Here are some of the news tidbits which have crossed your editor's desk recently:
CANADA RUNNING SERIES OPENS REGISTRATION: The 20th anniversary of the Canada Running Series will be held in 2009, and on-line registration for all of the events is now open. The series was founded in 1990, according to series director Alan Brookes, and the old Coors Light Toronto Half-Marathon was the grand finale of the first series. The series features eight races with distances from 5 km to the marathon, and "combo packs" are offered so runners can register for several events at once for a reduced rate. All the details are at CanadaRunningSeries.com.
CRAZY 8'S 8-K NAMED "BEST RACE OF 2008:" The Indian Path Medical Center & SunTrust Bank Crazy 8s 8-K Run (Kingsport, Tenn.) was named "Top Road Race of 2008" bu readers and staff of Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine. The award was part of the magazine's sixth annual "Best of the Outdoors Awards" which highlight the greatest races, faces, and places from across the Southeastern United States. The race beat out major events like the Cooper River Bridge Run (Charleston, S.C.), Peachtree Road Race (Atlanta, Ga.), and Ukrops Monument Avenue 10-K (Richmond, Va.). "We're extremely flattered to make the top of the list," said co-event director Hank Brown.
CLAY, BROWN TRAFTON WIN 2008 JESSE OWENS AWARDS: Olympic gold medalists Bryan Clay (decathlon) and Stephanie Brown Trafton (discus) on Tuesday were named winners of the 2008 Jesse Owens Award by USA Track & Field. Established in 1981, the Jesse Owens Award is USA Track & Field's highest accolade, presented annually to the outstanding U.S. male and female track and field performers. Clay was the favorite to win Olympic gold, while Brown Trafton's medal was one of the biggest surprises in Beijing. "All of us at USA Track & Field take great pride in saluting Bryan and Stephanie for their accomplishments during the 2008 season," said USATF CEO Doug Logan.
CURL/HONDA BACK FOR CITY OF LOS ANGELES MARATHON: Organizers of the City of Los Angeles Marathon announced that Nick Curl would be the event's race director and that American Honda Motor Co., Inc., would remain the event's presenting sponsor. Curl was the long-time operations director for the race when it was directed by Marie Patrick and Bill Burke. "I'm excited to be back," said Curl through a press release. "We've assembled a great team and we're planning to do great things." The race will be held on Monday, May 25, 2009, Memorial Day.
IAAF WORLD ATHLETICS GALA TO BE STREAMED LIVE ON IAAF.ORG: For the first time in the history of the annual World Athletics Gala, the show will be shown via a video stream on the IAAF website, as well as the live worldwide TV broadcast. The event, which includes the announcements of the Male and the Female World Athlete of the Year 2008, will be hosted on Sunday 23 November at the Salle des Etoiles of the Sporting Club d’Eté, Monte-Carlo by International Athletic Foundation (IAF) Honorary President HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco and IAF & IAAF President Lamine Diack. More details available at IAAF.org.
KENYANS KIBET & MASAI TO RUN IN SINGAPORE: The IAAF reported that 2007 IAAF World Marathon champion Luke Kibet and three-time IAAF World Cross Country champion Edith Masai were the top entrants in the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon, scheduled for Sunday, December 7. For Kibet, the unlikely world champion who beat the stifling heat and humidity in Osaka, and Masai, who won several top USA road races last summer despite being over 40, will both make their Singapore debuts. Kibet was a last minute replacement for the injured Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot on the Kenyan Olympic marathon squad in Beijing, and was unable to finish the race.
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