Stronger than ever

Looking ahead | 7 May 2023 Gatorade Maratón de Santiago, Chile

Race “back on its feet ”

After three years Santiago’s Marathon returned to the streets of the Chilean capital stronger than ever with more than 30,000 runners taking part in this traditional mass sporting event. The race organisers moved the date to 8 May 2022, to give runners more chance of cooler conditions in the middle of the Fall season. The race had record entries at the marathon distance with more than 6000 runners opting to experience the full length of the 42.195km course.

The Santiago Marathon remains the best of its kind in the region – a perfect running party. It is covered by the national and international media and broadcast live for television in a four-hour programme including the awards ceremony. The runners considered the new start and finish venue a major improvement since the O’Higgins Park, named after Chile’s founding father Bernardo O’Higgins, offered much more space to cater for runners before and after the race.

The mass participation event did not preclude also having the traditional elite field but this time it was without Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes due to sanitary and visa restrictions in place due to the Covid-19 pandemic . This gave local athletes a great opportunity to show their competitive spirit. They took places on

Stronger than ever

the podium after many years of seeing the foreign athletes monopolising the prize money. The Chilean Athlete Daniel Cortes set a new personal best with 2:17:31, but the Kenyan Luka Rotich remains course record holder with an impressive 2:09:37. The Peruvian Ines Melchor won the women’s title in 2:28:18.

This year the Marathon organisers built a control centre to oversee the full length of the course, increasing the race’s safety and security in the event of an emergency. The race has also stepped up its social and environmental programmes as well as the Marathon Expo. The Expo is held at the old French-style railway station, transformed into an Exhibition Centre, offering seminars on sports medicine, nutrition, psychology, technology, and sportswear. The press conference precedes the opening of the Marathon Expo and the launch of the Santiago Marathon with the presence of the Ministry of Sport and other local authorities. More than 80,000 people visit the Marathon Expo every year during the last 3 ½ days before the race. The Marathon organisers were most proud of their achievements and the success of the 2022 race but they are expecting an even better race in 2023. Now that Government sanitary restrictions are finally over there will again be a top international field.

Visiting the capital of Chile is a great travel experience both for runners and non-runners who can enjoy international hotels and restaurants with high-end cuisine and world-famous Chilean wines. The country also offers a variety of landscapes from the Northern Atacama desert through to Patagonia with more than 4000 km of Chilean coast. The running party is back on its feet again.

■www.maratondesantiago.cl

Looking ahead | 12 May 2023 Dead Sea Ultra Marathon, Jordan Running at the lowest point on Earth

Race around saline water brings out energy that goes beyond fitness

For the past 27 years the Dead Sea has attracted thousands of runners to the Dead Sea Ultra Marathon.

Now Run Jordan has added a new category – the 50km relay – to its individual 50km race, 21km (relay & individual), 10km and children’s race.

The annual Dead Sea Ultra Marathon took place in March last year and was highly successful with thousands of participants coming from across Jordan and the region. At the lowest point on earth – one of the world’s most renowned locations – Jordan’s Dead Sea brought out an energy from the runners that went beyond physical fitness. They discovered inspiration and emotions that they will remember for a very long time.

Despite the daunting prospect of an ultradistance race people who never think they could ever participate in anything like it rise to the challenge. They go the distance with full force and find a will that pushes them past their limits. “I was never really the competitive type, but there was something about the Dead Sea Ultra Marathon that called me to push myself, and I did,” said Ahmad Muhaisen, the winner of the 50km who recorded 3 hours 18 minutes. “I set a schedule for my training to prepare me for this massive experience. It was more than the prize for me; it was every step and leap along the way, throughout the race. I was celebrating what I am capable of and what my body can actually achieve. I have never experienced a feeling like this before, and that alone was so rewarding.” Mithqal Abbadi finished with 3 hours 43 minutes, and Huthaifa Akkawi took third place in 3 hours 51 minutes.

