Marathon/Running News: 7/29/08 - 8/5/08

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Direct Links: Chennai Marathon Dallas Marathon (formerly the Dallas White Rock Marathon) Frank Maier Marathon Grizzly Marathon Helsinki City Marathon Odds And Ends Olympics 2008 (Men)
Chennai Marathon
	News From: Monday, August 4, 2008
		Human Interest Story
		Registrations open for Chennai Marathon (New India Press) Indian sports star Karthi Chidambaram signed the first registration form for the Chennai Marathon. Several sports figures made an appearance to kick off the Thursday opening registration festivities. Chidambaram used the opportunity to talk about the dismal physical fitness levels in India and promote physical education in schools.
Dallas Marathon (formerly the Dallas White Rock Marathon)
	News From: Tuesday, July 29, 2008
		Human Interest Story
		Dallas White Rock Marathon Selected As Texas Championship Race (dBusiness) The Dallas White Rock Marathon has been selected as the Texas State Marathon Championship Race for the first time in 38 years by the Road Runners Club of America. The race has been capped at 17,000 registrants which is up 2,000 from last year.
Frank Maier Marathon
	News From: Monday, August 4, 2008
		Post-Race Review/ Results
		Record 170 Runners Fill Annual Frank Maier Race (Juneau Empire) Taxi driver Maria Miller expected to share Douglas Island's roads with "maybe 40" runners as she approached Savikko Park in her canary yellow van during Saturday's 17th annual Frank Maier Marathon. She didn't expect the stream of 170 contestants, a race record, that lit up the roadside with colorful shoes, shorts and identification bibs.
Grizzly Marathon
	News From: Thursday, July 31, 2008
		Human Interest Story
		Signup for the Big Bear Grizzly Marathon (Big Bear Grizzly.net) Cheryl Zwarkoski will have sign ups available this weekend for the September 6th Inaugural Big Bear Marathon. The race day will also include a half marathon, 5k, kids 1k and a bike tour.
Helsinki City Marathon
	News From: Wednesday, July 30, 2008
		Human Interest Story
		Helsinki marathon challenge in memory of cousin (Halifax Evening Courier) Stephen Todd is running his first marathon at the Helsinki Marathon in memory of his cousin who died just four days before his sixteenth birthday. The charity he is running with Next Step Trust provides help to young people with both mental and physical special needs when they leave school at nineteen and Government support ends.
Odds And Ends
	News From: Tuesday, August 5, 2008
		Non-Marathon/ Other Running
		Olympian field lining up for Falmouth Road Race (Wicked local Yarmouth) Seventy-five internationally acclaimed runners will be lining up at the esteemed seven mile Falmouth Road Race. Runners such as 2004 Athens Games runner up Meb Keflezighi and one time world record holder Khalid Khannouchi will be joined by track star Kate ONeill and veterans Bill Rodgers and Joan Samuelsson at the start.
		Training/ Health
		Want To Run A Marathon? A New Exercise Pill Is All You Need! (ChattahBox) The Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California released the results of their study on exercise endurance in lab mice. A pill was given to mice and they were able to exercise 44 percent longer than control mice. A similar pill for human consumption may be just months away.
		Pre-Race Review/ Lineup
		Tamarindo Beach Marathon debuting this August 9 (Guanacaste Journal) IBP Pensiones Tamarindo Beach Marathon, certified by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), will feature 10 km, a half marathon, 30 km and the Tamarindo Beach Marathon. The race will have elite athletes such as Kenyan Benard Songoka, a 2:15 marathoner. This prize money race is a sanctioned Boston Marathon qualifier.
	News From: Sunday, August 3, 2008
		Training/ Health
		Former Olympian McColgan claims today's athletes don't train enough (Scotland on Sunday) Liz McColgan, silver medallist at the 1988 Seoul and Commonwealth Games gold medallist, claims that the latest generation of British runners have been overpraised for running slower times than the finishes twenty years ago. McColgan believes that athletes have been hindered rather than helped by trendy training techniques and an emphasis on psychologists and nutritionists.
	News From: Saturday, August 2, 2008
		Non-Marathon/ Other Running
		Marathon legend Rodgers slower, but still running at 60 (The Sun Journal) Bill Rodgers, the former American record holder in the marathon with times of with a time of 2:09:55 in 1975 and 2:09:27 in 1979, is best known for his victories in the Boston and the New York City marathons in the late 1970s. Rodgers is still running. Having set the Age-50 record at the Beach to Beacon in the race's first year by running a 32:55, the race will a have an award for the seniors division for runners over fifty.
