Army Half Marathon 2011: Attracting world-class runners adds credibility and more media attention than an event might otherwise get. It also pushes the pace.
"If they're running well," said John Tope, elite athlete recruiter for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon, "they kind of pull the entire field through the race a little bit faster. So I think you can get some better times out of it."
The stable of elite runners for Sunday's races is on par with past years, he said. As usual, all but two of the 19 elite runners will compete in the 10K. As usual, runners from Kenya top the list.
"On the women's side, probably the two or three hottest runners are the top three," he said.
That would be Kenyans Everlyne Lagat and Risper Gesabwa, and American Allison Grace-Morgan.
Lagat placed seventh and Gesabwa eighth in the 12K Lilac Bloomsday Run in Spokane, Wash., earlier this month. Grace-Morgan, of Lexington, Ky., was 14th.
"It's a very difficult course," Tope said, "and [Lagat] faltered near the end but pretty much pushed the pace for the whole race."
The men's 10K features familiar names: Kenyans Festus Langat, who finished second by three seconds in last year's Cleveland 10K, and Aron Rono, who finished third. Fellow countrymen Richard Kandie, Julius Kiptoo, Sammy Rotich and Moses Waweru are names to watch, too.
Kandie, in particular, has been running well. In March, he won the 10K Azalea Trail Run in Mobile, Ala., and finished third in the Shamrock 8K in Virginia Beach, Va., then followed that up last month with a second-place finish in the 4-mile Trolley Run in Kansas City, Mo.
Others who could make a splash in the 10K: twins Tara and Kara Storage of Beavercreek near Dayton; and 1st Lt. Kenneth Foster, of the U.S. Army's World Class Athlete Program, who placed fifth in the Azalea Trail Run.
Unlike most sports, competing with elite runners allows athletes to see how they stack up against the best.
Source:http://www.cleveland.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/05/2011_cleveland_marathon_and_ha_1.html
"If they're running well," said John Tope, elite athlete recruiter for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon, "they kind of pull the entire field through the race a little bit faster. So I think you can get some better times out of it."
The stable of elite runners for Sunday's races is on par with past years, he said. As usual, all but two of the 19 elite runners will compete in the 10K. As usual, runners from Kenya top the list.
"On the women's side, probably the two or three hottest runners are the top three," he said.
That would be Kenyans Everlyne Lagat and Risper Gesabwa, and American Allison Grace-Morgan.
Lagat placed seventh and Gesabwa eighth in the 12K Lilac Bloomsday Run in Spokane, Wash., earlier this month. Grace-Morgan, of Lexington, Ky., was 14th.
"It's a very difficult course," Tope said, "and [Lagat] faltered near the end but pretty much pushed the pace for the whole race."
The men's 10K features familiar names: Kenyans Festus Langat, who finished second by three seconds in last year's Cleveland 10K, and Aron Rono, who finished third. Fellow countrymen Richard Kandie, Julius Kiptoo, Sammy Rotich and Moses Waweru are names to watch, too.
Kandie, in particular, has been running well. In March, he won the 10K Azalea Trail Run in Mobile, Ala., and finished third in the Shamrock 8K in Virginia Beach, Va., then followed that up last month with a second-place finish in the 4-mile Trolley Run in Kansas City, Mo.
Others who could make a splash in the 10K: twins Tara and Kara Storage of Beavercreek near Dayton; and 1st Lt. Kenneth Foster, of the U.S. Army's World Class Athlete Program, who placed fifth in the Azalea Trail Run.
Unlike most sports, competing with elite runners allows athletes to see how they stack up against the best.
Source:http://www.cleveland.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/05/2011_cleveland_marathon_and_ha_1.html
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| Army Half Marathon 2011 |
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