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Comrades Marathon News

BREAKING TRADITION, COMRADES WILL BE "DOWN" IN BOTH  2009 & 2010
By Riel Hauman
(c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved

With 2010 being a landmark year for South African sport when soccer's World Cup is held in the country, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has decided that the Comrades Marathon that year will also be a "down" run, like the 2009 edition of the world’s biggest ultramarathon.

The tradition of alternative up and down races has been broken only twice before, when both the 1974 and 1975, as well as the 1987 and 1988 races were run up i.e., from coastal Durban to Pietermaritzburg.  (Strictly speaking it also happened in 1940 and 1946, although in this case the races were not in consecutive years – World War II came in between).

Every finisher in the 2010 race, to be run on 30 May, will be presented with a special 85th Comrades/World Cup 2010 commemorative race medal.

Next year there will be another major change in the scheduling of the Comrades: For the first time since 1996, the race will revert to a date in May, specifically Sunday, the 24th. This is because the FIFA Confederations Cup soccer tournament will take place in South Africa from the second week of June onwards.

The race will be a down run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, starting at the Pietermaritzburg City Hall and finishing at Sahara Kingsmead Cricket Stadium. Because the race will take place about three weeks earlier than normal, the closing date for entries has been set at 31 March, and no entries received after this date will be accepted. However, taking into consideration that several key and traditional Comrades qualifying races will take place after 31 March, the CMA has decided to allow participants who have not qualified by 31 March to run races up to 28 April, and then inform the CMA office of their qualifying time, at which stage their entry will be confirmed. The CMA insists, however, that the closing date for entries remains 31 March, and the final qualification date will be 28 April.

In addition, the CMA has decided that all official finishers in the popular local and international Ironman endurance events will automatically qualify to run the Comrades Marathon, providing that the qualifier falls within the CMA’s official qualifying window of 15 June 2008 to 28 April 2009. The standard Ironman event comprise of a 3.8 km swim, 180 km cycle and 42.2 km marathon. Given that next year’s Ironman event in South Africa takes place on 5 April, athletes will, according to the new rules, have to submit their entries before participating in the event. This qualifying option excludes the 70.3 Half Ironman.

Online entries for the 2009 race open on 1 December at http://www.comrades.com, while traditional printed entry forms will be available in January.

University of Oregon Men win NCAA XC Title

Senior Galen Rupp leads the Oregon Men's Cross Country team to a second national title by edging out Samuel Chelanga in the last 400 meters to bring home his first individual NCAA Cross Country Championship.

The Oregon Women's Cross Country team finished second overall behind impressive runs by Nicole Blood, Melissa Grelli, Alex Kosinski and Lindsey Scherf.

Oregon Men Victorious

GERMAN FERNANDEZ HAS SERIOUS ACHILLES INJURY

FERNANDEZ HAS SERIOUS ACHILLES INJURY
By David Monti
(c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved used with permission

Reigning USA junior cross country champion, German Fernandez, sustained a serious Achilles tendon injury before dropping out of today's NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., with less than two kilometers to go.  Fernandez is a freshman at Oklahoma State University, and had a realistic shot at making the podium.

Fernandez, the 2008 Big 12 cross country champion, joined teammates Ryan Vail and John Kosgei in moving up the pack throughout the race. The three had gotten up to the second wave of runners in the field when Fernandez sustained his injury and went down.

"This was a tough break for us but this is how it goes sometimes," said Cowboys coach Dave Smith in a statement posted on the team's website.  "Ryan, German and John did a great job of moving up the pack and were in a good position when the injury happened. It’s very disappointing, but that’s how it goes. We were looking at a very high finish – probably second or third – but injuries are part of the sport and we have to accept that."

Doctors will examine Fernandez when he returns to Stillwater where the university is located, but the initial assessment is that the injury is serious.

"German will need a lot of time off, but we won't know how much time until the doctors look at him," Smith concluded.

Oklahoma State finished eight in the championship with 205 points.  They were ranked second going into the meet.

NYC Marathon Results

RADCLIFFE, GOMES DOS SANTOS CRUISE TO NYC MARATHON TITLES

By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permission

Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain retained her title and Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil regained his at the ING New York City Marathon today.

Radcliffe, who controlled the race from the gun, captured her third victory over the five-borough course in 2:23:56. Unlike in her previous New York victories, Radcliffe was never challenged, finishing well ahead of Russian Ludmila Petrova, who clocked 2:25:43.

Gomes dos Santos, the 2006 winner, came from behind over the last two miles to win handily in 2:08:43 after overtaking Moroccan Abderrahim Goumri, who held on for second in 2:09:07.

Contesting her marathon debut, American Kara Goucher finished third clocking 2:25:53. Kenyan Rita Jeptoo was a distant fourth in 2:27:49.

More than two minutes back, Daniel Rono of Kenya was a distant third in the men's race, clocking 2:11:22. Former world record holder Paul Tergat was fourth (2:13:10).

NOTE: Look for a complete report from New York later today.