	News From: Friday, August 1, 2008
		Training/ Health
		Drugs could turn couch potatoes into athletes (New Scientist) Drug developers have created a pill that could possibly burn extra fat and stimulate "slow-twitch" fibers in muscles. In a study with mice, mice given the drug jogged longer and further than drug-free mice without training. The two drugs created AICAR and AMPK also have a simple drug test created to check for them in the event an athlete tries to use them in professional competition.
		Pre-Race Review/ Lineup
		Yokohama to stage women's marathon to replace Tokyo (Daily Yomiuri) Yokohama will host a major women's marathon in 2009 as a replacement for the one in Tokyo whose run will end this November stated the Japan Association of Athletics Federations. the new race will be held in November and plans to invite international elite athletes. The Tokyo women's race will be discontinued after this year to incorporate women into the expansive Tokyo Marathon, which is looking to stake a place among the major marathons of the world like London, Boston and New York.
		Training/ Health
		Olympic drug cheats still ahead of the cops (Los Angeles Times) The 2008 Beijing Games will not have any more performance-enhanced than their predecessors, but violators will be chased down more readily. Jacques Rogge, the Belgian who is president of the International Olympic Committee, expects an increase in drug positives from the twenty-six at the Athens Games to about forty in Beijing. Using a performance enhancing drug such as EPO is punishable by a two-year suspension
		Pressurized treadmill eases impact on joints (Rocky Mountain News) Running in zero gravity would be great on the joints, but running on a new pressurized treadmill that effectively cuts the body's weight in half is also helpful by the impact on the knees, heels and back. Elite runners such as Kara Goucher, Dathan Ritzenhein and Paula Radcliffe have used the anti-gravity treadmills. Studies have shown that a a person can run faster in the G-Trainer at a lower weight and still get substantial aerobic benefits.
	News From: Tuesday, July 29, 2008
		Human Interest Story
		Legends of the Olympic Games (ABC NEWS ONLINE) With the Olympics Games to start on August 8th some of the greatest athletes in the history of the games are listed. Among the greats are distance phenoms Nurmi, Viren, and Zatopek.
		Non-Marathon/ Other Running
		Gebrselassie to take part in first Great Australian Run (IAAF) Touted as the greatest distance runner of all time, Haile Gebrselassie will take on Australias Craig Mottram at the inaugural Great Australian Run on November 30, 2008. Gebrselassie chose the race due to fond memories of the 2000 Sydney Games and the link between Ethiopia and Australia in that Ethiopian athletes competed in their first Olympics at the 1956 Games in Melbourne. The Great Australian Run will take place over a 15 kilometer route
		Human Interest Story
		Sisters return to Storm Lake to run in first half-marathon (Pilot Tribune) Jill Kestel was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia when she was a freshman in high school in 1997 at St. Mary's. Today is she is training with her younger sister for the "Jump Right in and Run Storm Lake" half marathon. She will follow that training up with the Arizona R'N'R Marathon in January. Kestel says she feels lucky to train after all that she has been through
Olympics 2008 (Men)
	News From: Tuesday, August 5, 2008
		Human Interest Story
		Marathon runners train in Ngong Hills (The Standard) Robert "Mwafrika" Cheruiyot has been training in the dusty hills of Ngong and intensified his training over the last month prior to the Olympic Games. He joins Martin Lel and Samuel Wanjiru to lead Kenya's arsenal of runners to the 2008 Beijing Games. Martha Komu joins Catherine Ndereba and Salina Kosgei as the third female on the Kenyan squad.
		Pre-Race Review/ Lineup
		From Big Bear to Beijing (Daily Press) Ryan Hall has wanted to go to the Olympics since he began his running career. The lanky Big Bear native earned his trip to Beijing with his record setting performance at the Olympic Trials. His 2 hour 6 minute and 17 second marathon race in London is the fastest marathon ever run by an American born runner.
	News From: Monday, August 4, 2008
		Human Interest Story
		Smog smothers Beijing (Evening Standard) A heavy blanket of smog covers the sky in Beijing just days before the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games. Visibility was down to a minimum and locals were adorned with face masks to protect their lungs and eyes from the thick stinging air.
		NBC aims for marathon Olympics (Financial Times) NBC Universal who has purchased the rights to air the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing will feature an astounding 3,600 hours of coverage over the seventeen days of the games. NBC's owners General Electric paid a grand sum of $894 million for the rights. Although many are hopeful that viewership will be increased for this Olympics, rumors are circulating that GE may try to unload NBC Universal after the games.