The women of the race were unstoppable. Safa Takruri finished in 4:40:12 with Chris Peters only 22 seconds behind her followed by Ashwaq Badran just 14 seconds later. Run Jordan has been hosting the Ultra Marathon for over two decades. At one point in the early years the race started from the Jordanian capital Amman and finished on the shores of our planet’s most saline body of water – the Dead Sea. As of 2016 the race has been taking place solely around the Dead Sea area starting near the Baptism site and ending near the hotels along the waterfront. Over the years the race has collected a large community of supporters who run with their hearts and with a new type of motivation and inner strength. A number of acclaimed personalities have attended the event in support of the initiative and the local and international community of runners.

The Dead Sea Ultra Marathon is organised by Run Jordan, who are strong advocates of sustainability and environmental causes. The race has gained popularity for being a committed supporter of inclusivity and encouraging every type of runner to participate. Ali Sawalmeh, one of the participants who powered through the race in a wheelchair, had a lot to say about his experience: “Even if you can’t do it on foot, even if you think you can’t do it at all, you would be surprised at what your heart can achieve. Don’t you ever let anybody impose limits on your abilities. Run with your heart, and most importantly, have fun.”

The Dead Sea Ultra Marathon goes beyond the goal of crossing the finish line. It is a vehicle through which individual runners cross their own personal boundaries. The race inspires a purpose which each runner discovers within themselves and harnesses as a driving force. Every single runner is a success story on their own, and achieve personal milestones just by showing up, taking charge of their own movement and doing something they may never have done before. That alone is an accomplishment to be proud of. While some runners are rewarded with t-shirts and medals taking part in a physical challenge like this race is a badge of honour for every participant. They are now among the hundreds of runners eagerly anticipating Run Jordan’s next Dead Sea Ultra Marathon to be held on 12 May 2023.

Looking ahead | 13 May 2023 Helsinki City Running Day, Finland

Run in the capital of Finland and experience the finish at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium

The largest running event in Finland, Helsinki City Running Day, takes place on Saturday 13 May 2023 and fills the streets of Helsinki with runners from all over the world.

Helsinki City Running Day combines five running distances in one day and attracts 15,000 runners from over 80 nations. There is something for everyone: Finland’s largest half marathon the Helsinki City Run; the 43rd edition of Helsinki City Marathon; the Helsinki City Marathon Relay; the short but sweet Helsinki City 5 – and for those seeking the ultimate running experience the Helsinki City Double. On the day before there is the Minimarathon children’s event.

All the distances have their finish line at the iconic and freshly-renovated Helsinki Olympic Stadium which was inaugurated for the 1952 Olympic Games. Runners will be able to see the Olympic Stadium from inside the arena as the race office, including bib number pickup and the Expo, are located inside the Olympic Stadium.

The marathon part of Helsinki City Running Day, the Helsinki City Marathon, has a long history. It was held for the first time in 1981 and it was the first annual marathon in Helsinki. Ever since then it has maintained its position as the largest marathon in Finland. There remain four runners who have completed all editions of the Helsinki City Marathon and the next one will be their 43rd time at the start line.

In 2018 the Marathon was moved from August to May under the banner of ‘Helsinki City Running Day ’, which gave the possibility of holding races over other distances on the same day. The Helsinki City Marathon Relay and the

Finland:

famous for fresh air

Helsinki City 5km completed the selection of distances. Organisers also offered participants the opportunity to run a marathon AND a half marathon on the same day in a two-part race called the ‘Helsinki City Double’.

Ecological values have always been important to Helsinki City Running Day and the event has held the EcoCompass certificate since 2017. Event t-shirts are nowadays made of 100% recycled material. Recycling in the event is developing year by year, and the goal is to reduce mixed waste every year. It is very easy for foreign runners to participate in Helsinki City Running Day. Everything is close to hand; the start is right next to the Olympic Stadium where the bib number pick up and the finish line are located. The Stadium is easily reached by public transport, and not far from the city centre. Another helpful thing is that Finns do speak English pretty well.

Nature is everywhere and very close even in the heart of the Finland’s capital. The race routes offer a mixture of beautiful seaside, park, and downtown scenery. Runners are also able to see and feel the atmosphere of the Helsinki Forest (also known as the ‘Central Park’ of Helsinki) which is a popular jogging venue for Helsinki’s 575,000 citizens. The marathon, half marathon and 5km routes are AIMS certified.

