Columbus Marathon Results?????

A Columbus TV station does a one hour 'marathon report'. Korir led comfortably. JJ faded about 20 and the announcers thought he had dropped. Korir began having leg cramps around 22 and finally slowed to a jog, then walk. A Russian took over and had no one around him. The Russian seemed to slow the last few miles (to the naked eye, the report gave no splits), but had no one around him. He made the turn for the final 200 meters or so, the announcers were talking about him, and suddenly another came around the corner and finished somewhat close. It was JJ who finished 2nd. The announcers thought it was a miracle, like he had dropped out and re-entered or something. They talked with him afterwards and he said he had it going pretty good the final miles, but did not say any splits. A Ukrainian (2:32 pr) ran around 2:30:22 for a course record. Hopefully this can fill in the blanks until someone with more knowledge can report. Oh, by the way, the hour special which was about 45 minutes after commercials still found time to focus on the 'walker' division which started an hour early. The said that the walkers were supposed to move over out of the waywhen runners came by. Can any 'racers' tell us if this happened?

The winner took a wrong turn with about 200 meters to go. It made the race a bit closer than it was. I think the Russian woman was sub 2:30. The walkers actually got out of the way, but they hugged the inside corner, making runners go further! They also abused the water stops by drinking 1 cup at all stops. Most of them did the brand new walk/run. They discovered that they could go faster if they threw in a 1 minute run every 10 minutes. They covered more in 1 minute than they did in the previous 10.

Sorry about the mis-info. The woman was 2:28:22, a new course record. A few friends in the 2:20's said the walkers were very much a problem. Elites had to dodge them and getting water was impossible at many stops. The walkers started an hour prior to the runners. The men's winner was 2:18:07. Would Paula R. have won overall? I noticed that race information posted prior to and the reports after all call it an 'event'. It is no longer even called a race.

Paula is good but not that good. No she would not have been close. Mike Korir was on sub 212 pace through 23.5 before a severe hamstring injury caused hium to drop and basically handed the race over to the Russian. Mike had at least a 2 minute lead at this point and was going for the 211 course record. Infact we brought in our own pacer to assist wit the pace keeping it at 106-10630 at the half and Mike promptly took over from the 106:27 half and proceeded to crank off the next 7 miles at sub 5 pace on his own until the hamstring trouble at 23.

Mike will run sub 210 by next fall on the right course with the right field. He ran 216 in Switzerland last year on a hilly course in cold and rain. He has recent pr's of 2741 and 102. I know this as he is my training partner and friend and has been living with my family and I in Livonia, Michigan the past few weeks and I was on the lead truck at Columbus taking Mike's splits and watching the race unfold.

There are no B level kenyans. Spend some time with them and you'll learn why and how. It's about opportunity and not getting jerked around by some half-assed manager/agent they have trusted to get them out of kenya to make some $$.

Why is it that prize money checks are not paid at the race. I can see bonus or incentives coming later as these may be from an insurance policy arrangement needing to be cashed in. When you show up for work on payday, does your employer tell you your pay check will show up whenever or your automatic deposit will be deposited whenever.

Only few major races drug test, many races provide the tax forms for completion at the race...you complete it...here is your money, thanks for coming see, you next year. Lately these races are paying out 8-12 weeks after the race, you have to chase down the race commitee to find out what the hell is going on and if they have even processed the paperwork for the check. If you know you are going to have prize money, it is advertised or listed and drug screen results are not pending the payment..pay the damn money at the race.

Rick-

The leaders were 107:30 at halfway not 106:30. There was absolutly no chance of a course record. They would have had to run 103:30 for the second half. These guys are definitly b kenyans. Are these the same guys that Verran handed it to at the race in Auburn Hills? There was no calf cramps there, just a good ole fashion ass whoopin.

Was there or is it Has Been or Wanna Be...Get your facts straight, unless reading comprehension 101 is to difficult. Hamstring not calf. Not sure where you got your half way split but sitting on the truck as it passed over the chip carpet seems to be an accurate time. Even if it was 107, he was coming back in 105-105:30 which makes it 212 to 213. Still a damn faster effort in a far less competitive field than a 214 plus under ideal conditions with multiple pacers in Chicago. Secondly, let me know the next time your idol runs sub 28 minutes or a 102 half. You and the rest of the wannabees posting here had "idol time" running 211 or faster. Your idol's time is still three minutes slower than your referenced B-level Kenyans from TC race and they are masters runners. Let me know when you run 212.