		Pre-Race Review/ Lineup
		Hall gets Olympic send-off (Inland Valley Daily Builletin) The community of Big Bear Lake, California gathered to give top U.S. marathoner Ryan Hall a farewell ceremony prior to his departure to Beijing where he will compete in the marathon at the 2008 Olympic Games. Hall and family will not be in attendance for the opening ceremony, but will watch from the Olympic village before flying to the coastal town of Dalian to begin his training leaving him some days to train prior to the men's marathon on August 24th.
	News From: Sunday, August 3, 2008
		Pre-Race Review/ Lineup
		Ritzenhein, haunted by 2004, eyes Olympic medal (Michigan Live) At twenty-five, Dathan Ritzenhein, will be attending his second Olympics competing in the marathon distance at the 2008 Beijing Games. Believing that long distance runners can only compete well through their mid-thirties, Ritzenhein hopes that there will be four Olympic appearances in his future if he stays healthy. Complications from a stress fracture in his left foot prevented him from finishing the 10,000 meter track event that the 2004 Games, but after successful races following the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials, Ritzenhein is looking forward to Beijing despite earlier setbacks in the year from hamstring and foot problems and anemia.
		Kenya's Marathon coach inspired as training intensifies (East African Standard) The Kenyan marathon has stepped up their training as Boston Marathon winner Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot and Selina Kosgei have intensified their long runs and speed work in Soy, soon will be joined by London Marathon Champion Martin Lel and team alternate World Champion Luke Kibet. World Champion Catherine Ndereva and Half Marathon World Record Holder Samuel Wanjiru are training in the UK and in Nyahururu.
	News From: Saturday, August 2, 2008
		Pre-Race Review/ Lineup
		Athlete managers warned to keep distance (CBC Sports) Athlete manager Jos Hermens, manager to Haile Gebrselassie and others elite runenrs, denied reports he has been suspended by the Ethiopian Athletics Federation over unwanted intrusion into Ethiopian Olympic team preparations. Hermens represents all three men competing in the 10,000 meters at the 2008 Beijing Games - Haile Gebrselassie, the current world marathon record holder, and Kenenisa Bekele, 5,000 and 10,000 meter world record holder, and Sileshi Sihine who won silver medals at both the 2004 Olympics and the 2007 IAAF World Championships. The rumors circulating were caused following the Ethiopian Federation made changes to the Olympic team replacing athletes already named to the team with alternates, which Hermens says he has nothing to do with.
	News From: Friday, August 1, 2008
		Pre-Race Review/ Lineup
		Samuel Wanjiru ready to tackle his first Olympic Games (IAAF) Half Marathon World Record Holder Sammy Wanjiru is ready to tackle the marathon distance at the Olympics Games. Far from a veteran in the 26.2 mile distance, the young half marathon specialist who has run two marathons only (2:06:39 in his debut marathon at Fukuoka and then 2:05:24 at the London Marathon) strategizes for the race by breaking the race down into two halves. Wanjiru's next goal after the Olympics is to set a new World Record at the 2008 Berlin Marathon.
		Marathon contingency plan in place (Guardian.co.uk) Beijing Olympics organizers said they had a contingency plan for the marathon should pollution force a rescheduling or a postponement of the Games' final athletics competition; but details of the plan have not been revealed. The International Olympic Committee has said it may reschedule events that require physical activity of more than an hour if pollution is bad on the day. The contingency plan for the marathon is there. Officials do state that there may be a different schedule in case of pollution; but that will be before the closing ceremony on August 24.
		Bring on hot and humid Beijing, says Baldini (Reuters) Italy's Stefano Baldini is letting the world know that heat and humidity will play into his favor during the Beijing Olympics. After his Gold Medal performance at the 2004 Athens Games over Paul Tergat in heat and humidity few are doubting his chances to podium again this year.
	News From: Thursday, July 31, 2008
		Training/ Health
		Sell, Ritzenhein geared up for the Beijing Games (Detroit Free Press) Brian Sell, Hansons-Brooks runner on the 2008 U.S. Men's Olympic team, has been leading his life as he normally does working in the garden department of Home Depot and moving the grass after an early morning high mileage run to prepare for the Olympic Games. Both he and fellow teammate Dathan Ritzenhein will wear a cooling vest designed to lower body temperature similar to those worn at the 2004 Athens Games. Both have been training in conditions mimicking the heat and humidity of Beijing.
		China announces emergency Olympics smog plan (CNN) With the 2008 Beijing Olympics just over a week away, China has put in emergency measures to deal with the smog calling for more factories to close, a complete halt to all construction projects and further reduction of the number of vehicles on the streets at any one time. Doctors say high levels of pollution can hurt performance, especially for endurance athletes like marathon runners, who breathe in more than ten times the amount of air of an average person. The pollution will cause inflammation and irritation to the lungs and aggravate existing asthma conditions.