All she did was take some water from a friend who joined her on the course for a short while. But that was enough to get the first female finisher in last weekend's Milwaukee Lakefront marathon disqualified. This might be the strangest marathon result I've ever heard of. But it benefited the second finisher Jennifer Goebel, a member of my Elmhurst Running Club. Jennifer finished in 3:02, about 44 seconds after the first finisher, but she wound up with the $500 first prize.
I've run with her in group runs before, and she is a strong runner. She says she was in 11th place at the half, but had a great second half of the race and finished strong. That is what they mean when coaches preach the importance of negative splits. Congrats to Jennifer on a great race!
Oh, and it really is a rule that USATF follows. I read that Lance Armstrong wanted to run part of this year's New York marathon with Joan Benoit Samuelson, to return the favor she did for him a couple years ago. But since she is competing for a prize and possible record for a 50 year old, they told him unless he runs the whole thing with her, she would be disqualified. It's weird, but that's the rule.
While Jennifer was enjoying the Lakefront in Milwaukee, I was taking it easy in the Bucktown 5k. I ran long on Saturday, and was out late that night, so I decided to jog the Bucktown race as a way to get a few miles in and enjoy a great morning. This is 12 year old race that's grown every year. It started out as a neighborhood run, sponsored by 'Running Away' a Bucktown running shoe store. Now it's a big event that takes over the neighborhood for a few hours on a Sunday morning in early October. Thanks to Brenda Berrara for the pictures of the men's and women's winners!
As I was moving along in the midst of some 4000 other runners through Bucktown, I was thinking that this was near perfect weather for the marathon. The sun was out, but the temperature was crisp, even a little chilly, and there was no wind. It was great football weather too! I enjoyed the Bears big win over the Lions at Soldier field after the run!
In any case, after the last couple years of heat, this year's marathon is due for good weather! We;ll be talking much more about that later in the week. But first I want to give you a peek at some of Nike's new stuff for this year. The good folks from Nike stopped by the other day to show off some of their 2009 marathon products. They've got a bunch of great designs that will be for sale at their booth at the expo before the race. A couple of the designs I like are the white long sleeved shirt with the logo 'eat, drink, run'. The short sleeved red shirt is kind of a throwback design that also features the city's skyline. There are tons of others as well, and they are all dri-fit this year. Last year they had some great designs that were on cotton. They were nice, but I wouldn't wear them out for a run.
Seriously, since Nike took over shoe and apparel sponsorship of the marathon from New Balance a year ago, the selection has increased dramatically, and they've freshened image quite a bit.
There is another new marathon product I ran accross the other day. I have run the streets of the Chicago marathon course many times, but many in the field every year are doing it for the first time. And for them, a great way to get a look at it in advance of the race, without driving it all, is on a new website: www.racemyrace.com . They show video of the entire course and can personalize it to your pace. Chicago is just one of the races they've done so far. They have 11 races in their stock so far, and are adding more every week. It's pretty cool.
Anyway, if you are running, enjoy the week. Eat, drink, and sleep! Good luck Sunday, and I'll see you on the roads.....
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