How 26.2 are you?
It seems fitting that with the ING New York City Marathon on the horizon we publish a short note from adidas courtesy of parkrun...Ever thought of running more than 5k? Maybe you’ve run 10k and have an itch to go all in for more? Half marathons are just a tease...so why not try a full marathon?
Here are our three interesting marathon facts (courtesy of adidas) that get us upping the mileage when we get cold feet:
1. The name "Marathon" comes from the name of a Greek battlefield, from which messenger Pheidippides ran the 24.8 miles to Athens to announce the Greeks' victory over the Persians.
2. Fauja Singh (aged 100), finished the Toronto Waterfront Marathon, becoming the first centenarian ever to officially complete that distance. Singh, a British citizen, finished the race on 16 October 2011 with a time of 8:11:06, making him the oldest marathon finisher ever. Also, the fact that he's a two-time runner at Valentines parkrun demonstrates how far we can all potentially go beyond 5k while sticking to our parkrun roots!
3. In 2010, there were approximately 500,000 marathon finishers in the United States. This number increased slightly in 2011, where approximately 518,000 runners completed the distance. (*SEE BELOW FOR NEW YORK NOTE)
So, it can’t be too hard…?
Keep up the mileage and train hard this winter, we have some exciting announcements to make as marathon season fast approaches.
Watch this space.
Run well, be safe,
adidas running team
*NB. With just two days to go to the ING New York City Marathon - which will take place on Sunday 4 November and is dedicated to the City of New York, the victims of the recent hurricane, and their families - it’s worth considering that in excess of 518,000 runners could finish marathons in the US in 2012.
At a news conference in the States on Wednesday, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that the ING New York City Marathon would be run as scheduled on Sunday, in spite of the devastation left by Hurricane Sandy.
“There are tens of thousands of people who come from around the world here to run,” he said. “We’ve decided that the marathon will go on. The bottom line is, some people said you shouldn’t run the marathon, but there are an awful lot of small businesses that depend on these people. We have to have an economy.”
On Friday, at their own press conference, the New York Road Runners announced that that they are creating and donating $1 million dollars to the 2012 ING New York City Marathon “Race to Recover Fund” to help victims of Hurricane Sandy. Long-time NYRR partner, the Rudin Family and its trusts, are also giving $1.1 million to the fund, and corporate sponsor ING is giving $500,000.
To all those who are competing, volunteering or involved this weekend in any other capacity, all the best!