Runners can do their Helsinki sightseeing while running and at the same time enjoy the clean air that Finland is famous for. In May the weather is perfect for running: not too hot or too cold. The temperature usually varies between 13C–18C degrees.

Interested? Make Helsinki City Running Day your goal on 13 May 2023, and sign up now.

Course follows the Mekong riverbank

Run in the heart of Cambodia

Phnom Penh is the capital and most populous city in Cambodia, located at the junction of the Mekong and Tonle Sap Rivers.

It was a hub for both the Khmer Empire and French colonialists. On its beautiful riverfront promenades, lined with parks, restaurants and bars, you will find the ornate Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda and the National Museum.

The Phnom Penh International Half Marathon has been organised annually since 2011 to celebrate the Royal Birthday of Her Majesty Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk. The race starts from in front of the Royal Palace and the course runs down Norodom Boulevard towards the Wat Phnom Hill, the historical birthplace of Phnom Penh city which dates from nearly 600 years ago. Further on runners reach the Japanese Bridge and cross to the other side of the Mekong River. They then turn right onto the road along the beautiful riverbank of Sokha Island. After about 7km runners arrive back at the Japanese bridge and from the 13km point run about 4km into the city along the bank of the Mekong River. The course then crosses Swan bridge to Diamond Island on which there is a modern business centre.

Runners continue for about 3km before crossing Dragon Bridge and turning back for the final kilometre towards the finish line in front of the Royal Palace. More than half of the course runs along the beautiful Mekong riverbank so that runners will be able to enjoy the fresh air from the River and the clean atmosphere of this non-industrial city.

After two years of the Covid pandemic , during which the authorities prohibited all activities that would lead to people gathering together in one place, the Phnom Penh International Half Marathon 2022 was reactivated last June with more than 6000 runners. Runners who participated in the event said they were happy to run with new hopes and lives.

Live events are now being eagerly restarted in many different fields allowing Phnom Penh City to regain the image of what it was like before the time of the pandemic . The Royal Government has opened up opportunities and warmly welcomes all visitors to Cambodia.

In 2023 Phnom Penh will host the 32nd Southeast Asian Games with multiple sports events in Phnom Penh and in some other cities such as Siem Reap and Sihanoukville,

On behalf of the Cambodian Marathon Committee and the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia we would like to invite all runners and supporters around the world to come to the next running event to be held in the centre of the Kingdom of Cambodia – The 11th Phnom Penh International Half Marathon. We are eagerly looking forward to seeing you run in this magnificent event which will be held on Sunday 11 June 2023.

Anything you can do…

Thirty-one years ago Liz Lynch (later McColgan) was blazing a trail in long-distance running. In 2022 her daughter Eilish McColgan followed in her footsteps

Although their career paths were separated by 26 years – Liz was born in Dundee on 24 May 1964 and Eilish on 25 November 1990 – they bear striking similarities.

One difference was that Liz Lynch passed her early years without any contact with athletics. It was only through a sports teacher ’s advice that she joined the local athletic club, Hawkhill Harriers, and met Harry Bennet. He became her coach and was instrumental in finding her an athletic placement in Alabama, but died when she was still only 17. She became self-coached with great success, winning the Commonwealth Games 10000m title in 1986 and finishing 5th in the World Championships the following year, improving the UK record to 31:20. In 1988 she further improved to 31:07 and won the silver medal in the first-ever women’s Olympic 10,000m in 31:08. She retained her Commonwealth title in January 1990 before becoming pregnant with her first child – Eilish was born that November.

Liz hardly broke her training stride during the pregnancy, with her last run only five days before the birth and back up and racing again only six weeks after. Her recovery took her to even greater heights than before giving birth as she finished third in the World Cross-Country Championships in March and ran the second fastest 10,000m ever (30:57) in June, which stood as a Scottish record for 31 years.

This was all just setting the scene for the standout performance of her track career in the 1991 World Championships in which she had an emphatic win, lapping metronomically to finish 21 seconds ahead of her nearest rivals. Rather than finish her track season she redoubled training to make her marathon debut in New York just three months later, and less than a year since Eilish had been born. She won the race on the famously tough course in a new record time for a debut of 2:27:23.

