Run, Karla, Run!

Photo by Phil Hospod

On June 3, 1972, 78 women entered the world’s first ladies-only road race. On June 9, 2007, I ran the race as my very first 10K, along with 3,521 other women. Only four years later, the race has reached capacity around 5,000 runners—all of them pavement-pounding women. Tomorrow is the 40th running of the NYRR New York Mini 10K. I’ll be there to sing the national anthem, run the race and celebrate how far women—myself included—have come in our sport.

The Mini

The original Mini, named after the mini-skirt, was staged at a time when women were just starting to break gender barriers in running and sports at large. 1972 was a landmark year for women’s running. Read the rest of this entry →

Wanjiru breaking the half-marathon world record at The Hague in 2007. Photo by FaceMePLS.

Like everyone else, I was shocked to hear that Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya, the reigning Olympic marathon and World Marathon Majors champion, died Sunday in a fall from a second-floor balcony in his home in Nyahururu, Kenya.

To call it sad is an understatement. He was the bright, shining young star of the sport. That his personal life often fell short of the dazzling man he was on the pavement, and of the hero-worship he inspired, is also sad. Reports of his death have involved more talk of his personal woes than of his running. That his life ended tragically, under questionable and preventable circumstances, and in a manner that only highlighted his humanity is, quite simply, heartbreaking.

But for those of us that did not know him, except as that brazen young kid who not only talked the talk, but walked the walk of a champion, I’d like to remember his legacy as a runner. Read the rest of this entry →

Runners tend to be goal-oriented people. Whatever the goal may be, we plot, we plan and we train to make it happen—running right, eating right, sleeping right, doing everything “right.” But what happens when something goes wrong?

I found out the hard way in the last two weeks of my training for the 2010 ING New York City Marathon on Nov. 7. Reassessing goals and shifting expectations are among the hardest things a runner can do, especially when the goal is in sight.

Take Ryan Hall. After a hot streak in 2007 and 2008—he broke the North American half-marathon record, won the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials and at the London Marathon logged the fastest time ever by an American-born runner—Hall was officially dubbed the next great American marathoner. In 2009, he placed third in the Boston Marathon and won the Philadelphia Distance Run.

Then he made a goal: to break the U.S. marathon record at the 2010 Chicago Marathon on Oct. 10. Read the rest of this entry →

Photo by Mike Baird

On Saturday in New York City, Great Britain’s Paula Radcliffe and the U.S.’s Kara Goucher will both run the NYRR New York Mini 10K, the world’s oldest women’s race. Radcliffe is the marathon world record holder and Goucher is an Olympian and up-and-coming marathoner who has placed third in the NYC and Boston marathons.

They’re running the Mini—but not racing it. Both five months pregnant and due on the same day in September, the superstars and friends have decided to treat the historic event as a fun run.

“It’s an excuse for us to get together; a chance to hang together before we get too pregnant to travel,” Goucher told The New York Times. “We are really just running it for fun. Not racing.”

Running a race for fun without “racing” it, is one of the many joys of running. It allows you to soak up all the energy of the community while getting in good run, and it’s way better than slogging out a tempo or other training run by yourself. It’s a great way to run with friends, and it’s also an excellent exercise in restraint. Forcing yourself to hold back—which can be hard amongst the excitement—is good training for your next big race. Read the rest of this entry →

Call them the best. Call them memorable. Or just call them. Whatever they are, these moments defined running in the first decade of the 21^st century. What makes them so great? These 10 performances got people buzzing. My opinion is completely subjective and emotional. I have a thing for runners who fall to the ground in tears (see Nos. 4 and 5), and admire the hubris of runners who not only walk the walk but talk the talk (see Nos. 1 and 9). But I also polled some die-hard runners in the know. Like me they follow the sport—and by follow the sport I mean DVR-ing things like the Rotterdam Marathon. And these moments made short list after short list.

So who made the cut? Drum roll please.

11). Honorable Mention: You ran a race and raised money for charity in the process

The last decade has been a collective best moment in the history of running. The U.S. is in the midst of a second running boom with year over year records in road race participation. In the marathon alone, the total number of finishers has gone from 299,000 in 2000 to 463,000 in 2009 according to MarathonGuide.com. Finisher totals for all road races in the U.S. were 6,482,500 in 1997. Ten years later in 2007? The number of finishers rose by almost 2.5 million to 8,875,000 according Running USA. And more racers have meant more money for all those associated charities. According to the USATF, the amount runners have raised for charity has increased from $520 million in 2002 to $714 million in 2006. Between entrance fees for benefit races and charity partnerships for major races, the running boom is making an impact on more than just the participants. So here’s to all of you runners out there who helped make this collective moment truly one of the high spots in running this decade. Read the rest of this entry →

Usain Bolt celebrates his Olympic victory. Photo by friskytuna/Flikr.

The end of the “aughts” is upon us, and it’s been quite a decade for running. Here are the 10 runners who thoroughly dominated their fields in the past 10 years—The Best Runners of the Decade. My picks are completely unscientific and subjective, and I’m sure they will incite at least a little grumbling. But these 10 runners have dazzled the world with feats of strength worthy of Festivus, and racked up the hardware to prove it. Drum roll please… Read the rest of this entry →