Category Archives: Marathon

Chicago is Full

Leave a reply

It is being reported that this fall’s Chicago Marathon has reached its capacity of 45,000 runners.

You may still be able to get a slot if you race for charity or with an international tour group so be sure to check out that option if you are dead set on running there.  From their site:

Register through a Charity
Register through one of our affiliated Charities to utilize their social and philanthropic networks, fundraising opportunities and training programs. Qualified charities have an extended but limited registration offering after Open registration is closed.

Register through an International Tour Group
Register through one of our affiliated International Tour partners.  Tour groups from countries outside the U.S. can plan your travel, accommodations and race entry. Qualified tour groups have an extended but limited registration offering after Open registration is closed.

It is a pretty extensive list of charities, including many national ones.  So it is possible that you could find a charity that you’d like to support with your running!

I am a little surprised that registration filled so quickly after last year, but I guess many people also recognize that it was a fluke, crazy year and that many marathons experienced trouble that weekend.

Registration is still open for Twin Cities Marathon, which is the week before.

[tags] Marathon, Chicago, Twin Cities [/tags]

TC Registered for TC Marathon

Leave a reply

I’ve officially taken the leap into the realm of the marathon! Last Friday, on the first day of registration, I registered for the 27th Annual Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon!

What am I thinking??

Congratulations! You are officially registered for the 27th annual Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon on October 5, 2008. We are looking forward to another spectacular day in the Twin Cities.

The Star Tribune is reporting that the race is already over 50% full despite the increased number of slots.  It has only been a few days since registration opened last Friday.  Organizers expect the race to fill up in record time, under 2 weeks.

You can go here to register.  I also signed up for the TC Mile while I was at it.

[tags] Marathon, Twin Cities, Twin Cities Marathon [/tags]

2 Must Read Lists for Runners

4 Replies

These aren’t your normal lists about running but they are great!

The first is 11 Enemies of Runners. Some highlights:

  • Hot Girls
  • Oprah
  • Regular Running Routes
  • Other Runners

Be sure to check out the full list for more enemies and his full description.

The other is a list from the Telegraph paper in London with a catchy title: Everything you Wanted to Know about Marathons but were Too Exhausted to Ask. Author Ben Fenton points out 100 random facts about the marathon (some specific to London and others to the distance in general). The article was actually written in 2004, so I’m not sure if all the facts therein still hold up, but its pretty interesting stuff. Here are ten of my favorites:

  • Organisers provided 88lb of petroleum jelly for medical use including avoidance of “runners’ nipple”.
  • The London Marathon is the only one requiring athletes to run in two different hemispheres.
  • There are 29 people who have run in all 24 London marathons. One of them has flipped pancakes around the course for the last 10 years.
  • First holder of the 1908 world record, Johnny Hayes, would have been 662nd yesterday.
  • Thousands of runners sent texts updating their time and position thanks to a special microchip supplied by a mobile phone company.
  • Fastest marathon time for a person blowing a trumpet is 3:06, which would have beaten all the celebrities.
  • 710,000 bottles of water and 40,000 litres of sports drinks were available.
  • Last year, Lloyd Scott finished in five days, eight hours, 29 mins and 46 secs – in a 120lb diving suit.
  • The London record for a conga line to complete the course is 25 hrs and 13 mins.
  • Greatest victory margin in the men’s race was the 2:57 that separated Hugh Jones from Oyvind Dahl in 1982.

HT Simon Says…Run and A Fool of Myself

[tags] Marathon [/tags]

On a side note we went to see our first Twins game.  It was a lot of fun, especially since they won and we had free tickets!!

Looking Ahead – Half and Full Marathon

1 Reply

Looking ahead this week I’m doing two pretty major things. I’m not sure what order they will happen exactly but I think I’m going to 1) Register for the 27th Annual Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon on Friday and then 2) race the Earth Day Half Marathon on Saturday.

Twin Cities tends to fill up within a month and they are planning on that happening even though they are expanding the field to 11,000 entrants. Last year the race had just over 7,000 finishers. The course runs from downtown Minneapolis making a big circle around Minneapolis before finishing at the State Capitol Building in St Paul. Registration open at 12:01 am Friday morning!

This date has been marked on my calendar for awhile now and I actually selected this weekend’s Half-Marathon with the fall marathon in mind. I can race Saturday and will have several weeks of “down time” before beginning a new, yet to be determined, training program.

So for this weekend’s half-marathon I’m venturing out to do the Earth Day Half-Marathon. It is the USATF-MN Half-Marathon Championship race, which I didn’t know when I signed up. Even though I don’t think our team is going to have enough people to field a team because of Boston it will still be fun. The race was forced to make some last minute course adjustments due to a closed bridge in the city. I think everyone is a little skittish since the I-35W bridge collapse so they closed the bridge before it got worse. This affects the race because the main detour around the know closed bridge is on the course. It should be a good race and I’m excited to see the fruits of all my hard work! Check back on Monday or Tuesday to see how it went!

[tags] Marathon, Half-Marathon, Twin Cities, Earth Day [/tags]

Crazy Running Stories

2 Replies

Two stories reported over at The Final Sprint are quite crazy. They might be a little old now but still worth pointing out!

First, 12 were killed during a suicide bomb attack in Sri Lanka, at the start of a marathon. The terrorist posed as a runner before setting off the bomb as the race began – killing 12 and injuring about 100 others. Among the dead are a Sri Lankan minister and a former Olympian.

Second, a swarm of bees attacked participants in a half-marathon in Japan. Dozens were sent to the hospital after the attack. It sounds like the bees were pretty much in one spot flying together and just decided to attack some of the runners getting beneath their clothing.

Be careful out there!