FYI...Ass whoopin, don't think so. Mike led from the gun at Standard Federal and pushed the pace until Verran caught him, at the 5 mile hill. Check with third placer Julius Mwangi for his comments as well. Coming off a 20+ trainig miles the day before, Mike had the guts to push the pace and make it a race not like several others who were content to either leach off or better yet drop out at mile two because they couldn't hang. Post under your real name the next time you care to open your pie hole. Better yet, if your lazy wannabe self is in the area, show up for a worout with Mike and he'll hand your B level ass to you unless you can not find the time away from your McJob to do some real running.

Rick,

1. If they are not b kenyans than why Columbus?

2. Weather conditions were far superior in Columbus than Chicago.

3. What happened to the second kenyan at Columbus?

4. Verran is not even an "a american".

5. Quit trying to pretend to be an agent until you get a real athlete.

6. Jurcevich another "b american" was just running a local marathon to support the marathon (his real race was 3 weeks prior) and found himself beating the b kenyans.

Easy does it Rick. I don't think anybody here is calling Verran an idol. "was there" was just pointing out a fact that Mike Korir lost to Verran in a 10k. Big Deal. I'm pretty sure Verran was training through that race as well. Also, I heard that the conditions in Columbus were perfect. Low 40's and not a breath of wind. Many accounts of this years Chicago marathon had the winds at 15-20 MPH with gusts up to 30MPH.

Here's another question. With those impressive PB's, why is mike korir runnning local chump change races like the toledo classic (where he ran over 30:00), Standard Federal 10k, and the Columbus Marathon. Surely a guy sith sub 28:00 and 1:02 credentials could do better than that?

Last question, Livonia is pretty close to Rochester Hills. Why doesn't mike hook up with the hanson guys for some training. Seems like that would be a great opportunity for mike to learn some training/racing principles and just get some quality workouts in. I doubt there's anybody in Livonia to push him.

Here's the deal. I am NOT an agent, period. I do not intend to nor do I want to be nor dso I have the finances to roll a project as this. The situation which was referenced earlier is there "so called agent/manager" from Kenya sent them over with a "so called plan and schedule" and they arrived in Detroit on KLM. There was no plan, his visa situation was messed up, later finding the agent in Kenya was jailed for falsifying financial statments to get visas. Long story short, through several phone calls and contacts, I ended up with a telephone call asking to pick them up at Detroit airport. They ended up here for awhile then went to a friends place at Malone College. The other who came over with Mike is not even a D level. Mike went to Columbus because 1. only race to help with expenses as he had ZERO money when he came over and a 216 does not get assistance or notice from NY or Chicago. 2.Toledo, Standard Federal and a race in Akron were close for him to travel to with out much cost and he could train through to make some money to cover expenses while we figured out what to do. Now he can afford to travel to a few select "major payday races." At this point it is a matter of finances for him. I guess later it will be run the time then make the dime. He is working with someone in Ohio for races, but perhaps Hanson's or possibly going to Alb, NM might be a better choice.

Mike was with FILA TEAM but left last year with several other higher profile notables due to "poor financial management of the athletes earnings" by one infamous coach. Tanui and Tergat are not the ones. While with FILA he was based in Milan, Italy.

Jim Jurcevich thought the weather was good but windy as he quoted in the paper. I did not think it was that windy.

Hope this clear's up the topic.

Rick, I know that the hanson group does training runs in Royal Oak, MI (just a 10 minute drive down I-696 from Livonia)on Thursday nights. I'm pretty sure that the hansons only sponsor US athletes, but from the sounds of it, mike korir, could add something to the group as well as gain some training partners and a support network. the hansons are very well connected in the running scene locally and nationally and I'm sure could give mk a hand when it comes to lining up competitions. You can contact them through their website.

