Let's check in on the world marathon majors virtual plans
With September around the corner, it's almost time for the (virtual) fall race season
Hello!
This issue updates everyone about what’s going on with the world marathon majors. I personally am fascinated with race logistics and how all these transitions to virtual are unfolding. It’s a delicate balance of keeping a business afloat while also keeping the runners who support these businesses happy.
I also round up an interesting grab bag of news, everything from a runner who is using his runs to clean up trash he finds roadside to the marathon PB of the new federal Conservative party leader Erin O’Toole.
Let’s get to it.
— Erin @ Run the North
A lot happened with the world major marathons this week
Chicago announces virtual race plans
The Chicago marathon announced their virtual plans for 2020. The virtual edition of the marathon is only available to those who were signed up for the marathon originally.
Participants can run 26.2 miles between Monday, Oct. 5 and Sunday, Oct. 11. Registration for the marathon is free, but there is an extra cost if you want a medallion and shirt to commemorate your participation.
They have added virtual races that anyone can sign up for: the mile, 5K, 8K and half-marathon. It’s free to sign up, but it appears you don’t get anything other than the joy of being involved. If you’re interested, you can sign up here.
NYC announces virtual elite marathon field
No Canadians are in the mix, but Americans Deena Kastor, Stephanie Bruce and Emily Sisson are running the full marathon, while icon Meb Keflezighi will be splitting the full marathon distance with tennis player James Blake, in support of Team for Kids and the James Blake Foundation.
Also committed to the virtual experience are married couple actor Andrew Schue and Good Morning America co-host Amy Robach and former football player and frequent NYC marathon participant Tiki Barber.
Participants can run their marathon between Oct. 17 and Nov. 1, but it needs to be a continuous 26.2 miles.
Emily Sisson spoke to NBC about why she’s doing a virtual marathon. “It’s something to put on my schedule, to work towards and train for right now,” she said. She plans to have her husband bike beside her and she’ll probably wear headphones.
According to her Instagram, she hopes to use the run as a chance to gain fitness and hopefully will race for real before the end of the year.
Berlin announces 2:01:39 challenge
Berlin is the home of the two fastest men’s marathon performances ever: Eliud Kipchoge’s 2:01:39 in 2018 and Kenenisa Bekele’s 2:01:41 in 2019. To celebrate, the marathon is launching the 2:01:39 and challenging runners to see how far they can run in the time it took Eliud to run a full marathon.
It’s free to take part. Runners can then tackle the challenge on Sept. 26 or 27, what would have been Berlin marathon weekend. A team of German runners will attempt to break Eliud’s record in a relay format, which will be broadcast on German TV.
London sells out virtual race
The London marathon has managed to sell out their virtual edition.
London’s virtual race was initially open to people who had a spot in the original 2020 running. They had to register by Aug. 17. After that, registration was open to the public on August 26. There were nearly 45,000 slots available (the same # of participants who would have been in the original field) and by Aug. 30, they all had sold out.
According to the race’s social media, there are some charity slots still available. Those interested should check out the race website.
Participants will have a 24-hour window on Sunday, Oct. 4 to complete the marathon distance. Unlike NYC, it doesn’t need to be continuous. London’s elite race will be on a closed loop course the same day. I wrote about it in more detail here. It features one Canadian: Tristan Woodfine.
Strides: Stuff to read, watch, listen to and know about
🎧Lyndsay Tessier was on the Women Run Canada podcast. They get into Lyndsay’s early running years — both back in elementary school when Lyndsay was introduces to running for the first time and her return to the sport in her mid-30s. I enjoyed hearing about her transition from joining Running Room half-marathon clinic to becoming a 3:08 marathoner and eventually becoming an elite-level runner. You can listen to the episode here.
🚩Mark Bomba has been named the new track and cross-country coach at Queen’s University, replacing Steve Boyd. Boyd was fired last year after making comments regarding the firing of Dave Scott-Thomas at the University of Guelph following the revelation that Scott-Thomas had sexually abused one of his standout athletes, Megan Brown. Boyd’s release from Queen’s was met with public outcry. Bomba has been coaching for 26 years, and most recently spent the past seven years as the head coach at Trinity Western University. You can read more about Bomba’s hiring at the Kingston Whig Standard.
👟CBC Sports talked to Gabriela BeDues-Stafford. The piece breaks down the 2019 world championship 1,500m — in which Gabriela ran 3:56 and placed sixth in one of the fastest and greatest 1,500 races ever — and Gabriela talks about how she’s been grateful for the down time the pandemic has forced. Earlier this year, Gabriela announced a coaching change, she will be joining the Bowerman Track Club in Portland, Ore. She told CBC that she hopes to leave Toronto and start training with the team in September, if it’s safe to do so. You can read the piece here.
📺CBC Toronto ran a nice profile of Justyn Knight on the supper hour news program with Dwight Drummond. It covers how he was preparing for the 2020 Olympics, how he handled the postponement to 2021 and how COVID has impacted his training. It also covers host Justyn got into running and his career, from being a kid in Canada to going to Syracuse and how he ended up focusing on the middle-distances. You can watch it here.
📖Bobsledder and hurdler Phylicia George is on the cover of Sept/Oct issue of Strong — a Canadian magazine dedicated to women’s strength training. The profile isn’t online, but you should be able to grab the issue at your local newsstand — I’ve gotten Strong at both Shoppers' Drug Mart and Loblaws before.
🦠The world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, hosted a birthday party to celebrating turning 34 in Jamaica. The party was outside, but did not feature physical distancing — and he tested positive for COVID the next day. The timing of the positive test makes it hard to say he got COVID at his party, but the videos from the celebration are not a good look.
🏅Reid Coolsaet and Rachel Cliff talked to iRun about how to stay motivated when all we have are virtual races right now. It’s solid advice for even non-pandemic times: consistency is key, find goals that excite you and get involved in a community that energizes you, either online or in real life (if it’s safe to do so). The Q&A is in support of the Running Room’s MS Run: Rachel’s uncle has MS, and a friend of Reid’s who is a top masters runner also has the disease. The race takes place on Sept. 12 and participants can walk or run any distance they choose. You can read the Q&A here and sign up for the MS Run here.
🏃♂️The new federal conservative party leader, Erin O’Toole, is a runner. Canadian Running did a deep dive into his SportStats results. In 2004, he ran the Ottawa marathon, finishing in 4:06:32. In 2008, he took on the Toronto Waterfront Marathon and ran what appears to be his personal best at the distance, 4:03:44.
🎟If you’re looking for an IRL race, I’ve been told that That Dam Hill marathon in London, Ont. is a go: their COVID protocols have been approved. It’s BQ-certified and is set to take place on Sept. 19. There’s also a 5K, a half-marathon and ultra options. You can check out the race’s website for more info on how they plan to keep runners safe, registration information and more.
🗑Speaking of London, Ont., local runner Pete Meades is trying to run every street in Huron County. The distance totals about 3,000km. Along the way, Pete is picking up litter — he told CBC he manages to fill 2-3 garbage bags every 10K. He is currently running about 125km a week, and he’s about halfway done the project. He hopes his efforts bring more attention to how much waste we produce. "The hardest part, mentally, is that this will all be for naught unless we do something about the amount of garbage we're producing needlessly,” he told CBC. You can read the CBC London story about him here.
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Thanks for reading, keep on running. I’ll see you next week.