Run-Down Forums

[Micah Ward]

Tommorow is the running of the Boston Marathon which I believe is one of the great events in all running. Which begs the question...What are some of the other great EVENTS in running?

Just off the top of my head and in no particular order:

1. Boston Marathon
2. Wannamaker Mile
3. The Penn Relays
4. Olympic Marathon
5. Olympic 100 Finals
6. Drake Relays
7. New York City Marathon
8. Peachtree Road Race
9. Western States 100
10. Comrades Marathon

What say you guys?

[Hammer]

Add the Corrida de Los Panteras???? ah just kidding I would add Bay to Breakers and Bolder Boulder just cuz i like them.

[Hammer]

Crap what was I thinking... My all time fav. World XC Championships. Sorry

[Conway]

Well how about:

Oslo's dream mile
Zurich's men's 100
NCAA 4x4 - men
Zurich's 110HH
Euro Champs women's 100
New York marathon
Peachtree in Atlanta
NCAA 4x1 - men

[Conway]

Oh ..... And any race in which Haile Gebresselasie is entered !!!!! 2:06 marathon debut !!!! Should be no question that he is the greatest distance runner of all time !!

[Micah Ward]

Outstanding debut for Geb!! I'm just surprised that he did not win. I am very glad though to see Khannouchi winning again. But the race of the day has to go to Paula Radcliffe...under 2:20 and destroyed the women's field. What will that inspire Ndereba to do today in Boston?

I kinda wish Khannouchi had run that race in Boston today instead of London. But that's just sentimentality I guess.

[Justin]

I didn't quite make it on to the streets to watch the London Marathon since it starts at 9am, far too early to expect me to be up and about on a Sunday morning. However I did manage to reach the TV at the end of the bed and watch an awesome pair of races.

Radcliffe was just incredible. She hit the front hard at 9 miles and just poured it on - she left world class athletes behind her and never slowed up. Indeed, she completed the 25th mile in 5:06, her fastest of the race and just 11 sec slower than the leading men covered the same stretch. The commentators - Steve Cram and Brendon Foster, were convinced she'd gone too hard and too early and were just waiting for her to blow up but she never did. 2:18:56 is only 9 secs slower than the world best, which was set in a mixed race. On top of that, Radcliffe is a really nice person, very gracious and charming. She's a great champion.

As is Khalid Khannouchi. It was a privilege to watch Tergat (greatest ever x-country runner), Geb (greatest ever track distance runner) and KK (wr holder in marathon) duelling it out. They were flying along yet looked so relaxed. When KK turned the screw with a couple of miles to go Geb couldn't increase his pace and then gradually Tergat dropped back. It was a gritty and determined run by KK, who was pushing every ounce of his being to get the WR - he was shattered at the end. And Geb - well gues swhat, he was smiling, congratulating everyone and praising his competitors, the organisers, the crowd, everyone. Geb is a wonderful champion and a great man - I think the sport is truly honoured to have such a person as one of its leading lights. He's just so damn nice!

A great day.

Justin

PS Radcliffe beat Ingrid Kristiansen's European record of 2:21:06, which was a WR when run in London in 1985 - the same day an 11 yr old Radcliffe watched her dad set a family record of 3 hrs or so. The family record also stood until yesterday!

[Micah Ward]

Nice report Justin...haven't heard from you in a while.

What a race. Geb has the great debut and it happens to be in a race with a new world record and only the third time in history a woman goes under 2:20!!!!!!!!!!!

It doesn't get much better than that.

[Justin]

I've never heard of the Peachtree Road Race or a couple of the others - a slightly US based list of events perhaps!

Given 40,000 competitors and a consistently outstanding elite performance level I think the London marathon belongs on the list. The Oslo Dream Mile, Penn Relays, Zurich GP (all of it!), Boston marathon, world XC champs and Comrades marathon all have tremendous heritage, the key defining factor here I'd say. Other annual highlights with history include the US champs 100m and the Brussels and Berlin GPs. The organisers of the London GP faithfully put on the Emsley Carr mile each year - it's been run every year for decades and used to be a star event but not any more.

