say 5-3-2-1). I'd suggest the IAAF World Road Running Championships, along with the Great North, New York, Rotterdam, Sapporo and Lisbon half-marathons, and the World's Best, New York Mini, Great Manchester and Peachtree 10ks.
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