Triathlon Daily

The Great Marathon Boom of 100 Years Ago

from CoolRunning…

With just about every major city in the United States hosting a marathon, this era could be classified as the second great marathon boom. Did you know the first one took place 100 years ago?

The New York City Marathon, at least in its current incarnation, began in 1970 when 127 runners circled four loops of Central Park, generating little interest among others visiting the park that day. Although many have marked that as the beginning of what is known today as the ING New York Marathon, it was hardly the first 26.2-mile race held in the metropolitan area. In fact, 100 years ago this year the first marathon running “boom” took place, for both participants and spectators, who numbered in the tens of thousands.

Amazingly however, the first New York “marathon” was held not in the 21st, or even the 20th century, but late in the 19th century, even before the first Boston Marathon. After the first modern Olympic Games in Athens Greece in 1896, a group of American travelers, inspired by the 40-kilomoter marathon run that proved to the centerpiece of the Games, held their own “marathon” race back in the U.S. The route took the runners from Stamford, Connecticut to New York City, some 25 miles over muddy dirt roads. John McDermott won the race in 3:25; he would go on to win the inaugural running of another new marathon the next year, held in Boston and sponsored by the Boston Athletic Association.
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Race Preview: 2008 Flora London Marathon

from Athletics Weekly….

Arguable pre-race favourites Samuel Wanjiru and Berhane Adere head world-class fields as British athletes chase selection for Beijing.

With a field including six men boasting sub-2:07 credentials, an Olympic champion and a and the reigning world champion, this is one of the most lucrative marathon fields ever assembled, which should be a keenly contested competition between a strong Kenyan contingent, including defending champion Martin Lel.

The withdrawal of Paula Radcliffe through injury has left the women’s race wide open, with five women having clocked sub-2:22 PB’s.

Men’s race
LEL will certainly be hungry to win his third London crown, having been victorious in 2005 and 2007. A two-time winner of the New York Marathon as well, the 29-year-old Kenyan is likely to discover that the fiercest competition will come from his homeland, maybe in the guise of Samuel Wanjiru, the possible pre-race favourite. The half-marathon specialist translated that talent over the full distance on his debut in Fukuoka last December, storming to a 2:06:39 debut and since then, has won half-marathons in Granollers and Abu Dhabi.

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Double amputee, former F1 driver Alex Zanardi to race NYC Marathon

In 2001 he was on top of the world, a top ranked Formula One driver - and in a flash on September 15 that all changed. He was hit broadside by Alex Tagliani at a track near Brandenburg, Germany doing about 330km/hour. He survived the crash but lost both legs. Since his rehabilitation, fitted with prosthetic limbs, he now competes in the BMW World Touring Car Championship.

This week he announced he will compete in his fist marathon - in the handcycle division at the NYC Marathon. The winning time in the handcycle category last year was one hour, 25 minutes; Zanardi’s goal is sub two hours.

“I have done a lot of crazy things before and always eat and train like an athlete,” Zanardi said. “Therefore I feel like saying that I won’t only cross the start line, but the finish line too. And I hope I can make it to the end in good condition and in a good time - my goal is to finish in less than two hours. I have one month for training and I will take it very seriously.”

Zanardi will be a speaker at the Barilla Marathon Eve Dinner the day before the Nov. 4 event, talking about his rehabilitation and return to racing. More than 15,000 runners are expected to attend the dinner.