They might not all be lining up on Monday morning, but any number of these 799 registrants from the Washington, D.C. area could be racing the Boston Marathon.
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News
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The final re-measurement of the Cherry Blossom race course determined that the rerouting caused the race distance to total 9.39 miles.
A traffic accident that was treated as a crime scene near the Kutz Bridge, less than 90 minutes before the elite women’s advanced start, forced the course to reroute from its path around the Tidal Basin, instead diverting near the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on West Basin Drive and onto Ohio Drive. The alteration affected miles five and six.
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Many races — from 5ks to marathons — are, in fact, not the actual advertised distance. When planning and organizing a race, the race director may opt to settle for “close enough” or just “pretty accurate,” which may result in the race being as far off as anywhere from 50 yards to a couple miles.
Fortunately, many race directors do ensure that their course has been accurately measured and is at least the stated distance, in which case the race will be described as “USATF (U.S.A. Track and Field) certified.”
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Editor’s note: A version of this story published Sunday night indicated the course had been remeasured at 9.54 miles and bonuses would be paid. As of Monday morning, Race Director Phil Stewart said the course would be remeasured again and the plan to pay bonuses based on that measurement was off.
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A morning traffic accident and resulting crime scene near the Kutz Bridge forced the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run to cut roughly .61 miles from the course.
U.S. Park Police Sgt. Lelani Woods said the accident happened at 5:52 a.m., when a man on a motorcycle heading east on Independence Avenue struck a woman who was crossing the road near the bridge, away from a crosswalk. Woods said that portion of Independence Avenue, along with others in the area, were already closed in preparation for the race. The pedestrian, an “older woman” was transported to George Washington University Hospital, where she died April 21. Charges against the driver are pending.
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Runners from Pennsylvania claimed top honors at the Bull Run 50 Miler Saturday in Clifton, Va., but when the first 100 finishers were counted, the entrants who identified with the South were the team champions. Of the 325 runners who started the race, 282 had finished roughly 13.5 hours after the 6:30 a.m. start.
In terms of the individual finishes, it was a testament to the collegial nature of ultra running that when Jim Blandford crossed the Bull Run 50 Miler finish line in first place, he credited the guy who won last year.
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People watch the Olympics and get inspired to try a new sport, or to work out a little harder at things they already do. Some even have a fleeting memory of past glory and say, yeah, if only I hadn’t quit my sport early, if only I had worked harder, I could have done that.
Not a lot of people say: I’m going for it.
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As important as discipline and determination can be when training for distance running, the trait that was most valuable to a lot of racers at Runners Marathon of Reston was adaptability.
[button-red url=”http://www.amazingracetiming.com/events/2015/runners-marathon-of-reston” target=”_self” position=”left”] Results [/button-red]Chris Compson adapted when, after 24 miles of just trying to improve on his personal best time, he found himself in a position to win the race, after his best finish to date being ninth place at the Toronto Marathon. He was on spring break from his job teaching English and coaching track at Pittsford-Mendon High School near Rochester, N.Y. and his 2:50:35 finishing time was agonizingly close to a PR.
So you are three weeks away from your goal race and are in the shape of your life. You meet your pace group for a 14-mile training run on the Capital Crescent Trail and you are feeling good. Suddenly, you begin to experience pain on the top of your foot as your pass through the Dalecarlia Tunnel toward Georgetown. The pain intensifies as you hit Fletcher’s Boathouse and you have to stop. You have one of those “oh no” moments as you hobble off to wait for one of your running buddies to pick you up and take you back to Bethesda. The next day, you notice swelling and feel tenderness on the top of your foot.
There is a good chance that you just experienced your first stress fracture. If the pain does not improve after three to five days of rest, your next step is to seek medical attention. The key factors in diagnosing a stress fracture are pain that intensifies as your run progresses, and tenderness and swelling at a specific point on your foot, shin or heel.
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History repeated itself for Patrick Moulton at 2015’s Rock ‘n’ Roll D.C. Marathon.
The Providence, R.I. native earned a first-place finish with a time of 2:32:54. He also finished first (2:21:17) in 2009 when the race was then called the Suntrust National and Half Marathon.