It was a something of a watershed as although she finished 5th in the Barcelona Olympic 10,000m in 1992 she was now having growing success in road racing, winning the inaugural World Half Marathon Championships and, two

Eilish (left) with mother Liz (centre)

months later, the Tokyo International Women’s Marathon.

Injuries intervened and it was not until 1995 that she ran another Marathon, finishing 5th in London and then 6th in the World Championships 10,000m. She won the 1996 London Marathon in 2:27:54 before finishing 16th in the Atlanta Olympic Marathon after suffering a poisonous insect bite. She finished second in the London Marathon in 1997 and 1998.

Eilish McColgan was born into a running household. Both parents were athletes, Peter McColgan being an international standard steeplechaser. Eilish had some success as a junior at 1500m but became injured when on the verge of her senior debut. Her chance came when, as a reserve, she competed in the steeplechase and exceeded expectations. In the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics she qualified for the steeplechase but didn’t make it to the final.

She also competed in the steeplechase at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow but, as her mother had been, she was side-lined with injury for a lengthy period. She returned to running on the flat and qualified for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, where she made the final of the 5000m.

Her first taste of championship success came in the 2018 European Championships in Berlin where she took the silver medal, but it has only been in the last year or two that she has become competitive with the best in the world.

In July 2021 Eilish beat Paula Radcliffe’s 17-year old British 5000m record by running 14:28:55. She had qualified for the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics for both 5000m and 10,000m. In the 10,000m she finished 9th, in 31:04.46.

She opened 2022 with a new British road record at 5km. Her 14:48 mark improved Paula Radcliffe’s 2003 time of 14:51 – and her mother ’s 1991 time of 14:57. Within a month she ran 1:06:26 for the half marathon to beat Radcliffe’s 21-year old British record – and again surpassed her mother ’s best – by 45 seconds.

In August Eilish had her biggest win yet at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham where she won the 10,000m. Her 30:48:06 time broke her mother ’s 31-year old Commonwealth Games record and made it three titles between them. She later took a silver medal in the 5000m

Her season wasn’t finished as she went straight on to contest the European Championships where she took silver in the 10,000m and bronze in the 5000m. By this time she had completed six outdoor championship finals in the same season. During 2022 she also ran 30:19 for 10km on the road in Manchester, setting a British and European record.

Eilish had originally planned a debut Marathon in the London Marathon on 4 October 2022 but had to pull out with low blood sugar – perhaps a cautionary sign after such a busy summer track schedule.

During 2022 Eilish McColgan comprehensively re-wrote the British distance running record book, replacing her mother ’s entries with her own on both track and road. Looking forward to 2023 she is likely to make the step up to the Marathon distance and a new chapter will begin.

Distance marker from the original 42195m presented to Marathoneum Berlin

Second known surviving sign secured

Before the winners came through the finish line at the Berlin Marathon on 25 September last year a small but historically significant ceremony was staged there.

Paco Borao, President of the Association of Marathons and Distance Races, handed over a mile marker from the 1908 London Olympic Marathon to the Mayor of Berlin, Franziska Giffey, who in turn entrusted it to the curator of the Marathoneum Berlin, Gerd Steins.

1908: the main players

The names of the main protagonists in the 1908 London Olympic Marathon: Dorando Pietri (gallant loser), Johnny Hayes (winner) and Tom Longboat (favoured as a possible winner before the race but who dropped out) have lived on in Marathon history – but who can name the other medal winners who finished behind Hayes?

The silver medallist was Charles Hefferon of South Africa who Pietri had overtaken at 24 miles and who had played a prominent part in the later stages of the race. The bronze medallist was Hayes’ team mate Joseph Forshaw. Forshaw started the race at a much steadier pace than most of the other 55 starters – of whom only 27 finished – and slowly worked his way through the field to place third. His grand-daughter Christine O’Shaughnessy remembers:

“Joe Forshaw, my grandfather, was immensely proud to win the bronze medal in the 1908 Olympic Marathon. When talking to me he spoke with great affection about the race, that first marathon run over the now standard 26 miles 385 yards distance. Joe would have been delighted by the re-discovery of the 18 mile marker. Championing sport for all throughout his long life Joe would have been mightily pleased that the future public display of the 18 mile marker will celebrate marathon running and help to inspire others.” It is a rare physical relic of the race that defined the Marathon distance as 26 miles 385 yards (42195m). The 18-mile marker, a cast-iron fingerpost sign, surfaced from obscurity at a car boot sale in the north of England two years ago. The buyer, Graham Webster, knew what he had acquired and took it for valuation on the BBC programme ‘ The Antiques Roadshow ’ but on the programme he expressed the feeling that the sign really belonged in a museum.