"Was there or is it Has Been or Wanna Be...Get your facts straight, unless reading comprehension 101 is to difficult. Hamstring not calf. Not sure where you got your half way split but sitting on the truck as it passed over the chip carpet seems to be an accurate time. Even if it was 107, he was coming back in 105-105:30 which makes it 212 to 213. Still a damn faster effort in a far less competitive field than a 214 plus under ideal conditions with multiple pacers in Chicago. Secondly, let me know the next time your idol runs sub 28 minutes or a 102 half. You and the rest of the wannabees posting here had "idol time" running 211 or faster. Your idol's time is still three minutes slower than your referenced B-level Kenyans from TC race and they are masters runners. Let me know when you run 212.

FYI...Ass whoopin, don't think so. Mike led from the gun at Standard Federal and pushed the pace until Verran caught him, at the 5 mile hill. Check with third placer Julius Mwangi for his comments as well. Coming off a 20+ trainig miles the day before, Mike had the guts to push the pace and make it a race not like several others who were content to either leach off or better yet drop out at mile two because they couldn't hang. Post under your real name the next time you care to open your pie hole. Better yet, if your lazy wannabe self is in the area, show up for a worout with Mike and he'll hand your B level ass to you unless you can not find the time away from your McJob to do some real running."

Rick,

A few things. The weather at Columbus was MUCH better than Chicago this year. Chicago is certainly a racecourse when it comes to the marathon. But the last 3 miles were tough finishing at Chicago. Ideal.....not quite. Multiple pacers.....wrong again. The pack worked as a group and certainly benefited from it though, I'll give you that much. Columbus was 37 degrees at the start and 47 by the finish. I don't think you can order up better weather.

Secondly...Ass Whoppin......I DO think so! Clint was leading at the mile point in the Standard Federal 10k. (I know b/c I was 50 meters from it). Clint's plan was to run his race (which for anyone that knows anything about our group is even pace the entire way). Mike surged and built a lead for the next mile and held to the next 2 miles. Clint ran pace, the Kenyan slowed and Clint put 12 seconds on him the last 1300 meters. If Clint was 4:45 (and he was close to that) then Mike ran 5:57 for his last mile (where were all those guts then???)

Guts???? Bad Race Plan???? Either way, Clint ran his OWN race and beat him, no bones about it. There was nothing that he could have done about it either. So don't try put a spin on this and say "well, at least he showed all the guts, blah, blah, blah" or "he ran 20+ miles the day" before because Clint ran around 130 that week. That argument is weak and doesn't warrant a first place trophy, prize or check!

And, if you're referring to one of our athletes dropping out at mile 2 b/c it was to fast.....then you should know that he was diagnosed with a stress fracture the very next day. If you want to post about something, next time have all YOUR OWN facts straights.

Joe Gibson

Give yourself 10minutes to get to the Thurs night run from Livonia and you might get there as guys are rolling in, finishing their run.

I'm sure Rick knows about the runs at the Hansons stores. But would Mike be welcome at their WORKOUTS? Not the store group run that any Sally or Joe runner can show up to.

Rick

I was looking thru this thread and I thought someone is full of shit. was there says 107:30 and you said 1:06:30. I got the tape from a friend and you are a bald faced liar. Jurcevich was leading a pack of 4 and his halfway split was 1:07:51. I then went to the Columbus website and it confirms a 1:07:51. If you are that off how can we believe any of your post. Why try to make this obviously B Kenyan out to be anything other than what he is? This guy was not going to run any faster than 2:14:30 under any conditions.

Regardless of the split, the point of the thread that Rick or whoever was attempting to make was the B-level or sub standard references and whether or not Paula could have won. Races, regardless of the distance, with major prize money, athlete budgets and faster courses will always produce faster times for both men and women. No rocket science here. A field with equally talented athletes will push each other. Look at the Columbus women's race, it went for a new course record. If Jurcevich had been fresh for Columbus maybe he, the russian and the kenyan guy who dnf'd might have been able to work together to run sub 213 or so. According to the thread posters here, other than K2 and possibly Culpepper and Meb, U.S. Distance Running is entirely B-level. I am also sure some you will get up on "KK is on something soap box theory" and take him right off the list. It appears that their are and have been quite a few B-levels who made it to the top. How many marathon's did Rodgers run before he got it right. Hodgie, Lodwick and the other horses from yesteryear ran 210's and back then they were in the game. With all of the hype about Team USA Centers etc, training groups, the Hanson's and whoever else I am surprised we are no better than B-level. Maybe running to survive has something to do with it making it to the A-level.