As an aside, this reminds me of the one thing I envy about US T&F - the relays meetings. Relays are tremendous to watch and bring a participatory and team apsect to T&F which is otherwise missing. The introduction of the 4x200m - perhaps the most exhilarating event on the track - and the 4x1500m to major champs is long overdue.

Justin

[Conway]

I agree with Justin while heartedly regarding the relays .. If you have ever been to a meet that is heavy in relays (Penn, Drake, Mt Sac or others) there is nothing more exciting ... And a great 2x2 is awesome !!!

I think relays in the Olympics would give more nations a real opportunity at participation - at least increasing the number of competitors .. And I would add the shuttle hurdle relay to the 4x2 and 4x1600 (1600 maybe easier to run/monitor) ..

[Distance_Guru]

You've gotta love Boston! And I think that the London 2002 Marathon may well go down in history as one of the greatest marathons ever run. Even if the greatest runner of the age only finished third

Hammer: The Corrida de Los Pantra's? That race sounds so small I bet I could even win it

And on a side note, it has been a good past couple of days for the residents of Albuquerque, NM. Both Paula Radcliffe (London womens winner) and Mbarak Hussien (who finished 4th at Boston) live and train in Albuquerque. At over 5500 feet elevation, mild winters and all the luxuries of an American city with well over half a million residents, it has to be the best kept secret training location in the US.

_________________
Time is the fire in which we burn

[Micah Ward]

Justin, I admit to some local bias on the Peachtree but it is an outstanding race. It is a 10K on Peachtree Street in Atlanta every 4th of July. The field is limited to 55,000 and entries close within two days of the entry blank becoming available. The list of participants is a virtual Who's Who in the running world...Bill Rodgers, Lasse Viren, Grete Waitz, Joan Samuelson, Lynn Jennings, Khalid Khannouchi and more top Kenyans than you can shake a stick at. I have run it three times in the back of the pack which is more of a moving street party than a race. In fact, if you are not one of the invited or seeded runners you might as well treat it as a training run with 55,000 of your closest friends.

[Dan]

Quite the week of marathoning, wow!

Seems Justin wins the award for least biased list. Interestingly, today's RW Online has a bit on the size of the various international marathons:

1 Flora London, GBR 30,071
2 LaSalle Bank Chicago, IL 28,771
3 real Berlin, GER 25,792
4 New York City, NY 23,664
5 Paris, FRA 22,343
6 Honolulu, HI 19,236
7 City of Los Angeles, CA 16,071
8 Suzuki Rock 'n' Roll, CA 15,083
9 Hansaplast Hamburg, GER 14,834
10 Marine Corps, DC 14,341
11 Boston, MA 13,406
12 Ford Cologne, GER 13,000E
13 Stockholm, SWE 10,109
14 Vienna City, AUT 9,180
15 Walt Disney World, FL 8,020

Boston only ranks 7th among US marathons, not that size is the main determining factor (please don't read into that) in this discussion.

I would have to agree that London is amongst the biggest international events, especially given the times they have produced of late. If you want to include the Peachtree, I think you also need to include the likes of Boulder Bolder and Bloomsday, but I don't quite see those as worth of the top 10 internationally. Ah, I see Hammer already mentioned Boulder. I was also thinking of B2B...

Corrida de Los Panteras?

Dan

[Micah Ward]

I have to admit to some favoritism with the Peachtree since I lived in Atlanta for ten years and ran it 3 times. But you have to admit it does draw an international field of elite runners.

Boston will never have the participation numbers of the other marathons because it has qualifying standards. For example, as a 46 year old I would have to run a 3:25 marathon to be accepted to Boston. So not just any old fat boy like me can enter.

[Dan]