On behalf of AIMS Frank Baillie, the publisher of Distance Running magazine, approached Webster who agreed to sell the sign. This was at a time when the covid pandemic made travel problematic . Even in 2022, with restrictions lifted, the sign needed especially careful fullycouriered transportation due to the brittleness of the cast iron. Frank Baillie drove halfway across Europe to ensure safe delivery of the sign to former Berlin Marathon race director Horst Milde.

Since 1994 Milde has been instrumental in the establishment and upkeep of the AIMS Marathon Museum of Running, later renamed the ‘Marathoneum’. The sign was now in place several weeks before the Marathon with a view to making the presentation at the race. ‘5-diamond’ emblem of Polytechnic Harriers, the club given the task of organising the race. Such signs were used for the entire length of the course but the only one previously known still to be in existence was the “25 miles” [to go] sign at Eton.

What makes the length of this particular race, signposted in both miles and ‘kilos’, so important was that it eventually became fixed as the Marathon standard of 26 miles 385 yards or 42.195 kilometres. Since the invention of the event for the first edition of the Modern Olympic Games in 1896 marathons had usually been approximately 25 miles (40km) but could vary considerably in length. Why this race became so significant was due to the dramatic finale which played out on the track inside the White City stadium in West London.

The Italian Dorando Pietri, who had led the race from 24 miles, collapsed repeatedly and was ‘assisted’ to his feet by race referee Jack Andrew before a last dash to the finish line. He got there 32 seconds before the American, Johnny Hayes, but the Americans protested and Hayes was awarded the victory. Public sympathy was with Pietri and Queen Alexandra, who had witnessed his desperate last-lap struggle, awarded him a special commemorative cup.

A photo that was taken in St Johns Rd, Uxbridge Moor, shows the leading runners about two hundred yards further on from where the 18 mile marker stood. Charles Hefferon (SA now RSA), Dorando Pietri (ITA), Fred Lord (UK) and Jack Price (UK) were together at this point. Price was one of several English runners who set a very fast early pace. Price was still leading when he dropped out at 14 miles. Joe Neanor, who has studied the route of the 1908 Olympic Marathon in some detail, comments “ Today the scene is little changed, all the houses are still there, the front garden walls giving way to hard standings for car parking. “ When I got to the bridge, very pleasingly the original railings to which the 18 mile marker was fixed appear to still be there. If you wanted you

The race stoked a marathon frenzy and ‘re-runs’ attracted huge betting interest. Pietri, Hayes and various other contenders met up in many different locations in the following years, both indoors and outside, where the only constant was the distance they had to run. This was around the same time that the world governing body of the sport, the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IA AF, now World Athletics) was formed in 1912. IA AF only got around to formalising the Marathon distance in 1924 but when they did they determined that it should be the same as that run from Windsor to White City in the 1908 Olympic Marathon. Where the sign stood could put the 18 mile marker up again in the same position as it was in a photograph that appeared in the Illustrated London News. The 1908 ILN photo shows it was fixed to the third upright from the end… That part of the bridge could fairly be described as the renovated original as all 13 uprights (elegant originals and later functional replacements) appear to be fixed in the same positions as in 1908. The ivy covered upright third from the end, a replacement it turns out, is where the 18 mile marker post stood.” In the 1908 official report the distance from the start to the Stadium is given as 26 miles (with 385 yards as the distance within the stadium) and the eight mile point is given as “Long Bridge, Uxbridge Moor ”. The distance from the start to the bridge, which Neanor measured using online tools, was 7.94 miles.

K LM A r u b a Ma r a t h o n rd t h J u n e 3 & 4 2023

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