Top-ten finishers (unofficial times):

MEN -
 1. Marilson Gomes Dos Santos, BRA   2:08:43
 2. Abderrahim Goumri, MAR           2:09:07
 3. Daniel Rono, KEN                 2:11:22
 4. Paul Tergat, KEN                 2:13:10
 5. Abderrahime Bouramdane, MAR      2:13:33
 6. Abdi Abdirahman, USA             2:14:17
 7. Josh Rohatinsky, USA             2:14:23
 8. Jason Lehmkuhle, USA             2:14:30
 9. Hosea Rotich, KEN                2:15:26
10. Bolota Asmerom, USA              2:16:37

WOMEN -
 1. Paula Radcliffe, GBR    2:23:56
 2. Ludmila Petrova, RUS    2:25:43
 3. Kara Goucher, USA       2:25:53
 4. Rita Jeptoo, KEN        2:27:49
 5. Catherine Ndereba, KEN  2:29:14
 6. Gete Wami, ETH          2:29:25
 7. Dire Tune, ETH          2:29:28
 8. Lidia Simon, ROU        2:30:04
 9. Lyubov Morgunova, RUS   2:30:38
10. Katie Mcgregor, USA     2:31:14

Frosh German Fernandez leads Oklahoma State to Big 12 title

AMES, Iowa - The Texas Tech women and Oklahoma State men were crowned the 2008 Big 12 Cross Country Champions - the first for both programs.  OSU ended the 12-year win streak held by Colorado, becoming the second men's team to win a Big 12 Cross Country team title. Meanwhile, TTU is the third women's squad to win the event.

The league championship came full circle this weekend as runners gathered at the Iowa State Cross Country Course in Ames, Iowa - the site of the inaugural event in 1996.  Tech's women's team walked away with the championship scoring 44 points, followed by Baylor (71), Nebraska (102), Texas (117) and Colorado (145). In the men's race, Oklahoma State took four top-five finishes and totaled 26 team points for the win. The second and third place finishers were separated by one point as Colorado (66) placed ahead of Iowa State (67), followed by Texas A&M (95) and Missouri (155).

USC Runner shot

A  male USC student was shot in the legs at about 2 a.m. Friday shortly after leaving a campus fraternity-sponsored party at Leonardo’s Night Club.

Bryshon Nellum, a member of the track team, was walking on 29th Street between Catalina Street and Vermont Avenue when a blue vehicle pulled over and fired two shots, police said.

Nellum was shot in the left thigh and right hamstring and was transported to a local hospital for treatment, according to LAPD Officer J. Saldana. He is still hospitalized and in stable condition.

51:11 for 10 Miles by Radcliffe (Yes, a woman)

Paula Radcliffe sent out a clear warning she is in mint condition to defend her New York Marathon after a world-class performance in the BUPA Great South Run.

Full story

Tim Montgomery Sentenced to 5 years

So I've never known elite runners to be that smart, but I've also never known them to be that dumb either. Tim Montgomery, however, has taken the cake.  Convicted of selling 111 grams of heroin to an undercover officer, Montgomery was sentenced to 5 years in prison.  This, on top of his 4 years for check fraud, makes his sentence 9 years total.  Wow, how hard they fall.  

Story here.

Beijing blood samples to be retested for new-style EPO

The International Olympic Committee has decided to retest blood samples from the Beijing Olympics. They will be testing for Cera, the so-called "third-generation erythropoietin"  Should be interesting to see who comes back positive.

Full story

RADCLIFFE TO CONTEST GREAT SOUTH RUN

RADCLIFFE TO CONTEST GREAT SOUTH RUN

By David Monti

(c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved

Britain's Paula Radcliffe will test the progress of her marathon training by competing in the BUPA Great South Run in Portsmouth, England, on October 26, organizers Nova International announced today.

"It is excellent news Paula's first appearance since the Olympics will be on British soil," commented David Hart, the communications director of the ten mile race where the fastest-ever women's time was 51:00 set by Irishwoman Sonia O'Sullivan in 2002.

Although widely regarded as one of the world's best-ever road runners, Radcliffe has not contested a ten mile race during her professional career.  As a teenager in 1990 she recalled running a U.K. championship race over the distance and "squeezed under the hour," she said.  However, when she ran her career best over the half-marathon distance in the BUPA Great North Run in 2002, she passed the ten mile mark in an unofficial 50:01, according to records kept by BBC statistician Mark Butler, one of the fastest ten mile times ever recorded by a woman.

"I don't know much about the course but I have heard it is fast and given that it is in the U.K. and part of Nova races, I'm sure the organisation and atmosphere will be great," said Radcliffe through a prepared statement.

Jo Pavey, fresh off of her personal best 1:08:53 half-marathon personal best in Newcastle last Sunday, will be Radcliffe's main rival, organizers said.  "Yes, I heard Jo was racing which is great," said Radcliffe.  "She really ran well last weekend and will make it a tough test.  It was great to see her take Wami right to the wire and she looked really strong."

The Great South Run will be Radcliffe's only competition before defending her title at the ING New York City Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 2., a race she has already won twice.